Navigating Leaders

Episode 26: Why Winning Starts Before Anyone Is Watching

• Gabriel Griess • Season 1 • Episode 26

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Why do some leaders thrive under pressure while others lose momentum when life gets hard?

In this episode of The Navigating Leaders Podcast, Gabriel Griess sits down with championship-winning coach Corey M. Henderson Sr. to explore what it really takes to build a winning culture, lead through adversity, and stay committed when success doesn't come overnight.

From losing his corporate career to building one of the top basketball programs in Texas, Corey's journey is filled with hard-earned lessons on leadership, resilience, discipline, accountability, faith, and long-term vision.

If you're feeling stuck, facing setbacks, leading a team, or pursuing a goal that feels out of reach, this conversation will challenge the way you think about success and reveal what separates champions from everyone else.

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RESOURCES

🌎 Website: navigatingleaders.com

👀 Vision Engine: navigatingleaders.com/vision-engine

📖 The Results Tree — A Proven Path to the Life You Really Want: TheResultsTree.com

📖 Invictus by William Ernest Henley

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ABOUT COREY HENDERSON SR.

Corey M. Henderson Sr. is the head boys basketball coach and an admissions officer at the Episcopal School of Dallas, where he has served for over 23 years. A 4-year letterman at Texas A&M University, Corey played professionally in Perth, Australia before transitioning into coaching. He built the ESD basketball program from the ground up, earning three consecutive state championships and developing players who went on to compete at the collegiate and professional levels, including Phil Pressy of the Boston Celtics. Corey also served on staff at Kobe Bryant Academy for approximately six years. He leads the Campfire Program at ESD, a mentorship and guidance initiative for student athletes.

 📸 Instagram: @cmhe_32

 👍 Facebook: @coreymichael.henderson

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

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ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

SPEAKER_01

How are we happy in the money? What is that one in the colour? I'm so excited about these one. My name is Gabriel Grease, host of the Navigating Leaders Podcast. And today we have as a guest, Corey Henderson, Admissions Director and Head of Basketball and Head Boys Basketball Coach at the Episcopal School of Dallas. And we are just absolutely thrilled to uh to begin this conversation today. Welcome to the show, Corey. Thank you, Gabe. Thank you for having me. How are you today?

SPEAKER_00

I am doing well. Yeah, you told me you were doing some some uh tryouts. Yeah, it's been a it's been a long week. Um where we're doing, we actually started official practice um at the Episcopal School of Dallas um on Monday. And so we've been working every morning, working hard from about 6:30 to about 810 or 8.15. Um, but then I also, once that's done, I shower, um, I eat breakfast, and then I go into kind of my day-to-day routine and job, um, which is I also work in the admission office as an admission officer, um, but also run what we call the campfire program, uh, which is a mentorship and guidance program um at the Episcopal School of Dallas.

SPEAKER_01

That's awesome. So something I've experienced from you in our time together is a real consistency in you, right? And uh and I'll say thank you again here. Uh Corey had the time to work with with uh Preston Harrison this summer doing some basketball, and you fixed Preston's shot, and he is raining down terror on me. The guy beats me over and over again now. Uh Harrison's not far behind. Uh and and uh you've had quite the journey in basketball. So you yourself were uh four-year letterman at Texas AM. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And then you spent some time in the pros? Spent some time um so I played um I played four years. I spent 91 to 95, 1991 to 1995, uh playing in my alma mater, uh, which is Texas AM, um, which has really been good to me. Uh it was a blessing being able to uh play alongside my brother. Um I played alongside or with him uh for three out of my four years. Um he got there in 89. Um I got there in 91. So his first year he redshirted, and then his first year of playing was 90. I came in in 91. Um, and so we spent three years playing alongside of each other. When I graduated um from there, I ended up working out and and playing with the a team called Athletes in Action. So I did that for a year, and then that journey took me uh to playing professionally in Perth, Australia.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Australia is amazing.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. Very, very, very, very beautiful place.

SPEAKER_01

So, so uh your brother back at AM, right? What position did he play?

