IBCA E-Newsletter

Roundtable, Speakers to be featured at 2015 Clinic

Click here for the IBCA Spring Clinic registration form.

Items such as a Coaches’ Roundtable, an Issues & Answers Forum plus a session from a Shoot-A-Way representative highlight the agenda for the 2015 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Spring Clinic.

Of course, outstanding speakers – University of Kentucky coach John Calipari, Belmont coach Rick Byrd, IUPUI coach Jason Gardner and Indiana University women’s coach Teri Moren – remain a staple for the two-day gathering that is set for April 24-25 at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. In addition, Jason Otter of Shoot-A-Way of will make a presentation on “Taking Shooting Drills to Game Success.”

Sessions begin at 11:45 a.m. Friday, April 24 and run through 10:20 p.m. that evening. Sessions resume at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 25 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 Larry Angle, Tom May and Pat Rady 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.)

Eleven of the 12 IBCA Coaches of the Year as well as six-time state champion coach Rick Risinger of Heritage Christian also will speak during the program (more on each of them can be found elsewhere in this E-Newsletter).

Featured Speakers

John Calipari, University of Kentucky

A "players-first" coach with a penchant for helping people reach their dreams, John Calipari has guided six teams to the Final Four, led one to a national championship and helped 31 players make it to the NBA during his 22-year college coaching career.

Calipari, 56, reached the mountaintop in his third year in Lexington, guiding Kentucky to its eighth national championship and his first national title. This season, he directed the Wildcats to a 38-1 record (the third 38-win season in his career) and a berth in the 2015 Final Four in Indianapolis. Calipari is one of only two coaches to lead three schools to a Final Four – Massachusetts (1996), Memphis (2008) and Kentucky (2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015).

The Wildcats rode the trademark hard-nosed Calipari defense to the 2012 title, finishing the season as the nation's top-ranked team in field-goal percentage defense and blocked shots. En route to the national championship, Calipari guided the Wildcats to an NCAA record-tying 38 wins, a perfect 16-0 mark in the Southeastern Conference and the school's 45th SEC championship, all while extending his winning streak in Rupp Arena to 51 straight games. Calipari extended his perfect mark at home as UK's coach to 54 games before finally losing in his fourth year at Kentucky.

Upon being named head coach on April 1, 2009, Calipari continued to work his magic of resurrecting once proud programs, taking an NIT team in 2009 to the 2010 NCAA Elite Eight. Along the way he led the Wildcats to a No. 1 ranking (UK's first since 2003), the program's 44th SEC regular-season championship and 26th SEC Tournament title.

The honors continued after the 2009-10 season as Calipari became the first coach in UK history to receive the Adolph Rupp National Coach of the Year award. He then watched as five of his players were selected in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft, the first time a school has ever produced five first-round picks. Among those picks was the first Wildcat ever taken as the No. 1 overall pick, John Wall.

In his inaugural season as head coach of the Wildcats, Calipari posted his fifth straight 30-win season, the only coach in NCAA Division I history to do so. In addition to the Rupp National Coach of the Year, Calipari was also named the Associated Press SEC Coach of the Year. When he led Kentucky back to the No. 1 spot in the country, Calipari became one of only two coaches (Frank McGuire) in NCAA history to lead three teams to a No. 1 ranking. He led UMass to a No. 1 ranking in 1995 and 1996, and he led Memphis to the No. 1 spot in the 2008 season.

The 2013-14 season produced outstanding results. Coaching the youngest team in the nation, Calipari guided Kentucky back to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons, coming up just one win short of his second national championship and the program's ninth title.

This season, UK put itself in position to become the first team since Indiana in 1975-76 to claim an undefeated national championship before falling to Wisconsin in a national semifinal. Prior to the Midwest Regional title, the Wildcats went undefeated in the Southeastern Conference and won the SEC Tournament. In six seasons at UK, his teams have gone 190-38 (.833).

