Dr. Ivan Joseph is a well known sports psychologist and the athletic director at Ryerson University.
Before he was at Ryerson, he was a national championship wining soccer coach.
Joseph has recruited many players in his days as a coach, interacted with many more as an athletic director, and impacted still others in his TED talk, “The Skill of Self Confidence.”
As a high school soccer coach, I look for this “skill” when I name my starters and captains.
Men’s basketball coach Ray McCallum needs to do the same.
I am not saying the coach, now in his eighth year, does not do that. But this year when choosing his captains he needs to take a hard look at Carlton Brundidge and Chris Jenkins.
Last year, I interviewed Jenkins for The Varsity news and my radio show. The last question I asked him was who would win the national championship in college basketball.
I was expecting him to say Duke, MSU or Kentucky; Jenkins said Detroit.
The team at the time was below .500 and struggling in the early part of Horizon League play. He did not hesitate when asked the question and then stated that his team was “the best in the country.”
Jenkins shows this type of self-confidence in himself and his team and its the reason why he has been successful on and off the basketball court.
Brundidge – known as CB – is in his fifth year of college. At one point, he was the highest-rated basketball player in the state of Michigan
He went to the University of Michigan before he came to UDM, and he knows how to fall and get back up.
Brundidge could have stopped playing basketball. He could have sulked, but he came to UDM.
Things didn’t really work out his first year here and he’s been buried on the bench since. Most players would quit but CB comes into the season in the best shape of his life, despite knowing he’s not the favorite to get tons of playing time.
Both Brundidge and Jenkins are almost always seen on campus with younger teammates, showing that they want to help the young guys adjust to college and to be there for them.
The lockerroom has not had the same type of chemistry since the younger Ray McCallum left for the NBA.
Jenkins and Brundidge can lead this team back to the “dance.”
