Player Development by John Saintignon
As you all are well aware of, there are many coaches out there who say that they are trainers, shooting coaches, etc. I believe firmly in player development, as it was instrumental to my success in being able to lead the country in scoring when I was an NCAA player and to continue playing as a professional player. I was fortunate to have met an incredible coach, Mr. Whitsitt, who took an interest in me when I was at Coach John Wooden’s basketball camp as a counselor. He and his two sons, Novian and Damon, who played at Stanford University, used to do shooting demonstrations at the various basketball camps during the 80’s when we were in college. One of his sons was unable to perform so they asked Coach Wooden who would be willing to step in and I was selected and had a great time following his lead in front of 300 basketball campers. This led to Coach Whitsitt asking me if I wanted to train along with his sons and others that would come from UCLA and other places. Of course, I was!
This was a serious commitment to the craft. Coach Whitsitt’s workouts were at 530am., come rain or shine, 7 days a week. The skill training was completely different, as this was the first time that I was being challenged to not only make the baskets, but make them going full speed and with an additional mental focus, making baskets consecutive. This was amazing to me as it required laser focus, because others depended on this as well, to complete the workout. It was training with a purpose, full speed, pressure, focus, things I was going to need to compete especially during games. This training was increased with exponential growth and expectations as additional barriers were added like weights to my arms for shooting and then the ultimate, making consecutive baskets, ALL NET. Yes, no touching the rim at all or it didn’t count. I remembered this very well as I told this story the other day while at the UCLA game as one of the UCLA players came in to workout with us and was an incredible athlete. He could jump super high on his jump shot, but couldn’t make baskets all net or consecutive.
To be the best, I tell players you have to DECIDE first, which by definition means to cut off. Literally, to cut off any other distractions. I was in that gym at 530am come rain or shine, late night or not. I went from scoring 20ppg freshman season, to 25 ppg in 2nd season to 31.2 PPG and leading the NCAA in scoring. I do a workout for my players the same way all over the world. I usually don’t include the aspect of all net until I find those that can do that, but my workout consists of footwork, separation skills with the ultimate result of putting the ball in the basket. Not sitting in the corner and just shooting shots. My goals change, but when they do, it’s exponential for the athlete. They leave knowing that they had to operate at full speed, at game speed, and with the added pressure of having to make baskets before moving on. Of course, with the same focus that is needed at the end of a game when the game is on the line.
This is a clip on youtube showing me working with one of our players when I coached in the Pac-10 at Oregon State University. It’s not complete, so if you need DVD., contact me and we can make arrangements.
I work very hard on proving to the players that it’s Performance versus Potential. This is the key to their getting results. The bottom line in all of this is that the player can put the ball in the basket, under pressure and with stress. Your players will love you for that, as the success comes down the line after they know why they were working so hard and proving to themselves that they were worthy of that success.
Coach John Saintignon
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John Saintignon has an extensive background of an experienced and successful basketball coach at the International Professional, NCAA Division 1, NCAA Division 2 and High School levels — and a three-time NCAA All-American as a player and a professional player. Coach Saintignon has been helping players and their families navigate through the NCAA process of helping them get a college scholarship, having wrote a book on the subject while at Oregon State University, “ What does it take to get a college scholarship?”, as well as preparing them for the court. Coach Saintignon trains the athletes and provides performance nutritional advice working alongside Advocare to help his athletes reach their fullest potential. FB: JSSportsNet and at www.advocare.com/130423949
Saintignon was the Head Coach of Fuerza Guinda of the FIBA Americas; Coach Saintignon led his team to a Playoff finish. During the 2011-2012 season of the NBA lockout, Saintignon was instrumental in getting NBA players into jobs overseas having placed Jarron Collins and Mardy Collins into the CBA in China, Salim Stoudamire into Italy, Sam Clancy into Argentina, James Porter into Japan, Calvin Hampton into Bahrain. Over a 100 players have come through Los Angeles to get player development training including the future Hall of Famer NFL Defensive end and Superbowl winner Simeon Rice who came out to LA to train for 3 days in strenuous basketball training with Coach Saintignon.
Saintignon has been a coach in high school, college and professional basketball in Arizona, California, Oregon, Mexico and Bahrain. Most recently, Saintignon was the successful Head Coach in the Premier League in the country of Bahrain in the Middle East since March 2010, leading his team to a Final Four finish. Prior to that he was the Assistant Coach at Cal State Stanislaus University in the CCAA Conference and an NCAA Division 2 institution. Saintignon was also the Associate Head Coach and Director of Player Development for the Culiacan Caballeros of the top league in the Mexican Professional Basketball League (LNBP). As a first-year franchise, the Caballeros went to the LNBP playoffs in a top 6 finish.
Prior to coaching professionally, Saintignon was the Director of Basketball Operations and Assistant Coach at Oregon State University in the Pac-10 Conference from 2006 to 2007. Before landing in Corvallis, Saintignon was a teacher and Head Coach at Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Ariz. His previous high school coaching experience included being the Head Coach at Canyon del Oro High School in Tucson, Ariz. (2001-04); Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista, Calif. (1995-01); and Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, Calif. (1992-95).
Saintignon led his team at Canyon del Oro to the state tournament twice and was named the Coach of the Year in 2001-02. At Bonita Vista, he was also named the league’s coach of the year after leading his team to the CIF championship in 1999, the first CIF Championship earned in the schools history. At Mar Vista, Saintignon earned Coach of the Year honors by taking his team to the league championship in 1994-95, and the schools first since 1964.
As a guest speaker in Italy, Croatia, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Bahrain, Mexico Israel and Argentina, Saintignon has earned a reputation as an authority on player development and has produced several DVD’s on getting athletes better through individual training; “Advanced Guard Workout” is the title, as well as attacking on offense with his Secondary Break philosophy, called “On the Attack: Mastering the Secondary Break.”
Saintignon graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics, and a Master’s degree from Liberty University in Sports Administration. He played one season at UC San Diego and three seasons at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1985-86, he was the Leading Scorer in the United States (USA) as he led the entire NCAA Divisions with 31.2 points per game scoring average. He earned All-Conference MVP and All-American candidate honors all three of his years at UC Santa Cruz as he scored more than 2,450 points in his career where he is the All-Time scoring leader in University history as his number was retired this year. He went on to play professionally in Spain and Mexico for four seasons earning various honors including several All-Star selections.
A native of Tucson, Ariz., Saintignon graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School where he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. Saintignon has been married for 16 years to Angelica and they are proud parents of their two sons, Vicente (14) and Sebastian (11).
Click on the pdf link to download the player development workout:
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