Latest / The Strength In Numbers Podcast / EP 55: Fonzo Martinez | Building and Sustaining Elite Success

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EP 55: Fonzo Martinez | Building and Sustaining Elite Success · The Strength In Numbers Podcast

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There's some players that aren't going to be good at like maybe 5
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things, but can we find two or three things that they're really
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elite at and they can have a significant impact for us?
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I would take my point guard being elite at playing off of 2
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feet inside the three-point line or below the nail more than I
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would his handle getting a little bit better.
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So can we put him in drills in situations where it's like we
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are working on skill work? Can we put him in situations
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where like he's getting tons of reps, having to play inside the
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three-point line where he's kind of uncomfortable right now, But
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now we help him become elite where he's able to use his
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footwork, make great reads, be a great passer, be a great shot
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maker. Even if we're having success and
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we're on a 15 game-winning streak, it's not that we don't
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celebrate those things, but it's like we're not chasing a win.
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We're just tracing growth. Every summer we have a big
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cookout at my house and I invite every player that's ever
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graduated from from my program. You'll have 25 plus guys over
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our house. We're playing cornhole, we're
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laughing. Some of them are married, some
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of them have kids, some of them are in college, some of them are
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just graduating. Welcome to the Strength in
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Numbers podcast. I'm your host, John Lumen.
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Today's guest is Fonzo Martinez. Fonzo's the head boys basketball
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coach at McKinney Christian Academy, where he is the
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winningest coach in school history, including a 39 and one
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state championship season this year and two state championships
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overall. We talked about how Fonzo's been
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able to sustain elite success even when this past year he lost
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every starter on his team and still won the whole thing.
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He dives into his yearly development plan, how he helps
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fit players into a role that highlights their strengths, and
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how each year he molds his system around his team's makeup.
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We also talked about the value of his experience coaching both
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school and AAU ball, and how AAU has made him better at
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prioritizing what he does in practice.
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If you're getting value from these conversations, give the
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show a follow and leave a review.
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It helps us continue to reach and impact more coaches.
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Let's get into today's episode. Fonzo, man, I really appreciate
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you being here today. You know, I'm excited.
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We've connected a little bit before and it was.
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It was really fun, like we're talking to get to see your team
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play McKinney Christian play at the Final Four this year in the
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state championship and just men, men, you guys, you know, you can
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tell that you're they're coached really well and just the way
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they move the ball. Super cool man.
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Y'all, y'all, y'all wanted a high level obviously.
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So I'm I'm excited to get a dive in a little bit and learn how
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you kind of put that together. Yeah.
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Well, first, thanks for having me on John.
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Really appreciate it. Always great when we get to
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catch up and have some conversations talking about
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coaching, player development, stuff like that.
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Yeah, really looking forward. To it also, could you just talk
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about, you know, a little bit of where you're at briefly with
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McKinney Christian and kind of, you know, brief how you got
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there and kind of what your role looks like today?
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Yeah. Absolutely.
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Before McKinney Christian, I was over at Flower Mound, Corndale
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Academy. So that's where I I first
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started coaching and kind of got into full time at a school.
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I was there for five years, came from kind of the corporate sales
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type of job, like I was doing something completely different.
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So then went over to Flower Mound Corn Deo, got hired by a
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guy named Doug Hicks and another guy named Emmanuel Asante and
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got to build some really great relationships, had a great time
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there, everything like that. And it was probably in my fifth
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year there that I was kind of like feeling like, all right,
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it's probably time for transition, maybe a next step, a
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next chapter. I honestly thought it was going
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to be college basketball and I was looking at just different
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places, reviewing everything like that.
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And then COVID happened. And that was that was really
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interesting because it was like there there was some
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opportunities even for myself where it was like, hey, with
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this whole COVID thing, it's like, if there's not a
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basketball season, we don't know what like your salary is going
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to look like. There's just a lot of
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uncertainty. And so for me, it was like, OK,
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man, I'm really kind of confused on what the next step is.
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What is the next chapter? And so there was a guy named
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James Wheeler, great friends with him, even to this day.
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He was here at McKinney Christian.
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He was taking over the basketball program and he was
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him and I had just had a really great relationship and he was
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like, Hey, what would you think about coming over to McKinney
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Christian and my ads? Probably not something I'd be
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interested in. At the time, CA was not good at
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basketball. Like we, we used to play them
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and I'm like, they've been pretty bad.
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I mean, I always thought the campus was really nice, but I'm
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like, you know what, I have this great relationship with James
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because they're going to be doing some really cool things.
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So let's see what that looks like.
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Bike and I came up, I visited and I have no idea why, but God
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just gave me this incredible piece about like coming over
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here. So talk with my wife.
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We made the decision to come over here.
