Jim Driggs: Albany Academy Coach on Prep School Basketball Truths

Join Cory Heitz as he sits down with Jim Driggs, Head Coach at Albany Academy and former Division III standout, for a no-nonsense conversation about the prep school basketball journey. Coach Driggs shares his unique perspective on player development, reclassifying, and college placement strategies—drawing from his experience as a player, college coach, and now a leader in the NEPSAC AA.

In this episode, Coach Driggs dives deep into:

• The realities of prep school basketball and why competition in the NEPSAC is unmatched.
• How he develops players with individualized training, morning workouts, and a focus on toughness and basketball IQ.
• The honest truth about playing time and why he avoids over-recruiting positions.
• Why reclassifying might be the best move for young players—and how Albany Academy supports academic and athletic growth.
• His college placement strategy and why relationships with college coaches matter more than ever.

If you’re a parent, player, or coach navigating the prep school route, this episode is packed with actionable advice and real-world insights to help you make the best decisions.

💡 Key Topics

📌 Prep school basketball recruitment and the NEPSAC advantage
 📌 Player development secrets: Morning workouts, skill diversification, and toughness
 📌 Playing time promises—what coaches really mean
📌 Reclassifying vs. post-grad year: Which path is right for your athlete?
📌 College placement strategy—how Albany Academy prepares players for the next level
📌 Balancing academics and athletics in prep school

🏀 About Jim Driggs

Jim Driggs is the Head Coach at Albany Academy, a historic prep school in New York and a member of the NEPSAC AA. A former Division III All-American and national assist leader at Hamilton College, Coach Driggs has spent his career developing players at the high school and college levels. His coaching stops include Eastern Connecticut State, Union College, University of Rochester, and Allegheny College, where he honed his expertise in program building, player development, and college recruitment. At Albany Academy, he emphasizes individualized training, academic excellence, and honest communication with families.

🔗 Connect with Jim Driggs

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/aa_boys_basketball/reels/
Website| https://www.albanyacademy.org/
Email | jdriggs1010@gmail.com

🔗 Connect with Cory:
 
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep.athletics/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166

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Transcript

Cory Heitz (00:00)
Hey friends, I'm absolutely thrilled you're here. Welcome to the Prep Athletics podcast and it's great spending time with you. If you're a new listener to the podcast, welcome. We're glad you're here. On this episode, we don't sugar coat anything. We talked to prep school coaches. We talked to recruiting experts to help find you the information you need to make the best decision for either you as a player situation, a teammate you might know when you're players or, or if you're a family looking for information, we help with that as well.

We're so glad you're here. Please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have at our website, prepathletics.com. All my contact information is on there. We'd love to hear your feedback or comments. If you liked this podcast, be sure to share it with somebody. Send them a link, them an episode you like. We want to get this word out here and make sure everyone is as educated as possible. And this week's episode, we have coach Jim Driggs on from Albany Academy.

Coach Driggs grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut and played at St. Joseph High School and then chose to play at Hamilton College where his senior year, he led the country in assists. So we talk about that. He also had a bunch of college stops before he ended up at Albany Academy, which is now in his first year of playing in NEPSaC AA. We talk about that. We talk about his development, ⁓ how he develops players, how he deals with playing time promises, should you reclassify or not.

And then his college placement strategy. great conversation with coach Driggs of Albany Academy. And if you liked this as well, be sure to subscribe and all the major podcasting platforms, as well as our YouTube channel and our newsletter at prepathletics.com. Now enjoy our conversation with coach Jim Driggs of Albany Academy.

Cory Heitz (02:02)
Jim, welcome to the podcast.

Jim Driggs (02:04)
Great to be here, Cory.

Cory Heitz (02:06)
Yeah, now you tell me where you grew up and what got you into basketball.

Jim Driggs (02:11)
I grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, ⁓ which actually right down the street from Fairfield University. So I used to hang out in that gym all the time with Paul Cormier, whose son James Cormier is head coach at Cushing now. And then fast forward, I went to a very well-known high school basketball program in Connecticut, St. Joe's, coached by a legendary coach, Vito Montelli. ⁓ And then went on to Hamilton College.

And I guess where I'm going is that I played for a tremendous high school coach and then a legendary college coach. And just being around those two men early in my life had a great impact on me. And I just saw how they were able to impact so many lives. And I loved the game and just wanted to ⁓ make it career.

