Hi everybody! I hope you had a great holiday season. For college basketball coaches, the Christmas and New Year's holidays mark a key point in the season. Once the calendar turns to the new year, conference play begins in full force, and each game takes on greater and greater meaning heading into tournament time. This is one of the many reasons why I love this game; while most people are just trying to get through the cold winter, it's the most exciting time of the year for us!

With this blog, I hope to be able to give you a little insight into the CNU men's basketball program and what life is like for a college basketball coach. This is currently my fourth season as a college coach, having spent the previous three years at Division I Wagner College in Staten Island, NY. One of the first things you learn as a coach is that every season is different (even if you are at the same school) because no two teams are the same year-to-year. Every season brings together a unique blend of players, experiences, and lessons – and I look forward to sharing some of these things with you.

For this initial entry, I'll tackle a question that I get asked a lot by family and friends, “What do you do all day?” For some reason, I get the impression they think I sit in my office shooting a Nerf ball into one of those mini-hoops as I draw up plays on my white board – all while Bruce Springsteen music blares on my laptop. Although that sounds like a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, the job is a little more in-depth than that.

There are a lot of times when I'm not even in the office. Recruiting and opponent scouting are extremely important parts of building a successful program, and both require you to watch a lot of games in person. I don't mind the travel; it is interesting to get to see new places and different parts of the country. Having spent most of my life in New York City, let's just say the state of Virginia has exposed me to different scenery!

This past weekend featured another one of my journeys throughout the state. I left CNU Friday afternoon after practice and drove three hours to Northern Virginia to watch one of our top recruits play a high school game. On these solo, overnight trips, you typically end up doing some work in your hotel room, watching film and making recruiting phone calls. Depending on your schedule, you might explore the area and try to find a decent place to eat – which is what I did on this trip. I got up Saturday to drive another hour and a half to Winchester, VA, where our next opponent, North Carolina Wesleyan, was playing at Shenandoah University.

Seeing an opponent play live allows you to really analyze and get a feel for what a team is like, more so than just from watching them on film. Film is great – in Division I that's all you can use to scout opponents – but seeing a team in person lets you pick up the little details that can make a big difference. By being there in person you can listen to all of a team's play calls, so that as a coach you can tell your team what play your opponent is going to run before they even start to run it. Seeing players live gives you a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their individual tendencies.  You can also pay more attention to what is going on away from the ball.  During Saturday's game, I sat right by the N.C. Wesleyan bench and could hear what head coach John Thompson (not THAT John Thompson - no relation to the legendary Georgetown coach) was saying to his players throughout the game.

N.C. Wesleyan won the game 83-64. They are a strong team with some really athletic players. However, I am confident we, as a coaching staff, will be able to use the information we have gathered on this trip and from film to put together a solid game plan for N.C. Wesleyan. It will be a test for us on Wednesday night to see where we are at this point of the season and how we compare with one of the top teams in the USA South conference on the road.

We have a big week ahead – after playing N.C. Wesleyan on Wednesday we host preseason favorite Ferrum College on Saturday afternoon. We hope you can come on out and support the team for this big match-up. Have a great week and keep tuning in for more updates from the sidelines!