Built After Work: Coaching, Fatherhood, and Discipline

Season 2, Episode 4 of the Discipleship Hoops Podcast features Coach Gerald Cornelius, Head Basketball Coach for Victors Homeschool Sports.

This episode is different!

Coach Cornelius is a full-time working man, a father coaching his own sons, and a leader building a program the right way in the homeschool basketball space. This conversation is about commitment, sacrifice, and showing up consistently, even when it’s not convenient.

In this episode, we talk about:

- Balancing work, family, and coaching
- Leading and coaching your own children
- Building structure and discipline in a non-traditional system
- What it really means to develop young men through the game
- Doing the work when nobody is watching

This is a conversation for coaches, parents, and anyone trying to lead their family and community the right way. If you believe in discipline, accountability, and building something that lasts, this episode will speak to you.

Subscribe, share, and help us continue building leaders through the game.

For sponsorship opportunities and partnerships, visit our website.
www.jimmiellucas.com

Discipleship Hoops Podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to Discipleship Hoops Podcast, where basketball meets purpose. This isn't just about mastering skills on the court, it's about developing the complete athlete. We're here to help young players grow stronger, smarter, and more skilled while deepening their character and strengthening their faith. At Discipleship Hoops, we believe basketball is more than a game. It's a platform for transformation, teaching discipline, teamwork, and resilience. Together, let's empower the next generation of leaders to excel both on and off the court. Next is Discipleship Hoops through basketball.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

And with the continuation of bringing you this phenomenal guest, that that the basketball aficionados in the great state of Mississippi. And had the pleasure just to watch his journey through basketball. And with on the homeschool community side of things, you know, it's uh it's public, it's private. And then yes, there is a homeschool community that that's hooping. All right, you guys out there and they're hooping. So to my left, none other than um the Victor's head basketball coach, uh, Mr. Gerald Cornelius. Thank you, sir, for joining us. How are you doing today? Doing good, man. Thank you for having me, man. I appreciate it, man.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

So look, let's just hop right into it. First, introduce yourself to the world. Uh, my name is Coach Gerald Cornelius. Uh, I'm a husband, father of five, uh lover of Christ, man, and just excited about coaching, coaching young men to learn how to play the game of basketball and be a mentor in life.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

That's good. So let's, let's, let's, as we get into it, let's stay right there for a minute, right? Like you just mentioned, you know, all those things. And, you know, we talk, I talk to men a lot of times, and it's like, yes, we're a father, yes, we are a working man, yes, we are, you know, a coach, but uh ultimately, you know, the the thing that gets our why every morning is is Christ, right? It's God. And and uh you you're the center of that when you talk about, you know, the what I like to say, the pillars of faith, family, uh, um, and and those types of things. So what's that journey like? Like, what's that journey like knowing that, all right, when that alarm clock goes up, goes off, and you get ready for work, and you know, you got your family there at home, then you gotta go to a full-time job, and then at the end of that day, you gotta find some type of energy to coach basketball. Right. So, what's what's a day-to-day net type like for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Man, um, just first prayer, man. I mean, like you said, it is a lot involved when you're a uh full-time employed and a father, a husband, and trying to coach a high school basketball team. Right. Um so first and foremost, just getting that power, that strength that comes only from the Lord. Uh, that's kind of the first thing that gets my day leveled off, gets me going. Um, and then just the calling that God's put on my life. Yeah like I see coaching basketball as a ministry that he's placed me into. So first and foremost, I'm I'm not a coach, I'm a Christian.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

And so everything I do leads off with that. So um just kind of fully um giving myself over to these things, knowing that that's the calling he's given me, and knowing that um it's a responsibility. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, days are long, you know what I'm saying? And then, you know, it's not always easy, but he continually gives me the strength, man, to get up and do what I need to do. And on those days that may not be as good as some other days, uh, I have a great support system, my wife, my kids, right, uh, good friends, good assistant coaches that that pull me up, man, and yeah, give me that strength that I need, man.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Yeah, I mean it's good that you say that. I think it's I and I I may be wrong on the on the author, but I think it's Theodore Roosevelt had a um has a poem or quote about the man in the arena. Right, and he talks about like so many people worry about the wins and the losses, right? So many people worry about like just the shiny things, right? And and really the victor, right, the winner is the one who just shows up. That's it, right? Right, showed up, show up tired, show up, scarred, showed up, not in a good mood. But the fact that you showed up and understand that you have, you know, 15 to 25 to 30 kids like ready to go and hungry, right? That don't care what you what you've done the last 10 hours. Don't care one minute. Make you come in ready to go 100% every day, man. You know? Right, every day. So what's that like for you? Like, you know, 10-hour day, them kids like, come on, coach, what what we gonna do? And you walk in there and you like, all right, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Man, look, man, honestly, it it's a journey, man. Yeah, yeah. Like it's a it's a it's a everyday getting that strength. You know what I'm saying? And and I would be disingenuous to sit here and say every day I come in with the the same amount of vigor as the next day. That's just not true.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

