Jordan Klein

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Jordan Klein

I would also share from my finance days.

Jordan Klein

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Jason Sunkel

Jordan Klein is in his first season as a women's basketball assistant coach at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.

Jason Sunkel

Klein previously served as a men's basketball assistant coach at Cornell College in Iowa under head coach Dave Slobaugh.

Jason Sunkel

Klein began his coaching career at the high school level while still working as a CFO in the business world.

Jason Sunkel

Jordan has also worked as a camp clinician at Snow Valley Basketball School and USA Basketball Gold Camps.

Jason Sunkel

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Grab your notebook before you listen to this episode with Jordan Klein, Women's Basketball Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.

Jason Sunkel

Hello and welcome to the Whop Heads Podcast.

Jason Sunkel

That's Mike Klinsling here with my co host Jason Sunkel tonight and we are pleased to be joined by Jordan Klein, Women's Basketball Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.

Jason Sunkel

Jordan, welcome to the Hoop Heads Pod.

Jordan Klein

Hello Mike, thank you for having me.

Jason Sunkel

Thrilled to have you looking forward to diving into all of the interesting things and twists and turns that you have had in your career in coaching and otherwise.

Jason Sunkel

Let's start by going back in time though to when you were a kid.

Jason Sunkel

Tell me about some of your first experiences with the game of basketball.

Jason Sunkel

What you remember, what made you fall in love with it.

Jordan Klein

I fell in love with basketball really when I was in fifth grade.

Jordan Klein

My mom started putting me in some YMCA basketball way back and I remember watching.

Jordan Klein

I was born in the early 90s so I remember watching some of the later years of MJ play and I fell in love with it from there.

Jordan Klein

That might be a typical poop head story, but watching him play, see how he competed and I just loved how beautiful the game was.

Jordan Klein

I thought it was fun get to be around other people and run around like burn some energy as a little kid.

Jordan Klein

So that was always fun.

Jason Sunkel

Absolutely, there's no question about that.

Jason Sunkel

Did you play other sports as well?

Jordan Klein

Yeah, I played basketball, football and baseball.

Jordan Klein

I went to a smaller high school so I was fortunate to be to play all three.

Jason Sunkel

What's it like growing up at that time and just playing multiple sports?

Jason Sunkel

How do you go about getting better as a basketball player?

Jason Sunkel

What's the, what's the basketball scene look like for you?

Jordan Klein

I had, I was fortunate in seventh grade so I'm sure at some point I'll share a little bit that I moved around quite a bit as a kid and growing up.

Jordan Klein

But in seventh grade I was.

Jordan Klein

My mom put me in a private school from kindergarten to eighth grade.

Jordan Klein

There were 95 kids in the entire school and one of the kids ended up being one of my best friends.

Jordan Klein

His name's Nate Zastro.

Jordan Klein

He was ended up being the all time leading scorer and all time leader in assists in his Division 1 high school.

Jordan Klein

We ended up going to separate high schools and then he had a full ride to North Dakota State and played there for four years.

Jordan Klein

So that was a great.

Jordan Klein

That was eye opening for me.

Jordan Klein

Just his work ethic and spending time around his family and what it took to be successful in the game.

Jason Sunkel

Yeah, when you have somebody like that, that really I think that you can look up to and then be around and just inspire you to even be, you know, take, take the game even more seriously.

Jason Sunkel

I think that's always an advantage.

Jordan Klein

Yeah, I never like you talk about, you can like you like something, you love something or you live it.

Jordan Klein

And I, he definitely taught me how to live it.

Jordan Klein

There was never a moment in my life where I thought waking up at 4am to go lift or run on a football field in northern Wisconsin with dew on the field was normal, but he taught me that that's what it takes.

Jordan Klein

So it was.

Jordan Klein

It was a great friendship to build and definitely helped me out.

Jason Sunkel

Absolutely.

Jason Sunkel

As you are growing up and experiencing that from a playing standpoint, what.

Jason Sunkel

What are you thinking about at that time?

Jason Sunkel

Because obviously we're going to get to some of the twists and turns and different things that you've done in your career, but.

Jason Sunkel

But what are you kind of thinking about when it comes to what you might have wanted to do?

Jason Sunkel

Did you see yourself at.

Jason Sunkel

As a high school.

Jason Sunkel

As a high school kid ever being interested in coaching?

Jason Sunkel

Was that something that was even remotely in the back of your mind, or was it not even on the radar at all?

Jordan Klein

It was not.

Jordan Klein

It wasn't on the radar for me because I was so focused on playing.

Jordan Klein

Yeah.

Jordan Klein

As a younger.

Jordan Klein

As a younger kid, I was just more focused.

Jordan Klein

I was more focused on me.

Jordan Klein

And I didn't learn.

Jordan Klein

I just didn't have the awareness of how engaging and how much purpose and how rewarding it can be to coach.

Jordan Klein

I didn't know that aspect of the game.

Jordan Klein

I thought it was, let me teach you how to run a ball screen.

Jordan Klein

And had nothing to do with those life skills.

Jordan Klein

Like, I just wasn't aware of that at the time.

Jordan Klein

So that developed over time.

Jordan Klein

I.

Jordan Klein

I did in high school.

Jordan Klein

I would.

Jordan Klein

I would coach our grade school, middle school, summer league stuff, and I enjoyed it and I thought it was fun from a competitive standpoint, but it wasn't really on my.

Jordan Klein

On my list.

Jordan Klein

My.

Jordan Klein

My parents were both business owners, and they talked to me a lot about money growing up.

Jordan Klein

And so that was my focus on what.

Jordan Klein

Like, that was my version of what success looked like, was having money.

Jason Sunkel

Right.

Jordan Klein

Or making a lot of money.

Jordan Klein

And that's pivoted and really grown.

Jordan Klein

That's really changed, actually, as I've grown up and matured.

Jordan Klein

So that's where coaching really fits in with just my purpose.

Jordan Klein

Every day, waking up and just who I want to be as a person.

Jason Sunkel

What's your favorite memory?

Jason Sunkel

And that makes total sense to me.

Jason Sunkel

I mean, I think, again, it's interesting how much we're influenced by our parents, the people that are around us, and sort of what is important to them becomes what's important to us because that's what we're exposed to all the time.

Jason Sunkel

I often say, like, my kids, we played every sport, but my kids got a lot more exposure to basketball because that's the sport that I liked, and that's the one that I wanted to be around all the time.

Jason Sunkel

So even though they got an opportunity to be involved in lots of sports, at least two out of the three of them eventually ended up gravitating to basketball.

Jason Sunkel

And just again, thinking about your experience with your parents and as business owners and people who again, were focused on growing that side of it, you can totally see where that's sort of the direction that it steers you.

Jason Sunkel

What was your favorite memory of playing high school basketball?

Jason Sunkel

Do you have one memory that sticks out for you?

Jordan Klein

You're doing a good job right now.

Jordan Klein

Making me feel old.

Jason Sunkel

I'll tell you, man.

Jason Sunkel

Come on, you're a young guy, man.

Jason Sunkel

I'm 54.

Jason Sunkel

Jordan, come on, man.

Jason Sunkel

You're making me feel old, man.

Jordan Klein

Sure.

Jordan Klein

No, I'm going to take it a little different direction.

Jordan Klein

It's a memory and it's fun.

Jordan Klein

Now when I go back to my hometown.

Jordan Klein

At the time, it was a challenging situation, but we were playing my sophomore year, we were playing the number one team in state and they happened to be in the same city as us.

Jordan Klein

So it was a big game.

Jordan Klein

And we were down by two with eight seconds left.

Jordan Klein

I'll never forget it.

Jordan Klein

And I was a starting shooting guard, but I was the third option on offense.

Jordan Klein

We had a senior point guard that was first team all conference and a junior guard that was second team all conference.

Jordan Klein

So we had an inbounds play, got the ball in, I sprinted to the corner and between the two other guards, they had four defenders on them and I was wide open.

Jordan Klein

So senior guard makes the right play.

Jordan Klein

He passes me the ball in the corner with two seconds left.

Jordan Klein

There's thousands of people in the gym in this smaller town.

Jordan Klein

And I shoot the ball off the pad off the side of the backboard and we lose by two.

Jordan Klein

And there were extra bleachers on the baseline.

Jordan Klein

It was, it was the.

