A New Season Is Upon Us

Season 3, Episode 1 | A New Season Is Upon Us

Welcome to Season 3 of the Discipleship Hoops Podcast.

In this solo episode, Coach Jimmie Lucas reflects on the journey through the first two seasons and shares the vision for what's ahead. More than a season of basketball, this is a season of growth, purpose, and intentionality.

This episode challenges athletes, parents, and coaches to embrace the opportunity that every new season brings. Whether you're stepping onto the court, into the classroom, or into a new chapter of life, your habits, mindset, and character will determine where the journey leads.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why every new season is an opportunity for growth
• Lessons learned from Seasons 1 and 2
• The current state of youth sports and what needs to change
• Why character must come before championships
• Honoring the game through discipline, preparation, and purpose
• The vision for Season 3 of the Discipleship Hoops Podcast

This season, we're going deeper with conversations featuring coaches, athletes, missionaries, parents, and leaders who are using basketball to impact lives far beyond the court.

Because at Discipleship Hoops, we believe:

The game is the platform. Discipleship is the mission.

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another athlete, parent, coach, or friend.

Thank you for being part of the journey. Welcome to Season 3.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

What's good everyone? Welcome, welcome once again to the Discipleship Hoops Podcast. I'm your host, Jimmy. Thank you all again. Man, it's been a ride uh since I for last uh since I flast came before you uh at the end of season two and just trying to get season three uh uh on the way. It's been a ride. It's been a great ride, though. A lot of moving pieces, uh, a lot of changes, uh, just a lot of stuff going on in between season two and season three, and we're gonna get into all that. Nonetheless, welcome back to the discipleship hoops podcast, season three, episode one. And man, just saying, like, it means something to me. Like being able to say that, that I've been um two seasons in and I'm kicking off season three, uh, has really, really means something to me. I mean, when I started this podcast, I knew I wanted to talk about basketball. Right, I knew that that was gonna be the platform, basketball, basketball. Uh, I knew I wanted to sit down with coaches and trainers and parents and athletes. Like, I I I knew I wanted to talk to people who had something meaningful to say. But somewhere, like just somewhere along the way, I realized that um like what this podcast um what this podcast was actually becoming uh was building something bigger than basketball conversations. Like take like we if you go back to season one, season one, uh season one taught we found we laid the foundation. It was all about laying the foundation in season one, and then season two challenge uh us as coaches and parents to go deeper. Because I mean, I I I wear a very unique hat in that not only am I coaching, uh not only am I training, but I'm also a parent of a player. So it it season two was meant to challenge us to go deeper, and now as we begin season three, I believe it's time to become even more intentional about why this platform exists. Because basketball is changing, or basketball has changed, actually. Like youth sports has changed. Uh uh uh our kids are changing. Like it's not you know one of those back in my day story when I was 14 years old. You know, I used to cut, cut, cut the grass with a push, cut, cut three acres, five acres of grass with a push lawnmower, and then run two miles to the park and then play basketball, right? Like this is not those times are no longer uh among us. So our kids are changing. Um the pressures, right? The pressures surrounding surrounding our kids are even changing, just how social media has has evolved into what it has evolved to. The thing about it though is that some things cannot change, right? Discipline still matters, character still matters, hard work still matters, uh, your family and support system still matters, faith still matters. In my opinion, faith still matters, and it still plays a very high and important role. Being coachable still matters, like serving other people still matters, and most importantly, becoming a good man or woman will always matter more than becoming a good basketball player. That's what season three is going to be about. Uh, the game is the platform, discipleship is the mission. Welcome to season three. Let's get into it. Alright, so just going back and reflecting on what the what the first two seasons have taught me. Always have to bring this up because my mentor, RB, shout out to RB. Uh, he's no longer with us, but he was my he was my mentor. Uh he's my trainer, he's my like he was my my confidant, uh, he was my uh like Charlie Brown, he was my blanket, right? He was my safety blanket uh when I was in uh playing in Germany. And one thing he would always say is it's always what you learn after you know it all, they count. So what the first two seasons, and you always you have to be a lifelong learner. I don't know, I'm