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I was the assistant coach for two years, which was a little
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unique for me after being a head coach for a period of time.
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But I was like, you know what, I'm OK with this because I
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didn't honestly know if I was going to be at McKinney
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Christian like for a long period of time initially.
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And so then once I decided now this is where I really want to
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be. We moved out this way,
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everything like that. I took over the basketball
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program 4 1/2 years ago and I'm a full time athletic coordinator
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and get to work with all of our sports and so yeah, I love it.
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Yeah, no, that's awesome. And you know that I had a
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similar step where like I was, I had been kind of head strength
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coach for for sports and like my last I was, I was had Mens and
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Mens basketball. We were state and then I went to
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Texas Tech to then go be assistant.
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Like you're saying, it's kind of like, you know, it's kind of
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different from being the person in charge of things.
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So then take a step back. But I also thought it was really
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cool and maybe you can relate this.
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We're like, OK, now you're you've had to be in that role of
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the one making the decisions and having the responsibility and
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kind of, you know, being point on everything and be able to
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take a step back and observe somebody else back in that role.
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Now that you've had the experience and have more of a
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perspective on what questions you want to ask or figure out or
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get better AT, and now you to see somebody else do that from
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that lens. And then when you step back into
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that head roll again, it's like now you have a whole different
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perspective on how you kind of elevate yourself.
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Now. I don't know if you kind of
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experience a similar thing. Absolutely, absolutely.
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I think you're even, I think you get to learn and grow more as an
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assistant, right? It's like you kind of get this
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full scope and look, I even talked to our assistant coaches
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like right now about like they see things that like I can't see
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in a game. Sometimes when you're a head
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coach and sometimes when you're a head coach, it's like you're
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just seeing the big things in the big moments and you're kind
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of locked in and you have a little bit of that tunnel vision
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and it's like, it's an assistant.
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You're like seeing the body language of a player after a
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conversation. You're noticing little things
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that maybe the head coach just doesn't notice.
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And so I think being an assistant coach helps a lot with
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self-awareness, you know, when you step back into that role and
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how you may perceive something may be different than how
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everybody else on the team is perceiving it, right.
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And so I think, yeah, definitely a lot of growth opportunity in
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that. And, you know, it was really
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good because it was like him and I had a great relationship for
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those two years. I got to have like a huge impact
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and a huge role on kind of everything we did together.
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But at the same time, it was like I was able to take a step
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back and kind of like see everything, you know?
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So yeah, definitely, definitely a valuable.
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Experience. Yeah, no, that's awesome.
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Now, now I want to talk about, you know, what you've done there
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And and I know that the previous season, y'all had a super
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successful season, then you lose, if I'm not wrong, right,
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All your starters from the previous season, right.
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You use all your starters and you come back now and have a
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pretty dominant year, win state championship.
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What what do you feel about like a program when you, when you're
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building that, that allows a program to sustain success even
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when players, great players graduate, great players leave,
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but that programs can still maintain that elite level of
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winning. Yeah.
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I think, well, we, we did bring in, you know, we brought in
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Diego Landon and Leo Jimenez, which those two guys are, are
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head of players, you know, so they, they helped a lot.
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But yes, I mean, graduating 5 starters, we graduated 6
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seniors, guys that like knew our system and our program.
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Even when we brought those two in, I was telling our coaches,
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I'm like, I just hope we're like pretty good this year.
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And I didn't think it would look like how it looked when we, when
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we started the season. But I think the biggest thing is
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being able to develop players. Like honestly, we have gotten in
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a lot of players that just fully buy into our culture, our
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standard. They have a great mindset, we
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have great support from their families and everything like
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that. And I think we just have had a
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lot of guys over the period of time that have been able to
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develop from like a guy that wasn't starting at their school
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or was playing freshman ball or JV ball to now all of a sudden
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they're like an elite role player or their first team all
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state. I mean, like you look at our two
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point guards this year, Jaden Vickner and Manny Weaver, when
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they both came in their junior year, like they're playing JV
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basketball like at their public school before that.
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And they got a whole lot better. Jaden didn't even really play
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significant minutes for us as a junior.
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And then he was first team all state this last year in our
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starting point guard. And so even before that, going
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back to last year, we had a really good season.
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Drew Hamilton was the district MVP, but he was playing JV and
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varsity basketball and a crossover guy before he came in.
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But then he puts on a bunch of muscle, gets more athletic, his
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handle gets tighter, he becomes a better defender, better
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playmaker. And I mean, now that kid just
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won rookie of the year in college as a freshman.
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And so I think like, it's, it's being able to get guys to just
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like continue to get better, continue to grow.
