It's All About Relationships...The Outstanding Ohioans show, Episode 26 with HS Basketball Coach/Author Matt Kramer

Outstanding Ohioans

For the next three podcast episodes, I had the pleasure of talking to Matt Kramer, a terrific High School Basketball Coach and Author. Matt currently resides in Georgia, but was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. His current team Milton High School is one of the outstanding programs in Georgia with national-level aspirations.

Coach Kramer is the co-author of the great book The Best-Laid Plans of a High School Basketball CEO, which he wrote with legendary Ohio High School Basketball Coach Randy Montgomery. Coach Kramer wrote the book to document his journey and provide a resource for up and coming coaches.

Here are the fantastic highlights from our great conversation:

• Looking up to his dad, a teacher and coach, who provided the inspiration for his own playing, teaching, and coaching career.
• Having an outstanding athlete to learn from in Olympian Butch Reynolds.
• The core values he learned growing up about: caring for players, skill development, building relationships with a family-type environment, be invested in the next guy
• his playing career in high school and college, including his experience at the College of Wooster with Steve Moore
• his career path from being a volunteer assistant to JV Coach, Varsity Assistant, and then Head Varsity Coach
• how he connected with Coach Montgomery, who worked with Coach Bob Huggins and had conversations with Coach John Wooden
• Why kids want discipline from adults
• How teaching skills and coaching skills enhance and nurture abilities in the classroom and on the court
• the importance of being able to write well, and why he wrote the book
• Tips on Seeking Out & Interviewing for a coaching position, including interviewing the interviewers
• what to do the first days on the job
• importance of choosing a staff
• how to promote your program, including ideas for youth program development
• the importance of practice rituals
  • "coaching is what you do for somebody, not to somebody"
• constructing a productive summer plan
• looking at X's and O's
• surprise ending to his coaching tenure at Canton South, his professionalism continuing to serve his students and family, and how he ended up at Milton High School in Georgia with the help of San Antonio Spurs Director of Player Personnel Dennis Felton
• the value of the book for anyone who wants to improve their leadership skills and service to others
• the legacy Coach wants to leave beh