Thank you to season two sponsor, Dogwood Pediatric Dentistry. At Dogwood Pediatric Dentistry, they go far and beyond providing top-tier dental care in Flowwood. They create a warm, fun, and compassionate environment where your child feels safe and valued. Their mission is to partner with parents in nurturing healthy smile throughout your child's formative years. They are committed to offering state-of-the-art care while ensuring every visit is enjoyable and stress-free. Dogwood Pediatric Dentistry. You can reach them at 601-992-0007 or send them an email, Dogwood Pediatric Dentistry at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Thank you. Dogwood Pediatric Kitchen. Um and one thing I've learned in this process is there is a level of vulnerability that you have to have.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Like sometimes, some days I just don't have it, man. Right. Some games I just don't have it. And I've learned probably more so this last year to kind of seek God, to kind of get myself to an equilibrium where I can say, okay, I don't have it today, Lord. I need your strength. Right. You know what I'm saying? I got to find this juice, so to speak, to get these guys, because like you said, they want it. Right. You know, they expect me to come in the same coach, same uh aggressiveness, same, same vigor, and and when they don't see that, they're kind of like, okay, what's going on? They're not used to that. So this year, especially, I've kind of learned just to, hey, I gotta be consistent in how I bring it each and every practice, each and every game. Um, and it's not easy, man. We're humans, you know what I'm saying? So there's an up and down that goes with it. Yeah. But um, man, when you have a good support system, it makes it so much easier, man.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

So much easier. Yeah, that's good. I mean, that's good stuff. And then, like, speaking of your support system, like your sons, right, as part of that support system, but also players that's there sitting and wait for you to show up, right? Yeah, definitely. And so, you know, I I I uh uh just training myself. I never had the opportunity to coach my oldest son, but just training him was like, I was like, okay, fine, you know what? I'm gonna pay somebody else to train. Because I can't I'm not finna deal with your attitude. Yeah, I know, but you preaching that. And uh, and I mean, I mean, you've coached my son, right? And so, like, what what's what is that like coaching your son?

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Man. Um it is a blessing to have the opportunity to coach my son. Right. Uh it really is. Um, but with that, there's some there's some things that have to that you have to navigate. Yeah, yeah. You know, um it I think it was a learning curve for them to kind of see, hey, coach and dad, and how do we kind of differentiate between between coach mode and dad mode. Right. And and even myself kind of compartmentalize it. You know, when I come here, I'm coach. Right. Respect me as coach, let's keep it like that. Right. And it it seems like I've I've learned as I'm getting a little older, a little more mature, that I don't have to compartmentalize that. Like sometimes even on the court, they need dad. They don't need coaches. Right, right, right. You know, they need me to to talk to them a certain way. Right. And um, and so I think this last year I've kind of kind of grown more comfortable in just realizing I kind of just gotta go with the flow. I gotta, I gotta go wherever it that that leads me, so to speak. Um so I think we're we're we're we're starting to figure it out. You know, uh one thing about it, you know this one thing, uh something that works with one of your one of your kids may not work with the other one. So uh with Daniel, I make him I make him be a little bit more vocal, a little bit more, hey, you need to you need to get going. Right. With Caleb, uh I gotta tone it back a little bit. Right, right. He's not gonna respond like that. So it's a blessing, man. I I mean I love the opportunity just being with them, being able to speak into them. But one thing, one thing I have learned, I will tell you this, I can't want it for them. Oh, yes, absolutely. Hey, we get caught up in that. We like, hey man, you know, look, hey, let's do this, do this. Get up and get up and get your running in, get your shots up. And yeah, hey, you gotta have that. Yep. I can't make you have that. Right. So I'm kind of like, hey, this is y'all's journey.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Dad, dad done been there, that's over with for me. Right, right, right. So y'all on y'all journey. If y'all want it, y'all will go get it, but I'm I'm past the phase of making you do different things. Exactly, right. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Yeah, I mean, that's good. I mean, that's that's really good because I remember um my son Tristan, who's at Coland now, uh the summer of his tent going to 11th grade year, he came to me and he was like, all right, dad, I don't want to do the AAU anymore. I just want to train and working with craft, right? And then since that day, he was like, he came to me and was like, Dad, can you take me to the gym? Dad, can we go to the gym? And I knew then, I was like, okay, the light bulb then went off. Right? When when it like to your point, right? When he decided that he wanted it and I didn't want it for him, and he took that ownership of his game, man, I that's when I saw him elevate his game and take off.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