Cory Heitz (02:59)
Now you chose Hamilton College, who else are you looking at as a senior and why did you choose Hamilton?

Jim Driggs (03:06)
I think it was a balance between academics and athletics. ⁓ Obviously the Nescac back then was a place that people wanted to play in. ⁓ I was being recruited by similar schools in the Nescac and a couple of UAA schools. ⁓ And really it came for me though, it came down to Union College because of the coach there at the time, Bob Montana and Hamilton. And I ended up choosing Hamilton and very happy that I did. We had a great four year run, made the NCAA tournament.

three out of four years and I started for four years and you know, met my wife and some of my best friends in my life.

Cory Heitz (03:39)
Well, how do you become such a good passer? Like, is that something you're born with or did you work on that? Like what gets a player to be a good assist maker?

Jim Driggs (03:48)
Well, and I think I had great coaching, you know, in high school and then with Coach Murphy at Hamilton. My father was a coach, so I watched a lot of basketball growing up, ⁓ kind of studied the game. But being around, you know, really good coaches at the high school level and college level, and then I had good players around me too that made some of my bad passes actually look good. ⁓ You know, but it was something that I developed over time and tried to find ways within our offense to

maybe exploit the defense with our passing. I always chuckle, it was a great honor to be able to lead the country in assists, but I always joke that the stack keeper was my roommate. So maybe he gave me an extra two or three a game.

Cory Heitz (04:32)
Well, you remember Jason Williams, white chocolate, he would go to a gym and like pick a spot on a wall and work on behind the past passes with each hand trying to hit that exact spot. So he specifically worked on his passing. Did you ever do anything specific like that as far as passing workouts go?

Jim Driggs (04:35)
Absolutely.

I never would go to a gym and I worked on my game very, very hard, but I don't remember going to a gym and finding a specific spot to pass the ball. ⁓ I think again, at Hamilton, I remember just kind of finding ways to exploit the defense within our offense. We saw a lot of downscreens, right? So teams would hedge that downscreen and our bigs were able to slip that. I learned early that if the defense couldn't see the ball, you could almost throw the guy open. ⁓ And that was very beneficial to.

Cory Heitz (04:52)
you

Jim Driggs (05:18)
to I guess my development as a point guard. ⁓ But I can't say I went to the gym and was throwing the ball off a specific spot on a wall.

Cory Heitz (05:28)
There's only one white chocolate anyway, so I guess there's a reason for that. After graduation, you coached at Eastern Connecticut State, Union College, and the University of Rochester. What were your takeaways from these experiences?

Jim Driggs (05:30)
Exactly.

Again, three great coaches. Billy Geithner still at Eastern Connecticut. Bob Montana at Union had a great run. He's a mentor and helps out at Albany Academy with me right now. then Mike Neer, who's a Division three legend. know, all three men, very impactful on my coaching career. know, Mike was meticulous in his practice planning, preparation for teams. Coach Montana was an unbelievable offensive mind that I, you know, I've taken some stuff.

the importance of ball reversal, cutting, spacing. I really picked up from him and Bill's had a ton of success at Eastern Connecticut, really great at building a program. ⁓ And he built it from when I got there early in his tenure there, we were bad. And he's developed this program that's been to multiple NCAA tournaments and has competed at the top of the Little East Conference, which is a great league. So program development from Bill.

I guess the importance of practice planning and ⁓ game preparation with Coach Neer, also a tremendous big man coach, and then offensive kind of philosophy from Coach Montana.

Cory Heitz (06:52)
Gotcha. And after that stint, you became head coach Allegheny. What was that like transitioning from assistant to head? What was the biggest challenge for you?

Jim Driggs (06:58)
Well, I thought I knew everything.

that move to that next seat is real and everyone talks about that. Allegheny was great. It's a great school, Northwest Pennsylvania. At the time, it was in the North Coast Athletic Conference, which is still around, but the league has had some movement. Teams have left, teams have come in. Really one of the best D3 conferences in the country. Worcester and Wittenberger, two of the winningest.

programs in Division III and we competed against them. ⁓ It was a challenge. We took over a program that ⁓ had struggled for a few years and tried to rebuild and took our lumps. by the end, we finished fifth in the league, which was one of the better finishes in a long time at Allegheny. ⁓ I coached some great young men there. To this day, I stay in contact with them. ⁓

I definitely learned a lot on the job on how to run a program and made plenty of mistakes, ⁓ but definitely helped me I think for my next phase, which is at Albany Academy to become a better coach.