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And even like a guy like Diego Landon, obviously he's a good
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player. And you can look at that and be
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like, well, that's a guy that came in and he was, you know,
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really good. I thought he got a whole lot
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better. Like I thought that guy turned
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into a better defender, a better playmaker, a better shot maker.
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And it's like, wow, he went from good to like, great.
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And so I think that development piece is really, really
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important. And being able to find guys that
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like, there's some players that aren't going to be good at like
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maybe 5 things, but can we find two or three things that they're
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really lead at and they can have a significant impact for us?
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With that development piece and then buying into that, like what
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does that look like for you? Let's say, you know, it's, but
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you know, for this upcoming year, maybe someone that's
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coming in new, it's like how are you looking at creating a plan
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of maybe like you're saying those couple of things, maybe
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like the role you're going to play, let's be great at these
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things, let's develop at these things.
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What is that creating that plan look like?
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And I guess what is it? What is the actual development
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like from a time standpoint, kind of what that looks like
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during the year of how you're pushing development?
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Yeah, Well, that's a great question, man.
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And I think there's a lot of things that like go into it.
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Obviously there's the basketball piece, but I would be lying to
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him if I told you I thought that was like the most important
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thing. Because to me, I think like if
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you go watch high school basketball, I think almost every
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game you watch, you can look at it and find a good player that
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maybe plays outside of his role, right?
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Or you're, you're looking at a team and you're like, man,
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they're a good team, but like they take really bad shots or
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maybe they're poor decision makers, right?
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So I think like the first step is whether it's a new guy or
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it's even like a guy that we already have, like in our
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program, it's like you got to have like great relationships
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with your players. Your players got to know you
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care about them. They got to know that you
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actually are invested in who they are outside of basketball,
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right? And I think it's like once
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players feel kind of valued, loved and trusted, it's like
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you're going to be able to ask things from them and they're
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going to be willing to like, do those things.
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So then it makes it easier to kind of have maybe some even
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tough conversations about like, hey, we can't take that shot.
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Hey, hey, when we're developing you, we're going to develop like
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you in this way, like this many things.
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But in a game, you can only use this much right now until we,
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you know, improve the other aspects of your game.
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And it gets to a point where it's like, now you can do some
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of those things in a game. But I think like that is for
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sure the starting point because then it allows you to see guys
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like, man, that guy's like a really good player.
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And it's like, well, he's really good because he does only what
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he's really good at and he doesn't get outside that.
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But we spent a ton of time in the gym.
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So right now, I mean, season ends, it's kind of unique
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because like right when our season ends, if we make a deep
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run, we have what we call missions week here at our
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school. So it's like weird, we, we win
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state and they have missions, we can then spring break and it's
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like we don't even see the guys for a little while.
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But as soon as they get back from that and we're in the
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weight room, we try to get in the weight room Monday through
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Thursday, you know, almost every single day.
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And we do a thing here called Breakfast Club.
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So sometimes before school we get guys in here getting up
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shots. We're using our athletic period
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to get in skill work. We're doing development stuff
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and we really try to use like basically spring, summer and
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even fall where like we're focused a lot more on aspects of
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like principles of play, guys being great decision makers,
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working a lot on footwork, trying to develop skills that we
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feel like our immediate skills for each player that they need
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to grow in. And we, we try not to also
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develop guys so specific to their role, but we want guys to
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all be great passers, great decision makers, great shot
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takers. And so it's like we used, man,
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what is that maybe like 5 or 6 months a year to like really
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focus on like all those things. And we try to do that some even
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during the season. So, and that's kind of what it
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looks like for us though. Yeah, No, that's really cool
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breakdown. What it what do you think a lot
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of programs or a lot of coaches really focus on in development
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and spend a lot of time on that doesn't actually pay off that
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much or doesn't have a huge return on investment or impact
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winning as much as they think it does, man?
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I would say to me, I think that that's a great question.
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I would say a few things. I would say one of the things
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would be not that like not that skilled about obviously skilled
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development is super important. But I think sometimes it's like
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the days of like skilled development where you're just
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like using tones, right? Or you're just working on like
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certain finishes and stuff like that.
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I think some of that is great, but it's like really, really
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hard to translate into A5 on five game at times.
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And so I think it's like there's so many guys that are shot
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makers but bad decision makers. And it's like I think that
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that's like kind of reversed, right?
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And so for us, it's like even when we're working on a lot of
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skill development stuff and doing things, we try to do a lot
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of small sided basketball stuff because then it's like, all
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right, they're actually being able to like visualize how this
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should look in a game. OK, I drive baseline here and
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it's like, OK, we go over 3 finishes from the baseline, but
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then like we actually put defense out there in a 2V2, 3V3
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setting. So then guys are understanding
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like when do I take that shot? When do I play off A2 feed and
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be a good decision maker here or when do I get into my footwork
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and stuff like that? So I think like that's a piece
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that honestly, I think sometimes as coaches we can miss out on,
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right? Like we're, we're doing so much
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one-on-one stuff instead of two V2 or 3V3 thing, 3V3 stuff.
