Observing, Listening, and Learning

So what do you do? If you’re Del Harris, the answer is simple. Watch more basketball, of course.

 

Actually, basketball is a year-round passion for Collegiate’s boys varsity hoops coach, whose team finished 18-11 this past season, his first heading the program. In addition to his classroom and athletic department duties, he direct Team Richmond Garner Road 17U Elite and runs camps and clinics, provides mentoring, and delivers motivational speeches as head of the Del Harris Basketball Academy.

 

This past weekend, he took a break from his Richmond responsibilities to travel to Phoenix for the annual National Association of Basketball Coaches convention, held in conjunction with the Final Four.

 

“It was an amazing experience,” said Harris, an NABC member for 10 years. “(The conference) was something I think every coach should go to. Doesn’t matter the level. Doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been coaching or if you’re a fresh guy starting out of the gate. It’s a great experience to network and learn.”

 

Harris’s whirlwind adventure in the desert began when his American Airlines flight touched down in Phoenix on Wednesday, March 29. He spent much of the next five days reconnecting with old friends, listening, observing, picking brains, and absorbing knowledge that he’ll apply to his own coaching.

 

“This year, there weren’t so many big-name speakers,” he said. “It was more round-table talk, guys sharing drills, ideas, and strategies. One of the biggest things I picked up was a really good read-and-react drill. This drill will be good from the varsity level all the way down to the Cub level.”

 

Harris has coached for 15 of his 38 years. He’s served as an assistant at Richmond, Virginia Military Institute, and Morgan State and as head coach from 2008 – 2013 at Division III Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

 

While in Phoenix, he had the opportunity to spend time with three of his Vassar assistants: Matt Healing (head coach at Pace University), Josh King (assistant at New Hampshire), and Sean Rigotthi (assistant at Franklin D. Roosevelt High near Poughkeepsie).

 

“I like to be around the younger guys just getting their feet wet, talking to them about, ‘Hey, is college basketball really what you want?’” he said. “You can get just as much gratification from a high school program where you’re appreciated. Basketball’s basketball. Coaching’s coaching. Doesn’t matter the level.”

 

While many visitors attended the Final Four for the games, Harris was there to observe the free-of-charge, open-to-the-public practices. Watching Oregon and North Carolina go through their workouts provided pointers that he’ll use with his Garner Road and Collegiate squads.

        

“I’ve learned from experience that just because you see something (at these workouts), they have high level players,” he said. “You have to implement that into high school. It’s the same, but it’s different. I was that coach, early on, that said, ‘Hey, what (Kentucky) Coach (John) Calipari is talking about looks great.’ He has lottery picks. That won’t work with the younger kids.

 

“I’m big on fundamentals. I’m watching the small things, if the first shot they took was right under the basket, getting their rhythm, getting their form going, not coming in the gym and bombing a 3. I watch the flow, the confidence, the camaraderie. You can tell that teams at that point really like each other. The teams where the dynamic is wrong aren’t there.”

 

Harris watched the semifinals Saturday night on the big screen with about 150 other coaches at a Hoop Group get-together at a Scottsdale, AZ, restaurant. He flew back Sunday and caught the finals Monday from the comfort of his La-Z-Boy. As North Carolina and Gonzaga played on college basketball’s largest stage, he made mental notes and texted away with a host of like-minded friends.

 

“I’m very blessed,” he said, “whether I’m substituting here at Collegiate or coaching a game or doing motivational speaking or at the Final Four. I love being around kids. I’m a people-person. I’m a lifelong learner. Stay humble with that, learn how to laugh, and keep going to the next day.”

         -- Weldon Bradshaw