NCAA Basketball Coaching Career

[Ninja Turtle]

2009-2010
http://hoopedia.nba.com/images/5/5e/SacramentoStateHornets3.GIF
Sacramento State Hornets
Sacramento, CA
Big Sky Conference
0-0 (0-0)



OOC: This is the main page for the career updates and statistics. I plan to post Journal Entries as I go. These will not necessarily be after every single game, but at significant points during each season and offseason. On this page is where, for each season, I will post links to the entries.

[Ninja Turtle]

After having a successful high school basketball coaching career in Los Angeles, I finally got the call to coach Division I college basketball at a nearby university. No, sorry, not the USC Trojans -- didn't mean to get your hopes up. The call came about a week from the Athletic Director at Sacramento State University. He said, after finishing 4-24 last season, they desperately need to start competing for conference championships.

I made the trip to Sacramento with more than just butterflies in my stomach. I mean, this was it, this was the big time. It had always been my dream to coach college basketball. Before even meeting with the A.D., I already knew what my answer was going to be. After 8 years coaching high school ball, I was ready to move onto my dream, regardless of where it was. They could have been win-less for all I cared - as far as I was concerned, I could turn, well, you know what into gold.

After the meeting, I got to meet some of the players. There were a lot of seniors -- 7 to be exact. Which meant two things. One, we had an experienced team that knew how to handle pressure (hopefully). Two, recruiting was going to be stressful. At a small school like Sacramento State, it's tough to get good recruits, and I would have to find 7 of them.

Time went by and soon enough practices and recruiting began. I traveled relentlessly around the state to find recruits that would fit well into my system -- a high octane offense and a high pressure defense. Speed is what I wanted. Shooting could be taught, rebounding could be taught -- speed cannot be taught.

Given the small budget that I was allocated, I targeted a handful of prospects. Here are the top at each position:

PG Paul Seymour (6'4, 188) Rank: #392, #85 PG
SG Jake Steward (6'2, 189) Rank: #368, #67 SG
SF Devon Butts (6'5, 197) Rank: #128, #23 SF
PF Bob Calloway (6'8, 232) Rank: #354, #77 PF
C Justin Hawkins (6'10, 239) Rank: #340, #62 C

Along with traveling around the country, I also had to handle full-fledged practices. Three hours of practice, followed by one hour of weight lifting, followed by one hour of film. Five hours a day, and seven on Saturdays. This rough schedule went on for weeks, until the night before our first game against Denver. I gave a heart felt speech about how proud I was of the boys -- and I was. They all survived up until this point, and that has to count for something.

The night before our first game, I finally came up with a starting roster and my analysis of each player:

PG Mike Marcial (6'1, 180, SR); A great passer with decent speed. Will struggle defensively.
SG Antonio Flaggs (6'3, 180, SR): Best overall player. Can shoot threes and has tremendous speed. Does not finish well inside.
SF Jonathon Malloy (6'5, 190, SR): Smart and fast player. Not very skilled offensively.
PF Michael Selling (6'8, 225, SR): Good size and speed. Very good strength. Once again, not offensively skilled.
C Justin Eller (6'8, 235, SR): Great size. Very good rebounder and a very good offensive post. Should be very tough to stop inside. Poor free throw shooter and lacks stamina.

Now, it's game time!

[prw18]

Is this a real life diary or is a simulated on a game? If so, which game?

[GatorBait19]

I want more