Coaching business automation makes it possible for coaches like Mike Shaughnessy to work in three roles simultaneously—high school, AAU, and private training— without drowning in administrative chaos.
As a high school basketball coach, AAU coach, and private trainer, Mike sees how players develop (or struggle) across every environment. That perspective shaped his training philosophy and gave him a reality-check moment early in his career that changed everything.
In this episode of the CoachIQ Podcast, Mike breaks down his evolution from social media-driven “flash training” to evidence-based skill development, what parents should actually look for in AAU programs, and why the biggest threat to young athletes isn’t bad coaching—it’s burnout.
In this episode
- Why Mike abandoned trendy training methods after coaches gave him a reality check
- The training philosophy shift: from blocked practice to variability and decision-making
- What parents should prioritize when choosing AAU programs (hint: it’s not the circuit)
- Red flags in coaching programs that lead to poor player development
- How to prevent player burnout in year-round basketball culture
- The missing piece in American player development compared to European models
Why coaching business automation matters for multi-role coaches
Before diving into Mike’s story, it’s worth understanding why someone juggling three coaching roles needs systems in place. When you’re managing high school practice schedules, AAU tournament travel, and individual training clients, you’re coordinating hundreds of moving pieces every week.
Without automation, coaches spend 10+ hours per month just on scheduling logistics, payment follow-ups, and client communication. That’s time away from actual coaching, game planning, and player development. At $80-100 per session, those 10 hours represent $800-1,000 in lost billable time every month—or 50+ hours per year you could spend coaching instead of texting parents about schedules. Flexible pricing options for coaching software make automation accessible whether you’re training 15 clients or 150.
Mike’s ability to stay effective across all three roles depends on having systems that handle the administrative chaos—which is exactly what coaching business automation provides.
From flash to fundamentals: How coaching business automation changed Mike’s training evolution
When Mike started in player development over 10 years ago, he followed the playbook every new trainer follows: post flashy content on social media, use lots of cones and props, chase trends.
Then he went to a basketball camp where high school and college coaches watched him work. Their feedback was direct: “If you want to coach at a high level or earn respect as a player development coach, you need your own philosophy. What you’re doing right now—no coach would send their players to you.”
That reality check in 2013-2014 changed his trajectory. Mike stopped worrying about likes and followers. He started coaching—middle school, girls’ JV, then five years of Division III basketball. Those coaching experiences taught him what actually mattered for player success on the floor.
Today, Mike’s training philosophy centers on variability and decision-making rather than blocked, repetitive drills. Even during the season, his workouts emphasize random repetitions and game-like scenarios over robotic skill work. The only exception: when he’s building specific footwork patterns that need isolated repetition before adding complexity.
“The game is about players making plays and decisions,” Mike explains. “If you’re going to practice twice a week and play tournaments, you need to work on that stuff in practice—then test it in games. That’s how you get better.”
Mike’s journey from trend-chasing to philosophy-driven training shows what every coach eventually learns: copying what works on Instagram doesn’t build a real training business. You need your own methodology. Tools like client management systems help coaches track which training approaches actually produce results with different athletes over time. Performance analytics and progress tracking features show you which drills translate to game improvement, which athletes are plateauing, and where to adjust your methodology—letting data inform philosophy rather than social media trends.
The chaos principle: using length and unpredictability in training
Mike’s training sessions look different from most Instagram workout videos. He uses a realistic—an extended-length blocking pad—to create chaos during finishing drills and ball-handling work.
At 6’2″, Mike can’t physically replicate the 7-foot length his higher-level players face in games. The realistic solves that problem while forcing athletes to handle unpredictable pressure, protect the ball through contact, and finish through length they wouldn’t see in controlled drills.
“Whether it’s my high school kids or higher-level guys, they’re excited about the challenge,” Mike says. “You might get blocked three times in a row, but you want to get back up and try to dunk on me or finish strong. That competitiveness is underrated in training.”
The principle extends beyond equipment. Mike’s workouts incorporate decision-making, defensive pressure, and variable repetitions that better mirror actual game situations. His higher-level players particularly value this approach—their college programs often rely heavily on blocked practice with cones, so working with Mike provides the competitive, unpredictable training they need to translate skills to games. This personalized approach scales when coaches use coaching business automation to track each athlete’s progress and training history.
For coaches managing multiple training groups with different skill levels, keeping athletes engaged between sessions matters just as much as the workouts themselves. A branded mobile app for your coaching business lets you share drill videos, training progressions, and session recaps—keeping that competitive energy alive even when athletes aren’t in the gym.
What parents actually need to know about AAU basketball
Mike’s position across high school, AAU, and private training gives him a unique view of what works—and what doesn’t—in the AAU landscape.
His advice to parents and players evaluating AAU programs always comes back to four priorities: good coaching, consistent development, playing time, and fit with the player’s role.
