December 15, 2011

Diary Series: Austin Newton, Asst. Coach - Eastern Kentucky

Almost every program around the country has some variation of a “scout team.”  Whether it’s a bunch of walk-on players, a group of transfers who have to sit, or guys who just aren’t playing up to their potential, the second string is vital to the success of any program. 

As a four year walk-on in the early 2000’s, I became an all too familiar face on the Eastern Kentucky University Colonel Basketball “Scout Team.”  I was fortunate enough my freshman year to do some good things on scout that allowed me to start a few games and play some quality minutes. Even though I didn’t really have the size or talent to be a division 1 basketball player, our head coach wanted to send a message to our team that those who played hard and cared about the team would be the ones who played the most minutes!  That approach was good for a program that was rebuilding at the time, but at the end of the day it didn’t win us many games.

At the start of my sophomore campaign it finally sank in that I may never play another real minute of Division 1 college basketball for the rest of my life.  My college coach told me that my main objective moving forward would be to prepare myself to become the vocal leader and coach of our scout team.  It was my job to be the best possible teammate, cheerleader, and help our scout team simulate our opponents to the best of our ability.  It was the perfect job for someone who wasn’t going to play, but wanted to get into coaching and learn as much as possible about other teams, personnel, plays, etc. Every time we had to simulate another team’s offense or defense gave me an opportunity to learn more about the game and help me develop as a coach.

As an assistant coach it is important to have a group of scout team guys who care about winning and making others better, especially when it is your scout!  One of the hardest things to do is keep a bunch of guys who will probably never play motivated every single day in practice.  As a guy who has unfortunately been a part of many scout teams, here are a few thoughts that I have accumulated over time:

#1  Make other betters!  What small things can you do to help your team win?

#2  Simulate different styles of play:  You have to be able to adjust you game to fit the next opponent.

#3  Beat them down – Make it hard on the starters! Give them an accurate look of what they are up against!

#4  Know when to build them up – Hypocritical of # 3, but there are times to make the starters feel like they are unstoppable!

#5 Make it fun!  Scout team is fun! You get to play different roles, run different sets, learn new things.  Make sure guys make the most out of it and enjoy themselves while doing so!

I mentioned in my last entry that our team started the season with its first eight games away from our home court.  Our players and managers rightfully named this part of the season “No Home November” or #nohomenovember for all of you twitter people.   To put it in perspective, our head athletic trainer David Brajuha, did the final calculations and figured out that we were away from home 19 out of 30 days in November, traveled exactly 4,618 miles, and ate .0026 miles of sub sandwiches.

We knew going into the season that having so many games on the road to start the year would be a challenge for us knowing that we were counting on a lot of new guys to contribute right away.  We certainly found out a lot about our team and developed some mental toughness along the way during “No Home November.”  We finished the 8 game road stretch with a record of 3-5 and picked up some solid wins against teams on their home court.  We were able to get back over .500 to 6-5 this past week after picking up three wins back in the friendly confines of our home arena.  Now finals week is upon us... and then our first conference game!

I hope your season has gotten off to a great start and that you and your family have a healthy and happy holiday season!  Go Colonels!

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