ALEX POPP – DIRECTOR OF BASKETBALL AT THE WINCHENDON SCHOOL (MA) – EPISODE 1124

Website – https://winchendon.org/sports/basketball/

Email – alex.popp3@gmail.com

Twitter/X – @coachalexpopp

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Alex Popp is in his first year as the Director of Basketball at The Winchendon School in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Popp most recently served as the Head Coach of the Academic Post-Graduate team at IMG Academy for 5 seasons. Prior to IMG Popp was the Head Coach at Vermont Academy, a perennial NEPSAC power, from 2014 to 2020 where he developed seven top 100 nationally ranked players, two NBA Draft picks, and one McDonald’s All-American. His tenure also saw the team secure the school’s first-ever New England Prep School Championship in 2016.

Popp’s collegiate coaching career includes roles as Director of Basketball Operations at Holy Cross (NCAA Div. I), Associate Head Coach at Middlebury College (NCAA Div. III), and as an Assistant Coach at Springfield College.

As a player, Alex was a three-year letterwinner at D2 Assumption University, after playing his freshman season at the University of Minnesota as a recruited walk-on.

On this episode Mike & Alex discuss the importance of developing players’ strengths rather than solely focusing on their weaknesses. Alex shares his insights on cultivating talent and the significance of believing in players’ potential. Throughout the conversation, we explore the nuanced dynamics of coaching at the prep school level, particularly the necessity of fostering an environment that is both competitive and supportive. We also delve into the intricacies of recruiting, highlighting the value of established relationships within the basketball community. Ultimately, this episode serves as a comprehensive exploration of the modern coaching landscape, underpinned by a commitment to player development and the pursuit of excellence.

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 Have a notebook by your side as you listen to this episode with  Alex Popp, Director of Basketball at The Winchendon School.

What We Discuss with Alex Popp

• Playing at higher levels necessitates a basketball skill set that is increasingly specialized
• Leveraging players’ strengths over addressing their weaknesses during training
• Building strong relationships and belief among players enhances performance and fosters a supportive environment
• Continuous learning and adapting to the evolving dynamics of basketball
• A successful coaching philosophy incorporates not only technical skill development but also cultivating a positive team culture
• Advice for establishing a fun yet competitive practice environment
• The joy in helping young people reach their potential
• Curiosity and willingness to learn are key traits for players
• The importance of being coachable cannot be overstated
• Coaching is a fraternity that relies on networking

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High school and middle school basketball program directors, listen closely. Coaches are expected to do far more than just coach. You know this. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing the coaching yourself, or you have a full staff of coaches with you. You know very well that coaches handle scheduling, academic issues, parent communication, leadership development, and even mental health concerns for athletes. A lot to deal with, and they haven’t even gone home yet to balance those responsibilities.

No matter the passion for the game, and burning desire to help athletes develop, this level of responsibility can lead to burnout, inefficiency, and less time spent on actual coaching. You know it’s true.

When coaches are stretched too thin, it impacts the development of athletes, team morale, and the overall success of the program. Now here comes the outsiders throwing their two cents in about what’s happening. Then come the parents complaining about how you’re running things, as if they know what they’re talking about. When’s the last time you went to their place of work chiming in from outside their window?

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THANKS, ALEX POPP

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TRANSCRIPT FOR ALEX POPP – DIRECTOR OF BASKETBALL AT THE WINCHENDON SCHOOL (MA) – EPISODE 1124

[00:00:00] Narrator: The Hoop Heads Podcast is brought to you by Head Start Basketball.

[00:00:20] Alex Popp: Contributing to winning at higher levels is going to require a special skillset that’s more narrow. What I’ve tried to cultivate with the players of mine that have the most potential is turn the king into an ace. Film, and with engineering your practices and your workouts is turn the king into an ace, find what their strengths are, and work on the strengths more than the weaknesses. I think that’s a modern approach to coaching.

[00:00:49] Mike Klinzing: Alex Popp is in his first year as the director of basketball at the Winchendon School in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Popp most recently served as the head coach of the academic postgraduate team at IMG Academy for five seasons. Prior to IMG, Popp was the head coach at Vermont Academy, a perennial NEP sac power from 2014 to 2020 where he developed seven top 100 nationally ranked players two NBA draft picks and won McDonald’s all American.

His tenure also saw the team secure the school’s first ever New England Prep School Championship in 2016. Popp’s Collegiate coaching career includes roles as the Director of Basketball operations at Holy Cross, the associate head coach at Middlebury College and as an assistant at Springfield College as a player.

Alex was a three year letter winner at D two Assumption University after playing his freshman season at the University of Minnesotas a recruited walk-on.

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[00:02:26] Cory Baldwin: Yo, this is Coach Baldwin men’s basketball coach at South Georgia State College and you are listening to the Hoop Heads Podcast.

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Have a notebook by your side as you listen to this episode with Alex Popp, director of basketball at the Winchendon School.

Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle tonight. But I am pleased to be joined by Alex Popp, new head coach at the Winchendon School.  Alex, welcome to the Hoop Heads Pod.

[00:03:42] Alex Popp: Let’s go. Thanks for having me, Mike. Really appreciate it.

[00:03:46] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely thrilled to have you on. Looking forward to diving into all the interesting things and places you’ve been in your career. Let’s start by going back in time to when you were a kid. Tell me a little bit about some of your first experiences with the game, what you remember, what made you fall in love with it?

[00:04:02] Alex Popp: Definitely have to start with my old man who was a teacher coach. He got his start coaching at Lexington High School. Rolly, Massimino. Got that, got that thing rolling. And then the stories of him coaching against Patrick Ewing, Cambridge, and Latin. And then him taking me to.

Hundreds of games growing up, I think was definitely Popp genesis for my passion for the game of basketball the start of this journey. And yeah, that’s it.  my old man gave me the Popp platform and the passion.

[00:04:38] Mike Klinzing: When you think about your dad and the influence that he had on you, giving you that love for the game, and then you think about yourself right now as a coach, what are some things that when you look at yourself as a coach, you’re like, oh yeah, I got that from my dad.

I can see where that came from. Is there anything that stands out in that area?

[00:04:58] Alex Popp: I think so. I think my dad’s  very approachable with all different types of people, and I think I’ve kind of inherited that. He was.  he grew up in 15 different places.  the, he was the son of of an my grandfather was in the service.

And then I think beyond him being so approachable and enthusiastic is Popp man believes in people that he works with. And I think that that’s probably turned into my superpower is I believe that the players who I coach and I believe in the my colleagues who I work with, and I think that basketball is a game that brings adversity.

So when you’re in the trenches, it certainly is energizing to to bring that, that belief, power.

[00:05:50] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, there’s no question that when you are on the sideline as a coach or when you’re on the court as a player, if you know that the people around you believe in you, have your back and are there to support and encourage you, I don’t think that there’s any doubt that the performance that you’re going to get from players, coaches, a team is going to be stronger when you have that kind of bond like you’re talking about.

And that’s so something that you, well know that it doesn’t always, that’s not always present. In every single environment. There are lots of times where it feels like those different elements of a team are battling each other instead of supporting each other. And when you get into those situations, I don’t think you ever get the best out of your team, whether you’re a player on that team or whether you’re a coach.

And so that’s certainly a great trait, a great characteristic that your dad was able to pass along to you. Did you realize when you were a kid, how lucky you were to have the gym access that you probably did, just tagging along with him as, as a kid and getting to be able to get in there and have the ball in your hands all the time?

[00:06:56] Alex Popp: Oh, I did not. I took it for granted, but now I definitely see it hindsight’s 2020 he would bring me to pick up games and I would be playing with  adults, like guys 20 years older than me when I was 10. And that certainly helped and I definitely appreciate it now, and I’ll add Mike, that the belief thing really serves me in my coaching now because I think the on the recruiting front, it’s, it’s very natural for me.

 it’s authentic that I believe in the families who I’m recruiting. So I think that that serves the recruiting funnel. And then on the back end, so much of what I’ve done in my career is college placement, Mike, right? So having a, a commitment to that vision I think is really important.