Much like he did at UMass, when his players graduated at nearly 80 percent, Calipari has stressed academics. Fifteen of his final 18 seniors who came through the Memphis program earned their bachelor's degrees, and all 10 players at UK who were eligible to graduate by the end of their senior years walked away with a degree in hand.

As someone who prides himself on helping young men reach their dreams, he has placed 31 players in the NBA during his college coaching career, including 19 over his first five seasons at Kentucky. The 19 picks over that five-season span is the most of any coach.

After bringing the University of Massachusetts basketball program to national prominence in the `90s and resurrecting the Memphis basketball program in the 2000s, Calipari became the 22nd coach in UK history and seventh in the last 80 years.

Calipari's overall on-court record through the 2015 Midwest Regional was 635-178, giving him the second-highest winning percentage (.781) among active NCAA Division I coaches with 10 years of experience at college basketball's Division I level.

After opening the 2014-15 campaign with three straight wins, Calipari became the 13th active head coach with 600 wins. His nine 30-win seasons are third most for a head coach in NCAA Division I history, and he is the first coach in NCAA Division I history to record five straight on-court 30-win seasons. For his college career (23 years), Calipari has 21 20-win seasons and 14 25-win campaigns. The 21 consecutive 20-win seasons are the second-longest streak in NCAA history, trailing only Dean Smith, who had 27.

His NCAA Tournament record of 47-15 (.758) gives him the highest winning percentage among active coaches and the second highest of all-time (minimum 20 games). His six Final Four appearances is tied for sixth most by a coach all-time, and his 11 straight NCAA Tournament wins prior to the 2014 national championship loss was the longest winning streak in the tournament since the Florida Gators won 12 straight in 2006 and 2007.

Coach Cal started his head-coaching career at UMass in 1988, guiding a struggling program to the top of college basketball, capped off by a Final Four appearance in 1996. Calipari compiled a 193-71 record (.731) during his eight-year career at Massachusetts, including a 108-44 mark (.684) in A-10 play. In his final season at UMass, Calipari was named the 1996 Naismith National Coach of the Year and The Sporting News National Coach of the Year.

Calipari left UMass in June 1996 to become executive vice president of basketball operations and head coach of the New Jersey Nets. He led the Nets to a second-place finish in the NBA's Atlantic Division and the playoffs in 1998, ending a five-year postseason drought for the franchise. The Nets' 17-game turnaround from the previous year was the best that season in the NBA.

He became a member of the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff in 1999, rejoining Philadelphia coach Larry Brown, for whom Calipari was an assistant at Kansas.

Calipari returned to the college game in 2000 at Memphis, where he led the Tigers to the 2008 NCAA title game. Memphis' 38 wins in 2007-08 made him the winningest coach for a single season in NCAA history. As a result, Calipari was named Naismith National Coach of the Year for a second time in his career. He is only the second coach to receive the honor multiple times since the award's inception in 1987. Krzyzewski is the other to do so.

Calipari led the Tigers to nine straight 20-win campaigns and nine consecutive postseason appearances, the only Memphis coach to do that. He posted 252 wins – 28 wins per season – as the Tigers' head coach, making him the winningest coach in school history.

Calipari began his coaching career at Kansas as a volunteer assistant under Ted Owens. In 1983, he was hired as the recruiting coordinator at Vermont, but he was swayed back to Kansas when Brown was hired as head coach at KU. He spent two more seasons at Kansas with Brown before a three-year stint as an assistant coach to Paul Evans at Pittsburgh (1985-88).

As a player, Calipari lettered two years at North Carolina-Wilmington before transferring to Clarion State. He played point guard at Clarion during the 1981 and 1982 seasons, leading the team in assists and free-throw percentage. The Eagles were ranked in the Division II top 20 both years and participated in the 1981 NCAA Division II Tournament.

Calipari and his wife, Ellen, have two daughters, Erin and Megan, and a son, Bradley.

Rick Byrd, Belmont University

One of the most successful and respected coaches in the country, Rick Byrd has been a model of consistency in leading Belmont's transition from an NAIA institution to a perennial headliner and championship program in NCAA Division I.

