PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast
PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast
From Post-Grad to D1, From Player to Coach feat. Terrell Ivory, Head Coach of Andover
Join us as we dive into the incredible journey of Terrell Ivory, the head coach at Phillips Academy Andover. In this episode, Terrell shares his inspiring story, from his post-graduate year at Andover, to playing at Davidson College, to his professional basketball career in England. He also opens up about his coaching experiences at Blair Academy and Colgate University.
Terrell emphasizes the importance of education, hard work, and balancing academics with athletics. He discusses the significance of relationships and truly caring for the well-being of players, both on and off the court. As a coach, Terrell is passionate about helping young athletes reach their goals and improve in all aspects of their lives.
Key Takeaways:
- Post-Graduate Year at Andover: How it set the foundation for Terrell's future success.
- College Basketball at Davidson: What it was like playing and learning under Coach McKillop.
- Professional Play and Coaching: Insights from playing in England and coaching at Blair Academy and Colgate.
- Transformative Power of Education: How education can create positive change and personal growth.
- Skills for D1 Level Guards: The importance of selflessness and doing the little things to help the team win.
- Running a Marathon: Lessons in discipline, mental toughness, and overcoming adversity.
- Gratitude and Positive Mindset: Essential elements for personal happiness and success.
Terrell’s story is a testament to the power of dedication, resilience, and the transformative impact of great coaching. Whether you’re an aspiring athlete, a coach, or a parent, you’ll find valuable insights in this episode.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction and Background
6:08 Transition to Davidson College
9:08 Lessons Learned from Coaching at Blair Academy
14:13 Witnessing the Success of Steph Curry at Davidson
17:56 Gaining a New Perspective at Colgate University
30:44 The Fulfillment of Coaching and Youth Development
34:04 The Transformative Power of Education
36:47 What It Takes for a Guard to Play at the D1 Level
39:33 Lessons Learned from Running a Marathon
46:32 The Importance of Gratitude and a Positive Mindset
#PrepSchoolBasketball #CollegeRecruiting #AthleteDevelopment #BasketballCoaching #D1Basketball
Connect with Terrell:
Email | tivory@andover.edu
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/teivory1981/
Twitter | https://twitter.com/ivory3383
🔗 Connect with Cory:
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep.athletics/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166
🔖 Subscribe to the PREP Athletics Podcast:
iTunes | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prep-athletics-podcast/id1546265809?uo=4
Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/6CAKbXFiIOhoHinzsReYbJ
Amazon | https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/3c37179d-3371-47f9-9d97-fd569e8802a7/prep-athletics-basketball-podcast #AmazonMusic
Cory Heitz (00:01)
Welcome to this week's episode of the PREP Athletics Podcast. I'm proud to have Andover's coach, Terrell Ivory, joining us today. Now Terrell, he grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he did a post -grad year at Andover himself before playing at Davidson. And he went to Davidson to play football. After football was over, he laced up his shoes for the basketball team and played there the remaining four seasons. So he did that, played a little bit professionally overseas.
Did a stint at Blair Academy for Coach Joe Mantegna, and then went back to Coach Davidson while Steph Curry was a young player there. So he talks about the Steph Curry experience, what it was like playing against him in practice. And then he coached to Colgate before getting back to Andover, his alma mater, and he's been the head coach there for a while now. We talk about Andover. We talk about his experiences at the college and professional level, how he talks to his players about what he learned in college, both as a player and a coach.
He talks about some challenges he's had in his life, which include a car crash, which almost took his life. And he talks about coming back from that, lessons he'd learned, and then we get into marathons. And he talks about doing the Boston Marathon after he didn't know if he was going to survive the crash. So really good conversation with a really good guy. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Cory (01:44)
Terrell, welcome to the podcast.
T. I. (01:47)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.
Cory (01:50)
Yeah, good to have you here after knowing you for a long time. And I want to start by going over your background a little bit. And in high school, you were a big time player in Charlotte and then you decided to do a post -grade year. Talk to me about where you learned about the post -grad year and then how you ended up choosing the prep school you chose.
T. I. (02:08)
Yeah, I mean, I got lucky. You know, my parents were big proponents of both of their kids getting a good education. And I had an older brother. He's about three years older than me. He was a really good basketball player. I would never tell him this to his face, but he was probably a better athlete than I was. And, you know, I looked up to him and sort of watched him do his thing for a long time.
and sort of wanted to be like him. And he, my mom was sort of exploring opportunities for him. He had some offers from some smaller division one schools that were sort of closer to us in North Carolina. But my mom just had sort of this feeling like he needed another year. He needed some time. And she learned about Andover from...
from a parent of an alum. So a parent, a friend of hers, had sent one of his sons had gone to the school. And then I think his daughter ended up going there, but not before my brother went. But he told my mom about, the way they described it was, it's the best school in the country. And he'll get another chance to play.
whatever sport he plays at the time it was basketball and football, you'll have a chance to grow in a lot of different ways. And my mom did her research, learned more about the place and my brother applied and ended up coming. And so he has such a good experience. When it was time for me to do the same thing three years later, it was a no brainer, right? I didn't even.