“Everyone wants to play for the Adidas circuit, Nike EYBL, or Puma circuit,” Mike explains. “Parents and kids love those labels. But if you’re playing 5-10 minutes and not in the same role you have in high school, what’s the point? You’re not getting seen, and you’re not getting better.”
The playing time calculation matters more than parents realize. College coaches increasingly recruit older players through the transfer portal and junior colleges. For younger players to get recruited, they need significant minutes to showcase their actual role and ability—not garbage-time appearances on a stacked roster. This mirrors the economics coaches face when deciding between individual sessions versus group training—both require strategic thinking about maximizing value and development time.
Beyond playing time, Mike emphasizes finding programs that practice regularly. The off-season is the most important time for skill development, but many circuit teams only play tournaments without structured practice. Programs that practice twice a week and then apply that work in tournaments create the development loop players need.
For coaches managing AAU programs or private training schedules, automated scheduling systems eliminate the chaos of coordinating practice facilities, tournament travel, and individual training sessions—giving coaches more time to focus on actual player development rather than logistics.
The red flags parents should watch for
When parents ask Mike about evaluating programs, he focuses on accountability and organization as the two biggest indicators of quality.
Accountability doesn’t mean a coach yelling in players’ faces. It means holding athletes to the intangibles: rotating on defense, boxing out, communicating, showing multiple effort. Programs that don’t hold players accountable to these fundamentals aren’t preparing them for higher levels of basketball—or for life.
“If you’re not rotating and getting both feet outside the lane line, if you’re not boxing out, if you’re not talking—the coach should let you know or sub you out,” Mike says. “Those things lead to success in basketball and in life.”
Organization matters more than parents realize. Programs that can’t provide schedules until two days before tournaments, bounce between different practice facilities without consistency, or fail to communicate clearly about costs create stress for families and inconsistency for players.
Mike recommends parents look for programs that provide upfront information: spring and summer tournament schedules, practice locations and frequency, total costs broken down by season, and clear communication channels. Automated payment processing solves the financial transparency piece while reducing administrative chaos—no more confusion about who paid, who owes, or what the actual costs are.
The business side matters because disorganization bleeds into the basketball side. If a program can’t handle basic scheduling and payment logistics, they probably aren’t organized enough to run quality practices either.
For coaching businesses trying to scale—whether you’re opening your own training facility or managing multiple teams and programs—communication tools that automate updates and maintain consistent contact with parents solve many of these organizational pain points while reducing the administrative burden that takes time away from coaching.
The consistency gap: Why coaching business automation matters more than ever
One conversation particularly stuck with Mike. A coach from overseas explained how European player development differs fundamentally from the American model: consistency.
In Europe, a 14-year-old joins a club program and receives the same coaching philosophy, training methodology, and developmental messaging through ages 15, 16, and 17. The consistency creates a foundation that compounds over time.
In America, players bounce between programs constantly. A player might have a good high school coach—or might not. They might train with one person at 15, a different trainer at 16, and switch AAU programs twice in a single spring and summer. Every coach uses different terminology, different systems, different philosophies.
“There’s just no consistency,” Mike observes. “The messages are different, the coaching style is different. I don’t know what that model looks like here, but we desperately need it for our players to get better and for the experience to be a lot better.”
The consistency challenge extends beyond player development to business operations. Coaches managing clients across multiple age groups, skill levels, and programs need systems that maintain quality without requiring them to manually track every detail. This is the exact challenge coaches like Tyler Leclerc faced when scaling from one facility to two—without automated systems for client tracking, session notes, and developmental progressions, maintaining coaching quality becomes impossible as you scale.
Preventing burnout in year-round basketball culture
Mike’s most passionate advice centers on a problem many coaches hesitate to address: burnout.
“Kids and sometimes parents get caught up in training every day, going from one trainer to another, then practice, then another gym in the evening,” Mike explains. “I’ve seen too many kids where the parents are sending them from trainer to trainer. I just don’t think that’s sustainable for having love and joy for the game.”
His recommendation is simple but often ignored: give players time off. Two weeks after high school season ends. The month of August between AAU and high school open gyms. Time to be a kid, focus on school, hang with friends, and get away from basketball.
The physical and mental recovery serves two purposes. First, it prevents burnout that kills passion for the game. Second, it creates renewed motivation—players come back to training refreshed and excited rather than exhausted and resentful.
“The moment you take two weeks off and you know you’re going to start up again, you’re going to be that much more motivated,” Mike says. “You’ll feel refreshed physically and mentally.”
This advice applies to coaches too. Mike reminds himself that he needs time away from basketball to be with his family and maintain his own passion for coaching. The work will always be there. The joy won’t if you don’t protect it.