Especially and we can get into it later, but especially in today’s climate with transfer portal, you know finding the right fit has never been more challenging and more competitive. So I think you know. My old man’s got like his his hand print all over everything that I do, that’s for sure.

[00:08:04] Mike Klinzing: Well, again, when you think about Popp people that influence you, your parent is probably obviously someone who has Popp most influence and you spend the most time with. And so clearly what he passed on to you, not only in a love for the game, but then just again, like you said, the authenticity, the ability to believe in people the ability to connect with them, all those things, especially in today’s world, as you said in coaching, if you can do that, that connection piece is, is so important.

You think back maybe 30, 40 years ago, back when I was a player, a long time ago, some of that stuff wasn’t. Maybe as important or wasn’t as, I shouldn’t say that. Not that it wasn’t as important, but it maybe wasn’t considered to be as important at the time that connection with players, it was, there was a lot more of my way or the highway type of coaching that’s in a lot of places.

And so I think that’s one of the ways that over the course of time here, the coaching profession has improved in terms of coaches understanding how important that relationship is with players, to be able to have them know that you care about them as more than just a basketball player. You care about them as a person and you care about their academics, you care about their home life.

You care about what’s going to happen to them once they’re off your team. And when you have that. It just allows you to be able to make that connection and then to be able to hopefully get the most out of those players, to push them to, to help them to be able to get to their potential, whatever that potential may be.

And I think that’s something that definitely, when you think about the coaching profession, it’s gone in a really positive direction. Growing up with your dad as a coach, were you thinking the game as a coach or were you just kind of considering yourself a player? I know there’s kind of two schools of how, the way that people get to coaching, you have the people who knew when they were like eight years old, they’re drawing plays on a napkin, they’re coaching their friends, all that kind of stuff.

And then you have the other side of it where people are playing, they’re playing, they love the game, they love the game, they never really think about coaching, and then all of a sudden, for whatever reason, the ball stops bouncing for ’em, their career ends, and now they look around, they’re like, Hey, I have to get into coaching with your dad being in the game.

Which one of those more closely kind of parallels your, your story?

[00:10:20] Alex Popp: Yeah, I always knew I wanted to coach. And I also had Popp good fortune of having an older sister who’s five years older than me, Mike, and she won six state championships at the division one level here in Massachusetts three in tennis, three in soccer.

And I really admired the team culture and and those coaches that led those programs. So I got kind of like a front row seat on team building culture and what it takes to be successful. And then the other moment kind of growing up, that kind of  it was kind of a eureka moment for me, Mike.

It, it crystallized like who I wanted to be long term was  grade seven. We convinced  our neighbor’s mom to take us to go see Blue Chips. And while a lot of the content was over the head of friends, I vividly remember leaving the theater and saying I, I don’t necessarily want to be unethical like Pete Bell was to, to land  neon.

Oh, however, like this lifestyle is something that I’m really interested in so it was Blue Chips, it was like he got game and Hoop Dreams.  my old band took me to see Hoop Dreams three times in Coolidge Corner. We were probably the only ones in the theater. But  those moments, those coaching figures that I got early exposure to  was, I was really drawn to.

And I feel like I was kind soaking it all in organically.

[00:11:55] Mike Klinzing: Was it a conscious decision at that time? Are you, are you thinking about, hey, as you’re playing, are you starting to wonder and go, Hey, why are we doing this? Or maybe we could think about doing that, or are you still thinking about the game while you’re playing it as a player?

Or are you already thinking the game as a coach? In other words, are you seeing the big picture of the whole team or are you still kind of focused on yourself as an individual while you’re playing?

[00:12:23] Alex Popp: Great question, Mike. I think high school even prep school aau, I was a scorer and a really good scorer and I think that I was not thinking about the big picture and the coaching front in, in that  in that role.

However I went and walked on at University of Minnesota. I. That transferred to a division two school assumption where I was kind of in and out of the rotation. And I think that the humbling experience of being on a scout team or trying to like fight and claw into the rotation that’s when I kind of started to think about kind of how much goes into it.

And I think that both of those different kind of perspectives and roles really serve me. because I can relate to Popp athletes who are on different ends of the, of the spectrum. And here at Prep school at Winton School we’re, we inherit guys that have all kinds of different backgrounds.

Some guys have been coached, some guys are pretty far along with their understanding of the game and what it takes. And others don’t know how to play with all the, without the basketball yet, Mike so.

[00:13:37] Cory Baldwin: Right.

[00:13:37] Alex Popp: Yeah. Great question. Yeah. It definitely changed when I got to college and I was fortunate to contribute to winning both at the division one and division two level in a myriad of different roles.

So that opened up my eyes.

[00:13:52] Mike Klinzing: Walk me back to those decisions so we can maybe take ’em one at a time. Let’s start with the decision to go to prep school after you finished high school. Obviously, it’s now an area that you’ve spent quite a bit of time in as a coach, but tell me about the decision to do that coming outta high school.

[00:14:12] Alex Popp: So we’re talking 20 plus years ago, Mike, and while it was a little bit of an unknown dynamic across the country here in the Northeast, post grad was already popular so it was 2003, 2004, and, you know my recruiting had kind of. Taken a couple different turns where it made, it made most sense for me to take an extra year and physically mature and return to the circuit.

And it was the best decision I ever made.  it’s like beside the the fact that I got better at basketball and I got wonderful experience from being there.  a lot of my lifelong relationships stemmed from that, that post-grad year, like Best Man of my Wedding was a teammate of mine.

So I think Popp decision came down to wanting  better recruitment and more experience. And I knew I was  close to, to becoming physically more mature. So I’m glad I did it for sure.

[00:15:14] Mike Klinzing: That leads to the second decision to go to Minnesota. Talk about that.

[00:15:18] Alex Popp: Dan Musson the guy who built up the Gonzaga program recruited me like I was a scholarship level player.

He had saw me at the Milk House right in Orlando play my best basketball offensively against a Minnesota team with several players that he was actively recruiting. And his assistant Coach Vic Couch was JUCO teammates with my high school coach, Quentin Dale. Quentin Dale played for Jim Calhoun at Northeastern.

So there were connections and they put enough effort into recruiting me. And then I I took the visit and I fell in love with the idea of learning and getting that Big 10 experience because the other schools recruiting me were the Browns and Lehigh’s and Quinnipiac.

So it was just for an 18-year-old, really difficult to say no to.  I’m grateful I was able to, to pull it off. Definitely, was humbling to see what the big business of high major college basketball is. For sure. It’s the bottom line. Have to win and sell tickets and make the tournament, all that.

[00:16:34] Mike Klinzing: So here’s what’s interesting is that when we talk oftentimes and we’re given advice to players, one of the things that you oftentimes hear is right, find the right fit, which is something that you talked about earlier. And a lot of times I think people assume that find the right fit is, let’s say you have one division, one offer and 10 division two offers.

Or if you have one division two offer and a bunch of division threes or whatever within a division, maybe you have one really high level school within that division, and then maybe the other ones are more in the center. A lot of times the advice that I’ll hear is, well, you should go to a place that  if there’s only one school recruiting you at that, at that level, that maybe that’s not the right fit for you.

And I ended up making a decision similar to the one that you did where my only division one offer was the one that I took. And there were a lot of people that told me, Hey, you’re not going to play there. They’re going to bring you in, you’re going to get recruited over and this and that and the other thing. And I always wanted to just, I knew I would’ve regretted if I hadn’t given it a shot.

And I’m guessing that that’s your exact sort of motivation is. You never know until you go and you give it a try. And so I guess when I’m talking to kids, and I always tell ’em, I’m like, look, if you have an offer and that coaching staff wants you, and to your point earlier believes in you and is willing to give you an opportunity, especially in today’s world where you can transfer, and it’s a much it’s a much easier process than it’s ever been in the history of college basketball.

