Speaker 1: Coaches need to coach, parents need a parent, officials need
Speaker 1: to officiate, and just everyone's stay in their lane and
Speaker 1: things will go pretty well. And I really believe that
Speaker 1: because there's a lot more that goes into it than
Speaker 1: just forty minutes of a game or whatever the parents
Speaker 1: are seeing.
Speaker 2: And I tell for players that all the time.
Speaker 1: I mean, no one's going to understand what we're about
Speaker 1: outside of this room, because we're the ones who are
Speaker 1: in it every day.
Speaker 3: This is the Reform Sports Project.
Speaker 4: I'll podcast about restoring healthy balance and perspective in all
Speaker 4: areas of sports through education and advocacy. Hi, this is
Speaker 4: Nick Bonacor from the Reform Sports podcast. I'm thrilled to
Speaker 4: share that today marks our two year anniversary as a podcast.
Speaker 4: I want to thank all of our guests for sharing
Speaker 4: their expertise with us and our audience for their continued support.
Speaker 3: I'm proud to work with such a dedicated team.
Speaker 4: Here at Reform Sports, and we have a number of
Speaker 4: exciting initiatives in development as we continue to build up
Speaker 4: the Reform Sports platform. With that being said, we'll be
Speaker 4: adjusting the release of new episodes of the podcast from
Speaker 4: weekly to every other week to help balance out current
Speaker 4: and future content offerings. We'll be sharing more with you soon.
Speaker 4: Now enjoy today's episode with J. C. Hoyt, head women's
Speaker 4: basketball coach at Oklahoma State University prior to taking over
Speaker 4: the OSU program.
Speaker 3: In March of twenty twenty.
Speaker 4: Two, Coach Hoyt was named the twenty twenty Western Athletic
Speaker 4: Conference Coach of the Year after coaching Kansas City to
Speaker 4: their first regular season conference championship in program history. A
Speaker 4: former multi sport athlete and collegiate basketball player at Wichita State,
Speaker 4: jac and I discussed why she recruits players who have
Speaker 4: a competitive spirit, why athletes who play multiple sports typically
Speaker 4: have a higher ceiling for growth, and the value of
Speaker 4: coaches telling players the truth. I just said to this
Speaker 4: awesome coach, I'm like, thank you for not blowing the
Speaker 4: whistle on me and like having me thrown in prison
Speaker 4: for harassment. I've been shaking her down for the last year,
Speaker 4: trying to get her come on. She's obviously in varian demand,
Speaker 4: having a great starter to her career coming into her
Speaker 4: second year as the head women's basketball coach at Oklahoma State.
Speaker 3: JC Hoyt Coach, hoy thanks so much for hopping on.
Speaker 2: Thank you, I'm excited to be with you.
Speaker 4: Well, I appreciate it, and I want to start here
Speaker 4: now that you're you know, you take over a big
Speaker 4: time program, like was that something that you always had
Speaker 4: your eye on to get to this, you know, continue
Speaker 4: to progress because you've seen to move up the cult
Speaker 4: of ranks pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I mean I think for me, I've
Speaker 1: always just wanted to be the best that I can
Speaker 1: be in anything, whether that's coaching or just other other
Speaker 1: things in my life. But with coaching, you know, I
Speaker 1: think just with that comes wanting to have opportunities.
Speaker 2: To compete against the best.
Speaker 1: And I wouldn't say that I was ever or it
Speaker 1: was still not really someone who you know, is looking
Speaker 1: for the next thing. But I did always know that
Speaker 1: I wanted to be at the highest level possible eventually,
Speaker 1: but it just happened a little faster than I maybe
Speaker 1: thought originally.
Speaker 3: Well, that's awesome. I love how you use the word compete.
Speaker 4: You know. One of the things that I hear a
Speaker 4: lot from college coaches. Doesn't matter the sport or does,
Speaker 4: they love competitors. They love folks that want to get
Speaker 4: in the fight, you know, want to be competitive doesn't
Speaker 4: matter the sport. In fact, I often hear coaches say
Speaker 4: they love to see kids play different sports because they
Speaker 4: see them compete in different arenas, different settings. You know,
Speaker 4: maybe a star in one particular sport, but maybe a
Speaker 4: six man or you know, a role player in another,
Speaker 4: and that brings down a different element. What is it
Speaker 4: about the compete factor? How is that something that you see?
Speaker 4: Let's say, if you're going to an AAU tournament, you're
Speaker 4: on the recruiting trail, how can you tell, you know,
Speaker 4: a young woman, young man, whatever is like an ultra competitor.