Cory Heitz (08:08)
Yeah, and now let's transition to that. You are now Albany Academy, which is in Albany, New York, and it's a Nep Psyche member school. Give us your pitch on Albany Academy as a school and as a basketball program.

Jim Driggs (08:20)
Well, founded in 1813. It's got a tremendous academic reputation here in upstate New York. We've been kind of the premier day school in the area for over 200 years. ⁓ It's an independent boys school and girls school that's co-educational at the high school level and then a lower school that's also co-educational. We pull from mostly all of the capital district and

I would say up to an hour and a half outside of the capital district. We have currently 40 boarding students that are here on campus. ⁓ We have a tremendous balance of academics and athletics. And our basketball program has been fortunate to be a very, very good, strong program. ⁓ Brian Fruscio, who's actually a Canterbury, was the reason why Albany Academy took off. ⁓

as a basketball power and really built it up. And I've just tried to sustain it. We've been able to, think because of the academic reputation as well as the success we've had in basketball, been able to attract some of, you know, some of the best players in the capital district. And now we're attracting kids outside of the area because of our move to the NEPSAC. And I think the NEPSAC affiliation, which we've had for 30 years here at Academy and other sports, is only going to strengthen the school, but also strengthen our basketball program.

Cory Heitz (09:45)
you

Absolutely. Now, how many years have you been in AA now? First year. Okay. What's it like so far?

Jim Driggs (09:52)
This is our first year. Yeah.

Feel like I'm back in college.

Cory Heitz (10:01)
Yeah. What's the best part

and worst part about being playing in AA for a first year team like yours?

Jim Driggs (10:07)
⁓ I mean, the best part is just it's the competition is real, right? I think every night you got to you've got to have your game, right? You have to prepare going into each game in practice for your opponent. ⁓ And if you don't get off the bus to use a cliche, you could get you know you could get handled and we've we've been on both sides of that. So I think the coaching is tremendous. The talent is awesome. ⁓

and ⁓ couldn't be happier that we're part of it. And, you know, I've learned a lot. I probably wouldn't stack our schedule as much as I did in December. But I was so worried about getting games for our first year that I did it. But in hindsight, I probably go a little less in December. I think we played like at one point eight games in 11 days. ⁓ You know, but it's been a great experience to travel has been it hasn't been as bad as I thought. You know, it's.

We were used to traveling as a program prior to joining the NEPFSC. We kind of played a national high school schedule, especially when we had some elite level players. ⁓ So that hasn't been as bad. Just every night is so competitive. It's really hard to win on the road. ⁓ Teams have scouted you. Talent wise, it's tremendous. So again, couldn't be happier that we're part of it right now.

Cory Heitz (11:28)
I love it. Now, if families reach out to you and they ask you, coach, how will you develop my son? What is your strategy on developing prep school players?

Jim Driggs (11:38)
We place a big emphasis on player development. Obviously there's rules that regulate what we can and can't do, but we do a lot of small group work in the mornings at 6.30 before school starts. We'll do more small group stuff after school. And then we have a strength and conditioning coach that works with our athletes ⁓ at least three days a week. We want to make it specific to the player. So we try to individualize it as much as we possibly can. ⁓

And we don't want to just, you especially with young players, ⁓ pigeonhole them and say, Hey, you're a big, you're a guard. want to try to develop the players entire game. We want post players to be able to develop perimeter skills, whether it's passing or increasing the range. And we want post player guards to develop post, post an IQ in the post. We post up a lot of our guards, but even if we don't, I think the concept of developing footwork in the post.

is really important even for guards. So ⁓ we're going to try to individualize it as much as we possibly can for that player. ⁓ We're going to work. We're going to get after it in the gym. Like I said, a lot of times we're in there three times a day in small groups. And I'm open to feedback too from families and players and what they think they need to get better at. And we can work together to do that.

Cory Heitz (12:59)
Is there availability on your campus for kids to go to the gym if they have a free period or before school or after practice? And same with the weight room, like do they have a chance to get in there and get their own development if they want to?

