Wednesday March 12, 2008

A Program Instead of a Team

A Program Instead of a Team
On my radio show this morning Clemson assistant basketball coach Shaka Smart said something very profound when he explained the difference between a basketball team and a basketball program. I think many of us have noticed a bunch of differences in this program and others we have seen in the sport.

Coach Smart and I were discussing senior day and the pre-game and post-game activities around the wonderful win over Virginia Tech. I asked him about how things were planned for the day and a couple of interesting items came from his answer.

Many times on senior day I have seen other teams go to the locker room and the seniors either stay out on the court or the re-emerge from the locker room while the rest of the team is going through its final preparations for the game. On Sunday, Coach Purnell had the entire team out on the floor watching the festivities. The staff wanted the underclassmen to see the ceremonies and wanted the entire team to take it all in.

Purnell was brilliant once again in this move because he had this in his mind for a few days. It was senior day that actually took pressure off of the task of the ACC and NCAA seedings. In practice and in meetings after Thursday’s loss at Georgia Tech, Purnell and his staff sent a message to the players. He asked the players to play for only one cause. He did not want the team to think about or play for seeding in the NCAA or ACC tournament. He did not want them to play for a first round bye of the ACC tournament. Instead, Purnell’s focus was on the seniors. He wanted the players to focus on giving the senior class a great send off which took attention away from the bracketology talk. Detaching from the outcome and doing anything to focus more on the process and task at hand is a good formula.

There have been some terrific pre-game speeches in Purnell’s career but I can’t imagine any being more moving than asking the team to play for Matt Morris, James Mays, Sam Perry and Cliff Hammonds. Interestingly enough it was two freshmen, Demontez Stitt and Terrence Oglesby, which played huge roles in the win.

Coach Smart then talked about the importance of the roles each class has in a program. He mentioned how important it was for Stitt to learn first-hand from Hammonds every day. Stitt had a perfect role model for how to handle life right there in front of him for the past few months. Hammonds set a great example of how to be a student-athlete, a point guard, a leader and a role model for Stitt.

When a team progresses from being a basketball team to a basketball program it is seen in this example. Now Stitt has the responsibility to pass along the information down to incoming freshmen Andre Young next season. Then Young will pass it along to the next point guard. Mays had to set an example for Trevor Booker and Booker has to get the message to Jerai Grant. In a couple of seasons Grant will need to pass it along to Booker’s younger brother, Devin and hopefully to Milton Jennings.

University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt was not the first to say it but he says, “Tradition never graduates.” Players come and go but tradition is always there because it deals more with the process and the people rather than any individual talent. Hammonds has taught Stitt how to work out in the weight room and in individual workouts after practice. That is the kind of thing that happens at basketball powers. When players are held accountable by other players then coaches don’t have to baby sit.

I have written about it many times and talked about it often on my radio show but it is important to repeat it again here. Clemson Hall of Fame linebacker Jeff Davis tells the story about Danny Ford visiting with him before Davis’ senior season. “The Judge” says Ford told him, “This team can be mine or it can be yours. If you want me to take control I can but we will become a great program when the players take ownership of the team.” Davis says when teammates hold others accountable then the program can move forward.

Now I hope and believe we have seen this transformation in Clemson basketball. I am an optimist but I think the players now understand what is expected of them in every aspect of the program. I know Clemson will miss the four seniors but their hard work laid a foundation that is more important than their individual talent.

Back-to-back 20-win seasons for only the second time in school history is amazing but I think this program can win 20 next season also. Three consecutive 20-win seasons has never been done before at Clemson. Stitt will be improved at the point. Oglesby will work extremely hard in the off season he will continue to be a major offensive threat. K.C. Rivers will be a senior leader and one of the top players in the league next season. Booker should be one of the most dominating players in the post in the conference next year. David Potter continues to improve and should be a major match up issue again next campaign. Raymond Sykes keeps getting better on both ends of the floor and I think Grant will be better than Sykes.

How difficult the league will be next year will depend on who leaves early for the NBA but UNC, Duke and Wake could be national title contenders. But Clemson should be competitive and I think the Tigers could take yet another step towards the development of this program.

Purnell will turn 55 on May 18th and I don’t know if he wants to stay here and how long he wants to coach but the foundation has been set for big things here. Clemson has had good teams but the program has never been better.

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