S2.Ep33 - Introducing Steve Ernst - Lakewood's new head boys basketball coach

On this episode of the Viking Coaches Corner, Kurt sits down for the first interview with Steve Ernst. Steve is the new varsity boys basketball coach here at Lakewood. Steve comes to Lakewood with a host of experience and success.  We are excited to welcome him onboard and let you get a chance to meet him.

Remember to come out and support your Lakewood Vikings sports!  And stick around and check out the success your Vikings are achieving.   

Special thanks you to Tommy and Judy Scheidt of Buddy’s on the Beach in Lake Odessa for hosting this podcast.  

GO VIKINGS!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I actually am gonna tell you what I had for lunch here, buddies. We had the bluegill basket, I did and you did too. I'm stuffed. Funny story about that too. I asked Tommy, the owner of Buddies on the Beach, where he gets his bluegill from. He said a good fisherman never tells. I said, Well, Tommy, that's why I asked you.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Welcome to this week's episode of the Viking Coach's Corner, with your host and voice of the Lakwood Vikings, Kurt Ackerson. Join Kurt as he sits down with coaches and athletes and discusses everything from rosters to pregame rituals. We're glad that you have joined us now. Onto this week's episode.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Hello, welcome to Buddies on the Beach. It is Friday, May 1st, first day of May. Summer's gonna be here before we know. At least we hope it's about 35 degrees here today at Buddies on the Beach. I am here with our new boys basketball coach, even though he's not new to basketball, Mr. Steve Ernst. Steve, welcome to the Viking crew. We're glad to have you aboard. We're gonna talk Lakewood Viking basketball and your philosophies of yada yada yada soon. But you have a long career in basketball. Starting as a player, you played for your dad.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

I did. Thank you, Kurt, for having me. I'm uh excited to be here today. And uh food is fabulous. But uh yeah, I played for uh my dad whether I liked it or not.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

And that was in high school or even before that?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

I played uh for him in high school growing up in Little Reed City, Michigan, and I played at three different high schools for my dad back in the early 80s when people were getting pink slipped and graduated from Charlotte.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

And we played against him in Charlotte and Lakewood. Who were so who was the coach at Lakewood when your dad coached and you played?

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Coach Mace was.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Coach Mace. That goes back just a few years. And what a couple years. What position did you play? I was a slow point guard. A slow point guard. And then did you go on to college to play?

SPEAKER_02 2:14

I did. I started my career at uh Grand Valley, and uh we were hoping to go D1 with Oakland, and it didn't happen, and a bunch of us left at uh semester time because the board voted it down way back when, and so I spent a little time with my uh college roommate Mark Brown from Hastings, Michigan. Him and I lived together at Western and I stumbled, tried to pretend to be a D1 player, and I wasn't even close and played a year at Alma.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

I remember Mark Brown, he was like so awesome of a shooter. He's like one of the best players that ever come out of Hastings High School.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Yeah, I think he's still in the top five as state's leading scorers ever. And uh, Mark, uh, of course, we're all from a different time. There were no three-point lines then. Yeah, that's true. And what did you get your degree in? It's uh really human relations, but it's really an education, Major.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

What are some of your favorite basketball memories? Whether it's a player or coach, and I know you're gonna make some new memories coming up too.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Well, I was lucky enough to watch my dad's team in 1980 at Little Reed City go 28-0, win a state championship. But I am old enough to remember my dad's team coming down, and I believe it was here in Lakewood scrimmaging, and uh I was a little ball boy in scrimmaging that uh 1975 Lakewood team. And my dad uh made it clear uh to me today to make sure that uh he was smart enough to bring his uh team down in 75 from Reed City to scrimmage that great Lakewood team, and and so you know, certainly those memories, but uh I was lucky enough to play in one of the best high school environments in Michigan at Charlotte in the old dome.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

And some of those 1975 state champion Lakewood Vikings, you're gonna meet really soon. They're still involved with the basketball program. Mark Farrell, his son Luke, is the girls' varsity coach. Mark is still very much involved at Lakewood. He's got a lot of grandkids, and he's still involved heavily in basketball, so you're gonna probably meet him soon.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Uh certainly a great basketball family. I remember Coach Farrell well and uh Coach Luke in a little AAU in a different life. And uh I'm excited that uh they're both around and uh certainly have a lot of wisdom of the game.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Okay, now we are gonna get into the interview part of this podcast. I'm gonna throw all different kinds of things at you. So you have a lot of experience. I know you're gonna handle this very well. What is your coaching philosophy and approach to developing players?