SPEAKER_00

So he was a shooting guard. And you were So I played um, I played all four positions at AM except the point. Um I could I could handle the ball, play the point, but um my epicenter, I was of I was a hybrid guy. I could do everything. I could I could post you up inside, I can take you outside. Um I was really skilled. Uh coming out of high school uh in '91, uh, a guy by the name of Jay Parker, uh, who was kind of the basketball guru in Houston. Um, he was the one that basically, through watching me and participating in various training sessions and skills, he had me listed as um one of the top-rated skills guy in Houston going into my senior year uh in high school.

SPEAKER_01

That's really similar, right? The Houston high school environment and my graduating class 20 in high school in Nebraska. Almost identical. Almost identical. Uh so Thanksgiving, Christmas, do you and your brother still play hoops? You know what?

SPEAKER_00

We do not. Okay. Okay. I'm you know, I'm on the court before and after Thanksgiving now because I'm coaching. And so, you know, the holiday season is is prime for high school basketball, college basketball and professional basketball, but really high school basketball. And so um I find myself on the court, and if anything, I have shooting contests with my um athletes at school who I coach. Okay. Or my coaches. So we like to you know, we like to compete. I think competition is great. Um, it teaches you a lot.

SPEAKER_01

It's important when a coach can rain down a shot and handle the ball and take the player. You know what?

SPEAKER_00

I've I always say those that um those that have learned, those that have been a part of something, for me, it's easier to absorb or take information from those people. Um so if I've if I've been involved in something and I've, you know, not necessarily at a high or low level, but just if I've been involved in something and I've had the opportunity to sit in a room and participate and be involved in something uh meaningful, um, I tend to want to listen to those people more. And it's the same thing with coaching. Um, I played at every level, um, and now I'm coaching. And so kids tend to want to know what was my career like. And when I tell them that, they open their eyes and they tend to sit up straight because they want someone who has been there before.

SPEAKER_01

There's a credibility element, yeah. Well, and it's neat that that you had uh folks invite you into the room or invite you onto the court or put you in that place uh to succeed. So obviously, an amazing career, continuing amazing career. Uh we talked about uh the boys program, right? So you told me uh you made it to your first state championship and were unsuccessful, and then you ran off three wins in a row, and then you went back last year and uh lost by a few points, and we're we're hopeful for this year. And so, and so the question I would ask you is what does it take to be a champion?

SPEAKER_00

It's a good question. Um there are a lot of variables that um that I think play a huge part in that. Um I think it first starts with the guy that's running the ship. Um I've got to make sure that my mind, body, and and uh soul are all aligned. I've got to make sure my head's clear. I've got to make sure that my staff, that we're all aligned in terms of what we want to accomplish and how how we want to accomplish it. Um you know, once we do that, then like anything, I think um, you know, God is important. And so I think and I know um that without him, none of what I've done would be possible. Um but what I do know is he's given me a uh craft, he's given me a skill set um to be able to go out and and um and really tackle this, meaning what does it take? Um it takes a lot of hard work, um, it takes a lot of uh patience, it takes a lot of um sacrifice, self-sacrifice. Um I'm in the gym. Here's an example, Gabe. Like this summer, I didn't really take a vacation. I'm a I'm a 12-month employee, so I've I've because of my admin duties, um I'm a 12-month employee. And so I have to be there in the summer. I'm there anyway. I run camps. Um, there are three, four camps that I run, uh, but I'm there every day, uh even when I don't have to be. Because I think it's important that the kids know that if your leader is going to be there, then there's no reason why you should not be showing up. And so I had some, I had kids that showed up this summer outside of us playing in summer league, but they showed up so they can get better. So you're asking the question, it's about improvement, self-improvement. Um, if if if five, six, seven, eight kids on the team improve, then that helps the bottom line, which is the team goal of winning a championship. So player development, self-development is the other piece. Um the other piece is just me setting goals and making sure that I am sticking to those goals, whether they be short-term or long-term. And even if I find something that I don't want to do or I don't like to do, changing that goal to make sure that it's in alignment for long-term success. Um and then making sure um making sure we're aligning with philosophically with the mission of our school. Um, and part of that is I open up every practice with prayer. Um, and I make sure that if it's not me that's doing it, then I have a student athlete that's doing it. So what am I doing? I'm teaching them some valuable skills and lessons along the way of being in front of a group of your peer group and being able to speak, um, taking ownership of your belief and putting it, putting it in a plan and putting it on the floor, putting in action. Um and so we're teaching some valuable soft skills as well. Uh, but then there's also accountability. You're asking, there's another piece of that. What does it take? It's accountability. Me holding those student athletes accountable, and then them holding themselves accountable. It's also me holding my coaches accountable. Um, there are some parts of it where um here here's a here's a quick example um of something that I I'm trying to do better. So I let my kids know, you know, I am I'm not a huge person that likes to use profanity. Um I will every now and then. That's me admitting.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, but I tell my kids if you hear me say something that's not right, that's inappropriate, um, hold me accountable. So now I got to get on the baseline and I may have to run a sprint. I may have to do something. So it's building, it's building those relationships and it's building that trust and it's forming something that can be special. Um and then last the last thing is making sure the administration understands what I'm trying to accomplish. And then it's it's making sure that our parents understand and know. I've got some I've got some great parents. Um I've got some parents that um that when I let them know that their kids are not holding up their end of the bargain, um, they will then take that information and they'll make sure that they are doing it at home. Good, good. And so you don't see a lot of that, and sometimes that's tough to do. Um, but I'm I'm a firm believer in um in doing those things.