That's it, man. Um, well, you know, one thing, just speaking on that, um I've been training my boys probably the last three summers. And so this past summer, uh, my oldest came, he was like, I'm good. Right. I'm like, what you what you mean you good? Like, I don't need you to train me this summer. And that was like, oh, whoa, you know what I'm saying? What you mean? You don't need this. And he was like, no, I want to take ownership of it. Okay, yeah. And that was a little hard for me to navigate. I'm like, bro, I I know what you need. Right. You don't know what you ain't did this. Right. You know what I'm saying? I know what you need. And he was like, nah, dad. Right. And I said, okay, you know what? We're gonna try it your way. Right. And we'll see how it works out. You know what I'm saying? But but at first, I kind of kind of my feelings a little bit. And I said, no, this is maturity. Right, yeah. Like he's taking ownership of it. Let me step back. Yeah. And you want to train yourself, go to work. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's very good. So, you know, John Whitden, he uh has his one of my favorite quotes of all time for John Wooden. He says that basketball uh reveals character, it doesn't build it. Um so as a father instilling principles and beliefs and core values and spirituality and all those types of things like that that we want to put in our our children, especially our boys, uh how have you been able to shape their character through the game of basketball?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Man, I think just consistently pushing those things that I know they're gonna need in life, to number one, be godly men. Right. But to number two, be mature and responsible men out here in this world. Right, right. So that starts with hard work, starts with commitment, it starts with accountability. Like all those things we just preach. You know what I'm saying? I preach it in practice and I try my best to preach it at home. Right, right. Like, let's be responsible for what we do. One thing I always tell them about, hey, like even in chores, right? Like, do your best. Right. Don't don't have your mom calling you back three, four times. Right. Do your best the first time. Exactly. And and and that shows your character. So, man, I just try to continually, first, I first I need to live it. Right. You know what I'm saying? If I'm not living it, I'm telling them, hey, do this and do that, but I'm not doing it. Exactly. That's just wasted breath, right? So I want to live it in front of them. And then I want to be vulnerable, man. I'm learning, you gotta be vulnerable. When you mess up, you gotta tell them, hey, look, man, I I didn't do a good job. Right. Right. So I want you to see that. Like, that's not how we move. Right. So I gotta get right. And then, you know what I'm saying, hey, hey, let's let's get right together. Right. But um, yeah, those core values, man, just just each and every day trying to pour into them. Some days I do a good job. Yeah, some days I don't do as good a job. Right. But just trying to stay consistent and and keep coming back to those things so that it became kind of muscle member, you know.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Yep, yep, that's good. That's a good way to do it and good way to look at it. Um, all right, let's move to um Victor's Homeschool Sports. Okay. And so, unlike, and again, I'm just everything I know about homeschool, I've learned in the past two years. Okay. Right. Okay. And so now on this side, you know, seeing uh, you know, Czech and Rack and the Friday program, I was like, I wish I would have known about this six, seven years ago. I would have been deeply rooted in homeschool sports, right? Like, I was just cool as to how much how much it it really is out there, you know, with through the through the homeschool community. And so Victor's Homeschool Sports, uh, I would imagine it's not like uh like a public school, right? You say like a, you know, like a my alma mater. Okay, right? So that's right. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

Okay, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Okay. Yeah, I got you. So kids that from Terry, that live in Terry, that they go to Terry. Yeah, right. You know, so it's just how it be, right? Yeah, you're gonna go to Terry, right? And then like in the private school community, it's like year to year. Like now we're having um um our exit interview meetings, and we like, are you coming back next year? Like, right? Are you gonna play next year? You know, it's like we just like hoping on the hope and a prayer that we have kids that return. So in your in Victor's homeschool community and Victor's basketball, like, what's that like? Like, what makes it unique?

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Man, I would say probably first and foremost, the center of everything that Victor's Homeschool Sports does is Christ. Yep. The faith. That's that's the overarching principle that we abide by, that we push, that we that we do everything from. So that would be a little different than your traditional, your traditional school. Um, so that's one thing that I love. Like, you know, we're big about devotion before practices, you know, we're big about praying, we're big about, you know, coming alongside the young men when they're going through different things and steering them toward Christ as the solution, you know. And and Victor's organization does a great job of backing us up with that. Um to what you said is different, man. Like I come from a traditional school, right? Right. So you get to practice every day. Right. So you come here and you get to practice two, three times a week if you're lucky. Right, right. You know? Right. If you can find the gym. If you can find the gym, you know what I'm saying? Right, yeah. Um I come from a uh a place where, hey, we went to school with each other for eight hours a day. Yeah, we knew each other, we get we we we gained that cohesiveness and chemistry even from just going to class. Right. And so here you got guys who don't see each other the whole day until they get to practice, right? And now you're trying to gel all that and and and bring that bring that together. So in that instance is different, you know. Um and it's a learning curve to try to figure out, hey, how can I get these young men to play a high level of basketball when the context is different? Exactly right. You know, right. And I think I think as coaches in homeschool, if you don't figure that out first and foremost, it's gonna be a long road. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's gonna be a real long road. So that's one thing I've tried to just, man, brainstorm as to how can I make this as much traditional, like a traditional school when it comes to how we approach the game, right? Still understanding is different. Right. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like like for instance, my boys, they can wake up at at seven and go get up 150 shots in the morning.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

You know what I'm saying? Then go to school, take their classes at home, you know what I'm saying, and then come back at 12 or 2 and get another 150. You know, so and so in that and in that instance, it's it's it's a little different. But that's kind of man, that's kind of that that key that if you can turn that and get them to buy into buy into that, um, you'll do well, man.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Okay, so so in so with that, like how do you build culture then? How do you build structure? How do you build accountability when you may only see the kids, you know, three times a week and that third time, it's probably game day.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Right. So how do you how do you build that culture and that accountability?