It’s just interesting that I always think you have to go and give it a shot at the highest level that you can, and you can always go back down. But I just feel like if you don’t try it, that at some point you’re going to have in the back of your mind, especially if you’re a competitive, you’re going to, you’re going to regret not having given it a shot, if that makes any sense.

And I don’t know if that’s kind of where your mentality was.

[00:18:38] Alex Popp: It was my mentality and in the back of my mind, I also knew I wanted to coach. So I wanted to network and soak in as much of a variety of experience as possible. I’ll add Mike, that now working so intimately with college placement every single year with families, I do my best to kind of  illustrate all the different angles.

And I try to recommend going to a place where we feel most confident in cracking the rotation early on. However I would add that the vast majority of families are still going to kind of go to the highest bidder and the highest level. It’s so hard to say no to. because we all grow up falling in love with the game of basketball and that’s the highest level.

Right. I don’t, I, while I cherish my division two experience I actually, I. Spend time with my head coach today. SRG DeBerry. I cherish my three years as a division two player and cherished my time coaching at the division three level at Middlebury College.  we the Elite eight, sweet 16, I coached at Springfield College, birthplace of basketball at Charlie Brock.

But none of us grow up as, as kids, right. And dreaming of coaching at division three level or division two, right? It’s it’s division one, it’s the NBA, right? And there’s nothing wrong with that. And I, and I always say like, we should keep pursuing the highest level especially if that energy serves us.

But again, I try to add context and recommend going to a level where you you can crack the rotation. Because I do think it’s hard to get better if you are. Yeah. It’s hard to prove if you are not on the floor during games and. Some athletes are  a little bit more needy than others.

And I, and I just feel strongly enough about it to, to recommend going somewhere where we’re confident they’re going to be in that rotation early. But yeah, it’s, it’s a little complicated.

[00:20:58] Mike Klinzing: It is. It really is. I, what I’ve come to, I almost can put my thought process in, in two boxes if this is going to, I don’t know if this is going to make any sense to you or to anybody listening, but it makes sense somehow to me in my own head.

So my own experience, I know that I wanted to try to go and play at the highest level. When I had one opportunity to do that, I grabbed that opportunity and I did it, and it ended up working out for me. And it obviously doesn’t work out for everyone in the same way that it did for me. And yet at the same time, I kind of look back now and as a parent and as a coach, and I think that.

My experience playing at the division one level. Now I have a son who, he’ll be a sophomore, he’s playing division three basketball, and I look at the experience that I had playing Division one basketball, and then I look at the experience that my son is going to have playing Division three basketball. And in so many ways, other than the label of this is a division one school, this is a division three school, and not that there aren’t differences in ability and all there, I mean, there’s a ton of things that go into it, but ultimately it’s, it’s the experience.

And I think that’s speaks to what you’re talking about, where most people, let’s face it, as a player, your experience is going to be infinitely better if you’re in the rotation and you’re playing, no matter how great the school is that you’re at, no matter how great the coaching staff is, no matter how much you love your teammates.

Everybody ultimately wants to play and get on the court. And if you can play and get on the court in division three or NAI or division two, or wherever it is, ultimately that’s going to make probably your experience better. And yet, at the same time, I still go back to my own thing and I’m like, God, I would, if I’d have gone to a division three school, which was mostly the schools that were recruiting me, I would’ve always wondered, could I have, could I have made it at this other place?

So there is that sort of juxtaposition between the two of, sure, sure man, I’m competitive and I want to go to the highest level, but I’m not sure that’s the best advice that I should be giving out to other people. If that ma if that makes any sense. Alex?

[00:23:10] Alex Popp: No, it’s spot on. It’s spot on. It’s like it doesn’t matter if there’s 20,000 fans or, or 20, yep.

 the difference between being for coach, director of operations versus the head coach, or, you know. 13 man on the roster walk on versus sixth man or even a starter it is  it’s significant. Right? And I think our, our playing careers are, are numbered, right?

They’re, they’re fleeting and, you know while we’re young, I think getting that on the floor experience is definitely what I’m going to continue to push for with Popp families who I represent every year.

[00:23:55] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. What was your favorite moment at Minnesota?

[00:23:59] Alex Popp: Well, that’s a good one.

Probably making the NCA tournament we got to play in Charlotte eight, nine game against Iowa State, will Blaylock Curtis Stinson in the back court, and North Carolina was the one seed. So Popp arena was buzzing and having that experience was, you know. Second to none. And just being Scout team in the Big 10.

because  coaches league, especially in in that that era Coaches league, I learned so much and it was fulfilling to contribute to, to know an NCAA team. because  Minnesota’s a hockey school, right? It’s not all to come outta the Big 10 and make the tournament was something that I’m really proud of.

[00:24:49] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. Very cool. All right, I’m going to ask the same question about assumption.

[00:24:53] Alex Popp: So we won seven games my sophomore year. We a doormat of the conference and our coach, Serge DeBerry, who did this three times twice at Assumption once at Babson Division three school. We were able to turn it around with just higher standards culture.

We won 26 games my senior year. Sweet 16. It was a brotherhood. So being a part of a program that was able to figure it out definitely my greatest memory and having a chance to play for a national championship is really special. And I take both of those, those experiences with me as a coach.

because ultimately striving to win. Right. I heard Julian Allen from IMG Academy talk about this, like when the North Star is the pursuit of excellence, the pursuit of winning.  you get a lot done you can, it, it helps you mold the young, the young people. It helps recruiting. It keeps everybody sharp.

So I think that. Having played in multiple NCA tournaments, it also gives me a little bit of credibility when I speak to the sacrifice and the discipline and the consistent dedication that’s required to, to win. because winning is not easy. It’s not easy to do.

[00:26:17] Mike Klinzing: No, it is not. It is definitely something that doesn’t happen by accident.

There is a lot that goes into it from a coaching staff to make sure that what is in place that is needed to win, gets put in place. And if some of those elements are missing as well as anybody that it can go in a different direction very quickly if you don’t have the right approach to, to coaching and building the program.

So tell me about the first job search, getting outta school. What’s the thought? What do you end up doing? How do you go about getting the job? What’s the networking situation? Just walk me through that first job search.

[00:26:58] Alex Popp: Sure. And I’m sure all the young coaches can appreciate this stuff because it’s not easy.

It’s an oversaturated field. And I think it’s worth it while many of us coaches aren’t getting rich, especially early on it’s such a fulfilling profession and I don’t regret kind of sticking to it, that’s for sure. So when I graduated from Assumption finance major business, I started a job at Brown Brothers and Harriman on 50 Milk Street, downtown Boston.

And after about, I don’t know, six weeks, Mike, I went to lunch on a Thursday and did not return and. Unapologetic about that. And immediately joined Expressions who’s now one of the prolific EYBL teams back in the day, we weren’t even associated with a sneaker company, but jumped on an AAU bench and started an internship in the Northeast 10 Commissioner’s office at Stonehill.

So I went from a real salary and  the ability to take a girl on a date and hang out with my friends and golf and all the stuff that young graduates do to  trying to figure it out. And so from there I took a graduate assistant position at Springfield College.

And that was kind of my launchpad. Working with Charlie Brock, I got to know everybody in the profession and with expressions, with Expressions au we had 15 division one players. So the combination of working for Charlie Brock and his network and then having really good players on the AU circuit  really helped me early on with building relationships with the the business.

[00:28:45] Mike Klinzing: Your experience. You lasted six, you went six weeks longer in a job than I did when I grad, when I graduated from school. So I graduated my, both my parents, Alex, my mom was an elementary school teacher. My dad was a college professor. So I graduated and went out and went on some interviews for jobs. I was a business major and went out and actually had an interview with Nestle, the big food company, and they offered me a job and they said this was like, I don’t know, whenever I graduated in May, I had the interview like in end of May or beginning of June.

