I have been involved in the player development profession going on six years. I understand that I have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but I would like to share my experiences thus far in skill training and how I found my authenticity to approach skills training and help maximize a player’s potential. Here is my current path through player development.
I received my start in player development when I joined the coaching staff at my alma mater, Kean University (Union, NJ), as a student assistant. I had one semester left in the winter of 2013 and my coach thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn and get a taste of the coaching side. I know there are a lot of people who have started out in the same situation as me and, let’s just say, it was a huge adjustment knowing you are not the player anymore and your playing career has no weigh in on how you will be as a coach. From practice planning, recruiting, scouting, film, game planning, administrative work, etc., you quickly realize how much goes into preparing for a successful season as well as building towards a future. I developed this appreciation for the coaching process, something you take for granted at times as a player.
As a student assistant, it was a tough situation to have much authority with the guys on the team considering I was still a student and most of the guys on the team were close friends/former teammates. I spoke to my coach about the situation and he suggested that I take charge of the programs player development. It was the perfect role for me as it gave me a chance to lead the group, learn from mistakes, and stay on the court where I was comfortable. As the season went on, I worked with the team in different situations through workouts, practices, etc. I developed a passion for coaching, specifically, player development. My passion really grew when I continued to see progress over time from the players I had been working with throughout the course of the year. We finished the season just coming up short in the ECAC (Metro Region) Championship. In the video above, you can see the beginning of my early days in skill training.
After the season finished up, I returned back home to the southern New Jersey area near Atlantic City. That passion for coaching and skill development stuck with me and I wanted to pursue it outside of a team setting. I was on every social media platform seeing skill trainers who were successful running camps, working with high level players, and instructing workouts, giving me motivation to do the same thing. I felt that it would be a great way to share my knowledge to players in the area and continue to learn.
In the summer of 2014, I started my own training business called LabWork Basketball Elite Skills Training LLC. I was fortunate enough to have several clients early on through some connections I had built growing up in the area. My workouts were very inconsistent at first, generally because I was using drills that I had seen on YouTube or what I used with the players at Kean. I had yet to find my own way of teaching. I still enjoyed working with the players, but I know I needed to continue studying the game to enhance my workouts.
After a year of skills training, I had grown my business, learned more about the game, and was comfortable running private/small group sessions. I will be honest, I wasn’t confident that the workouts pertained to the players needs. Everything was still a learning process and my business was growing faster than my knowledge for the game and the details to being a great player development coach.
At the age of 25, I was the Associate Head Coach at Kean University for the 2015-2016 season.After a full year of running LabWork Basketball, I made a decision to take a step back from training and return to my Alma Mater to be the Associate Head Coach for the men’s basketball team at Kean University in the fall of 2015. My decision to return was based on advice that I had been given that summer by a few coaches I worked with at Duke Men’s Basketball Camp. They told me that if I truly want to be great in player development, I should coach first to gain more experience and learn more about the game. To this day, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made for my coaching/training career.
Previously, when I had been a student assistant the year prior, I spent a ton of time on the court with the players, but did not get to learn all the ins and outs of the actual coaching duties. Coming back on staff gave me a chance to become a true student of the game. From watching film, putting together scouts, learning offensive and defensive schemes, I was able to dive into all the details that the game has to offer.
During that year of coaching, I would wake up at 4:30am, make my coffee, breakfast, and head into the office where I would meet my head coach Rob Kurzinsky by 6:00am. I used my mornings as professional development time. Watching film, taking notes of clinics on YouTube, reading articles, listening to podcasts, etc. I did whatever I could to constantly learn and improve my craft. Every day after my professional development time, my day would consist of practice planning, scouting, recruiting, and meetings. It was crucial to have that time in the early mornings to grow. Afternoons and evenings consisted of working out, practice, and going to recruit. Most of the season I was working 16-18 hour days. Wake up, coffee, hoops, coffee, hoops, sleep, repeat.
My advice to any young person that is trying to get into training; coach, form genuine relationships, attend clinics, watch film, work camps, grind. As you go through the grind, you have to understand that there will be no immediate success. You have to live what you preach. If you’re telling players that everything is a process individually and collectively, then you have to know it’s a process to become a great coach or trainer. It’s all about your approach every day, trying to get the most out of the 24 hours you have.
