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The Basketball Podcast: EP366 with Craig Doty on Adapting to Change
In this week’s basketball coaching conversation, Houston Christian University head coach Craig Doty joins the Basketball Podcast to share insights on adapting to change.
Doty arrived at Houston Christian University as a three-time national champion head coach and three-time national coach of the year, with 12 years of head college coaching experience and a 259-126 career record which includes a 31-10 mark in postseason play.
Doty spent six seasons as head men’s basketball coach at Emporia State University in Kansas. Known as a program-builder, Doty improved the Emporia State program from an inherited 9-19 record (4-15 MIAA) to a 23-9 record (15-7 MIAA) in 2022-23. In each of his final three seasons at ESU, Doty’s teams appeared in the NABC Division II national polls while being ranked in the top 25 for six weeks in 2022-23 and as high as #15 in 2023-24.
Prior to his arrival in Emporia, Doty led Graceland University to national prominence. In just two seasons at Graceland, Doty’s program had a 49-22 record and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in the school’s first trip to the national tournament. Along the way Doty earned NAIA National Coach of the Year and the 2018 Don Meyer Award. Upon winning the 2018 national championship, Doty had led his teams to the National Championship game four out of the previous five seasons.
Doty began his head coaching career as the head men’s basketball coach at Rock Valley College. In his four years he built a national powerhouse. When Doty took over the program in 2012, Rock Valley was ranked last in Region IV preseason poll. Over the next four years, Doty would lead the Golden Eagles to four consecutive national tournaments including three straight national title games. Rock Valley was crowned National Champions in 2014 and in 2016, the first and second national championships in the 50-year program history.
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Craig Doty Quotes:
“For those who aren’t sure on the faith aspect, there’s a foundation in place, a moral code that’s on this campus that protects student-athletes, that protects students, that enhances people’s walk academically, spiritually, athletically, and that is appealing to many student-athletes and a benefit for us. And what we’re selling, the style of play, is certainly another one. We run a ton of NBA style quick hitters.”
“Players want to be put in a strong position so we’re able to show them the film. We try to find comparable players to what we’ve had in the past, show them how we’ve used those players, show them the data points and success they’ve had . . and then where they’re playing overseas. We moved 16 guys from Emporia State to overseas contracts when it was all said and done.”
“We’re selling perimeter players on not only being elite at shooting the ball, at driving the ball and finishing at the rim, but also getting to a position where they’re forcing two to the basketball . . we’re showing this on film during the recruiting process. We’re selling it and, and we’re trying to explain why it’s going to work for us to win games and why it’s going to work for them to extend their career as long as possible.”
“Good guards, as they’re bringing the ball up the floor, they’re reading gaps and understanding and visualizing what read they’re going to make. To counteract that . . we started running shell from half court and three quarter court to extend that to get our guys in the gaps right away.”
“I think you have to have an identity as a defense first. And if your identity is to not have an identity and to do a thousand things, you’re not probably very good at any of them. We want to be really solid, if not great, at one style defense. And the preferred way for us is to switch five ways all the time. What we’ve learned this past year is maybe we shouldn’t be doing that all the time.”
“I have to adjust as a coach . . I think every coach should look in the mirror every year and change 10 to 20% of what they’re doing. You need to keep about 80 to 90% percent if you’ve been successful, but change 10 to 20% of what you’re doing. The way I’m changing next year is to not be quite so stubborn . . If you want an elephant to climb a tree, you’re going to think every elephant is the worst elephant in the world, okay? You have to find strength spots on defense for your guys if they’re going to be effective . . because defense is a team deal.”
“It’s more of a pro mindset. This is the same thing in the NBA and in professional overseas, you’re adding talent to a roster without even a huge foundation set. You need to be adjustable with your teaching and coaching and your style of play to be able to put those guys in strength spots. The coaches that do that the best are the ones that continue to trend upwards. The coaches that don’t are going to retire.”
“Management is a huge thing in college coaching, especially for head coaches. Who’s setting the tone in the room every day? Well, it’s going to be your head coach and it’s going to be your leader and best player. It’s great if your leader is your best player. It’s not always the case, then you can have some problems.”
“We do a deep film evaluation of them. We talk about their strengths, so we identify those and how can we continue to take those to the next level? People who just work on their weaknesses and don’t advance their strengths are doing themselves a disservice. How can you continue to dominate in the way that has made you a great player? The second thing we do is look at weaknesses and we identify and come to a partnership with them on what they can do with development in their game.”
Craig Doty Breakdown:
Craig Doty Selected Links from the Podcast:
Craig Doty
Kirk Goldsberry
Sprawlball: A Visual Tour of the New Era of the NBA
LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Michael Jordan
Kevin Durant
Elijah Brooks
Tray Buchanan
Adam Cytlak
Evan Lavery
Will Wade
Rick Pitino
Bryson Dawkins
Misty Opat
Ben McCollum
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