The bottom line
Mike Shaughnessy’s multi-faceted perspective as a high school coach, AAU coach, and private trainer reveals what actually matters in player development: evidence-based training methodology, the right program fit over prestigious circuits, accountability to intangibles, organizational consistency, and protecting players from burnout.
For parents navigating the complex basketball landscape, Mike’s advice simplifies the decision-making: find programs with good coaching that practice regularly, where your athlete will play meaningful minutes in their natural role, and that hold players accountable while staying organized.
For coaches building training businesses across multiple roles and responsibilities, Mike’s approach demonstrates why coaching business automation matters. Managing high school practices, AAU tournaments, and private training sessions means you’re juggling three different schedules, payment systems, and client databases—exactly the problems coaching business automation solves.
Ready to see how it works? Explore CoachIQ’s features and spend more time developing players, less time managing logistics.
Full Episode Transcript
The following is a lightly edited transcript of the episode above.
▶ Click to expand full transcript
Russell: All right, we are here with Mike Shaughnessy, a little bit of a Swiss Army knife. We got high school basketball coach, trainer, and AAU coach. Mike, thanks for being on the podcast.
Mike: Thanks for having me. I’m really excited to hear from you today because you have your foot in all those different areas. And I would love to hear as someone who cares about the performance of teams but has particular interest and experience developing players. How do you develop your philosophy towards training individuals?
Russell: Well, it’s definitely it’s definitely grown or it has evolved over the years. when I first got I’ve been I’ve been in the the player development business for a little over 10 years now, you know. at first, I was I was doing whatever I could to try to accelerate my career as fast as I could. whatever the trend was in terms of the, because we’re all on social media at the time, it was a lot of flash, when I first got into it, a lot of the flash, utili, using cones, using props, things like that. I used that at first and and then I went to work at basketball camp and I had a bunch of high school college coaches come up to me. They’d seen my content and they’re they gave me a reality check just saying, if you’re whether if you’re trying to coach, if you’re trying to coach college at some point or if you’re just trying to have some level of respect in terms of being a player development coach, you need to find your own philosophy, something that works, something that you feel confident with in terms of just teaching the game. and they didn’t feel like what I was doing was, any coach, that would want to send their players to me, like they felt like it wasn’t it wasn’t the right style of training or whatever, whatever that would be. So that was like 2013, 2014. So after that, I just did a, that was probably the best reality check that I ever got cuz I got right into the scene. I did the props, all that stuff. I was just worried about just like today, like gaining followers, gaining likes, things like that. And then and then I had aside from that, the coaches told me, that you have to that you should coach. You should coach before you get into training. So I got into just coaching middle school, I got into coaching girls JV basketball. And then I eventually went back to my alma mater and then coached college basketball for that was two years. And then I coached division 3 basketball for a total of five years. But that was after I left coaching college and then all those experience early on coaching getting back into training. It definitely, I learned so much from the from the coaching side because I went right from player to being a trainer and then being, looking at the coaching side and all the things that go into it. All the things that you think are important for your players in terms of having, success individually or as a team on the floor. It definitely made me evolve and change and grow with my philosophy. So that was, almost 10 years ago. And now today, it’s, again, I I feel like every trainer or coach needs to find ways to get better each and every day and find ways to grow, evolve. And now my my philosophy or my my style of training is and I know we we both are on the same page with this is just doing a lot of the variability decision-m style training just random repetitions versus just blocked training. So whether I’m doing individual or it’s group workouts, a lot of it right now is even if it’s in season, offseason, that’s a different conversation, but a lot of it is is not blocked. A lot of it is just continuing to have random repetitions, working on, decision- making, working on just adding variability to the training. And even if we’re the only way that I’m adding in any style of blocked practice whatever term you want to utilize there is if I’m focusing on footwork and I’m trying to just build up whatever footwork it may be whether it’s off two or pivots or anything else. So there might be some things that I do blocked but definitely a lot of it now is is variability decision decision-m style training.
