To anyone who knows bball or anything about coaching

I've had a problem that i've had to deal with the past couple of weeks, but i'll explain my situation first

I am the head coach of the JV program here at VT, I also play when we play against the prep schools...at the beginning of the year the leader of the JV program decided to keep 25 guys on the roster, some of which really have no business playing college ball, but also some of those are really good friends of mine

about a month into the season the other players went to the leader and asked for a change and asked if i could be the coach...so he gave full control to me and i allowed the kids who were pretty bad to play spot minutes and practice with us but not much else

we've turned the program around and we're undefeated in conference play with the conference tournament coming up, i sent out an email saying that we were gonna have to make cuts for the conference tourney b/c there was no way that i could bring 25 guys to a tournament and let them all play...then i gave my reasons for cutting the players i did, and i had to cut a lot of my friends who just weren't good enough

so here's my question, the players who were cut have become pretty upset about the whole ordeal and complained to the original leader and he and i had a long discussion but ultimately he decided to step down and handed everything over...i want to bring those back in as a group but i cant for the life of me figure out how to get them involved without jeopardizing our chances on the basketball court...so any suggestions (serious ones) would be helpful

thanks

Drew

Not really a suggestion, but kudo's for what you did. Being a coach takes some hard decisions like that and you made the call that had to be made. If they can't understand the what and why of the situation, I'd say it's tough for them. If they are your friends and if they do respect you they should understand that. I hope they see things that way and things go well.

the hardest thing for me is that i feel like i'm throwing my friends under the bus, which goes against everything that i try to stand for...id do anything for my friends and right or wrong id be on their side

so with this, i am trying to let everyone realize that this is purely a basketball decision and nothing else

The reason for the cut: Was it because you had to narrow the team down? Money issues for travel? Could you have kept them on the team, but gave them the expectation that they may not see minutes in this tourney?

I really don't see anything wrong with what you have done. You are not throwing them under the bus if it is something you had to do for the team.

all of the above...simply put, they just weren't good enough to compete at the level we have to play

we have to take separate cars to tournaments so travel was also going to be an issue

really the only thing i couldve done would be to keep them on as like a scout team, but i want my guys to get the defensive reps as well when we are playing in practice so i didnt know how to make that work

The only thing you can really do is be honest with them and lay out like that. They have to be understanding, as you are all adults now. If they don't want to be buddies because of that, thats their fault not yours.

Good luck at the tournament.

thanks, i appreciate it

How does your JV program fit in with the varsity program? Who is your immediate supervisor? It seems to me that at your level, which is obviously above intramurals, you have to still focus on producing on the court. Twenty-five players to rotate through a game is a huge task. I'd like to hear more about your situation.

be honest,But you are the man in charge you gotta understand that the business that you are going into sometimes you cant be the best friend remeber the could be the start of your career,and if they cant understand that then they are being selfish on there part.Keep doing what your doing cause it sound like your doing a good job.

Ditto on that last point. I have talked to players who would rather play and lose than not play as much and win. Parents are even worse. It's almost a no-win situation, because you can't please everybody. It really makes coaching a drag and not very much fun.