By Josh Rose
What makes a great coach? One can look at the number of wins or titles a coach has at the end of their career, but there is much more to being the ‘Bench Boss’ than producing numbers. The onus often falls on the coach to turn a rowdy group of talent into an effective title contender, and if a team does poorly, often it’s blamed on the coach.
In 1966, the head coach of the Texas Western College Miners, Don Haskins, changed the essence of basketball. Until then, basketball at the collegiate level had been a predominantly caucasian sport — African-Americans were infrequently placed on teams. Haskins broke all the unwritten rules of the time. He recruited several African-American players and, for the first time in history, started five black players in the NCAA Final Four Championship against the University of Kentucky. The Miners won that game 72-65. In 1997, Haskins was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He retired in 1999 with a 719-353 all-time record and won 14 Western Athletic Conference championships and four WAC tournament titles. Haskins also sent four players to the NBA, including Tim Hardaway, a point guard known for his deadly crossover.
In 2007, Phil Jackson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Jackson is considered one of the greatest coaches in NBA history and is ranked in the top five of ESPN’s 25 best coaches of the last 25 years. He has worked with Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. His coaching style includes an effective use of triangle offence which has been influenced by Eastern philosophy, earning him the nickname ‘Zen Master.’ He holds the record for most championships won, two as a player and 11 as a head coach, and so far Jackson holds a 1,384-589 win/loss record. He retired last season, but there are rumours that he will take over as the head coach of the New York Knicks in the 2012-13 NBA season.
The University of Calgary also has several great coaches. The men’s Dinos basketball head coach Dan Vanhooren is one of them. He started coaching at the U of C in 2000 and turned a team that hadn’t had a winning season in over a decade into a contender within four years. Vanhooren has a master’s degree in sports psychology and is certified by the National Coaching Certification Program at level III.
Another great Dinos coach is the women’s basketball head coach Shawnee Harle. She has coached the team since 1995 and has never missed the playoffs. Harle has her master’s degree in coaching studies and is one of the only basketball coaches in Canada to have a NCCP level V and has served as an assistant coach for the national women’s team on several occasions.
NCCP has five different levels of certification: level III is needed to coach CIS, level V is needed to coach national teams.
It’s no easy task running practices for a collegiate basketball team. Vanhooren has a seasonal practice plan which goes all year so the team peaks in skill at the right time. It includes strength and conditioning, offensive and defensive systems, and special plays.
“When playing teams like the University of Alberta Bears, we watch several films looking for weaknesses we can take advantage of and then we go through the week preparing for the game,” said Vanhooren.
The women’s basketball team prepares for practices differently. The girls start practice with a meeting with Harle and assistant coach Claire Mitton.
“By watching tapes we decide what we need to improve on each week both offensive and defensively in order to prepare for the upcoming opponent,” said Mitton.
Hall of Fame committees evaluate the contributions of players, referees or coaches involved in the game. Coaches are judged by fans, employers and analysts based on their rate of success. It is the players, who interact with their coach every day, who are qualified to properly judge the quality of their greatness. For Vanhooren, Harle and Mitton, coaching is more than a job, it’s something they love.