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So it's like we, we focus on that.
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Don't get me wrong, we, we work on a lot of different things,
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but it's like we try to make everything very translatable,
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right? Like even if we're doing ball
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handling, it's like we're being very specific with like how to
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utilize certain ball handling skills in a game, right?
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And we're doing stuff like where we're talking about like pace
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and changing levels. So it's like for us trying to
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really, really focus on and be intentional with skills that
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have an immediate impact into a game.
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Yeah, no, that's huge. And and like you're saying,
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sometimes I think especially when it's more of the one-on-one
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skill thing and I was like, OK, I'm working on my bag, whatever.
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It's like you're building a skill sometimes that don't
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actually translate into what you need to do.
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Like and yeah, I think you made a good point to like, OK, your
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role in the game, but also still expanding your role in
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development outside of that. But I think at some point it's
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like, you know, let's really work on the skills that like are
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going to help you be on the court and be a good player and
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impact the team and devote a lot of return our time there versus
16:08
I can I can think of this one example.
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I remember when I was at Oral Roberts, we had like one of our
16:13
starting big men that would like be shooting threes for like an
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hour before the game and like would never, it would like took
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maybe like 2 threes the whole year.
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And it's like, you know, why don't we spend more energy this
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morning, this morning And like you're, you're like a guy that
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needs to, you know, run the floor, dunk, rebound, like all
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that stuff. Like let's let's, you know,
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that's a small example, but like invest more time and things that
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are actually going to like be who you are, you know?
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Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's like even
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trying to be a little bit unique with our development.
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So like our point guard, obviously we want him to handle
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the ball row, right? But it's like I would argue that
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I would take my point guard being elite, that playing off of
16:55
2 feet inside the three-point line or below the nail more than
16:58
I would his handle getting a little bit better.
17:01
So can we put him in drills and situations where it's like we
17:04
are working on skill work, but not necessarily from like just a
17:07
we have two balls out or we're doing tennis ball stuff.
17:10
Not that that's bad, right? But can we put him in situations
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where like he's getting tons of reps having to play inside the
17:17
three-point line where he's kind of uncomfortable right now.
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But now we help him become elite where he's able to use his
17:23
footwork, make great reads, be a great passer, be a great shop
17:27
maker. And now all of a sudden you're
17:28
like watching him in a game and you're like, and this kid is
17:31
really good. And it's like, well, I don't
17:33
know if he, if he gets to that place, if we don't kind of like
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if he doesn't buy in and we don't all focus on like, well,
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this is like a skill that's translatable into actual game.
17:43
Yeah. And so I think that piece is
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just really important. So we try our best to like,
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think about all those little things and like what kind of
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situations do you find yourself ending up in a game and how can
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you be really elite in those? Situations, yeah, if if you had,
17:58
let's say one of your seniors this year is going to play at a
18:01
school and college next year and you're you're giving us some
18:03
advice, talking with him kind of about, you know, filling a role
18:07
and maybe maybe their coach as they end the season has an
18:10
expectation of what their role is and just advise on like how
18:14
they think about, OK, trying to develop themselves.
18:16
Wanted to be great in that role, but also to be able to expand
18:20
that role and elevate kind of their role within the team
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without that, you know, without those going against each other,
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but actually working together. Yeah, I think it's like, I think
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the biggest thing is when you're focusing on a college,
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especially because it's so tough with the transfer portal and
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college basketball, no different than it was 10 to 15 years ago.
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I think a really important piece is you have to realize a few
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things. One, who you were in high school
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may be totally different than who you are in college, right?
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And I think that's hard for a lot of guys like you.
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If you're playing in college, you obviously probably had a
18:53
good high school career. And then you go to college and
18:56
it's like that may be like your role may be severely diminished.
18:59
So you got to figure out ways to get yourself on the court and
19:02
have an impact. But I think the second thing is
19:04
also where they choose to go, right?
19:06
Like I think sometimes guys are focused maybe on a level or
19:11
maybe a team, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but
19:14
it's like if you go someplace a lot of times where it's like
19:16
you're really wanted and they recruit you really, really hard.
19:20
A lot of times that translates into you being able to go into
19:23
college and then maybe being able to like your point, kind of
19:25
play through a little bit of those mistakes, right?
19:27
Like quote, UN quote, your leash is like a little bit longer,
19:30
right? And it's like you kind of hear
19:33
that probably throughout your whole playing career, right?