SPEAKER_01

Well, if you'll allow me, I'll say a lot of that is due to your own credibility and that you're walking the walk. So I've experienced that, right? I've seen it, I've witnessed it, I feel it, I know it. And so um you you demonstrating that then allows your coaches and your athletes and then the parents and the administration to follow suit. So you were talking about accountability, and and there's a phrase we use in our family, and I and I picked this up quite a while ago, and that is accountability is love, right? And so um it takes courage to hold people accountable because it's it's uncomfortable for the person holding accountability unless you're a complete jerk. But if you have a heart and you and you and uh and you you care, it's like how do I deliver this feedback in a way that's constructive that they can shift or change or grow or learn or or take something from it. And uh we always say accountability is love, and it came out of a conversation I had when I was training cadets at the academy. So your freshman year at the academy is an absolute nightmare, right? It's uh it's tough. And uh, but then my following three years, I was I was in the training program. So I'd helped develop the freshman class and coach and and and whatnot. And uh and we were in in a forum with the freshman class, I think it was my junior year, and and it was we were kind of in an as open a discussion as you get in that military training environment. And one of the one of the freshmen kind of asks, like, well, why are you why are you guys always on us, right? About your uniform or your polish on your shoes or your haircut, or pick, pick whatever it is we were critiquing them for. And um and what I said was, don't ever be afraid when I'm standing in front of you offering you feedback. The day you need to be afraid is when I walk by you and something's wrong and I don't stop to correct you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I mean, that's that's the old cliche. I mean, all of our coaches and even our parents used to tell us that um often, you know, when a coach is when a coach stops talking to you, that's when you need to start worrying about things. I've taken that cliche and I've reversed it though. Um tell us. I always so we have a we have a slogan at ESD, it's it's trust, commitment, and care. It's TCC, trust, commitment and care. Um and I firmly believe, I firmly believe that um I'm all I'm never going to, I don't want to be in a habit of ignoring someone just because I feel like they don't care enough or don't love the game enough, or they hate someone. Um I'm going to speak to you regardless. Um, even if you don't acknowledge me. Um, because I feel like that's that's just be be me being me. I'm not going to stop being me because somebody along the way is being a jerk or just not wanting to communicate. But here's why I say that you never know what a person's going through. And so sometimes people walk by you because they're in deep thought. Um and so whether it be on the court, whether it be off the court, uh, whether it be that Corey's upset with a player, um I still have to, I still want to make sure I'm in the habit of communicating because communication is probably the toughest thing to get student athletes to do. But I can take it a step further. Communication is is tough for adults um in relationships because sometimes you want to be in your own head, you want to go do your own thing, you want to be at home and you don't want to be bothered because your social equity has left the room. Um, and so I I feel like I've got to keep reminding myself of that. Um, but a lot of it has to do with a routine and being consistent in your routine. And so for me, it's you know, when I wake up praying and thanking God for letting me see another day, going and grabbing a bottle of water, drinking a bottle of water, coming back, making up my bed, making sure my bed's fully made up. Um I was not um when I look back, sometimes people think that I was involved in um the armed forces or the military because I'm so regimented. Um but a lot of that was a lot of that happened throughout my journey of you know, playing basketball, going on the court and making sure that I'm doing the things that I need to do. Um, you know, transitioning to AM and waking up at 5 45 every morning for for two months of preseason. Um, a lot of that builds character. And so um, you know, that's I think, you know, not getting off the topic of, you know, the communication piece or ignoring someone, but all of that plays a hand in it as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, the the commitment to self and the discipline elements. Um, you know, when our days go squirrely, right? At least I've done the things that are in my realm of control, and there aren't many things. Yeah. So so tell tell us a little bit about the the three-year back-to-back-to-back state championships. I mean, that it doesn't happen often in any sport. So, what was that like to be a champion and at the top of the top of the game for three years in a row?