SPEAKER_02 4:49

Well, certainly, high school basketball is a lot like gardening. You you have to be willing to uh to deal with it and work on it every day, and you've got to be willing to get down and to those third graders and fourth graders and work your way on up, and uh, and my philosophy on on player development is you know, we're really ball handling based in the modern game. You know, everybody needs to be able to handle the basketball a little bit, and we still play power basketball on the blocks, uh, but we're a pressure defensive philosophy, and we try to force you know close to 30 turnovers a game, and and uh which frees kids up to shoot shots without pressure and have a little bit of fun. And you know, we try to get to the rim and average uh average in the 80s.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

That's what the Pistons need to do tonight in game six. Yeah, it's a huge one. I'm sure Coach Farrell would love that word you said defense too. He had that matchup zone. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_02 5:47

I do. I remember the old one-two-two uh uh matchup zone that Lakewood would run and uh the Sean O'Meara and C.B. Long days when I couldn't get a shot off over those guys, and uh wasn't very fun. But uh yeah, we'll play a lot of matchup zone, and we play six or seven different uh trapping uh zone presses and man presses, and uh we've got a lot in our bag of tricks, and uh, but if you don't rebound and defend, you're just gonna lose.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Absolutely. How do you balance individual skill development with team success?

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Well, it is just the team, and that's uh what it's about, and and I'm sure that's what the people from Lake would expect. It's the team to team to team, and uh we try to get as good as we can to help that team, and uh so we put hours in, and you have to make the gym available, and you have to do your best to try to help the players that are willing to get in the gym, and um you know, and do your best to give a little bit of a sales pitch of why they should, because later in life they'll understand why those hours in the gym matter. Uh, but really it's all about team basketball.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

I love that answer. Great answer. How do you develop players' basketball IQ and understanding of the game?

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Well, you just have to, you know, play this game a lot. It's a you know, it's it's really an art form that there's a lot to it, and uh you have to put, you know, the old days of playing two on two and three on three, uh, I'm not so sure that happens enough anymore. And and those little things uh help you develop understanding of the game. But then uh we will play a lot of basketball in the summertime. I'm excited about our summer schedule. Uh certainly, you know, you want to respect everyone, but you want to fear no one, and and Lakewood basketball will be out on the state scene again, and I'm excited to be playing the Forest Hills Northerns in the Holland, West Ottawa's this summer, and uh and getting our kids out there exposed to playing uh good basketball, and uh we'll just adjust to that.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

So playing those Grand Rapids teams, is that gonna be in a camp or you just got individual scrimmages lined up? Can you talk a little more about your summer program?

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Yeah, a little bit of both. Uh we're certainly gonna go and uh do some one-on-one scrimmages so we can break down and do some half-court stuff as well as full court uh scrimmages, and then uh a couple uh of events where you know multiple teams play. Uh, we're not gonna do a team camp per se this summer uh because really I want to get my hands on uh like we talked about player development and and spending time on the on the finer points of the game. But we've got a busy uh summer schedule. Uh obviously the all the athletes in Lakewood are or most of them are probably multi-sport athletes, and and that's just uh what makes being from a small town fun. And uh so we'll just work around football and the other sports, but uh we're able to put a good schedule together and we're gonna start with a two-day kind of uh mini camp of of just uh a learning experience of uh we're gonna just dump a lot on the kids for two days.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

So have you had a chance to look at any film or meet the team? I know you met the team, but have you looked at any film on them or seen any of them play?

SPEAKER_02 9:00

I I've watched I've watched some film and and uh certainly uh there's there's some size there, and I've I've got to see a little bit, but uh we're gonna start this thing from uh the very beginning, and uh you know it's certainly my philosophy is substantially different uh than maybe uh the last couple years. So what is your philosophy?