Jordan Klein

Even between now and college, it was the most packed, loud gym I've ever been in, in my life.

Jordan Klein

Outside of, of course, NBA games.

Jordan Klein

But now I go back, even now, 15 years later, I go back home and they're like, hey, Klein, watch this.

Jordan Klein

And this little, this little 12 year old that, I'm not sure, I mean that his parents, I mean, his, his siblings have to tell him about it.

Jordan Klein

They're like, jordan, watch this.

Jordan Klein

And they'll shoot it off the side of the backboard.

Jordan Klein

Like, come on, man.

Jason Sunkel

So, so, so the pandemic P did that in the bubble.

Jason Sunkel

Did that trigger flashbacks when he threw it off the backboard in 2020.

Jordan Klein

100%.

Jordan Klein

I don't think about that.

Jordan Klein

Okay, brings up, brings up some PTSD for me then.

Jordan Klein

So that was in high school.

Jordan Klein

In College, I played two years at a junior college.

Jordan Klein

We were 48 and 4 over my two years there.

Jordan Klein

And so I don't really have one specific memory from that.

Jordan Klein

But being around a culture, just a competitive culture, they say, I mean, everyone says winning fixes a lot of things, but it was amazing while we were winning how close we got as a team.

Jordan Klein

Like, I still talked to my coach 1412 years later.

Jordan Klein

So some of those relationships you can build in a short period of time.

Jordan Klein

That's the most memorable stuff for me.

Jason Sunkel

What was the recruiting process like for you?

Jordan Klein

It was, I'll be honest, it was minimal.

Jordan Klein

I'm a six foot.

Jordan Klein

I was a good shooter.

Jordan Klein

The scouting report on me was get a hand up and he, you can attack him on defense.

Jordan Klein

So the recruiting process was.

Jordan Klein

I just, I went to a private high school and I knew that I wanted to keep playing.

Jordan Klein

So I had a couple of junior college offers and those schools ended up actually being just less expensive than my high school.

Jordan Klein

So my parents were supportive of that and I could stay within a couple hours of home.

Jordan Klein

So I chose to stay closer to home.

Jordan Klein

I had an.

Jordan Klein

I had an offer from York in Pennsylvania, but it was just too far away from home.

Jason Sunkel

Yeah, understood.

Jason Sunkel

Completely got.

Jason Sunkel

Completely understand that.

Jason Sunkel

So what are you thinking about career wise as a college student?

Jason Sunkel

What are you studying?

Jason Sunkel

What are you thinking about?

Jason Sunkel

And what do you end up doing at first after graduation?

Jason Sunkel

Because I think this is kind of where your story takes some, takes some interesting turns.

Jordan Klein

Yep.

Jordan Klein

My.

Jordan Klein

Ended up meeting my eventual wife when we were both at Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Jordan Klein

I was studying finance and I got a job my sophomore year of college.

Jordan Klein

Just needed some extra money, so I started selling phones at US Cellular.

Jordan Klein

And in my eyes at the time, I was making good money and that, that steered my focus away from school.

Jordan Klein

And so I ended up getting into the workforce.

Jordan Klein

Took an opportunity to.

Jordan Klein

I did that for a little while.

Jordan Klein

It was just for.

Jordan Klein

Just for some extra sales money.

Jordan Klein

I was a finance director at a Lexus dealership in the suburbs of Milwaukee also.

Jordan Klein

It was just, just kind of fell into that.

Jordan Klein

It was good money.

Jordan Klein

I didn't love what I was doing every day, but I made some really good connections from my time at US Cellular.

Jordan Klein

I had a friend that left.

Jordan Klein

He left the industry.

Jordan Klein

He started a media company, real estate media.

Jordan Klein

So they did, you know your drone photos listing photos 3D walkthrough videos, et cetera.

Jordan Klein

And the company outgrew him.

Jordan Klein

He was, he just needed help with his finances.

Jordan Klein

And again, I had background from studying finance and both my parents with business.

Jordan Klein

And so right out of the gate, he offered me a position to be a cfo.

Jordan Klein

Help him with.

Jordan Klein

Help him with taxes and reorg and get the company from red to green.

Jordan Klein

And so I did that for two years.

Jordan Klein

Was successful.

Jordan Klein

I was just wearing, I was, I was just working, working a lot.

Jordan Klein

Didn't have a ton of purpose.

Jordan Klein

I found myself not having a lot of purpose.

Jordan Klein

At the end of the day, it was fun being around a team, but it, I just didn't go to bed saying, yeah, I accomplished X today and I feel really good about it and I'm pumped to do it the next day.

Jordan Klein

And that's, no, that's not saying anything bad about the industry, the company, the people that were there.

Jordan Klein

Yeah, it was just me in my stomach.

Jordan Klein

I just had a little pit that said, you know, I think I played basketball.

Jordan Klein

I.

Jordan Klein

I started coaching high school part time on the side.

Jordan Klein

While I was doing that, I fell in love with it.

Jordan Klein

I didn't realize how much I would love it.

Jordan Klein

And my wife and I, you know, if you.

Jordan Klein

I'd love for you to ask about my wife.

Jordan Klein

I'd love to touch on that for a second.

Jordan Klein

But if you.

Jordan Klein

We just talked about the support system and being able to create a plan and figure out solutions and ways to actually put plans in action instead of talk about it.

Jordan Klein

Made a plan to coach college.

Jordan Klein

So I was a CFO for two years and then put a plan together to pursue coaching college basketball.

Jason Sunkel

All right, well, let's talk about your wife and give her a little credit, because as anyone who is coaching and has a spouse knows that if you're going to pursue a coaching career, and I don't care at what level, and especially for someone like you who's making a career change, who is making good money as someone who's working in the business world to say to yourself, I'm going to start trying to pursue the idea of becoming a college coach.

Jason Sunkel

I can't even count the number of podcasts that we've talked to or the number of guests that we've talked to on the pod about, hey, I'm starting my career and I'm making $0 or I'm making $2,000 for this entire year.

Jason Sunkel

And so you're not making the change to go in and have it be a lucrative financial decision.

Jason Sunkel

And obviously, if you are with a partner at that point, There, there's a, there's a sales pitch that has to be made in order for that to be a palatable decision.

Jason Sunkel

So talk a little bit about your guys planning what those conversations were like and then tell me about the plan that you put together.

Jordan Klein

Sure.

Jordan Klein

We were.

Jordan Klein

So when I was, when I was working at Lexus and then eventually onto being the cfo, the media company, my wife was working just, she was out of college and she was working a front desk job as a manager and she just wasn't happy on a day to day basis.

Jordan Klein

So I had the money coming in to be able to support her to leave that job.

Jordan Klein

And she pursued opening a social media and marketing company and it took her 12 months to get her first client.

Jordan Klein

So there were ebbs and flows in that, but it was an opportunity for me to be able to support her, to be able to do something that she loves and she was passionate about and give her the flexibility to work from home.

Jordan Klein

And then after about three years, she was, she was doing that full time and she was bringing in enough money to pay our bills.

Jordan Klein

We weren't, you know, we weren't maxing out our 401k, but our bills were paid and if, if we needed to live on one income.

Jordan Klein

And we started talking about trying to have a kid after being married for two years and we said to each other, if we're going to pursue a family, I can't be working 60 hours a week at that time and being outside of the house.

Jordan Klein

So I gave her essentially the opportunity to pursue her, her passion for a few years.

Jordan Klein

She has it up and running, she still does it full time.

Jordan Klein

And now that plan was she's willing to move around the country with me and support me while I pursue this career path.

Jordan Klein

So there's been some, and we've been married for five years and there's been some pretty big ebbs and flows, but it's, it's just about the foundation that you have together.

Jordan Klein

And I'm sure coaches say this all the time, that they couldn't do what they do without their wives, but I would be, I'd be living in a studio apartment right now if it wasn't for my wife.

Jordan Klein

So.

Jason Sunkel

All right, so in the plan, from working a quote unquote regular job to the first step of becoming a college coach, what's step one?

Jason Sunkel

What do you guys do first?

Jason Sunkel

What's the first move?

Jordan Klein

From my finance background I had, I pulled out a spreadsheet.

Jordan Klein

My parents have, they live in, my dad has a house in Iowa.

Jordan Klein

My mom has a house in the Denver area in Phoenix, and then she ended up recently just buying a house in Iowa.

Jordan Klein

So I made a spreadsheet of 50 colleges that were near those three areas and then filtering them down by head coach tenure, just so I didn't go with my first.

Jordan Klein

It's.

Jordan Klein

It's.

Jordan Klein

We have some real estate, we have some investment properties, and the first one that you buy is very important.

Jordan Klein

After that, they're still important, but the first one is crucial to your success.

Jordan Klein

It can really hinder you.

Jordan Klein

So I had that same mindset going into coaching.

Jordan Klein

So step one was creating a spreadsheet.

Jordan Klein

And then I just cold emailed.

Jordan Klein

I didn't have a lot of great relationships, and I.

Jordan Klein

Great.

Jordan Klein

I just didn't have a lot of relationships with college coaches.

Jordan Klein

So I sent a lot of cold emails and.

Jordan Klein

But was very targeted in who I reached out to and who I would truly be willing to relocate for with my family, and was fortunate to get an email back from Coach Dave Slaughball at Cornell College.

Jordan Klein

And then that led to a world of networking that I could not have imagined.

Jason Sunkel

Absolutely.

Jason Sunkel

I mean, Coach Law and the connections that he has, and we're going to dive into the whole Snow Valley piece of this and everybody that's connected with that, and Jason and I have been fortunate enough through the podcast and our relationships and get an opportunity to go out to Iowa.

Jason Sunkel

Jason's been out there once, and I've been out there.

Jason Sunkel

I think three.

Jason Sunkel

I've been out there three times, and just again, great opportunity to be able to go out and to network and to be a part of it.

Jason Sunkel

So.

Jason Sunkel

So tell us a little bit about your relationship with Coach Slobaugh, just what that's meant to you and how it kind of led to.

Jason Sunkel

Led to these opportunities that you were.

Jason Sunkel

That you were able to earn at the college level.

Jordan Klein

Sure.

Jordan Klein

So when I was looking at colleges in the area, I pulled up Cornell.

Jordan Klein

They have a new $23 million renovation that they did.

Jordan Klein

It was beautiful, just looking at the pictures.

Jordan Klein

And I'm.

Jordan Klein

I was a high school coach, so this was.

Jordan Klein

It just looked incredible.

Jordan Klein

And it was really just a reach.

Jordan Klein

I just sent an email to say, hey, you know what?

Jordan Klein

It can't hurt to send this.

Jordan Klein

And he emailed me back within 30 minutes and said he'd be interested.

Jordan Klein

And we set up a time for me to come down and visit my dad, who lives about 25 minutes away from campus.

Jordan Klein

And I just told him I'd drive down, make a long weekend out of it.

Jordan Klein

We Had I met.

Jordan Klein

I was scheduled to meet with him for.

Jordan Klein

This is something people.

Jason Sunkel

This.

Jordan Klein

This is a big takeaway for me was I was scheduled to meet with him for one hour and I ended up being there for three.

Jordan Klein

And he said at the end of it, he said, I think it's important for our wives to meet each other.

Jordan Klein

Let's get dinner tomorrow.

Jordan Klein

And we did that and just hit it off from there.

Jordan Klein

And I, after talking to him, did not.

Jordan Klein

I told everyone else that said they were interested that I had found my place.

Jordan Klein

The amount of time and how genuine he is and authentic and just.

Jordan Klein

There's a public speaker named Jordan Montgomery, and he says that love is spelled T I M E.

Jordan Klein

And I was blown away by how much time Coach was willing to spend with someone that would come in and just be a.

Jordan Klein

Not just, but to be a stipend assistant for his first college opportunity.

Jason Sunkel

Tell me what that first experience was like.

Jason Sunkel

What do you remember about just the difference between the experiences that you had had to that point with coaching in high school versus coaching in college?

Jason Sunkel

Just what were some of your first impressions?

Jason Sunkel

What.

Jason Sunkel

What did you really enjoy and love about the college experience?

Jordan Klein

I.

Jordan Klein

So for me, I really enjoyed the challenge of recruiting because I had a sales background, sales and finance background.

Jordan Klein

I really.

Jordan Klein

I enjoyed being able to put together the puzzle of what does this class size look like?

Jordan Klein

What do we need next year?

Jordan Klein

Especially at the Division 3 level, where you don't deal as much with the transfer portal, you can put the puzzle pieces together on what you need.

Jordan Klein

And then in addition to that, It's a top 100 academic college in the country, and it's not inexpensive to go to school there.

Jordan Klein

So I appreciate the challenge of finding the right fit, meeting with parents, and putting that process together.

Jordan Klein

So recruiting was.

Jordan Klein

Was big for me.

Jordan Klein

And then in addition to that, what I loved about college was that you recruit the type of players that you're looking for, which we all know.

Jordan Klein

But it.

Jordan Klein

It helps a lot with.

Jordan Klein

You give yourself chess pieces now instead of checkers.

Jordan Klein

And then instead of so much dealing with how you play the game, it's a lot more of what can we do with the assets that we have or with the people that are around us?

Jordan Klein

So that was.

Jordan Klein

I just love the challenge of.

Jordan Klein

Let me put it this way, when you're in high school, a lot of it has been in the past.

Jordan Klein

There's a lot of systems and you have a youth program and they run the same thing from sixth grade up.

Jordan Klein

And that just doesn't fly in college with Scouting and etc.

Jordan Klein

So I love the challenge of having to be an expert and, you know, multiple offenses, culture, coverages, etc, and then figuring out what's worked best for the personnel that you have.

Jason Sunkel

Tell me a little bit about recruiting and what you like about that process.

Jason Sunkel

What's a challenge when it comes to that process?

Jason Sunkel

Obviously at the Division 3 level, you have a certain academic profile of player that you have to be able to recruit depending.

Jason Sunkel

Depending upon what your school is.

Jason Sunkel

But just tell me about building relationships with recruits, how you go about doing that and then just again, how you kind of take them from the beginning.

Jason Sunkel

Introductory stage of, hey, we're just trying to identify whether or not a kid can play and academically be a good fit for our institution to, okay, this kid's actually going to walk on campus and become a part of our program.

Jason Sunkel

Take me through those steps.

Jordan Klein

We emphasized, we emphasize character just as highly, if not more than your talent.

Jordan Klein

If we're going to spend 40 hours a week together.

Jordan Klein

I want to make sure I like you and I want to make sure you like me and you're a good fit for the culture.

Jordan Klein

And that's a trigger word, but that's such a cliche thing to say.

Jordan Klein

But that came from my background and in business, if I don't, I think there's someone out there that can type numbers into a spreadsheet and balance things for me.

Jordan Klein

But if I don't like you and don't want to see you walk through the door every day, it's hard to.

Jordan Klein

It's hard to go after you and put my best foot forward when I'm recruiting you.

Jordan Klein

So.

Jason Sunkel

Right, right.

Jordan Klein

We look at character a lot.

Jordan Klein

But that process at Cornell, 70% of the students are from out of state, international.

Jordan Klein

So we spent a lot of time through, I mean, different software we used.

Jordan Klein

I actually, I use Twitter a lot.

Jordan Klein

Every, Every kid needs to have X.

Jordan Klein

But we would meet, we would.

Jordan Klein

We never sent an offer or we never offered a kid unless we met with his parents first and we had to gauge.

Jordan Klein

I mean, finances are important, but I'm, again, I'm.

Jordan Klein

I'm gauging character and eye contact respectfulness.

Jordan Klein

It's just in this, you know, in the age that we are in, that's so important to us.

Jordan Klein

And I mean, you know, high character education is important.

Jordan Klein

And then we'd get them on campus, meet with the family, take them out to eat and just decide if it was a good fit.

Jordan Klein

I mean, you can feel it in your gut whether this is a good person in front of You.

Jordan Klein

But I think to pivot a little bit, I think it's so important as coaches to be authentic, genuine, be yourself.

Jordan Klein

People can smell BS from a mile away and there's just no time for it.

Jordan Klein

Again, very similar to my business background.

Jordan Klein

Your competition is right down the street and there's no time for fluff.

Jordan Klein

The.

Jordan Klein

We're the best university.

Jordan Klein

We're the best university.

Jordan Klein

It just doesn't work.

Jordan Klein

It's like the push and promote things don't work.

