⏳ Read Time: 4 min
📌 What’s inside:
A little different than our regular rhythm.
With seasons ending and many Spring Breaks across the country, we’re keeping it light and simply sharing a handful of things shaping our thinking right now — clips, articles, conversations, and ideas we think every coach and leader will appreciate.
Some of these are short, some will stretch you, and all of them have connected back to our Leadership → Culture → Performance framework in ways we didn’t expect.
Consider it an offseason reading-and-watching list for leaders who want to keep growing, even during a quieter week.
1. The Talent Gap
Only one team in this tournament was described on any broadcast as making a Cinderella run.
It was the Iowa Hawkeyes. Now, we get it. Ben McCollum and Bennett Stirtz are a fun story.
Here is our not-so-hot-take: Iowa doesn’t get to be a Cinderella.
But, while the talent gap between the top programs and midmajors appears to be widening, it appears that the “product” that is NCAA March Madness (one of the largest media rights deals in sports) is more popular than ever?
2. The Current State of Team Building
In this interview, Evan Miyakawa of evanmiya.com gives a great interview with Woj about the team-building trends the “smartest” NCAA Men’s basketball programs are adopting.
Not just the biggest spenders, but the teams that “out-performed their talent".
Topics Covered:
Talent isn’t a great predictor of who will be good, but it can be a good predictor of who has a chance to cut down the nets.
The “smart” programs are valuing fit over talent.
The programs that retain their key players are the ones finding the most success. Retention is winning in today’s NCAA MBB landscape.
3. The Programs and Coaches “Punching Above Their Weight.”
We are constantly on the lookout for coaches and programs that are succeeding at schools and in programs where they’re not expected to. Because we consider every program a program worth studying.
Kevin and I both text and chat on the phone with 3-4 dozen coaches each week. Many feel frustrated by the lack of resources at their schools and by the uphill battle of competing with top programs in their leagues.
So, we consider every single team in the country a case study. If someone is succeeding in an unexpected place, there’s a compelling case that the coach is doing or thinking about something different, and we want to study it.
It’s them or their athletic department. Here are the basketball programs and coaches that have caught our eye.
Dawn Plitzuweit and Minnesota WBB: A great season and a fanbase that’s coming around them? They had two home games with more than 10,000 fans in the stands! We also love when the breakthrough year comes in Year 3, which clearly points to some sort of “build.”
Utah State MBB: This won’t be a name you know from necessarily a deep run. But this program has outlasted FOUR Head Coaching changes in the past 10 or so years and continues to be a tournament mainstay. They’ve become a hot spot for coaches to come, have a good year or two, and get a high-major job (Danny Sprinkle, Ryan Odom, now Jerrod Calhoun). This department is clearly doing something right in a non-high-major conference.
4. March Madness is the Ultimate Pressure Lab
Not just for the players, who get all the recognition (and blame). But, for the coaches!
Want to study and see what a coach is like?
Watch them on the sidelines down the stretch of a close tournament game.
Not just whether their team wins or loses. But what they are transmitting to their team through their own leadership.
Are they giving their team worry? Chaos? Panic? Manic energy?
Peace? Calm? Resolve?
These close games that matter most are one of the best tests of any coach’s leadership. Because, as always, you are the culture.
5. First Time Moment for a Longtime Fan
Doesn’t get much better than this.
Longtime Nebraska radio announcer (since 1975) Kent Pavelka gets to witness Nebraska’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
For some reason, it won’t let us embed the tweet directly here in the newsletter - but you can watch it here!
6. Kevin and I With a Rare Co-Podcast Appearance!
Kevin and I got to be on Luke Gromer’s Better Coaching podcast last week, talking all things coaching.
We’d love for you to check it out and provide your feedback.
Which reminds us….
We’ve had quite a few people reply to our newsletter in the last couple of weeks and express surprise that we responded and did so promptly.
I know we say this, and it’s easy to read as a throw-in line. But PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO REACH OUT.
It’s why we exist. We want to meet you. We want to hear about your coaching context. We want to know how we can help.
So, don’t be a stranger.
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