Starting Prep and Recruitment Director of TD Prep Coach Demond Part 1 | IN THE MAKING Ep 2

Tune in as Director of Team Dickerson Prep Coach Demond Stephens discusses his career in Georgia, starting a prep school, what he looks for in recruitment and what it takes to play at that next level skill wise and academically. This is part 1 of our discussion and will later on take a deeper dive into Team Dickerson Prep as a whole and players to look out for as the upcoming season is soon to start.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jayla Simmons, owner of J May State Wall. I've been blessed with the opportunity to help so many amazing people gain exposure and have traveled to so many places along the way. I want to continue that by allowing athletes, coaches, and others that I've crossed paths with to share their personal journey. That is why I present to you in the making. Today we have Coach Damon Stevens, owner and founder of Team Dickerson. And we're just gonna go through his journey and how he was able to build a foundation here in Georgia and how he's just been able to help the youth and just get so many kids to where they're at today. So welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Great to be here. Really blessed. So where are you from and tell the people where you're from and how you well?

SPEAKER_02 1:20

I'm originally from um Dayton, Ohio, moved to Cincinnati in like sixth, seventh grade. Um from there, I've been everywhere. I got to basically I got to Atlanta in 2000, early, late 2000, early 2001. You know, moved here, started uh getting inside the basketball world, training kids, and then uh I got asked to train a team out in Collins Hill and had a kid on it named Jeremy Olson. Collins Hill feeder team, they played in the GBL, it was like the best league youth league. And I coached them, and that's where I started meeting.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Yeah. How old were you at the time when you said you were? I'm 28. 28.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

28 and just developing and that was was that the point where you just realized I want to be a full-time coach or like That's when I realized helping kids was my mission. I knew that had to be a part of my life. And um, so I really just dove in all the way. And from there just took my time, been around some great mentors here from Bo Bells, the course Nasmith, and of course team, you know, coach Derek Dickerson. So I've been really blessed to be around some great guys.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

So speaking of Team Diggerson, how did how did that build? How did that foundation build and how long have y'all been gone?

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Um originally we probably really organized the foundation in like 2003. Um back when we were still coaching for other programs, we still had Team Dickerson Foundation.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

A lot of people don't realize that. Yeah, Team Diggerson's been here for a while, so uh, yeah, we've it's been a blessed situation.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Me and Coach did a lot of great things, you know, and I just learned from them and went from there, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

So, so talk about a little bit um how you're building um the prep. I see. I know you got you all are AAU travel team, um, but going into prep, what made you decide on making a year around and and being able to develop?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

The year before, me and my brother Body Jones, we talked about it, we wanted to do it, and then it was just so much going on in at the end of 18 to 19, COVID, and then 20 was COVID, it just got too much was going on. And then now we we had to do it because there's so many great kids whose situation has really changed because of the portal, the extra year of college, and it's just a great time to do it. And we knew we could do it. We've already had the backing, we have a lot of that put together on our own. Got some great admin people. Jill Robbins, Yvonne Hopkins, they really handle all the backing stuff for us. That makes it easy.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Yeah, and that's yeah, that's just amazing to see that that transition and being able to extend it out to more kids and more opportunities for them. Um, kind of discuss on like how many kids you've sent D1 or D2 or just college in general to get a free education. Um just discuss a little bit how many kids you've developed in your connections with other coaches on the college level.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

I would say uh wild grass. It's over a few hundred.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

It's over a few hundred. I don't have an exact number. We have it on file, but it's over a few hundred. It's a great question. Why is it bad?

SPEAKER_00 4:28

It's well over a few hundred. So how are you able to make that connect? And like, I know a lot of parents always ask me, like, how did my kid get seen? You know, I've seen some kids, you know, average 20, I've seen some kids average eight, and that kid might go to a higher, higher level, or this person's academics is A1 and he'll go D1. So kind of like explain what exactly coaches are looking for a little bit out here.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Now, everything's different. Right now, coaches are looking for some real rounded kids, especially with the perks, the graduating kids. They'll take a maybe not a one or two and done talent for a kid they know they're gonna have four years now, with all the you know, the incentives of having graduation kids. Then I think the other thing is uh that you gotta have your academics that keep raising the bar higher and higher. And then there's kids coming from all over the world to colleges here in America. So that's limited the number of spots. Also, I just believe you gotta really be prepared for it, respect every level of basketball from Division III to NAIA, because education is supposed to be the main goal. That's really our main goal, and there's places for every kid to have that situation if he puts in the work.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

And then going into like your training and style of play, like what I see is a lot of mental toughness, a lot of players that are coachable, a lot of players that have been developing from the ground up. How are you able to you know develop them and just get their mind right and just being able to develop their tools, skills, and tools? Because like there's so much versatility on each one of your teams. Just explain a little bit on how, you know, what you look for in a player, and then also um how are you able to get them to that level?

SPEAKER_02 6:10

One of the best things I try to do is assess everybody totally different. And if he's 16 and 14, I always try to look at them and say, well, I have him prepared to be 22 years old. And that might not be the size he ends up, whatever, but my goal is to have him prepared for the later as he plays, not the moment. So a lot of times my kids are slower to be ranked because I'm not just, I don't care about that, but they do.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

The families do. I I don't gonna get into that. I hate to see people forcing a style or something on a kid just because he is good enough when it's not gonna be his role later in life.

unknown 6:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

So I try to projectile on their skill set, add so many skills that whatever size he ends up, he's gonna be okay. He can say, coach the mind didn't just abuse me in the lane and just let me stand in the corner.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah, I see that a lot in a lot in coaching styles. They already kind of have like an agenda of exactly how they want to play each player and how they're gonna use each player. But some players might be able to be more versatile, some players might be able to, you know, this person can shoot the three, this person can get on the block a little bit more. So just being able to realize that, you know, they can do more than one aspect of the game and you know, just be able to expand on each on each level to help benefit them.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Yeah, think about Bruce Brown and what's the guy, man from the Clippers?

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, they were playing the four or five and the first six.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

They were guards. You think they cared? No. Yeah, as long as they're on the court. I'm tough enough to rebound, I got a rebound.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

You know, so another thing with players. Do what it takes to be on the court. I know a lot of players, oh, I'm gonna come in, shoot 10 threes, oh I'm gonna come in and you know do this, but there's so many little things that you can do on the court rebound and defense, uh, you know, just energy guy, just whatever to be on the court. So that's another thing that I think is very important for players to realize when you know players are known. And then um, so going into you know, team Dickerson a little bit more uh with the prep school, um like how are y'all able to bring players in and tell us a little bit more about those academics?

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Um that's the part about it is uh with the academic situation now, virtual is normal. Virtuals can become normal now. So if I go to school on Connections Online or K-12, or if I want to take online courses at Georgia Tech, the Alpharetta Center of uh Georgia State, Kennesaw State, now that you can own that yourself, it's made it a lot better so that you can have a great situation where you know you're on top of it, your parents are on top of it, and they're able to take the courses they really need where they want to take them. Not just force because they gotta come to your prep school, but maybe you don't supply the right situation what they're looking for for that one year. So to me it's better. Well, it got better because of a blessing of a bad situation. Nobody looks down on you took an online course anymore if it's from a validated school.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Yeah, I feel like, yeah, from college, high school, they've all been online for COVID. So just being able to see how technology and see how like those online classes can help you perform whatever path that you're on.