Vincennes Lincoln Hoops

Here’s a picture of those participating in this year’s elementary basketball clinic. Kids worked very hard and showed lots of promise. Looking forward to them playing for Vigo this year and for Clark and the Alices in the future.

DON’T BE UPSET BY THE RESULTS YOU GET FROM THE WORK YOU DIDN’T DO.

If you can’t tell, I use writing for therapy at times. I know I’m not very good at it, but it seems to help me cope with things when I write them down. Here’s a couple thoughts that have been weighing on me…

It looks like I won’t accomplish another goal this year. I’d hoped to get through the whole school year without missing a day of work. However, I’m likely gonna skip out next Friday. Trust me, I’d rather be at school for sure!

Those of you who know me likely will verify that I keep my “posse” small. I believe in being friendly with everyone, but I keep my friend-list short. I don’t know if that’s a product of being a basketball coach and an ex-school administrator or simply a trait I inherited from my father. I simply don’t make friends easily, rarely go out in public, and keep to myself, my family, and my dogs.

Back to that day off…Next weekend I need to head up to Wisconsin to pay my respects to a dear friend who lost his battle with cancer last week. I don’t handle these situations very well, and I still can’t really fathom we’ve crossed this bridge.

Jay Reed was a parent of a kid in Terre Haute (Josh) who was in RJ’s class. I can’t really remember how, but we got hooked up when the boys were in middle school. Josh was one of the founding members of the Raptors’ AAU team, and Jay was the amazingly supportive father who drove his kid anywhere and everywhere so that he could be part of our program. That team was made-up of mostly Rockville kids with a West Vigo boy, a Northview Knight, a Clay City kid, and Josh. Others came and went over the years, but our nucleus remained constant.

Throughout it all Jay was the supportive parent who loved his family and cherished the small-town atmosphere so much that he eventually moved his tribe to Rockville. He coached cross country for our school and became a very important figure in all our lives.

Jay was always upbeat and positive. There was always a smile on his face and a joke in his heart. It didn’t hurt that he continually irked my wife with his constant bellowing of her name. Once he found it pestered her, it was continual from that day forth.

Jay was my sidekick through many ups and downs. It did matter how successful or notorious the situation might be, he was a friend. He was always there.

When Jay called me a year ago and said he had prostate cancer, he did so with a few off-color jokes and a positive attitude. He continued to do decently for quite some time before the bombshell news exploded a couple weeks ago. A friend casually mentioned that he had heard Jay Reed was on life-support.

To say I was blindsided and staggered by the news was likely too casual for my actual response. I nearly threw up. How had I allowed this to happen?

When I reached out to Josh, he passed along the bad news. The medication Jay had been taking for his cancer had destroyed his heart. While there was still a chance, I could read through the lines of the texts, Jay was not going to make it.

Still, I martialed on expecting the best until I got the text during a pre-Easter family get-together. It was from Josh… “they denied dad’s transplant this morning. He passed peacefully a little bit ago. Thank you for all your prayers.”

Stunned silence…anger…depression… Aside for the horrible loss of my mother two years ago, I don’t recall being more taken aback.

Life is so weird after you lose those who you love. There’s a part of you that’s just missing. All I can say is I love ya’ brother. I hope to see you in heaven someday.

Please continue to pray for Josh and the family. I’m sure they need it more than ever.

Seniors

I wanted to thank this year’s senior class for their great work ethic, leadership, and the tons of effort they gave to the program. They were outstanding leaders, and they modeled the work ethic that others needed to immolate. I was so very glad that were able to experience some success specifically for those seniors. These guys have been through some tough time, it’s a credit to them that they never gave-in; hey battled throughout!

Dillon Bellamy
Dillon is a young man who completely blew his knee out last year prior to me arriving at Lincoln. Despite that, Dillon participated in every event humanly possible for us over the off-season and throughout the year. Dillon was a role player for us, providing practice opposition for starters and leading through positive attitude and effort. Never once did Dillon complain about playing time, nor did he display any displeasure. He just enjoyed being part of the team. He was pleasant and cordial on a daily basis, and he gave maximum effort when on the floor. He is the consummate team player, and he’s a fantastic young man.