SPEAKER_00

You know what? Um, it's all I think it's all God's plan. And I'm I say that, and I'm a firm believer in that because of how my journey led me to um be at the Episcopal School of Dallas. Um if it were for if it were not for me um losing my job in corporate, um, not getting fired, but losing my job because of downsizing. I worked, I worked at uh Donegie. I worked um on the trading floor um after I got back from playing in Australia. Uh a buddy of mine by the name of Ken Reeves um like, Corey, you know, what are you gonna do next? Um he said, you know, corporate, if this is what you want to do, um you know, I can help you do it. And so um I was able to get in with Dynogy at the time and worked on the trading floor buying and selling electricity and did it for four years. Well, when the whole Enron thing happened, um the whole the entire uh market, the entire um energy industry was affected. And so I ended up being laid off. So after four years of being there, um again, I'm thinking to myself, well, what am I gonna do? And how am I gonna do this? I had a family, I was married at the time. Um, I had um two kids at the time, uh, my oldest son, Corey, and then my daughter, Caitlin. I was like, this is just not, this is not cool. What am I gonna do? Just so happened I kept my hand in basketball when I got back from Australia. So I was working with a team called the Texas Blazers. Um I was able to get that opportunity through another uh friend of mine who uh played basketball as well. And so I started working uh grassroots basketball with the Texas Blazers. Um and I and we started, I started with them in fifth grade and started doing skill work with them, and we were kind of moving all around through the state of Texas and really through Dallas. And I'm going somewhere with this. We I ended up um when I got laid off, I ended up reaching out to a couple of parents that were on um whose daughters I coach with Texas Blazers, and they said, Well, Corey, you know a guy that works at Kincaid by the name of Wayne Jones. I said, Yeah, I know Wayne. I played against his brother. Um said, Well, reach out to him and and you know, see what he has. It just so happened that he had an opening uh for an assistant position at the Kincaid school in Houston. Um, and so went in, visited with him. He talked to me about what he wanted, how he wanted it done. Um he hired me. Um I was there for a year. I was only there for a year. Um Romans 8 28 says God's plans are the best. Trust the process. And so once I Amen. Once I throughout this process of losing a job, throughout the process of saying, God, like what I'm on earth to do what. Um he said, Corey, I've been telling you all this time what you should be doing. Well, I had a tutor at AM, mad tutor, who said, Corey, one day you're gonna make a damn good coach. I I I believe that because I I'm I think I can I'm really good with people um with kids. Um I'm a people's post person. I am a um you know, I'm a coach's I'm a coach's coach. Like I love I love working with athletes. And so um I then said, you know what, I need to continue to do the things that I know will provide me a sense of joy, peace, and understanding. And so once I said to God, hey, show me what you want me to do, once I stepped foot in Kincaid school, everything started lining up. When I was working with the Texas Blazers, we would take trips to Dallas and we would play in areas where I ended up venturing into when I moved here to take the job at ep at the Episcopal School of Dallas in 03. And so I'm saying all that to say if you put your hands, if you surrender and put your hands up and give it to God, He will show you where you should be and how you need to do it. You asked the question, how was it to win three in a row? Well, I had a five-year plan, Gabe. I wrote down everything that I wrote down on that five-year plan came to fruition. Everything. And I wish I brought it to show you, but everything on that, everything on that plan. When I interviewed for the job at the Episcopal School of Dallas, Russell Norman was an AD. I showed him my five-year plan. I said, this is what I want to accomplish. I was brought in to rebuild the basketball program at ESD. Um it took me, it took me about a year or two to really sow those seeds. Plant the roots. Year one finished two and twenty two.

