Backyard Buckets Basketball

Academy of Art Head Coach Scott Waterman joins the podcast. Fresh off the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance and 20 win season Scott discusses his path to the head chair. With stops at Dartmouth, Cal Fullerton, Long Beach State, Dominican and currently Academy of Art, Coach Waterman has had a vast amount of experience at all different levels. We focus mainly on the defensive side of the ball and game preparation while touching on the the habits  and lessons he has developed along his coaching journey.

More on Coach Waterman here...

Follow Coach Waterman on Twitter

Providence Friars Women's Basketball Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Jess Jenkins joins the pod to discuss her historic playing career and her transition from player to coach. 


Topics:

• Post Season Workouts
• Player Development
• The importance of watching film at Providence
• Growing up as a gym rat
• Decision to commit to St. Bonaventure
• Sitting the bench as a Freshman 
• Playing and working for Jim Crowley
• Getting outside of her comfort zone speaking in front of the team
• Keys to scouting and game preparation
• Asking older coaches for help
• Becoming the Recruiting Coordinator 
• Managing Time
• Working as a Spin instructor part time

Jess' Twitter

More about Jess here...

Current Loyola Chicago Women's Basketball Assistant Jordan McCann joins the podcast to discuss his college coaching journey from the high school level to the division 1 level. With stops at the division 3 and division 2 level prior to getting his start in division 1 start at Iona College,  Jordan talks about the differences in responsibilities and expectations. He credits the staff at Iona for helping to develop his coaching voice and organizational habits. A Chicago native, Jordan is headed back home to work for Coach Allison Guth as the newly formed staff begins their first season with the Ramblers.

Topics Discussed:

- Wearing several "hats" at the D3 & D2 level
- Taking a new position
- Asking for help and learning from those around you
- His experiences in staff meetings
- International Recruiting & making relationships
- Player Development
- Loving what you do
- Brining energy and enthusiasm


More on Jordan here...

Jordan's Twitter

Sean Light is currently the CEO of Weight Room Wealth and former Strength & Conditioning
coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Sean played college basketball at West Virginia & Quinnipiac University and majored in journalism before entering the fitness landscape. He shares his journey of becoming a division 1 athlete and how he worked his way into the professional ranks as a strength coach.

Topics:
- Convincing John Beilein he was good enough to play at West Virginia
- Transferring to Quinnipiac and falling in love with Strength & Conditioning
- Pouring into your craft
- Working in professional sports
- Habits he observed from the best of the best
- Daily routines & the importance of structure
- The ability to train your brain
- Training for mental toughness and overcoming the fear of pressure
- Starting a business from scratch
- Book and podcast recommendations


Connect with Sean
Twitter 

Linkedin

Weight Room Wealth Website
https://weightroomwealth.com/home1647376124945

Recently completing her first season on staff at Boston University as Assistant WBB Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, Brianna Finch has over 20 years of coaching experience and delivers some great advice and teaching points throughout this episode. 

Topics:
- Adjusting to a new program and staff
- Recruiting to your head coach
- Post Season Evaluations and spring workouts
- Planning with the end in mind
- Small Sided Games and Constraint based learning
- Cutting Actions and Creating Advantages
- Developing Your Coaching Voice
- Being a continuous learner

Coach Finch's Twitter

More about Coach Finch here...

An extremely informative episode with former Assistant Coach at Abilene Christian and current Director of Player Development for Texas Tech WBB Erik DeRoo. Erik discusses his journey from being a Graduate Assistant at Fresno State and how that role helped him earn his next position as the Creative Recruiting Coordinator at Abilene Christian. His efforts resulted in enormous growth for all of ACU WBB"s social media platforms along with the explosion of his own personal brand on Tik Tok. Erik goes into detail on his decision to leave ACU and take a support staff role at Texas Tech. This conversation is LOADED with tips and advice for new and veteran coaches in regards to personal branding, career advancement and evolving with the times!

Topics Discussed:

- His roles/responsibilities as a Graduate Assistants at Fresno State
- Earning trust with head coaches
- Mid major basketball and the ability to "wear many hats"
- Mid major vs. Power 5 Resources
- Why handwritten letters matter
- Growing a team's social media presence
- Why every coach and player should care about their personal brand
- Leaving the coaching side for a support staff role
- Having a WRITTEN plan in place when seeking change
- NIL opportunities

and more...

Follow Erik on Twitter

Erik's Newsletter

More about Erik's coaching path here...

Newly hired Director of Basketball Operations at Arizona State University, Carter Caplan has worked his way up the ladder starting as a manager at Drexel. He has had stops at both Niagara University and the University of Delaware.  We discuss...

- Deciding to take a new job
- Understanding your head coach
- It's about the players
- How to earn trust and take initiative
- Separators between good and great
- Roles and responsibilities
- Being relationship driven
- Organization and preparation
- Loving what you do


Carter's Twitter

What's up guys! Officially making this the season 2 premiere of the podcast. After taking a couple months off in the heat of the season I'm more excited than ever to get back to posting consistently and having some valuable basketball conversations. 

In this solo episode I discuss...
- Our season at Quinnipiac
- How my scouting process has evolved
- Post game reports and areas of improvement
- Teams/leagues/concepts I'm studying
- My struggle in creating routines during the season
- Post Season workouts: basketball and strength/conditioning
- Content plans for spring & summer

Ohio State Women's Basketball assistant coach Jalen Powell joins the pod to discuss her new position at OSU. We talk through her journey from being a manager at Ole Miss to a GA at Arkansas and a few of her other stops along the way.  Growing up in Long Island and spending a large majority of her early basketball life in NYC, Jalen has been around the best of the best in terms of high level players and coaches in ultra competitive settings. We go way back and discuss our AAU days playing for Exodus NYC and when she knew she wanted to become a coach.

Topics:
- Jerry Powell Training & Long Island Basketball
- Exodus NYC AAU Program
- Decision to attend Ole Miss
- Getting into coaching
- Learning from older coaches
- Embracing different roles
- Advice for managers
- Day in the life as an assistant at OSU
- Breaking down scouting reports
- Building player relationships
- Asking for help
- Growth mindset

Read more about Jalen here...

Jalen's Twitter

Washington native and Oregon State Women's Basketball alum Mikayla Pivec joins the pod to discuss her college experience playing in the Pac-12 and her present experience playing professionally in one of the top leagues in Spain. Mikayla was a significant contributor at Oregon State right from her freshman season

For more on Mikayla's playing career at OSU

Follow Mikayla on Twitter
Topics:
-  Having difficult conversations & adapting to new roles
- Difference between European and NCAAw style of play
- Ball Screen Reads and Watching Film
- Scouting Reports at Oregon State
- Practices leading up to games
- Getting out of a slump
- Playing with Sydney Wiese
- WNBA Draft Pick
- Throwing javelin in the offseason 
- Best & Worst Pac-12 Arenas