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's just you know, you can tell
Speaker 1: when someone is not happy if they're losing or you know,
Speaker 1: I would even say if they're winning, just that will
Speaker 1: and that desire to continue to get better and just
Speaker 1: to play the same no matter what the score is.
Speaker 2: I know that sometimes it is kind of corny or cliche,
Speaker 2: but it really is true, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're just competitive and you're just trying
Speaker 1: to be the best that you can be and help
Speaker 1: your team, you know, play at the highest level whatever
Speaker 1: that looks like for you and your given team, I
Speaker 1: think that you can just tell versus someone who maybe
Speaker 1: is kind of going through the motions or not going
Speaker 1: to give.
Speaker 2: You know, full effort because of what the scoreboard says.
Speaker 4: Is there a situation where, you know, for instance, let's
Speaker 4: say a kid's not a starter, you know, a kit
Speaker 4: comes into your program. Some when you recruit, they have
Speaker 4: to work the around.
Speaker 3: It's easy to fold in those situations. But at the
Speaker 3: same time, is it intrinsic motivation.
Speaker 4: Does it take a coach to really bring that out
Speaker 4: of them or do you need to be somewhat And
Speaker 4: when it comes to competition, does a lot of that
Speaker 4: need to come from within?
Speaker 2: Well, I think that the majority needs to come from within.
Speaker 1: I just, you know, it's unrealistic to think that you're
Speaker 1: always going to have a coach or someone in your
Speaker 1: life that is, you know, helping bring that out of you. However,
Speaker 1: I do think that even for the most intrinsically motivated people,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just so beneficial to have those positive people,
Speaker 1: whether they're coaches or you know, whatever their title is,
Speaker 1: just you know, helping you understand that maybe there's more
Speaker 1: in you.
Speaker 2: And you might think that you've you.
Speaker 1: Know, reached your peak, but you can just take a
Speaker 1: one step further and continue to climb. So I think
Speaker 1: it's a balance, but I do think that it's you.
Speaker 2: Know, important.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've learned, you know, I don't I don't
Speaker 1: care how good a coach is.
Speaker 2: You We've got to recruit kids who just.
Speaker 1: Have that competitive spirit and that will to win, regardless
Speaker 1: of whether we're in the room or or in the
Speaker 1: gym with them or not.
Speaker 4: So you were a you were a multi sport athlete,
Speaker 4: you know, growing up. Obviously I read your bio and
Speaker 4: saw in high school you were a standout basketball player
Speaker 4: and you know, volleyball player. Was it all different sports
Speaker 4: for you coming up through your youth, you know, for
Speaker 4: your youth playing experience, it.
Speaker 1: Was throughout high school, I was always a three sport athlete.
Speaker 1: I also ran track and uh, you know just I
Speaker 1: mean she played about every sport that was out there in.
Speaker 2: The little towns that I lived in. But for sure
Speaker 2: throughout high school, you know, just playing in those different sports.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I can look back on my
Speaker 1: career and even my my coaching career now and just
Speaker 1: see how beneficial those lessons were for me that you.
Speaker 2: Know, maybe basketball couldn't always teach me.
Speaker 1: I mean, track, for example, you know it's it's you
Speaker 1: versus everyone.
Speaker 2: I mean, no one's going to bail you out. You know,
Speaker 2: you got to step up to the line and you.
Speaker 1: Got to you got to compete on your own. Volleyball
Speaker 1: is a sport that you know, has a lot.
Speaker 2: Of different skill.
Speaker 1: Sets and in different lessons with teamwork and training. So
Speaker 1: I just think that whatever the sport is, that there's
Speaker 1: a lot to be learned from those and I'm very
Speaker 1: thankful for just the well rodded experience that I got
Speaker 1: to have as an athlete.
Speaker 4: Do you feel like, you know, in today's youth sports culture,
Speaker 4: everything is year round. I mean, it doesn't matter you
Speaker 4: know what sport it is, you can play it all
Speaker 4: year long. In fact, in a lot of cases, I
Speaker 4: hear parents tell me all the time like they're getting pulled,
Speaker 4: you know, they're getting almost like you know, parents and kids,
Speaker 4: even at really young ages, are almost being cornered like, hey,
Speaker 4: it's either we need a year round commitment or you
Speaker 4: got to go find another club.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: Do you see that from your experience on the recruiting
Speaker 4: trail over the last several years of your coaching career,
Speaker 4: that it's more challenging to find multi sport athletes or
Speaker 4: do you do you still see them and do you
Speaker 4: have a preference when recruiting Without a.
Speaker 1: Doubt, I definitely see exactly what you're referencing of, you know,
Speaker 1: just the year round athletes and expectations from you know, others,
Speaker 1: And I think that you know, to each their own.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that there are.