digressing a little bit, but you must continue to learn and grow and get better. The moment that you think that you have it all figured out and that you know it all, that is the moment where you will fail. Right? So you have to keep growing, you have to be a lifelong learner. But what the first two seasons have taught me, uh, when I think about the first two seasons, I don't immediately think about uh microphones or cameras or views or downloads or social media. Because that's never really been my like been my thing to go viral, right? And and and maybe if I focus on that more, I will go viral. But that's just never really been my thing. It's just about the information, right? I think it's about the conversations. Uh, I've said across from coaches who have spent years pouring into young people. We've talked about culture, we've talked about winning, we talked about losing, we talked about parents, we talked about AAU basketball, which is it's a whole nother. Anyway, we've also talked about recruiting, like we've talked about mental toughness, uh, we talked about uh fatherhood and we've talked about family, we talked about ministry, like we've talked about a lot. Like we've even talked about what happens when basketball ends. But the one thing that keeps coming back to me, the people who have made the greatest impact through basketball aren't necessarily the people with the greatest basketball resume. In fact, what they are, they're the people who understand what the game is for. And what the game is for, the bat basketball is a tool. Like basketball can teach, I mean, it can connect, it can, it can open doors, like basketball can introduce you to people you never would have met any other way. Basketball can take you to places you never imagined going. You know, it's like, and and I jokingly say this is like there are states that I've never been to. Like I've never been to New York. Like I've never been to Miami. Like I've like, you know, like I've never been to all those like destinations. I've never not just Miami, but I've never been to anywhere in Florida. Uh, you know, in New Jersey, right? Like I've never been uh uh let's see where else like California. I mean I went there when I was eight. Uh uh we lived there for two years, but that was when I was like eight. But outside of that, I've never visited and and spent time in California. And but what basketball has done for me over the course of my life, it's taken me to Spain, it's taken me to Amsterdam, it's taken me to um to Switzerland, it's taken me, of course, to Germany, to Japan, like it's taken me to like so many different countries. Uh like I've actually been, I've because of the game of basketball, I've been able to visit Paris, like more countries than I have states. And like, think about that. Like someone, a country boy like me from Terry, Mississippi, who grew up not even playing basketball. Like soccer was my life. That was my thing. But once I started playing the game of basketball, like it has taken me to more countries than I've been to states. But the thing about it though, just like me, at some point, everyone has to put the basketball down. And when that day comes, the question becomes what did the game leave inside of you? And that's where we're going with season three. Because a new season requires growth. And there's something beautiful about a new season because every everyone starts at zero. Like it's like when school, it's school is starting right now. And I I've always thought that like you begin the school year with an A, with and with the 100 average. That's how you start the school year. And it's like you have to do something or not do something to make that hundred average, that A go away. And that's like everyone starts at zero, right? That's that's like, you know, whether it's in school, whether it's a new season. And then like you when you compare that to the scoreboard in a game, right? When a game starts, what is it? Zero, zero. All right, so it's like there's there's not a winner, right? There's not a loser, there's nothing. It's zero, zero. And so last year's record doesn't win this this year's games. And like that's that is so crucial. When you fully when you break that down and pull back the layers of it, it's like we always want to be like, well, last year we made it this far. Or last year we lost these many games. When in the true context of this season, last year really doesn't have uh uh uh doesn't hold any bearing to it. Because why is that? Because from a coach, it may be a new coach, right? And and like me, for example, uh going to Silver Bay. Like last year's team, they went to uh the championship game. The two way, you know, you know how that how that goes, those that when it comes to district 2A, 3, 5, 6, whatever the case may be, I still have not grasped what all that means. But last year's Silver Bay Academy team made it to the championship game and lost in the championship game. So they were runner, they were runner-ups. And so there are gonna be some that who there are gonna be some who were a part who was a part of last year's game that expect that same thing to happen, but win it. And that's just how it goes, right? That's just I