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Man, you have to you have to stand on what your principles are. Yeah. And you have to be consistent with it. Right? So one thing that has probably been uncomfortable for for them is this bench. Yes. This bench is the best teacher that you're gonna get, man. And a lot of them don't understand that because the context they come from has either been, oh, everybody gets to play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or, hey, I've been here for four years. I played with this organization four years, I should be out here on the court. Right. Well, you'll get out here on the court if you play high-level basketball.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

And and I know it doesn't sound good sometimes to the parents and to the kids, but that's the only way I'm gonna I'm gonna show you the discipline and what you have to give to be good at this game. Yeah, right. I always tell them, you know, we'll we'll we'll be having discussion before practice. I say, look, if I put you in the game and you come down and you miss five shots, and you turn it over three times in a span of four minutes, you gotta come to that. Yeah. Simple. Simple as that. I cannot afford to leave you out here, and I don't care if you've been playing with this team for four or five years. Right. I can't afford to leave you out there. Now here's what you need to do: you need to get better. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

You need to put the work in. And if you don't put the work in, these splinters are gonna teach you. You know what I'm saying? And that's it, man. That's it. And then look, now we're we're turning the curve to where they're holding each other accountable. Right, yeah. Right. So now everybody knows the culture. Cause, you know, we had to change the change some things about the culture. You know what I'm saying? Um and and and and that's okay. Right, you know, and so now the guys are kind of saying, okay, this is the culture. Like, if you don't come to practice, you're you're probably not gonna start. Exactly, right. Yeah. If if if you miss a game that's not for an agreed-upon excuse, you're gonna sit down. Right. And we tell this to the parents up front before the season starts. Hey, if you're not willing to do this and sign this contract, right, because we have a contract you have to sign, then your child doesn't need to play with us. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

That's good. That's a good philosophy.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

That's that's kind of how we're doing it. So I think we're starting to see the fruits of that. We got a young, you know, we we lost 10 seniors this year, and so we got a young group of guys coming up, and I think they're already understanding, okay, this is what it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

Yeah, that's good. You know, I saw you, uh I saw you guys play uh, it was a tournament at the at the NBA um before the season started. Yeah. And I saw you guys play, and I walked in there, and your game was going on. I stood and watched for a minute, and I like what I what I saw was like, man, them dudes hooping. Like they playing hard. Right? It's like, and so a lot of times I I I can't think of who said it was one said that a hard work beat talent when talent failed hard work. Oh, yeah. Right. And when I see your team play, that's what I think, man. Them guys work hard and like they are getting rewarded. And your season was a reward for your hard work that I saw you guys putting in um back then. And so when others come in and they see your team play for five minutes, what do you want them to take away from it?

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Man, you said it hard work.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Like, you know, you know, the the misnomer about homeschool basketball is these guys can't hoot. Right, yeah, exactly. Right, yeah. You know, and and and and honestly, that's just not true. Right. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? These guys have talent, they're just homeschooled. Right, right. You know what I'm saying? Right. So um I think that um, man, I think it just kind of from for from from my perspective, when you come see a victor's game, number one, I want you to see these guys are working hard. Right. They're giving 100% while they're out there on their court. Right. If you see a guy who turns the ball up and doesn't run back down on uh on defense, yeah, you'll see him sitting down. Right.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

Including myself, first and foremost.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

You know what I'm saying? And and and and while we're on that, let me just digress one second. One thing is coaches, especially coaches that coach their own children, you have to be fair across the line. Right. And my and my sons know this. If you're doing something, you're gonna get a pass.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

You're gonna be right here getting them splinters just like everybody else, and all the other guys know that as well. So you have to do that. That's just one of my pet peeves. I see a lot of coaches who kids play. play and they'll they'll get on other kids and then your kid come down and do the same thing. You're like, no, we can't do that. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But but hard work, let me get back to your question. Hard work, defense. Defense. I mean I I pride my I pride myself on defense. Right. So you're gonna see that and you want to see high IQ basketball. Right. That's what we're trying to teach. I I SQ now. Now we may not be the most athletic. We may not have six, six, five, six, six guys, but we're gonna play smart defense. Yep. We're gonna hustle. Yep. And we're gonna do things. We're gonna respect the game and do things the right way. So you know that's what I want people to see. When they come I want to say just like man I thought homeschool was this, that and the other and these guys hooping, you know, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

