IBCA E-Newsletter

Roundtable, Speakers to be featured at 2013 Clinic

Items such as a Coaches’ Roundtable, an Issues & Answers Forum plus a session from Point Guard College highlight the agenda for the 2013 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Spring Clinic.

Of course, outstanding speakers – Michigan’s John Bielein, Saint Louis’ Jim Crews, Evansville’s Marty Simmons and Indiana women’s coach Curt Miller headline this year’s lineup – remain a staple for the two-day gathering that is set for April 26-27 at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. In addition, Mano Watsa and T.J. Rosene of Point Guard College will make a presentation on “Creating a Championship Culture Each Day in Practice.”

Sessions begin at 11:45 a.m. Friday, April 26 and run through 10:20 p.m. that evening. Sessions resume at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 27 and conclude at 12:30 p.m. Cost to attend the clinic is $50 for current IBCA members and $100 for non-members.

The Coaches’ Roundtable tips off the Clinic agenda and will feature Hall of Fame inductees Gene Miiller, Bill Springer and Stan Benge on a panel moderated by Indiana SportsTalk host Bob Lovell. The three coaches will discuss steps that they took to make their programs successful for the long run, and questions from those in attendance will be encouraged. (More on these three coaches can be found elsewhere in this E-newsletter.)

The 12 IBCA Coaches of the Year also will speak during the program (more on each of them can be found elsewhere in this E-Newsletter).

Featured Speakers

John Beilein, University of Michigan

John Beilein is considered one of the best tactical minds in the world of college basketball. He is in his sixth season as coach at the University of Michigan, where he has compiled a 121-34 record that includes a 30-7 mark entering the 2013 NCAA Final Four.

Beilein’s teams have been successful at every level, and he is the only active coach to produce 20-win seasons at four levels of college basketball – junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division I.

Over the years, Beilein’s teams have earned 15 postseason berths. That includes eight spots in the NCAA Division I Tournament, one NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and six NIT berth. His 2007 team at West Virginia was the NIT Champion and this season's team has earned a Final Four berth at Michigan.

In 2012-13, Beilein’s team went 12-6 in the Big Ten with Trey Burke being voted Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. each was chosen first-team all-Big Ten by the coaches, while Glenn Robinson III was selected to the all-freshman team and Jordan Morgan was picked to the all-defensive team.

In 2011-12, Beilein guided Michigan to its first Big Ten regular season championship in 26 seasons with a 24-10 record, including a 13-5 mark in conference play. Beilein took the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in his tenure in 2011-12, earning a No. 4 seed, the best for U-M since 1998.

In 35 seasons as a college coach, Beilein’s teams have had 18 20-win campaigns and amassed a 672-402 record. His tenure includes four seasons at Erie Community College (75-43), one season at Nazareth (20-6), nine seasons at LeMoyne (163-94), five seasons at Canisius (89-62), five seasons at Richmond (100-53) and five seasons at West Virginia (104-60).

Beilein has been named an assistant coach for the 2013 World University Games team by USA Basketball. Previously, he was a court coach for the USA Basketball Trials for the Under-19 World Championship and World University Games teams in 2009.

Beilein, 60, played college basketball at Wheeling College (now Wheeling Jesuit University) from 1971-75 and served as team captain during his junior season. He received a bachelor's degree in history in 1975 and earned a master's degree in education from Niagara in 1981. In May 2005, Beilein served as Wheeling Jesuit's commencement speaker while earning an honorary degree at the school's 47th commencement ceremonies.

A native of Burt, N.Y., Beilein and his wife, Kathleen, have four children – Seana, Patrick Mark and Andrew – and one grandchild.

Jim Crews, Saint Louis University

Jim Crews guided Saint Louis University to its best season in more than 50 years while serving as the Billikens’ interim coach in 2012-13.

Taking over the program last August when health issues forced Rick Majerus to step aside, Crews, 59, directed SLU to a 28-7 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. The season also included the Atlantic-10 regular-season championship with a 13-3 mark, the school’s first outright league title in 56 seasons, and the A-10 Tournament title. With those results, Crews was voted A-10 Coach of the Year and was chosen 2013 National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News.

His career record is 382-355 in 25 seasons.

