The Repairman

[PointGuard]

Hello! My name’s Jason Spencer. I grew up moving every few years since my father was a career military man, so moving just seemed natural and something that was “supposed to be”.

My father was a stickler for hard work and I bought into that, particularly as it applied to my first love, basketball. Even though not blessed with great natural skills, I practiced incessantly and attended many basketball camps (gaining exposure to a number of good coaches and a few bad ones).

At my first high school, my dad seemed to be almost always away as the demands of Iraq and Afghanistan necessitated frequent deployments. With him gone, I tended to focus even more on basketball and much less on my studies. So my grades sucked, but I was able to gain a leadership role on my team and help them develop into a league champion. Midway through high school, dad retired and we moved again back to where he and mom had grown up. Again my leadership within my new team helped turn around what had been a so-so team into one that made it quite a ways through the state tournament in my junior year and to the championship game in my senior year (we lost). Taking notice of my poor grades, my parents rode me and my grades improved in my last 2 years of high school but too late to impress any good colleges enough to get a basketball scholarship.

Therefore, I attended a local junior college for two years where I was able to lead my team (more through my intensity and drive than through my basketball skills) to a state JC championship in my 2nd year. I was then recruited at some mid-level colleges but decided to attend a small Division II college where I knew I would get a lot of playing time. The team improved from what had been a bottom dweller within the conference to a conference champ during those two years. Although we didn’t win the Division II national championship, we did win some tournament games during both of my remaining two collegiate years.

After graduating I became an assistant coach at two different colleges for the next 5 years figuring I would work my way up through the assistant ranks over the next several years.

[PointGuard]

I was surprised to get a call from Henry Mason, who had been the AD at the first college where I was an assistant coach. We had a good relationship, and I think he was impressed with my focus and ability to help the head coach develop the team. After a cordial introductory catch up conversation, Henry said, “Jason, let me get to the point. I’m now the AD at South Carolina State, and I just fired the head coach. He’d been here a long time but was at the end of his career and was just coasting. Our record the past few years has been abysmal. It’s time for a big change. My job is on the line as well so I need a coach who can turn around this team quickly. I believe that person is you. Are you willing to accept the challenge?”

My sweaty hand nearly dropped the phone, and my voice was quivering a bit as I replied, “Wow! I’m honored. But are you sure you’re willing to hitch your career to guy who has never been head coach?”

“You’re damned right I am! And you know, SC State is a historically black land grant institution, but I was free to go out and get whoever I wanted as head coach. So the fact that you’re a brother had absolutely nothing to do with this. I know your background and like the way you’ve consistently helped take teams you’ve been with from the depths to the heights. Now just say yes and get things lined up to move to Orangeburg.”

Laughing, I said, “Henry, moving is my specialty. Fortunately I’m not married and I’m not under contract, so YES! I’ll be down there as quickly as I can.”

[PointGuard]

Upon my arrival, the Orangeburg Times and Democrat was bantering about the change for the moribund SC State basketball team but also questioning the move to bring in an untested head coach with no history and little experience. Henry Mason was quick to say, “Hey, Jason, as head coach you’ve got to get used to being on the hot seat in the press, but don’t let it worry you. You’ve got my complete backing and support. Just get to know your team and assistant coaches quickly because there are a lot of things you need to change here. And since you’ll have 5 scholarships to fill this year, recruiting will be a high priority.”

Henry announced me at my introductory press conference as Jason “The Repairman” Spencer, saying my job was to get SC State back up to the top in the conference and that I was to be the bulldog who brought SC State Bulldog basketball back to respectability. My heart was pounding and I was breathing heavily as I came to the microphone. My comments were bland and I’m sure very forgettable, as my mind was in a fog speaking to the press for the first time. I do recall saying, “Ball control is important so we will be working hard on our passing and handling skills as well as strong rebounding and defense.” Afterwards, I hoped those words wouldn’t come back to haunt me if the team didn’t respond to my expectations.

The previous coach had indeed left the program in disarray. Winding down his career, he pretty much let players do whatever they wanted. The result was a lot of partying, repeated academic ineligibility, a series of mini-scandals, and poor work and practice habits. While having reasonably good players, the team has been an underperformer resulting in poor records the past few years and no recent tournament appearances.

