Coach Culbertson Interview Part 2

As promised here is the second question from my short interview with Coach Jodi Culbertson;

2.) As a player what would you say were the top 3 things that made you a top level basketball player?

1 - I was very determined and driven to be successful. I was not very athletic so I worked extremely hard on my skills (shooting, ballhandling, passing) so that I would be an asset to the team. I didn't need someone in the gym with me to work on my skills - I did it on my own.

2 - I was a team player. I did all the "little things" to help my team - dove on loose balls, brought energy each day to practice, got my teammates involved, etc.

3 - I LOVED the game - I had a deep love for the game of basketball and truly enjoyed being on the court

Once again coach gave me more than I expected in her answer to my question. Her answers are self explanatory for the most part but I do want to expand on one point she brought up, about how she worked on her skills. When coach said, “I didn’t need someone in the gym with me to work on my skills- I did it on my own” I smiled, because that is an attitude that I can fully relate to. I was the same type of player when I was young and trying to improve my game. I was constantly at the local YMCA, running myself thorough drills like the Mikan Drill, ball handling drills or even simple free throw shooting. I feel that in this time when players are coached from a young age a lot of them grow up feeling that they need a coach with them to improve their game, which is simply not true. Pick up almost any biography on a famous basketball player and you will read about the countless hours they spent alone in the gym perfecting the tiniest aspects of their game while their friends were out having fun. While it obviously is important to be coached and learn from those who have years of experience with the game, players must not forget that putting in the hard work day in and day out is what gets you to the top. There are no secrets, no shortcuts just plain and simple effort, repetition and self-discipline.

I will close this blog entry with a quick story about the exact point in my life when I learned just how much sacrifice it took to become a college level basketball player. I was attending Duke University basketball camp in the summer after my freshman year of high school. One afternoon we were sitting in Cameron Indoor Stadium listening to Steve Wojciechowski give a lecture (For those who don’t know who Wojo is here is the link to his Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wojciechowski) Coach Wojo told us that when he was in high school he knew he wanted to play at the highest level of college basketball, and that he worked his butt off to get there. He told us of countless weekends spent in the gym working on his game while passing on the chance to joing all his at the movies or the mall. The lesson I learned from Coach Wojo’s lecture was simple but profound; Greatness takes sacrifice. There are no short cuts to the top and I think most would agree that’s the way it should be .

In closing here is a quote that I feel sums up what Coach Cublertson, Coach Wojo and I are talking about;

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

-Sir Winston Churchill

Coach Culbertson Interview

Well once again I was unable to go see any live Maine girl’s high school hoops, but I do think you will really enjoy this blog entry anyways. I was able to get in contact with former UMass and Cornell Assistant Coach, former Central Michigan University women’s basketball player and my old boss, Jodi Culbertson. I emailed coach Culbertson a list of 5 questions to get some information on what it takes to be a Division I college level women’s basketball player and she responded quickly with some really great stuff. I am pressed for time currently so I will make separate blog entries for each question. In these entries I will show you both my questions and Coach Culbertson’s full answers and then I will quickly discuss some of the things I found interesting from her answers.

1.) You played at the DI level, could you briefly describe what your recruiting process was like and what factors most influenced you choosing Central Michigan?

I was not a "highly" recruited student-athlete out of high school and the recruiting process was very different back then than it is now. AAU wasn't that big back in the early 1990's so I didn't have the exposure that so many of the athletes have today. However, my parents were terrific during the process and let me do unofficial visits to all the schools that I was interested in attending to meet the coaches and see the school before I made my final decision. My final two choices were Georgetown University and Central Michigan - ultimately, I chose CMU because of it's proximity to home and for the fact that I knew I could be successful in the MAC and was not sure how successful I would be as a player in the Big East. I wanted to make sure I could contribute to the team and I knew I could do that at CMU.

There were two parts of Coach’s answer that really stood out to me, Coach and her parent’s aggressive actions in her recruitment, and her decision to go to a less competitive conference. First I think it is important to understand that as a high school player that not every good player gets recruited but this doesn’t mean that you can not play college ball. Coach knew she was a good enough player to play at the college level, so coach and her parents made the rounds to schools that she wanted to play at and got her name out there with those coaches. I feel many players and their parents make the mistake of waiting for the coaches and colleges to come to them. If you want to be a college basketball player don’t be afraid to get out there and chase down your dream. Email coaches; fill out recruiting interest forms, go visit schools see if you can set up an appointment with one of the coaches. People often think they come across as desperate if they do these things when really most coaches will applaud a player’s enthusiasm even if they do not end up recruiting them.

Coach’s decision to go to CMU over Georgetown was difficult I have no doubt but more than that it was extremely mature and well reasoned. She knew what she wanted to do at the college level and was also realistic about where she could best do this. I think this is a valuable lesson for many Maine hoopsters to learn, just because a school is bigger, in a better division or conference or in a big city doesn’t mean that your playing experience will be any better. As most of you know the state of Maine features only one DI school, UMO, but what many young athletes are not aware of is how many wonderful DIII schools Maine has. Schools like Bowdoin and USM have women’s teams that are almost always competing for the DIII national championships, yet are often overlooked as possible destinations by players because they are small and close to home. Now I am not saying go to a Maine school just because it is close to home, but I am saying do not dismiss these schools by that same logic. It is important as a player to be honest with yourself about your talent and what level you can realistically play at. That is not to say stop improving or working to be a better player who could compete at a higher level, only that when the time comes to make your choice be honest with yourself and trust your own assessment.

That’s all for this entry I hope you find coach’s insight as interesting as I do. I will try and post the second question tomorrow night. If I may be permitted I need to do a little shameless begging of my readers, please click on the ads when you are finished reading my blog entries as each click earns me a few cents. My hope is that someday I will have enough readers clicking on my ads to be able to fully dedicate my time to this site and the promotion of girls basketball in Maine. Thanks Shawn