Summer Reading, Adapted from My Basketball Site*

All opinions in the blog are solely mine. Blame nobody else. 

*Lightly edited

Readers become leaders. Coaches educate. We inspire. We teach. We change behaviors. We change lives. Some coaches, such as MVB skipper Scott Celli, share group reads. Here are a few possibilities. I've read all at least once, Legacy three times.

Teammates Matter. Alan Williams walked on at Wake. He scored fifty-one points in a high school game. His story informs the trials, the tribulations and the rewards of being part of a D1 team. Precious anecdotes emerge, when the equipment guy 'stiffs him' denying him a black and gold team equipment bag. But a teammate steps up. Williams designed this as team reading. It's excellent but wouldn't be my first choice. 

In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle. Hate the title, love the book. UMASS journalism professor Madeleine Blais writes brilliantly and exposes the times, the town, and the team of Amherst. The Lady Hurricanes' two stars engage in a destructive, ego-consuming storm. If you've coached girls, you've seen it. It happens with guys, too, but less often. 

Blais never buries the lede, using powerful opening chapter lines: 

"Early in the second half, the girls on the bench began to weep."

"It was a game that made everyone connected to the Hurricanes wince to relive."

Toughness, by Jay Bilas. Toughness began as an ESPN article where Bilas defined 31 core basketball principles, including my favorite, "it's not your shot, it's our shot." But the book is much more, as the former Duke star, attorney and sports journalist/broadcaster tells who and what comprise toughness. And he means real toughness, not the false bravado of chest thumping machismo. 

The Leadership Moment, by Michael Useem. UNC Women's soccer skipper Anson Dorrance includes TLM as required reading for his (often) championship program. It includes smoke jumper Wagner Dodge's 1949 fateful decision to light an 'escape fire' from a raging inferno and Arlene Blum leading the first all-women's assault on Annapurna, one of fourteen Himalayan peaks over 8000m. It is advanced reading for high schoolers. 

Legacy, by James Kerr. Legacy brings the New Zealand "All-Blacks" rugby program to life. It's the best leadership book I have read. Here is a great summary. 

Performance = Capability + Behavior

Management and players reinvigorate an organization that lost its way. They rely on an unbeatable work ethic, "sweeping the sheds," a promise "leave the jersey in a better place," and call on their ancestors using 'Whakapapa.' It recalls the Greek tradition that "old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit." The downside is that it's a bit R-rated. 

Tuesday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell. "TML" is a quick read but shares powerful concepts as in its chapters: 

• "No Matter What!"
• ...And Then Some
• Above All Else
• From Now On...
• See It, Feel It, Trust It, Do It!
• Focus Inside Your Boat
• Knowledge Is Power

I enjoyed it but it's not the top choice for me. 

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. TFA is Tom Brady's favorite book. I confess I 'take the fourth' every day. The Agreements are: 

• 'Be impeccable with your word'
• 'Don't make assumptions'
• 'Don't take anything personally'
• 'Always do your best' 

There's a spiritual and a practical component to Ruiz's writing. The messages are powerful. 

Why take the fourth daily? Life brings frustrations. A word, a thought, a mantra restore sanity amidst the chaos. 

Have I omitted some? Of course. "The Boys in the Boat," "Unbroken," "Failing Forward," "Reach for the Summit," and "The Smart Take from the Strong" among others are worthy considerations. 

Summary: 

• "Legacy"
• "The Four Agreements"
• "Toughness"
• "In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle"
• "The Leadership Moment"
• "Teammates Matter"
• "Tuesday Morning Leadership"

Lagniappe. Some of you will take the SAT as a touchstone of academic preparedness. 100 frequent words to know. A couple that also arise:

Assiduous (hint: sit your *** in the study chair)

Perspicacity or perspicacious (hint: sounds like perceptive)