One of the most engaging aspects of the TeachHoops.com community is the ability to connect with coaches throughout the nation and all over the world. In this basketball coach interview, Coach Collins connects with Coach Eric Bridgeland to discuss his basketball journey and his approach to the game.
Basketball Coach Interview
Eric Bridgeland is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California.
Bridgeland arrived at Redlands as an esteemed NCAA Division III coach from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. There he led the Blues to three Northwest Conference (NWC) titles and six runner-up finishes. During the last five years, Whitman has qualified for the NCAA tournament each season and advanced to the Sweet-16, Elite-8, and Final Four. His 2019 seniors graduated as the winningest class in NCAA Division III history. And they contributed to three undefeated titles in NWC action and a 67-conference game win streak.
In 12 seasons at Whitman, Bridgeland posted an impressive record of 245-87 (.738) and an NWC mark of 132-44 (.750%). In addition, he owns multiple national, regional, and conference coach of the year awards. His teams consistently land among the national rankings, as highlighted by the No. 1 spot on the D3hoops.com poll late in the 2017 season.
Prior to coaching at Whitman, he served as the head coach at the University of Puget Sound (WA) for five seasons. After taking over a program that had one winning season in the previous nine, Bridgeland and the Loggers put together a stretch of three consecutive NWC titles, three NCAA appearances, and a No. 8 ranking.
Overall, Bridgeland has coached one national player of the year, 12 All-Americans, six conference MVPs, and 40 all-conference selections. He also sent another student-athlete to the NBA combine as one of only five Division III players to be invited in the history of the league.
Check out the Teach Hoops exclusive interview with Coach Bridgeland below. This discussion came in 2019, prior to Bridgeland’s joining the Bulldogs in Redlands.
Conducting an effective basketball tryout can be one of the most difficult aspects of coaching, especially at the youth level. Coaches want to be fair and unbiased in their preparation of tryouts. Coaches need to be ready to evaluate a wide gamut of talent, from kids who’ve never played before to seasoned veterans.
Often time, developing your tryout can be more difficult that even setting up a playing rotation. Tryout day stands as one of the hardest yet most important days on the calendar. How a coach assembles to roster has wide ranging implications for the season.
Conducting Effective Basketball Tryouts
The first question any coach needs to ask themself is: what type of team will you have? The answer to this question will largely influence the types of drills you select. These drills will be staples of any practice plan, but they’ll also be valuable evaluation tools during tryouts.
The first thing to consider is athleticism. Coaches need to implement some sort of transition drill into any effective tryout. Players need to demonstrate how well they run and what type of shape they’re in. From there, higher level transition drills can evaluate decision making skills as well.
Beyond transition drills, coaches should definitely include station work as well. This is particularly useful with multiple coaches on staff. But even if you’re working alone as a coach, being able to have the players rotate through stations will give you a glimpse at their skill level. These stations can include ball handling, form shooting and free throws, among other things.
Small game groups also provides the coach with a good read of the players during tryouts. Having the players play 3-on-3, 2-on-2, or even 1-on-1 brings together several of the evaluation elements you need to consider. In these small group environments, it’s harder for players to “hide.”
Another effective practice during basketball tryouts might be to teach a new drill or offensive set. This forces the players to pay attention for a long stretch of time. It also provides coaches with a look at who the most engaged athletes are. Coaches also get a sense of who the most “coachable” players are during these teaching moments.
Finally, adding some element of communication and teamwork remains incredibly important and valuable. These drills or situations can shine a light on players with leadership potential. They also provide players with an opportunity to stand out among the others.
What to Look For In Players
Assembling a roster can often be a difficult task. But the first thing a coach should consider, especially when working off a roster that has returning players, is, which of these new talents can fill a specific role.
Of these potential new players, are there any that clearly make the team better? Which of the player will the team community? What positions might these new players fill?
Coaches should always look for specific elements as well. Among those elements: Athleticism, Attitude and Effort are key. Beyond that, physical aspects like height and length play a role. Finally, does the player have an “X factor”?
