Coach Scott Faucher is the Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Assumption University in Massachusetts.  In 2019, he was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 30 Under 30 List, while also leading the Nichols College Bison to their first ever Elite 8 Appearance.

Empowering players to have a voice and ownership of their development/success has never been more vital to create buy in than in the culture of 2020. Scott is one of the best I have been around at organically creating that environment. This conversation is a deep dive into his philosophy and approach in that arena.

Show Notes:

3:20 - Player development during quarantine

9:00 - Player creativity in the gym

10:30 - Refining coaching philosophy

14:10 - Balancing live play w/ skill work in practice

17:40 - Competitive development and decision making

19:00 - Perspective from growing up in basketball family

22:30 - Fostering relationships as a young head coach

24:20 - Using trust to fuel honest conversation

26:30 - Player ownership of the program

30:30 - Addressing a player who is having a tough time

32:50 - Challenges in developing relationships

34:00 - Creating the environment organically

37:30 - Peer to peer assessments

42:00 - Growth from friction

43:10 - Scott's 3 most important qualities of a coach

45:15 - Practicing patience

47:00 - Teaching younger age groups

48:25 - Book/Podcast Recommendations (Basketball Immersion, Culture Code, Leading with the Heart, Inner Game of Coaching)

Quotes:

17:57 - "You're trying to establish a winning mindset with it where you are keeping score with every that you are doing, so you want everything to matter."

22:47 - "At the end of the day, no matter what you do, it has to be about your players. As a young head coach, that's magnified. If you make it about yourself, the players wont buy into that. You have to develop that trust with them."

25:40 - "I think its about giving the players a voice in your program first where sometimes you don't even need to be the one addressing certain issues...that's the ideal situation."

34:00 - "That ownership piece is not only for the players, but for everybody involved in the program..that could be the manager, assistant coaches, athletic trainers, strength staff...they have to know how important they are and feel like they have a voice in the program as well."

35:00 - "As much as possible, have things come from them. We hardly want to go into any meeting simply talking at the team."

Social Media:

Twitter: @CoachScoFaucher