Before joining SLU as an assistant in 2011-12, Crews amassed 354 career wins in 24 head-coaching campaigns at Evansville and Army. He is no stranger to success, having been a part of 14 NCAA Tournaments as a player, assistant coach and head coach. That experience paid immediate dividends last season, helping Saint Louis post a 26-8 record that included an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and a second-round victory over Memphis.

Prior to joining the SLU staff, Crews served as head coach of Army for seven seasons, beginning with the 2002-03 campaign. Preceding his appointment at West Point, Crews coached for 17 years at Evansville and played and coached at Indiana. He has a career head coaching record of 354-348 in 24 seasons.

Crews had a successful 17-year stint at Evansville from 1985-2002, accumulating a 294-209 record. He guided the Purple Aces to six postseason appearances, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament. All six of those squads registered at least 21 victories. A four-time conference coach of the year (1987, 1989, 1992 Midwestern Collegiate; 1999 Missouri Valley), Crews is the only coach in the tradition-rich history of Evansville to post nine consecutive non-losing seasons.

Perhaps what Crews is most known for is his ability to graduate players. During his tenure at Evansville, 52 of the 53 players who spent four years with the Purple Aces earned a degree. Every senior in Crews' final 12 years graduated. At Army, he graduated all 30 four-year players who came through his program.

Crews, a native of Normal, Ill., learned from the legendary Bob Knight at Indiana for 12 seasons, four as a player and eight as an assistant coach. During his four-year playing career in 1972-76, the Hoosiers forged a remarkable 108-12 record. As a senior in 1976, Crews helped IU to a 32-0 record and the national title, the last time an NCAA Division I men's program has posted an undefeated record.

After graduating from Indiana, Crews returned for an eight-year stint on Knight’s coaching staff. Indiana captured another national championship in 1981, won three Big Ten championships (1980, 1981 and 1983) and posted a 174-76 record during his tenure as an assistant.

Crews and his wife, Kim, have two children, a daughter Abby and a son Todd.

Curt Miller, Indiana University

Curt Miller recently completed his first season as women’s coach at Indiana University head coach following 11 years as coach at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

In 2012-13, Miller guided the Hoosiers to an 11-19 record overall and a 2-14 Big Ten regular-season record. The overall wins are a five-game improvement and the league wins are twice as many as the previous season with what clearly was a season of transition.

Prior to joining the Hoosiers, Miller, 45, directed Bowling Green to a 258-92 record that included 135-41 mark in the Mid-American Conference, eight regular-season MAC crowns, five MAC Tournament titles, five NCAA Tournament berths and three WNIT appearances. He was named MAC Coach of the Year a league-record six times and was selected WBCA Regional 4 Coach of the Year four times.

With the Falcons, his teams posted nine 20-win seasons with a best mark of 3-4 in 2006-07. Four times, his BGSU players were recognized as All-Americans, and the Falcons produced the MAC Player of the Year on four occasions.

Miller’s success on the court at Bowling Green was matched by the success of the team's student-athletes in the classroom. In Miller's 11 seasons, BGSU's combined team grade-point average never fell below 3.00 and his staff boasted a 100 percent graduation rate among athletes who exhausted their eligibility with the program.

Prior to his time at Bowling Green, Miller was the associate head coach at Colorado State, helping the Rams to an 81-20 record during his three seasons there. Miller previously spent four years as an assistant coach at Syracuse after serving for three years as an assistant coach at Cleveland State. Miller began his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Kent State.

A native of Girard, Pa., Miller received his bachelor’s degree in physical education and business administration from Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio in 1990.

Marty Simmons, University of Evansville

Marty Simmons has proven himself as a success in the highly competitive world of college basketball.

In 12 seasons as a head coach, Simmons’ teams have produced a 178-166 record, including a 21-15 mark in 2012-13 at the University of Evansville while reaching the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament semifinals.

A graduate of UE, Simmons has guided the Purple Aces to a 80-93 ledger over six seasons. Those efforts have concluded with postseason action in four of the past five seasons, including a spot in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. His 2012-13 season posted a 10-8 Missouri Valley Conference slate, UE’s best league record since 1999.

Simmons’ success has been noticed by his peers. In three of the past five years, he has finished among the top four in voting for MVC Coach of the Year. The latest example took place in 2011 when Simmons’ squad finished 9-9 in the MVC and in sixth place after being voted 10th in the preseason poll. The Aces went on to achieve their first post-season victory since 1989 by defeating Hofstra in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.