19:36
Like parents, players like so and so turn the ball over and
19:40
then come out of the game. And it's like, well, yeah,
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they've kind of earned that right.
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You know, like they do 15 things really well for us in our
19:47
program. And so they get an opportunity
19:50
to have a miss and to make a bad decision and stuff like that
19:53
because we we've built that trust.
19:55
So I think it's also important to maybe go somewhere where that
19:59
trust is already there so you're able to kind of have more
20:02
opportunities. Yeah, Yeah.
20:04
No, I think that's a great point.
20:05
You know, as we think back to development and and more from
20:09
the respective of what you've seen maybe with certain
20:11
individual athletes and and also the athletes and their parents
20:14
that are making decisions of just how they approach
20:16
development. What, what are some of the maybe
20:19
mistakes or you know, you know, things you question kind of the
20:24
past some people choose or decisions they're making in
20:27
terms of how they're trying to develop themselves that you
20:29
might see from some athletes. I think it's like, so one of the
20:32
things that we do with our guys when they think about playing
20:34
college is like we, we have a lot of meetings with them and we
20:37
really try to get to the bottom of like, what is it they're
20:40
trying to accomplish and what is their goals?
20:42
Because I think sometimes it's like whether it's the athlete,
20:45
the parent or even like us as coaches, it's like we have in
20:48
our mind an opinion of like what it should look like.
20:51
And I'm like, well, I think at the end of the day, the most
20:53
important thing is like, what is your goal?
20:55
Because if your goal is to like play, let's say I want to level
20:59
up and play Division One basketball, but right now I'm AD
21:02
three player. I'm like, you probably should go
21:05
to AD 3 school. That's going to give you some
21:07
opportunities, right? Because if you go somewhere and
21:10
you're not afforded opportunities, like that's going
21:12
to be difficult for you, right? Is your goal to go play for a
21:16
coach that you have a great relationship with for four
21:19
years, you know, or is your goal to I want to be in a major city.
21:22
So I think like it is the most important thing, whether that's
21:26
high school, whether that's AAU ball, whether that's like
21:29
college. But I think what light ends up
21:32
getting lost in translation is like a lot of times, no matter
21:35
what it is, even if it's an AAU program, you're like, whoa, an
21:38
Under Armour team just offered me or an EYBL.
21:40
So you're like immediately just take it because it's like
21:43
society has kind of told you like that's a great opportunity
21:46
and not that it isn't, but it's like, have you actually taken
21:50
time to step back and be like, is that the best fit for me?
21:54
Right? Like am IA player right now that
21:57
needs to be a guy that is the third or fourth guy coming off
22:00
the bench playing on the shoe circuit team, but am IA guy that
22:03
needs to play for a non shoe circuit team.
22:05
Because I need to work on my game a lot right now and be able
22:09
to play through some mistakes and I'm not going to be able to
22:11
do it at that level. And so I think like choosing a
22:14
fit that's like really good for your path and where you are in
22:18
your basketball journey is important rather than just kind
22:22
of like getting some opportunities and being like,
22:24
oh, this sounds like the best one and I'm going to choose it.
22:27
So I think if if there was something that gets missed out
22:30
on, it's probably that. Yeah, no, I really love that.
22:33
You know, you've you've spent you know, you've you've coached
22:35
obviously school ball, but then also time coaching AAU too.
22:39
Sometime there can be like a disconnect between, you know, AU
22:42
coaches, school coaches. How how is doing both you feel
22:45
like kind of helped you on both sides of that?
22:47
I think the biggest thing it does is it gives you a deeper
22:50
level of respect for both. Coaching AAU ball is not easy.
22:54
Like I mean, Utah it is. It's like they joke after the
22:58
first tournament the AAU portal was open.
23:00
I mean, it's like an AAU. It's so easy to go from one team
23:04
to another. I've seen situations where I've
23:06
seen a kid play for two or three teams in one day, like, and I'm
23:09
like, it's this, this is crazy, you know, and I don't love that.
23:13
And for the longest time, it's funny, John, I was like, I'm
23:15
never going to coach a basketball.
23:17
And then I guess it's been like maybe like six years or
23:20
something like that, or five years ago where I was like had
23:23
an opportunity and I really like this guy named Chris Campbell.
23:27
He had a program, Campbell Lee, and I really liked him.
23:29
And it was like, you know what, I'm always kind of like AAU is
23:33
not doing it the right way. And I'm like, that's not true
23:35
for everybody. There's some great AAU
23:37
organizations, there's some great coaches, a lot of people
23:39
doing really good things, just like high school.
23:41
There's some really great programs.