SPEAKER_02

Woohoo.

SPEAKER_00

I I love the response that you just gave. It was probably one of the best coaching jobs that I could do with what I was given at the time. The first half of the season, um, we repeated playing the same teams the second half of the season because I inherited the schedule from the guy that was before me. Um, but we played those same teams the second half of the year. Those coaches were amazed at the turnaround that happened. The improvement just improvement turnaround in a few weeks or a few months, two and twenty two, um, sixteen and eighteen the second year, twenty three and ten the third year, um, twenty four and seven or twenty four and six the fourth year. Um, and then we that that fifth year, so the fourth year we made it to um the championship game and lost. And then we railed off, rolled off three in a row after that. Part of my five-year plan was, you know, starting camps at the Episcopal School of Dallas, making sure the kids know who I am, what I'm about, um, player development, making sure that the parents understand, you know, that this is going to be a special place where we build and grow young men. We did that. Another one of my goals was kind of a local winning, winning some local tournaments. Then we went into being ranked in the area. I was fortunate enough to have two young men who uh are coaches now who came into me uh from the St. Philip School, they're the Wesson twins. They were the ones who um really were instrumental in really jump starting the program. It was after my first year. Um they really came in and a lot of their personality and a lot of them rubbed off on everybody else. And so they were really my first group of ninth graders that were on varsity. Um and Gabe, after that, we just kind of we took off. I hired some guys who I who I could trust. I hired some guys who I um I loved to work with, and we grew, we grew the program. Um, and then we became regionally ranked. Um there was a family, the Presley family, that came in to me through another one of um a guy that I knew, and they were moving in from Boston. Well, Paul Presley, um, Liz Pressey, uh who I'm referencing, had four kids. One of them, Phil Pressey, played for me. And so um, once he came in, um, he really elevated and took the program to a whole nother level. And that's when we really became um noticed outside of the DFW area.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and Phil went on to play for the Celtics, right?

SPEAKER_00

Phil went on to um be a star at the University of Missouri. Um, he played for um played for Frank Haith um at the University of Missouri. Uh Frank Haith actually was on staff at Texas AM when I was there uh from 91 to 95. Frank was there three out of my four years. Um but um coach Anderson, who recruited Phil, Coach Anderson and Phil's dad, Paul Presse, played JUCO together and also played at the University of Tulsa together. Here's another part of it. Their wives played JUCO together and went on and played at Tulsa together as well. Oh, wow. So when I say the basketball community is a small community and a connected community, in some way, shape, or form, it is. And then, you know, Field ended up leaving. Um he did not get drafted, but he ended up making the Celtics organization, made their team, was there for several years, and then finished out his career plan um in Barcelona. And now he's coaching for the um for the Maine Celtics. This is his first head coaching job for the Maine Celtics. I also um instrumental and a part of helping him run his camp every year at ESD.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's amazing. Yep. So that's amazing. Yep. So something that's been woven through everything you've said here is uh relationships and network and uh really who you've been through your life, right, and how you showed up through each one of those phases has been your calling card, right? Of character and trust and integrity and faith and godliness, right? And so I know that those those traits that you've you've lived every day with discipline and commitment has opened doors. Yes, right.

SPEAKER_00

I think it's important to I think it's important that we continue consistently surround ourselves with good people, people that are like-minded, because it keeps us grounded. Um I'm not free of anything relative to making mistakes. I've made mistakes, I've made plenty of mistakes uh in my life. Um but I also know that if I continue to put great people around me who will hold me accountable, it helps to keep me grounded, it helps to keep me balanced, it helps to keep uh me on track. Um so I think that's a that's a big part of that as well. Um and I've you know I've had to learn that too. Um some people, there's some people that you grow away from, and there's some people that grow with you, and there's some people that grow to you. And so I think it's important that um we continue to evaluate who is around us on um on a consistent basis. I had to learn that. I think I did too.