Mike: Absolutely. And I think it makes a ton of sense coming with a background from coaching like you want your players to feel comfortable in a game situation. And how many times in a game do you have exact do you have the exact formula for how the play is going to unravel? You don’t. And so you need to develop a player that’s adaptable and and okay with the changing constraints of the game where the other defenders are, where your teammates are, time, score, your coaches, if they’re screaming at you, they’re supporting you. There’s so much variability in a game. if you’re just training in an isolated environment where you remove a lot of that, you’re not building an athlete that’s prepared for it. I’d love for you to talk a little bit more on the variability piece and particularly with some of the higher level guys that you’ve trained and I’ve seen you use the realistic which for many people that don’t know it’s an extended length pad and and the goal is to mimic the length that you might see at higher levels. personally, I’m 6’2 63 on a good day. if I’m training, someone who’s going to be regularly going up against seven foot guys, I can’t act as representative defense. I I’ve seen you in social media with some of your higher level guys playing, high level division one prolevel basketball. Why are you using that length and how are some ways that you’re implementing the realistic? Well, like you said, I’m I’m 6’2, so you can’t can’t obviously mimic, just being seven foot. And that the realistic is definitely is probably one of the best purchases or investments that I’ve that I’ve get that’s just given me just so much more value in my training just because of the length. Not just the length, but I think just utilizing it to create chaos. I’ll use it try to obviously sometimes it’s, overexaggerating with the length, but trying to steal the basketball from the guys and working on handling pressure or and using their off hand or obviously finishing around the rim, utilizing it to there’s different ways I use it to work on finishing through contact. But I love the utilizing it for that chaos because, within a game when you get to the rim or when you’re handling pressure, there’s there’s only so much I can do. I’m always involved with my workouts and I always feel whether I was using the realistic or not. I could be using another blocking sticks that you can buy on Amazon or things like that. I think just adding that chaos, adding that variability is something that is just very challenging for them. It’s something that they when they come to work out with me, whether it’s whether it is those higher level guys or it’s the high school guys, they’re excited about, the challenge, they’re excited about it being different, especially the higher level guys, with what they do with their college teams in terms of their player development. A lot of it is it’s block practice. It’s it’s cones out on the floor. It’s if they’re not doing anything live, it a lot of it is where it’s blocked. So having when they come to me, I think they’re very excited about, like I said, the challenge about working on the certain situations that they’re going to be in and and forcing them to make decisions, forcing them to finish over length through contact handling pressure or just, me trying to reach for the ball and they have to protect it or they got to change direction, change speed, whatever it may be. So anyway, it’s it’s been a huge value. Obviously, the the realistic versus, any of the blocking sticks you can buy on Amazon is is like it’s it’s definitely more beneficial for my higher level players versus like my high school kids. They don’t always see that that type of length, but
Russell: Right. Right.
Mike: Either way, it’s it’s a challenge. And if if you’re a basketball player and you love competition and you love just if you love a challenge, you love where, you might get blocked three times in a row, like you’re going to want to get back up and, try to dunk on me or or try to finish strong at the rim. And it’s been a lot of fun since I purchased it. And and guys have gotten a lot better. It’s it’s definitely been very beneficial.
Russell: Absolutely. I think the competitiveness in the workout is something that’s underrated. Like you talked about that aspect of fun and challenge. The players I find are so motivated once you meet them with a challenge level that they feel like they can accomplish but they fail a decent amount of times. And I think that’s an underrated aspect of training in general and training in a way that you talk about with more variability with more decisions is the players are way more engaged. And I think that’s a huge missing piece in a lot of training and coaching is it’s pre-prescribed. It’s a little bit robotic and you lose a lot of players because they’re not having to solve problems. And that’s probably why a lot of people love basketball in the first place is because it’s a chaotic environment. You try and solve problems and sometimes you find success, sometimes you don’t. That’s usually something that is a little bit addicting for people. And so I would love for you to talk about that flow in the year-long cycle with today’s basketball scene and how players can stay engaged, can stay enjoying it because you have your individual training, you have high school basketball and you have AAOU and you are unique in that you get to see players throughout that entire process. could you talk about how players can stay engaged and put themselves in the best frame of mind to succeed in all three arenas around the year?