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Well, we're looking to run you out of the gym. Cool, I love that. That would bring back the student section too.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Well, I think people are gonna be excited because I'm confident the kids play real hard. Uh and we'll talk about it, but I'm confident uh the way they're raised here and in this community that uh that's not anything I'm gonna have to beg them to do. We're just gonna give them a framework for success.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

You do have a lot of hard workers coming back. What are the str your strategies for building team chemistry and unity?

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Well, you know, like we talked about, it's it is the team, but really we're we're playing for the community, and uh I'm lucky enough uh as you get old in life to look back and realize uh, you know, and the same thing Larry Byrd said about playing for French Lick, that mattered a lot more than playing for the Celtics. And someday these kids are gonna be able to look back and either stay in the community or or think back of what it was like playing in front of sell-out crowds. Like I remember playing at Lakewood when the pet band was so loud you couldn't hear, and we'd have to run over to the coaches to try to make changes, and we're gonna get it that way, is uh and we're gonna do it sooner than later.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yes, and I'm gonna talk to Mr. Matt Langlois. We actually talked about that on the podcast he was on about a pet band. So I think we can make that happen.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Yeah, certainly uh it makes it fun for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

So, coach, how do you handle different playing styles and adapt your coaching to individual players?

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Well, certainly good coaches uh adjust to what they have and you know as as players, but also uh we do enough different things that uh according to what we have talent-wise, and you know, from year to year at the high school level things change. You just uh find out what's what's best for this group of kids. And uh but but still stay in uh in your big picture of what you're trying to accomplish.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

So you mentioned coaches. Have you had a chance to talk to the assistant coaches that were coaching last year at Lakewood?

SPEAKER_02 11:33

I I I have had a chance. Yeah, I've been able to have a nice conversation uh with the JV coach and and I have a short conversation with a freshman coach. I look forward to sitting down with him and and um and and and coach Dice, who I who I know. Uh I'm excited to talk to him. And you know, it's just uh there's a lot of people in the community that care about Lakewood basketball, and I'm confident of that. And and uh we're just gonna all we need a lot more people under the tent that are than are under the tent now. And uh certainly our practices are open, and I'm excited uh to have uh more people get on board.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

You mentioned Chris Dice. He has a son, CJ, I believe, is gonna be a freshman this coming year. He is tall and very good basketball players. There's some talent coming in, there's some talent coming back. What do you see as a present and future at Lakewood?

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Well, we're just gonna try to win league championships, and that's your first start, and uh we just uh these seniors don't have time to wait for the eighth graders. No, they do not. And so we're gonna try to win championships for the seniors that are coming back next year. And uh, and then you know, certainly I'm here because I hope to someday take Lakewood to the President Center.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

That would be awesome. So have you had a chance to look at some of the teams in our league, and who do you feel is some of the top teams in the league next year? I kind of have my own thoughts too, but I want to hear what your thoughts are.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

Well, certainly uh I wouldn't be here if uh it wasn't such a tremendous administration here in Lakewood. But I know this league well, and and one of the reasons I I'm excited about this job is this conference and uh the communities that are in it. Uh it's a basketball from a different time where you have communities, and and I know most of the schools well, and I'm excited uh in the future get Okamus and Mason back on the schedule because those are great rivalry games, and so we'll we'll get them and and I look forward to beating Grand Ledge and Waverly and having a lot of fun uh with the traditional rivals. That would be awesome beating Grand Ledge. That's my alma maters. So yeah, I've played against those guys before, and uh I'm not so sure I ever lost to them, but uh and I know Lake Win and Grand Ledge, I think potentially, and and they've got a great coach and a great tradition, and and I think we get a chance to maybe have a trophy game that we're gonna start with them.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

That would be great. How do you prepare players for different game situations and pressure moments?

SPEAKER_02 14:02

Well, practices have to be harder than games, and uh you know, certainly uh at this stage of my life I'm maybe a little bit older and and gentler and hopefully a little kinder, but our practices uh are uh intense and uh you have to expose those kids to intense, well-run practices. If not, you cheat them come game night.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

What strategies do you find most effective for team motivation? I think you kind of just answered it a little bit with hard practices, but what other strategies?

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Well, you know, when it comes to motivation, if you know, if you're not excited to represent your school and your community, then you're then maybe there's other things you can do.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

That's true. So what are some of your key elements for a successful practice plan?