And I wouldn't recommend this to anybody, right? But I didn't apply to any other schools. I didn't even know any other schools really existed other than the schools we knew about from my brother playing against them. And then our rival school. But it just made sense. I was a good student. I wanted to play college sports and still sort of be able to play sports and do well academically. And so.
I applied and got in and had an amazing experience. And, you know, it was one of those decisions. My mom sort of made it for me. And it turns out it was like the best decision that she could have ever made for me. So.
Cory (04:37)
Perfect. And you ended up going to Davidson after that. Would you have had Davidson straight out of high school or was the post -grade year, did that make it more attractive to Coach McKillop and his staff?
T. I. (04:47)
So they recruited, one of the reasons why I love my experience at Davidson and one of the reasons why I went there is because I watched them recruit Titus. They really wanted him. I would go on his trips. I wasn't as good as he was. So they really weren't recruiting me and sort of in hindsight, they probably shouldn't have recruited me. But what they did offer me is opportunity for me to be closer to home.
I played football. I got into Davidson more because of the football thing. I ended up playing that my first year. So I played football at Davidson my first year. And I had a relationship with the coaches. They had watched me play, decided not to offer me a scholarship, but they knew about me and they knew that like I would probably be a little bit more of an attractive candidate after a post -grad year. They still didn't offer me there, but they knew I was coming and I told them I wanted to try out.
And so as soon as football season was over, I laced up my shoes and went out for the basketball team and sort of made the team. And then I just was on the team for the like my last, I guess, three and a half years. So that half year I was on the team and then I ended up staying on the team until I graduated.
Cory (06:05)
Awesome. And then how did Andover get you ready for playing D1 football and basketball?
T. I. (06:13)
Yeah, I mean, coming out of high school, like I felt like I was prepared, I was in good shape, but like another year, right? You know, being able to play, being able to lift, being able to play against like better competition. Like going to a public high school was a great experience for me. But, you know, when you come up to a place like this, like there are other people.
who were sort of dudes at their public high school, who were really good athletes at their public high school. And one of the things that this place offered was like all of these coaches, and it's something that like I think is really important now, all of these coaches, they may be coming to see our best player in the gym, but they have a chance to see like all the other players too, right? So the exposure here.
is sort of one of the key factors in what makes this experience like from an athletic perspective so attractive. And so, you know, I lifted a lot here. I had a lot of free time like outside of classes and sports. And so like I had to figure out how was I going to use that time? The classes here were more challenging than they were at my public school because the kids who come to this place, they want to be here, right? They're applying to be here because...
they know that they're gonna be challenged in the classroom. And so I had teachers here who pushed me in ways that I had never been pushed before at a public high school, because the kids at my public high school, like there were kids who like really loved school. And then there were kids, they went to school because they had to, but they didn't necessarily wanna be here, whereas everybody in the classroom here wanted to be here. And so I think I was a better student. Like outside of...
like the work that I was doing in the classroom, I went and got extra help when I needed it. Like I never had to do that at my public school. And so being able to sort of develop that skill of asking for help and advocating for myself academically, but also outside of the class and with sports and things like that. Like...
If I wanted to get better, right, I could reach out to my coach. He was right on campus and say, hey, coach, can you open up the gym or coach, you have time to shoot with me? Or, you know, if there were other guys on campus, like I tried to take advantage of all the opportunities I had at this place to sort of prepare myself as well as I possibly could for when I was no longer gonna be at a place like this. And I just think the transition in a lot of different ways, whether it was in the classroom or outside of the classroom.
which just made so much easier because of some of the lessons and some of the things that I sort of, you know, adversity that I dealt with when I was a student here for that one year.
Cory (09:04)
Perfect, I love that. And I'm sure you tell that to the kids you're recruiting nowadays too, is all the benefits you experienced firsthand.
T. I. (09:11)
Yeah, and so like all the things that my coaches did for me, all the things that they helped me with, like I work really hard to make sure I'm sort of providing those same benefits for the kids that come here. And like once they get here, they realize sort of all of the opportunities they have and just trying to help them sort of find that balance because they can do a lot of basketball. They're certainly going to do some work here.
And that's going to help them out. But they can also do some other things that they may never have tried before, which I think is really cool. I think you learn a lot about yourself at places like this, which I really appreciate. I love seeing sort of the journey for the kids who come here, like when they first arrive on campus versus when they're leaving campus and sort of are ready to move on to the next step in their journey.
Cory (10:04)
Yeah, you're seeing their growth, which is great. When you got to Davidson and you started, you know, you laced up those shoes after your first football season, what was the biggest surprise to you about the D1 level of basketball?
T. I. (10:06)
Yeah, yeah.
that I was no longer the best player on my team, right? And in order to compete with those guys, in order to give myself a chance to play and to contribute, like I had to like work really, really hard. And it wasn't just enough to do what you had to do like during the time that you had practice, right? Like, were you...