Mike: Yeah. it’s a good question. I I think I know I just I think for you got to have a lot of passion for it. I think you got to be a a type of player that, just wants to constantly get better. you got to have that work ethic, but and you also got to be that type of player where you’re process driven. you’re not worried about just the outside the outside things. you’re not you’re you’re focused on just trying to get in the gym, get better every day. You want to get better with, adding film, watching film and things like that. in terms of staying engaged and getting better. there’s obviously things you have to do as a player, especially when you’re, if if you’re just doing basketball where you’re going from, you’re going from your off seasonason to high school and then you’re going back in your off seasonason, but you add in AAOU. I always try to encourage my players, coaching, even as a high school coach, once the season finishes, giving them some time off. I think, you don’t I think kids and and sometimes parents, you get caught up in we got the, they got to train every day. They got to go from this trainer to that trainer. They got to go from training to practice to shooting. And I’m always I I try to be mindful about burnout. And I think that if if that becomes a reality where kids start to feel like they’re getting burned out or they’re pressured to constantly be training, constantly be going from practice to another gym later on in the evening, I think some of that can occur and that that is one way that I feel like you get you can get disengaged that the the joy or the love for it can go away. Even for like what I mentioned at the start, it’s you can be process driven and and be focused on getting better through film, being in the gym, getting shots, working on different aspects of your game. obviously playing high school training, AAOU. But yeah, I’ve seen too many players or I’ve seen too many just kids where the parents are sending them from trainer to trainer to trainer or, like I said, I’m I have practice and then they’re taking me to a trainer. the parents are taking to a to a trainer later in the evening. I I just don’t think that’s I don’t think that’s sustainable in terms of having that love and that joy for the game. I think you got to let kids be kids and you got to find time whether you’re a high school coach, whether you’re a parent, whether you’re a player, where it’s why don’t you put the basketball down or just get away from basketball, get away from whatever sport you’re doing for two weeks or something like that where you can just go to school, focus on your schoolwork, go hang with your friends after school or whatever it may be, in the summer, when you’re not in school, especially like once after a AAU is such a that is just a long like that can be very that can wear on your body as a player and and even as a coach, AAOU that that season, it’s just it’s insane. All the travel and things like that. So once AAU is done, it’s the next thing that’s coming up is is probably your high school open gyms. Again, give yourself the month of August to just, just reflect, restore, u recover, and just go be a kid or, just take some time off. And I think that’s important not just for players, but not I I feel like I’m as passionate anyone in terms of being, just loving basketball and loving the coach and loving to be around the game. I also have to remind myself it’s like I got to give myself myself some time off to be with my family and just be away from the game because mentally that that is that’s going to allow you to continue to keep the joy and it’s going to allow you the moment that you take two weeks off and you get back into it or that you’re you’re going to start up again, you’re going to be that much more motivated to get going again and you’ll feel refreshed. You’ll feel physically, mentally in a good spot. as much as, like I said, you could be process driven, you could be all about it, and you want to just every day you want to get better, you want to be in the gym, I think you got to be mindful about taking some time away, and you know, just not allowing that burnout.
Russell: Absolutely. The es and flows. And you look at it in sprinting, before big races, they often take some time off or a little bit of a de lo and then you come back and you’re better than you were before. And I think that can be applied in many ways to basketball and in in many things to life. You talked on something that I would love to dig deeper on and that was the role of the parent in this equation. I think it’s becoming increasingly more interesting because parents are having to deal with the social media side of things. The social media side of things is growing rapidly. No one can really keep up. And everybody, every parent wants their kid to do well, but sometimes the parents don’t have the best information or know how to put their kid in the best position to succeed. From your seat, can you give the parents some advice on the best ways to help their kids get recruited or have a fulfilling basketball career in high school and beyond? Hey, I just want to take a quick break. My name’s Russell. I’m one of the founders of Coach IQ. We put on this podcast here. Our goal is to interview top coaches and business owners in the youth sports space across the United States and give you guys insight on the ground floor. How are they running their business? What do they think about the current ecosystem? And what are their thoughts on where things are going? we’re super excited to bring this to you guys. If you don’t know about us, we are an all-in-one sports management platform. We run a lot of the businesses that we have on the podcast and we’re fortunate enough now to work with about a thousand sports coaches across the United States and it’s our goal to make your life as easy as possible in running the business itself. Website, scheduling, payment management, everything handled seamlessly on our platform. And really what separates us is we are built specifically for sports. We’re not powering nail salons. We’re not powering Pilates studios. Every second of the day we focus on you. if that’s something you need where you’re looking to get your time back or you’re looking to grow your business, Coach IQ is really the only platform thinking about you every single day, interviewing and working with the top coaches in the industry specific to sports. if that’s something we can help you with, we would love to connect with you. You can visit our website, coachiq.com, schedule a free demo there. The demos are awesome. It’s really less about selling and much more about just walking through what we’ve learned and providing value on what other coaches are doing. And if it’s a match, it’s a match. absolute no-brainer. Go schedule a demo. worth the time. And thank you guys for tuning in. Thank you guys for watching. Thank you for customers who are working with us. It allows us to do all this make better product and the main goal help athletes all across the United States and the world get a phenomenal experience from you guys the coaches.