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Well, we just you know, a lot of our practice looks like it's uh 1977 Indiana University with Bobby Knight. We're funding off the chairs, right? Yeah, hold the chairs down, but we work on fundamentals on a daily basis. You know, it's just really building blocks stuff, and we work on ball handling and and pass fakes and shot fakes and and maybe things from a different era. And uh, but that's you know, and and boxing out, making contact, uh the finer, the finer, simpler things of the game.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

I like that making contact because I have not seen that very much recently. Well, we're gonna do that. What role does communication play in your coaching philosophy?

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Well, I think it's always been important, but it's even more so important now in uh in the modern era, and there's there's communication because we, you know, uh in in in a game situation and then a life situation, uh we change, we have we have lots of changes during games, but also in in life and practice and and different things is it just has to be open uh lines of communication on all things all the time. And um we work on it daily uh basketball-wise, and then we need to also work on it also life-wise all the time.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

So, how do you adapt your coaching style from college to high school? Because you coached at Olivet College for how many years?

SPEAKER_02 16:16

I was a I was a head coach there for three years. I spent time at Glen Oaks Community College, I was a head assistant at Grand Valley State, you know. So I've spent enough years at the college level, but but certainly uh high school basketball is a lot of fun. It's it's just uh you have to be willing uh to develop players. Uh, you know, in this crazy NIL world or rent a player, uh it's certainly a different time. And uh that's not at all what I would be interested in doing at this point in my life. Uh I'm excited about taking somebody who wants to put time in the gym and and helping them get to where they want to be.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

And the NIL has trickled down through high school. It uh little bit of NIL went to Kishon last year for Sexton.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

It's it's certainly uh an interesting time, and I I did see the whatever Eastside Fish Fryer, whoever was sponsoring Kishon. And um, you know, I guess if if you want to do it you can, or if that's the right thing, but uh we won't be doing that here in Lakewood. He's a good good kid though, Kishon. I'd where did he end up signing, do you know? I'm not positive that he's made that final decision yet.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

We don't have to go against him this year, but their JV team looked pretty strong last year too. So yeah, sexton should always be good. How do you foster a positive team culture?

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Well, you have to spend hours and hours together. And they have to spend hours and hours outside of uh practice together. And uh, you know, you have to you have to build teams inside out and and you have to let them know that you know we're all pulling the rope the same way and and at the same time, you know, we're at a great restaurant here, and uh you know, we have to let them know that uh everybody cares what they're doing, and we have to make sure that we're reaching out and showing that we care what everybody else is doing.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

You talked about bonding together outside of the gym and stuff. What you have some ideas on that?

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Well, you know, there's lots of opportunities for that, and uh and certainly community-wise and and uh with the youth, you know, we'll bring back the old Saturday basketball, certainly that's a crucial thing, you know, that the high school kids are in the gym Saturday mornings, but you know, we have to make sure that we're uh as a program a part of the community any way we can.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

What advice would you give to new coaches entering the field?

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Well, you just you have to do it for the right reasons. And uh I'm lucky enough to to have grown up in a house with a guy who coached the boys and the girls at Charlotte and coached boys' basketball and girls basketball growing up and back when the ladies still played in the fall. And and um you know you just you need to enjoy the the whole picture of it all, and and I do. Uh, and um certainly my time away the last four years away from basketball has has certainly made it crystal clear to me. Uh, if I ever had the opportunity to get back in the gym, you you certainly need to uh do your very best to try to help kids have the best life experience they can have.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So I'm gonna take a stab in the dark. You were away for four years, the Lakewood job was open, and you said sure.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Well, I had to get approval at home first from the missile of the city. Well, of course, of course. You know, and uh yeah, no, I saw that the Lakewood job was open, and I had a a couple couple people from uh the Lakewood area who called me and let me know that the job was open, and I didn't know it uh uh initially, and uh it's it's certainly uh um Lakewood's not Charlotte, but in on some country roads, someplace they butt up to each other, and so it's it's not a completely different culture, and uh and I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the people from Lakewood, and I'm excited about the culture, and and from a guy who played in the 80s, uh I'm comfortable and I am hoping uh that small town communities stay that way in our state.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Well, to the two guys or gals or whoever called you to let you know about the job, we thank you very much. Yeah, good people. How do you balance winning with player development?

