Casey Bass: Today on Club House Gas, we’re going to talk with one of the most successful basketball coaches in the state of Georgia, is Tyrone Johnson. He is going to talk about the need for conditioning and the need for character in his ball players, and what he looks for as a young player start to develop in coming to his program. It’s pretty interesting especially if you’ve got a 13, 14year old is getting ready to take the next step in the high school basketball. Stay tuned, its Tyrone Johnson today on Club House Gas.
Okay, Whitefield Academy with Coach Tyrone Johnson, coach thank you for joining us.
Tyrone Johnson: Sure, my pleasure.
Casey Bass: Now we’re still a little bit off from basketball season, what are we working on right now, to get your guys ready for a big long hard basketball, there’s a lot of success here at Whitefield Academy, how do you get your guys ready to go?
Tyrone Johnson: Well you know at this point, motivation seem to be a factor, we’ve been to the final a couple of times in a row and not being able to pull it up. So at this point, there are four crucial things that we’re working on. Number one working on condition, number two, strengthen the relevant frame, number three, agility and then last the five matrixes.
So we want to make sure we don’t have the address of issues, once they’re point out to get you.
Casey Bass: Right, two are nuts where you could introduce basketball.
Tyrone Johnson: That’s exactly right, that’s true.
Casey Bass: So you’re having full blown basketball practice with no basketball.
Tyrone Johnson: Yeah.
Casey Bass: And a lot of people will walk out and say you can’t have basketball without basketball, because you told me you win the championship right now.
Tyrone Johnson: Well you’re exactly right, I mean you think about it if the season starts on the 29th, and our first game will be on the 13th against Wailer, I assure you, will not be able to take away two weeks of training, to just do conditioning. Conditioning has to be assumed at this point. So that’s primarily we’re concentrating. I want the guys to be fit, they are strong, they should be ready to go.
Casey Bass: You run a successful program here, as can see all the banners hanging around in this great facility, what do you look for? When you have a freshman, maybe some seven or eight grade because you have another school here also what are you looking for in a kid, so that kid is going to be ready for my program, that’s the kid is that I want to have on my team, what are you looking for fundamentally and from a character basis?
Tyrone Johnson: Well fundamentally, it’s not really, I’ll tell you what I’m looking for first. I want to know that he loves the game, because if a kid loves the game, even if he doesn’t know how to work, he would understand what concept means. He will adjust. Now if he does not love the game of basketball, you just have to push him, eventually he may quit.
And the second thing we’re looking for, we want to make sure that he could pick up, he can comprehend, he could retain and learn some of the skills that we like to display, they’re not the relevant here. And then lastly for the person is concerned we try to evaluate his relationship with his friends. As well as if he is the position to come over here and let it take some of the lead from my teachers, we have an outstanding academic factor here and hopefully we get kids, they love the Lord that is willing to venture out, to establish their relationship with our Lord and stay with Jesus Christ.
Casey Bass: How does your job as these men here, relate help take away from your job as a basketball coach?
Tyrone Johnson: Well I could tell you I take way first because you have to make that separation. My stand is half for my basketball players. So sometime they may assume they don’t picking on them because I hold to the high standards there in high school and that’s not the case. I mean, this point in case that as a game man, I just want to make sure that we got the kids to understand the rules first and is willing to obey the rules and willing to adjust to the procedures and the academic standards that we have here in our school. Well one of the ways that helps, I may be able to keep up from a character standpoint as well as academic to be able to see where our ideas are or I mean I can know quickly before the day is out, I know where I key standard and academics because they have access to the grades.
Casey Bass: Now when we talk to the head, women’s basketball coach UCLA and she wanted to talk about recruiting. She talked about character, how much you stress that to your team?
Tyrone Johnson: Okay without character the keys won’t work. I mean you talk to any coach, if he’s worked way to so he’s going to tell you your kid has got to be able to work, but when you push him and drive, and they have the responding side, they intent matters the most that starts from the character development standpoint. That’s one of the reasons why we’re very interested to see and he is going to come over here, and so the relationship wills your parents. If kids are now willing to abide by the rule and regulations of their parents, they’ve got to really struggle here. I mean it’s a program. I mean we’re all are a family so we want to make sure that everybody is on one page.
Casey Bass: Well coach we really appreciate you hanging out with us, thank you for what you’re doing with these kids. We’ll let you get back to practice; I know you’ve got a big season to get ready for. Hopefully we can do some more stuff with you here on Club House Gas. This is Coach Tyrone Johnson, I’m Coach Casey Bass and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow on Club House Gas.
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