Jordan Klein

You have to be able to share with them how you're, how you're different as a person.

Jordan Klein

Because school to school for the majority, you got, you have class Monday, Wednesday, Friday, you have different classes Tuesday, Thursday, you'll get your degree.

Jordan Klein

And in a way we go.

Jordan Klein

But I think who you are and being trustworthy, respectful, showing someone that you care for, who they are authentically people, I mean, I just, it's, it's massive in building trust.

Jordan Klein

So thanks for listening to my belabored, long winded response, but I think that's so important.

Jason Sunkel

No, I think you're 100% right.

Jason Sunkel

I mean, I think that any relationship that you have, once a kid is in the program, it all starts on the recruiting trail.

Jason Sunkel

Right?

Jason Sunkel

You're trying to build that relationship with, first of all, the player, but, you know, getting to know their family because it's a package deal.

Jason Sunkel

And you're trying to figure out again, what, what kind of a person is this beyond what kind of a basketball player are they?

Jason Sunkel

Because as you said early on, one of the things that's nice about college basketball is you get to be the gatekeeper of who comes into your program and who doesn't.

Jason Sunkel

Obviously, when you're coaching at the high school level, you don't have nearly as much control over what that looks like.

Jason Sunkel

And you, you're limited to who walks through the doors of your school.

Jason Sunkel

And those are the kids that you got to figure out and try to coach.

Jason Sunkel

And when you're coaching at the college level, you have some ability to control and figure out who's going to be a part of your program.

Jason Sunkel

And so you're trying to make good decisions when it comes to who you bring in and who you want to be around and who you want to work with.

Jason Sunkel

Right.

Jason Sunkel

I mean, it's a long time, four years and four seasons of working with a kid and being around them and pouring into them and building that relationship with them.

Jason Sunkel

And you just want that to be a situation where it's a good fit for everybody all around.

Jason Sunkel

Tell me about the experiences that you had working with Coach Slaw just on the court.

Jason Sunkel

What are some things that you learned from him?

Jason Sunkel

From.

Jason Sunkel

Let's start with just a basketball perspective, and then we can maybe dive into kind of what he.

Jason Sunkel

What he taught you more specifically about the coaching profession in general.

Jordan Klein

He was, if something's not working, he is willing to pivot immediately the next day and fix it.

Jordan Klein

He is not willing to beat his head against the wall with something that's not working or that the team is not picking up on.

Jordan Klein

So within the first, we had.

Jordan Klein

We had some injuries early last year.

Jordan Klein

And so within the first.

Jordan Klein

I want to say within the first eight games, we had tweaked our offense about three times.

Jordan Klein

And not just simple actions.

Jordan Klein

It was just different.

Jordan Klein

It was different philosophies.

Jordan Klein

And that was.

Jordan Klein

That was the first time I'd ever seen that.

Jordan Klein

A willingness to change and be humble enough to.

Jordan Klein

And aware that you need to change.

Jordan Klein

And it's.

Jordan Klein

It's good to grow in that way.

Jordan Klein

Like, humility allows you to be teachable, and it allows you to continue learning.

Jordan Klein

And he.

Jordan Klein

There was no ego about that.

Jordan Klein

It was not.

Jordan Klein

My system fits, and I'm going to put, you know, fit the.

Jordan Klein

Fit the squares into the circle situation.

Jordan Klein

So that was a big take.

Jordan Klein

That was a big takeaway as far as on court.

Jordan Klein

Some things specifically that I learned from him was very personnel based and putting players in the right position to be successful based on their strengths.

Jordan Klein

I used to coach players and you think you know how to do that, and then you see it done at a higher level and you realize that there's always things to learn.

Jordan Klein

And so just some of his actions, things that we ran on the floor to get kids open, were so simple, but they were effective.

Jordan Klein

So there's some things I could share, I'm sure, but those were.

Jordan Klein

That was.

Jordan Klein

Those.

Jordan Klein

Those two things were big for me.

Jason Sunkel

All right, let's dive into what the Snow Valley piece of this has meant to you.

Jason Sunkel

Just go through some of the people that have had an impact on you and just, again, what that experience.

Jason Sunkel

And clearly anybody who has been affiliated with Snow Valley in any way knows just what an incredible network of people have been connected to Snow Valley.

Jason Sunkel

But just tell us a little bit about your experiences and maybe highlight a couple of the individuals that you feel have been especially impactful.

Jordan Klein

Absolutely.

Jordan Klein

I'm happy to do it.

Jordan Klein

So I recognize Coach Showalter's name in Coach Slava's bio.

Jordan Klein

So I didn't know much about Cornell College, and I didn't recognize the name Dave Slobaugh.

Jordan Klein

But I, I knew who, at least on paper, from his track record, I knew who.

Jordan Klein

So Walter is right.

Jordan Klein

So that was a, that was a big thing for me is why I reached out to coach Slava.

Jordan Klein

And so, I mean, it all starts with him.

Jordan Klein

And he says, he says in order to be different, sometimes you have to do things a little bit differently.

Jordan Klein

And so I took, I took that to heart when I started going to Snow Valley.

Jordan Klein

And he teaches you.

Jordan Klein

He talks a lot about having no ego.

Jordan Klein

We're all here to teach.

Jordan Klein

You have to be a teacher of the game.

Jordan Klein

Whether you're, whether he's with his junior national team and coaching Jason Tatum or Scotty Barnes or he's in a gym, in a cornfield in Iowa talking to sixth graders.

Jordan Klein

He is the same person.

Jordan Klein

So consistent, he's genuine and he knows he's very, very smart when it comes to.

Jordan Klein

It's.

Jordan Klein

It's an appropriate time to push you a little bit, get on you.

Jordan Klein

And then when it's time to pull back and you need a different type of motivation.

Jordan Klein

So I took a lot away, took a lot of that away from him.

Jordan Klein

At the same time, the, something I have learned and seen is that you are.

Jordan Klein

Everyone is.

Jordan Klein

Everyone's treated like you hear this.

Jordan Klein

Probably everyone's treated fairly but not equal.

Jordan Klein

Like you are still anticipated to come in and work.

Jordan Klein

So the first, first when I did Soul Valley Last year in 23, we talked a little bit and then he saw my work ethic.

Jordan Klein

He saw some things that I was doing with Cornell, picking people up from the airport at 1 o'clock in the morning, et cetera.

Jordan Klein

And then with that comes some, some respect level where he sees who you are, that you might be a little bit different or willing to go the extra mile.

Jordan Klein

And then opportunities come from that.

Jordan Klein

I was able to work USA Gold Camps.

Jordan Klein

He offered to be a reference on my resume.

Jordan Klein

It's just you don't know.

Jordan Klein

You just don't know the possibilities until you put your best foot forward.

Jordan Klein

So he's been unbelievable.

Jordan Klein

I was just texting him earlier today.

Jordan Klein

He's a great guy.

Jordan Klein

From that I will name a couple other people would be Dave Severns, formerly player development coach of the LA Clippers.

Jordan Klein

I took his player development course which I would recommend to anybody.

Jordan Klein

It's great.

Jordan Klein

And so he took us through a six week course on player development.

Jordan Klein

Learned a lot from him.

Jordan Klein

But again, that comes from the network at Snow Valley.

Jordan Klein

And then, I mean, I'll just share that.

Jordan Klein

It just keeps leading into will twig is the reason why I'm on this podcast.

Jordan Klein

Great friend of mine, the academy coach for the London Lions.

Jordan Klein

And that friendship means everything.

Jordan Klein

His wife's amazing.

Jordan Klein

Him and his wife are.

Jordan Klein

Or his, her name's Rose.

Jordan Klein

Rose and my wife are best friends.

Jordan Klein

We've been to their house in London, they've been to our house in Iowa.

Jordan Klein

So you're creating lifelong friendships.

Jordan Klein

Again, as cliche as that might sound, it's genuine.

Jordan Klein

And you never know where those relationships or people in their career are going to go.

Jordan Klein

Snow Valley is just a special place.

Jordan Klein

Last I'll mention that Bayoudo, former NBA player, he was at Snow Valley.

Jordan Klein

Quinn Snyder actually sent him there, which is unbelievable when you think about it.

Jordan Klein

Former NBA player being sent to a cornfield in Iowa to come work a youth camp.