Jim Driggs (13:10)
Absolutely, we have three gyms on campus which we're fortunate to have, you know, a ⁓ tremendous amount of space specifically for basketball. ⁓ So if guys want to get in and get on the gun, they can do that. The weight room is supervised a large portion of the day, so there's opportunities to get into the weight room. ⁓ So that's definitely an option for students.

Cory Heitz (13:31)
All right, and do you guys offer a post-grad year?

Jim Driggs (13:33)
We do. Currently we have one and

we're actively talking to a few right now.

Cory Heitz (13:38)
Okay, what are the academic requirements for a post-grad athlete?

Jim Driggs (13:43)
As far as like GPA and grades or.

Cory Heitz (13:46)
Well,

they've already got their diploma. So if they're coming there to do a post-grad year, like what's the academic requirements look like? Like what classes they've taken?

Jim Driggs (13:54)
Yeah, I think it depends on each student individually. ⁓ the admissions department as well as the counseling academic counseling, advising ⁓ the advisor will work closely with that student. they've been on an AP track and there's opportunities to take some college level classes ⁓ or maybe they're not. ⁓ But they want to take ⁓

They didn't do great in maybe science, a science class, and they can retake a science class as a post-grad. ⁓ So it's very individualized, I would say. I don't think there's one clear cut ⁓ path for any post-grad. I think it depends on their past as a student and what they're trying to accomplish moving forward. I do we need to qualify? Or is there a student that's got a 4.0 GPA that's just trying to enhance their recruitment? Well, we're going to be able to place them in college-level classes.

Cory Heitz (14:50)
Perfect. Do you guys have multiple teams or just one varsity team?

Jim Driggs (14:54)
Right now we have a varsity team and a thirds team. So ⁓ we're exploring options for next year for maybe a second varsity team. Yeah, but that decision hasn't been made yet.

Cory Heitz (15:05)
What about ⁓ multiple sports? Is it required at Albany Academy or can basketball players just focus on basketball?

Jim Driggs (15:12)
So as a junior, senior, or post-grad, you can focus just on basketball. Prior to that, you're going to be required to do a sport or some type of activity each trimester, or each season, fall or spring. ⁓ fall, winter, or spring. But there's also some phys ed classes that you could take a weight room class. So there's ways around that as well. But junior, senior, post-grad, you can just focus on basketball.

Cory Heitz (15:39)
Okay, and coach, what are you looking for in a player? Like what's your ideal kid you have on your team?

Jim Driggs (15:45)
Well, character first and foremost, we've been fortunate at Academy and again, Coach Fruscio set a really high standard here when he took this program over in the early aughts. And we're just helping trying to sustain that. we've been fortunate to have very talented players that are good kids. So we wanna make sure we're zero maintenance in the building, zero maintenance outside of the building and hard workers on the court.

from a basketball standpoint, and you try to identify, I think, IQ and toughness. I think the biggest thing's for us, and can you shoot it? ⁓ I think players have three things, talent, toughness, and IQ. And I think the IQ and the toughness thing, I think, are the toughest things to teach. So if you can find somebody that maybe has got a little bit more strength in those areas, you can work on post moves, you can work on moves off the dribble, you can work on shooting. ⁓

I think if you can identify players that have some innate toughness in basketball IQ, I think that really serves you well, ⁓ especially if you're getting them for one or two years.

Cory Heitz (17:00)
Love it. What do you say to famines that ask you about playing time?

Jim Driggs (17:06)
Well, first of all, we're not going to we're going to try to be honest throughout the process and not over recruit positions. And we lose five guys this year and return six. We need some some big wings and and and some forwards that are versatile. We do return some point, you know, a couple of guards that have played point and are coming back. And I'm loyal to those guys. You know, I'm going to tell parents that.

⁓ Maybe I have a bias towards them, but I've coached them now for three or four years. And so, you know, I don't want to just stack talent to stack talent and have kids sit and I want to have a pathway to success so these kids can reach their ultimate goal. ⁓ And so I want it to be very clear cut. Obviously, when you get your group that, you know, ends up on campus and is part of your program, know, playing time is going to be earned in practice and with the decisions that you make.