They’re like, yeah, we’re going to have you start on July 1st. And I remember I went home and. I was talking to my dad and I’m like, they, I think they want me to put on a suit and go to work on July 1st. I’m like, I’ve never seen like you and mom have never worked nobody in our family’s ever worked in July.

Like, I, I don’t think I could do this, and I think I’m going to go back to school and get teaching to again and try to teach, try to teach and try to teach and coach. So I didn’t even, I didn’t even take the job. I figured it out. I figured it out before I even took it. So I can definitely relate to the idea of, yeah, it seems like a good idea.

And then, nah, I don’t think I want to do that for the rest of my life. So completely can relate to that.

[00:30:03] Alex Popp: I wasn’t willing to be miserable and just to make wealthy people even wealthier. It just, yeah. Yeah. And  so much of that’s the passion for the game, but the foundation family be it around teacher coach, yeah.

[00:30:22] Mike Klinzing: So when you get that GA position at Springfield immediately, I mean obviously you had a pretty good understanding of coaching from your experience with your dad and then you get your experience with aau and you had kind of been thinking about it for a while, but you get in there and you actually have the job.

What do you remember about the first week or two on that job where you just like immediately like, man, I am, I know I’m in the right place because whatever, whatever, whatever that reasoning was at the time.

[00:30:49] Alex Popp: Yep. Well, I was fortunate to be around Charlie Brock and Pete Broca, who were new England legends and they were able to educate me on the Xs and Os.

And I was also fortunate to be in the trenches with another grad assistant who knew how to recruit and was super organized. And then my role was kind of player development and passion and energy and like a player’s coach. And I’m, I’m grateful that I had I brought that to the table because I didn’t know how much went into recruiting and I didn’t know how to watch film in a way that prepared us for scouting reports.

So it took time. It took time being able to see all 10 players on the floor at once.  some players have that early on. The majority of young guys, they don’t, even if they play for coaches who like myself are over the top passionate about film. So it, it took some time and I’m, I was kind of nestled in with Popp perfect crew of characters because we kind of balanced out each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

And so having two years to kind of figure out what my weaknesses were, helped set me on my, my journey, Mike. because once I got to Middlebury College, I did not have anybody to lean on. I was the associate head coach. And so, and this, and Popp coaches and the NECA can really coach, especially with their half court stuff.

 it’s like on a Friday, Saturday we’re looking at a complex ball string continuity. And then Mike Maker was running all the job beeline stuff the next night. And those, both of those scouts would be my responsibility. So getting thrown into the deep end was fantastic. But I think it, the the reason I was able to handle it is because I kind of knew where I was.

Right. All of us have three xs where we’ve been, where we’re at, where we’re trying to go. I knew I had a long way to go, so I tripled down on. On film and then being organized with recruiting. because I knew that naturally I was gifted on the court with bringing energy and kind of picking up everybody’s spirits on a consistent basis.

[00:33:13] Mike Klinzing: What area did you like learning about the most when you get that first job over those first couple years? What, what area of coaching were you like, man, I, I just, I can’t get enough of this aspect of coaching. What, what served that purpose for you?

[00:33:30] Alex Popp: I would say defensive coverages and then everything like on ball, off ball pick and roll defense and then  offensive execution based on what we were anticipating from their defense.

 and I think that it, that the kind of the adjustments. Before leading up to a conference weekend is what ex excited me the most. And I vividly remember one of my favorite mo  all time moments at, at Middlebury College was when it was the 75th anniversary of college basketball.

So Popp division two and division three NCA tournaments were spread out so they could have all three divisions in Atlanta, you know in one city. So we were playing one game a week and I felt like I was like a football defensive coordinator. We played Ithaca with a chance to go to the Elite eight and eight games into their season.

because we had enough time to watch every single game, Mike eight games into their season. They threw out everything that they were doing, went to a high pick and roll, and like a simple screen to screener. And then they, they played triangle in two for 40 minutes. It was like getting in the war room and preparing for  games like that.

I think certainly helped mold me when it was my time to become a head coach.  I was very, very fortunate to work for four head coaches that, that were gifted in different areas and  I took a little bit from each one of ’em. But yeah, those, those Middlebury college scouts had a lasting impression on me.

 it was like, Jeff Brown let me, he let me run with it and I’m, I’m grateful for that.

[00:35:17] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. Being able to put together, I’ve talked to so many coaches on here, Alex, about just being able to confidently put together a scout, right? You start your career and you kind of, as you said, have no idea what you should be looking for, what you need to look for, and then obviously if you’re, you have to know what your.

What your head coach wants and what things they like to know about the opponent. And so you put all those things together and there’s just so many things that go into it. And then I know from talking to so many assistants, then you have, especially your first couple, then there’s a lot of pressure on you when you have that first Scout report.

And you have to, you hope, you, hope your team comes through for you and  and wins you some of those games or Popp, the first couple times you’re the, you’re the main you’re the main guy, repo responsible for the scout. You’re like, come on fellas, we, we need something from you guys tonight.

So that makes me, makes me look good with what I, with what I put together here on here on paper for the scout. So always interesting. Okay. For sure. Tell me about yeah,

[00:36:16] Alex Popp: bless Mike. Like, I’ve had guys that are like way smarter than me and super coachable.  when I got my first head coaching job I had the kid, Bruce Brown for two years and he won a ring with the Denver Nuggets, but he was the most coachable.

I’ve ever been around and he would get the other four players on the floor to buy in. So that certainly gave me confidence and yeah, no doubt of winning and those guys were just super mature, so Yeah. That, that certainly matters. You can’t do it without the players, man.

[00:36:48] Mike Klinzing: No, there’s no doubt.

And it goes back to what you said right off the top, right? You have to get guys to be able to buy in and you have to have belief in them. And then when you have belief in them, that allows them to have belief in you. And as, as it’s always been said to me that when the players know that you have their best interests at heart and you’re there to make ’em better and to make their team win, then they’re much more likely to believe in what you’re doing.

And ultimately, I think it’s, the belief is a two-way street. And when it is a two-way street and the traffic’s going both directions, that’s when you can really put together something special without, without question. Tell me about your time at, at Holy Cross at the Division one level.

[00:37:28] Alex Popp:  got to work with Milan Brown and we were coming off a season where expectations weren’t met.

And so the pressure was on. And even as a director of ops I was able to have a lot of responsibility and Milan knew I was more of a basketball guy than, than administrator. And we we started off oh, in three in Patriot League and Milan gave me more responsibility, kind of just, we we’re kind of throwing ideas around.

It’s one of like the. Best moments of my, of my coaching career especially as an assistant. And the very next game Popp three or four concepts that we implemented were, they, they forced Colgate into timeouts. It was, it was really a momentum builder. And from there he gave me the full access to Synergy and I became kind of like the assistant to every scout.

And he started calling me Beautiful Mind because Popp whiteboard would be littered with every single action and set that our upcoming opponent ran not only for that season, but  the year prior. So we were I think that you talked about belief being a two-way street.

The players would roll into the office. And while they have no idea how much actually goes into it as players they could see the tangible, you know grind that was going on with preparation. And we went on an 11 game winning streak after starting out oh and three and conference play.

So it was just a fun ride. And I’m, I’m not saying because we put in three plays that the director brought to the table is why. But  it was really cool to see kind of how confidence can, can become contagious. And we won 20 games, Mike, it’s the only time at Holy Cross since the Ralph Willard era, 2008 that Holy Cross has won 20 games.

 it was 2013, 2014. And from there one of our players, Malcolm Miller, went on to win an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors. And so I’ve been really fortunate, Mike, I’ve been around a lot of like late bloomers guys that, I end up overachieving and playing longer than people kind of anticipate.