mean, it's just the nature of coaching, it's the nature of people, it's just how it goes. But the reality of it is last year's team is not this year's team. It's not like because it's a different coach, number one, it's a different scheme, it's a different concept. Uh um, you know, it's different players, like it's it's everything is different. So last year's record doesn't win this year's games. Last year's last year's championship for those that won championship last year, doesn't win this year's championship. Last year's mistakes don't have to become this year's mistakes. But there's another side to a new season, and that is that you can't enter a new season expecting different results while carrying the same habits. And that absolutely applies to basketball, and it applies to life as well. Maybe last season you weren't disciplined. New season, change it. Maybe you weren't coachable. New season, change it. Maybe you blame everybody else when things didn't go your way. New season, change it. Maybe you talk talked about wanting to play college basketball, but your your daily habits didn't match your dreams. Guess what? It's the new season, so you know what you can do? You can change it. I mean, maybe you're you're a parent and you spend too much time worrying about playing time, rankings, team exposure. New season, guess what? Change your perspective. Maybe you're a coach and you became so consumed with winning that you forgot you're coaching somebody's son or daughter. It's a new season. Remember your calling. A new season isn't powerful simply because the calendar changed. The reason why a new season is so powerful is because you have to change. And I I want to let that breathe for a minute. A new season becomes powerful when you change. My my wife and I, one thing we always talk about is moving the couch. And now, like just because it's it's it's it's that old, well, it's the way we've always done it. Well, ask yourself, does that mean that that it's been the right way all the time? And when something is not right, when something is not like it doesn't feel right, doesn't seem right, doesn't fit right, guess what? Move the couch. You don't like the couch over in the corner, move it to the other wall. Like it's it's it's something that is so simple that we complicate so much and just move the couch. And that's like my wife and I, like that's that's our motto. When we don't like something and we don't deem something to be whatever, we just change it. Like we and we we allow the results to be the results in that change, right? So move the couch. This is your season to move the couch. All right, so let's talk about youth sports right quick. All right, let's jump into it. Um, as a trainer, like my focus and my training uh uh is that I I I I focus on fifth through eighth grade because I just like believe that like now with youth sports, those are like the critical foundation years. That fifth through eighth grade uh area. You know, again, here we go. Back in my day, story, uh we rolled bikes, like we jump rope, right? We ran, we went outside. We went outside uh back in my day. And uh kids don't really have uh they don't take advantage of the opportunity to go outside, uh, to ride bikes. You know, something could be like, you know, um the world has changed when it comes to uh fear of being outside. And so, you know, that that that may contribute to it. Uh, but again, it's like like that's where we that's where we learn hand-eye coordination was going outside. That's where we learned how to uh pick ourselves up when things didn't go right and either get better or leave it because we went outside and we competed with uh with other people. And so youth sports, uh uh in my opinion, like this is just my opinion, this is the opinion of the discipleship hoops podcast. All right, not any of our sponsors, not this is just me, is that because I love youth sports, right? And I believe in competitive basketball. I believe I I honestly I believe in AAU basketball. And I know those that have been that listen to season two, you'd be like, oh no, there's you you capping, as the young people say. Now, but I do I do believe in AAU basketball when it's used as a tool for development and not a tool for payment. I believe in the tournaments, I believe in the exposure, right? I believe in the scholarships, right? I believe in chasing big dreams, because again, like I have a son that is, I have a daughter that went to uh college on scholar on basketball scholarship and played overseas. I have a son that right now is in college on a basketball scholarship, right? And in and in and hoping that he'll get that next deal to go to the next level, right? I have a uh we have a younger son that's a sophomore that also like he's living that exposure scholarships, chasing big dreams idea. So I'm I'm not anti-AAU basketball. It's just that those things have to stay in their proper place. Because what we can't do is allow the pursuit of basketball success to become more important than the development of the child. And I could drop the mic and stop the podcast right there. Because we cannot allow the pursuit of basketball, the pursuit of basketball success to become more important