Joey Herron

Birder (banding and field work), Runner, Basketball coach, photographer. “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.”- Steve Prefontaine

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Coach K shares what it actually takes to get better.

"In order to get better, you change limits."

"When you change limits, you're going to look bad and you're going to fail."

Growth requires pushing past what's comfortable.

And that means you're going to stumble. You're going to look like you don't know what you're doing. That's not a sign you're on the wrong path - it's proof you're on the right one.

Coach K would always emphasize: Failure isn't a destination. It's a checkpoint.

It takes grit to keep going. Courage to try again. And the willingness to endure when it would be easier to quit.

The only way to expand your limits is to test them. (🎥Bloomberg)

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Steve Nash explains what it really means to have a process over outcome mindset.

Everyone wants to win. That's not the problem.

The problem is that most people think about winning at exactly the wrong moment.

"Is winning easy? No. Don't get fooled. Winning is not easy. Expect the unexpected. Expect something you don't expect right around the corner."

📌Nash isn't talking about talent. He's talking about attention. Because the moment you start thinking about the scoreboard - you stop doing the things that put you on it.

"Process over outcome. Do not worry about the outcome. The outcome is winning. Do not worry about winning. Winning takes care of itself."

Read that again slowly.

Winning takes care of itself.

The best performers in the world have figured out that outcomes are lagging indicators. They show up after the work - not during it.

"The process is what wins. The process is what wins."

He said it twice on purpose.

"You're feeling a little bit of pressure - how do we stay winning? Throw all that away. What do I have to do right now, today? How am I gonna give it the best day I can give it?"

📌The outcome is a destination. The process is the vehicle. Most teams lose focus chasing what they want. The great ones stay locked in on what they can control - the next rep, the next possession, the next decision.
(🎥 @ASUFootball)

[Joey Herron @wvsawwhet]

One of my yard hummingbirds celebrating the 4th of July!!!

[Fairmont State Athletics @fsfalcons]

Men's Basketball Announces Staff for 2026-27 Season
https://t.co/8mqJrP04M6

[PGC Basketball - Point Guard College @PGCbasketball]

Great stuff here on spacing!

[Zach Brandon @MVP_Mindset]

Molly Miller on why gratitude is a core value in her program.

“If you can practice gratitude, what it will give back in return is a joyful life.”

Gratitude isn’t just something you feel, it’s something you practice.

🎥: The Win More, Live Better Podcast (Ep. 120)

[Fairmont State WBB @FairmontWbb]

PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AUGUST 30TH! Link below to signup.

https://t.co/ZgjnXFyVZu

[Joey Herron @wvsawwhet]

Completed my 30th Clarksburg 10K today! Ran 53:52, under my goal finish of 55:00! So blessed to still be running….God is good!! He is faithful!!

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

A simple question. Can you answer it?

"So how are you going to coach your team?"

Culture Wins.
Leadership Matters.

Steve Kerr 👇

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

@SportPsychTips Kobe Bryant said, “Practices are meant to be competitive. If your practices aren’t more competitive than games themselves, you’re doing the wrong thing.”

Winning starts with how you practice and prepare.

It means prepare for the toughness of a game 7.

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Brad Stevens said, "This game is about how you act as a teammate. This game is about what you do from the standpoint of supporting one another, embracing roles, and accepting roles."

Great teams have great teammates.

"Those other things are a lot more important than how many minutes you're playing a game, how many points you score, and all that stuff."

Great teammates care about each other.

They commit to the team and they own their roles.

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Shaka Smart said, "Culture is simply how we act, interact, and respond. That's it."

Culture isn't what you say - it's your behaviors and what you do when it counts. It's the environment that you can create.

"You can have stuff up on the wall, but if it's just words on paper, it doesn't really matter. Our job is to bring it to life."

"The most important component is the people in our room."

It's always about the people. They define whether there is character, teamwork, and resilience on a daily basis.

[Fairmont State Men’s Basketball @Fairmont_Hoops]

Youth Camp 2026 was a hit!

Thanks to all the campers that made it such a special 4 days inside of Joe Retton arena!

#SoarFalcons

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Becky Hammon shares what resilience really means - and why the hard parts are necessary.

"Being resilient is both a character trait and a learned skill."

"The tough part about being resilient is that you can only develop this skill through going through hard stuff."

You can't build resilience in comfort. It only comes through the struggle.

"The amount of times I heard no or had a door shut - was the amount of times I was gonna climb through a chimney or a window. I was gonna bust through something to get to where I needed to go."

"Pressing on became an integral part of my story."

Then she said the line that says it all:
"I wouldn't change the hard parts. Because the hard parts were necessary to build the strength needed for whatever challenge was coming."

Don't run from hard. Embrace the adversity because it's building something in you.

Every setback and challenge is preparing you for what's next.
(🎥 Basketball Hall of Fame)

[Joey Herron @wvsawwhet]

Stunning Blackburnian Warbler……Cooper’s Rock State Park, Mon County, WV…..June 2026. I never get tired of seeing these guys!!!

[PGC Basketball - Point Guard College @PGCbasketball]

The Groundwork: Honor Boundaries

Conflict and frustration are inevitable in competitive basketball, but how you handle them dictates the culture of the entire program. True discipline extends beyond the hardwood—it is the unseen labor of emotional control when competitive juices are flowing. Honoring communication boundaries protects the team's ecosystem and builds the emotional maturity required for scholarship-level athletes.

⛹🏽 Take ownership of your development. If you are frustrated with your role, do not vent to your teammates in the locker room. Have the maturity to approach your coach directly and respectfully to ask how you can better serve the team.

📋 Set the standard before the season begins. Proactively communicate your boundaries to families regarding how and when they should contact you. When those inevitable tough conversations happen, approach them with professionalism, clear expectations, and empathy.

👪 Master the emotional discipline of the three T’s: Timing, Tone, and Target. Always apply the 24-hour rule before reaching out. Keep your tone non-judgmental, recognizing that you rarely have the complete picture of what happens in practice. Above all, protect the target: never bash the coach to other parents or to your child. (Note: The only exception is if a child is being humiliated or abused—that requires immediate escalation).

Approach every situation with maturity and empathy.

#PGCCamp #BasketballIQ #TheGroundwork #HonorBoundaries #TeamCulture #UnseenHours

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Do you lie to yourself?

“When you experience failure you have two options. You can either tell yourself the truth or you can lie to yourself.”

Be a truth teller. Failure is growth.

Kara Lawson 🥇

[Fairmont State Men’s Basketball @Fairmont_Hoops]

Last day to register for our Youth Basketball Camp! Registration will close tomorrow at 12 PM. Click the link below to register:

https://t.co/4bibTuvubX

[Bryce Butler @bball_brainiac1]

Gerry McNamara told Syracuse on day one of summer practice that championships are built on what you do every single day.

Not one great performance, not one great season, but every day consistently & repetitively.

And when your coach pushes you harder than you think you can handle, that’s not them working against you….

That’s them telling you they already believe you can do it. The pressure is the compliment.