You gotta go watch film. You gotta eat well. You gotta, this is something I never really worried about as much until I got to Davidson. Like you gotta get some sleep, right? And it's like all of those things that sort of helped you to be successful. Like you really can't.
sort of miss out on any of those things, right? There's so many things that lead to success. And like, if you sort of mess up one of those things or you sort of, you know, ignore one of those things, like it could really, it could be harmful to sort of you trying to like have the success that you want. And so it was a lot of the little things, right? And just being like prepared, right? Cause I wasn't a...
I wasn't given a scholarship right away. And so I had to sort of earn everything that I wanted, like at that level and doing the little things and taking care of those things and like preparing and sort of being a learner and trying to sort of absorb as much knowledge as possible is like really, really important. But like the eating, the exercise, the sleeping, all of that stuff became just.
that much more important in order for me to be successful. And like the other balance is like, I also needed to have some fun, right? It couldn't have been like, you can't just be like, I gotta work, work, work, right? You gotta have some balance and like remember how much, like I play basketball because it's fun, I love it. And I wanted to sort of keep that perspective at the same time, you know, take it seriously enough to where people thought, they knew that like, you know.
Cory (12:17)
Mm -hmm.
T. I. (12:37)
I wanted to do everything I could. And like, you know, I had to make a lot of sacrifices, right? I went from, you know, in high school playing the entire game and at prep school at Andover playing the entire game. And I wasn't going to play the entire game at Davidson. Was I going to be frustrated by that or was I going to find a way to like, what, and to the point, especially my first few years, right? I was like, okay, I may not play a lot in the game, but like,
you're going to get everything I have in practice. And that meant like, that means even if I'm not playing as much as I want to in the game, like I was helping the team. Like if it was the starter or the guy who was a backup to the starter, like I was going to try my best to make sure that like I competed hard enough to make them better. So if I was on the scout team, right. And the coach, you know, I would watch film and say, okay, the kid from
you know, Chattanooga, right? Who we play in like a week. This is the way he, you know, he plays. I was going to try to do that, right? And figure out how to make my team, how to prepare my guys, the guys that were playing as good as possible. So, and that was hard because, you know, in high school, like I played a lot, right? And that was a part of like who I thought I was. But when I wasn't playing, like I wasn't going to let that stop me from helping make my team successful.
Cory (14:06)
Yeah, love it. And you know, those little things you mentioned, Terrell, sleep, exercise, nutrition, and we'll get into your D1 coaching career here in a little bit, but like all that, you're now bringing back to your prep school coaching and sharing those tips with your prep school kids. So when they get to college, they're going to know about sleep. They're going to know about nutrition. You're going to know about the exercise. So it should not be as big as a shock for them with your experience you're bringing.
T. I. (14:11)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah. Yep.
Yeah, like I say that all the time when I'm trying to help kids understand why a year at playing for me, going to a school like this will be beneficial. Like I want them to get to college and it's not going to be the same, but I want them to at least feel more prepared, right? Like if there's a long practice or an intense practice, I want them to say, hey, you know, I did that.
to a certain extent at Andover. So I'm prepared, right? I feel good about how I can handle what's sort of being thrown at me. And so that is one of the main things that I try to, like, I want to win games. I want our teams to be successful. But like sort of right up there with all of that is I want my kids to feel like they've been there and done that. I want them to be prepared.
Cory (15:26)
Absolutely. Love it. Love it. Now, after Davidson, you spent a year in England playing professionally. What was the best part of that and what was the worst part?
T. I. (15:32)
Mm -hmm.
I don't want to offend the whole nation. The worst part was, and not that the food was bad, it was just different, right? And so I had to get used to that. I ate a lot of home cooked meals and things like that. So I missed that. But the best part was I was young, I had a car.
I was playing basketball, like that was my job to play basketball. And that's like, and obviously everybody wants to make it to the NBA, but at some point like that, that dream was no longer realistic for me. So I wasn't going to make the NBA, but I still got a chance to play at sort of a relatively high level, get paid. And like, like I would wake up and, and I would sort of get the hard stuff out of the way. Like I got to go workout. Like I got to go lift. I got to do all this.
this stuff. And then I figure out like, all right, what am I going to do with the rest of my day? Like, how am I going to fill the time? So I was able to travel. I was able to experience a lot of different things. I tried to learn Spanish. I traveled to different countries where they didn't speak English, where I could learn Spanish and just sort of be immersed in different cultures. So that was the best part, being able to just...
you know, play basketball for a living, right? But also find a way to balance all the other things that I wanted to do because, you know, I love music, I love reading, and I love like eating, right? So I got to do a little bit of all of that because you, outside of the sort of a lot of time that you spend playing professional basketball, you got a lot of time on your hands. And I was able to sort of take advantage of that. And I really appreciate that.
sort of had that perspective even when I was doing it. And I didn't want to have any regrets, right? So when I was over in England, I tried to take it, tried to do as many things as, set a lot of goals and do as many things as I could while I was there.
