Tom Shirley, Head Basketball Coach, Thomas Jefferson University

My name is Thomas Robert Shirley Junior. I'm an Economics graduate from DeSales University and I'm a Temple graduate with Campus Recreation and Student Services from 1984. Currently employed at Jefferson University as the assistant vice president for athletics and the head women's basketball coach. Well, basketball is pretty much a year round thing anymore. I mean, the actual season can begin the fourth day of classes, which this year was August 25th, and it pretty much runs through Saint Patrick's Day except for division two, we get a week off between Christmas and New Year's. So it's between conditioning, lifting, mini sessions, scouting, recruiting, court time, it's pretty much non-stop. But when the season hits which actually is this Saturday, we go six days a week, we're permitted to be together 20 hours, which by the rules, translates to about 35 hours and it's pretty much go, go, go. And then in addition, working as director of athletics. The rules of the NCA are set up now as such that we can start recruiting juniors and seniors. So between the four of us, we're out three nights a week looking. We try to look at fifty schools a piece every year. So I'm just out doing a perusal, or I'm out knowing that I'm looking at certain person or I'm out kinda looking at someone that has expressed interest. So it depends, but you're out three nights a week looking at high school games in different parts of the tri-state area. And then there's watching film of your next opponent and then there's setting up a scout for your next opponent in terms of the film translates into this behavior that we're gonna try to put into the game. Then there's the teaching part of practice. Then there's the execution part of practice. Then there's the game preparation the day of with a shooter round and more video and meals at the right time, with the right meals, especially with the young ladies, and then there's actually the game itself. I mean, the game is actually somewhat of a relief sometimes, because it's more, like, fun. It's all the prep work to get to it. At the end of the year, you can play 33, 34 games. I often wonder when we finish around Saint Patrick's Day how the NBA does it. Because they're going to the middle of June. My thing is, when we walk into the locker room, if we can collectively agree that we lost to a better team, then we have to accept that. Because you're not going to win everything in life, you're not going to win every game. However, the next day, what can we take away as to why they were better? Now if they were more athletic, that's my fault. If they made more foul shots, that's our fault. So learning from losing, but respecting that, in some cases, you're going to lose to a better team.