And it’s kind of who I want to be and who kind of who I’ve become, right. As a, as a coach that  works with guys that  figure it out late. And I love that. because they’re, those guys are coachable, they’re hungry, and they appreciate Popp effort and the support that you give them as a coach.

[00:40:11] Mike Klinzing: How often do you reference those two stories with players that you’re recruiting or players that are on your team that you’re coaching? How often do you refer back to say, look, these guys, here’s where they were at X point in their career and eventually they both got to play on NBA championship teams.

[00:40:31] Alex Popp: Not enough. Not enough, Mike. Jordan Wara won an NBA championship at the Milwaukee Bucks and before he did Postgrad he was looking at division two Kenisha was flirting with giving him an offer. But he wasn’t a division one guy. And then he does the additional year and  he chooses Louisville over Georgia Tech top 10 in every statistical category of the A CC and winds up get on a, a championship culture.

So three of my players who maybe weren’t forecasted as NBA guys have have gone on to win NBA championships. And I think that’s pretty special for, for any coach. I mean, there’s probably high major division one programs that don’t have three alums who’ve won NBA rings. So yeah, I think it’s cool for recruits to hear that.

But  I try to also add that like everybody’s journey’s going to be different and yeah.  you might not make it to the NBA. I’m still going to give you the same energy, dedication and passion that I gave any of those guys that were top 100 players. You know

[00:41:41] Mike Klinzing: what, if you had to pinpoint one or two things that set those guys apart from the average player, obviously when you get to that level, there’s a certain level of talent tools that everybody has when you get to the NBA level.

But what what allows guys to get there is some of those intangible things. So when you think about the intangibles that those guys brought to the table, and you can just cite one thing or maybe one thing for each guy, or however you want to approach the question, but what sets a guy like those guys apart that enabled them to get to the level, the highest level of the game

[00:42:17] Alex Popp: they wanted to be coached?

Mike. And I think also, while I would never admit it while I was coaching them because I wanted to kind of. Always be striving for more. It was always under construction. I’ll admit now there were likable dudes and I think that when you’re getting recruitment, it certainly accelerates the process when your reputation becomes hey, this guy is it’s got professionalism, maturity, he’s likable.

We can see him blending in, in our locker room. And all three of those dudes are different, much different, but guys who are likable in the locker room, you know? And I think that all young players should hear that because being a great teammate, it just makes you a better player.

You’re just a more impactful dude when you’re a great teammate.

[00:43:14] Mike Klinzing: The phrase, willing to be coached, I think that’s something that I. We hear a lot and I think when I hear it as a coach, and I think when coaches hear it, they understand what that means. But I’m not sure when I talk to players that players really understand what willing to be coached means.

I think that they don’t go nearly as far with the idea of willing to be coached as what a coach think it thinks it means. So tell me in your mind, what’s the definition on the ground looking at a player, gimme some concrete examples of what is willing to be coached looks like. What, what does that look like for you when you’re coaching a player?

What does willing to be coached look like?

[00:43:59] Alex Popp: Like showing up with consistency comes, comes to mind, Mike. I think especially when you know the season becomes grueling and adversity strikes, being able to show up with professionalism, when you don’t really feel like it. So can being consistent would be first and foremost.

And then I think that being willing to be coached isn’t the guy, the player who’s willing to get screamed at by the old school Bob Knight.  I referenced Pete Bell earlier in the, in the podcast. I think it’s kind of like a, a curiosity and a, a willing to be vulnerable in film sessions and to be open-minded.

Because I think so much of being coachable is being comfortable with the fact that you don’t know what you don’t know. And then I think tying it all together I use this phrase with all my teams as like a willingness to ready for this, Mike, is to be a warrior in the garden. So you’re not a gardener in the war.

What that means is being willing to have the uncomfortable conversations and to have a great relationship with criticism. We call it feed forward. It’s not feedback, it’s feed forward. And when you can have direct communication with your coaching staff and with your teammates in preparation for what it is you’re doing, I think that sets you apart.

because then when it’s game time, showtime, you can concentrate on playing basketball and you’re not distracted by all of the different things that distract us from playing the game that we love, playing the game to win. So yeah, that’s, that’s kind of the way I see it is  that curiosity, the leadership, the intangibles, and consistency.

[00:45:55] Mike Klinzing: I love it, man. I love the curiosity point. I think it’s a great one, right? Because the best players that I’ve ever been around as a player or a coach, they always kind of want to know more. They’re never satisfied with like, okay, I’m good enough at this. Best players almost never get to. I’m satisfied with where I’m at.

There’s always, I can always take it 1% more. And then they’re always asking and trying to figure out, well, how can I make this move slightly more efficient? Or how can I allow myself to be able to get into this position more often where I can attack from, or whatever it may be. And they’re always looking for help.

That’s one of the things you always hear right at the NBA draft or the combine or whatever. It’s like the great guys always want to be coached. They’re asking questions. They’re in a workout and they’re, they’re working out the coaching staff the same way the coaching staff is working them out. They’re trying to learn from that workout as they’re preparing for the draft.

And to me, when you hear about those kinds of players. The word curiosity, I think fits perfectly. I think that was a really good answer in terms of what sets guys apart that really take it to the next level. And clearly you’ve had some experience with guys that have been able to experience that. And I think the answer that you just shared is something that if players are listening, and obviously coaches can use it as well, but I think it’s really valuable for players to hear some of those comments because so often we hear cliches and we don’t necessarily, players don’t necessarily approach those or think about ’em in the same way that we do as coaches.

And I think sometimes it’s, it’s good to be able to break it down like you just did. So they understand what’s willingness to be coach. What does that mean? Like, yeah, I’m willing to be coached, but are you willing to be coached in a way that your coaching staff is, is thinking about it? You may be thinking about it in a totally different way than what they’re, yeah.

And so I think to be able,

[00:47:50] Alex Popp: yeah, being able to align with what’s being emphasized, I think is, is worth adding to like, you know. We, if we try to emphasize too much, then we’re not emphasizing anything at all. And I think that the most mature guys that I’ve coached and the ones that  have reached their potential are comfortable with the simplicity of what it is we’re trying to do.

You know? because I think I I see it, I worked at IMG for for five years and kind of being bought into what your head coach, your head coach’s vision is so important.  and not trying to work with your skill trainer on 17 combo dribble moves when you know your role is A, B, or C.

 I think like a commitment to what the coaching staff is is emphasizing, is definitely part of what we’re talking about.

[00:48:48] Mike Klinzing: All right. Let me follow up on that. because this is a, I think, an interesting conversation when it comes to player development and. I always reference a conversation that I had with Mike Opio, who at the time Mike was with the Dallas Mavericks and what he, what he told me was you get to the league and guys 10, 11, 12 on a roster and now you got two A guys and whatever.

But the back end of an NBA roster that he spent a ton of time in player development, just trying to work with those guys on, you need one elite skill that is going to allow you to get in the game and keep your roster spot. And when you talked about a guy working with a trainer and doing 17 dribble moves and this and that and all these other things, so often as you go up in levels of the game, you have to fill a role, right?

A high school player, a. You’re probably the best player on your team. You got the ball in your hands all the time. You’re getting to take pretty much whatever shot you want. You get to do whatever you want. You get to college. And at most, maybe there’s one guy on a college team, right? And oftentimes there’s zero guys on a college team that just the coach hands on the ball and says, go do, go do go do your thing.

And then you get to the highest level at the NBA. And sure, maybe every team has a guy who’s the main guy, but there maybe is only 10 guys in the whole league who kind of get to just have the ball and dictate terms and do whatever they want. And yet, when you think about how players develop, right? It’s almost, it’s almost counterintuitive in that when a kid is young, we try to teach ’em everything.

We want ’em to be able to dribble, pass, shoot, rebound, all these different skills. And then the reality is as you go up in levels, the player development also be, almost becomes more. Specified like, dude, you don’t need to be able to dribble the ball and break down defenses and penetrate and run, pick and roll.