You know every day You working on your game, you know, how hard what kind of teammate are you? But you know, we're never gonna prom I'm never going to promise playing time But I'm also going to try to manage that up front by being very very honest and not trying to just stack Hey, here's we're gonna get five point guards and two of them. We're gonna play on three of them We're just gonna sit at the end of the bench. I don't want that either So we'd like balance through the roster from a position standpoint and then also balance from you know

What kind of grade they're in as well if we can get kids for two to three years and then maybe sprinkle in a post-grad or two ⁓ I don't want to be top-heavy with PG's and I also don't want to have a bunch of youth either So if we can balance it a little bit and then we can get kids for two to three years that we can develop relationships with help develop ⁓ I that's really important to us as well

Cory Heitz (18:54)
All right, here's a tough one. It's February 2026 and we're seeing now G League players and NBA players trying to come back to play in college. So with that being said, what is your college placement strategy for your final year players?

Jim Driggs (19:09)
Well, having coached in college for a bunch of years and, you know, being around for a while now, I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of contacts at basically all three levels. So I always tell guys if they join our program, we're going to be, ⁓ you work hard, you do what you're supposed to do in the classroom, in the community. My commitment for you is that I'm going to get on the phone as much as I can. I'm going to hammer the phone. I'm going to call my contacts and try to promote you.

and get you recruited to the level that I think you should be recruited at. And so I'll work tirelessly for our guys, you know, behind the scenes to try to get them recruited. Obviously, we know that it's gotten more challenging. I think the prep ranks ⁓ is a little bit more advantageous than say a typical high school player. So I think, you know, ⁓ usually you're going to find an older player at the prep ranks than you would at the high school level. I think colleges are trying to get older. So we have a little bit of an advantage there.

I think the importance of trying to identify kids that are good students too is very helpful because I think the higher academic ones are still kind of going about it the more traditional way ⁓ than ⁓ maybe some others. We've had some experience the last couple years with IV and Patriot League players. Those schools seem to still be recruiting the more ⁓ traditional way.

⁓ I also again, it comes back to honesty too. I think you have to set the expectations with families as you get kids on campus that, you know, listen, the landscape has changed drastically. We're going to do our best to help your, ⁓ you know, your child out to get to the level that we think they can play at. ⁓ So I think they need to know that the landscape has changed, ⁓ you know, significantly as well, and most people do. ⁓ But, you know, I think the importance again on academics,

because you don't want to eliminate schools in this market, right? You want to be able to have as many options as possible. I also think sometimes people overlook the lower levels too that are still really, really, really, really good and using that as well as a stepping stone.

Cory Heitz (21:18)
I love it. love it. And yeah, your connections, ⁓ yeah, you've gotten from doing it for so long, being at that level. And you know, as a former college coach, what college coaches are looking for. So you've probably got a great insight you can give your players that maybe not every coach out there can.

Jim Driggs (21:32)
Yeah, think colleges listen college coaches want players that can help them win right and players that have talent, toughness and IQ are going to be zero maintenance and everything that they do. And ⁓ I think if you can and you build up credibility and we've built up credibility as a program with the guys that have come before us. ⁓ Our guys haven't transferred. We've had guys have gone on to the Big East one national championships Big 10.

Cory Heitz (21:37)
Yeah.

Jim Driggs (21:58)
and all the way down and our guys for whatever reason, we've had very few people transfer even in this market and this world that we live in. So, you know, I think the fact that we've been able to build up some credibility too helps us when we call a coach and say, hey, we've got a guy for you that you should really consider. And we had a ton of college coaches in our gym last year. A lot of that's because of the players we have, but also the relationships that we have as coaches.

Cory Heitz (22:24)
Absolutely. Now, if a ninth, tenth, or eleventh grade family reaches out and they ask you about reclassifying or not, what advice do you give them?

Jim Driggs (22:36)
Well, I think in today's ⁓ basketball world, I think if you're a young player that ⁓ hasn't reclassed yet, you should strongly consider it. And again, I think it's individually based, but I think, again, the idea to get another year under your belt, get a little bit older is not a bad thing. And so I talked to a lot of families that want to do it. So I'm often just reaffirming what they, I think, already are planning on doing. ⁓

So I try to support that, but I think the notion of getting older, getting another year under your belt academically, trying to develop, ⁓ I think are all good things for a young basketball player and student.

