Don't Make Great Players Comfortable: Get Them Ready for What Their Talent Is About to Demand
Some players need confidence. Some players need reassurance. And some players are so gifted that part of your job is making sure they never become comfortable with how talented they are.
Chris Cantine was one of those players. There was a game when I challenged him at halftime and told him he was not playing like an All-American — told him he was overrated and wasn't showing anybody he was the best player in the country. I knew it hurt his feelings. I knew I bruised his ego. Chris responded with 25 points in the second half and led us to the win.
Afterward, he understood. Those were not my true feelings about him. I was trying to get underneath his skin because I knew there was another level in him, and I needed him to find it.
Years later, I did the same thing with Kevin Major. During the 2021-22 season we were playing Central Penn College — shorthanded from COVID protocols, down 11 at halftime, and I felt like our guys, including our leader, had gotten a little too comfortable. I walked into the locker room, slammed the door, and went after everybody. I called Kevin a fake-ass All-American. Told him he wasn't even an Arby's All-American. Told him the only professional basketball he was going to play was with the Globetrotters. Then I hit the button I knew he hated most — I called him Charmin tissue soft.
Kevin hated being called soft. I knew it. That's exactly why I said it. He sat in the corner angry. Good. Then I went around the room and challenged everybody else too. Kevin responded: 20 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds. We went from down 11 at halftime to winning by 22 — a win that propelled us to an 11-1 stretch.
I wasn't challenging Kevin because I didn't believe he could become a professional. I was challenging him because I needed to prepare him for the pressure of becoming one. Kevin became a 1,000-point scorer, a First Team All-American, and a National Player of the Year candidate — and four years after graduating, he's still playing professionally.
TeeQuan was built the same way. I could yell, scream, challenge him and push him beyond what either one of us thought his limits were. Some players run from being challenged. TeeQuan became greater because of it — a 2x All-American and a 2x National Champion.
Talent gave all of them an opportunity. Their willingness to be coached — even when being coached made them uncomfortable — helped them maximize it. That's the job: never let a gift become a comfort.
— Coach Hammett