SPEAKER_02 20:29

Well, player development uh overrides winning. Winning is really a byproduct of uh of uh grinding and putting time in and doing things the right way. Uh you know, they winning takes care of itself uh according to uh how you go about it. If you put winning ahead of player development and you put winning ahead of team stuff, it just doesn't work that way. You know, it's really player development first and that's how you accomplish winning.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

What is your coaching philosophy and approach to developing players?

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Well, to development, um, because we're ball handling based, we s we spend a uh tremendous amount of time uh working on uh you know ball handling, but we also you know break down shots and and get our elbow under the ball and let it roll off our fingertips, put our pointer finger in the rim. Uh we don't uh just let you shoot it the way you want to shoot it.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Um unfortunately we do what Isel does, you put the big broom up in front of their face.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

There's there's a million ways to do that stuff, but uh you know, when you when you take shots, you have to have earned the right to take shots. And uh it's not always an equal opportunity thing.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

So what do you have to do to find a way to create a shot or earn a shot? Like what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Well, we're all you know, all shooters will be a little bit different, and so as a coach you have to realize what shots are good for certain players. But often in uh In today's world, everybody thinks they can fire one up whenever they feel like firing one up. And unfortunately, I don't feel that way. And and so we'll make that crystal clear from day one.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

I just had a flash, memory flash. Antoine Joubert, remember him? The judge, absolutely. He there he didn't there was not a shot he did not like, put it that way.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

Well, I was lucky enough to shoot way more than I should have because uh my dad was a coach, he let me shoot all the time. Uh but I also there were very few days in my life where I didn't take 500 shots and shoot 100 free throws.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

What are your expectations for player commitment and work ethic?

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Well, it's one of the main jobs I have is to let them uh let them understand and and uh communicate why it's important to make the sacrifice that you're making and why it's important uh to to give those hours to the game of basketball. And it's in today's world with so many different things going on and and multi-sport athletes, it does take a commitment to uh we don't want to be uh jack of all, master of none. You know, we we would like to be good at everything we do, and and so that's just gonna take a time commitment, and and it's a tough balance for for young adults.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

How do you prepare players for different game situations and pressure moments?

SPEAKER_02 23:32

Well, you probably remember what it was like having to go to play at Okamus or someplace like that, you know, and they'd be rated number two or whatever they were in the state all the time, and you know, with a tremendous uh environment. You just you know, you have to climatize kids, and that's that's why this summer we'll do our very best to go find the best teams we can play against, uh and and keep getting better while we do that. Yeah, but you have to give them a fair opportunity by exposing them to to different things to to ask people to walk into a uh a buzzsaw is not fair.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

So you talk about playing this summer, and do you have a website that people can look at to know when you're practicing when you're playing? We're um we're working on it.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

We've created a a Lakewood basketball Facebook page that we'll post it on, and uh we've got a it looks like we're gonna have a parent player meeting on Wednesday night of this coming week, and uh hope to be able to hand out schedules for the month of June. And then July and August, we leave the kids alone and just try to open the gym and and and see who uh can make it when they can make it. Uh we're gonna have open gyms starting next week for the month of May in the high school on Mondays and Wednesdays at five o'clock. And you know, it just but but there's baseball and there's track and there's rain and there's re-assignments. It's just I'm going to be there. Uh, and uh we'll see who can make it.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Well, I might be there just to see if I can still touch the rim. I think I can touch the rim, it's just the landing part that wouldn't go down too well. Yeah, I understand that. What are your expectations for player leadership and communication on the floor?

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Well, I've I've gotten to meet a few of the young men that have played in the past, and uh like I would expect, uh, which unfortunately in some communities doesn't happen. I've actually heard a couple yes, sirs, and I'm excited to play for you, and uh and things that uh certainly as a coach you're excited about. Um I'm confident that we'll have some some great senior leadership, which is always crucial, but it always doesn't have to come from the seniors, it certainly has to come from the point guard position.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yes, and we have actually, in my opinion, some good ball handler point guards coming back. So I'm really looking forward to this year. I mean, got the size, got the point guard, got a coach that's gonna make them better. The future and present, like I said, is looking up for Lakewood. What are your strategies for handling conflicts and challenges within the team?