You need to just be able to stand in the corner, hit threes, maybe do a simple drive by and a kick, and that’s it. And it just is so interesting when you think about trying to someone in your position where you’re working with kids at a prep school, right? Who everybody’s goal there is to be able to move on and to play college basketball.

Correct. And so I think players so often think, I have to be able to do it all. I have to be this do it all guy. And yet the chances are when they get to college, they’re going to have a specific role within their team. And so I’m just curious how you think about at your level right now, at the prep school level, how do you think about player development and how do you think about those conversations that you have with kids about where they’re going to fit in both on your team, but then kind of projecting ’em forward as a college athlete?

[00:51:42] Alex Popp: That’s good stuff, Mike. Yeah, I think it’s an art and a science, right? And I think that what’s not lost on me as a 40-year-old dad, and  guy that’s been around the game for a long time is that it still needs to be fun and energizing, invigorating. So there is a time and place for kind of trying some different thing with different things with player development.

But that being said, I could not agree with you more with what you’re saying in terms of contributing to winning at higher levels is going to require a special skillset. That’s more narrow, right? Like, I worked basketball camp the last two days, the all academic camp at Babson, 500 campers.

And I I did a bunch of player evaluations and I I treat it like  we’re doing NBA draft work. Like, it, it, it means a lot to me. There’s so many different categories that I was evaluating and I just kept on thinking to myself, I like, I care less what your off the dribble pull up shot looks like at this stage in your career.

And I don’t care about your weekend. I don’t care about you trying to catch the ball with one hand. The list goes on and on and on because  I think what I’ve tried to cultivate with my, the players of mine that have the most potential is turn the king into an ace.  if you’re a special shop maker, instead of trying to work on tween, tween cross and a million isolation moves or pick and roll reads, it’s like, let’s just get you like to a point where you’re automatic off of a pin, down off of a flare in early transition and you’re, you’re conditioning allows you to shoot the basketball at the same clip from start to finish in a game.

So. My, my it’s a long-winded answer, Mike, but I think like, the best way I could describe it is it’s, it’s important for us leaders to have a, a gym that is fun to, to be involved with and like, guys enjoy showing up for practice. And not kind of like making it too sterile, but also like with film and with engineering your practices and your, your workouts is turn the king into an ace.

Find, find what their strengths are and work on the strengths more than the weaknesses. I think that’s kind of probably the modern approach to coaching.

[00:54:14] Mike Klinzing: Tell me about the fun piece of it. In your mind, what do you do as a coach to make your environment on a day-to-day basis? What are some things that make the game fun?

Because obviously there’s two, this is again, I think a player thing, right? There’s two different ways to define fun. Fun is we’re working hard, we’re getting better. It’s in an enjoyable environment. It’s not necessarily being screamed at all the time there. There’s that, and then there’s the silly fun that sometimes if you’re a 13, 14, 15-year-old kid, sometimes that’s what they see in practice, right?

That that’s that that’s fun. That we’re joking around and they’re so there’s two different, there are two different kinds of fun. So in your mind, when you’re thinking about, I want my practices and my environment to be fun, how do you define that in your own mind? And then what does that look like on the court for both you and your team?

[00:55:14] Alex Popp: That was another great question, Mike. I think that every team, every season kind of takes on its own personality. So I think meeting the group and meeting the individuals where they are is first and foremost. But I think, when I think about fun, it’s it’s energy, it’s compete level, and it’s like a sincere effort where guys are doing their best on that day.

 it’s not always for every player, it’s not always going to be perfect. I coach teenagers they’re 18, 19 years old. They’re trying to figure out how to be consistent, but you can tell if they’re doing their best. So I, so I think for me it’s energy and it’s it’s volume.

 like Kelvin Sampson talks about you, you you can never hear a, a losing team, right? But like a winning team it’s early, loud often, and guys are communicating with each other. They’re playing to win. They’re competing. And yeah, I think that to me that’s, that’s a lot of fun and it, it might, it might not be like  guys aren’t always happy in, in that environment, but they’re going to, they’re going to have fulfillment and satisfaction because they’re going to be getting a little bit better every day.

So I think fun is probably not the ideal terminology. I think kind of like energy and pursuit of victory and competing is probably where I want to kind of put my energy.

[00:57:00] Mike Klinzing: It’s kinda like the marathon, right?

You may not, if you ask the marathoner, Hey, are you having, are you having fun right now? It depends on what your definition of fun is. Certainly there’s, there’s satisfaction, there’s hard work that goes into that. And the marathoner, when the marathon’s over is going to look back at mile marker 20 and say, man, that was fun in the moment.

It doesn’t necessarily always feel like, Hey, we’re having a party and the Popp fireworks are going off. But you’re creating an environment where, again, like you said, you’re bringing Enthusia enthusiasm every day. Players are communicating with you, you’re communicating with them, they’re communicating with each other, and you’ve just created an environment where players can compete.

And I think when you do that and you give guys an opportunity to, to go at one another and to compete and to, to know that you, as their coaching staff have their back, you want ’em to get better. You’re helping them to fulfill their goal, both. In the moment of trying to become the best player they can, trying to help your team win, but also with an eye on maybe what’s next for them, especially coaching like you do at the prep school level, where guys have goals beyond the year that you’re coaching ’em and they know that you’re helping them in that process as well.

And all those things, I think, kind of fit together to create that fun environment that you’re talking about and produce the kind of culture and the kind of team that is going to allow for the players to have success and be able to look back on it and go, yeah, that, that’s fun. That’s, that’s what, that’s what competing and being a basketball player

[00:58:35] Alex Popp: is all about.

Well just add one thing, like players will think it’s fun if you and I are cultivating an environment that gives them a competitive advantage on game day, you know? Yeah. If, if we’re, if we’re doing enough in a creative sense, that gives us an advantage for when we play the actual games, the players, you know.

They will enjoy that for sure.

[00:59:00] Mike Klinzing: I had, I had on the back of one of my camp t-shirts a couple years ago, I had to say, it’s fun to be good. And I think that’s what it comes down to with coaching, right? Part of our job as coaches is to make our players and make our teams good at what we do. And if we do that, that’s fun.

That’s fun. Like you said, giving ’em a competitive advantage. Tell me about going from an assistant to a head coach, and now you’re going to be in your, what, third experience as a head, third different spot as a head coach at IMG and at the Vermont School. So what was the transition like going from being an assistant to being the head coach and being the guy making the ultimate decisions for a program?

[00:59:37] Alex Popp: Energizing, invigorating I always wanted to be a head coach and it was this was a lot of fun. It’s, I think Popp best part about it is you get to make your own mistakes and you grow as a result from that. And I think that, you know. I’m going to do my homework, I’m going to prepare relentlessly, Mike.

And I think that one of my superpowers has always been my conviction and sometimes I guess wrong, and we make so many decisions as coaches you can’t get ’em all right. Can’t possibly keep everybody happy. But I think having that conviction can be contagious.

 I think the best athletes, the best programs, the best coaches they they believe in what they’re doing. So I think doing enough homework and having enough of a feel for, for the group and what it is you’re trying to do, and then having conviction with the, with the decision making, I think has, has been kind of what’s been most important for me as I’ve moved from  from one seat to the next.

And I think that  as an assistant coach too, I think you know. If you have the mindset that you’re going to be a head coach, you’re a better assistant coach. So I think that the transition was relatively smooth for me.

[01:00:55] Mike Klinzing: Where do you go to learn, when you talk about the preparation, the conviction to believe in what it is that you do, how do you go about continuing to learn and grow as a coach?

Where, where are you going? What are you looking to, are you watching European basketball? Are you, are you a big leadership book guy? Are you, what is it your network? Where are you going to learn and continuing to grow as you’ve gone through your head coaching career?

[01:01:23] Alex Popp: All of it, Mike, and I think that the, I emergence of these types of podcasts have certainly accelerated the process.