He guided the 2014-15 Bruins to a 22-11 season that included an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship and berth in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. He completed the season with a career record of 711-366 in 34 years as a college head coach, 619-311 in 29 seasons at Belmont.

The previous year, in 2013-14, Belmont went 26-10 and reached the quarterfinal round of the Postseason NIT. That gave the program four years in a row with 26 or more victories, joining programs such as Duke, Florida, Syracuse, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State.

Byrd entered 2014-15 ranked seventh among all active NCAA Division I head coaches in career victories with 689. He pushed that total to 711 during the season, picking up win No. 700 on Jan. 17 in with an 89-83 triumph at Austin Peay. All told, Belmont has won 14 conference championships (seven regular season, seveen tournament) since 2006. Unquestionably, Byrd has built a program with staying power. Also of note, Byrd has directed the Bruin program to 12 or more conference victories 12 of the past 13 seasons.

In 2013, Byrd received the NCAA Bob Frederick Award for his lifelong commitment to sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and fair play. Moreover, he received induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.

Byrd's accomplishments are many: he received the Nashville Area Athletic Club's Reese L. Smith Award for achievement and community service in 1995. That same year, Rick was named NAIA National Coach of the Year as well as Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. At Lincoln Memorial University, where he posted a three-year record of 69-28, Byrd was chosen as NAIA District 24 Coach of the Year and Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference Coach of the Year twice. In 1989, while at Belmont, he was selected District 24 Coach of the Year and Area V Coach of the Year.

Prior to Belmont University's decision to join the NCAA, Byrd shaped its men's basketball program into a veritable NAIA powerhouse. Belmont made five NAIA national tournament appearances under Byrd's direction, including trips to the semifinals in 1995 and 1996 and a spot in the quarterfinals in 1994.

After beginning his coaching career in 1976 with a two-year stint as assistant coach at Maryville College in Missouri, Byrd became head coach at Maryville. His two-year record of 23-27 is misleading, as Maryville's 15-11 ledger in Byrd's second season was the school's best mark in 31 years. He was hired as assistant coach at Tennessee Tech in 1980 and served three years in Cookeville before becoming head coach at Lincoln Memorial in 1983.

Byrd, a graduate of Doyle High School in Knoxville, Tenn., earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1976 and a master's degree in physical education in 1977 at the University of Tennessee. While in Knoxville, he was a student-assistant coach under Ray Mears.

He and his wife, Cheryl, live in Nashville. Byrd is the father of two daughters, Andrea and Megan, and a stepson, Robert Duke.

Jason Gardner, IUPUI

Former Indiana Mr. Basketball Jason Gardner guided the IUPUI basketball team to a 10-21 record this past season in his first year as a college head coach.

Gardner began his coaching career in 2010 as an assistant coach at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. A year later, he became a college assistant coach at Loyola University in Chicago. He helped the Ramblers to a 22-38 record in two seasons before moving to the University of Memphis for one season, also as an assistant coach. He helped the Tigers to a 24-10 record in his lone season there.

In April 2014, Gardner was appointed the eighth head coach for IUPUI men’s basketball.

Gardner, a 1999 graduate of North Central High School, played collegiately at the University of Arizona, helping the Wildcats to an NCAA Tournament runner-up finish in 2001. The 5-10 point guard later played professionally in Slovenia, Belgium, Israel and Germany. He was a two-time All-Star in Germany and the league MVP in 2009.

As a senior at Arizona, Gardner was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, was the Naismith National Player of the Year and a Lowe’s Senior CLASS award winner. Arizona won 107 games during Gardner’ four-year career, in which he scored 1,984 points with 622 assists. He had his jersey number retired in 2005 (No. 22) and completed his degree requirements in 2011.

At North Central, Gardner led the Panthers to the Indiana Class 4A state championship while averaging 22.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals. He completed his high school career with 1,669 points, was a two-time Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year and was named a McDonald’s All-American and a Parade All-American.

Gardner is married to the former Jacquelyn Maxberry and the couple has four children – Jasper, Jason Jr., Jacob and Jackson.