SPEAKER_02 26:12

Well, you just have to, we've got to quickly get to the point, uh, and it's a tough one to do, but we've got to get to the point that the players understand that you care about them. And you care about them in a big picture, and and they also have to understand that they care about each other, and we've we've got to move that forward uh quicker than maybe anything. And the only way they're gonna understand that is if you if uh you sacrifice for them and and show that uh you're you're invested in uh in their time commitment because they have many things they could be doing with their lives, as and their parents are smart enough to to read who who really cares about their kids, and uh, and hopefully that'll come across in a hurry that I do care about these kids.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

So this next was gonna be a two-part question. What are your methods for teaching defensive and offensive principles and strategies? Start with offense first.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Well, you know, offensively, you know, we you know, there was a time when you never ball screened, and now anyone all they do is ball screen. You know, we have a lot in our uh bag of tricks. Uh we have about 32 set plays, but yet I grew up in a time when everything was pure motion in a day when you ran no set plays. And so I've I'm I'm seeing both sides of the game of basketball. Uh we can play a lot like Gonzaga does and and and be real tricky and run uh sets off of flex and sets off of ball screens and and um basically be as complicated as you want to be, or you can keep the game really pretty and simple. And that and that's where you have to find out what type of uh team you have and spend time in the gym with those young men. And then defensively, uh, you know, the old days of pointing your pistols and seeing ball and man and and help side defense and coming across and taking charges. We'll work on taking charges every day all year long and bringing across help side defense, and then we're in zones, it's five against the ball in the zone, and and but we're always hunting the ball, and our hands are in the passing lanes all the time. There is no time against us that you just get to pass the ball.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

How do you develop players' shooting technique and consistency? And before you answer that, have you seen the shooting machine that uh LAA bought for the basketball programs?

SPEAKER_02 28:31

I did I happened to see that the other day, and now we have we have two shooting machines, and and certainly that's as that's as nice a shooting machine as you get, and it's it's the same one the University of Michigan uses down there, and it's no blue. Yep, and uh it's pretty tremendous and uh and a great tool to have. And uh as a guy who occasionally take a couple thousand shots a day in another point of time in my life, I can't imagine having such a thing. Well, it would have been a lot of fun. But uh to develop shooting, you have to put hours and hours in the game. And uh I shot at 6 a.m. before school a lot in my life. And I'm hoping that uh we get some young men that uh fall in love with the game that much, and and they and they're only gonna fall in love with the game if if it's enjoyable, and that's that's the world we live in today. I'm excited to watch football games this this fall, and and I'm sure coaches working the same thing, and we I know we've got tremendous wrestling and volleyball and cheerleading and all the sports, but uh you know it's a lot of time that goes into being a great shooter, and uh it's hard to cheat the game that way. You have to put hours into it.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

What are your expectations for player conduct and team rules?

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Well, you know, we a lot of that stuff's common sense, and uh and certainly we're representing the community in the in the school district, and and so according to that, including myself, uh for I'm sure there's people concerned because I had a technical or two in my career. Um I have heard that through some research. Yeah, there's been a time or two. Uh but uh sometimes when you take over programs that have finished last in the conference for years and years, you also have to let the community and the kids know that those days are over and you're not gonna settle, and you have as you have uh you're willing to step out maybe at the end of the uh of the rope a little bit and and let them know that you expect uh victories. And sometimes that's just an act. And uh it's important to let the kids know that um the days of just losing and going home are over. And uh, but no, behavior uh in in uh in a community like uh Lake Odessa, you know, you're you're playing for the town, but you're also playing for the team. And and so, you know, we're we're all held accountable to our actions.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

How do you handle player injuries and recovery?

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Well, it's it's crucial in my time in college, you know. We've we've lost many kids to to injuries, you just have to let people heal up and and try to get them the best medical treatment you can get them, but you you certainly, you know, the days of of playing through stress fractures and stuff, I think those days may be gone. So you probably should be.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Have you met our athletic trainer, Heidi Rowe? Yes, she's very, very good.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

I I I watched her uh working with uh some uh young men the other day, I think before the baseball game, but we haven't talked yet, but I'm sure she's super, and it it's such a crucial part of today's athletics.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

So, vision, what are your goals for the program? I think you talked about league championships and how do you measure success?