Speaker 1: Benefits to doing both, but I think for me personally,
Speaker 1: to be honest, I love it when an athlete that
Speaker 1: we're recruiting is, you know, competing in.
Speaker 2: Other sports outside of just basketball.
Speaker 1: I think that, like I said earlier, just the different lessons.
Speaker 1: You know, We've got a player on our team right
Speaker 1: now that comes to mind.
Speaker 2: Her timing to rebound.
Speaker 1: And and to block shots is just probably the best
Speaker 1: I've ever seen, and she would attribute that to her
Speaker 1: volleyball playing days, you know. So I think that there's
Speaker 1: a lot of different takeaways. But I also think that
Speaker 1: when I'm recruiting a player that is involved in other sports,
Speaker 1: I know that they still have a really high ceiling
Speaker 1: and that they still can improve drastically once they do
Speaker 1: commit to just playing basketball for us. And so I
Speaker 1: always kind of feel like the ceiling is a little
Speaker 1: bit higher maybe if you know they're involved in other
Speaker 1: sports just because they haven't fully committed to basketball, and
Speaker 1: you know, there's there's still some stones that are interned
Speaker 1: with the game of basketball for them.
Speaker 2: But I mean it's you.
Speaker 1: Know, some of the best players in the world have
Speaker 1: only played you know, one sport, and that's okay too.
Speaker 2: But I definitely am not opposed to multi sport athletes.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 4: And it's funny because of that tug of war, that
Speaker 4: push and pull and and parents are feeling. I mean,
Speaker 4: it is a it's tough for sometimes for folks to navigate,
Speaker 4: you know, what's the right answer?
Speaker 3: What's the right answer?
Speaker 4: A lot of that comes down to listening to your kid,
Speaker 4: you know, using a little bit of common sense, because
Speaker 4: there's a big you know push.
Speaker 3: You hear about it.
Speaker 4: With overuse injuries, and you've seen it and you see
Speaker 4: in the NBA, you know, you're basically seeing players, you know,
Speaker 4: being limited to minutes and such. And do you find that,
Speaker 4: like the overuse injury piece of it, are you seeing
Speaker 4: more and more injuries as a result of that.
Speaker 2: I actually do see more injuries.
Speaker 1: Now. I don't know that that's necessarily because they're only
Speaker 1: playing one sport. I think that just the demand to
Speaker 1: play a lot more is I mean, it's way more
Speaker 1: than when I played, you know, just every single day
Speaker 1: and multiple practices.
Speaker 2: And games each day.
Speaker 1: So I think it's more overuse, maybe in just the
Speaker 1: amount that they're playing.
Speaker 2: But I do think that, you.
Speaker 1: Know, there is something to be said about just your
Speaker 1: body kind of having to take the same hits and
Speaker 1: you know, those same.
Speaker 2: Movements day in and day out.
Speaker 1: So I just I really try and caution our players
Speaker 1: and even the players that we're recruiting, you know, just
Speaker 1: to understand that there's got to be somewhat of a
Speaker 1: balance there, and there's a fine line between you know,
Speaker 1: pushing yourself and doing everything you can to be your best,
Speaker 1: but also making sure that you're able to perform by
Speaker 1: being healthy.
Speaker 4: When we come back, coach Hoyt and I talk about
Speaker 4: responding to failure and what that says about a person's character.
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
Speaker 4: Where we left off, Jasey and I were about to
Speaker 4: discuss why she views herself as a truth teller and
Speaker 4: the importance of coaches being honest with players. We try
Speaker 4: to get as much info from college coaches and folks
Speaker 4: that are out there because parents are trying, like I said,
Speaker 4: trying to navigate this and help their kids get in
Speaker 4: the best position. And I have heard from so many
Speaker 4: coaches that they have been basically onto a kid like, man,
Speaker 4: we like this kid, this player. I want to keep
Speaker 4: an eye on them, and they'll go watch them at
Speaker 4: a game and they'll see their parents acting a fool
Speaker 4: in the stands, and it's almost like, man, I don't
Speaker 4: know if I really want to bring that element into
Speaker 4: my program. I mean, is that something that is real?
Speaker 4: Like I've heard coaches tell me they recruit the family,
Speaker 4: you know, when sometimes that's a that sucks for the kid.
Speaker 4: But I mean I want parents to understand, like, is
Speaker 4: their behavior is there over zealousness at times? Could it
Speaker 4: hurt potentially during the recruiting process.
