College basketball coach becomes a salesman

October 09, 2008 12:04 am

— Mike Leeder, Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) men’s basketball coach, said at the Rotary meeting Tuesday that any business must effectively sell their products or services to be successful.
Leeder said he sells GSW’s basketball program to recruits, the student body, supporters and the community. Leeder said he has had the opportunity to coach at several universities throughout his career. Every time he and his wife were had to move to a different community, he had to “sell” that particular community to his wife.
He told the gathering at the Rotary meeting about a player he coached at Longwood College in Farmville, Va. The player was tall and played center. The guards became frustrated because he would miss the ball every time they would pass it to him.
Leeder eventually deduced that his center had poor eyesight and an eye doctor confirmed Leeder’s suspicion, but the young man refused to wear contacts or glasses.
Leeder then “sold” to the young man and his teammates that if the center ate a lot of carrots then his eyesight would improve and he would start catching passes.
The young man started eating carrots all of the time and eventually started catching passes from his teammates. Leeder pointed out that the center never became a good basketball player, but he caught passes very well. The young man did go on to receive his degree though.
Leeder said Tuesday that the GSW men’s basketball team is now part of NCAA Divison II. This is a step up from the smaller NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).
He said the selling of the GSW men’s basketball team was a major reason it was able to transform from NAIA to Divison II in two years instead of the typical four years.
Leeder said the basketball team now has 7 1/2 scholarship players, which should make GSW competitive in their conference. He said he would ideally like ten scholarship players and the team will eventually reach that goal.
He said students’ fees contribute to a university’s athletic department, so the larger the enrollment, the more a university can contribute to its athletic programs.