One of the most engaging aspects of the TeachHoops.com community is the ability to connect with coaches throughout the nation and all over the world. In this basketball coach interview, Coach Collins connects with Aseem Rastogi to discuss his basketball journey and his approach to the game.
Basketball Coach Interview
Aseem Rastogi joined the Brandeis women’s basketball staff prior to the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach.
Rastogi coached girls and basketball at the scholastic level in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., for seven years prior to joining the Judges. As the head varsity coach at South County High School in Lorton, Virginia, he coached his team to a record-breaking season in 2018-29. The team achieved its first-ever ranking in The Washington Post (#18). In addition, the team set school records for points in a game (81), 3-pointers made in a season (124), assists in a season (308), and points in a season (1257).
Before that, at W.T. Woodson High, Rastogi helped the program host its first district playoff game. Also, the team appeared in its first regional playoff game in 5 years. During this time, Rastogi developed nine different all-district players. He also coordinated the first-ever girls elite camp in the history of Northern Virginia girls basketball.
Prior to that, Rastogi spent 2012-13 at Division I Virginia Commonwealth University as Director of Player Personnel and Interim Director of Basketball Operations.
Coach Collins sits down with Coach Patrick O’Neill of Ulster University to discuss developing basketball culture and practice planning. Coming from Ireland, O’Neill needed to developing his program’s culture largely from scratch.
Developing Basketball Culture
O’Neill says their team culture is comprised of three essential pillars: values, attitudes, and goals. He calls values the standards of behavior, often a judgment of what is important in life. Attitudes are defined as the way a player thinks and feels about something. O’Neill defines goals as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort.” Also, “an aim or desired result.”
O’Neill leaned on four keys during his coaching career. He says honest communication stands as one of the most important elements within his program. He also said he realized he needed to up his coaching game, focusing on preparation. The other two keys he relied upon were balance and understanding.
He empowered his players to take ownership of their own development, and he understood the individual circumstances for his players. O’Neill made it a point to make himself available and approachable to the players as well.
But O’Neill admits it wasn’t all perfect. He learned very quickly “shoehorning” a player into his philosophy could be counter productive. Good coaches adapt their approach for each new collection of players they come across. He also admitted being totally positive, especially in the face of defeat, did not work.
Practice Planning
Coach O’Neill went on to discuss his approach to practice planning.
O’Neill approaches each session with a detailed plan of attack. He portions off practice segments with specific focuses. Some of the sections include warm up, skill development, and team-wide work.
Within each section, O’Neill’s practice plan lists the specific drill that will be conducted. In addition, he adds the points of emphasis during the segments and drills.
This level of organization allows O’Neill to maximize practice time and move seamlessly between focuses.
Planning any program’s basketball practice remains one of the most important aspects of coaching. No matter if it’s a preseason workout, in-season session, or postseason shoot around, a well-organized practice produces meaningful results.
Coach Collins sat down recently with veteran basketball coach Sean Doherty to discuss his approach practice planning. Coach Doherty currently serves as the head boys coach at Hamden Hall Country Day. Doherty sports more than 20 years experience coaching basketball, including stops as a former Division-1 assistant at Holy Cross, Western Kentucky and Quinnipiac. In addition to those duties, Doherty also served as a top assistant at Division II powerhouse Assumption College, as well as being the former head coach at Salem State.
Basketball Practice Planning
Coach Doherty urges all other basketball coaches to be organized. He suggests meeting with staff to discuss daily and weekly practice plans. If coaching without a staff, he still recommends detailed planning, including a written plan for players to see such as a “Daily Improvement Sheet.”
He calls it integral that coaches have a firm understanding of plays/drills need to be cover during season heading into their first practice.
Doherty also recommends a weekly plan for the team, which includes off the court events. He likens this to lessons plans for classroom teachers.
