Ep. 37: Prolific Prep Basketball Coach Billy McKnight on How to Create Team Chemistry with a Team of Top Players
In this episode, Darren Reinke chats with Billy McKnight, head basketball coach at Prolific Prep. Billy shares his journey to becoming a professional coach, how he creates team chemistry with a team of uber achievers, the impact of NIL on athletic development, preparing high school kids for college and the NBA, and much more.
Prolific Prep is a prep basketball team based in Napa, CA that aims to foster the growth of prolific student-athletes, who are impactful citizens and elite basketball players. Past players include Gary Trent Jr. of the Toronto Raptors, #4 overall pick Josh Jackson, as well as numerous players recruited to schools such as Duke, Kansas, UCLA, Xavier, Ohio State, and Oregon.
Powered by RedCircle
Listen and Leave a Review/Rating on Any of the Following Platforms
SHOW NOTES
How Billy became involved in sports [1:40]
How Billy turned coaching into a career [4:27]
The greatest challenges Billy faced being a non-native coach in China [6:47]
How Billy made the jump from coaching in China to coaching a prep school in the U.S. [9:32]
How Billy trains his athletes to be successful both on and off the court [18:07]
Why Billy instills the importance of following your own path [19:43]
Understanding Billy’s core leadership values [22:28]
What Billy does to manage and align his team of high performers [25:22]
How Billy recruits top talent and encourages them to be team players [31:08]
Billy’s key message to his kids, their parents, and coaches as to why they should play for him [34:03]
The greatest gift Billy receives from coaching [39:27]
SHOW LINKS
If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe, rate, or provide a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. It only takes a few seconds and would be greatly appreciated!
For additional leadership tips, be sure to check out Darren's book - The Savage Leader: 13 Principles to Become a Better Leader from the Inside Out.