15 - “Carry the feeling of how we came together” Coach Matt Buchi, University of Illinois Men's Wheelchair 🧑🏼‍🦽 🏀 Basketball

Thanks for joining us on today's episode. I had the chance to talk with coach Matt Buchi of the University of Illinois Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team. Coach Buchi suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident at 9 years old, and after going through rehabilitation was introduced to adaptive sports and wheelchair basketball. He was hooked on the game since, and played in middle, high school and college. In 2008 his team won the College Wheelchair Basketball Championship in his senior at Illinois. Matt stayed on as a graduate assistant (where he helped guide the team to another National Championship in 2010), and is now going into his 8th season as head coach. Wheelchair basketball has given Matt the chance to travel the world and influence thousands of lives, including those in Tokyo, Niger, and Isreal. In this episode we discuss: Seeing and hearing yourself from your player's perspective, and how that lets you effectively communicate with them  "Being a gamer" and what that means to his team  The role and importance of tradition in his program (U of I has the oldest wheelchair basketball program in the country) How learning from losses, especially as a player, can propel you to work harder to win a championship the following year  Ways to smooth over rough patches in the season and how to prepare for them by communicating with your players consistently and being open and available to them  The importance of creativity and the role it plays in coaching, and not being afraid to think outside the box when it comes to drills, skills, and applications outside of sport Taking your time when you're a new head coach, and respecting tradition while allowing yourself to receive feedback on things that should stay the same, and things that should change How being consistent in the eyes of your athletes might look different in the eyes of a coach  Matt is tremendously insightful and genuine. He offers the following as resources for improving your craft as a coach: PGC Basketball Key5 Coaching Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins Raise Your Game by Alan Stein Jr.