In early April, a few of Truman State’s women’s basketball coaches traveled to the women’s NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis to catch a few games and attend the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Conference.
Assistant Coach Adam Tandez spoke at three sessions to other coaches. His speech, “25 Ways Young Assistants Can Contribute to a Program,” was full of advice for budding assistant coaches on and off the court. Tandez says he advised coaches to constantly evaluate themselves and take criticism from others, try to cover for the head coach’s weaknesses and not be afraid to make mistakes. Tandez says he was humbled to have other coaches wanting to hear what he had to say. He says his goal was to shed some light on his success in his first five years as a young assistant coach. He says he wanted other coaches to walk away with new ideas and methods to thrive as assistant coaches.
Tandez says he was most excited to have met Mike Neighbors, head coach for the University of Washington’s Final Four team. Tandez says Neighbors is a great ambassador for the game and helps younger coaches learn more about the game.
Tandez says he found the lessons on adapting to changes in coaching methods to be the most interesting. He says he learned about how the stricter, harsher methods of the past were fading and how to adjust to coaching players in a way different than he experienced while growing up. He says he plans to maintain an open line of communication with his players and to build a line of trust between the coaches and players.
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