How Top Basketball Coaches Are Communicating, Teaching Via Webinar Series

Jamie Dixon’s friends outside of basketball usually don’t believe him when he says his busiest time of the year comes after the season ends.

Dixon, TCU’s men’s basketball coach, then explains that he spends most days in April and May working out players, meeting with coaches, attending Big 12 conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) meetings, speaking at donor events, helping with camps and clinics, traveling to recruiting events or hosting recruits on campus.

This year, though, the coronavirus pandemic has led to postponements of such events. Dixon is still talking to his assistants and players on the telephone and via Zoom and preparing for next season, but he’s not accustomed to being home so much. Other coaches are in the same situation.

Still, Dixon and dozens of his colleagues from all levels of basketball kept themselves busy from the middle of April through the middle of May by taking part in a webinar series that’s a collaboration between the NABC and Championship Productions, an Ames, Iowa-based company that produces and sells sports instructional videos and runs sports clinics.

The series featured 97 free presentations from the likes of NBA coaches Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs), Billy Donovan (Oklahoma City Thunder), Dwane Casey (Detroit Pistons) and Ryan Saunders (Minnesota Timberwolves), men’s college coaches John Calipari (Kentucky), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Chris Holtmann (Ohio State) and Bill Self (Kansas) and women’s college coaches Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Sherri Coale (Oklahoma) and Jeff Walz (Louisville).

There were also talks from ESPN analysts Jay Bilas, Fran Fraschilla and Seth Greenberg, retired coaches Larry Brown, Bob Hurley and Dick Bennett as well numerous lower-level college and high school coaches and trainers. The topics ranged from X’s and O’s to question and answer sessions to tips on how to motivate players and deal with adversity. 

More than 225,000 people registered, exceeding expectations. The webinars attracted viewers from countries such as Australia, Austria, Philippines and the United Kingdom.

“They were just a smashing success from our perspective,” said Troy Hilton, the NABC’s senior director of association affairs and corporate relations.

The webinars were so successful, in fact, that the NABC and Championship Productions are hosting another series of webinars in June and July. This time, the webinars will cost $49.99 per month, with each having 40 to 50 presentations. People can also pay $124.99 and receive access to all of the webinars from April through July.

Several big names have already committed to speak during the June webinars, including Dixon, Brey, Calipari, Coale, Bilas, Matt Painter (Purdue’s men’s coach), Bruce Pearl (Auburn’s men’s coach), Mike Hopkins (Washington’s men’s coach), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State’s men’s coach). Brenda Frese (Maryland’s women’s coach) and Vic Schaefer (Texas’ women’s coach).

The NABC and Championship Productions had intended to hold a clinic for coaches at the Final Four in early April in Atlanta as well as five clinics in April and May in Chicago, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, S.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Springfield, Mass.

When those clinics were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Hilton worked with Thom McDonald, an executive at Championship Productions, NABC board member and former college coach. Hilton and McDonald have longtime relationships with coaches throughout the sport, yet they were pleasantly surprised with the response.

“To get the kind of coaches we got was just unbelievable,” McDonald said. “If I put out a Tweet right now, we’d get people wanting to do it.”

Hilton and McDonald only had about three weeks to organize and plan the first set of webinars. They weren’t sure what coaches would think about sharing tips or fraternizing with rivals or potential competitors, but no one they invited refused to participate. 

“I don’t look at so much as giving back,” said Dixon, who’s also the NABC president. “It’s doing what we do. It’s a profession of relationships and people and continuing to engage with young and old.”

Joe Gallo, the men’s coach at Merrimack College in the Boston suburb of North Andover, Mass., had planned on speaking at the event in Springfield. After that was cancelled, McDonald reached out to Gallo about speaking during a webinar. Gallo jumped at the opportunity.

On April 30, Gallo discussed the highly effective 2-3 zone defense that Merrimack used last season to win the Northeast Conference championship in its first year in Division 1. The Warriors were first in the nation with a 14.5 percent steal percentage and third with a 25.9 percent turnover percentage, according to analyst Ken Pomeroy.

Gallo’s first webinar received so much interest from viewers that he was asked to present again two weeks later. He happily obliged.

“It’s a great way for coaches to learn from each other,” he said. “You’re not coaching a team so it keeps your brain moving a little bit. It’s a cool way to stay connected with people in basketball.”

Gallo has received emails from coaches from the middle school level to the NBA asking questions about the zone. He’s responded to most of the inquiries, but he still has about 50 emails that he plans on responding to in the coming weeks as time permits. He’s busy with his Merrimack duties as well as helping around the house with his son, who’s turning four later this year. His wife is also due with another son on June 21.

“Whenever I get a chance, I’ll try to knock out three or four emails,” said Gallo, who was named the conference’s coach of the year last season. “If you’re open to sharing, it’s respectful to get back to everybody.”

Gallo has enjoyed watching archived webinars from other coaches, as well, including Saunders, Bill Beilein (Niagara County Community College’s men’s coach), Rob Senderoff (Kent State’s men’s coach) and Hurley, the legendary retired high school coach and father of Bobby Hurley (Arizona State’s men’s coach) and Dan Hurley (UConn’s men’s coach).

“Every now and then I’ll go through the website and see what different guys spoke on,” he said.

He added with a laugh: “But I have not watched my own. I don’t like watching myself.”