Simmons returned to his alma mater as head coach in the spring of 2007. His first squad finished 9-21, but one year later, in 2008-09, Simmons led his Aces to a 17-14 record and a berth in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The 2008-09 Aces achieved Evansville’s best winning percentage since 2000, and the program’s first postseason appearance since 1999.

Prior becoming head coach at Evansville, Simmons was head coach for five years at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, then an NCAA Division II program. There, Simmons took over a program that had not won 10 games since 1999 and led the Cougars to an 88-59 record that included two 20-win seasons. SIUE reached the NCAA D-II Tournament in 2005, and Simmons was chosen as Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year. His 2006 squad did even better, winning three games in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championship and advancing to the Elite Eight.

A native of Lawrenceville, Ill., Simmons led Lawrenceville High School to back-to-back Class A state championships, earned Illinois Mr. Basketball accolades and became one of the most celebrated players in Illinois prep history. His 2,986 career points were the third most in Illinois history when he graduated in 1983.

Simmons spent his first two years of college at Indiana University. He was a key player on IU squads that reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 1984 and finished as NIT runner-up in 1985. It was during Indiana’s NIT run in 1985 when then-IU assistant coach Jim Crews was chosen to become Evansville’s new head coach. Two months later, Simmons transferred to Evansville.

Designated as the Aces’ team captain while sitting out his redshirt season, Simmons immediately helped turn around the UE program when he became eligible in 1986-87. He averaged 22.4 points as a junior and led Evansville to a first-place tie in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. As a senior, he was sixth in the nation in scoring at 25.9 while leading the Aces to a 21-8 record in 1988 and a first-round win over Utah in the NIT.

A first team all-MCC player in both of his seasons at UE, Simmons scored 750 points as a senior, the fourth most in school history. He amassed 1,265 points in two seasons for the Aces.

Following two seasons as a professional player, Simmons returned to the Evansville in 1990 as restricted earnings coach on Crews’ staff for six seasons. He became head coach for one season at Wartburg College, an NCAA Division III school in Iowa, in 1996-97 before returning as a UE full-time assistant for five seasons. With Simmons on the staff, the Aces reached the NCAA Tournament in 1992, 1993 and 1999, and the NIT in 1994. In addition, they won two MCC and one MVC regular-season titles, and two post-season conference tournaments.

Simmons, 48, received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from UE in 1987 and his master’s in business administration in 1993. He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1994. He was selected to the University of Evansville Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997.

Simmons and his wife, Angie, have four children: Brittany, Kelsey, Blake, and Cole.

Mano Watsa and T.J. Rosene, Point Guard College

Creating a Championship Culture Each Day in Practice

Coaches will learn how to teach the physical and mental skills, as well as the daily habits, necessary to create a championship environment from Mano Watsa and T.J. Rosene of the Point Guard College staff.

At PGC, staffers believe that there is a richness in the sport experience, and their mission is to empower you to experience this richness, including:

• The sense of accomplishment that comes from the mastery of a discipline;
• The special bond created by a team that strives together towards a common goal;
• The satisfaction that comes from the pursuit of excellence;
• The sense of triumph that arises out of overcoming adversity;
• The intensity of competition—the thrill, the joy, and even the disappointment.

These are the things that those who teach and work at PGC love about the game. It is this type of basketball experience that has shaped our lives and our careers. As a result, PGC is passionately committed to providing you — and other players and coaches — with everything you need to achieve your dreams. They will do so by encouraging concepts such as spirit, communication, hustle, approach, precision and enhancement.

The PGC staff wants you to be prepared with the tools that you need to win championships, to earn honors and scholarships, and to play at the next level (if that’s what you desire). But we also want you to experience the joy of the journey, and the opportunity that you have to uplift the environments that you’re in.

This is what inspires the staff at PGC. This is the legacy that PGC staffers received from their founder, Dick DeVenzio, a legacy they are proud to continue.

Watsa, a native of Canada, is the president and owner of PGC. He was a two-time all-Canadian player and later played with Athletes In Action teams in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Rosene is the men’s basketball coach at Emmanuel College Franklin Springs, Ga. He played at Presbyterian (S.C.) and Reinhardt (Ga.) colleges. He has been a college head coach for 11 years and his teams have won Southern States Athletic Conference and National Christian College Athletic Association championships.

For more information on PGC Basketball, visit www.pgcbasketball.com.

IBCA Clinic Schedule

Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, 2013