Mike: That’s a good question too. Well, it’s, not to not to talk down on, not to talk down on parents, but a lot of parents don’t know. They just have no no understanding or idea of what is good. like good coaches, good trainers, just good people to put in their circle. Because if you’re a parent and you never played this game, like if you never played basketball, you’re never an athlete, you’re never in these environments, even, when they were in high school, college, whatever it may be. even though it was different back then, if you were just never an athlete, you’re never going to fully understand, like who’s valuable in their circle, and obviously there’s so many people, programs, AAOU programs, trainers, not necessarily high school coaches, but trainers and AAOU programs where they, not to say they want to take your money, but they they’re just going to do whatever they can to promote themselves. And the parents don’t know if they’re good or bad. they don’t. I I think if I’m a parent that doesn’t fully have that awareness, doesn’t have that understanding, never had that background, then I would try to reach out to parents in in your circle or parents in in the area. if your kids are playing, I’m sure you’re around plenty of other parents, like get feedback from them. who’s their son working with, who’s their daughter working with, and try to find, the best people possible to put put your kids around because I think having a having a a small circle of people that are high class or high level people is is important, especially like you mentioned, if you’re trying to get recruited, you’re trying to get better. I think that’s, if I’m a parent that is in that situation, then yeah, you gota you got to do research, you got to get feedback from other parents, things like that because, and that’s just my experience from parents that, just don’t have that awareness, don’t have that understanding is they don’t know. And then obviously you have your parents that, the dad played college basketball or the mom and dad both were athletes, they both played in college, they both played high school basketball or they were just athletes in general. or they’ve been around it, they had an older son, older daughter that has already played AAOU or played played in high school, so they they have the experience of being around it or going through the process. those those parents generally they they have a great understanding of who they want to put their kids around. to answer your question, it’s I I think it’s just two different style two different types of parents. if you’re a parent that doesn’t really have an understanding, which is fine. that’s not your experience, but your kid loves wants to play in college, loves basketball, loves whatever sport you’re they’re playing, then you got to get as much feedback. You can’t just someone approaches you and be like, “Yeah, yeah, I’m just going to send them to them.” And but you have no idea. it could be terrible and they the trainer the the AEU program could just be stealing money from you. I think it’s just if you’re a parent in that situation, you definitely have to get some feedback, do some research, just find out who you can ultimately just put your kids in good hands and and if you do that, then obviously whether they’re going to get recruited or not, the kids are going to develop, they’re going to get better, they’re going to get what I like to do obviously when I’m coaching is, provide or give life lessons, things that messages and different things that they can take, take away from the experience and, you 10 years down the road, it’s I remember coach Mike or coach whoever, said this or did this. I think put, parents got to just find, get as much feedback, as much information as possible before making a decision on what program, what trainer, even what high school they’re going to send their kid to.
Russell: Absolutely. And the flip side of social media, as much as it has negatives and can divert attention away from what is in the most important, it allows for the connectivity to be unparalleled. There’s never been a time where it’s been so easy to reach out to somebody who’s done something that you want to do. And often times, those are the people that can give the best advice. And in almost any community, there’s a there’s a college basketball player and they have a support system. reaching out to them and getting that advice, I think is a great great piece of advice for those parents that just don’t know what’s going on right now. And even the parents that did play in college, it’s it’s a very different landscape now than it was back then. And a huge part of that landscape now is AAU basketball. Can you say what you think the role of AAOU basketball should be and what steps need to be taken to get it to where it is at that state if you don’t think it is now? Well, I think AAOU should just be another platform for development where it’s just another avenue for players to get better. And I’m not talking about I’m just talking about the the general population of players, you know? I’m not talking about your five-star recruits and things like that. regardless of what level you’re at, you could be I guess you could be a fivestar. It’s like whatever platform you end up going to or whatever program you end up with, you’re going to get recruited, coach. you’ll be seen. You’ll get recruited. you’ll you’re going to go you’ll end up finding the place that that wants you. And I’ve always that that’s always been my biggest issue with AAOU. Even as when I coached in college, going to watch recruit AAU and or going to different events and recruiting and now just being in in the AA space as a coach, it’s just another avenue for development. it’s it’s obviously there’s so much more that goes into it. There’s there’s branding, there’s, there’s opportunities for these high school kids, especially the higher level ones to get NIL and stuff like that or learn learn more about it. But again, it should always come back down to are you getting better. AAOU is part of the it’s part of the offseason. your spring, if I’m not doing a spring sport, if I’m not if I’m not a multiport athlete and all I’m focused on is basketball, your spring and summer and your fall are like the most important. that’s that’s three different seasons. those you should utilize those months to the best of your advantage. If you’re not getting better, if you haven’t really improved