So definitely one one of the hardest things that we have to instill, well not, we have to try to teach parents is that like in season, it's no longer a coach's job to get your child better. Oh no. Right. We have 15 to 20 guys and we're not gonna spend 30 minutes working on your child how to dribble with his left hand and make a left handed layout. It's not our job, right? What we do as coaches though, we take what parents send to us and we try to plug them in a position to be successful. There you go. Right. That's that's especially in season. Yeah. And so when it comes to your player development, like what's what do you what do you think not just you know not just victories but just players as a whole what separates um players who grow and players who stay the same oh man I would say first and foremost man a love for the game.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Yeah like do you love do you love the game right or do you just like you know what I'm saying? Because there's a big difference. You love the game you're gonna be willing to wake up at 7, 6, get you running in. Right. If you love the game, you're gonna get these 300 to 500 shots up a day. Exactly right. You know what I'm saying? Now if you just like the game you know you'll spend all night on the phone with your girlfriend right before the night of a game and and and mind not be ready the next day. Exactly right or you'll stay up on the on the game playing playing the game when you need to begin your mind right before what we're doing. That's if you like the game. So if you love the game that's the first thing number for me number two is um discipline. Yeah discipline like are you disciplined enough to work out every day. Yeah because because between now and the start of the season just just going back to what you said that's where you get better. Exactly if you're not putting the work in now when season come around too late. It's too late. It's too late. So you gotta be disciplined you got to have a love and look one of my peppies man no excuses I don't want to hear you were running as fast as you can because you weren't I can clearly tell a guy who's running back down the court at full speed. Yep exactly so don't tell me that like no excuses just get better. Yep if I get on you don't don't give me a hundred reasons why you didn't no just say okay coach right I got it right you know so I think those those three um are just core core principles for me for for a guy getting or a young lady getting much better at basketball and you can see it as a coach we see it man yeah yeah yeah you know what I'm saying guys that stay after practice they get a they get an extra 50 shots up you know what I'm saying guys that come in here and be like hey coach on that pick and roll yeah uh I saw this and that what do you think I should have done they hungry yeah yeah you know what I'm saying yeah um yeah yeah yeah and so the way they approach the game I mean that to me is just big off season and in season yeah you know what I'm saying yeah um yeah I and and I don't I don't want to generalize it by saying you know all kids but there are a group of kids now and I and this is a real podcast so I try to be real right it's their parents' fault yeah they they don't they don't like hard coaching and so one thing uh like uh my son Tristan they were playing in the game and he came down he hit two pull-up threes went to the basket got a bucket and he was back on defense clapping his hands and while he was clapping his hands his guy beat him from the corner beat him back door and got a layup his coach took him out of the game he didn't get back on the court yeah and like the the the my mom and my wife seeing that well why put Alice back in put why they put ain't putting him because he he celebrating why his man got a layup that's it that's that doesn't he just hit okay we just gave up that's what's more important you know and and and so like having kids that like to your point that's hungry right that put in the extra work you know and then we tell our guys it's like like we have we had a senior this year who like before game he was shooting right after practice he came in seven eight o'clock at night with the gun shooting right working on this craft yeah and it's like so we tell our players like I trust him because I know he's putting in the work yeah so I give him a little freedom to shoot a little bit different type of size right I've never seen you in the gym outside of practice okay okay so no you I'm not gonna trust you no it's not hard man it's not it's not hard man but but to what you just said with your son like coach taught him an invaluable lesson right like like that one backdoor cut may cost us a game of the championship you know what I'm saying and so now just that just that having been taken out of the game I guarantee your son that's logged in his memory from now you know what I'm saying that okay that's not gonna happen again and that's just great coaching man that's great coaching and you know what else I see with parents man they don't understand the level of work it takes to be great at this game.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

Yeah exactly you know you ask them hey or they'll ask you hey um Johnny's not getting a lot of playing time um why not is he working out right oh he goes outside every day for 20 minutes 20 minutes you know and so they don't understand the the level of commitment it takes 20 minutes not gonna do it right 30 minutes is not gonna do it nope you can't you can't get up 30 shots and 30 you know what I'm saying you can't work on your game right so you I they have to understand that that hard work is a direct uh direct uh correlation to getting better exactly you know yep that's true man they didn't understand that right it's like you know when I have camps and I watch kids come in and grab ball gather ball and the first thing they do is do it. Shoot a three shoot a three way out there way that's a thing not even though not even a regular three step carrying three like from the ball rack into the court the first thing they do is shooting three and I I have to sit them down and get them to understand like Steph didn't wake up at 30 and like you know what I'm gonna be the best three-point shooter in the world. It was at five making form shooting under the basket. Then at seven he moved out then at eight you know and then it's like oh don't don't give a seventh grader a ball that's say 28.5 on me no that's a girl ball why I can't shoot with no girl like but yeah but you taking a boy's ball and you yanking it in the back here he's messing your form up right it's like but just trying to get kids to understand that it's a process. It's a process from Steph been shooting your 150 to 300 shots and he was five years old that's it and not threes no i i I pulled up a Steph Current warm-up pre-game warmup and he don't shoot his first three to like 30 minutes into the warmup that's it's just and and they don't see that they just see the the threes they don't see the hard work right you know that goes into I told Daniel this summer I said man get you a MIDI that three's cool yeah that's a that's a 30% shot at best for y'all get you a MIDI get you find you two spots that you know you can come down and and and go right to it. Yeah right yeah yeah definitely all right let's move off the court a little bit and just talk about faith and influence okay and you've been known you know as a guy who impacts young lives um what does that mean like to you and to like when when kids you graduated 10 seniors two years when they come back to a practice or they come to a game like what do you want them to say about their time with the victors?

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Man just that they learn how to navigate life. Yeah yeah you know what I'm saying and and navigate it the right way right right putting God first um leading with their faith right and so uh a lot of what I do comes from um just me going astray in life at at a at a time right right and not wanting to see these young men do the same thing right so whatever I can do to help you not make the mistakes I made man I'm I'm I'm all for it man you know what I'm saying 100% so when these guys come back if they ask hey uh what did coaching still hey he just taught me how to be a man exactly you know what I'm saying he taught me how to navigate some things and you know we'll we'll be in the middle of the court and you know we're talking because you know these guys you know we're talking about girlfriends right exactly how you treat your girlfriend right yeah you know what I'm saying are you are you going around with a with a bunch of girls or are you at least committed and faithful to to having a girlfriend do you treat her right you know what I'm saying those type of things yeah yeah and so um just with that respecting your parents you know what I'm saying and and and this is what I'm kind of big on look life is gonna throw you some curves how are you gonna respond exactly that's true because trust me it's coming up it's coming a point in your life where something's not gonna go the way you want it to go and you have no control over it. Exactly right yeah so how are you gonna navigate as a man how are you gonna respond to it yeah and so when these guys come back and and you know somebody asks them hey uh what did you learn from your time with Victor's man I just learned how to how to do life in a responsible manner.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