23:43
There's some really great coaches doing things the right
23:45
way. And there's some that don't, you
23:47
know. But I think when you go into AAU
23:49
and you do it, you have a deeper level for like a respective like
23:52
how hard it is to get guys and you got to get them to buy in
23:55
and like a short period of time. You don't get to see them six
23:58
days a week, you know, or five days a week in the offseason or
24:01
anything like that like we do. So it's like that is a lot more
24:05
difficult, especially because a kid can leave your program and
24:09
it's so easy to leave. Whereas a school, it's like if a
24:13
kid has a bad situation, it's like that's a lot to leave your
24:16
school. You might have to move.
24:17
You got to transfer that. There's a lot of things that go
24:20
into it. So I certainly have a deeper
24:22
level of respect for for guys that do it.
24:25
And I think doing both, you learn, you learn different
24:28
things coaching both because you, you kind of like coach
24:32
differently in some areas because you you kind of have to
24:35
if you want to be successful. Yeah, what what does what does
24:39
coaching a you made you learn that's then positively impacted
24:43
how you coach that McKinney Christian.
24:45
I think it's like, because in a you don't get to have as much
24:49
time with them that like I've had to learn that like, even
24:52
though I value, let's say, a ton of these things and I want to
24:56
work on them all, it's allowed me to become better at
24:59
prioritizing things, which has LED, I think to even like in
25:03
high school. It's like, I think our coaching
25:05
staff does a pretty good job of like how we build into a season,
25:09
right? Like we don't start touching on
25:11
every single thing that we want to work on and grow.
25:14
And it's like we start from a certain spot.
25:16
What is the next phase look like?
25:17
And then I think also even in practices, we've learned that
25:20
like sometimes you, you can't do everything right, but you got to
25:24
make sure you do a really good job of prioritizing things.
25:26
So when you look at the end of the week, you're like, we did
25:29
all the things that are the most important.
25:31
Well, you learned that in AU because you don't have that much
25:34
time. So I think that's definitely
25:35
something that's kind of translated over.
25:37
Yeah, no, that's that's a great point.
25:39
You know, sometimes I think, you know, you look at kids schedule
25:41
and they're getting pulled in so many different directions where,
25:44
you know, they got so much stuff with AU school ball
25:46
transmissioning, then their skill coach, right.
25:49
And in a lot of times all those things are like folk, right?
25:53
We're focused on our own thing of like what our plan is for
25:55
this kid and they're all kind of going in different directions.
25:58
How do you think like Like all of those pieces can work
26:01
together and collaborate better for the good of the athlete?
26:04
Yeah, I think, I think it starts with everybody kind of having
26:08
like a respect for one another, you know, and what they do.
26:11
In my opinion, you strength coaches don't get enough credit
26:13
for what you do, man. Like I would say this like we
26:17
have been very blessed. Coach Skip Lane works with our
26:19
guys right now. And before Coach Skip, it was
26:22
coach Stringer was our full time SNC guy.
26:24
He's now over at TMI. But we, we, we do preach.
26:28
Like, yeah, we're a basketball team.
26:30
And I know basketball teams sometimes get that, that bad
26:33
reputation of like they're never in the weight room.
26:35
That's like not us. Like we love being in the weight
26:38
room. So we really prioritize our time
26:41
in the weight room. And I also really try to let our
26:43
SNC guys, like, we're in there with them, we're encouraging
26:46
them, we're teaching them too. But like, I want that.
26:49
Like when we're in there, he's the head coach and he's the guy
26:52
in charge, he's the guru. Like I'm not, you know, I can
26:55
work guys out, but I don't understand the science behind it
26:58
the same way he does. And so I always try to have a
27:00
great relationship with those guys or their trainers or their
27:03
AAU coaches, because it's like, Hey, we all want the same thing,
27:07
which is a successful player, right?
27:10
But I, but I do think that there's some stuff that just
27:12
doesn't get valued quite as much because I'm like, looking back
27:16
at it, we don't have the successful season if our SNC
27:19
coach doesn't do a great job with our guys.
27:21
Like if I, I look at them, they're healthy, they're mobile,
27:25
they're strong, their bodies transformed.
27:27
And it's like, that matters, you know?
27:29
So it's like you got to make sure.
27:31
I think whether it's the train, their skills trainer, the SNC
27:34
coach, whoever it may be, you all respect and value what each
27:38
one brings to the table because together it's what really helps
27:41
the athlete be successful. No, no, I love that when we've
27:45
been talking about development a lot from the the athletes
27:47
standpoint, when we think about for yourself, like what have
27:50
been some of the biggest drivers of your development as a coach
27:54
throughout your career? What have been the biggest
27:56
drivers? Man, I would say it's been my
27:58
failures for sure. I think, I think for me it's I
28:03
do try to look at every single season and throughout the
28:07
season, I've kind of built this mindset in this mentality of
28:10
like always getting better. And I want that in my players to
28:15
to kind of have that same mindset.
