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Journals Through my Practicum Experience

The first day of interning with the Mens Basketball Department at Haverford
College was very eventful. The day started off with a sit down meeting with the
coaching staff as well as potential volunteer coach, Mareece Rice. Mareece Rice is a
Philadelphia Native Basketball Player who graduated from Strawberry Mansion. Mr.
Rice also played in the NBA Development League as well as professionally overseas
and wants to share his basketball knowledge to any team in the area he can. After
the meeting, the coaching staff and I listed all the recruits on the white board that
they had interest in for the 2016-2017 Basketball season. The coaching staff
wanted to go over who they wanted most, the best chances on who they could get
and an overview of everyones grades. Academics is very important to Haverford
College. It is one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Throughout this
whole process, I learned how to prioritize recruits by their grades, interest in skill,
and the need for the players position. Following the recruitment meeting, Coach
Sean McGinn helped me organize, tweak and update my resume so the layout was
more professional. I learned the proper ways to state my work experience, skills,
references etc. He was a big help and a great mentor on guiding me through the
process. When I was finished my resume, I went on an interview with the athletic
director of Haverford College Athletics. Prior to the interview, Coach Harrison gave
me some tips on what to do during an interview. I learned to always be confident of
what you are saying and have good eye contact to the person interviewing you.
With these tips in mind, the interview couldnt have gone any better. Following the
interview, the coaching staff and I took a trip to Plymouth White Marsh High School
to visit and see a recruit perform. Unfortunately, the recruit was injured and we

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settled for just good conversation with him as well as with his coach. With my first
recruitment visit, I learned to always contact the player or coach and confirm that
they are of full health and ready to perform when we are present at the location.
Which brings me to the fifth thing I learned the most throughout the day; being a
college coach requires A TON of communication. Throughout the day the coaching
staff was contacting recruits and coaches by text and phone call quite often. I know
in this field that communication is key and by working with the coaching staff at
Haverford, I should have no problem in the future with communication towards
players and coaches. Overall, I think the day went great and I cannot wait to see
what the Coaching Staff has in store for me.
Day 2
Today for my internship, I started off by meeting with the coaching staff and
discussing and writing down all the recruits for the 2016 season. I had taken all the
names along with some side notes written next to them, and had written a master
list for the coaching staff. This master list was much needed because as a coaching
staff, the more organized you are with your recruits, the better overall picture you
have on what you can expect for your recruiting class the following season.
Following making the master list, coach and I hit the basketball court to run through
a drill. Coach had showed me the drill so I could teach the same drill to the
upcoming freshman. Before the drill had begun, coach had showed me the 5 keys
of shooting when shooting a basketball. First would be proper spacing between feet.
Secondly would be knees slightly bent and your shooting arm at a right angle.
Thirdly, would be for the ball not to touch your palm. Fourth would be to hold your
follow through after your shot and finally to finish on your toes. As far as the drill
goes, we started off by doing layups on each side of the rim (Mikan drill). Following

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the layups was form shooting only using one hand. Next we went on to stationary
shooting, one dribble shot, two dribble shot/drive all at 7 different spots starting on
the baseline. After the shooting, we had finished on free throws. Overall a great
college workout that usually last 45 minutes. I learned how to show the drill to
other players and got a workout during the process.
Day 3
Today for my internship, the coaching staff and I decided to intend Temple and St.
Joes Basketball practice to gain more basketball knowledge. First, we had went
down Broad Street to Temples campus to see how Fran Dunphy was coaching up his
guys. I was also able to meet X-Sixer Aaron McKie who is now an assistant coach at
Temple. Temples practice was really up-tempo. Everyone is constantly talking no
matter what drill they are doing and they made sure they were giving maximum
effort. I noticed that every sport at Temple had its own gym, locker room and
weight room all to themselves! I was quite impressed! Following Temples practice,
we headed 20 minutes west to Saint Josephs Universities practice. St Joes was
practicing in their recreational gym so their gym was definitely not the same as
Temples. St. Joes practice was more laid back. Phil Martelli is an easy going guy but
also had his players working out very hard. It was pleasure getting to visit both
campus, meeting the coaches and attending both practices. We play on visiting
more Division 1 practices in the near future.
Day 4
Today for my internship, the whole time I was working in the office. The
coaches had me plugging in email addresses to send out an alumni letter for the
people that went to Haverford. The list was quite long and it had taken me a quite a

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few hours. The alumni letter was to inform all the alums on how the basketball
program was doing and what new players they had brought into the program. For
example, there would be a student listed in the letter, where he was from, what he
was majoring in, what position he played staying, what year he was in and finally if
any internships that student athlete had acquired over the summer. The basketball
department likes to update and inform their alums every year on how the program
as a whole is doing. Overall a monotonous day but I used my time wisely and got
the letter out to all the alums.
Day 5
Today for my internship, the coaching staff and I sat in on a meeting to discuss
where we are as far as recruiting goes. More specifically, we had to go over our B
list guys and see where they stand. We went over the master list of our recruiters,
and discussed what players we needed to contact to see where they stand as far as
coming and committing to play for Haverford. After the meeting, we came to
conclusion that were are in need of recruiting more forwards and centers. Following
the meeting, Coach Sean McGinn and I had designed an itinerary for a recruit that
was coming on to campus for a visit the next day. It had included visiting the
athletic center, sitting in on classes, meeting the team, meeting up with financial
aid and finally a question and answer discussion with the coaching staff. We also
included a roster of the team and all our phone numbers in case of any more
questions after they player leaves campus.
Day 6
Today for my internship I worked on a lot of communication skills. Following
our recruitment meetings on the previous days of my internship, we came to