Even with some late spring emphasis on academics by Henry Mason, none of the players had a 3.0 or better GPA, and all but 4 of the 15 were just above a 2.0 and in danger of falling below it. With the cooperation of the university and pressure from both Henry Mason and myself, the players signed up for summer school. The players were all moved into the same dorm and strict study hours were imposed. Partying, that had become de rigueur amongst the players, was made a rare (and a subdued) reward for hard work and achievement. Tutoring throughout the summer raised grades and by the beginning of the fall term only 4 players had GPA’s just above 2.0. I was happy with the overall progress, but also amazed that even tutoring was not able to improve those four players’ grades significantly. Would they have any basketball court sense?

[PointGuard]

South Carolina State University (SCSU) is in the Mid-East Athletic Conference with other colleges stretching along the Atlantic coast from Maryland to Florida. No teams in the conference have ratings lower than SCSU’s (12). The MEAC’s rating is 20. SCSU’s facilities are satisfactory at best (a rating of C). The school’s academic standards are low thus allowing us to award scholarships to athletes with as low as an 820 SAT score. The athletic budget is tight. While my starting salary of $80,000 is good in my mind, it certainly is much less than head coach salaries at most other Division I colleges. But it does dwarf the salaries of my assistants which total $58,000 for all three. I’m setting up some basketball camps for them to run in the summer and at other times of the year so they can augment their meager salaries a bit and not have to live on food stamps.

[PointGuard]

The school wanted to keep costs down, so the contracts of all the assistant coaches were honored meaning I had no say in whom they would be. Their low salaries left sufficient funds in the basketball budget for recruiting though.

Mike White, my 40-year old first assistant, is strongest in player development so will handle the practices. He has a bit of a temper on him so he will be a good contrast to my more mellow personality.

My second assistant, Andrew Jefferson, is also 40 years old but a bit less experienced than Mike. Andrew is a good talker who creates a good impression, so he will be my recruiter.

Both Mike and Andrew have high ambition so both hope to use their present jobs to leapfrog to better assistant jobs and then head coaching careers.

Lafayette Parker, the third assistant, is 64 years old. Lafayette had a successful business that he turned over to his wife to escape several years ago to pursue his love of basketball. Following basketball closely throughout his life, he is intimately familiar with the other teams within the MEAC. Because this is more of an avocation than an occupation to him and he and his wife are financially comfortable, he’s accepted a mere pittance of a salary. He doesn’t have a lot of coaching ability, but is knowledgeable about the game, teams, and players, so will be out on the road as my scout.

None of my assistants ratings rise into the 30’s for any coaching attributes. Oh yeah, and me? I’ve got basic rookie coach ratings ranging from 26 to 36 for the various attributes: a bit stronger defensively than offensively with reasonably good recruiting skills and with an overall reputation of just 9.

After getting to know my coaches, I revised the offensive and defensive strategies, focusing on Flex, Motion, Triangle and the various zone offenses while using man-to-man, 3-2 zone, and man-to-man press defenses. Practice schedules were revised to match the strategies we’re to employ.

[PointGuard]

Looking over the roster, all players are from South Carolina, so it appears that recruiting has not been very aggressive in past years. I intend to change that.

At PG, Mike Fishback, a senior, is the heir apparent to be the starter. He has good overall skills and surprisingly good rebounding abilities given he is only 5’6” tall, so he must have good leaping capabilities and ability to anticipate. He’s one of the low GPA players, so hopefully his court intelligence will be better than his classroom skills. Johnnie Carey, a 6-2 senior, should get a lot of playing time and could well challenge Mike for the starting role. He also is a good rebounder and may be a better shooter but doesn’t shoot enough. He is an excellent free throw shooter. Both Mike and Johnnie are quick with good ball handling and passing skills and although not particularly good defensively, they should get their share of steals. Scott Willis is the 3rd PG. He’s a 5-8 freshman with good potential, but good shooting potential. He’s a work in progress though, so may be a candidate for redshirting.

