Coach Jim McGannon

Coach played D-1 in 2 sports at Dartmouth:  Basketball and Golf.  Golf info here

I Am A Coach

Mental Strength Champions

Coach caddied for Arnold Palmer in a practice round prior to the 1994 US Senior Open in Pinehurst, when Coach was playing professional golf.  To be around the King for 5 hours was an amazing experience and is re-told in Coach’s story:  Arnie and Me,

One of the 141 Basics graduates playing in college, 15 D-1.   National average of High School players making it to the college level is around 1%.  Basics High School players who have made this grade is 9%.  Coach McGannon does NOT emphasize travel or results or tournaments.  He focuses on SKILLS, CONDITIONING and MENTAL STRENGTH.  If your son or daughter is serious about competing to the best of their ability–whether that is making their middle school team or playing college basketball–you have landed in the right place!  Give us a call.  616 402-1600

Coach’s Home is for sale.  Quite the place for a family!

• 6’9″, 250 lbs
• All State, Fairfield (CT) Prep School
• D-1 at Dartmouth College (2 sports–basketball and GOLF)
• European player (France), L’Equippe de Blois
• Played professional golf 1991-96, based in North Carolina.  Info here
• Founded Basics Sports in 2006
• Coaching Seminars run by Coach McGannon here
• Mental Strength Training service developed in 2018.
• Using an online assessment, players learn to improve their confidence, their ability to handle failure and to honestly address their level of commitment and attitude.
• Now available, a player driven ONLINE MENTAL STRENGTH TRAINING course
• See Basics Three-Legged Stool here (SKILL, CONDITIONING and MENTAL STRENGTH)

Dartmouth Golf Team.  The only 6’9″ guy on the team!

CONTACT INFORMATION

• 616.402.1600
• Jim@BasicsSports.com

PHILOSOPHY/APPROACH

Coach John Wooden led UCLA to 10 NCAA Men’s D-1 basketball championships, including 7 consecutively.  He is considered by many to be the greatest basketball coach of all time, at any level.  To the best of our ability, we pattern our coaching techniques and philosophy after Coach Wooden.

This begins and ends with Coach Wooden’s anthem of helping develop the players to their full potential ON and OFF the court.   The players who attend our instruction receive strong reinforcement with many issues that apply whether they are engaged in play or not.  A few examples would be: school is always first, respect for one another, hard work, showing up on time, making eye contact, learning from mistakes, handling disappointment, frustration and defeat, winning and losing with dignity, developing poise and composure, improving listening skills.  These are just a few of the traits that apply to competitive players on and off ANY playing surface.

Coach Wooden’s father, Joshua Wooden, was a huge influence on his life.  The elder Wooden gave his son John a card called “Two Sets of 3’s” that Coach carried all his life.  Basics does our best to follow these time tested truths.

1. Never Lie. Never Cheat. Never Steal.
2. Don’t Whine.  Don’t Complain. Don’t Make Excuses.

TECHNICAL APPROACH

Coach McGannon’s coach at Dartmouth College was Gary Walters, the recently retired athletic director at Princeton.  Coach Walters played at Princeton in the 1960’s with Bill Bradley.  Our technical approach to the game mirrors the discipline, work ethic, precise nature of skill development and execution of these skills as taught by Coach Walters.  Sharp skills, great conditioning and then competing with YOUR HEAD are all hallmarks of Basics.

NOTE:  There is no more competitive training anywhere.  We know what it takes to help players reach their potential. If you are new to Basics, this DOES NOT INCLUDE travel, leagues, games, officials, hotel rooms, uniforms or any of the other trappings so many confuse with competitive growth.  Competition in fact has almost nothing to do with competitive growth.   I highly encourage you to tune into our podcast channel or our Candid Shots video logs below.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Our service with Special Needs kids:  No More Sidelines
• Assisting kids in financial need with Basics Memorial Fund
• Our connection to the Sandy Hook kids in Newtown, Connecticut
• INFO HERE

MEDIA 

• Pandemic Videos–QuaranTeam
• BASICS CANDID SHOTS VIDEO LOGS -commentary on youth sports
• BASICS PODCASTS
• BASICS SKILLS VIDEOS
• BASICS TRAINING STAPLE-the IBL (Instructional Basketball League)

Coach McGannon also played golf at Dartmouth, winning the college golf championship his senior year (The Thomas Keene Cup).  He went on to play for 5 years professionally based in Pinehurst, North Carolina.  He attempted the PGA Tour qualifying event twice (then called the Q-School)  Golf lessons are available when the grass is green.

GOLF page here.