Doherty says: “Practice is where we create our winning culture.” He calls for accountability should be in all segments. He also recommends tracking Effort Stats. Part of the culture development includes teaching “great teammate” elements, such as: run to guys who fall/take charge, make a huge hustle play, bench up and down, high fives, emotion at right time, etc.
To handle winning and losing correctly, Doherty recommends competitive practice games. This also aids in accountability.”Enthusiasm and Energy is a huge part of all our winning habits,” Doherty says.
Youth player development can be an avenue for coaches to share their love of the game. But if a team is going to be successful, it takes more than just love. Coaches are tasked with improving players both individually and within the context of the team. And during the planning stages, including a favorite basketball drill might make practice all the more enjoyable.
Coach Nabil Murad has been working in the Education & Sports Sector for more than 10 years. Nabil has a proven track record of developing players to achieve their full potential using tailored development programs and a variety of motivational methods. Murad is currently in Austria working with Gmunden Swans youth basketball program to develop players along the player development pathway.
This is a full-court competitive practice game that allows coaches to install a specific play or set, while also practice key defensive principles. In the half court, the offense runs their first action against a full compliment of defenders. If this action results in a basket, then the offense and defense switch. But if the defense gets a stop, then it’s a full court game.
The defensive stop flows into transition offense as that squad seeks to score. Only points scored off of defensive stops count in this competitive practice game. This game should flow back and forth for several minutes before coaches change anything.
Emphasis: Defense. Basketball coaches that incorporate this competitive practice game look to establish the mindset that the team needs to focus on getting defensive stops before getting to the offensive end of the floor.
Finding an identity for a team stands as one of the most unique challenges for coaches. Building a Basketball Brand, Culture and Program, not matter the level, must be done on a solid foundation. Without clear principles, the program might drift along listless and without direction. For coaches, creating an environment to empower the student-athletes remains one of the most important undertakings.
In this wide ranging interview, Coach Neal discussed his journey to becoming the head girls basketball coach at Pea Ridge High school, in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Neal went from Arkansas State University to the US Navy. He served for five years and deployed all over the world. That military training still informs much of his coaching approach.
After the military, Neal returned to the University of Arkansas to finish his degree. There, he became a student athletic trainer for the Razorback football team, then led by Bobby Petrino.
In his five years coaching at Pea Ridge, Neal’s compiled a 78-47 record overall and a finish in the elite eight of the state tournament.
Core Values
An important foundation for any program to build upon is a definitive set of values. These core values inform everything within the program, from commitment to the players, to communication with families.
For Coach Neal, the core values that support his program are: Truth, Trust, Togetherness, Integrity, Competitiveness, Competition, Effort and Intensity.
“Confidence is earned through detailed preparation.”
In addition, Neal says building the program relationship driven. Connections within the community help build excitement. And that excitement ultimately leads to positive support.
Coaches must remember the importance of their position. A coach remains one of the most influential individuals in society. A coach will influence more people in one year than most people in a lifetime.
Coaches are great thieves. Resources, materials and terminology are often swapped online, at clinics, and even during basketball games. But where coaches can introduce the most unique elements comes in the specific development of a program’s culture. Building a basketball program comes down to what commitments a coach wants to make.
Building a Basketball Program
Coach Collins sat down with Coach Burton Uwarow to discuss building a basketball program. In this video on the Teach Hoops YouTube channel, the two went through the ins and outs of establishing an identity. This establishment involved specific commitments and focuses coaches need to consider when starting their programs.
Coach Uwarow, from Greenville, South Carolina, said the coaches he played for growing up and coached with greatly influenced his coaching philosophy. Uwarow also listed resources from Bob Hurley, Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, John Wooden and Morgan Wootten as significant influences as well.
Uwarow called commitment and passion his driving forces. He also acknowledged building a program also involves gathering resources. Supplementing budgets from an athletic department through fundraisers stands as an unwelcome but important task for any program.
Among the most important elements he named, Uwarow stressed organization, player discipline and parent-coach relationships.
Coach O’Neill went on to discuss his approach to practice planning.
This is a full-court 