Jordan Klein

But yeah, he, he was able to get me into a Atlanta Hawks practice.

Jordan Klein

You talk to me after practice for 45 minutes.

Jordan Klein

Like, the people that come to Snow Valley are just so genuine and want to help.

Jordan Klein

And it's not a passive, hey, let me know if I can ever help you in the future.

Jordan Klein

Like, these people respond.

Jordan Klein

They're there for you.

Jordan Klein

They're good people because they are absolutely psychotic about the game of basketball.

Jordan Klein

And if you're willing to work from 6:00am until 11:00 at night, probably have a couple screw screw looses for the game, you are, you are a good person that really wants to help others, kids and coaches alike.

Jordan Klein

So Snow Valley's meant everything to me.

Jordan Klein

That's where I also met Coach McAdams.

Jordan Klein

So Coach Show Walter talks about if you want to be better as a coach, you have to go to camps and clinics.

Jordan Klein

Go to camps and clinics.

Jordan Klein

And so I've done that.

Jordan Klein

That's where I met Coach McAdams.

Jordan Klein

He had an opportunity, a rise on his staff and I was down here about a month later and that all came from Snow Valley.

Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

Learn more@gc.com hoopheads that's gc.com hoopheads your story is a testament to how powerful a coaching network is it.

Jason Sunkel

It also speaks to just what we discovered from doing the podcast for the last six years.

Jason Sunkel

And I guess I.

Jason Sunkel

I sort of knew this before we started, but I don't think I fully comprehended the just willingness of people to share their knowledge, to share their connections, to invest in something that they feel is worthwhile.

Jason Sunkel

And then probably the most overwhelming thing is just the love for the game of basketball that's out there.

Jason Sunkel

And I know you can probably speak to this as well, but I grew up just loving the game of basketball.

Jason Sunkel

And in my little area of Strongsville, Ohio, here, suburb of Cleveland, I was.

Jason Sunkel

You know, I mean, I loved the game, felt like I loved it more than.

Jason Sunkel

More than anybody.

Jason Sunkel

And sometimes you get caught up in it, and it's maybe not as easy to get caught up in it as it is, you know, back then as it is now, because with social media, you can see lots of things and whatever, but back in my day as a.

Jason Sunkel

As a young kid and then as a young coach, you know, you were kind of isolated in your own sort of.

Jason Sunkel

Sort of little world.

Jason Sunkel

And I just.

Jason Sunkel

The love for the game of basketball and the willingness of people to share and your story does a tremendous job of illustrating that.

Jason Sunkel

That, you know, here's a bunch of people that obviously, at the time you're meeting them, had.

Jordan Klein

Are.

Jason Sunkel

Have tremendous, tremendous accomplishments in the game and have done so many things, and yet they're not just walking by you and looking down and go, oh, there's Jordan Klein.

Jason Sunkel

Like, what does this guy want?

Jason Sunkel

You know?

Jason Sunkel

Instead it was, hey, there's Jordan Klein.

Jason Sunkel

Like, look at how hard this guy's working.

Jason Sunkel

How can we help him?

Jason Sunkel

You know, how can we help him to be better so ultimately we can help game of basketball be better.

Jason Sunkel

And a word that you said that keep flashing in my mind as I think about what you just shared is just that idea of just being genuine, right, and genuinely caring about somebody else.

Jason Sunkel

And too often in this world today, you don't see people.

Jason Sunkel

You see a lot of, I guess, window dressing of people who say, hey, you know, yeah, I'll, you know, I'll help, whatever.

Jason Sunkel

But the.

Jason Sunkel

The number of people that actually will set something down, set something aside to.

Jason Sunkel

To help someone, that's when you really start talking about those genuine relationships.

Jason Sunkel

And I know that Jason and I, when we went out together for the first time to Snow Valley, we certainly felt that.

Jason Sunkel

And then I went back a couple times with my son and felt it even stronger and just the number of people that we've had on the pod from, from Snow Valley.

Jason Sunkel

And of course it all starts, as you said, with Coach Showalter and Coach Slobaw and just how gracious they were to be able to first of all invite us to come on the podcast to be a part of it.

Jason Sunkel

And so I can completely understand the reverence that you have for those two guys and what they've been able to do for you in your career.

Jason Sunkel

When you think about this plan that you started that we talked about a few minutes ago with you and your wife, kind of putting it together and you see kind of where it's taken you, what have been, the things that kind of have gone according to plan and what are.

Jason Sunkel

Is there a thing or two that maybe has been a surprise or a twist that you didn't see coming when you put together that original plan?

Jordan Klein

That is the most relevant question you could ask me at this time in my first 72 hours down in Arkansas.

Jordan Klein

So I now have, we have a two year old daughter, happy, healthy, amazing.

Jordan Klein

I've been able to spend a lot of time with her for the last, with, with her at home with the last two years.

Jordan Klein

Coach Slapaw was very understanding.

Jordan Klein

He allowed me to do scouting reports and film for my home office so I could spend more time around my daughter.

Jordan Klein

And like I said, this opportunity arose very quickly.

Jordan Klein

So I am in, I'm currently sitting, I'm, I'm 32, I have fortunate to have two houses and an investment property and I am sitting in a college dorm room on campus right now.

Jordan Klein

I just had three meals in the cafeteria today and my wife and 2 year old daughter are back in Cedar Rapids for the next, you know, for the foreseeable for this season.

Jordan Klein

My wife is the head dance coach at Cornell College and she committed to the season prior to this opportunity arising.

Jordan Klein

So again, going back to Coach Sowalter, you know, in order to be different, you have to do things differently.

Jordan Klein

I would also share from my finance days with Dave Ramsey says if you live like no one else later, you can eventually live like no one else.

Jordan Klein

And can't tell you how hard the last 72 hours have been and making this decision and not just me collectively with my wife as a, as a unit, but I am for the first time not living with my wife and daughter for potentially six months.

Jordan Klein

So yeah, there's been some twists and turns and there's been some conversations that have ended in tears and I've also been really excited over the last few days to be back in the gym, working with great talent, having established relationships.

Jordan Klein

There's no, no way that I would be sitting in the, that I would have chose to sit in this dorm room right now if it wasn't for relationships with Coach McAdams that were built off of Snow Valley.

Jordan Klein

So it's not all doom and gloom.

Jordan Klein

I'm happy to be here.

Jordan Klein

It's a really great opportunity.

Jordan Klein

But as far as personal life goes, absolutely.

Jordan Klein

There have been some twists and turns.

Jason Sunkel

What was the discussion like with your wife when this opportunity is presented to you?

Jason Sunkel

What were some of the things that you guys talked about?

Jason Sunkel

What was your process?

Jason Sunkel

Because I think this is a, an interesting conversation.

Jason Sunkel

It's an interesting situation that I think a lot of coaches who are at the college level, who are at the early stages of their career have to make similar decisions.

Jason Sunkel

They have to decide, am I willing to move, am I willing to be separated from my spouse, my kids for a certain period of time, am I willing to work for less money to be able to take a step forward in my career?

Jason Sunkel

So I think that whatever you're willing to share about that conversation, maybe how you structured it.

Jason Sunkel

Did you talk pros and cons?

Jason Sunkel

Did you just.

Jason Sunkel

How did you go about having that discussion so that it would be productive and you could ultimately make what was going to be the best decision for you and your family?

Jordan Klein

Yeah, I mean we, I had a great, I had a great year, great time at Cornell building those relationships.

Jordan Klein

I love everything about both slob odds that are there.

Jordan Klein

And so, yeah, absolutely, we made pros and cons.

Jordan Klein

We had conversations about, you know, when you make a decision, they're good and bad, there's positive and negative consequences to everything.

Jordan Klein

And so we, we listed those things out.

Jordan Klein

For what it's worth, I'm not set on this.

Jordan Klein

Like the division that you're in and coaching is nice.

Jordan Klein

I'm happy to be at Division 2 level.

Jordan Klein

I also really, I was excited to be you mentioned in the intro, but I'm excited to be on the women's side because I have a two year old daughter.

Jordan Klein

So we talked about the pros and cons of the opportunity.

Jordan Klein

I think that exists in the women's game right now, being in Iowa for the last year, the Caitlin Clark effect and the rise of women's basketball and the awareness.

Jordan Klein

So.