Yeah I you know I learned some great things from my coaches that have helped me to to navigate you know even the workplace right like what you doing on your job are you are you lolligagging right you know what I'm saying or are you giving your employer a full day's work exactly you know and so um are you getting back on defense thank you you know what I'm saying that's character that's character that's character man character and and and and those are the things that's not cute right yeah shooting threes is is quote cute but they don't win games getting back on defense right like you said so yeah man that's my hope man that they just you know they've they've learned something and and look I try to be transparent I I share what are my struggles because I don't want you to go down that road and never be able to say oh we weren't told now you were told right right you're making a decision now and and that's on you exactly right but now a God God allowed you to have somebody in your life that told you hey this is what's gonna happen if if you don't put these safeguards up right you know what I'm saying and so just try to be honest about it man yeah that's good now you know with the with the um with the victors you know you guys have a uh um some other homeschool programs that you play against uh but also you know you you just get into tournaments right whether it's private school or this public school like you just go to tournaments right and you just get kids as many games as you can and so what do you think like for whatever reason I don't know if it's just this year along or it's just this is the first year it's been videoed but you see a lot of like just chaos and turmoil going on on in basketball courts. Yeah right with ref I mean uh players fighting players fighting referees parents fighting players and referees like it's just been a really chaotic year in in basketball.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

It is and so what are some hard truths that you think parents miss when it comes to youth sports man number one and uh at the end of the day man this is a game exactly it's an orange ball that we're trying to put drop the mic yeah you know what I'm saying an orange ball that we're trying to put in the in a circle a circle hoop an orange circle hoop right that's it right that's all it is all it is you know what I'm saying yeah so so let's bring it down like I I'm I'm I'm I'm on social media I'm seeing these fights and even young kids six to seven years old out here right you know throwing hands and I'm like you know what's going on but I think you know first and foremost hey as parents we're responsible for that right like we're not instilling in our children what needs to be instilled for them to know how to deal with hey you're gonna get you gonna get popped in the mouth playing basketball.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

Exactly right you're gonna get an elbow right you it's it's it's it's a physical game it's contact sport contact so you can't resort right to that by by wanting to you know fight and and somebody say something to you you didn't like okay well that's part of the game right so you know with my guys man it's zero zero tolerance for that yeah you know what I'm saying we understand and and that's one thing I love about those guys man I've had to teach them up to be feisty right to kind of have that dog because when I first came in man there was no dog man yeah and you know we had to kind of teach that hey we're homeschooled but it's okay to get feisty right right you know what I'm saying and and so as the years progressed you know I've kind of seen that come along but hey there's a there's a level where we stop right you know what I'm saying we're not we're not we're not we're not fighting and and look even in our conference right homeschool conference we've had melees you know what I'm saying so it's not just you know what I'm saying it's all over the place right um and as parents man we just got to do a better job um of teaching our children and and to to stop taking this the wrong way yeah to keep it to keep it where it needs to be it's a game right yeah although we want to play a high level we want to play it 100% we want to give all we got it's a game it's a game you know that's it that's it it's a game uh so uh as we get ready to wrap up uh I always like to uh like give opportunities to like you know your best advice right just based on uh where you are where you come from what you've been through right all those things right so you talk to the parents now what about to like coaches right there's a young coach out there you know that's this navigating you know getting into coaching and regardless of what level or where they're at uh you know they have a young family you know they may even like be trying to navigate a full-time job right other than don't do it what advice would you give the young coaches that want to impact you know young players as well man that's a load of question there man I think first and foremost man you got to really make sure this is something that's for you.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Right. And if you have a wife and you have kids you got to make sure they're on board. Right. Because you're gonna need that support system.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