Wade Hall
Unfortunately, Wade suffered a stress fracture in his foot with around a month to go in the season. This was one of many setbacks the team had to undergo because Wade was our best passing post player. He also possessed good post moves, and he could step out and hit the three as well. Wade was a cerebral player, often times fulfilling the role the team needed rather than one that he wanted to play. Wade was instrumental in our win over Jasper, and he was a major contributor on a nightly basis. Wade is a young man who would be looking at college basketball had he simply been a little bigger. He was forced to play out of position but excelled at it anyway! Wade is a very intelligent young man who seems to have priorities in place. He’s headed to IU next year where I’m certain he’ll be successful.

Zach Steffey
I wasn’t sure who Zach was when I arrived for summer camp. However, within about 10 minutes I knew who he was, and I was thanking him for coming back out for basketball. He was by far the most athletic player on this year’s team, and he had a competitive drive that was contagious. He simply hated losing and was going to do anything he could to prevent It. Zach has a level of maturity beyond his years, and he had a low tolerance for foolishness. He was a voice of leadership for several of the younger players on the roster, and he also led by example. My biggest regret with Zacch is that I didn’t get here a year or two earlier. That and both he and Luke would have been the missing links on my Rockville team that went 24-1. I didn’t have a guard as good as either of these guys!

Luke Tolliver
Luke was a silent leader who also led by example. Most don’t know how much he suffered with a foot ailment over the season. He was in treatment prior to and after every practice and every game. There were times I felt like I should hold him out because walking simply looked painful, but he would have none of that. Luke was a deadly shooter who was chased by most of our opposition. He had to work hard to get open shots, and he was forced into handling the ball at times as well. It’s hard for a main scoring threat to also have ball handling responsibilities. Luke displayed a great attitude and never took a play off. Every time he pulled up for a shot, I had confidence it was going in.

I hope these three guys will not be strangers to the program. They are welcome back at any time. They are simply part of the family. I am indebted to all four of them. Thank you to them, their parents, and their families. Best wishes to all!

I’ve been peppered with lots of questions and comments about youth basketball of late. I call it “AAU” because that’s what I grew up with, but I’m referring to club ball of all kinds. The stuff that happens after the school season end and runs through the summer.

You need to realize that there are no "right’ or “wrong” ways to approach youth development. I actually took two completely different routes with my two boys.

With my oldest we played on one of the state’s best AAU teams, and that started in the 3rd grade. We traveled to Indianapolis frequently and ended up winning just about every tourney with the Spiece organization based out of Fort Wayne. We won the May Classic, Best of the Midwest, Kentucky Hoopfest. We went to the Atlanta Peach Jam and always ended the AAU season at the Las Vegas Nike event.

My youngest son’s path was the polar opposite. At the age my oldest started traveling the country, Lane sat in the corner on the gym and played with his Gameboy. I didn’t think he was ever really going to play basketball until he reached the 7th grade. We played on the local teams and then created our own AAU teams (with the help from Spiece) at a much later age.

The key was … we did what each kid wanted to do. We didn’t force anything on anyone. If we couldn’t find a team on which to play, we started our own. The most important aspect…we played to have fun. Most of the skill development was actually done in our driveway.

Being the best 4th, 5th, or 6th grader in the state doesn’t really matter. Those rankings are ridiculous and most of that is done by people who are really just promoting themselves. My advice… just play somewhere. Our best resource for years was the Terre Haute Boys’ Club. It provided competition and a place to learn the basics. Don’t worry about being on the A team, the B team, or the C team…just play.

Be wary of AAU coaches making promises. A deal that sounds too good to be true, usually is too good to be true. The marketing ploys utilized by some of these programs often lull people into writing huge checks. If your son is going to be good enough to play college basketball, you won’t need an AAU coach promoting him.

As kids get older, my biggest worry is that kids get caught in an AAU circuit that teaches them nothing. A lot of AAU games are simply organized games of horse… no defense … just one-on-one games with everyone thinking they are Curry, James, or Jordan. If you play somewhere, play somewhere where you actually improve your skills. If you’re not working on fundamental skills (footwork) and defense as much as you are getting shots off, you’re likely wasting time.