Speaker 2: Well, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: You know, we talk as a staff about really trying
Speaker 1: to vet out realistically, you know what that could look
Speaker 1: like if a parent is maybe a little bit over
Speaker 1: the top or overly involved or or critical.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I mean, I try and pay attention to how parents
Speaker 1: don't just cheer for their own kid, but for the
Speaker 1: other kids on the team, you know, and that to
Speaker 1: me is competitive. I mean, if you want to talk
Speaker 1: about winning and losing, it's like, you know, you got
Speaker 1: to pay attention to do they really care about winning
Speaker 1: and losing or do they care about you know, personal.
Speaker 2: Gain and stats and in those type of things. And
Speaker 2: so I do think.
Speaker 1: You have to be cautious, and it is unfortunate when
Speaker 1: players have parents that maybe don't understand that. And I think, really,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, I've heard
Speaker 1: it said, and I think it's so well said.
Speaker 2: And I'm bringing officials into this.
Speaker 1: But coaches need to coach, parents need to parent, officials
Speaker 1: need to officiate, and just everyone's stay in their lane
Speaker 1: and things will go pretty well. And I really believe
Speaker 1: that because there's just, you know, there's a lot more
Speaker 1: that goes into it than just that forty minutes of
Speaker 1: a game or whatever the parents are seeing, you know.
Speaker 1: And I tell our players that all the time. I mean,
Speaker 1: no one's going to understand what we're about outside of
Speaker 1: this room, because we're the ones who are in it
Speaker 1: every day and fighting these battles and grinding together, and
Speaker 1: not everyone is going to understand that. And sometimes those
Speaker 1: people are the people that love you the most in
Speaker 1: your life, and that's your parents. But I think it's
Speaker 1: important just for parents to understand, you know, how they
Speaker 1: can negatively affect their kids' experience while they're playing, and
Speaker 1: then you know for sure their ability to be recruited.
Speaker 4: And as far as like the communication piece, you know,
Speaker 4: when you start contact with the potential recruit, I would
Speaker 4: think that you'd want to build that relaylationship, right.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 4: I just went through with my son, and the coaches
Speaker 4: want to get as much contact as they can to
Speaker 4: build the rapport to see what they're all about. And
Speaker 4: if the parents responding to the emails or doing all
Speaker 4: the texting, or when they go on a visit, they're
Speaker 4: doing all the talking, give the kid the opportunity to
Speaker 4: advocate for themselves, to speak like.
Speaker 3: I guess it's easier so than that.
Speaker 4: I have six kids, as many of the audience knows,
Speaker 4: and I try my best to make sure that those
Speaker 4: lessons are instilled at young ages. But how critical is
Speaker 4: it because once they're on campus, I mean, parents aren't there,
Speaker 4: so it's like, shouldn't we as parents or would you
Speaker 4: advise for those parents to like, hey, let's get these
Speaker 4: kids prepared to be able to stay on their own
Speaker 4: two feet and handle themselves way ahead of the game.
Speaker 4: So it's not hey, not only are we dealing with,
Speaker 4: you know, being in a brand new program at a
Speaker 4: large university, getting used to the whole college experience, the
Speaker 4: whole college life, as well as being a student athlete,
Speaker 4: and now we've got to figure out how to do
Speaker 4: our laundry on our own or how.
Speaker 3: To talk by ourselves.
Speaker 4: Do you see a difference between kids who have that
Speaker 4: experience or that comf versus those that don't when they
Speaker 4: get on campus.
Speaker 1: Well, I definitely see a difference just in their in
Speaker 1: their confidence levels and their belief in themselves to you know,
Speaker 1: just be dependent on themselves and not dependent on other people,
Speaker 1: you know, whether that be their parents or their coaches or.
Speaker 2: Whoever when they get to campus.
Speaker 1: I mean just the ability to you know, have that
Speaker 1: independence for yourself and the confidence that you can handle
Speaker 1: your business and handle it on your own, and of
Speaker 1: course you're always gonna have people there to help you.
Speaker 1: But I do think that that makes a huge difference.
Speaker 1: But it's also hard, and you know, I don't have
Speaker 1: kids yet, but I also imagine that when that time comes,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna want to help them in every
Speaker 1: single way possible and make sure that they're well taken
Speaker 1: care of.
Speaker 2: So I'm sure that that, you know, is hard to
Speaker 2: kind of balance and.
Speaker 1: Manage, but I do think that there's a great benefit
Speaker 1: in you know, helping your kids to understand how to
Speaker 1: operate on their own.
Speaker 3: I would imagine same would be said about failure.