28:17
Like even if we're having success and we're on a 15
28:19
game-winning streak, it's not that we don't celebrate those
28:22
things, but it's like we're not chasing a win.
28:24
We're just tracing growth. So for me, it's been always
28:29
about growing as a leader, you know, growing as a better head
28:31
coach, being a better mentor for our guys and stuff like that.
28:35
So whether it's conversations, coaching, clinics, you know me,
28:40
I try to meet with a lot of different people and just talk
28:43
about different things and get different opinions and insights
28:46
on things. I think it's like you can always
28:49
learn from somebody, even if it's a coach that's been
28:52
coaching way less than you. You might be more seasoned than
28:55
him, but there's like one or two things that he does or you see
28:58
that you're like, I like that. Like I can take that away.
29:01
So like even this year I'm not full time coaching AU ball, but
29:06
I'm going to help out with a program and I'm going to do some
29:09
camps and I'm going to be around a lot of people and I'm like,
29:12
I'm even going to attend some practices of some coaches that I
29:15
really like. Like, I just want to learn if I
29:18
can just take one or two things from you, then I'm like, you
29:20
know, I like seeing that you do that.
29:22
I might steal it. And I think the other thing too
29:24
is when you see more people coach and you watch a lot of
29:27
teams play, sometimes you see somebody do what you do and you
29:30
don't like the way it looks. And then it kind of gives you a
29:33
perspective like, we might need to change that, you know?
29:36
And so I think I think those things are important.
29:38
Like just having that mindset of like, yeah, we won state this
29:41
year, OK. But like that, that was a goal,
29:44
but it wasn't the most important goal.
29:46
The most important goal is like building a program that has a
29:49
great culture that we're we're developing These guys is godly
29:53
young men that also are afforded basketball opportunities.
29:57
You know what I mean? So, yeah, no, I really like the
30:00
not chasing, but chasing growth. I think that that's really cool
30:03
for yourself right now as we talk about learning growing,
30:05
like is there something right now that you're really trying to
30:08
figure out or really trying to learn for yourself right now?
30:11
Yeah. So right now, so we we do a lot
30:14
of different stuff from a series and a program called What Drives
30:17
Winnie? I absolutely love.
30:19
I love them. Yeah, yeah, they're good.
30:21
So I'm reading, I'm reading a few of his books right now and
30:24
everything like that. I just got done like actually
30:27
watching all of our games from this last season.
30:30
I like to go through all of our games from the season and
30:32
everything like that and kind of do like a full breakdown and
30:35
everything. And so one of the things I'm
30:37
trying to learn and grow in his, like I'm trying to develop some
30:40
stuff for us. I think offensively where it's
30:43
like, hey, we can be better at creating more advantages,
30:48
getting certain shots. Like I'm a big statistic guy, I
30:51
don't like to place everything into that.
30:53
But also I do like looking back and going like, OK, like were we
30:57
really successful when we got shots from certain areas, played
31:00
in certain areas and things like that?
31:02
So I think it's it's trying to understand more principles of
31:06
play for our program than just plays, if that makes sense.
31:09
And so I think this next year, it's like we're going to have a
31:12
different group. And so I personally look at it
31:15
can go like every time I have a different team, I kind of have
31:18
two choices, right? And first choice is we have a
31:21
system and every guy has to fit our system, right?
31:25
I think the second choice is based upon who we have, how
31:28
should we play, you know? And so we kind of know what
31:32
we're going to somewhat look like this next year.
31:35
So it's like for me, I'm trying to figure out how we're going to
31:38
play next year to be the most successful.
31:40
And that's just something that we do.
31:42
We kind of change it a little bit every year.
31:44
There's some things we do the same, but there's also some
31:46
things that we do differently. And yeah, it's just kind of been
31:49
A at least a belief system for me that I think guys appreciate
31:53
more when you structure things for their strengths versus like,
31:56
I need you to be a player that plays just like this even though
32:00
your game is nothing like that. Yeah, Yeah.
32:02
With that, with that kind of figuring out process of, of
32:06
building and evolving that system around the roster, you
32:08
have like when do you feel that you do kind of figure that out?
32:12
Like, because obviously you know, especially the price,
32:14
you're like, you might have a different roster right now than
32:18
you have in the fall. So as it, you know, during those
32:21
fall practices lead up to the season, that's when it's getting
32:24
kind of tweaked and adjusted and then kind of figured it out as
32:27
you head into the season. Or what does that timeline look
32:29
like for you usually? No, like right now, I think
32:32
right now we already do it. We get to do it in the spring
32:35
and the summer. But to your point, that is the
32:37
unique thing. It's like 1 kid comes in and
32:40
that changes things. But it's like when we do some of
32:43
the things that we work on in systems and play, it's like,
32:46
think you have to have some flexibility in that, that if you
32:50
get a six, a kid that is phenomenal inside, you know, the
32:53
three-point line and has great footwork and great touches, like
32:57
you better make sure you get that kid touches and get him the
32:59
ball and play through them right?