At SG, the targeted starter is Arthimus Evans, a 6-1 junior. He’s quick with good passing and stealing skills and has significantly improved his shooting, but doesn’t appear to be a go-to guy. I’m expecting 6-0 sophomore Todd Brown to challenge him for the starter role. Todd is a better rebounder but has yet to show an ability to score a lot. He is a good passer and ball handler so may also put in some time at PG. David Dillon, a 6-2 freshman. He is a walk-on who likely will serve as a fill-in this year, but hopefully will develop in the future.

At SF, Marcus Thompson, a 6-8 senior, will like start. He’s a very aggressive and strong rebounder. He’s made the most of limited skills to become a journeyman player. Cory Poge, a 6-7 junior, has more potential but has yet to fully develop. He’s also a good rebounder, but a defensive liability. By the way, Cory pronounces his last name as if it were spelled 'poje'.

At PF, the starter will be James Lewis, a 6-8 senior. James has proven his abilities in the past, and is a strong rebounder and shot blocker. Backing him up will be Damon Jones, a 6-8 junior, and Brandon Dupree, a 6-7 sophomore. Both are fairly strong rebounders. Jones has a lot of potential, so hopefully will get enough experience this year to be a key player next year. Dupree, a walk-on, has been inconsistent and has lacked confidence in the past. He’s developed pretty much as far as he’s likely to do. Chris Rhymer is a 6-6 sophomore, who is close to being as strong as Jones and Dupree, but because of his upside potential, he’s an outside candidate to be redshirted.

At C, the starter will be Richard Bobbit, a 6-10 senior. He is a horse when it comes to rebounding, using his size and ability to get position to his advantage. He’s strong defensively and may be a solid scorer, although he has not filled that role in previous seasons. Backing up Bobbit with be 6-8 sophomore Mat Sanchez. Sanchez has good potential but is still developing and inconsistent and lacking confidence. The third center is 6-9 freshman Trevor Dennis. Trevor has yet to develop, so may well be the 2nd redshirt.

[PointGuard]

AD Henry Mason spoke with me early about the upcoming year’s schedule. I asked him to schedule some tough teams at home. He said that because we’re a low-rated program it would be difficult, but he’d try.

Later he had me join him in his office to review the preliminary schedule. The proposed non-conference schedule was a weak one. While on one hand I relished such a schedule to ease my way into coaching while I was getting to know my team, I decided that a more aggressive one would ultimately prepare them more for what I anticipated would be some touch conference games. Henry immediately got on the phone to AD’s and I contacted some head coaches directly imploring them to consider playing us. We successfully upgraded the level of competition a little both on the road and at home, particularly if a college could schedule back to back games nearby with the University of South Carolina or Charleston University, thereby cutting travel costs and giving them a good chance at getting a “W” playing us.

Non-conference schedule:

Citadel
Fordham
Georgia Southern
East Carolina
@ Washington
Montana
Alabama-Birmingham
@ Wichita State
@ #24 Clemson
Northern Arizona
@ Kent State

Conference Schedule:

Morgan State
@ Howard
Norfolk State
Bethune-Cookman
@ Coppin State
@ MD-Eastern Shore
@ Hampton
Delaware State
North Carolina A&T
@ Florida A&M
@ Morgan State
Howard
@ Bethune-Cookman
Coppin State
@ Norfolk State
MD-Eastern State

[PointGuard]

The “SCSU Basketball Supporters” had their “Summer Soiree”. The group is composed primarily of SCSU alumni and local business men. The event was an afternoon and evening event at a nearby lake resort. Lots of glad-handing as well food and alcohol mixed with all too many conversations centering around “we gotta have basketball prominence around here again”. Many had their own recipes for how to accomplish this. I tried to be pleasant, but pretty much let their comments and pleadings enter one ear and exist the other. Since a part of the event consisted of our team being introduced to the group, I was glad I had decided prior to the event to just bring in the players as a group, announce them quickly, and hustle their butts out of there. No need to giving these people a chance to offer things these kids can do without and for which the NCAA would rip us apart.

