Blog

Elevate Your Game

Get the Right People on the Bus

by Shawn Jones on Jun 24, 2026

Several years ago, my superintendent brought a dynamic speaker and author named Jon Gordon to our school. By now, most people have heard of Jon Gordon. If you haven’t, grab his book The Energy Bus or Stick Together now. You’ll thank me later. If you’ve ever coached a team, you know…

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Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

by Shawn Jones on Jun 17, 2026

I have always talked to my teams about being comfortable in the uncomfortable. Nothing in sports is comfortable, when you really think about it. Lifting weights, conditioning, endless repetition of skill work and drills, getting up early, sacrificing personal time and activity for the team….

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Guilty: I Play Favorites

by Shawn Jones on Jun 8, 2026

“That coach just plays his favorites…” is a phrase spoken in every high school gym, in every state in the country, every year. Surely there can’t be a coach who plays favorites in every gym, in every state, can there? The answer to that question…

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Coach What You Know

by Shawn Jones on Jun 5, 2026

I hear coaches tell their players all the time to know and do what they are good at. What I don’t hear is many coaches telling themselves the same thing. We would admit that we do not know everything and are not good at everything…

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It Takes Discipline to Demand Discipline

by Shawn Jones on May 27, 2026

Every coach in America wants his or her team to have discipline on game day. They want focus, attention to the little things, a blind eye and ear to distractions. But can a coach just flip the discipline switch on game day? Is that something…

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More Than the Ring: What 30 Years of Coaching Taught Me About Success

by Shawn Jones on May 21, 2026

I coached for 30 years. I coached boys and girls. I coached really skilled basketball teams, and I coached teams that were really good at things other than basketball. The one common thread every season was this: I expected to win every game, and I…

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From Headache to Handshake

by Shawn Jones on May 11, 2026

Ask any coach at the high school or college level what they dread most about the job, and I’d bet “parent meetings” is at the top of the list. Colleges used to be insulated from this kind of thing, but those days are long gone….

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If We Build It, Success Will Come

by Shawn Jones on May 11, 2026

Our Ballogy team had the great pleasure to travel to North Texas to the town of Sherman to work with Coach Mark Kerkhoff and his Lady Cats of Sherman High School. Mark is a native of Indiana, so he knows good basketball when he sees…

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Where Old School Meets What’s Next

by Shawn Jones on Apr 20, 2026

I’ve only known legendary Texas high school coach Gary Grahn for  a few years, but I didn’t need long to know he means business. Competing against him will do that. He’s as no-nonsense as they come. No gimmicks. No shortcuts. Just work. His teams reflect…

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The Truth Is in the Work

by Shawn Jones on Apr 20, 2026

There’s an old saying in coaching: “Kids lie; stats don’t.” It’s not meant to be harsh. It’s just reality. Athletes aren’t always completely truthful about the work they’re putting in. And it’s not just athletes. We’ve all done it at some point. We remember the good reps,…

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