Coaching Girls' Basketball Successfully - Jill Prudden - Paperback

Learn to coach girls’ basketball from one of the most successful U.S. high school coaches. In Coaching Girls’ Basketball Successfully, veteran coach Jill Prudden explains the methods she has used to win more than 700 games and send dozens of female players to the collegiate level, including Olympian Jennifer Azzi.

Packed with insights, plays, and drills, this comprehensive book presents the tactics for leading an effective program as it specifically relates to girls’ teams. Not only will you find the skills and drills to help your team improve on the court, but you will also discover the foundational issues of developing a philosophy, motivating, evaluating, and communicating with players and staff. Sample forms, charts, and checklists help you organize and manage teams on a daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal basis.

Through Prudden’s expert guidance and compelling anecdotes, you will learn to identify and put into play the unique team dynamics of girls’ basketball. Coaching Girls’ Basketball Successfully will show you how to build a winning program and team, year in and year out.

About the Author

Jill Prudden is the head girls’ basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Oak Ridge (Tennessee) High School and a physical education teacher at Robertsville Middle School. Over the course of her coaching career, she has won more than 700 games and earned 3 state titles, 5 state runner-up finishes, 18 regional championships, and 22 district titles.

Under Prudden’s guidance, Oak Ridge has appeared in USA Today’s final national rankings several times. She has coached 45 players who have received college scholarships, including Olympian and professional player Jennifer Azzi. USA Basketball and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) have selected Prudden for various coaching duties, including court coach for the 2001 USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Trials and coach for the 1997 WBCA all-star game. She also served as the USA basketball coach at the 1998 World Youth Games.

A three-time Tennessee Coach of the Year and seven-time East Tennessee Coach of the Year, Prudden is a member of the WBCA, the USA Basketball Youth and Cadet Committee, and the McDonald’s High School All-American Selection Committee. She was inducted into the Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1998 Prudden received the Sports Hall of Fame TSSAA Distinguished Service Award.

Prudden resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she enjoys jogging and golfing and is involved with compassion ministries.

Table of Contents

Part I Coaching Foundation
Chapter 1. Developing a Coaching Philosophy
Chapter 2. Communicating Your Approach
Chapter 3. Motivating Players
Chapter 4. Building and Maintaining a Basketball Program

Part II Coaching Plans
Chapter 5. Planning for the Season
Chapter 6. Preparing for Practices

Part III Coaching Offense
Chapter 7. Basic Offensive Positions and Sets
Chapter 8. Teaching Offensive Skills
Chapter 9. Developing a Running Game
Chapter 10. Developing a Half-Court Offense
Chapter 11. Special Situations

Part IV Coaching Defense
Chapter 12. Teaching Defensive Positions and Sets
Chapter 13. Teaching Defensive Skills
Chapter 14. Teaching Team Defense
Chapter 15. Special Defensive Situations

Part V Coaching Games
Chapter 16. Preparing for Games
Chapter 17. Handling Game Situations

Part VI Coaching Evaluation
Chapter 18. Evaluating Players
Chapter 19. Evaluating Your Program

Words of Praise

"Jill Prudden is one of the best high school coaches I have ever known. Her dedication to her athletes and to high school girls basketball, and her knowledge of the game and attention to detail has benefited many great collegians such as Jennifer Azzi at Stanford University and Nikki Caldwell at the University of Tennessee. This book will have tremendous value to a coach who wants to build a program the right way!"

Nell Fortner, Auburn University

"Coach Prudden helped lay the foundation for my basketball career because of her ability to teach the fundamentals and think through the strategies of the game. She brings out the best in her players as individuals and as a group by stressing teamwork, hard work, and the importance of conducting themselves with class at all times. As a result, she has gained a tremendous amount of respect not only for her team’s on-court success but also in the way she runs her program as a whole. She is leaving a legacy that coaches only dream of."

Jennifer Azzi
WNBA, member of 1996 Olympic gold-medal team