Not the result we wanted but love the fight we showed. Always fun batting the alma mater
@GenevaCollege
- thanks to my coach
@JeffSantarsiero
for making the trip out! Love ending the game in prayer with another Christ-centered institution!
Malachi Damazo getting ready for his first bus trip with
@GCPioneerHoops
and says to
@KristlandLee
:
Mali: “I hope we win tonight”
Kristland: “Well you better cheer to help them win”
Mali “That won’t help them win. They just need to score more points”
A week from today, Coach Dave will be in Phoenix, AZ presenting at the NABC Convention!
This will be an on-court clinic talking about The System, at Center Court of the convention 👀
Thank you
@NABC1927
and
@FastModel
!
What people think college coaching is: Coaching in front of 20,000 people for $9 million per year
What college coaching actually is: Coach Dave and I walking a half mile to Walgreens at 7:45 AM in -3 degree weather to get snacks because the hotel breakfast = lackluster
#whyd3
Treating myself to a milkshake after getting roasted by a 7 y/o. After a game of freeze tag, I told Mal and Sim we had to go.
7 y/o: “wait, they’re brothers!? Then who is their dad”!?
Me: “I am”.
7 y/o: “No way, you’re way too ugly to be their dad” 🙃
The boys were starstruck meeting some of their favorite hoopers (except for Josiah, who was just a ham)! But on the way to Chick-fil-A for lunch, their awkwardness turned into pure joy and excitement. They provided some fun quotes:
My dad recently told my grandpa that Grinnell College has a 2.1 BILLION dollar endowment. My grandpa understood this as me making ONE MILLION dollars per year 😂😂😂. He proudly told everyone my “new salary” and said I would be paying for the beach house this summer!
Sitting in the gym at Lake Forest College after a tough loss, but love getting to watch the alma mater get a huge W in front of an unbelievable crowd!
So pumped for
@GT_MBB
and
@JeffSantarsiero
- keep it rolling!
Such a crazy coincidence - for the last 6 years, every time I have been unable to connect with a recruit and they call back, they missed my call because they were in the gym. Every. Single. Time.
Malachi Damazo dressed up as his favorite college basketball coach for Halloween! No, not his Dad who doesn’t have great hair and a sweet pinstripe suit/pocket square combo - but
@VUCoachJWright
. Maybe if we get our wins up this year he will want to dress up like me 😜
Happy birthday to my wonderful wife
@KristlandLee
!
During this season of life, I’m especially thankful for her consistency. Between crazy schedules, raising three young boys, etc., she ALWAYS brings it with a joyful attitude. Love you 🕊
10 pics for 10 years of marriage ♥️
Was fun to look back and choose a pic for year of marriage! Lots has changed during this last decade: three crazy boys, new jobs, we live in Iowa!?, etc…but these pics represent the best part of the journey -
@kristlandlee
!
Two thoughts as we are wrapping up day 3 of the tourney:
1. How in the world is Leonard Hamilton 70?
2. How much money would you pay to not see the Orange Vanilla Coke commercial for the rest of the tourney? I would probably pay $50.
Recruits - I am not one of the coaches that will give you the same 10 cliche recruiting tips, but i will say this: when you announce your commitment, it's "a part" of a program not "apart". That is all. You will thank me later!
First day of kindergarten!
Mali has apparently told others “I will miss going to school with Simi, but at my new school I get to learn more about Jesus!”
Happy Easter!
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
These videos were fun to gather! Informed my guy
@ScottSchroeder
that Coach Dave was nearing 100 wins and we reached out to some G-League + Grinnell guys and so many got back to us immediately, excited to send their remarks! Congrats, Coach Dave! 💯
I thought they were coming after the first year d3 coach with 3 wins, who has yet to get a commitment for next year year's class, but she was just looking for a classroom she was presenting in. Thankfully, I am safe ;)
Congrats to
@LisaBluder
on an outstanding career! The most humble college coach out there. My wife and I always talk about how amazing it is to see a coach of her stature sit at a D3 game with a bag of popcorn and joyfully talk to/take pics with each fan that came up to her!