But I would also say that your podcast basketball immersion slapping class, they’ve also made it almost too convenient for me. That you asking that question is a good reminder that I need to go ahead and get back in the trenches with the old school coaching clinics and coaching consortiums.

I mean, when I was at Vermont Academy  every, every summer we would invite 50 to 75 coaches and just get in a room and have three or four speakers on different topics and kind of hash stuff out. And I would also seek those opportunities. It was like the more underground, the better.

Right? I would one of my favorite coaching clinics as a GAt Springfield College, I would go to Blair Academy down in New Jersey and learn from the Tony Bennetts of the world and guys like that. And they become your network. So I think I. Combination of taking advantage of all these new platforms that have kind of surfaced in the last five or six years.

And then  old school networking it helps to have good players too, right? Because coaches are willing to give their time and resources. They’ll come in and, and do some chalk talk with us on the whiteboard after watching an open gym of a guy they’re recruiting. And yeah, I like, I also like to read, you know psychology and sports books and I’d like to think, I try to try to do it all, Mike.

And what I’ve also enjoyed about Popp coaching journey is when you revisit stuff that  you studied 10 years ago, it takes on a different meaning because we’ve we’ve seen so much more. Like what I know today versus what I knew five years ago is astronomical, right? And. I hope to continue that trend.

And I think that being a lifelong learner is important for our players to see too, right? Because we’re not hypocrites. We’re not telling them to get outta their comfort zone and grow when they can see us working on our craft, you know indirectly. It, it helps what we’re doing.

[01:03:44] Mike Klinzing: It really does.

I mean, I think that clearly the game is constantly changing and evolving and the coaching profession, like we talked about earlier, is constantly changing and evolving. And we as coaches have to continue to change and evolve with the game. And so you have to stay on top of things and, yeah. I’ve had so many coaches, Alex, talk about the old school coaching clinics, right?

How many people missed Popp Nike championship clinics? There used to be one here in Cleveland that was huge, that. Everybody from all across the country would come into a holiday in an Independence Ohio and go to those old Nike Ed Janka used to run those old Nike  the Nike coaching clinics.

And you still see ’em around some, but certainly they’re not nearly what they what they used to be. And then I think the other thing that’s been lost you talked about going and working at the  the all academic camp, but you think about 20, 30 years ago, just the college camp circuit and the number of coaches that you’d go and you’d have these whatever camps.

And  I worked at Ohio State’s camp, I worked at the University of University of Michigan’s camp when I was, when I was playing. And  you just have whatever they come in and there’s, there’s a hundred coaches from college small college coaches, the high school coaches, and then what are you doing at night?

You’re going and sitting down and guys are talking and doing this and that. And I think that’s one of the things that, that in-person learning is something that I think. Everybody misses to some degree. because like you said, now it’s so easy to just, I mean, you can just sit there with your phone, right? And you got all the podcasts, you got all the YouTube you’ve got, and again, you guys at the, at different levels, you have access to synergy or if you’re at the high school level, you can get on huddle and just there, there’s so much that you can learn just from sitting in a chair at your house.

But there is something to be said for getting out and just talking to people and kind of having that that face-to-face communication. Which I will say, I know from talking to many guys at IMG, that, that was one of the things that every single person I’ve ever talked to who’s worked at IMG has told me that the best part of it is just the fact that your office is next to.

10 or 12 or 15 other coaches who are just as passionate about the game as you are. And so the ability to have somebody watch your practice or you go watch their practice or you’re sitting down with them or you’re just taking a couple guys out on the court and talking through it. So tell me about your experience at IMG and just how that accelerated your, whether it’s learning process or just again, accentuated Popp love of the game that you already have, just being around other guys that had that same passion as you did.

[01:06:22] Alex Popp: Yeah, it was ridiculous because I’m a, a basketball junkie, Mike, and you’re surrounded by other basketball junkies. And I also think that the competitive nature of all his coaches was also cultivated there where you’re you want your preparation to meet the the average or the expectations.

So any weaknesses that you might have as a, as a head coach will get exposed, and that’s exactly what you want. Then the organic water cooler talk with the Julian Allens and Kevin Suttons and Jimmy Cars and Mike Rose. The list goes on, all these overqualified coaches. And actually one of the first coaches new England coaches that went down to IMG, it was Bob Walsh, and he was the first technical director.

And I have to add that, like one of my favorite all time round table coaching clinics was at Bob Walsh’s house and he former head coach at Maine, he’s on Rick Pacino’s staff at St. John’s now Bob Walsh’s house in, in Newport. And this is 2012. But Popp cast of characters there, Mike Tobin Anderson was, was in the house that day.

And  he’s Popp guy that. Was with, he was the head coach of Fairleigh Dickinson when they, they knocked off number one c Purdue, Zach Boyer was in the building he runs the pick and pop.net and is like the coaching clinic hoop junkie of hoop junkies. And then Tyler Sims now head coach at Clark, very successful program at, they won the New Mac competitive Division three conference here in, in New England.

So it was neat to see all of those guys blossom, and I had no idea that these, these communities and conversations existed. So I vividly remember being passionate about pursuing a coaching career. And after spending time with those guys talking about hoops in a, in like a, a detailed nuanced way absolutely lit me on fire.

I mean, I was energized for the rest of that summer. The other who the other coaching clinic that I, that I was fortunate enough to be a part of as a young coach was at Columbia Elite Camp. And talk about like a who’s who of of coaches in our industry.  the head coach at Columbiat the time was, was Kyle Smith.

Now he’s the head coach at Stanford, Stanford, his assistant Colby Altman, who’s now president of Operations, Cleveland Cavaliers, Todd Golden head coach of Florida National Champion, Kevin Huby, now the head coach of Columbia Mike Mag Pao, head coach of Fordham, and all those guys under one roof talk and shop.

I had no idea that all of them were going to become millionaires coaching our game. But those were influential experiences for me and they gave me confidence because while I didn’t know a fraction of what these guys were talking about. It gave me confidence to kind of sharpen my trajectory of learning and be more, even more curious and to attack  more conversations about all the different nuances of coaching the game of basketball.

So yeah, those two experiences definitely helped shape me and yeah, and IMG was like, I was like a, a, a kid at a candy store, Mike. It was ridiculous.

[01:09:53] Mike Klinzing: Just everybody that I talked to from down there, Alex, just in terms of the. The facilities, the resources, again, the people, it, it just, it’s, it’s crazy.

I’ve had Kevin Sutton on twice and Kevin just is a great guy and an incredible basketball mind and to have him, again, be associated with IMG, it’s to be able to spend time there. I can only imagine the amount of learning that any person, I don’t care. I don’t care what level of knowledge you come in there with.

You’re leaving with an incredible amount more than what you came in there with. Tell me about the experience, the decision to. Come to wining leave, IMG. Obviously you’re a northeast guy, so I’m assuming that that probably had something to do with your decision. Maybe not, but I’m assuming maybe it had a little bit to do with it.

But just talk about the experience or Popp opportunity at winchendon, what attracted you to it, and then we’ll kind of get into sort of where you are in the process of preparing for the upcoming season and kind of your, your overall role and job description there.

[01:11:02] Alex Popp: Okay, cool. Yeah, I think I was ready to do something with all of Popp growth and learning and experience that I was able to, to get in my four years, four four and a half years at IMG Academy.

And I won’t say that I plateaued as a professional or as a coach. But change of scenery and a bigger role with more autonomy. And back in my in my backyard, my home state was just too attractive to say no to. And I got to spend some time around the community around the holidays.

It parallel, so I, I knew that it was a good, a, a potentially great fit, but parallel with that  my wife and I had our, our first child and the the gravity towards the in-laws and being around more family support. And then my, my wife landed a job first in Boston, so I think the  the job search certainly got accelerated because of family for sure.

And  congratulations.