SPEAKER_02 31:49

Well, for me, uh the the overriding success will be when you you can't get a seat in the gym. And uh I would expect that to happen this year. That you can't get a seat, and and the only way that's gonna happen is if the basketball program supports the football program, supports the soccer program, and we've got to bring the students back and uh and we've got to bring the community back. And the only way we're gonna do that is if we all let each other know we're all in this thing together. And uh so that's exciting. That's the great thing about high school sports.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

And I want to have a podcast real soon with you and Coach Moore together. I think that would be great.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Well, I'm excited, I'm excited, and he's he's got great energy, and and uh I'm excited for the for the football season this fall and and all the sports, and uh it's just uh that's the fun of coaching at the high school level. And uh selfishly that's what I look forward to watching all the different sports.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

And we do have a lot of really great athletes at Lakewood. Well, there's a long history of that. Well, they're there right now, especially that sophomore class. Well, they're almost juniors now. How do you support players' academic success and time management?

SPEAKER_02 33:01

Well, I've I've been in situations where I've had to not practice and start mandatory study halls and study tables. You know, obviously we're only here to turn the pages. You know, these are uh these are athletics, you know, they're extracurriculars and they're called extracurriculars for a reason. You know, it's uh it's a learning environment, and you know, as a son of an English teacher, I heard that at home once or twice. And so we turn the pages, and and certainly that's the most important thing, and and so if we're uh if we're falling behind because of athletics, we need to fix that sooner than later.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

So, what kind of training do you do to develop the player's physical conditioning and along with athleticism?

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Well, we have a tremendous weight room, and rumor has it that uh there's gonna even be more upgrades coming, but it it really is a great resource, and uh in in the modern world of athletics, uh we all need to train. And uh maybe in the 80s we didn't do it quite the way we we should have, and I certainly even personally wish I would have done a better job that way. Uh but you you've got to spend time, and as a coach, you have to to give time to that. You know, I I ran the weight room, you know, for basketball when I was a Grand Valley coach, and and certainly did it at Olivet College, and it's just a piece of the puzzle, just like taking care of injuries are, or you know, there's there's a lot to be in uh a part of a uh tremendous program, and that's that's a piece of the puzzle.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

How do you prepare players for college or professional opportunities?

SPEAKER_02 34:34

Well, I'm hoping that we get some young men that want to be college players because that's when it gets really fun as a coach to help those guys who've uh sacrificed and and uh and put time in to the program to help them on to the next level. And you know, I am I am lucky enough that way to to know a lot of college coaches and and hopefully uh to be able to go on some Wednesday and Saturdays someday and and see some Vikings uh play play somewhere, and that's that's fun stuff. We had one recently a couple years ago, Jace Cusack. I I knew the name, I was not in the area at that time, but yeah, I remember him as a player.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Yeah, great kid, great family, great basketball player. He played at Trine for a couple years. Exactly. So let's talk about the youth programs. You talked about getting them back on Saturdays. What are your goals and visions for that?

SPEAKER_02 35:30

Well, we're gonna try to pull off a uh three-day youth basketball camp in June. Um probably third through eighth graders because I will have already taken up a lot of the high school kids' times. But uh normally I would have, and I'll be certainly talking to Coach Farrell about this in the future. Um I would love to see uh a co-ed basketball uh camp come back where we're going, you know, third through twelfth grade, maybe for three, four days. But uh certainly we're gonna try to pull off a at least a third or fourth through eighth grade boys basketball camp sometime in in June, and we have to dance around a little bit of the stuff scheduled and and then uh you know Saturday basketball, but you know, the good coaches know who the third graders are. The good high school coaches in America know who the third graders are, and uh and I look forward to that. That's the also part of the fun of of coaching high school basketball.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

So you're gonna be out and about looking at future Vikings and not only basketball, but you I saw you at a baseball game the other day, so you I already get the sense now you're full fully in, all in for Lakewood. Well, supporting all the sports.