Cory (17:44)
I love that because you'll hear sometimes kids from America go overseas and they're just mad they're not in the NBA or mad they're not in the G League and missing this family member, that girlfriend, and they're not present. They're playing video games all day in their apartment and they miss out on what you actually took advantage of. So kudos to you for having that mindset to take advantage of it. All right. You did that year in England and then you came back to the States and started coaching with Joe Mantegna at Blair Academy. So you did Andover.
T. I. (17:49)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Cory (18:14)
You've played four years D1. You did it professionally. What did you get out of your experience coaching with Joe at Blair?
T. I. (18:21)
So, cause the first thing I'll say about that is like, and sort of relationships are everything, right? And like, I was, I'm lucky enough to know a lot of good people. And I think I hope people like me enough. And so when Joe reached out to Coach Matheny, who was the assistant coach at Davidson at the time.
and sort of describe what he was looking for, right? He's looking for, a young person that, you know, played basketball that might want to get into coaching. and, and, you know, sort of has experience maybe, you know, went to a boarding school or, you know, just.
loves teaching, right? Which essentially is coaching. Coaching is teaching outside of a classroom, right? And so when Coach Spathini called me, I don't know if he thought like, TI is going to be playing for five more years, but he kind of probably didn't think that because he saw me play a lot. So he knew I was probably going to retire in a little bit. But at that point, like, you know, my older brother was playing in Italy. He and I, I wasn't watching his money, but I knew he was making a lot more money than me.
And so I was like, I need to get a real job, right? This is not like how I'm going to make a living. So when Coach Muthini reached out, like, I was like, this is perfect, right? And I did some research and learned more about Coach Mantegna and just saw how passionate he was, how much he cared about the kids that he was working with. And so for me, again, like I feel like I'm always trying to learn something and, and...
playing for Coach McKillop was like unbelievable. Cause I think he's one of the best teachers of the game. Right. And so it was sort of similar working with Coach Mantegna. Right. And what was, what was great about working with him is like, you could tell cause he, he was, he knew so much more about basketball than I knew. But like at the same time he was interested in, in sort of like my perspective. Right.
And he made me feel important in a way that like, you know, what was I, 24, 23 years old. Like he shouldn't care what I thought about, like some of the stuff that he was doing, but he did. Right. And I think that's what makes him such a great coach, right. Such a leader of people. And so like, I learned a lot about, you know, what it was like to, cause the kids he was coaching, like they needed him.
Right. They needed his help and, and sort of how to, how to sort of balance the needs and sort of the desires of those kids. Cause like the whole team was good. Everybody wanted to play, but everybody can't play. Right. How do you help kids who was like, especially if they're highly successful, where they come from, sort of understand what their role is on in this, in this new dynamic and things like that. And then like.
this idea of like, how can you push them in a way where they won't get so frustrated, they no longer wanna play for you, things like that. Like I just, I've learned so much and it has to be, and I learned this from Coach McKillop too, but Coach Mantegna was great with this. Like it's always more than just about basketball, right? If a kid, if -
Cory (21:56)
Mm -hmm.
T. I. (22:01)
Parents send their kids to you and they're saying, hey, I'm trusting you with my baby, right? Like, you know, if everything outside of basketball is not going well, then how could basketball go well, right? And so like, there's this sort of this foundation you got to start with. And Coach Mantegna was great with that. Like he was, he and Coach McKellar, he's very tough on the kids. The reason why you can be...
Cory (22:18)
you
T. I. (22:31)
that tough, the reason why he could do some of the things that he did is because those kids absolutely knew that he cared about them, right? And to me, that's everything. So like, you know, with some of the kids, it was more challenging, like, as long as you care about me, like, and I think you know, I know you want what's best for me, then like everything sort of fair game to a certain point, right? And that to me, like, I love watching him.
be really hard on some kids, but also understand when to let up and also understand like he just, he knew what buttons to push and when to push him and how to motivate kids and then how to care about them when they needed it, right? Sometimes like, you know, you want to motivate them, but it's the timing's not right. He just was a, he was amazing. So I've really enjoyed watching him sort of do his thing.
Cory (23:29)
Yeah, now this summer he'll be in Paris with the South Sudanese Olympic team, which is crazy. So after Blair, you went back to your alma mater of Davidson to be the director of basketball operations and be back with coach McKillop. What was the best part about being a dobo? What was the most challenging part?
T. I. (23:32)
Yeah, that's really cool. Yeah, it's so cool.
The challenging part was, especially at a, so I think we were in the Southern Conference at the time. The most challenging part was like when you get to the end of the year and like everything is sort of riding on, you want to make it to the tournament, right? And so as a coach, we didn't, we didn't make it, we didn't make it to the tournament. Now we, we played in the NIT, which is really cool.