than the development of the child. We've got young athletes worried about rankings before they've mastered fundamentals. Like that is so, like, that is oh man. And I I I'm not gonna go there where to where I'm calling out an organization because I got in trouble for doing that before. Although that organization that I got in trouble for for doing that before, they don't have nobody to call in tattletale on me anymore. They can't call in the tail on me that I talked about their program because their program is clearly more worried about making money than developing athletes. Anyway, I'll I'll press on. But who you gonna call now? Uh so yeah, so we got one young, we got young athletes worried about rankings before they've mastered fundamentals. Like we've got kids worried about offers before they've learned consistency. It's like it's like like like if you are let's say 10th grade, for example, right? Let's say 10th grade. If you are 10th grade and you cannot make a left-handed layup, what makes you think that there is a college coach out there that is scouting that's gonna say, hey, you know what? He can go or she can go three for 20 from threes. I can work with that. I'm not gonna even worry about not being able to make a left-handed wide open layup. Like, what what world do we live in when we think that like the three-point shot, being able to go three for twenty from three, is the thing that's gonna get our kids at the next level? Like, what when do we when do we get there? When when do we go there? Like, when do we go to parents searching for exposure while coaches are begging players to defend, to communicate, to rebound, to be on time, to accept coaching. The thing that I asked my son is that how do you make a difference? Like, why would a coach play you? And of course the answer is because I'm a shooter. Okay, well, what about when you're shot not falling? How do you how do you impact the game? And I and there's two examples that I always go back to. That's Patrick Beverly, and that's Dennis Raman. Dennis Roman over the course of his career probably averaged four points a game. But he won championships with the Pistons, he won championships with the Bulls, and um, um you have to fact check me. I don't know if he was on the Spurs team that won a championship. Uh I'm not really sure, but I I do know for a fact he won championships with the Bulls three, and then he won championships also with the Detroit Pistons. And oh, he averaged like around four points a game because he was willing to do what no other player on that team was willing to do, and that's to sacrifice his body to get the team one more position. So, what are you doing to impact the game? What are your kids doing to impact the game when their shot's not falling? Something is very backwards when it comes to youth sports. Development has come before exposure. It has to come before exposure. Cause we we we we spend all this money going here. I go with my on my AAU um tangent. And it's because I see parents spending uh $2,000, $3,000 over the course of a summer to send their kids to all these AAU basketball tournaments, and the kid is the exact same player. They can't make a left end the layup when they left their high school team in February. And when they ended their AAU season in July, they're the exact same person. So now it's like, well, yeah, but I played AAU all summer, so I'm good. I'm ready. I'm ready to take my game to the next level. Yeah, son, but your coach, your AAU coach failed you because you still can't make a layup. You still can't make a layup, left-handed layup. And you're not ready for the next level. Like I just wish coaches would just be like brutally honest with kids and parents, parents for sure, these days, and just tell them, like, no, that's not like, but but but what AAU, not all, so I'm not finna go there where I'm talking about all AAU coaches. Because there are some programs that are really good. Right? There's a program right now in Mississippi that is really, really, really good. And kids are really getting true exposure on the Puma circuit. But it's like coaches sell these pans with, yeah, we're gonna play tournaments in uh uh uh Monroe, Louisiana, and there's gonna be college coaches there. But what they don't tell you is that the college coaches are on court 24, your son or daughter playing on court one. So they'll never the only time the college coach will ever see them is as they walk by hitting the court 24. Like they're not sitting there watching your child because your coach has promised you that there's gonna be college coaches uh they're watching. And so it's like like again, we've got parents searching for so much exposure, and coaches are out here begging players when they get back to their real high school team to defend, to communicate, to rebound, to be on time and accept coaching. Like it's that simple. Development development has to come before exposure. Character has to come before recognition, preparation has to come before opportunity because exposure doesn't help much when you're exposed before you're prepared. Again, Jim. Like mic drop mama. Exposure doesn't help much when you are exposed before you are prepared. Because in