SPEAKER_02 36:40

Yeah, it's fun, you know, as a but I'm a you know, I'm a b baseball fan, a football fan, a soccer fan, and you know, I grew up uh my dad's first coaching job was in Flushing, Michigan, where he would take me to the wrestling matches because um they had great wrestling in the old Big Nine conference in those days, and you know, I just uh and I know our volleyball, and and uh I'm gonna try to do some sort of sales job and see if occasionally we could get a little sideline cheer because I'm confident we have tremendous cheerleadings to the lake.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

But that's gonna be a tough sale for Kim because just I'm sure because they're not cheerleaders, they're competitive cheer.

SPEAKER_02 37:16

I understand. I understand. But maybe we can uh for some special event we can get them there for a special game.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Well, shoot, I'll put a wig on and stuff. A couple cheers. We give we'll get some more fans for that, I'm sure. Maybe we can get alumni band back through Mr. Langlois. Because we really, really do got to get those students back. Well, it's it's without their cell phones.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Yeah, it's just a lot of fun and memories that uh we can't let them miss because later in life uh they'll look back and like we all do from a different time, laughing about the different things that happened, and so we need to do that and and hopefully we get some some pep band occasionally, and I know it's not always easy, but and and hopefully there's still people in Lakewood that like classic rock and roll because that's what we'll warm up to.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Well, I love that. Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, you name ACDC. We got to get producer Mike back with us this year. He was by he was a sound man two years ago. He's still our soundman for footballs. I don't know if we can afford him for uh boys basketball. We'll have to do some fundraisers, which brings me to another good question. What fundraisers do you have in mind to raise money for the program? I know we have the LAA that supports us quite a bit, and rec lending and other sponsors, but do you have any ideas for fundraisers?

SPEAKER_02 38:37

Well, it's you know, certainly as a as a smaller community, you get you get asked probably for dollars all the time for different things, and I I know that's not always fun. We'll, you know, but uh part of uh high school athletics is you know, I certainly want these uh young men to to have the best that we can get them and uh and you know, be it cardigans on game nights and different things that uh that I would expect from uh Lakewood, uh we'll probably do a shoot-a-thon and and maybe we can raise a um certainly we don't want to overprice any camp, but maybe we can r you know bring in a couple dollars for a youth camp or a high school camp, but still keeping prices down where we're not losing anybody. Certainly any camp or anything we offer uh it's just a phone call away for somebody to come for free.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

So you said you took four years off.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

How's it feel to get back into the game? Well, I'm ecstatic, and I'm ecstatic to be in a community like uh, you know, of course I'm from the time when it was Lakewood, Lake Odessa, is how I would call it, and and uh because in the old line in coaching is uh muscle remembers. And I'm confident uh if we play basketball the right way that uh the people from Lakewood will uh will support it, and uh then it will give these kids the life memory that I want them to have.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Is there anything else you want to talk about?

SPEAKER_02 39:59

No, I just really appreciate this opportunity and and just uh you know on a side note, I just uh you know, I'm I'll be going uh on my 72nd round of chemo uh next week. And for those out there who fighting cancer or family members fighting cancer, uh keep the faith, and uh certainly uh God is amazing and uh what he can do and I'm just ecstatic to be uh able to coach here in Lakewood and uh we're gonna have a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

We could maybe have a cancer awareness game, that would be something to think about right there. I know softball did that, and that was quite the fundraiser.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Yeah, the V Foundation does a great job with that, Dick Vital Vital and those guys, and Jim Valvano's old V. Never gave up. Yeah, never gave up.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

Jimmy V. Yeah, absolutely. Didn't he coach that North Carolina State team that was like 13 and 13 in the regular season, and they went on and won the national championship, I believe, right? Absolutely. Well, we are glad to have you aboard. Looking forward to announcing the basketball game. Not that I wasn't anyway. I mean, I have fun at all of them, but we're glad to have you aboard. Thank you for being on the show. Also, thank you. I've been meaning to do this on the last two shows, but thank you to Brandon Mark White for supplying the two Lakewood Coaches Corner banners. One is up here in the corner at Buddies, and one that's down in my weight room. We thank you, Brandon, very much. We appreciate it. And for our listeners, Brandon works at River City Reproductions and Graphics in Grand Rapids. Also, thank you, Tommy and Judy Scheid, owners of Buddies on the Beach, for letting us record here this afternoon. Thank you for the bluegill. Nice, thank you for that funny fish story, too, Tommy. Good Vikings.