Teri Moren, Indiana University

Teri Moren directed the Indiana University women’s basketball team to a 15-16 season that included a 4-14 Big Ten finish in her first season as coach of the Hoosiers.

The former Indiana All-Star from Seymour High School came to IU after serving as head coach for four seasons at Indiana State. She previously was an assistant coach at Butler, an assistant coach at Northwestern, head coach at the University of Indianapolis and associate head coach at Georgia Tech.

In 12 seasons as a college head coach, Moren’s teams have a 212-146 record.

Moren began her coaching career in 1992 at Butler, where she served for six seasons as an assistant to June Olkowski and helped the Bulldogs to three 20-win seasons. She moved with Olkowski to Northwestern, working with the Wildcats for two years before being named head coach at Indianapolis.

In seven seasons with the Greyhounds, Moren guided the team to a 128-73 record. That included a 29-3 mark and Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2002-03. She led UIndy to three NCAA Division II Tournament berths during her tenure and was the 2003 WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year for Division II.

Moren then moved to Georgia Tech, working with former college teammate MaChelle Joseph with the Yellow Jackets. In her three seasons in Atlanta, Georgia Tech won 22 or more games each year and made three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Moren was hired as Indiana State’s head coach in the spring of 2010. In Terre Haute, she guided the Sycamores from a middle-of-the-pack Missouri Valley Conference team to a conference champion in her final season. They went 16-16, 15-16, 18-13 and 20-12 during her four seasons, including a 14-4 MVC mark and postseason Women’s NIT appearance in her final campaign.

As a player, Moren was a high school standout at Seymour for Hall of Fame coach Donna Sullivan, scoring 1,138 points in her career, helping the Owls to the 1987 IHSAA State Finals and earning a spot on the 1987 Indiana All-Stars. She went on to play at Purdue, where she was a four-year player and two-year starter for Lin Dunn. Moren was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams for the Boilermakers and played for the program’s first Big Ten champion.

Moren was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2014.

Rick Risinger, Heritage Christian School

Rick Risinger has won more state championships than any other Indiana girls’ basketball coach with six titles on his resume. The last of those came in March when his Heritage Christian School team claimed the Class 2A crown with a 73-53 victory over Fort Wayne Canterbury.

In 10 seasons with the Eagles, Risinger’s teams have compiled a 230-39 record with state titles in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015. They also have won Indianapolis City Tournament championships all 10 seasons.

Risinger is a 1969 graduate of Richmond High School, where he was chosen to the Indiana All-Star Team following a career where he scored 1,084 points in 66 games as a varsity player under coach Dick Baumgartner. As a senior, he led the North Central Conference with a 23.4 scoring average and had a high game of 41 points.

Risinger matriculated to Purdue, where he was a four-year member of the Boilermakers’ basketball team for George King. He earned a business degree in 1973 and retired after 38 years working for the Verizon Corp.

Risinger and his wife, Jane, have three adult children – Clay, Courtney and Megan.

Jason Otter, Shoot-A-Way Basketball

As a former Division I and professional player, Jason Otter began training players soon after the completion of his playing career.

Otter began teaching and coaching in the high school ranks with his players and teams quickly having success while also earning college scholarships. Due to the high demand for player development, Jason began holding skill development camps all over the country and exploded onto the scene more than 10 years ago.

The system Jason has developed is based on efficiency and re-routing player’s movement mechanics, allowing players to play above their athletic set and is unlike any other program in the country. He has helped develop more than 800 Division I basketball players, including NBA All-Star Jason Richardson, several other NBA players and other players having professional careers overseas.

Jason has been the lead skill trainer at the NBA Top 100 camp and currently holds Otter Basketball skill development camps such as the popular Point Guard Elite, Junior Elite, Shooting Camps and Day Camps throughout the United States and abroad along with an Online Training curriculum and over 20 instructional videos.

An inner-city school teacher for more than 15 years, Otter holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and special education.

Otter lives in Saginaw, Mich., with his wife, Christy, and children Jocie and Nash.

IBCA Clinic Schedule

Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, 2015