SPEAKER_01

I had to learn that. So your five-year plan that you referenced, uh, it really sounds to me like you had a strong vision, right? Where and how did you cultivate that vision? Because that's one of those key elements that we talk about a lot, is that results and the results you want to create in your life really come out of that vision, right? And so how did you craft the vision? How did you create uh that five-year plan that led to led to such success?

SPEAKER_00

I think part of it was looking back and seeing those people that poured into my life. Um, you know, my parents, uh, my brother, um, my cousins, um, you know, Tony, Terry, Tanya, my cousins, you know, Patrick Spiller, those, those people um who my aunts, my uncles, um, you know, they would always, my mom would always say, When, baby, you gotta win. Win, baby, you gotta win. She would always say that. Um, you know, my aunt would, she used to take my brother and I to school every day, elementary school. She was a, she was an educator. Um, we have a lot of educators in our family, and she used to drive us to school. Bonner Elementary in Houston, Texas, used to drive us to school every day. Um, and and so we could never do anything wrong, so to speak, because they would know. And so you ask about cultivating. Um, so those are the people that I admire. Those are the people that I grabbed things from. I also looked at my high school coaches, my middle school coaches. Uh, one of my middle school coaches ended up being my high school coaches my last two years of playing um high school basketball at Robert E. Lee High School in Houston, Texas, uh Greg Wise, who is a successful high school coach at Yates High School in Houston, Texas. Okay. Yates sits in the neighborhood that I grew up in, which is um third ward, Riverside Terrace. The McGregor area is the area that I grew up in. Well, he's still there. He's still uh doing great things. And if I'm not mistaken, I think Greg won four or five state titles between uh Hightower High School in Fort Bend and Yates High School in Houston, Texas. Um, you asked the question, so those are the people along with my college coaches. So I grabbed things from them. Um even some of the bad things. Um, even some of the bad things that I thought were bad, I grabbed from them. Because with me sitting here now, I look back and say, some of those things that I thought were bad were really not bad. They were, they I thought they were bad, but they were they were good for me now. Can you give us a specific example? Um I would say um even being back at AM, uh, my freshman year, I came in and I was highly ranked, highly highly recruited coming out of high school. Well, my freshman year, I made off, I was all software conference my freshman year. Um I was young, I was the youngest um kid on the team. Um I didn't turn 18 until June 30th. And so I was the youngest on my team. Um, but I was also I was pretty good. I was really, really, really skilled. And so I was I made the all-software conference team as a freshman. Well, moving into my sophomore year, I was in the doghouse. I'm trying to figure out why I'm in the doghouse. Well, coach Tony Barone, um, who's no longer here, um brought me into office and he said, Well, Corey, you're not playing hard enough. I'm like, what? Like, I just made the All-Soffers conference team. What do you mean I'm not playing hard enough? He's like, Well, you're just not playing hard enough. And so you're not getting the minutes because you're not playing hard enough. Well, life lesson. Don't pout about it. You need to correct it and be about it. And so my sophomore year I spent in the doghouse. Um, I contemplated um in my head, I kind of contemplated, well, what is it, what would it look like if I left? I'm a I'm a loyalist, sometimes to a fault, to a T. Um, I wasn't going anywhere.

SPEAKER_01

Your brother probably wouldn't have been super happy.

