Court Education*

*Adapted from ronsenbasketball.blogspot.com

"Education implies teaching. Teaching implies knowledge. Knowledge is truth. The truth is everywhere the same. Hence education should be everywhere the same." - Robert Hutchins, President, University of Chicago 

Sport reveals truths about ourselves. We don't inquire enough about the purpose of sport. Arguments about having a sound mind in a sound body leave shadows in a world of concussions and a specialty devoted to injury (sports medicine). 

Coaches espouse accountability, commitment, discipline, effort, sacrifice, and teamwork. All translate to personal and professional growth. Mindset and grit aren't new.

Coaches come from various backgrounds and traditions with unique identities and philosophies. Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr share far different zeitgeist than Bob Knight or Mike Krzyzewski. Fortunately, we have no political litmus test to inform the fitness of basketball coaches. 

For professionals the Lombardi principle rules, "winning isn't everything; it is the only thing." Colleges make education a "priority", except when they don't, when winning basketball games (one-and-done, shoe recruiting scandal) or sacrificing institutional control (Baylor football) happen. For high schools and below, we see a curious admixture of teaching, ego, and self-promotion.

What is the coach's job in high school? If "truth is everywhere the same", then everyone acknowledges that winning and competitiveness matters. Some argue that growing culture, mentoring, and team building are priorities, not appeasing parents and players. Winning coaches sometimes resign or are forced out because Anson Dorrance's "competitive cauldron" overheats or cooks a strange brew of dissatisfaction about minutes, roles, and credit.  

At the developmental level, I favor a holistic approach. Teach players a broad overview about the game and the world. Players learn self-worth and teamwork from Annapurna and ball reversal. 'Styles of play' share common domains with military doctrine - infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The infantry pounds the action inside, cavalry reflects speed (transition), and artillery the perimeter attack, long-range bombing the contemporary analytic darling. Understanding meditation can improve attention, awareness, and confidence and elevated grades and standardized test scores. 

Priorities for young players should be family and academics first and extra-curricular activities next. Overcoming adversity in sport recalls Lee's heroic victory against overwhelming force at Chancellorsville. Bowdoin professor Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain illustrates how education translates to service and victory at Gettysburg, en route to winning a Congressional Medal of Honor. The treatment of J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project, shows how perception changes despite epic performance. Hutchins' introductory quote sparks controversy in higher education eighty years later. 

Do digressions into history and biography advance court education? Encouraging court awareness might not have changed Chris Webber's 1993 timeout. Knowing the battle does not always go to the strongest (and why) gets proven by 1996 Princeton. 4.8 seconds is a long time in 1995 and today. 

Developing consensus presents an uphill battle in a world filled with "the smartest guys in the room." If we add perspective, encouraging players to become not the best but their best, then we add value to their court education.