Throughout the season, as I continued my daily tasks and responsibilities, I was constantly networking and looking to connect with other respective coaches/ trainers. When the season came to an abrupt end at the beginning of March, I attended the Final 4 down in Houston, Texas. It was a great opportunity for me to meet coaches and attend all of the clinics, coaching parties, and games. Into the summer, I worked and met coaches at several camps along with running my workouts back in southern New Jersey, but I was searching to work alongside other trainers and learn more in skill development.
The biggest opportunity that I received came early in 2016. I had met Professional Skills Trainer Damin Altizer the previous summer (2015) briefly at Duke Camp. We later networked through social media where I admired his work and how he approached not just the game, but life. As we continued to stay in touch since we had met, he later invited me to come to Virginia in the summer of 2016 and coach at the Dr1ven NEXT Project. I had seen video of the camp online, making me eager to go learn from the other coaches and work with a great group of players.
The biggest thing that struck me about this camp from the moment I arrived was that there was more going on than just basketball. It was a camp where “little things” were the focus and learning to be a leader on/off the court were more important than the moves we could teach a player. It was about holding players accountable and pushing them beyond the limits that they never thought was possible. It was about creating a culture and forming a bond that would last forever. A true family environment that I had never been a part of before.
I had attended the camp just to volunteer and go where ever Damin needed me. I didn’t go with an ego thinking I should have had a defined role. Just tell me what I need to do and I will do that job to the best of my ability. After two days in, getting acclimated to the staff and the players, Damin asked if I wanted to lead a session. My mindset has always been to be prepared when opportunity strikes. It was a chance for me to teach what I knew and lead the group in front of Damin, the players, and the staff. That was my first time working with a larger group, so I spent the night before scripting out exactly what the workout would entail. I quickly learned the next day, as it holds true to coaching, you rarely follow through with everything written down. Adjustments are always made and you have to be able to think on the fly ensuring an effective session/practice.
After my session, I received compliments from Damin and the staff. I went through the rest of week soaking up everything I could. I continued to coach, provided energy, formed relationships with the players, etc. The week quickly flew by and before you knew it, I was in my car driving seven hours back home. It was the most fulfilling experience I had ever been a part of and couldn’t thank Damin enough for the opportunity. I had learned so much about skill training that I was anxious to get home and start summer workouts. I gained a ton of confidence with my teaching from that past year that it made my training sessions much more effective than the previous summer.
During the summer of 2016, I was running training sessions in southern New Jersey and coaching at Kean in northern New Jersey keeping me busy constantly going back and forth for two months of the summer. In August 2016, I received a call from Damin. We had texted frequently once camp ended and had mentioned to me jokingly about becoming a member of Dr1ven Training. For those of you that don’t know what Dr1ven Training is, it’s a global basketball skill development business that has worked with clients from the NBA all the way to the youth level. Between NBA Trainers Damin, Tyler Relph, and Tim Martin, camps have been run in several countries and all throughout the United States. Damin and I spoke on the phone one evening for over two hours discussing our training philosophies, beliefs, branding, business, etc. In the watered down business of player development, you have to make sure you have trust in the person you are planning with to collaborate. There must be chemistry in all aspects, on and off the court. After our phone call, he gave me some time to think about my decision to drop the brand that LabWork Basketball was, and start to represent Dr1ven Training.
It took me about two weeks to think long and hard about my decision. I put things in perspective. A year prior to this, I had just started my journey with player development and coaching. A year later, after running my own training business and serving as an Associate Head Coach in college, I am being offered to join forces with the best trainers in the world. Again, be prepared for when opportunity strikes and continue to grind. I called Damin back and told him that I was fully committed to join Dr1ven.
As the summer of 2016 was coming to an end, I had to inform my head coach, Rob, at Kean that I was stepping down as Associate Head Coach and moving back home. It was a difficult decision to leave considering I had only been there for a year. Having played for the same coach, it was a tough to leave with our relationship at its strongest. My reason for leaving was solely financial. Struggling to pay bills, working full-time for a part-time salary, and living in northern New Jersey was no cheap ticket. Some could argue to continue the path and grind, but sometimes you must make a decision that is best for yourself.
