Balancing Basketball and Life - Nic Nelson, Briar Cliff University

Today's Blog entry comes from Nic Nelson, the head men's basketball coach at Briar Cliff University.  He discusses coaching men's basketball in the competitive GPAC and balancing home life at the same time.  Thank you Nic for your thoughts and perspectives!

I have been coaching men’s basketball in the GPAC for eight years, first as an assistant for four years and now as a head coach for the past four.  We GPAC men’s basketball coaches take a lot of pride in our conference, because we know what it stands for and the reputation it has around the country.  The people in the GPAC are first-class, from the games management staff and fans at the gyms to the players and coaches on all eleven teams.  While there is intense competition between our teams, it strikes me that there is a real sense of respect and even affection among the coaches and players in our league. 

The one thing that stands out about men’s basketball in the GPAC is the quality of depth throughout the league.  Most of the conferences in the country have one or two really good teams at the top, but then there is a major drop-off.  I can speak for all the head coaches in the GPAC when I say that on most nights, it feels like there is no drop-off at all!  Annually, the teams who finish in the middle and even bottom half of our conference are very good teams who would compete at a high level in most other conferences in the country.  To navigate the twenty-game GPAC schedule is extremely challenging. 

Another thing I hear from many of our non-conference opponents is how the teams in the GPAC “just know how to play.”  We have a conference full of smart basketball players and teams who play the game the right way.  GPAC teams play hard, they are disciplined, and they play a very exciting brand of ball.  Fans in the area already know this—devoting a couple hours on a Wednesday night or Saturday afternoon to watch a GPAC basketball game is going to be a lot of fun. 

When our Briar Cliff teams have played in the National Tournament in Branson, Missouri, we have always taken a lot of pride in representing the GPAC.  You will almost certainly see the other GPAC teams at your game supporting you, and you do the same for them.  As much as you want to beat each other during the regular season and conference tournament, you realize when you get to Branson that you want badly for the other GPAC teams to play well and represent the conference.  That bond between teams in our conference is special.

Finally, I, like the other coaches in the league, have to constantly balance my passion for coaching men’s basketball at Briar Cliff with my family at home.  My wife is a second-grade teacher in Sioux City, and we have two daughters who are nine and five.  Between practices, games, scouting, and recruiting, it can be a challenge to spend time with your family during basketball season.  I really admire the degree to which the coaches in our league are family men.  It’s common to see my fellow coaches with their wives and children at games and even out on the recruiting trail.  I believe the men’s basketball coaches in the GPAC set a terrific example for their players in how to be husbands and fathers.  Life in the GPAC is about more than W’s and L’s.

-Nic Nelson
Learn more about Nic Nelson HERE
Follow him on Twitter @BriarCliffHoops

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