You're talking about especially in in in homeschool side when you're working a full-time job you're you're getting off two, three times, you're going straight to practice and then maybe some weeks three to four games a week if if you're if your spouse and your family is not on board with that it's gonna be difficult. So you got to make sure you got that you got that straight first. I think secondly man um man just like these kids we got to hone our craft too. Exactly like I see a lot of coaches that think you're just supposed to show up at the game and you're just gonna figure it out. Right yeah don't work just like you want them to work out right like we need to critique ourselves what am I doing good? What am I doing bad? There's a lot of things that that I've that I'm learning right you know what I'm saying and trying to get better at and and a lot of times that comes from failure. Yep yep and so when I fail I told my told my I told my guys about two months ago I had a lapse in something I was doing while we were coaching. And so that next day I told this is a learning opportunity. Right yeah like so first and foremost I have to be clear with you guys I messed up right I'm not perfect as a coach I'm learning just like you guys learning. But I promise you when you when you when you fail in something or something doesn't go right what are you going to do about it? Exactly yeah so now that's on my list I have to get better at that what am I what am I gonna put in place to to move on and not make that mistake again right so as coaches we got to hone our craft go back and watch tape of how you coach not just how you guys played yeah what did you do well and and then here's another thing man each individual player is different. Right right so and I think you alluded to this earlier how am I putting each and every player in the best position for them. Exactly right so we're from the start back workouts here in May what I'm doing with this guy over here as far as uh working out right I may not need to be doing with this young man. Right. Right he may need something else. Yep right he he may be a great finisher but he can't shoot. Right. Right so I don't need to waste that time in the gym with him working on that. Right. Right we need to work on shooting. Yep you know and so we have to hone our craft man and and that takes time. It does takes time it takes um it takes a level of discipline a level of devotion to the game and we owe our players that we can't just show up you know what I'm saying we got to be the best we want to be man and so if you're not committed to doing that and look if you don't love it. Right if you don't love it. And I understand man that you know the way I the way I approach the game may be different. Right if I can get your son a scholarship that's great. If I can help get your son to know Christ that's ultimate for me. Amen so I'm leading off with that from the jump right and and and a lot of parents don't rock with that. Right. You know what I'm saying? And and look that that's that's cool. That's cool right you know what I'm saying but I'm more worried about your about uh uh about your son's soul than I am about what's their field goal percentage now I want to win don't get me wrong right right we're gonna come out here we're gonna grind right but I also want to keep things in perspective because God called me to this to be a leader of souls you know what I'm saying and and and all this is gonna go away brother you know what I'm saying it's gonna go away yeah uh a small percentage of these guys are gonna get college scholarship let's just be honest yep yep so so what are you doing after best guys exactly right right right so that's more important to me and I tell all the parents look that's what I'm about you know and uh so as coaches man lean into it do your due diligence do your work get godly people around you man people that support you yeah I think that's the best thing I've had this year is my assistant coaches support me yeah yeah that's good you know get get good men around you like you man you know what I'm saying that are doing great things out here yeah and that's what you need to have in your circle they're gonna make you better iron sharp is iron yeah um don't don't don't seclude yourself over here and and not want to ask this guy hey I saw you ran this is that's something man asked right you know what I'm saying get better right and um yeah yeah man just be just be locked in locked in and when I first started here right I had to and I was given I was God bless me with the opportunity like I came in like thinking like you know uh wins and losses right that's that was my you know getting to get into that and then God dealt with me um really he he he took me to the what they said took me back to the shit at that now yeah and he he he he what he what I heard him say was I didn't put you there to win games right he said I put you there to disciple men that's it man right and and and I I even personally like was like to told the player said now I was like look I'm it's my bad yeah right because I I I have not been doing what God sent me here to do right I care 1000% more about your character than your scoring average that's it 100% I'm here for your character I'm not here for your scoring now if we get your character right in the midst of doing that you're gonna have a good scoring but we got to refocus our our our why that's it that's it man that's um that's the game plan right you know what I'm saying and and and it's it's just amazing you said that I I've struggled right same same what you just said that was me man you know what I'm saying and it was like I I I think it was my wife you know she kind of has a great way of uh you know hitting me with them blows you know so we so we're coming back home from a law scene man I'm hey I'm silent treatment buddy yeah I ain't talking to nobody in the car I'm hot you know and and it was like through her the Lord just kind of spoke to me like you doing this for you right yeah oh you're doing this for you right so you upset y'all loss because it looked bad on you right you know my boy's trying to talk to me I don't want to talk to you you know and I'm like bro I'm tripping you know but that's what it was it was about me because a loss looked bad on me right it was like the Lord's like nah bro that ain't what I got you here for you know what I'm saying exactly and so to hear you say that man is just a blessing to realize man you know God working bro God working and he's putting people in certain places to accomplish his mission yeah right and and then what you alluded to is like um is also something that I like from that moment from that whooping where I had to go pick my own switch out the trees yeah I'm the best little right he uh it was like you've been training kids based on where you see them are versus where they are right now and you just said that about well I'm gonna work with this kid on in this if he got a jump shot that's what we're gonna go to the gym right if he don't have a jump shot but he got a right hand and we finna go you know what I'm saying like and and that that was a a a a hard transition for me to stop coaching potential and start coaching where they are right now today.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Right and make who they are right now today make that the best version of themselves. Absolutely and once that becomes the best version then we'll move on to the next to the next level right but we can't focus on you know shooting threes when they can't yet make the layup you know what I mean like we gotta we gotta pull that thing back up man levels to it man you know what I'm saying it's levels to it and to get kids like really I mean you know to buy into that was like was also a challenge because kids like but but he's shooting threes why I can't shoot a three like son you can't make a layup let's let's do that first that's it man yeah you're gonna get to the three you're gonna get there but it's a process right it's a process like and and and you know young you know young people they um that's hard for them yeah they like instantaneous you know what I'm saying and so to get them to buy in like just just teaching these guys now hey hey let's run this pick and roll

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Yeah. Right. Or or you passing and cutting. Right. And you don't trust me. So you pass and you stand and wait. Exactly. For the bottle to come back to you. Right. Because you wanna have the bottle. Right. And so I'm consistently, hey, you gotta cut. Yep. If you don't cut, you know. And so they they don't understand, hey, we gotta we gotta get the basics down first, man. Right. Pick and roll, pass and cut. That's basic basketball. Exactly. It's beautiful when we do it, so we gotta learn how to do it.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Thank you for this season's sponsor, Power Financial Group. The mission of Power Financial Group is to glorify God by helping their clients be good managers of the resources entrusted to them. Whether it is investing for the future, planning for a retirement, getting out of debt, or becoming a generous giver, their desire is to be your trusted partner on your financial journey. The team at Power Financial Group strives to serve their clients with integrity and excellence. Getting to know them, building a strong relationship with them, and helping them pursue their goals is the top priority.