basketball, you can't hide. Like I can take a kid on the football field, I can put him on special teams, and that parent can jump up and down because their kid is running down the field on special teams on kickoff return. When it comes to basketball, it's five on five. And if your child don't know what they're doing, if your child is lost, if your child is is is not ready, it's open to for everyone to see that they will get exposed. And so, parents, your child's basketball journey is going to have adversity. They're going they're going to sit sometimes. Like every player can't play. They're going to struggle, they're going to miss shots. Somebody else might start. They might get cut. They might not even make the team everybody thought they should make. Don't remove every obstacle, though. Like, that's the key. Don't don't just don't remove every obstacle. Like, help them learn how to walk through it. And athletes understand something. Like athletes out there, players out there, like your parents can cannot want this more than you. I see that so much. So where like I'm visiting more with the parent about what their child can do and will do and able to do. And the kid, like, I don't even like basketball. I don't even want to be here. Like, parents, your coach cannot want this more than you do. Again, uh athletes, like, your trainer cannot want this more than you do. I mean, I've I've I've trained kids and like just going that saw them just going through the motion and just like and literally had to just stop and sit down and sit down with them and talk about, hey, do you even enjoy this? Like, why are you doing this? And then we had to just walk through that. And, you know, discovered that because their parents think that they're gonna sign an NBA 10-day contract at age 13 is is pushing them to do this. And they really don't even, they just wanna like they they they just wanna chill. Like they don't even want to play, they don't even want to work, they don't even want to like do do all that. And the parent is pushing them. But at some point, at some point, if you really want to go to the next level as an as a as a player, you have to take ownership of your development. All right, and that's where it comes, that's when honoring the game comes into comes into key. Because one of the things I've talked about before is honoring the game. Like I believe that deeply. Honor basketball, and basketball has a way of honoring you back. That doesn't mean everybody gets a scholarship, doesn't mean everybody becomes a professional, doesn't mean everybody wins a championship. The game may honor you differently. Maybe basketball pays for your education. You know, maybe, maybe it introduces you to your best friend, you know, your spouse. Like maybe it teaches you discipline that later makes you successful in business. Uh maybe you become a coach, you know, like me. Maybe you become a teacher. Maybe basketball takes you to another country, right? Exactly, just like I just alluded to. Uh, maybe basketball gives you an opportunity to mentor a kid who desperately needs somebody. Uh, maybe 20 years from now, somebody calls you and says, Coach, something you told me when I was 14 changing my life. And I've recently had that happen. Um a player me and my brother were was working with in Germany in 2003. Yep, 2003, 2004. Uh uh, he he he reached out to me and was like, hey, I appreciate what what you all did uh for me back then. So this, I mean, it's it's it's a very true statement. No, um that's basketball, right? And it it it that's basketball honoring you back. So so don't just ask what can I get from this game. Ask, what is this game developing inside of me? Oh man, that's so good. John Wooden says that basketball doesn't build character, he reveals it. So what is this game developing inside of me? Because that is that's a completely different mindset. All right, so season three, right? What's season three all about? So what can you expect from season three? More conversations, all right? Deeper conversations. All right, we're going to sit down with coaches, college coaches, especially. It's like that's that's I really want to get into college coaches and get into their mindsets. Um, you know, along with that, high school coaches. I want to talk to trainers, missionaries, right? I want to get into basketball missionaries, uh, to parents. I really want to hear the side of a parent that's sitting in the bleachers and what they see and think uh and believe to be true, right? And also athletes and leaders, people who have lived the game from different perspectives. Uh, we're gonna talk to recruiting, we're gonna talk to mental performance, we're gonna talk to you, sports culture, all right. We're gonna talk coaching, we're gonna talk family and faith. All right, we're gonna talk about using basketball to serve people around the world. And I'm gonna continue coming back here by myself sometimes too. Um, but however, I mean, because they're just conversations that I believe that um we need to have, like open and honest conversations that we need to have, uh transparent conversations, like snatch the band-aid off conversations um that need to be have. And um even when