Jordan Klein

And then personally, I'm thinking big picture about how temporary this is in the scheme of our, our marriage and our lives and then how that's going to impact.

Jordan Klein

I'll just say personally, how that can impact my daughter later.

Jordan Klein

On in life, being able to be around, you know, strong minded women.

Jordan Klein

And I, I mean that's very genuinely.

Jordan Klein

So if there's anything that I can do to help my daughter be in a better place or help her succeed later in life, if this is one thing I can do to do that, I am, I'm willing to drive nine hours down to Arkansas and live in a college dorm.

Jordan Klein

So yeah, we talked about the pros and cons again with her flexibility of work and having family nearby and sort of and you know, having a support system to where she might not love her day to day, it's not optimal but you know, she, we can make it work.

Jordan Klein

And so she gave me that blessing 12, 15 months after moving from Milwaukee, Wisconsin down to Iowa for Cornell.

Jordan Klein

So again, you're, you're, I think it's so important to note that you can have the best plan, you can be willing to put it into action.

Jordan Klein

You can make pros and cons lists, but if you don't have a support system, whether it's through your spouse, your family, whatever that is, I just can't, in my, in my reality, in small corner of the world, can't imagine being able to do something like that.

Jordan Klein

So I just, I want to reiterate that because it's, I think that's big for coaches if to find people around you that have genuine care and love for you, that are willing to go through you.

Jordan Klein

It's, it's like when you start dating somebody, you go on a first date and it's awesome.

Jordan Klein

The conversation's great and then you have your first argument and the test comes out of I don't know if I like you that much or yeah, I'm willing to, I'm willing to fight for you.

Jordan Klein

I'm willing to work through this.

Jordan Klein

And it's just been, it's been incredible.

Jordan Klein

So that's where we're at.

Jason Sunkel

Had you ever set foot in the state of Arkansas before this?

Jordan Klein

No, sir, I had never.

Jordan Klein

It was funny when I was walking into the first practice, I was walking in with Coach McAdams, he opened the door to the arena and it was, it was 15 minutes until practice.

Jordan Klein

And I said, hey, this, you know, this is my first time walking into the arena, right.

Jordan Klein

I had just got there, had my room set up.

Jordan Klein

Practice was the next morning and I didn't have an opportunity to even tour the facility.

Jordan Klein

I saw pictures, I knew them, but.

Jordan Klein

And it was game time.

Jordan Klein

The lights were on, the clock was ticking down, and it's time to, time to get to work.

Jordan Klein

So I will tell you, I'm not making a recruiting pitch for anyone listening to this, but northwest Arkansas is a lot more beautiful than I anticipated.

Jordan Klein

There are some, there are some rolling hills here, there's waterfalls, there's national park.

Jordan Klein

I had, I thought I was moving.

Jordan Klein

I thought I was moving to.

Jordan Klein

I'm, you know, I thought I was moving to the plains of Kansas.

Jordan Klein

So it's nice.

Jason Sunkel

Gotcha.

Jason Sunkel

Understood.

Jason Sunkel

Understood.

Jason Sunkel

All right.

Jason Sunkel

So as you get there and you get on campus and obviously you have the relationship that you Described with Coach McAdams and before we jump down, you said basically you've been swallowing information for lack of a better way of saying it since you got onto campus.

Jason Sunkel

What are some of the things that this first 72 hours there that you've, that you've done, that you've taken in, the things that you're trying to assimilate sort of into your experience here in this early part of taking this job.

Jordan Klein

They had their first, the first Official practice was October 4th and I showed up three days ago.

Jordan Klein

So, you know, it's late in the process.

Jordan Klein

It's not something I've experienced before.

Jordan Klein

So along with learning players and their strengths and weaknesses and you know, trying to do your on court coaching, the biggest thing over the last 72 hours has been learning what, you know, doing my best in every way to be a good assistant coach and have understanding his philosophy in transition offense.

Jordan Klein

How are we going to be.

Jordan Klein

Do we force baseline, do we force middle?

Jordan Klein

Because it's not necessarily about what I've been exposed to in the past.

Jordan Klein

I think it's really important for us as a staff to have, we can all have our own opinions and if, hey, if this was solely my call in a summer league game, this is what we would do.

Jordan Klein

But I think it's important for us to have a common message when we address the team.

Jordan Klein

So understanding his philosophy, sharing input, he's, he's been unbelievable at empowering us to make, to make decisions.

Jordan Klein

And again within 72 hours to be, for me to be able to lead things in practice and coach his kids that he spends time recruiting and they can be in the transfer portal in four months or tomorrow is unbelievable.

Jordan Klein

And that all goes back to the relationship from so Valley.

Jordan Klein

So, you know, I would say learning his philosophy and then Billy is as quickly as possible, you're building relationships with kids.

Jordan Klein

So I'm just, I'm trying to bring in every day bringing in an energy in something that they might not expect.

Jordan Klein

Just, it's called a pattern interrupt I like to throw people off their game a little bit.

Jordan Klein

Um, so they remember you.

Jordan Klein

It's a lot about who you are as a person instead of what you do.

Jordan Klein

And I think that goes a long way.

Jordan Klein

People remember you for that.

Jordan Klein

So I've been doing that over the last three days.

Jason Sunkel

All right, what's that look like?

Jason Sunkel

What's an example of a pattern interruption?

Jordan Klein

We have the Gatorade player of the year from Missouri last year.

Jordan Klein

She's a freshman.

Jordan Klein

Um, we were in transition.

Jordan Klein

She got stuck in the short corner, and instead of spacing the floor, she was just.

Jordan Klein

She was lost in the short corner.

Jordan Klein

So she subbed out like it was just another team's rotation.

Jordan Klein

And I walked over to her and I said, hey, can you shoot the ball?

Jordan Klein

And just an inquisitive, you know, hey, are you.

Jordan Klein

I.

Jordan Klein

I just got here.

Jordan Klein

I don't know anything.

Jordan Klein

Are you able to shoot?

Jordan Klein

I don't know.

Jordan Klein

I haven't seen it on film.

Jordan Klein

And she looked at me a little bit confused and said, yeah, she's a Gatorade player of the year.

Jordan Klein

So I said, you know, I know the answer to that question.

Jordan Klein

Right?

Jordan Klein

And she laughed and I said, so if you had the choice between being stuck in the short corner and being quiet, or spacing the floor to the corner using your voice and knocking down an open shot, which one would you choose?

Jordan Klein

And she's like, use my voice in space.

Jordan Klein

I was like, I think that's the correct answer.

Jordan Klein

I'm happy you came to that conclusion.

Jordan Klein

And I don't say it sarcastically.

Jordan Klein

I'm just smiling.

Jordan Klein

And in the next possession down, she faces the floor and hits a three and looks at me and she runs back on defense, takes a little glance.

Jordan Klein

And to me, that was a good coaching moment of instead of saying, I could have walked over to her and said, hey, I need you to space the space, the floor.

Jordan Klein

You can't get lost in the short corner.

Jordan Klein

And I just don't think that resonates as well.

Jordan Klein

I don't think.

Jordan Klein

I think there's a learning aspect to that where people need to come to their own conclusions or have the perception that they come to their own conclusions based on how you coach and lead and communicate.

Jordan Klein

So that's a.

Jordan Klein

That was a quick one that happened yesterday, right out of the gate.

Jason Sunkel

Yeah.

Jason Sunkel

Sort of bringing something unusual.

Jason Sunkel

Right.

Jason Sunkel

An approach where you're getting across the same message, but maybe doing it in such a way that it's more memorable.

Jason Sunkel

It's different.

Jason Sunkel

It's not an out of the box strategy that somebody can Say, hey, I've heard a coach say that to me before.

Jason Sunkel

Maybe you just approach it in a slightly different way.

Jason Sunkel

And to your point, I think that does maybe make it more memorable and make it more impactful to say.

Jordan Klein

To say it short and sweet.

Jordan Klein

I just.

Jordan Klein

And this is to keep it short and sweet.

Jordan Klein

Telling is not teaching.

Jordan Klein

And I think.

Jordan Klein

I think a lot of times coaches make a lot of statements.

Jordan Klein

They talk a lot because they want players to know how much they know.

Jordan Klein

But it doesn't matter what we say.

Jordan Klein

It's what people.