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conclusion that we are in lack of forwards and centers as far as the recruiting of
2016 goes. So the task my advisor assigned to me was to get contact information
(email and phone number) of all the head boys basketball coaches in the catholic
league (Philadelphia) and the PSAL schools (New York City). To get their
information, I looked up each school online and went on their athletic websites to
see if they had listed the boys basketball coachs information. If the contact
information was not available on the website, I had look up the phone number of the
athletic department and tried to get into contact with the head coach. Overall, I
was successful of retrieving all the coachs phone number and emails of all the
schools. It took me quite a long time to retrieve all the information but it really
helped me enhance my communication skills and talk to people on the phone that I
am not normally talking to.
Day 7
Today for my internship, it was a pretty laid back day. The captains had
organized an alumni game for the previous players that played at Haverford. Most
of the players that had played were former players in the last 5 years. Me being at
this event, I was able to meet the current players and the former players which was
a cool thing. After the event, we had interacted with each other over lunch. I had
gathered information on the former players on their current occupation and what
they are doing with their lives. The Mens Basketball Department at Haverford likes
to have an idea on what their former players are doing after graduation which I
think is a cool and a good idea.
Day 8

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Today for my internship was the best experience I have had so far. I had woken in
up in the wee hours of the morning and traveled to the Hoop Group Headquarters in
Neptune, NJ with my fellow assistant Coach Sean McGinn. Hoop Group is a great
organizational scouting facility that players across the New York, New Jersey,
Eastern Pennsylvania area go to and try to get scouted. There was many tasks that
I had done and one of them was to scout. Our 2017 recruit Danny Weiss had
attended and it was a good opportunity for me to meet with and him and see how
his game was. Also I had met his parents which was good for me to elaborate on
how campus life is at Haverford and what my role was with the team. Along with
scouting, I had run some drills with the players before they scrimmaged. I had ran
the same drills that I have done before a game at the high school level and at the
college level. This was a great opportunity for me to coach up some players
before they had scrimmaged. Following running the drills, I had filmed 2 games
which than eventually got paid for which was a plus. Overall, I had a great
experience interacting with players, talking with other college coaches and
observing the whole recruiting environment. This was a very productive day and I
had enjoyed myself very much.
Day 9
Today for my internship, we had a meeting as a staff to discuss practice plans for
the first day of practice that was coming in a little over a week. We started off by
going over all the practice plans from last season and picked out the drills that we
had thought that should stay in the practice plan for the upcoming season. The
assistant coaches and I had discussed what we liked and disliked however, our head
coach had a different plans in mind and was making a plan for himself that he did
not finish yet. Following the meeting, I had gotten some office work out of the way.

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Office work meaning I was updating my position at Haverford by writing a biography
of myself for the Mens Basketball Website. In addition to constructing my
biography I had pictures taken for my I.D. card and for the website. Everything
worked out well and I was proud of my resume and to be part of the program.
Leaving the office, Coach Sean and I decided to get a workout out in the gym. He
had given me some pointers on how to run drills and how to be successful at them
when teaching them. Another productive day at Haverford that I had enjoyed
myself in per taking on.
Day 10
Today for my internship I had traveled to Philadelphia University to attend The City
of Basketball Love Camp. City of Basketball Love Camp is a Camp similar to the
venue I had attended to last weekend which was Hoop Group in Neptune, NJ.
Coaches, high school and college around the area, come together for this event to
scout, coach and run drills for high school players in the area. The day started out
by the players running drills ran by high school coaches in the area. Following the
drills, players were assigned to coaches in which the coaches incorporated plays for
the upcoming games. After an hour of coaching, the teams began to scrimmage.
Throughout this whole process, I was simply observing, recruiting and soaking
everything in. I had a great time at this venue, scouting players, meeting coaches
and watching young talented players perform.
Day 11
Today for my internship, I had attended my first practice with team as a
group. I was super excited that I was finally able to do some coaching and observe
how each player is regarding their work ethic through practice and skill. My job

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throughout the practice had varied. I started off helping assist the forwards and
centers with their drills. During the drills, I had communicated a lot with each
player, used the pad often to increase their skill around the rim and even jumped
into practice from time to time for the team to work on their skills. As practice went
on I had managed the clock for each drill and got the players water when they
needed it. Towards the end, I had recorded stats and score for each team and
player as they scrimmaged for the last 10 minutes of practice. Overall, it was a
successful first day of practice as a college mens basketball student intern. I am
looking forward to working with the guys more in future practices.
Day 12
Today for my internship I had joined and help assist at practice for the 2nd time with
the team. I have to admit, I was pretty tired for the first part of practice because I
was driving over and coming from my basketball practice at Immaculata. Todays
practice was similar to last weeks practice. Throughout the whole practice I had
managed the clock from drill to drill making sure the time clock and shot clock were
accurate. I also assisted in each drill by being a defender and shooter so the guys
good get good runs on drills instead of just going through the motions without
anyone guarding them. Besides the clock and working on the drills with the guys, I
also worked on a few drills individually with free throws and getting up extra jump
shots. Overall, it was another successful practice at Haverford College with the
players and coaches.
Day 13
Today for my internship I learned how to conduct a practice plan for practice. Head
Coach Michael Mucci had showed me the ins and outs and the formation of how he

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wanted to make the practice plan. A practice plan is something for the coaching
staff to go off of in practice. A practice plan consists of the drill, notes for the drill
and the duration of how long the drill lasts for. For this practice plan, I made sure to
incorporate all facets of the game including stretching, shooting and scrimmaging
along with adding some shooting. The notes I had added is for the coaches to go off
during practice and things to think about when instructing their players through the
drills. Overall, I think I had conducted a good practice plan and Coach Mucci was
very pleased. After conducting the practice plans, I had enough time to put
together some emails and reach out to the players to try and set up some work out
times with me that we can partake in. I wanted to work with the players individually
when they did not have class or practice for me to get a hands on experience of
working with them to increase their skill and overall build a relationship. Two of the
players were able to work out in the near future and I was excited to work with
them.
Day 14
Today for my internship I had attended another practice with the team. This
practice was very important because it was practice before they scrimmaged the
next day. This practice was quite easy for me because it was a lot of walk through
for the players. Usually teams that I have a scrimmage or game the next day they
go light the day before. The practice consisted of review their offensive and
defensive sets along with working on their press breaks. They had ended practice
with a 15 minute scrimmage which I helped coach and keep score. Following
practice, us as coaching staff and stated to stretch and drink a lot of fluids. A few
players had stayed after with me to make free throws and to get more shots up. I

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was happy to stay after practice to prepare the players even more for their
scrimmage. Overall, a light practice but a productive one at that.
Day 15
Today for my internship, I had the privilege of working out 2 members on the team
when they did not have class. This was a great opportunity for me as well as well to
increase their stamina, build their skill, build a relationship and to get in extra work
before they practice. Considering them having practice later on, I did not want to
push the players too much so they are not exhausted at practice. I had worked out
one guard and one forward so I had a good mix of drills for them to perform. For
both of them, I started off having them do mikan drill, which is a layup drill working
on your right and left hand. Than we had done some form shooting with one hand
to get their form the right way and to see the ball go through the net enhancing
their confidence. Following those workouts I had the guard work on 3s and one drill
pull ups and the forward work on mid-range and post moves. It was nice because I
started working with the forward at 2:00 and once we were done our workout, the
guard was ready to go at 2:45. After their drills I had both players make
consecutive free throws to end the workout. All in all, the players had conducted a
great 45 minute workout that was perfect for their skill and also by not getting tired.
Im looking forward to working with these players in the future.
Day 16
Today for my internship I would say it was one of the most productive days
throughout my experience. With Haverfords first game vs. Arcadia the next day,
the coaches and I were conducting a scouting report for their team. A scouting
report is when you examine the other team and put together a list of their players

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with their stats, height, class and what you need to do to be successful when
defending that person. Scouting reports are very helpful and increases the chance
of you winning. So I had constructed a scouting report on Arcadia by watching film
on their players and analyzing players stats from the previous year. I also did a
scouting report on Albright because Haverford was playing them the 14th. I was
excited to do this scout because I knew a lot about them watching film or viewing
their players stats. The reason for that is my team at Immaculata had scrimmaged
them a couple weeks ago and the familiarization of the players was still in my head.
Overall the scouts were well written and accurate and Haverford ended up beating
Albright. I like to think part of the reason was because of the scout.
Day 17
Today my internship I did another scouting report for Haverfords next opponent
Penn State (Harrisburg) and also worked out the same guard and forward I did last
week. After this day at Haverford, I have conducted my 90 hours for one of the
practicum requirements. Even though I have finished my 90 hours, I am still going
to work with team doing everyday duties and go on to what I was doingThe PSU
Harrisburg scout I had conducted was very similar to the Arcadia and Albright scout.
Another professional layout manner for the players that us a staff had put together
to help the players increase their chances of winning. After the scout I went on to
work out the same players I did as last week. We had worked on similar drills as
before but I had incorporated some drills that I thought would be useful a day
before a game. As my final hours had ticked down following my workout, I realized
on how such of a good place Haverford is to work at. I couldnt be thankful enough
for the people I met, the people I worked with and overall environment I worked in.

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This was a tremendous experience for myself and it really increased my knowledge
on what it takes to become a college mens basketball coach.