Returning home in the fall of 2016 was bittersweet. I left the area to pursue coaching and then, a year later, I am back where I started. Except this time, I was starting with a whole new mindset that a year of coaching and training had given me. My knowledge for the game raised to another level and I was able to be authentic with my approach. I understood the process to continually improve my craft both as a coach and a trainer, benefitting my workouts tremendously. Early on with my training, a lot of my workouts consisted of drills and teaching points that had come from other coaches/trainers. Sure, we all “steal” drills from each other as coaches/trainers, but I didn’t have “my way” of teaching which was all due to inexperience and lack of knowledge.
The year of coaching at the collegiate level allowed me to find that authenticity of how I wanted to teach the game and what I thought was the best way to communicate my knowledge effectively to players. I knew that once I identified my way of teaching, continued to grow and improve my craft through professional development, the sky was the limit. In a profession that is so diverse and people do not have to be accredited, I think it is crucial that you stick to what you believe in, surround yourself with like-minded people, and constantly learn, grow, and connect every day.
The fall of 2016 was the beginning of my journey with Dr1ven Training. My workouts were great, business was flourishing, and my network in the training world continued to grow. I used social media strictly for basketball purposes and I loved being able to use the platforms to share content helping others learn as it has been my way of growing as coach/trainer as well. As my local fall training was in full swing, I was able to get away for one weekend to work clinics down in Virginia. I was fortunate enough to get back on the court with Damin as well as meet other coaches/trainers from the Virginia area. After I returned and fall workouts were coming to an end, I had a couple of parents approach me about coaching at the local middle school for the 2016-2017 season. My plan at the time was only do training and be able to go watch my clients play during their respective seasons in the winter.
The thought of coaching at the middle school level had never crossed my mind. Considering the fact I had come off a year of coaching in college, most people would have allowed their egos to play a factor and quickly turn it down. After giving it some thought, it was an opportunity for growth. I ran my own practices, my own team, learned some in-game coaching, and helped players develop. I understood that it was middle school and no coach at that level was as passionate about basketball as myself, but I treated the situation as a way to develop my craft and connect with the community.
Once my fall training came to an end and players began their seasons for the winter, I coached the Northfield Middle School boys basketball team for the 2016-2017 season. I stayed true to myself, no ego, and took on the challenge. It was a humbling experience. I learned so much about myself, was able to make a positive impact on the players I coached, and became engrained into the community. After the season, my workouts vastly grew in the area as I started working with players ranging from the youth to the pro level. I continued to invest in my craft through film, video clinics, reading, etc. I made a quick trip down to Virginia to get on the court with Damin where we filmed some content and talked hoops, life, future plans.
As spring 2017 rolled around, I was in full training mode. My daily workouts with players ranged in skill sets. At the time, I was still learning what the most important needs were for each client. Details were important as I geared up for my biggest summer to date. In June, I went to Duke Men’s Basketball camp for the sixth year in a row, immediately headed to the Dr1ven NEXT Project for my second year, worked Elite Guard Training Live at the end of July, and headed to Beijing, China in August to work with the 14U National Team. Stay humble, be a life-long learner, be genuine, form relationships, you never know where this life may take you.
Skipping ahead now to 2019, I have worked with thousands of players ranging all levels of basketball. I have and currently run camps/clinics locally, throughout the east coast, and in different parts of China. I co-authored a curriculum with Damin for the Dr1ven NEXT Project. I do film consulting for NBA/College players. My coaching circle continues to grow as I will be running programs with Pro Skills Trainer Michael Rossetti in New York and a camp with my long time friend in San Francisco this year. I have also been an assistant coach for the Stockton University men’s basketball team the past two seasons. None of these things are possible without staying true to yourself, learning, growing, and connecting.
I would have never thought I’d be in the position I’m in now six years ago. I have learned so much in such a short period of time and I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface. I continue to live by the word “Kaizen,” a Japanese word that means daily improvement. You have to stay patient and trust in your process. Be authentic and never forget where your journey began. Every morning I wake up, turn on the coffee maker, take a look outside, and appreciate everything that I have in my life. If you don’t appreciate life and the close ones you have in it, none of this basketball stuff matters. Understand that you need an amazing circle of people who will support, love, and care for you to succeed on the path you want. Being on my path in basketball for the past six years is not possible without my incredible circle and I will need them more than ever as I am excited to see what the next five years will bring!