[01:12:09] Mike Klinzing: Congratulations. Congratulations. That’s, that’s, that’s fantastic. There’s, there’s no more, positive life altering event in your, in your life than, than having a kid. So congratulations to you and your wife on that one.

[01:12:23] Alex Popp: And she her name’s June Cecilia Popp Bike, and Popp middle name is a, a basketball reference.

Saint Cecilia is Jim in Detroit has a great deal of tradition. So I snuck, I snuck that one in there and Nice. There you go. She’s, she’s already getting a lot of time in the gym, so yeah, it’s been fun. Thank you though, Mike.

[01:12:43] Mike Klinzing: Awesome. Did your, did your wife know what she was getting into when she married a coach?

[01:12:48] Alex Popp: Well, yes and no. Yes and no. When we first started dating, I was with Milan Brown at, at Holy Cross, and  Milan’s the type of guy that  makes even a harder work, a hard worker feel lazy. So the time and energy that went into it I. Was second to nones. So that first year it was like we were already at the deep end, so she knew what she was getting herself into.

And Coach Brown was great. He would we, before the season would start we would take all the significant others out to dinner. And it was kind of like, all right thank you for letting your your significant other, like he is about to go, you know into the war and we’ll see you in six months.

Yeah. So I it’s, it’s a challenge as it’s a challenging field for family and friends and  you feel misunderstood at times, but I what she said, and I’ve, I’ve, it stuck with me is I I wouldn’t be who I am without that commitment to coaching. So we take the good but the bad.

[01:13:56] Mike Klinzing: Yep. Makes sense. What are you most excited about? The new job. What, right now has you energized going into Popp summer, heading into the fall and kids getting on campus?

[01:14:10] Alex Popp: I would say that we’re kind of flying under the radar as a program in Nsac, and that excites me because I think that we, we’ve been able to talent acquisition has gone well.

We have, we have a good roster and we have guys that I think are going to get better together. So I think what has got me fired up early is I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people right out of the gate. And the other dynamic, Mike, that really excites me is looking at Popp schedule there’s still a little bit of work to finishing the schedule play college type of schedule.

 almost 40 games is the coaches in our league. Can really coach the game of basketball. And they are. And there’s a lot of continuity in the conference. Guys have been in these jobs for 20, 30 years. So what really fires me up is playing these programs twice, sometimes three times in conference tournament.

I didn’t get a ton of that in Florida, and it’s not a knock on Florida coaching. It was just kind of the way the schedules were engineered. You didn’t get, you didn’t get everybody on a second go around third time. So I think combination of me being sincerely excited about Popp talent on our roster, the potential, and then going up against guys who I’ve known for a long, long time, who I know who can really coach.

So I’m fired up.

[01:15:44] Mike Klinzing: From the talent acquisition standpoint for coaches out there maybe who are coaching high school, and maybe they’re not from the northeast and they’re not as familiar with the prep school, Popp way that prep schools operate. Tell us a little bit about the recruiting process and how you get guys in the door at a prep school.

What does that look like, especially for you as a new coach coming in? What’s this summer been like, trying to get players and what’s your process look like?

[01:16:12] Alex Popp: Well, I think every prep school coach is different. Every program is different and their admissions processes are unique to that institution.

So I can’t speak for everybody else, but I think what the way I’ve kind of approached it this off season is being in a lighthouse where I’m trying to see everybody and also be seen and then  getting to the EYBL UAAnd camp events and networking. I’ll also admit that like the the most fruitful leads in recruiting are they stem from existing relationships and, you know the basketball relationships that I’ve been able to cultivate over the last 20 years are, are serving me right now.

And it is really cool to  to keep in touch with people I or get back in touch with people I haven’t talked to in some cases in over a decade. And they’re like, yo, I the six, seven shop maker who was on the radar and I coached him two years ago. What do you think  basketball, like coaching is a fraternity, right?

So I think the recruiting has been kind of the fruits of my labor and the labor of networking for a long, long time in coaching. Yeah, I think it’s, it, it goes back to connections.

[01:17:35] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. Those relationships are key. And I know you asked me before we even jumped on the podcast about kind of how the podcast started and I went through sort of the history of it.

And the one thing I guess I left out is, the thing that surprised me the most about the podcast is the relationships that I’ve been able to build through this thing. It’s kind of crazy to me that a one hour interview with somebody has turned into a friendship of guys have. Flown into Cleveland or I’ve gone into cities where guys are at and you have dinner with somebody or they come and visit you.

And it just, it’s amazing to me what, how small the basketball world really is. And I think your point of somebody you haven’t talked to for 10 years, that you cultivated a relationship with it at some point. It’s kinda like that high school friend that you cannot talk to him for a year and you pick up the phone and it’s like you, it’s like you were still back in high school and Popp friendship feels exactly the same.

And I think in so many ways, the basketball world and the coaching fraternity is very similar to that. And you build those relationships and they stay thro, stay strong through, through time and distance. And again, you never know when you’re going to reconnect with somebody. because the basketball world is, is so small.

I want to ask you one final two part question, Alex, before we get out. So part one. When you look ahead over the next year or two, and obviously for you, you’re taking a new position, what do you see as being your biggest challenge? And then the second part of the question, when you think about what you get to do each and every day, what brings you the most joy?

So your biggest challenge first and then your biggest joy second.

[01:19:11] Alex Popp: I think it’s the same answer, Mike. And it’s helping the young people reach their potential. And that to me requires a relentless amount of energy and commitment and reaching their potential is there’s a lot of layers to it.

It’s on, off the court. It’s them developing as, as young men. It’s college placement it’s the roles with the group. So, yeah, I think the the consistent pursuit of helping young people. Try to reach their ceiling would be the biggest challenge. And it, it also turns into the greatest joy.

 it gives me a ton of fulfillment. It’s definitely my, my purpose, my professional purpose. You know and yeah, it’s a great question because I think that it’s the same thing.

[01:20:11] Mike Klinzing: It’s a great answer. And I don’t know if I’ve ever had every interview I’ve done, I don’t know if I’ve ever, ever had anybody say that the two things are exactly the same.

I think I’ve had people say that the two are related, but I don’t know if ever anybody has ever said that the challenge and the joy are the same two things. So you broke, I think you broke new ground. I might have to go back and do some transcript reading to just, just to verify for sure. But no, great, great answer.

And I think it speaks to.

[01:20:39] Alex Popp: I tell all the players that I coach pretty consistently. Like I’m a pretty corny guy and I’m 40 now and I’m a dad, so I can get away with it when I was like in my twenties. Like, probably painful for, for the young guys. But yeah, I think that part of me having that unique answer, I think byproduct of my corny personality, but have to be who you are.

That’s good.

[01:21:02] Mike Klinzing: You have to be who you are. You have to coach. You have to coach who you are. There’s no doubt about that. All right, last thing before we wrap up, I want to give you a chance to share how can people connect with you, reach out to you, find out more about what you’re doing. So you want to share social media, email, website, whatever you feel comfortable with.

And then after you do that, I’ll jump back in and wrap things up.

[01:21:22] Alex Popp: Yeah, I’m all in on any and all networking. I’m @CoachAlexPopp on X, then on Instagram, I just changed my handle to teamAlexPopp and I’ll go ahead and get my mobile number out.

 617-877-4571. And hopefully you’re calling me to recommend a player or you’re interested in recruiting a six nine shot maker from Seattle, or a six eight play maker from Chicago. because we got those guys, you know.

[01:22:08] Mike Klinzing: Nice. There you go. We’ll get all that in the show notes.

Alex cannot thank you enough for taking the time out of your schedule to join us. A big thanks to Cory Heitz from Prep Athletics for connecting the two of us. Shout out to Cory, but again, Alex, thank you for your time tonight. Truly appreciate it. And to everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode.

Thanks.

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[01:23:24] Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Hoop Heads Podcast presented by Head Start Basketball.