from the end of March or whenever your season ends for high school, from then until the start of high school, then you’ve clearly treated your off seasonason the wrong way. And a lot of that doesn’t just go into, who you train with in the off seasonason or do you get even work out on your own aside from having a trainer, that’s obviously a different discussion, but what AA program you go with. I I just think there’s so much more now. I remember being in high school, it’s like there was no there was no circuit. It was we had there were sponsored teams and things like that, but it’s you’re you’re playing AAOU. Of course, we all had that motivation to get exposure and get recruited, but ultimately you just you’re just playing basketball and competing and utilizing that time to get better or play with your friends and have a good time, have a good experience. I think that’s important is throughout the spring and summer like whatever program you choose, whatever, it’s the experience is something that you’ll always remember. You’re not going to remember how many points you scored. you’re not going to remember what tournament you got you got recruited at, maybe you will, but at the end of the day, you’re going to look back and be my was my experience really good or was it not so good? Did I get better during that time or did I not get better? I would love to see you could dive into this topic so so much more. I just wish that more people before they choose a team, they again research, understand, are you going to get good coaching? Are you going to get are you going to get playing time? Are you going to be in the role that you want to be in? Are you going to get better? Are you going to have a good experience? we see so many kids that, they just bounce from team to team to team after they could go to three different events or three different tournaments and they’ve been on three different teams. that can’t be a great experience. I’d love for that not to be, a situation for, that we have anymore. But ultimately, like that is a very hard question that you’re asking and it’s probably I’m probably killing the answer here. But I would just love to see that platform just be for development, obviously for recruiting, have a great experience, and also go just be at the, go to the level that you’re that you’re going to succeed at, you know. it could be an independent team, it could be, circuit team, whatever, but go to the level that you’re going to succeed at. And, I don’t think I think we get too caught up in the exposure part. A lot, coach college coaches are going are just they’re going to go they’re going to go recruit at independent events. They’re going to go recruit at all the different, circuits, they’re going to they’re going to be everywhere. it’s you’re going to be seen. I think it’s just those little things that you have to really play a factor, that have to make they have to be a factor in your decision. And then lastly, this this is staying on topic, but I had a conversation with someone the other day. He was from he’s from overseas, and obviously that model over there is a lot it’s a lot different than here. I just would love there to be more consistency with the development here in our country like there like it is over overseas. you go to it could be anywhere in Europe. if I’m 14 years old and I’m placed on, this team, it’s the development’s going to be, a certain way. The coaching is going to be a certain way. And then the moment I turn 15, 16, 17, you’re hearing the same messages. You’re getting the same style of training. You’re getting the same style of coaching. And I think that that consistency breeds and just the players getting a hell of a lot better. Here it’s you unfortunately don’t we don’t have that model yet. We don’t have that model of, being in a good high school program and everyone, some kids are fortunate to have a good high school coach, some aren’t. Some are fortunate to be in a good program, some aren’t. that’s inconsistent. Who whoever you’re training with is inconsistent. And then obviously the AA team, you could be on one team when I’m 15, I could be with a different program when I’m 16, or I could be in three different programs within a spring and summer like I talked about. There’s just no consistency there. and the messages are different. The coaching style is different. I would love I don’t know what that model is. I don’t know what that looks like. I know that it’s been it’s it’s been talked about briefly. It’s it’s been a an early on discussion, here in the States, but that’s something that we desperately need for our players to have consistency, for our players to get better, and ultimately for the experience to be a lot better than what it is.
Mike: Absolutely. I spent past few years popping around Europe and that’s a a wonderful point and I think in the US there is so much access to basketball. You can have a trainer, you can have a hoop and a court almost anytime you want. You have your high school team. You have AAOU. There is an abundance of opportunities to play basketball. And I think that leaves a lot of room for bad coaching because if you play a sport a lot, you do anything in life a lot, you’re going to get better at it. Whereas, you look at some of the models over in Europe, there isn’t as much accessibility to basketball. they have to be a lot more efficient with their use of time. And I think that’s one of the reasons that these club models have developed is you have your time and you have your local club and you go there and largely it’s the same team from youth to all the way up to maybe college or sometimes even pro and like you said same terms similar coaching the philosophies of the club have been maintained throughout hopefully you have some sense of culture and I think that is a product of there’s not a ton of accessibility so I I would love, like you said, to have some semblance of that in the AAOU system. And I’ve heard some programs are are trying to create that. but I agree with you. I think it’s it’s a red flag if it’s not there, that consistency or maybe you see the team changes every tournament. Again, another red flag. Last question for you. if you could give us some of the common red flags, something you see in either a high school program or an AA program that you would tell your players definitely stay away or maybe have some caution there. What are two to three red flags that you see in the AU world?