And it's because I saw this year a couple of teams opted out of that. Like, I mean, I would never, right? I would never do that. Right. I was like, you know, if you have a chance to keep playing, you play, especially, you know, in such a prestigious tournament. But that was a tough part because there was like, especially when when Steph was there. Right. There was these expectations. They the year I came on, they had just made it to the Elite Eight and then it was his his junior year.
And it wasn't an experience, right? Because he was, everybody knew who he was. People would, like every game was packed. Obviously our home games were packed, but people were just like, every away gym was packed. It was unbelievable. He was like a rock star. But there was these expectations, right? People, they were expecting us to like do really well and we did, except we, you know, we just didn't, we lost I think in the...
It's a bad memory, but we, I think we lost in the semifinals to college at Charleston in the, in the Southern Conference tournament, which means we didn't have a chance to go to the tournament. But we still took advantage of when we went to the, the NIT and I think we beat South Carolina at South Carolina in the first round or something like that. But the worst part was like the disappointment and not making the tournament, right? Cause you always feel like you put in all this work.
Cory (25:34)
Hmm.
T. I. (25:43)
And that sort of is the goal and you don't reach that goal, but there are other sort of things that we accomplished that were great, but I really wish we would have made the tournament, especially that first year, Steph's last year. The best part, I got a front row seat, right, to watch, especially like in retrospect, like.
I mean, people always talk about like, did you think he would be that good? And the answer is yes, right? And I got to like, you got to, you got a front row seat. You got to watch how he prepared. And when you get to see something on that level, right? It sort of informs like what you do for the rest of your life and how you sort of, and not that people can be what Steph was, but like to be able to sort of say like, hey, this is what.
He did, right? This is why he sort of outkicked his coverage in the sense that he was like, you know, he was smaller at the time. He wasn't like, like a person who was like physically imposing, right? But like, he just worked really hard. And on top of that, he was just a good kid. And so it was fun sort of, especially in retrospect saying like you could sort of watch him.
you know, be who he was at that time and watch him do his thing.
Cory (27:06)
Absolutely. Yeah. That was you hit lightning in a bottle there with, with being there with one of the greatest players of all time, seeing him before he became him. So, you then left Davidson after that year to go coach at Colgate. What were the main differences that you saw between those two programs?
T. I. (27:10)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it's funny, because Coach McKillop was a veteran, right? And sort of well -known and had sort of established himself as, you kind of knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer, right? Even before Steph, just because he had had a really successful career. And so working for Matt Langle at the time, he was...
I mean, I know people knew who he was, but like, he wasn't sort of as established as Coach McKillar. And that was sort of, it was nice because it was sort of a new perspective, right? And a new way of sort of understanding like, okay, you can sort of have the same goal, right? You wanna win basketball games, you want your defense to be good, you want your...
offense to be efficient, but you don't have to do it this way, right? There are different ways, because when you play for somebody and when you coach under them, you start to think, this is clearly the only and best way to do sort of these things, and clearly that's not true, right? And you can see sort of the origins of the success that he has now. Then.
Cory (28:39)
Right.
T. I. (28:47)
that first year, because I was only with them for one year. But I always say this, and I think because I want the world to be good. Like, I think good things happen to good people. And you could tell that like he never was going to compromise like his integrity or anything like that. He just wanted kids who worked hard. He wanted kids who were good people. And they were, in a sense, taking a risk to go to Colgate at the time because it...
you know, they hadn't been great. But like you could tell he was going to do everything he could do in order for that program to be successful. And it starts, you know, something I talked about is like he did a lot of the little things, right? Like we needed to, like if a kid wanted to work out, like you better, you got to go work out, right? Like you got to help these kids. If they're asking for help, you got to go help them out. And I think like you could just tell.
because he was just such a good person because of how genuine he was. And I think he wanted good people around him. And that, to me, that leads to success. Now, how successful he is, I don't know where the secret is. But I think whatever he's doing, he deserves every bit of it. Because to me, he's just an unbelievable person who sort of, I love seeing good things happen to good people. So.
Cory (30:12)
Yeah. And then after that year at Colgate, you then went back to your alma mater of Andover and went back to being a head coach, you know, for the first time in the prep school world. What made you want to go back to NEPSEC?
T. I. (30:16)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
College coaching, I love it. And like I could have done it for a very, very long time. It's just something about the age group at a place like this, right? You're getting anywhere from 13 to 16, 17 year old, maybe 18 year old kids. And those college kids, they're pretty mature. They, for the most part.
