Nate Bracy

Math, Statistics, and Basketball. And the intersection thereof.

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Ben McCollum shares what it feels like to be around first-place people and a first-place culture.

"I went to Northwest Missouri State, and my first practice with Steve Tapmeyer - best coach I've ever been around - I sat there and I'm like, 'This is what first place feels like. This is what a first-place culture feels like. This is what first-place people feel like.'"

That was the wake-up call. He realized what first-place people have:
"They've got an extreme work ethic. They've got an edge to 'em that other people don't - a competitive spirit."

Then he quoted John Thompson:
"You can tame a fool a lot quicker than you can resurrect a corpse...We want guys with a little edge to 'em."

You can coach skills, but you can't coach competitive spirit. You don't want to consistently coach their effort and attitude.

The last thing they look for: Energy givers.
"Over the years, we found that guys that are moody don't make it in our program."

"If you're moody, if you have low energy, if you suck the life out of the building - you don't make it."

Talent isn't enough. Your energy matters. Your attitude matters.

Successful people have a competitive edge, they bring energy, and they look to consistently get better.

They raise the standard through what they do.
(🎥 Watts Happening Podcast)

[Gee McCaslin @prospectu_gee]

After watching a week of college basketball the main thing I’ve noticed:

Combo moves in a training session are a waste of time.

3pt/ reads / straight line drives / finishing with either hand should be the recipe for success.

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

2️⃣ Learn the 20–40–60 Rule early

20s: You worry about what people think.

40s: You stop caring what people think.

60s: You realize no one was thinking about you anyway.

Freedom comes fast once this clicks.

[Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp]

If you spent all offseason playing pickup and small-sided games and just passed the puck to a teammate every time you got 2 defenders on you in overloaded and underloaded ways

You'd spend zero money going through cones AND be insanely more valuable to the hockey marketplace

[Coach Tony Miller @tonywmiller]

Just watched an NBA player drive a single gap. You can imagine what happened.

No one’s above the laws of basketball.

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

“I am genuinely telling you that playing hard is a skill.” - TJ McConnell

It’s controllable.
It’s a choice.

Talent matters.
Skill matters.
But effort is decided.

Do you compete when you’re tired?
Do you play to exhaustion?

[Anthony Pugh @Anthony_Pugh2]

Make catch & shoot 3s
Play defense
Finish off two feet

You’ll play.

[Hoop Herald @TheHoopHerald]

“Those people who can celebrate others’ success live a more stress free, less anxious life” - Jeff Van Gundy

(Via @usabjnt 🎥)

[Todd Wolfson @CoachWolfson]

Dear Coaches.

If you have a @Hudl camera. Record your game for the opponent who is coming to your gym and send it to them. It’s the right thing to do and doesn’t waste someone’s time sitting up there filming for no reason.

[The Winning Difference @thewinningdiff1]

“I used to think that I could affect winning and losing. I,I,I,I I keep using that word. Then it became more of, I have very little control of winning and losing, the only thing I have control of is…am I putting them in a position every day in practice to learn how to win?” Geno Auriemma

🎥 @WDWconvo

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Dan Hurley shares a blunt reminder about what it takes to be great.

"If you can't sit through an hour and 15 minute video session...get out of this industry because this is only for the most competitive people."

The film room isn't glamorous. It's tedious, repetitive, and easy to zone out, but that's exactly why it separates.

The ones who consistently work even when it's boring are the same ones who execute when it matters.

Greatness isn't for the interested - it's for the ones who embrace the boredom of consistency.
(🎥@CollegeGameDay)

[Coach Hill @CoachMarcusHill]

Exposure is a buzzword. Your 14 year old doesn’t need exposure he needs calories and the gym and a good instructor. You don’t need to expose that your kid runs a 7.5 and throws 73. Once he’s 16 or 17 make a list of 5-10 schools you’re interested in, has your desired major, and you can academically qualify for and make sure you play for a program who can call those schools to get them to show up. Everything you’ve been sold about exposure is bullshit. All the money you’re spending to travel all over the place for fake exposure is bullshit.

[The Winning Difference @thewinningdiff1]

"There are a lot of things in life that are understandable but it doesn't mean that they are acceptable.
Bad body language is soft.
Every emotion is okay. Every behavior is not.
It's behaviors and your ability to regulate them that's what leads to excellence...to winning."

[Alan Stein, Jr. @AlanSteinJr]

💡 Every emotion is okay. Every behavior is not.

Elite performers feel everything—frustration, disappointment, pressure.
But they don’t act on impulse. They regulate. They reset. They respond with intention.

Because bad body language doesn’t just show weakness…
It drags the whole team down.

🧠 Emotional regulation isn’t soft.
It’s the separator.

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Mike Leach literally dropped the most underrated mindset for overcoming adversity:

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Geno Auriemma was asked: "What do you look for in a recruit?"

He named 4 things. They have everything to do with life - not basketball.

Simple, repeatable, and transformational.

Here's what they are and why they matter:🧵

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Kelvin Sampson doesn’t mention the word talent once here.

He talks about attitude, effort, body language, and being a good teammate.

Because those are the habits that consistently win.

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Do you want know what coaching is really all about?

Watch 🎥 Brad Underwood explain why coaches coach.

100% spot on.

Coaching GOLD 🥇

https://t.co/Mm0WtqpsIB

[The Winning Difference @thewinningdiff1]

"Tough people do the next right thing.
Guys, when they mess up, they have to do the next right thing."

Champions don’t dwell on the last mistake—
they dominate the next decision.