Play Hard; Play Together; Play Smart

The legendary Dean Smith’s philosophy, mission statement, strategic plan, and approach to the game of basketball was summed up by these three things – play hard, play together, and play smart. Our team this season continues to mature and grow through the course of our game experiences. Some of those lessons have been tough because they have invested and continue to invest so much of their time, effort, sweat, and tears into this season and program. From a coaching perspective, I have always admired the successful career of Dean Smith and how he and his programs were always defined by Class. Recently, when reading his book, The Carolina Way, his philosophy and foundation truly stood out to me. I had heard it many times but in respect to our season thus far it really related to what we as coaches and players are constantly striving for each day. I feel our team this year has grasped the first two concepts of playing hard and playing together; however, we are continuing to work on the playing smart. I have been so inspired by this team because of their relentless work effort in practice – showing up every day to compete. I also feel like we have developed a sense of selflessness in which our team does not care about their individual stats, rather our team stats following a game. If we can continue to mature as a team by playing smart, I feel we will all reap the rewards of our efforts. I also feel that playing smart comes only with “experience.” Once we consistently execute and maintain our composure, learning that each possession is extremely valuable, great things will happen on the court!!

~Coach Briggs