SPEAKER_00

I wasn't going anywhere. Uh I bleed maroon and white, and so I'm an Aggie through and through. Um, but I also believed in seeing things through. Like, how are you going to, you know, how are you, what are you going to do to do something different? You need to do something different in order to get out on the court. And so um going into my junior year, um, those things were changed. And so um, you know, that's the example that I wanted to share because I I I believe that in this day and time, you have kids that will just leave a situation without fighting in the situation. I think it's important that you fight in that situation instead of leaving the situation. Um I think I think today's environment allows for things to be easy. Um in my opinion, you don't have to go out and and and grind things out or grit um or show grit. I think now it's just you know, kids will leave and go to another school if they feel like the coach is not being fair, if things are are getting tough or hard, or you know, they're complaining about something that they can correct. And it's easy. Ask me what you need to work on. I'm telling you what you need to work on. Get in the gym and do it. You know, kids tend to take the easy road now. Um, or if things get tough, you know, if I'm if I'm on somebody who I know is very talented and can take it to another level, like Coach Baroni was trying to get me to do, um, you know, they they tend to run. But I've got a good group this year, Gabe, that I think um they like to be, they want to be coached hard. Um, and they they don't mind. And so um that's a blessing. And you so you went to the championship last year? Went to the championship last year. Um and you got a team that's ready to go this year. Uh, you know, I think the important thing is that they taste it. You gotta taste it. Uh-huh. You got to taste it before you, and that's just me. You gotta taste it before I think you can win it. Um, you know, and it doesn't always happen like that, but I just think that um I think it's important that you have show a simple sense of of um of empathy and to show a sense of of um of understanding that, hey, you've got to work for something in order to get to something. So yeah. And so I think we're I think we're I think we're ready to to um we're ready to go back. Um it's a process. We just gotta trust trust the process.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we do. Yep. Yes, we do. Um, so I can't, I can't not bring up that you spent some time with Kobe. Yep. Right. And you you worked with this camp and and and had some coaching relationships and just fellowship over basketball. Um, what did you learn about being a champion working that closely to arguably one of the greatest players ever to play the game?

SPEAKER_00

I always give kudos and thanks to people who kind of helped me get to where I am. And so Joe Branch was a guy, uh Wayne Jones, who I mentioned earlier, who was the head coach at the Kincaid School. So Joe Branch is his brother. And so Joe uh was instrumental in me being a part of that, being a part of being able to work at Colby Academy. And so I want to give kudos and thanks to him. He's now currently an agent in Houston. Um he has some doing some really neat things as an agent in Houston. But um he um working with working alongside and working with Colby, um what you hear is all true. Um meaning um early bird, early bird gets the worm, so to speak. He's always in the gym. Uh he's there early, he stays late. Uh he's a sponge. Um he was very cerebral. Um he believed in uh he was no nonsense in terms of uh the things that he would do in his training regimen, but also he was no nonsense when it came to talking to kids. Um one thing that I came to learn about him was um he really he was he was a shy person, and I didn't really realize that. Um over his time, I think he learned to be more of a people's person over his time of things that happened to him and those things that occurred in his life too. Um I noticed that one day when I was sitting and he was actually sitting kind of like I'm sitting, and he had an audience in front of him of a bunch of our campers. And I saw his, I saw his leg like jumping and moving. And I'm thinking to myself, like, why is he like, are you nervous? Why is he nervous? But that was part of a defense mechanism, I think, of him not being comfortable at times of being in front of people. Um, and that's again, this is just my observation um of what I felt like was it. And so um he he learned to be more of a people's person after dealing with some things and being on his journey as well, I think. Um but you're talking about a warrior, you're talking about a wolf. I won't even say a dog, he's more of a wolf. Um I mean, he's he's a snake, he's a he's the mamba. Um he's Michael Jordan, you know, was his idol. I mean, that's you know, and and and I just so happened to be able to meet Michael Jordan on my recruiting trip to Vandy, my senior year. I was able to meet Michael Jordan along with others that were on the Chicago Bulls team. Um, Eddie Fogler was the head coach at Vandy at the time. Neil Doherty, who was recruiting me, uh, who ended up leaving Vandy and taking the job at TCU, the head boys' job, men's job at TCU, who passed away some time ago, he recruited me to Vandy. So I had an opportunity to meet Michael Jordan. Surreal. Um, but again, similar in terms of everything Michael did, kind of Kobe did. Um, and I think um, you know, it was it was just a neat opportunity to be a part and involved in a Kobe Academy for I think about six years. I was able to um mentor kids and and pour into kids, but also um meet some some neat people uh who were involved in that journey as well.

SPEAKER_01

So we've talked championships, we've talked, you know, your journey, uh just talked about Kobe and greatness and even Jordan. Um I know you're a man of deep faith. And you've been at the Episcopal School for 23 years now. Um big ups and downs, growing a program, big run, bit of a drought for about 10 years until you got back to the championship. And so one of the things about sports that catches my attention is uh so often we play, and at the end of the season, there's only one team standing. Yeah, right. And so pick picket, you know, everybody but one is a loser in the not holding the trophy, right? Not a loser in life. We've we experience and grow and do all those sorts of things. And so through through your journey, how is faith played into you in the good times and the bad times? What what comes up for you in that?