Cory Heitz (23:18)
Let's

say a 10th grader wants to come to your school and they go straight to 11th 12th grade and they need an extra year. Can they stay there and do a post-grade year? Does your school allow that or not? Okay, so with that being said, is there an advantage of reclassing or doing the post-grade year as far as Albany Academy is concerned? Or is it the same?

Jim Driggs (23:28)
Yes, they do.

Cory, that's

a great question. I don't know. It seems like in the eyes of the recruiting process, it's better to reclass earlier than do a post-grad year. And I have no idea why. People ask me that all the time and I don't know the answer to that. So I kind of lean towards, I think you should come in and reclass. The other benefit to that again is we want to try to make this as ⁓ non-transactional of an experience as possible.

Cory Heitz (24:03)
Mm-hmm.

Jim Driggs (24:05)
I want to have kids, the more student athletes I can have in our program for more than just one year, it gets me excited because the opportunity to develop a real relationship, see the growth within one program over two to three years, I think adds real value to everyone. Most importantly, the actual player, but also to our program. And it doesn't mean we won't take post-grads.

actively recruiting them right now. But ideally we'd love to get a ⁓ maybe a 10th grader that's in high school that would be in 11th grade to come back, come to Academy, reclass and repeat their 10th year, you know. ⁓

Cory Heitz (24:45)
Okay,

gotcha. What do you see as the future of prep school basketball?

Jim Driggs (24:52)
Another great question. ⁓

I don't know how equipped I am to answer that right now. Having been in this for one year, I think I can't get over how wildly popular it is. mean, I probably everyone's worst enemy locally now that we've made this move. And I just know throughout the country, especially in the Northeast, a lot of high school leagues have been impacted by the better players wanting to go prep. So the demand is unbelievable.

⁓ I don't know how ⁓ some of these EYBL leagues and ⁓ sneaker ⁓ company leagues that are out there right now, how that might impact, but I just continue to... I believe it's going to continue to just be ⁓ unbelievably popular ⁓ because... ⁓ mainly because of the dynamic that's taking place at the college level where

kids have to be a little bit older, right? So and I'm just every day I'm contacted by people from throughout the world about playing you know in the NEP SAC. So I don't know if that's a great answer but I've been blown away with the popularity of it, the demand that's out there and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Cory Heitz (26:18)
Gotcha. Last big question here is a big one we ask every coach. What does it take to be a D1 guard in today's college game?

Jim Driggs (26:28)
Like again, you got to be tough, right? You got to be ball strong. ⁓ You've got to be able to handle the ball against pressure. ⁓ I think you've got to be able to ⁓ make shots. You got to able to shoot the ball. There's such a premium on being able to shoot the basketball, especially the three point shot. ⁓ You know, I think quickness and strength are so, so important. ⁓

I mean, I get back to what I said about what players have talent, toughness and IQ. ⁓ Point guards, college guards really have to have toughness and IQ, right? I think in order to be able to get to college, everything is, I say the prep school ranks reminds me of college, but we're still not college basketball. I mean, the demands that are placed on, know, college athletes in basketball are tremendous from the preparation, the details that go into offenses, the details that go into scouting reports.

So to be able to pick that up quickly and help your team win are so important. ⁓ colleges want to identify guys that one can help them win. I think you do that with talent and with IQ and toughness.

Cory Heitz (27:46)
I mean toughness, love it. All right, we're do a couple of quick hitters, okay? Best player you ever played against.

Jim Driggs (27:53)
Shane Battier.

Cory Heitz (27:56)
Best player you were coached against at the college level.

Jim Driggs (28:01)
That's a tough question best player ever coached against at the college level It's gonna be a division three guys, so a lot of guys probably won't Know this name ⁓ There was a guy at the University of Chicago Derek right who was unbelievable all-american ⁓ I think he might have got a cup of coffee in the NBA or at least you know tryout but tremendous player

Cory Heitz (28:28)
All right. How about in your high school coaching career at Albany Academy? Who's the best player you've coached against so far and your short time there?

Jim Driggs (28:36)
I know this is recent, but I have not seen a point guard as good as Daron Rippey in a long time. He's the real deal. And he plays the right way. He's talking about talent, toughness, and IQ. He's got all three. He's a winner, ⁓ extremely explosive, and I'm sure he's going to be great at Duke.

