-The ball stops dribbling at some point. Wanted to stay a part of the game.
-“You find something you love to do and you will never work a day in your life.”
-Working for Bryan Hacker, Lee Rabas and Frank Schade. Learning from them and the differences.
-Got his chance to organize, run practices, deal with parents and kids at a young age. Ran around 200 practices over 5-6 years. Always thought of coaching in college.
-Compliment in Oshkosh Northwestern from Spud Schade gave him a great compliment that gave him a ton of confidence.
-Working Lawrence Yearbook Camp -Incredibly lucky to work for Don Meyer
-Process of obtaining graduate assistantship at Northern State.
-Aberdeen reminds him of Stevens Point. Size of town, community supports institution and basketball program is strong.
-Don Meyer had a PhD -Servant leadership
-Smallest office in Northern State athletic office. Enjoyed the desk and office. Didn’t need anything special. “Did not have a corner office mentality.”
-Shared Ownership Shared Suffering Individual Responsibility Collective Pride
-“Anybody can pick captains. It doesn’t mean they are going to be your leaders.” - Don Meyer
-Make The Big Time Where Your At - Frosty Westering
-“Quality knows no level.” - Don Meyer
-NCAA Tournament run at Northern State
-Opportunity to get in the door at D1. Wanted to give highest level a shot.
-Learning on the fly with flights, hotels, meals, film exchange (VHS), directed all the camps and marketed them, oversaw managers, high school coaches newsletter (free info to coaches-giving back) and recruiting mailouts.
-Currently has four bookshelf full binders with articles, newsletters, sets and clinic notes.
-Be organize and collect as much information as you can.
-Alumni and Coaches Newsletters
-Connection to Coach Buchanan through Coach Rabas (both attended UW La Crosse together).
-Wanted to be back on the floor coaching and recruiting. -All the responsibility as head assistant and in second season had opportunity to become interim head coach.
-As interim head coach knew he had to run the program his way. -Has one of the better winning seasons at UW-Superior in his interim year. -After going through the head coaching process he didn’t feel comfortable that he was going to get the job.
-Was close with Jeff Nicholas who helped him get on staff at UMD. -Wife had a great job in the Duluth area and he loved it up there. Made for a smooth transition. -Enjoyed being back at the scholarship level and having money to play with.
-Fifth move in seven years going from Duluth area to Bismarck. Tough to find housing due to oil boom. Moved in with a few graduate assistants until he found housing. -In charge with offering scholarships immediately. Mistake he made with recruiting was went for long-athletes. But missed out on some more skilled players that other NSIC teams had. -Did a good job staying positive with players but just couldn’t get over the hump and had a ton of injuries. -Process of moving home and trying to figure out where his next stop would be.
-Connection to Brian Butch from high school. Butch called him about working him out and that is how the Brian Butch camps evolved. -Coach Meyer put together a 15 page plan about what to do better the following season after a 27-6 record and Sweet 16 appearance. -Wouldn’t shorten his bench. Believes in giving bench guys minutes and resting starters a few more minutes. -Worry about being out recruiting less. Being with your current team more, keeping mental balance and at the bottom day they are making a decision based on cost. “Collect all the information, but you can only use what you need.” - Don Meyer