The boys secret plan was to earn money from their lemonade stand yesterday so they could buy brunch food “to cook” for
@kristlandlee
today for Mother’s Day 🥰
They set it up on the table for when she woke up 😃
First day of school for Simeon! Donuts and milk to fuel up!
“Daddy, I’m gonna be done with my donut, I don’t want to have too much sugar before school” 😂😳
Starting to wonder if I actually made it through grade school since my parents didn't take pictures of me holding a sign/chalkboard with my grade, teacher, etc. on it!!
This has been my favorite NCAA tourney because of the boys excitement around it! They have LOVED highlighting (and crossing out) their brackets after each game!
And doing cheers for their picks of a UAB/SD St game 😂😂
For all the jerks we hear about in the college basketball world, there are 3x as many good guys. So thankful for my coaching mentors, as well as many other coaches who are willing to go out of their way to help help me during this rebuilding process.
Even with the result, this is the most proud I’ve been in my two years here. With only 8 players, we were down 27 with 17 minutes to go in the 2nd half and fought all the way back; and had a great look at the buzzer for the win.
Annual reminder for recruits choosing a school (and coaches taking jobs 😳) - you are grateful/blessed to be A PART of the program, not APART of the program!
Faith and basketball converged for
@DJDamazo
at the University of Valley Forge. After two difficult rebuilding years, the Blackhawk/Geneva grad guided
@UVFAthletics
to a winning record in his third year as head coach.
Very proud of the 7 guys that battled tonight. We had 3 players from our roster + 4 guys we recruited in the cafeteria yesterday and lost by 4. Good things happen when you play hard, for each other, and with REAL toughness.
I am convinced it is more difficult to find the contact information for a basketball coach at a Christian high school than it is for a celebrity, professional athlete, etc.
They grow up fast 😳
Two golfers (and basketball managers!) asked if they could take Mali and Simi to the golf formal last night! And of course JoJo had to dress up as well 😂
As I was leaving after putting Mali to bed he said “Dad, I hope we can cut down the nets one day” and I responded “I sure hope so too buddy, we gotta keep working”
He has been obsessed with this since our last game & loves watching teams do it after winning their conference! 🏆
During bedtime tonight:
Me: “Mal, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Malachi: “I want to be a construction worker, what do you want to be, Daddy?”
Me: “I guess a basketball coach…”
Malachi: “What!? You have to pick a real job, not a pretend job!”
😂😂😂
I had a blast tonight with Coach
@DJDamazo
from
@GrinnellCollege
as we talked
#D3hoops
, the Grinnell System, and why players and parents in Utah should not overlook the opportunities at D3 Schools like Grinnell.
The full episode will be available on Apple and at
Conversation I overheard while the boys were eating their Carver Cones:
Simi: “Why don’t we play the Hawkeyes”?
Mal: “Simi, they would crush us”
Simi: “If we were making our 3’s, I think we would beat them”!
A week from today, Coach Dave will be in Phoenix, AZ presenting at the NABC Convention!
This will be an on-court clinic talking about The System, at Center Court of the convention 👀
Thank you
@NABC1927
and
@FastModel
!
Not pretty at all today, but very thankful to end the semester with a W. More proud of two things:
1. The opposing team’s fans came up to me and said in 30 years of going to college basketball games, they have never seen better sportsmanship from a team.
Excited to honor these guys today. It’s not easy to be apart of a rebuild, but these guys always fought. So many “behind the scenes wins” that have helped establish our culture and set the tone for our future. Thankful for Cody, Sean, and Edgar.
Senior Day for the Men's Basketball team is TODAY! Come out a little early for their 2PM game against Bryant & Stratton college to help us honor our senior players!
#TrustHISProcess
She is the probably the most humble coach in the country so doesn't care about this kind of stuff, but the job
@LisaBluder
and crew have done over the last two years has been incredible and does not get talked about enough!