Life Lessons with Coach Stansbury

redtowelroundup
Jul 5, 2016
4 min read

On March 28, 2016, in a room full of reporters and die-hard fans, Coach Rick Stansbury was formally introduced as WKU Men's Basketball new head coach. During the press conference, south central Kentucky was witness to Stansbury’s passionate personality and provocative statements. As I heard Stansbury speak on TV, I pumped my fist and exclaimed, “YES!”

Throughout the press conference, Stansbury made plenty of promises and revealed his plans for WKU Basketball. Quoted are two of his major talking points:

1. “Western Kentucky's going to get back on this map. We're going to another level here.”

2. “We're not coming here to play some schedules we've been playing. I want to schedule some trips - Madison Square Garden, (Battle 4 Atlantis) - where you guys can be a part of some things. Go play on that national scene, because that's what we're going to try to do.”

In June, Stansbury was back at it again saying: “You know, my first couple weeks here, I walked around this campus. Man, I saw way too many kids wearing a Kentucky or Louisville shirt. Well, that needs to change. If they want to wear that shirt, they need to transfer.” Subsequently, my immaculate Photoshop skills were put to the test:

Now, think about what he said. Notice anything?

Stansbury has fulfilled all of his promises.

I would argue that WKU is back on the map with the verbal commitment from the class of 2017/five-star center/#15 player in the nation, Mitchell Robinson. Both WKU and Robinson trended for a few hours on Twitter thereafter. Shortly after Stansbury’s hire, news broke that WKU would play a multi-sport series against the University of Wisconsin: 2 basketball games and 1 football game. Recently, sources told CBSSports Jon Rothstein that WKU would likely play in the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis tournament with Arizona, 2016 National Champions Villanova, Purdue, NC State, SMU, Tennessee, and Northern Iowa.

Is Stansbury a mythical creature? A unicorn? A prophet? No. Although, it makes for an interesting picture:

Stansbury is a man who does not believe nor see limitations. There is no such thing as an excuse with the Stan Man. He has a plan and he gets it done.

For every doubt and remark made by a trolling Big Blue Nation account or complacent WKU fan, Stansbury & Co. fulfills one more promise.

He was told to sit down and shut up for his transfer comments. Yet, here WKU is with a five-star commit, a tournament in the Bahamas with some top-tier programs, and a series against a program that has been in the Top 25 every year since 2009.

And while Stansbury is making waves with early commits, games, coaching hires, and tournaments, we can take away some life lessons from Stansbury’s 3 months as head coach.

Stansbury "don’t care”

Much like the honey badger, Coach Stansbury “don’t care” about your opinion of his coaching style or press conference comments. So far, things have worked out pretty well for the new coach: withstanding the opinions of those people who do not – quite frankly – know a darn thing about WKU Basketball and its history. I think we could all learn a thing or two from this mentality. If Stansbury can tune out the trolls and haters, then you can ignore those people trying to marginalize your success.

Limitations are a figment of the imagination

What Stansbury has done in just 3 short months is pretty remarkable. It makes you wonder...why not before? Yes, Stansbury coached 12 years at Mississippi State and was an assistant coach at Texas A&M. Yes, he had already recruited Mitchell Robinson at Texas A&M. All technicalities aside, Stansbury has made the seemingly impossible...possible. Sadly, we see a mentality take root too often at mid-major programs. Whether it is the coach, administration, or fans, one or the other seem to believe that "mid-major" is a limitation rather than an adjective.

Likewise, in our day-to-day lives, we tell ourselves what we are or are not capable of without even trying. We are too scared to fail or be rejected. Stansbury could have settled. He could have said "Let's keep recruiting how we have been recruiting. Let's keep playing games that do not help our team's growth." Thank goodness he did not say such things.

Have passion and heart in what you do

And do not apologize for having such.

Stansbury has been able to ignite a fanbase that was about as dull as dishwater using his passion for the game and commitment to the team and school. He is bold, he is vocal, and he has faith in his process. Since Stansbury's arrival, WKU has garnered more attention - nationally and locally - than we have seen in quite a while.

This is a coach that goes against the grain. As Stansbury has said many times, he takes a back seat to no one. Petty insults and early criticism from rivals (and even "fans") will not diminish Stansbury's infectious energy.

You be you, and let Stansbury be Stansbury.

While the doubters, haters, and those who say "He needs to win first," continue to downplay Stansbury's pre-season accomplishments, I will continue to enthusiastically support Stansbury and the team.

I'm outta here.