[PointGuard]

AD Henry Mason took me out for dinner. During the course of a great steak meal, Henry said, “South Carolina State has a lot of history and a good reputation as a school. What went on with the basketball team last year with all the partying, poor study habits, and lack of teamwork was a stain on our reputation. It’s critical that be turned around and I’m confident that I’ve brought in the right man for the job. And if some of the players don’t buy into those changes and it becomes apparent that you need to cut any of them, you’ll have my full backing. It’s not that I’m saying I’m a stickler for exceptionally high discipline, but obviously discipline was entirely missing last year. I want you to hold players accountable for their actions on and off the court and let them know they have a responsibility to not only practice and play hard, but also study hard and avoid situations that could result in disgrace. You know, it’s not likely that any of our players will make it at the pro level, so it’s important they get a good education and graduate!” I assured him I fully understood and would do whatever it takes to turn things around.

Recruiting came up during dessert and Henry stressed how important it was that I build for the future and that a good recruiting year was a key to that. I assured him that I felt our recruiting budget was adequate to aggressively pursue some good prospects. I knew that some good JC players were available, but I would focus more on freshman so that they could be molded into a cohesive team for a longer period of time. But by doing that and having a lot of scholarships to fill this year, it’s likely we’lll have a pretty young team when these recruits arrive on campus a year from now and that could create a temporary downturn in our performance until they learn the system and develop their skills. Henry rolled his eyes at that, then cleared his throat and said, “Well Jason, let’s just see how things turn out.” With that less than ringing endorsement of my plans, my dessert all of sudden didn’t taste as sweet.

[PointGuard]

We have five scholarships to fill during my first recruiting season. I decided to focus my recruiting efforts on South Carolina and the Southeast Region but also go after selected prospects nationally. As such I only purchased the Southeast basic edition and opted to attend only the Memphis Hoop Summit.

Recruiting was a little more challenging than I had foreseen. Recruits were not very open to talking to a young, unproven coach at a low prestige school and parents were skeptical. Many players were unwilling to even visit SCSU.

The Memphis Hoop Summit was worthwhile since 45 of the players at that camp were on my recruiting call list.

Andrew Jefferson, my 2nd assistant coach and recruiter, and I worked the phone lines hard and looked at a lot of game films. Since recruits were not as willing to visit our school as we would have liked, we also made good use of Lafayette Parker, my 3rd assistant and scout, to do live scouting when the opportunity arose. In September I got out to all our top prospects to visit them and their parents and make the case as to why SCSU was the best opportunity for them to meet their highest priority concerns.

After a few scholarship offers to some very good prospects were turned down, I picked up four very good recruits by early October:

PG Joe Thurston, 6-2, JC So, Riverview, FL, 16.1, 3.6, 2.9, 1.6, 0.6, rarely ever missed practice, tremendous work ethic, Good passing and handling, good scoring, very good defense, excellent athleticism (a player with an overall rating of B who was ranked #117 in the nation)

SF Dave Williams, 6-6, Sr., Augusta, GA, 15.2, 1.7, 6.0, 1.5, 0.9, excellent rebounding, fair scoring, fair defense (another B-rated player who was ranked #216 nationally)

PF Troy Burke, 6-6, Sr., Franklin, TN, 17.1, 1.6, 3.9, 1.6, 2.1, excellent scoring, weak rebounder, fair defense, (although also having an overall B rating, he was ranked #70 in the nation)

PF Brian Young, 6-7, Sr., Luverne, AL, 15.8, 1.9, 8.3, 1.3, 1.4, hardworking kid, excellent scoring, good passing, fair defense and rebounding, (an overall B-rating, ranked #100 nationally)

So much for only recruiting within South Carolina, huh?

A scholarship was pending for HS Sr. PG Ed Slocum. Some other good recruits remain unclaimed so if he were not to accept it, I felt confident we would get the last recruit in the spring.

In early November, when Slocum’s interest had not risen above lukewarm and his ratings dropped, I withdrew the scholarship offer and offered it to a highly rated JC Sophomore PG Tommy Fields. While I prefer going after a HS senior, since I already had 3 seniors recruited, I decided to opt for the most gifted player I had a chance of getting.