Jordan Klein

It's what people retain and understand.

Jordan Klein

And so I think asking questions just activates your brain and gets people to figure it out for themselves, which they will remember.

Jordan Klein

When there's fans and their parents are there and their boyfriend or girlfriend's there and there's distractions, you need to be able to retain and apply what you've learned based on your environment.

Jordan Klein

So telling is not teaching.

Jason Sunkel

Yeah.

Jason Sunkel

Coaching with questions, I think is something that I didn't do hardly at all at the beginning of my coaching career.

Jason Sunkel

And then I think as time has gone on, I've become better and better and better at that.

Jason Sunkel

And to your point, it allows the player to come to their own conclusion or a conclusion that they.

Jason Sunkel

Again, maybe there's the conclusion that your question is leading them to, but it gets them to the concept or the idea or the answer that you, as the coach, are looking for them to find.

Jason Sunkel

And so that's again, another way to be able to.

Jason Sunkel

To cement that learning that you're trying to do with players out on the court and trying to get that across to them as you're talking about relationships.

Jason Sunkel

And obviously, very quickly, you've been there such a short period of time, so it may not even be necessarily put into practice quite yet at Fort Smith.

Jason Sunkel

But when you think about building relationships with players, what does that look like for you in your mind?

Jason Sunkel

You talked a little bit before about your relationships with some of the guys from Snow Valley and just the coaches and just how the relationship is genuine.

Jason Sunkel

So how do you develop those genuine relationships with players so that a, they know that they're valued as people, but also so that you can get in there and they understand that the relationship that you've built with them off the floor allows you to push them and get the best out of them on the floor.

Jordan Klein

My first practice, walked into the gym.

Jordan Klein

I was quiet for most of practice for day one.

Jordan Klein

Showing up after their first official practice, observing, not pushing anyone's buttons.

Jordan Klein

I'm.

Jordan Klein

I'm there.

Jordan Klein

I'M the new guy.

Jordan Klein

And today we.

Jordan Klein

A couple things.

Jordan Klein

We did a ball handling warmup drill.

Jordan Klein

Coach McAdams let me lead that.

Jordan Klein

And it was.

Jordan Klein

And it was fun.

Jordan Klein

It wasn't.

Jordan Klein

We had two people arm arm's length away, just touch fingertips.

Jordan Klein

There was a cone in between them.

Jordan Klein

We would do a different ball handling series, and then whoever picked up the cone first, one very simple.

Jordan Klein

We did about eight different variations.

Jordan Klein

But it was great for me to be able to lead that in a fun, competitive way.

Jordan Klein

So people were smiling out of the gate at the first thing that I had led.

Jordan Klein

That was important to me.

Jordan Klein

We also implemented today after meetings, the classic communication circle that USA Basketball uses.

Jordan Klein

So I had the players.

Jordan Klein

Players linked arms at the beginning of practice on the baseline.

Jordan Klein

I went and talked to them, and I said, again, I like to ask questions, and I just want people to know that I'm genuine and I'm a real person that they can talk to and not just another coach that's going to harp on them all day.

Jordan Klein

So I said, hey, guys.

Jordan Klein

I said, hey, ladies, how long have I been here?

Jordan Klein

And they said, one day.

Jordan Klein

That's right.

Jordan Klein

And I'm already switching stuff up, and I'm making you link arms.

Jordan Klein

So here's what we're going to do.

Jordan Klein

You guys are going to.

Jordan Klein

With 30 seconds left before practice starts, you're going to link arms on the baseline.

Jordan Klein

Whoever's a leader on the team, upperclassmen, I just want you to communicate something that you're excited about for today, what you're looking forward to.

Jordan Klein

And when you're done, the coaches will be at half court.

Jordan Klein

You're going to jog and clap to half court, where I'll link arms.

Jordan Klein

And then Coach McAdams will talk about what we're doing for the day, anything we have coming up, any events we have planned, et cetera.

Jordan Klein

And then I also mentioned if we had.

Jordan Klein

If you were at the University of Iowa and you have a staff of 74 coaches, they will watch practice, film back, and they track touches.

Jordan Klein

Um, and so we focused a lot today just on togetherness with the communication circle.

Jordan Klein

I will share.

Jordan Klein

Also, at the end of practice, we all went toe to toe in a circle because they're all sweaty and don't want to touch each other.

Jordan Klein

And I had everyone look to the person to their left one at a time and say something that they did positive today, and I'll change that up, and it'll be fun.

Jordan Klein

I might might ask, ask them who has the most pairs of Jordans, what's their Favorite parachute, what's your favorite food, Tell somebody something you don't know about that they don't know about you, et cetera.

Jordan Klein

And I just think that builds relationships again.

Jordan Klein

And just, again, it makes you seem human and authentic and there's.

Jordan Klein

There's things to you.

Jordan Klein

And I want them to know I have a wife and a kid and that it, you know, et cetera, I think.

Jordan Klein

But we did all that in the last two.

Jordan Klein

Two practices, so that was great.

Jason Sunkel

I think that sharing things as a coach about your life outside of your basketball team is a really valuable piece because when you think about your experience as a player, or oftentimes I'll think about my day job as a teacher.

Jason Sunkel

And so often kids have this perception of they only see you in that role that they're seeing you most frequently in, and they're.

Jason Sunkel

They're oftentimes like, so I teach elementary PE during the day.

Jason Sunkel

And obviously those kids are a lot younger than the girls that you're coaching now, but they'll still sometimes say to me, like, you have kids or, you know, you're married, and they have no idea that there's a life beyond the four walls of the school.

Jason Sunkel

And I think the more that you can open up and be vulnerable and share things about your family, about your life, about your hopes, your dreams, then that sort of frees up them to feel comfortable to be able to do the same thing.

Jason Sunkel

And before you know it, now everybody's sharing things.

Jason Sunkel

And people know a lot more about their teammates.

Jason Sunkel

They know a lot more about their coaches.

Jason Sunkel

Coaches know a lot more about their players.

Jason Sunkel

And again, how do you build those genuine relationships that we talked about?

Jason Sunkel

It's by getting to know someone and investing in them and learning about them and caring about them, not just as a basketball player, but as a person.

Jason Sunkel

I think that those examples that you just gave are really powerful ways to be able to build those relationships that you need, obviously, to be able to have a cohesive and successful basketball program, no matter what level of basketball you're talking about.

Jason Sunkel

Let's talk a little bit about your role and what you and Coach McAdams have talked about specifically day to day.

Jason Sunkel

Do you have.

Jordan Klein

What.

Jason Sunkel

What's your job description?

Jason Sunkel

Is there.

Jason Sunkel

Do you guys break it down by.

Jason Sunkel

We have somebody.

Jason Sunkel

Are you in charge of a specific aspect within practice?

Jason Sunkel

Is it.

Jason Sunkel

Everybody's kind of coaching everything?

Jason Sunkel

Just how does he break it down in terms of what your on court responsibilities are?

Jason Sunkel

Let's start there.

Jordan Klein

On court description, I would say, is developing and ongoing.

Jordan Klein

He's Figuring me out.

Jordan Klein

I'm figuring out what he needs.

Jordan Klein

So today I did a small group workout with three players.

Jordan Klein

I did some ball handling, I did a finishing at the rim with guards and then I think tomorrow it'll flip flop and I'll work with post players and do some shooting drills as well, put them in some situations.

Jordan Klein

But he had, he had one assist, one, he had a full time assistant, has one along with myself.

Jordan Klein

And so it's just been a lot of learning each other.

Jordan Klein

But I can tell you he had the biggest smile on his face today when he was able to have each of us on one half of the floor when we did position work and he was able to get half court and just observe and then critique and sound bites on what he saw.

Jordan Klein

But he didn't have to be engaged with the drill and setting it up.

Jordan Klein

So the support aspect of just being able to come in and help help a program just by having a body in another set of eyes I think has been pretty valuable.

Jason Sunkel

What was your previous experience with coaching on the women's side of the game?

Jason Sunkel

Had you done any of that prior to this opportunity?

Jordan Klein

No.

Jordan Klein

What sparked my interest, I coached boys in high school men for a year at Cornell.

Jordan Klein

But having my 2 year old daughter was, it made me, it made me look and consider.

Jordan Klein

But I can tell you it directly came from Snow Valley.