SPEAKER_02 44:59

They take seriously their God-given responsibility to faithfully serve those families God entrusted to their care. That's Power Financial Group. They can be reached at 601-790-1180 or send them an email at info at powerfinancialclaims.com. Thank you again, Power Financial Group.

SPEAKER_00 45:21

Yep, yep. So that's it, man.

SPEAKER_02 45:23

So parents, you know, that are out there watching and they want to, you know, have more information about how to, you know, come and be a part of your program, you know, they thinking about they already been on their, this is what their confirmation. I'm trying to decide to go to public or private or go to homeschool, right? And they like thinking like, man, but my son, you know, can't play basketball. So I don't want to make that transition, right? So those parents out there, they on the fence. This is their confirmation.

SPEAKER_00 45:47

How do they like get you know get connected with Victor's uh homeschool sports? Man, just go to Victor's Homeschool Sports.com, man, and they can get all the information they need, man. Um all the sports we have basketball, baseball, volleyball, track and field, everything is up there, man. Okay. And then once they go there, they can fill out a they can fill out a form, email or come straight to me, and we're man, we're good about getting right back to them. Okay. So yeah, definitely, man. And and and look, you know, homeschool, homeschooling is a sacrifice. Yeah. You know, and so you you want to make sure that you're you're willing to make that sacrifice before you go into it, man. But hey, we're hooping over here. That's right. Don't get it right. Hey, I I I know some of y'all still on the fence, but we we hooping over here now. So you know, better believe, man.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Yeah, I can contest to that. All right, so the last question that I like to ask everyone at the end of the interview. All right. Okay. And it's a there's only one right answer. Okay. All right. So, question is Jordan or LeBron. How you gonna do it like that, man?

SPEAKER_00 46:52

How you gonna do it like that? So, man. Grew up on Jordan, of course. Yeah, saw LeBron coming to the league, seeing everything that he's done, but you know, bro, gotta go LeBron, man. As much as it hurt me, as long as as long as as much as my allegiance is to Jordan, man, just all the way around, I gotta go LeBron.

SPEAKER_02 47:14

Hey, I mean, I remember in the 90s, like watching past the bedtime, all right, watching tape delay bulls games and and like with the volume all the way down, because I wasn't supposed to have the TV on. So I grew up on Jordan too. However, come with dot dot dot. Come on. Preach, bro. I tell people, I said, you know what, you're right. Jordan was the best player in the 90s. Yeah. Yeah, in the 90s. In the 90s. Jordan was the best player. And then my other follow-up is numbers don't lie, just people's feelings do. Come on, man. Come on, man.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

Like I said, I mean I I seen this guy since he was a key.

SPEAKER_03 47:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:50

Like all the way through. Yeah. You know, and I just gotta be uh objective. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:56

And then I mean, you know, then I'd say like, not just on the court, right? All so okay. So people say, I was like, well, he went to, you know, Harry Man, eight straight finals. He only won four times. I said, well, how many times Tom Brady, no, I say, who the best quarterback of all time? Okay. Tom Brady. Yeah. How many times Tom Brady lost in the Super Bowl? Come on, man. Okay, then. Come on, man. I was like, Eli Man in two for two. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 48:21

That makes him a goat.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Like people's feelings get involved in it. Hey, get your feelings out of it, just make uh make a straight up informed basketball decision. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, man, I'm LeBron all the way.

SPEAKER_02 48:34

He's handled everything. Everything from the day one you stepped into the day. And not only has he handled everything on the court, you've never heard about he ain't beating his wife, he ain't had no outside kids. You know what I'm saying? He's been none, he's been all all the kids, all his kids game that he can go to. He's been there front row. You know what I'm saying? Like, how can you hate on somebody? He didn't put he didn't send kids through college, not got them to college, but paying for their entire four years of college.

SPEAKER_00 49:01

Like, how can you find something to hate on that bitch? And and on top of that, he was willing to come to Lil Old Jackson, Mr. Simple. Exactly. Man, that's just uh I don't care what they say, man. He was willing to come here. How many of your of your goats have been willing to come to Jackson? Come on, man. Hey, that's look.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

He can't my vote from all the way, man. All right, coach. I appreciate the time. Appreciate you having me, man. Great combo, bro. Yeah, appreciate it. All right. All right, y'all appreciate you, man. Again, continue to click, like, share, subscribe, and I'll see y'all next time. Peace. And that wraps up another episode of the Discipleship Hoops podcast. If today's conversation added value to you, do be a favor.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Like it, subscribe to the channel, and share this episode with a coach, a parent, or athlete who needs to hear it. We're building something bigger than basketball here. We're building leaders. If you or your business would like to sponsor an upcoming episode and partner with us to end tacting the next generation, visit our website at www.jimmyllucas.com or send us a direct message. We love to connect. Until next time, keep raising the standards, keep leading with purpose, and remember the game is the platform, leadership is the mission. Believe, fulfill, fall.