Speaker 4: I would imagine you're recruiting some of the best players
Speaker 4: in the country. Do you like to see experiences maybe
Speaker 4: that kid has has struggled, you know, where they had
Speaker 4: to overcome some adversities. You know, they've had moments of
Speaker 4: failure where they had to pick themselves up. Because I mean, really,
Speaker 4: no matter how good you are, you're going to have
Speaker 4: adjustment periods. And how you respond to that when you
Speaker 4: get to that next level, whatever that level is, you know,
Speaker 4: whether it's going from middle school to varsity, varsity to college, whatever,
Speaker 4: there's a change, and how you're able to build resilience
Speaker 4: through the struggles is really it's a light Like you
Speaker 4: mentioned the lessons of life lessons, but how important is
Speaker 4: it for parents to be able to say to their
Speaker 4: kids or allow them to struggle and fail and learn
Speaker 4: how to deal with it.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that you know, you're not always going
Speaker 2: to be able as a.
Speaker 1: Coach to control, you know, for me recruiting, like, there
Speaker 1: are some kids that you know, maybe haven't had to
Speaker 1: experience that much failure, and then there are kids who
Speaker 1: you know, maybe through an injury or just things that
Speaker 1: are you know, out of their control have happened today.
Speaker 1: And I think that in those cases where I have
Speaker 1: seen them experience failure and failure, I mean, who hasn't
Speaker 1: experienced it? Honestly, right, Like we're all going to experience
Speaker 1: it on you know, a daily basis, whether that's just
Speaker 1: maybe not you know, winning every game or you know,
Speaker 1: making every shot. I mean, it's just a part of life,
Speaker 1: and it's certainly a part of athletics.
Speaker 2: And I always really like to see the kids.
Speaker 1: That we're recruiting go through those different types of things,
Speaker 1: whether it's.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe a bad game or you know, an.
Speaker 1: Injury, And not that we ever want anyone to experience
Speaker 1: an injury, but you know, I think it just says
Speaker 1: a lot about their character of how they're going to
Speaker 1: respond in those moments. And I do believe that life
Speaker 1: is all about responding to things and how you respond
Speaker 1: to things, and so I think that there's a lot
Speaker 1: to be said, you know about a person's character and grit,
Speaker 1: you know, when when they experience those kind of hardships,
Speaker 1: because it's it's not going to change, you know, it's
Speaker 1: only going to continue to be a part of the
Speaker 1: process in.
Speaker 2: Whatever you're doing.
Speaker 1: So I think it's really important just to see what
Speaker 1: kids character looks like when those failures come.
Speaker 4: All right, Coach hoy I can't thank you enough for
Speaker 4: coming on here. There's a lot of student athletes, a
Speaker 4: lot of parents. They're going to hear this, and these
Speaker 4: kids they want to know what they need to do
Speaker 4: to get on J. C.
Speaker 3: Hoyt's radar.
Speaker 4: They want to come play at Oklahoma State or play
Speaker 4: in college at some level. Right, not everyone can play
Speaker 4: for you or at that level, but they there is
Speaker 4: a lext level for them. They want to know the
Speaker 4: best way to get on the radar. How can they
Speaker 4: start getting recruited. What's the best way to get on
Speaker 4: somebody's radar, like yourself.
Speaker 1: The biggest thing is just you know, obviously, like you
Speaker 1: got to put the work in and once you do that,
Speaker 1: you know the results will start to come. I think
Speaker 1: it's really important to try and position yourself to be
Speaker 1: seen by coaches.
Speaker 2: Whatever that looks like.
Speaker 1: If that's you know, playing with the right teams, they're
Speaker 1: going to help get you that exposure.
Speaker 2: But I just always feel like if you work hard
Speaker 2: and your game gets.
Speaker 1: To the level that it needs to be, then the
Speaker 1: people who are supposed to find you will find you
Speaker 1: and your game will speak for itself when that time comes.
Speaker 2: So my biggest thing is just to work hard and
Speaker 2: be the best teammate you can be. I think that's.
Speaker 1: Really important and everything else will work itself out.
Speaker 2: Cool toy.
Speaker 4: I cannot thank you enough. I wish you the best
Speaker 4: of luck this season. Keep kicking, but love following you
Speaker 4: in your program. And where can people find you? I
Speaker 4: know you're on Twitter? Are you're on Instagram? What are
Speaker 4: your handles? How do they connect with you?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I'm on both Twitter and Instagram and my handles
Speaker 2: are the same for both.
Speaker 4: Coach juc perfect, Well, go follow coach JC. Can't thank
Speaker 4: you enough for coming on and sharing. Coach really appreciate you.
Speaker 1: That's j C.
Speaker 4: Hoyt, head women's basketball coach at OSU. Thanks for listening
Speaker 4: to the Reform Sports Podcast. If you've enjoyed this episode,
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