not that I had it figured out in college, but they kind of got it more figured out than these kids. And like, I loved seeing kids sort of reach their goals and then continuing to improve once they got to college. But I felt like it was, I would feel better about helping kids get to that point as opposed to getting them when they were at that point. And I know like how much,
the people at Andover, whether it was the coaches that I work with or like the other faculty members who helped me out with like non -athletic stuff with like life stuff. Like I knew that I think because I care about people that I could be good at that. And so working with kids and helping them sort of get from wherever point A is when they arrive on campus to point B, to me,
Like I just, it makes me happy, right? And I get to know the kids that play for me, right? Because I spend a lot of time with them, especially during the season. But I also get to know kids that like will never play basketball ever in their life, right? Or they may play JV and never play varsity basketball for me, or they don't play sports, right? So I get to spend time with kids as a house counselor. I mean,
kids in my class. I have an advising group of eight kids, none of them play basketball. So not only do I get sort of the benefit of being a coach here and helping out like the basketball kids, but I get to sort of be a part of other kids' lives who may never play a sport. But I also, you know, I get to, as an admissions officer, right, I get to travel. I know like the power of a good education. And I think this place,
is amazing and it transforms people's lives. And so, helping kids, helping families through that process and getting to the point where they could to take advantage of this place. Like it means something to me because I know what these kids, how they change the world in a positive way once they leave here. and so again, sort of similar to what I said before, what you mentioned, like being able to watch that journey.
It makes me feel good. It makes me happy. So I really appreciate that about this place. And I can do that to a certain extent at college, but in college, basketball was everything, right? Whereas at a place like this, I can do the basketball at a high level, right? But I also get to do all this other stuff and find other ways to help people out.
Cory (33:40)
Perfect. And you're talking about Andover, the education, the experience you have. What's the pitch you give to families that are looking at Andover? Why should they come to your prep school? What do they need to know about it? What's your elevator pitch?
T. I. (33:52)
Yeah, so you got it. This place is the best of the best. It's not a good fit for everybody. But if it is a good fit, it'll change your life for the better, right? Because you can't just come here and just say, I just want to play basketball. I just want to play this sport, right? You can't. Those kids aren't successful here. You've got to be just as.
involved in sort of the other stuff, especially academics, but also the other stuff, like the people, right? And like, you know, I went to a public high school where everybody was from the same place. And, you know, there wasn't sort of much diversity of like thought and things like that. Like, you know, where I am now, like two weeks ago, I was in South Africa, right? Looking for kids.
from there to help them sort of come to our school because that piece matters, right? Like when you're around people who aren't like you, when you're around people who don't think the same as you, right? Like that gives you an opportunity to grow. And so I want people to come here and take advantage of it. I want them to find success. I want them to be challenged. I want them to fail.
I want them to overcome some adversity, right? And if you can do all those things in a place like this, and this place sort of provides you with the opportunity to do all those things I just mentioned, like you're just going to be better off when you leave here. And that's what I want. I want kids to come here one way. I want them to experience this place and then leave sort of better off.
are better than when they came here. And I think, you know, the people I talk to, the kids that have played for me, the kids that like I've been connected with, like they all leave this place and it may not be like their first year, but they all leave this place and they feel like they're better off because they experienced this place. So.
Cory (36:10)
Love it. Love it. And then, you know, there's a question I ask everybody in the podcast. I'm very curious since you actually did this, but What does it take for a guard to play at the D1 level today, 2024?
T. I. (36:23)
A
The word to the top of the mind, and I think it's counter intuitive, but to me, you just got to be selfless, right? And what I mean by that is like, of course you got to be able to score, right? But like, it has to sort of make sense in sort of the grand scheme of the game. Because especially for college coaches, like they want to win games, right?
That's how they keep their job. And then like based on how you win games, like I think a lot of good things can happen. Like you can sort of do a lot of good things, but like if you can't help your team win, right, then like, I don't think you're very useful to a college coach. And what are those things that you can do, right? And I always talk about the things that don't show up in the newspaper, right?
maybe in assists maybe show up in the newspaper, but it's not the most glamorous thing. It's not like scorn, but if like you can help your team get 50, 50 balls, you can play good defense, take a couple of charges. If you can rebound well, right? And like you can do like a lot of the little things, right? That have nothing to do with necessarily scoring. Then I think you can definitely.
find your way on at least at the divisional level. You can help your team win. And part of that is just playing hard. And again, I'm looking at a lot of videos now. Like my favorite player right now is, and I watch a lot of like YouTube stuff and Instagram stuff. My favorite player right now is Ant Edwards. And not because of how talented he is. And if you ask me like MJ or Kobe or LeBron, like it's, I'm Michael Jordan all day.
because he reminds me a lot of that, but like he just, the way he communicates, right. the fact that he, he's a really good score, but he also plays really good defense. But the fact that he just, like, he's a, he's an unbelievable leader and, and I think he's doing it in a way that's different. He's not as intense as though as Kobe or MJ, right. He's always smiling. and you talked about this at the beginning of the podcast, you said we're going to have fun. Like, I just think, you know, if you, if you could play that way, right.
Like, you're just going to get so much more done, right? And so I think like having fun, doing the little things and being a good leader are sort of the key ingredients in playing successfully at that level, I would say.
Cory (39:04)
Thanks for sharing that. I know that you did a marathon a few years ago and I also have done a marathon and know what that's all about. And it's a great, great challenge. I love the training. I love the things that pushed in me. What did you get out of the training from doing that? Cause that was your first one, right?