SPEAKER_00

It's a great question. Um I always have to continue to remind myself that there is more than one way to win. Um, and so when I go back and I look at where I was and where I am in terms of being current of 23 years being at the Episcopal School of Dallas, being able to have the opportunity to um experience winning early, winning championships early, having a lull, and then getting back last year. It's a humbling experience. Um I my faith though keeps me grounded in the fact that this is just not about basketball. It's about winning lives. And what I mean by that is, you know, I think it's important. Um, you know, I'm at the Episcopal School of Dallas, and we are welcoming. uh of all faiths. Um we have people that are Hindu, we have people that are Muslim, we have people that um we have some people that don't believe in God. My job is to um be a vessel. And whatever that vessel, whatever that means for me, um, I've got to make sure that I put it I put it into use. But people need to see it. And so if I'm not walking the walk, if I'm not talking the talk, um if I'm just talking the talk and not walking the walk, I think that's going to be problematic. I think I I try to do the best I can do to um mentor these kids through making sure they understand what I believe in, which is you know that God is the center of my j journey. God is the center of my life. There's a Bible verse um and it comes from comes from Matthew um 1926. And I firmly believe in that um it's something of the nature believe don't put your trust in man put your tr trick put your trust in God. And so um I'm going to make mistakes I've made mistakes I'm sure I'll make mistakes later on today in doing something right but I just think it's important that people see um that I can be vulnerable and if they can see that I can be vulnerable that will help them along the way in some way shape or form. I hate losing more than I enjoy winning. I spent about eight uh about eight weeks I had a life coach I spent about eight weeks um and he he helped me understand that it's okay to enjoy winning it's okay to enjoy things along the way I'm so wired um and I I'm I've changed some I've I'm so wired to move on to the next play I'm so wired to okay we won now it's time to move on we've got another game the next day we've got a game in two days um but what he helped me to understand and what he's helped me what he's reminded me of is you have to enjoy um those victories those small victories or those large victories um but I always draw that back to my faith um and and I want to stay connected with that with those two things um because we all will we all will sway we all will sway away um but with that consistent routine that I have of the daily regimen um people don't know this but I probably play pray three or four times a day you know pray without ceasing yeah is important you know not everybody knows that but I'm I'm I'm telling people this because I believe in it and I know that's something that um has helped me in my faith journey um of not only helping myself but helping other people.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah yeah I couldn't agree more stay as close as you can to God and the rest of it kind of takes care of itself. Yep. Right we know that I like to say that um do you remember the old choose your own adventure books the ones you get the bottom page says if you want to go into the scary scary cavern turn to page 83 and if you want to jump off the cliff into the ocean turn to page 97 or whatever. So I like to say that our lives are choose your own adventure book written by the divine author of the universe. Right? We don't know what's around the corner but what we do know is we have this moment in time and I honor you Corey for joining us here today. I appreciate your vulnerability right trust is is formed and forged in the crucible of vulnerability because when things aren't going well we get to see the character of the people that are around us and and uh always been impressed with your character I appreciate everything you've done best of luck to uh this Piscouble boys team and all the other teams but uh look forward to coming to that state championship game later later this year. Well that's the plan. All right that is the plan.

SPEAKER_00

Any last words you'd like to share with the audience um I think I've learned to be um I've learned to be um more present um in dealing with um my family and dealing with people um but I've also anytime I'm dealing with anything of something that's tough I always remind myself of a poem by William um Ernest Henley which is Invictus okay um you know the the overall arching point of the poem is is to be undefeated unconquered um no matter what you're going through I always remind myself and I quote the poem in my head and I say it over and over again if I'm dealing with things where I'm coming up on something where I'm you know a little nervous or um there's some tough times I always go back to that and I quote it over and over and over again.

SPEAKER_01

So if there's something that you guys are dealing with in life or there's something that you're dealing with hold true to your faith um but also use that point and get discipline thank you for being here thank you and to everybody uh joining us out there we just appreciate you sharing your time we appreciate your attention and uh like the podcast share with your friends and family this is how it grows and uh thank you to Corey Henderson from the Episcopal School of Dallas. My name is Gabriel Grease host of Navigating Leaders until next time be well and God bless