Russell: I was just going to touch on one, but I can touch on a a couple more is well, you talk you you you mentioned high school. Not every kid has a choice on where they get to go to high school. you’re zoned and you could be if you’re on the public school, you’re zoned for a certain school. You could obviously transfer, but whether it’s high school or definitely AAOU, it’s I just value accountability a lot. if you’re going to go to a program that isn’t going to hold you accountable to just being the best version of yourself, and I’m obviously there’s a lot that goes into being accountable, you’re not not just going to a program where, the coach is just yelling the whole game or he’s yelling in your face. Like that’s not accountability. It’s like the accountability is for the intangibles. Like are you going to go if you’re going to go to a program? When kids ask me what programs they, to to look at or to go try out for, especially AAOU, I want you to go to a program where Yeah. like you go to that program. If you’re not, if you don’t rotate, on the baseline and get, get both feet outside the lane line and wall up. If you don’t box out or if you’re not getting back on defense, if you’re not talking, like the coaches, he’s going to let about it or he’s going to sub you out and and hold you accountable for, and let like you got to box out. you gotta talk, you got to do this, you know. that’s the type of accountability that talk to my players or not just my players but a lot of parents as well like you should go to this program because they’re going to hold you accountable. They’re going to hold you accountable to the defensive side, the offensive side to just overall just trying to help you be better as a basketball player, but also like all the intangibles that go into the game. Those are all things that eventually lead to having success in life too. the the multiple effort, the energy, the passion, obviously communicating all that stuff, but just being a good team teammate overall. I always try to tell my players like find a program that’s, where the coaches are the program has coaches that are going to hold you accountable and that’s something that I value just as a coach. obviously, the the style of play I would say is is another one that you want to look at. are you like are you gonna go to a program that run a a certain style of offense regardless of the personnel, and it’s either you fit that you fit that offense or whatever. It’s just not going to work for you. so I like to talk to when I just have these conversations with players or parents, it’s go find a program where you’re gonna, be taught how to play basketball, how you’re going to move without the ball, set screens, play defense, where the style of play is is a little bit more free, but, it’s all based off how how well you make decisions because at the end of the day, the game is about the players making making plays and making decisions. So finding a program that’s going to teach you that and obviously there could be a lot of not to say struggle but you’re going to it’s if you don’t know how to play the right way there’s always there is some ugliness sloppiness that gets into that but at the end of the day if you’re going to a program where you guys practice twice a week and then you play in x amount of tournaments I think that’s a great program to go to because you get the practices you get to be your your your coaches in practice teaching you how to play and spacing and all the things I mentioned and obviously defense and then you get to go in the tournaments and work on that stuff. that’s how you get better. That’s definitely cons that’s going to help you be consistent and get better as a player. No, I guess for a third one I would say relation. I don’t know. Definitely giving you two. I’m not sure about a third one.
Mike: Honest I think two for many people is is more than most people go into that process thinking about. like you you said accountability is huge especially in AAOU I I think it gets this this rep that it’s a sloppier style of basketball and
Russell: I would say what what Mitch I would say for a third one if I’m a parent maybe not necessarily a player but if I’m a parent just overall organization of the program like the AOU program or the organization just the overall
Mike: Just are they well organized are they are they the program that’s they’re getting you the schedule. It’s so hard to get a schedule together, right away. but are you don’t want to be that you don’t want to go to a program. I’ve been around a lot of parents where it’s like you go to a program and they’re not giving you the tournament starts on a on a Saturday and you’re not getting the schedule to, until that same Wednesday. And it’s like we all know parents and they love they love the schedule, which is I get it. now being a parent of two, scheduling is very is is very important. if you’re going to a program where you’re not getting the schedule until two days before you have to travel two hours, three hours somewhere, not to say that’s the program’s fault. Sometimes that’s the the tournament and that’s a direct the tournament director’s fault. But if that’s that could be one thing that can definitely be frustrating. just organization of practices like does the does the AAOU program have a facility? are they bouncing around from, location to location for practice? Are they not able to give you a consistent schedule for for practices or at least like a just an overall schedule for even the spring and summer? hey, these are the tournaments that we’re going to be in for the spring and these are the tournaments that we’re going to be in, for the summer, because obviously if you’re playing for if you’re not playing for a circuit team then the parents are they’re paying they’re paying their way or the players are paying their way to these tournaments. So I think finding an organization that is going to give you a schedule. They’re going to be well organized in terms of communication via email. They’re going to let hey, this is how much it is for the spring. This is how much you have to pay for the summer. And they put it all in the writing. If I’m a parent, then that’s obviously something that you got you’re going to want to value. if you’re going to a program that’s not or you’re looking at programs that aren’t very savvy in terms of, the business side or they’re not organized, then that will be and you do end up choosing that program, it’s just going to be frustrating. You’re going to you’re going to be scratching your head a lot and it’s going to be a lot of stress for the parents. aside from some of the basketball things, I think that’s definitely a huge one as well for the parents to look at. I think all that culminates into a positive experience that for the majority of players is really important to be seen and to be seen in the best light because they’re you’re always going to have those special players that are clearly division one level players. They’re going to make a lot of money with NIL. You stick them on any team, they’re going to show out. But there are also a ton of players that are playing at high levels of college that are better in a system. They’re better when there’s organization. They are better when everybody’s on the same page and then they can help make others better. And I think those three things that you talk about are really, really important for that type of player because the reality is there are more of that type of player than there are the studs that will be good no matter what. Mike, last thing that I want to leave everybody with is the ability to connect with you. What’s the best way to get in touch with you or ask you a question if you want to hear more?
Russell: Yeah, I’m I’m on Twitter and Instagram, Mshanaugh for anyone that wants to send me a message. Sorry, it’s not Twitter anymore. It’s X. X M Shaughnessy1 and Instagram M. ma1 and then my email is mshaugh11gmail.com.
Mike: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on, dropping a bunch of nuggets. I think we gave good advice for parents, players, and trainers, which was the goal. Thank you, Mike. Oh,
Russell: Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it.