T. I. (39:10)
Yeah Yeah, yeah
So yeah, my first one's a few years ago. And then I ran the, it was a whole nother experience, but I ran the Boston Marathon, which running in front of all of those people and having them cheer you on, it's like, I mean, the energy, right? It's just like, cause at some point during the marathon, you'd be like, I don't know if I can keep doing this, but like.
you know, that motivation or all the signs like kids would have like little signs like a mushroom from the Super Mario games and like tap this for energy. Now, you know, you're not getting real energy from tapping it, but like psychologically, like it makes all the difference in the world. But for me, it was, I had just gotten my car accident. I broke my ankle. Like people were really worried that I was never gonna recover fully.
And to me, I needed, because I had been an athlete, like I needed to set a goal for myself to say, and I don't know if I could reach that goal, but it wasn't about reaching the goal. It was about doing all the little things that helped me get to the point where I felt like I was making progress, right? Whether I got to the goal was one thing or not, but like the goal was like, all right, I need something to help me feel like I'm going to be okay, right? Because everybody was, including myself, I was worried.
that I wasn't going to be okay, whether I could walk again, whether I would have permanent damage, concussion stuff and things like that, because it was a head injury. And so I sort of set this goal. And I had been a little bit of a runner before, but not long distance stuff. And it's funny, after you run a marathon, you realize like...
Cause I, and so I've done other, like some halves and like I'll run a half marathon and I'll be like, there's no way I can run 13 more miles, but that's not true. Right. Cause I've done it before. Right. and you realize how long that is, but it's, it's, it's, it's less, it becomes less of a physical thing and more of a sort of a mental thing. and that's what I needed. The physical stuff. I think I knew I was going to be okay physically, like mentally, like, you know, can I do this? And like,
Being able to do it and say you've accomplished that, it's really cool. And then you're just like, I don't know if there's an exact number, but you're always sort of faster or you do better when you're running with people, right? It's the reason why I love playing tennis and golf right now. But if I had to choose, I'd much rather play a team sport because accomplishing something like that with other people.
Cory (42:04)
Mm.
T. I. (42:16)
I think means much more. And that's why like, if I had to just go run 26 miles or 13 miles, a half marathon by myself, it's not as easy as doing that. Like if you're running like with people, which I think is cool.
Cory (42:31)
But that's the challenge, I think, is running by yourself with just you and yourself there.
T. I. (42:33)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That training was a beast. The training takes so much longer than the actual marathon. There were like days where, like when it got, cause I used the Nike app and like you basically would run a certain amount of miles on Monday and then you would run double that on a Saturday or Sunday, right? And then you would do like interval workouts in between, but like,
It got to the point where the Monday workout was like eight miles. And so Sunday, you're like, I got to run 16 miles, right? And, you know, depending on how long, like you got to, you got to figure out like, all right, what am I going to run? Is it hot? Is it cold? Like how long is it going to take? And then I had, I never had an experience where I was like, I got to stop and eat while I'm running. No, I got it. Like I can't not drink water, right? And sort of planning all that out. It was.
And then it was like, I tried not to run like a marathon planet when I had to train when it was cold, but sometimes you couldn't avoid it. And like running inside for like two hours, it's like, you know, you feel like your hamps are on a wheel. It's like, it's the worst, but like it's again, it's discipline, right? So.
Cory (43:53)
I think I've read this somewhere, Terrell, that like a guy wanted to make it mandatory for everyone in America before they graduate high school to run a marathon, right? Because here's the things it does, right? One, you get in shape, obviously. Two, you got to learn how to plan, right? When you're going to do your runs and all that. Three, you learn how to fight through adversity because during all that training, there are days it feels great, there are days it hurts and it doesn't feel good. And then a sense of accomplishment you get when you...
T. I. (44:01)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, it's really good. Yeah, no. Yeah, yeah.
Cory (44:19)
cross that finish line, like no one can take that from you and you've got that the rest of your life. And if people go to a marathon, you see all ages, all sizes. You see people that don't look like they should be running marathons that are doing just fine. So that's the beautiful thing about it too, that you don't have to be an ultra athlete to do it, right?
T. I. (44:28)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
No, you don't. No, it's pretty cool. I got one more in me and then I think I'm done. I think I'm gonna run New York next year. So we'll see. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Cory (44:45)
Good for you. Well, I tell you what, the first one was great because you don't know what's going to happen. But when I trained for my second marathon, that was trickier because I knew it was coming. Right. And it was in Colorado. And so I had to train up here in the mountains in the snow. Right. And guess what? It was during COVID. So I actually had something to keep me sane and healthy throughout COVID, but come race day a week before they canceled it. And, so I was in shh. No, I want you to do one of those virtual ones. No way.
T. I. (44:58)
God.
Yeah.
God. Did you run anyway?
you did? Okay. Yeah, that's crazy. But you trained for it. Yeah.
