Jeff DeRubbo

.@dawnstaley on the bond she creates with all of her players: “If there were ever a secret to being a great coach, that’s it: the connection.⁠ ⁠ I need to have a personal relationship with each player. I, just like they do, have to be invested. Something other than basketball has to draw me to them. Basketball is the immediate common ground between us, of course, but I’m talking about a personal level. I like to have something more....⁠ ⁠ After building personal relationships with these players — relationships that require reciprocal trust and vulnerability — that guard is down. They’re seeing more of me — who I really am — than any other place I’ve been. I’m more myself now. That feeling of letting my guard down allows me to give my all. I credit our players for allowing me to coach the way I do — I don’t have to censor anything. I don’t have to put on airs. I feel what I feel when I feel it, and then I express it. That’s what the people and players of South Carolina have done: help me be myself.⁠ ⁠ You can’t ask a player to let you in if you don’t do the same.” playerstribu.ne/TheSecret