33:01
And stuff like that. So it's like, OK, we'll do some
33:03
of the other things that we were doing for our guys, but there's
33:06
also going to be a huge element in peace now where he's
33:08
involved. And so I think it's like, no,
33:11
we're starting that early, but the flexibility is is huge and
33:16
important because, yeah, like so many things can change and
33:20
sometimes one player changes a lot how you play for.
33:23
So yeah, it's a great point. Cool.
33:24
Okay, last question I have for you in in coaching, when do you
33:28
feel closest to your purpose man?
33:31
I would say probably one of my favorite things is honestly when
33:35
a player invites me to their wedding.
33:37
I've gotten to go to a lot of weddings and things like that.
33:40
And so whenever a player invites me to their wedding, it's like I
33:44
know I had a really huge and significant impact on them.
33:48
Another thing that I like to do, me and my wife, I started doing
33:51
it after my first year of ever being a head coach, is I was
33:54
like, OK, I really say like these guys are family for life.
33:58
Well, we can't be family for life if I never talk to you or
34:01
see you again, you know, and I'm a big face to face type of
34:03
person. And so we said, hey, why don't
34:06
we just have annual alumni gatherings?
34:08
And so one of the things that we do is we have a cookout.
34:12
We try to, we try to get together sometimes in the winter
34:14
too. But every summer we have a big
34:15
cookout at my house. And I invite every player that's
34:19
ever graduated flower from my program.
34:21
And so that's Flower Mound Corndeo and that's also McKinney
34:24
Christian. So it's like you'll have 25 plus
34:28
guys over our house, we're playing cornhole, we're
34:31
laughing. Some of them are married, some
34:33
of them have kids, some of them are in college, some of them are
34:36
just graduating. But they've all played for me
34:39
and they've all had a significant impact on me and
34:42
I've been fortunate enough to have an impact on them.
34:44
And so it's like trying to do things like that where it's like
34:47
it's just much bigger than basketball for me and my family,
34:51
these players, they really kind of become part of our family.
34:54
Like my kids love our guys and our guys love my kids.
34:57
And so I'm, I'm, I'm grateful for that.
34:59
But definitely when we have those cookouts, it's like, it's
35:03
a great reminder. Like what is your purpose and
35:06
why do you do this? Like winning feels good, but
35:09
it's very fleeting, right? But it's like the those other
35:12
things. It's like man like that that
35:14
fills my cup for sure. Yeah, man, that that's such a
35:17
cool idea. I need to figure out something
35:20
like that. Dude, that that'd be so cool to
35:21
get a lot of people together. Man, this has been awesome.
35:24
This has been a super cool conversation.
35:26
I've taken away a lot from it. It's it's pretty evident why
35:31
y'all have had the success that y'all have had with the the way
35:34
one you care. And obviously we're just talking
35:37
about care about your people pour into them, but also just
35:40
the intentionality with the way you set up your program and the
35:42
way you coach and develop. Man, it's been super cool to
35:45
hear kind of the inside of how you had your success.
35:48
Now, thank you, John. I really appreciate it, man.
35:50
And Congrats on a great season for you, doing great work over
35:54
there in the state championship for you guys and everything like
35:57
that. Like I said, I know you play a
35:59
huge role in those type of things, so Congrats to you as
36:01
well. Man, thank you, man.
36:03
Well, if if anybody wanted to check out a little more what
36:05
you're doing, is there any place they go to see what you're doing
36:07
with the program or just kind of anything coaching or related?
36:10
Man, I, I always welcome people to come into an offseason
36:14
practice or even a regular practice, like think coaching is
36:16
a brotherhood. And so it's like, if I can ever
36:19
help in any way, I'm happy to throw my number out there and
36:22
anybody can text me, call me and I'm always willing to go grab a
36:26
cup of coffee with somebody. And talk hoops and stuff like
36:29
that. 214-684-1023 if anybody needs something you know as far
36:34
as one and check out something feel free to text me.
36:36
All right, man, you guys heard it here.
36:38
You can go and reach out. A lot of people hear that and
36:40
don't do anything but take, take, tell them up for that if
36:43
you're in the area. So man, Fonzo, I appreciate you
36:45
man. Have a great week with your
36:46
family. Thanks John.
36:47
Appreciate you having me on that.
36:48
If you enjoyed this conversation and want to go deeper, check out
36:51
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