Jordan Klein

There are three boys camps and one girls camp and without compare, the girls camp is by far my favorite to coach from a coachability standpoint.

Jordan Klein

You know, not every kid thinks that they're LeBron and can shoot 45 foot step back threes.

Jordan Klein

And I also really like, I will share, I really like the challenge of coaching women and I mean it from the standpoint that I think it's a, I think it's a good reflection, it's a great reflection on who you are as a coach.

Jordan Klein

From my experience, having girls and now women around me that are so coachable and eager to learn and they want to get better if it's good information in good results on the floor, bad information in bad results on the floor.

Jordan Klein

So I really appreciate the challenge of having to be detailed with what I say, when I say it, how I say it.

Jason Sunkel

I think that's really.

Jason Sunkel

I've had an opportunity to coach, you know, two of my daughter's teams and there definitely is a, there's a difference, I think in, I don't want to say coachability because it's not that necessarily boys aren't coachable, but I do think your point of in the boys Game, there's a lot more of.

Jason Sunkel

Everybody thinks they're really, really good.

Jason Sunkel

And I think sometimes on the girls side, it's almost the opposite.

Jason Sunkel

Like you have to convince them sometimes that hey, you know, you're really good.

Jason Sunkel

Right.

Jason Sunkel

And so it's about, I think, you know, building that confidence and giving them that opportunity to be able to sort of shine and express those, you know, express the talents that they have that sometimes the guys are maybe too, too willing to express talents that maybe they don't have.

Jason Sunkel

Versus, versus.

Jason Sunkel

Sometimes the girls, you gotta, you know, you gotta be able to give them a little bit of confidence to show what they can do.

Jason Sunkel

And there's definitely a different dynamic when it comes to, you know, it comes to coaching on the guy side and coaching on the girl side.

Jason Sunkel

I will say I can agree with you 100% when it comes to a camp setting.

Jason Sunkel

I have not worked the girls Snow Valley camp.

Jason Sunkel

My daughter, who is a freshman in high school, that is my goal in the next.

Jason Sunkel

Sometime in her next two summers, I guess three.

Jason Sunkel

I have three summers still left with her as a high school player that I'm going to try to get out there.

Jason Sunkel

Just depending on my, my own work schedule and her AAU schedule and family vacation, everything that my goal is to get out there and work that session.

Jason Sunkel

But working lots and lots of camps that I've done for, I don't know, 30 some odd years.

Jason Sunkel

I can say that when you talk about girls in a camp setting as far as coachability and being enjoyable and the girls are much better listeners that whatever age you want to throw in there, they are much better listeners and pick up things much quicker than the boys do, especially in a camp setting as you describe.

Jordan Klein

Yeah, I couldn't agree more with you.

Jordan Klein

Can you still hear me?

Jason Sunkel

Yes, yes.

Jason Sunkel

We got you.

Jordan Klein

Computer.

Jason Sunkel

Yeah, got you.

Jason Sunkel

There you go.

Jordan Klein

So, yeah, I couldn't agree more with you.

Jordan Klein

It's it that has been very.

Jordan Klein

That's been a learning curve for me over the last 48 hours of.

Jordan Klein

I like.

Jordan Klein

There's a book I'm reading called the Art of Encouragement and just how do you communicate with someone that it, you know, like you said, it goes from potentially having too much ego to having not enough ego based on your capabilities.

Jason Sunkel

Right.

Jordan Klein

So I mean, it's going to.

Jordan Klein

That it's improving me as a coach regardless of what side I'm coaching on, it's 100% going to translate to being a better dad.

Jordan Klein

And you know, there's just.

Jordan Klein

You're capable, you're worthy, you're valuable.

Jordan Klein

And how do you express that in a non cliche way that they say, okay, this guy just got done reading a tweet and he just relayed it to me.

Jordan Klein

And so no, it's been, but it's been, it's been really fun.

Jordan Klein

And I've done that with a, with a couple of players already.

Jordan Klein

And the feedback, because we did the communication circle, the feedback's been really good about just the energy and the positivity and who we are as people that we want to genuinely.

Jordan Klein

Again, it goes back to the Snow Valley character, you know, your pillars and who you are as a person just being genuine and authentic and then they're willing to work and fight for someone that they know has their back.

Jason Sunkel

Yeah, no question.

Jason Sunkel

No doubt about that.

Jason Sunkel

All right, Jordan, before we wrap up, I want to ask you one final two part question.

Jason Sunkel

So I think this question is relevant at this point.

Jason Sunkel

I don't know if you're quite ready to answer it.

Jason Sunkel

It might be better answered a week from now, but let's ask it anyway.

Jason Sunkel

So the first part of the question is when you look ahead over the next year.

Jason Sunkel

So this is going to be your first season in a new job.

Jason Sunkel

You're going to be separated from your family during at least a portion of this.

Jason Sunkel

What do you see as being your biggest challenge over the next year?

Jason Sunkel

And then the second part of it, and we touched on it throughout the podcast tonight.

Jason Sunkel

But your biggest joy.

Jason Sunkel

So your biggest challenge followed by your biggest joy.

Jordan Klein

It's a good question.

Jordan Klein

I'm thinking there's pros and cons to it, but I would say some of it will just be learning maybe some of the nuances of the women's game.

Jordan Klein

And then I feel really comfortable talking to, talking to recruits.

Jordan Klein

But I think there will definitely be a learning curve on.

Jordan Klein

I think it's possible that women will make decisions earlier, you know, that might commit to a school their junior year, whereas some boys or young men will wait until the summer after their senior year and stress their parents out to no end to make a decision.

Jordan Klein

Yep.

Jordan Klein

Because they have zero college offers and it's possible that Duke might give them a call the next day.

Jordan Klein

So I think there's some of that, but I'm.

Jordan Klein

That'll be, that'll be a learning curve.

Jordan Klein

But, you know, something I'm, I'm not afraid of or shying away from.

Jordan Klein

And I definitely know I have a good support system around me with Coach McAdams.

Jordan Klein

But something I'm most excited about is, you know, biggest thing I think from being Division 3 to Division 2 is I'll be able to have more time with players and maintain those relationships.

Jordan Klein

So, you know, we can love or hate the transfer portal and it's there.

Jordan Klein

But I actually, I love, I love the onus that it puts on coaches to be, again, authentic and genuine.

Jordan Klein

I, I think it's really exciting, especially at the Division 2 level, to be able to, I have access to work with players much more than I did at Division 3.

Jordan Klein

And then again, it's a, it's a great reflection on who you are as a coach and the culture that you have and the people and the people that are around you, whether they decide to stay or not, because they are much more empowered than they have been in the past.

Jordan Klein

And I think that's a great thing.

Jordan Klein

Truthfully, I think it makes, I think it just evens out the playing field and empowers people and gives them options.

Jordan Klein

So I'm actually really excited to build relationships with the players and then work with them for multiple years.

Jason Sunkel

All right, before we get out, I want you to share how people can connect with you.

Jason Sunkel

Whether you want to share, email, social media, website, whatever you feel comfortable with.

Jason Sunkel

And then after you do that, I will jump back in and wrap things up.

Jordan Klein

Very good.

Jordan Klein

My cell phone number is 262-505-3176.

Jordan Klein

My ex handle is Coach J Klein K L E I N and Instagram is at Coach J M Klein.

Jordan Klein

And then my email address is J M Klein K L E I N 12 Gmail.

Jordan Klein

But real quick, again my cell phone's 262505 3176.

Jordan Klein

Feel free to call or shoot a text.

Jason Sunkel

Awesome.

Jason Sunkel

Jordan, cannot thank you enough for taking the time out of your schedule tonight to join us.

Jason Sunkel

Really appreciate it and to everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode.

Jason Sunkel

Thanks.

Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

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Jason Sunkel

Each section of the Portfolio Guide provides detailed instructions on how to organize your portfolio in a professional manner.

Jason Sunkel

The guide also provides sample documents for each section of your portfolio that you can copy, modify and add to your personal portfolio.

Jason Sunkel

As a Hoopheads pod listener, you can get your Coaching Portfolio Guide for just $25.

Jason Sunkel

Visit coachingportfolioguide.com hoopheads to learn more.

Jordan Klein

Thanks for listening to the Hoopheads podcast presented by Head Start Basketball.