Cory Heitz (28:42)
Okay. Okay.

Okay, your favorite movie?

Jim Driggs (29:01)
My favorite movie. Shawshank Redemption.

Cory Heitz (29:09)
Probably on TV right now. All right. And lastly, what are your hobbies and you're not coaching?

Jim Driggs (29:10)
It probably is.

⁓ Love golf. Up until about recently, I'm a big runner. I'm trying to get back into that. So I've run a bunch of marathons. But so I try to work out, but golf and running.

Cory Heitz (29:27)
sweet

Tell me this, ran a marathon, I've run a marathon and a half. My half was canceled due to COVID at the last minute. So you tell me, what have you learned by running marathons?

Jim Driggs (29:45)
I always finish and I just say, I'm never going to do this again. And then I end up doing it again. ⁓ I love the challenge of like the training, right? I, that, that like, gets me a little juice. The competition of like competing with yourself, ⁓ the challenge of competing with yourself, you know, getting up on a Saturday morning and just going for like a 22 mile run. ⁓ I enjoy the preparation of, for the marathon. Although the last one I did, I did the Marine Corps.

Cory Heitz (29:53)
you

Jim Driggs (30:14)
in DC, which is a great one, but I had done a half marathon the week before, just a few days before actually, and after that I was I barely finished. I was cramping. I had one of my best personal times ever in the half and my worst showing in a marathon ever at the Marine Corps and I haven't done one since, but I want to get back into it. Done some ultras too. Yeah, it's great. Done a couple ultras.

Cory Heitz (30:39)
Yeah, my first was the Marine Corps. You've done ultras.

Jim Driggs (30:43)
Yeah.

Cory Heitz (30:44)
Tell me your thought. No, Kate. I know what ultra is. ⁓ Tell people what those are and what possesses you to do that.

Jim Driggs (30:54)
Again, it's just, I guess, competing with myself, challenging myself. ⁓ That's, you know, I, that's mainly the reason why I do it. I'd also obviously try and stay in shape, try to stay fit, but the ultras are a whole different animal. I've done ⁓ just 50 Ks and I haven't done one of those in five years. So ⁓ I don't know if I'll do another one. And a lot of those were trail runs, which are a whole nother story.

Cory Heitz (31:24)
Good for you, man. It's tough. That is tough. Now I was going to say my first my first was the Marine Corps because we were living in DC at the time. That's just a that's just a glorious one. And that's where you that's where I trained for my marathon was all through DC, which is not a not a bad place to do it.

Jim Driggs (31:40)
great place to run. was just down there around Christmas. My sisters live down there. Running around DC is unbelievable, know, especially around Christmas with the lights and I got up early one morning, did like a five mile run with my son, but just ⁓ it's flat for the most part, right? ⁓ That's a good place to train.

Cory Heitz (32:01)
Yeah. And after a certain time in the evening, everyone's gone. So it's dead quiet. can just, you can run into them all and that's just, it's just magical. ⁓ Jim, is there anything we didn't touch on in this podcast that you want to mention?

Jim Driggs (32:05)
Yeah, you're right, it is.

Yeah.

No, I just again, really, really excited to be part of the NEpsac It's been even ⁓ better than I thought. ⁓ Every game is a battle. Our goal is to make the playoffs this year. We're right there. We're going to have to finish strong these next three games in the league. just looking forward, we really want to get this going and build a championship program. And more importantly, keep helping kids try to get to where they want to get to, which I know is a college level.

we're going to work as hard as we can to do that.

Cory Heitz (32:48)
Excellent. Well, Jim, thanks so much for joining the podcast. Coach Jim Driggs, his contact information. If you want to learn more, reach out to him. We'll be in the show notes below. But ⁓ Jim, thanks so much for joining us today.

Jim Driggs (32:59)
Thanks, Cory I really enjoyed it.

Cory Heitz (33:01)
Yeah, if you guys like this, be sure to subscribe on all the major podcasting platforms and to our YouTube channel where we have bonus content and go to prepathletics.com and sign up for our newsletter that comes out once a month. So you're up to date on the latest in the prep school world and any questions you have or any interest in prep schools, reach out to me at prepathletics.com. We'd love to hear from you and we'll give you an honest assessment right away. So thanks so much for tuning in. Take care.