Cory (45:15)
So that sucked, but I tried and it was different because now I was like, I know what that 18 mile run is going to feel like. I know what that 20 mile run is going to feel like. And on the second one, my 18 mile run, I didn't make it. I think I made it 14 miles and I walked for those 14 and I had to call an Uber and I was like, gosh. And it shook me, but that's good. I learned a lot from that day. Everything's not going to go as planned always. So anyway, I think it's great for everybody.
T. I. (45:24)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Cory (45:45)
So last thing here, you did mention your car wreck and how you almost took everything from you and you've recovered and run a marathon and everything. What's the big lesson you learned from such an experience like this?
T. I. (45:58)
You learned a lot of different lessons. I would say one is just, just be thankful because it can all be gone. Right. And I would say a lot of, you know, sort of during my recovery, a lot of people who were really close to me, they stayed close to me, but a lot of people that I had sort of lost touch with, I reconnected with them because I just, I wanted to make sure.
that they sort of understood, like, you know, they understood how I felt, right? I wanted them to know how much I cared about them. And to me, that was really important. And...
You got to take advantage of, of, of, of sort of, you know, you wake up, right. And it's a gift and then like sort of what you choose, how you choose to go about your day, how you choose to sort of do things. And I try to, I'm not happy all the time, but like I am an optimist. And I try to sort of help. I want people to laugh. I want people to smile. I want people to be happy.
and like, I think I'm a little bit old. I do that a little bit too much now because I just, I just know like, you know.
I don't wanna sort of be in this space, be in this world and just regret anything. And so to me, I'm happy, right? And I appreciate a lot more sort of understanding people and being like super empathetic and sort of things like that. I'm just.
And for me, I know it's sort of a little cliche, but like when something's taken from you and you can sort of see, not visualize, because I mean, I was scared, I was worried that things weren't going to be the same after sort of going through what I went through. And the fact that I was able to recover in a way where things are pretty similar to, you know, physically, at least, you know, what I was like before. So I'm just thankful.
and try to sort of spread as much positivity as possible, right? You know, so that's the biggest lesson is just be thankful, I would say.
Cory (48:27)
Yeah, thanks for sharing that. We can all use that. You don't even need a car crash for that. So, all right, we're going to finish up with some quick hitters here. Okay. Best player you ever played against.
T. I. (48:29)
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Okay.
Steph, easy. As a dobo, being able to sort of, you know, whether it was like working out or stuff like that, I would say him. But like outside of the best play I played against in college, it was, I would say that like when we were actually competing would be like Jason, Jason Williams.
Cory (48:41)
Okay.
Hmm. Okay. Best player you've ever coached against both in prep school and college levels.
T. I. (49:01)
from Duke.
Best player, I'm gonna say his name wrong, AJ, AJ DeBonsea. That's the best player. Is that how you say his last name? That's the kid who played at St. Sebs for a few years and then he went out to prolific prep. But he was, I mean, he's just another level. So I would say him.
Cory (49:15)
I don't know, I was going to ask you.
What about when you're coaching them? Is there one guy that really impressed you?
T. I. (49:34)
Coaching? Who way?
As coaching, probably, Andrew Gudelop. He went to college at Charleston. He was good. He was really good. He had a, like, I'm sure he played on like some summer league team. He didn't play in the NBA, but he was really good. So, yeah. Favorite movie, Shawshank Redemption.
Cory (49:56)
Okay, what's your favorite movie of all time?
Okay, and lastly, what are your hobbies?
T. I. (50:03)
Yeah. Hobbies, I love playing golf. I love playing tennis. And I'm a big, so I'm a Star Wars guy. I named my first daughter Leia. And so like, I love either reading those books or watching all of the, like they're the movies, right? But then there's a whole bunch of like.
animated shows. I like watching those like the Clone Wars and the Bad Batch and things like that. So I love that stuff. So yeah.
Cory (50:32)
Mm -hmm.
Perfect. Anything you want to talk about that we didn't discuss in our conversation today?
T. I. (50:43)
No, not really. I mean, I just say how lucky I am that I get to do what I do. And I talked about recovering from the accident and things like that. But I feel like I have the best job in the world. I get to coach, I get to work with kids. And I'm lucky. And I will always like...
put myself in a position where I'm not taking that for granted. And I try to remind myself and humble myself and realize how lucky I am every day. So, yeah.
Cory (51:22)
or if people want to reach out to you or find you on the socials or find out more about Andover basketball, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
T. I. (51:29)
Yeah, so you can always email me tivory andover.edu. And then what is my Instagram? It's tivory1981 is my Instagram. So yeah.
Cory (51:49)
Well, Terrell, it's a pleasure having you on today. Thanks so much about sharing your story and more about Andover.
T. I. (51:56)
Thank you, Cory. I appreciate it, man.
Cory (51:58)
Yeah, and if you guys like this, be sure to subscribe on all the major podcasting platforms. Subscribe on YouTube and go to prepathletics .com. Get signed up for that newsletter so you don't miss anything in our monthly email. A lot of good intel and any questions about the prep school world or basketball recruiting, feel free to reach out to me, coreyheitz@ gmail .com or find it on the PREP Athletics website. Thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Take care.