Coaches Corner

     Coach Terry Sellers grew up idolizing legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Wooden was known for his calm approach to coaching; Sellers, GCSU’s men’s head coach is not.
     Sellers can often be seen showing emotion on the sidelines during basketball games.
     “I set out to be like Coach Wooden (on the sidelines),” Sellers said. “But very early in my career I realized that we all have different personalities and we have to be ourselves.”
Sellers does have something in common with Wooden: success as a college basketball coach.
     In Sellers’ 14 years at GCSU he has amassed 230 wins, as of Jan. 27, four Peach Belt Conference championships and three PBC Coach of the Year honors.
     His best year may have been in 2000 when he guided the Bobcats to a PBC championship, an NCAA regional championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament’s Elite Eight round and earned the honor of Coach of the Year for Division II in the state of Georgia.
     “I’ve been fortunate enough to have some good players,” Sellers said. “That, of course, is obviously the key to having good teams.”
     Sellers credits the institution as much as anything for his success in recruiting top players to come to GCSU.
     “I think we have a lot of pluses here,” Sellers said. “We can certainly sell our academics here at Georgia College, we have a unique environment here, more like a small Division I school. We have a really good environment here, just a strong tradition, and I think it attracts players here.”
     The winning tradition Sellers has helped establish does not hurt either.
     “We’ve established a pretty good tradition here over the past 10 or 12 years with some conference championships,” Sellers said. “That helps players feel like if they come here, they have a chance to be successful and compete for conference championships.”
     Sellers also acknowledges the student body as being an integral element to their success, especially over the past few seasons.
     “We’ve been getting really good crowds,” Sellers said. “I’d like to say how much I appreciate, and I know the team appreciates the support we’ve had at our games. It really makes a difference and it gives the team a boost. It’s been a good year as far as student support and I hope they know it is greatly appreciated.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 2 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry