 |
|
|
|
Job Title: College Basketball Coach
Type of Company: I work for a private university located in Connecticut that offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Education: BA, History and American Studies, Brandeis University •• M.Ed., UMass-Lowell
Previous Experience: I worked as the assistant basketball coach at two different universities before being hired by my current employer.
Job Tasks: I am a full-time assistant basketball coach at a private university in Connecticut. While I am involved in every aspect of our basketball program, my main responsibility is recruiting student athletes. Recruiting athletes is a process and begins with me evaluating high school student athletes during NCAA-approved evaluation periods during their junior year in high school. So during the summer, for example, I will travel to various NCAA-approved tournaments around the country and watch student athletes play and determine if they have the potential to make our basketball program. I will also watch student athletes play during the high school season with their respective high school teams. While we are determining if they can compete athletically for our program, we are also researching their academic and social history to make sure that they fit the profile of our university in both these areas.
Once we've gathered all this info, we will contact the students, usually by phone or email, and indicate our interest. At that point, we provide them with information about our program through mailings, our website and direct communication. If the interest turns out to be mutual, we invite the athletes to visit the university and see first hand what we are all about. This process continues until the kids have made a decision to attend our university or not. The entire recruiting process can take anywhere from a month to a year.
Another major responsibility of mine is the actual coaching side of the profession. I work directly with players in all practice and game settings including off-season workouts on the court and in the weight room. This also incudes preparing scouting reports of opponents and ultimately I will help implement game strategy to try to give our team the best opportunity to win.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job: The best part of my job is the fact that I get paid to do something I enjoy. I coach a game that I began playing as a child because it was fun and it continues to be enjoyable to me to this day. I also enjoy watching the development of the young adults I deal with during their four years. It is very satisfying and rewarding to see young men grow and mature. It is also very rewarding to get a group of young people together to work hard for a common goal. Teamwork and the team concept is something that has always appealed to me and that concept continues to be very fulfilling.
Perhaps the worst part of my job is the travel. I am often away from my family and miss events at times because of work. This is something I try to minimize but it is unfortunately a necessary part of the job.
Job Tips: The first thing I would do is contact as many people in my profession as possible and try to set up times to meet with these people. I would do that for two reasons, one is to network and develop some relationships, and two is to get ideas from people that have had success in the business on ways to get started. Networking is perhaps the most important thing you can do to create opportunities for yourself in coaching.
The inside stories from people actually working in the field.
Click a story title to show the story, and click the title again to hide it.
All Types
Career Stories are concise, real-world career overviews written by people relating their personal career experiences and wisdom. They provide invaluable insights and mentoring advice to students and career changers.
Most stories include:
Please also see our detailed information about Coaches, including:
Copyright © QuinStreet, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