they're even or especially when they are uncomfortable, right? Especially when they are uncomfortable. Truth be told, I'm not interested in telling everybody uh what they want to hear. I don't think that's what this platform. I know that this is not what the platform is built for, for me to be like a cookie cutter and for me to say everything that you want to hear and give you a warm and fuzzy feeling and stroke your ego and all those types of things. Like, no, this needs to be a platform to where it's uncomfortable conversations that you really don't want to hear. Uh I what I'm interested in is helping us think differently about what we're doing with these young people. Because they're watching us. All the time they're watching us, they're listening to us, and what we do daily, we're teaching them something, whether we realize it or not. All right, so this season is going to be bigger than basketball. All right, so to begin season three. All right, here's my challenge to the athletes. All right, all the players out there uh that listens to this. Uh, this is my challenge to you. Don't just become a better basketball player this season. I want you to become more disciplined, like whether that's at home, whether that's in school, whether that's uh in society, right? Become more disciplined. I want you to become more accountable. Uh I want you to become a better teammate. Right? There's always something better that you can do for a teammate. I want you to become more coachable. I want you to just like stop arguing and trying to make an excuse and trying to justify it and just be like, you know what, coach, you're right. My bad. I'll fix it. Right? Like, like that's that's that's the hardest thing for a coach. Uh, my bad coach. My bad coach. Oh yeah. I'm sorry, coach. I'm I'm like, okay, after a certain point, like three, I I give my players three. I I give my players three, my bad coaches. After that, now it's time to redirect uh uh um your thoughts on why you play this game. All right, after three, my bads. So yeah, become more coachable. All right, become stronger mentally. Like, my God, like stop dropping your head and folding and quitting when something doesn't go your way. Become stronger mentally. Uh become somebody others can trust. And then to the parents, like, don't measure the season only by points, minutes, championships, rankings, or scholarship offers. Like, stop measuring the season by that. Pay attention to who your child is becoming. Uh again, pay attention to what you sports and who your is doing to your child and their development and who they're becoming. Uh, to my coaches out there, remember the responsibility you remember those to my coaches out there, remember the responsibilities that you have been given, that have you've been blessed with, that you've been that have been placed at uh your doorstep. Years from now, your players probably won't remember every play you drew up. Actually, they will not remember every play that you drew up. But what they will remember is how you treated them. And understand, especially when it comes to those those players you have out there that uh um they will need basketball far more important. How can I say this? Like, as a coach, we have to understand that there are players out there that will always need basketball more than basketball needs it. We have to understand when that time is is there. We have to understand that, man, do I do I cut this kid and what that does for this kid, even though this kid will probably never play for me. But how important is being a part of something is to this kid and their growth and their development. All right, remember that. Um uh uh uh kids will kid players will also remember like what you demanded from them, right? They'll remember what you how you believed in them, and they'll remember most importantly, where your life matched the things you taught them. That's key, right there. Like the things that you taught them, how aligned is your life with those things? And then just simply for everyone out there listening, don't waste the season you've been given. All right, there's something you're supposed to learn, there's somebody you're supposed to impact, there's something inside of you that still needs to grow. And that and and and and and now that a new season is upon us, there's a new opportunity amongst us, like there's a new chapter, there's another chance to do something meaningful with this game we love. And this is season three of the discipleship hoops podcast. All right, so we're going deeper, we're asking better questions, uh, we're having more meaningful conversations, and we're doing we're going to keep reminding this generation that basketball can give you a lot. But who you become along the way matters most. The game is the platform, discipleship is the mission. Welcome to season three. Let's get it, let's build. And that wraps up another episode of the Discipleship Hoops podcast. If today's conversation added value to you, do me a favor. Like it, subscribe to the channel, and share this episode with the coach, prepare it or ask these. We're building something bigger than that. We're building bigger than that. If you are your bigger likes, uh