Hoops Clinics For Island Coaches
Wednesday - September 22, 2010
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Basketball coaches, this column is for you.
If you’re a hoops coach at the youth level all the way up to the high school level, whether you’re a coach for boys or girls, there’s a chance this week for you to meet and hear from some of the top names in coaching.
Former national championship coach Jim Harrick (UCLA/Georgia/Pepper-dine), plus college coaching legends Pete Gillen (Virginia/Providence/Xavie r) and Dave Odom (Wake Forest/South Carolina), and Chaminade’s former PacWest Coach of the Year Matt Mahar, will all be featured in the Adidas Hoops Clinic this week at three venues in the Islands.
“We want to get the coaches of Hawaii excited about the game of basketball,” says Odom, who is now chairman of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
EA Sports, along with host Chaminade, set up the clinics that will be held this week at three sites: Kapolei High School gym from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22; at McKinley High School gym, 5-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23; and on Maui at Kamehameha Schools gym from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25.
“This is a good experience for me,” says Mahar, who led Chaminade to PacWest men’s basketball titles in 2006 and 2008 and was Coach of the Year both times. “It will be great to work with such such big names. I’ll admit people aren’t coming to see me. I think of myself as the appetizer and these guys are the meal. I think these legendary coaches are going to get people really excited about the upcoming season.”
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Odom says that local coaches who attend will learn some good things during the four-hour sessions.
“The game of basketball needs to be taught from the ground up,” Odom says. “What I mean is that you need to stress fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals!”
He says the recent World Championships won by the United State team underscores that.
“The U.S. just captured the gold medal at the World Championships in Turkey,” he says. “I was with them for a week in July in Las Vegas when they were just putting the team together. Every day, they stressed the fundamentals of catching, passing, dribbling, defense - and playing as a team. They did it every single day!
That made the difference. Every team, no matter what level, needs to do the same thing.”
Mahar says the message to the local coaches will be very helpful. “These three guys aren’t just names- they’re entertaining and very informative. Coaches here are going to learn a lot.”
The clinic also is a good way to get people excited about the upcoming EA Sports Maui Invitational, scheduled for Nov. 22-24 at Lahaina Civic Center.
This year’s field is loaded, with Kentucky, Connecticut, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Virginia, UCLA, Washington, Wichita State and host Chaminade. The Silverswords face Michigan State in the opening round.
“We’re excited,” Mahar says. “We also face Hawaii in an exhibition game (Nov. 6 at Stan Sheriff Center), so we’ll have a chance to get ready.”
Meanwhile, this week boys and girls coaches from around Oahu and Maui will have a chance to get themselves ready by attending the Adidas Hoops Clinic with coaches Harrick, Odom, Gillen and Mahar.
The cost of the clinic is $25. Call 735-4790 for more information. Register at the clinic site or online at goswords.com.
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