I first met Terrance “Munch” Williams in 2005 at the Metro Hoops MDI. He was coaching a new squad called Team ROC and was promoting this young baller named Omari Lawrence. Williams stated that Lawrence was among the top 8th Graders in the region and I needed to watch him rock. His eagerness convinced me to check out the young phenom and I must say the kid had game. Lawrence went on to stardom in high school while Williams coached about two more seasons and then left the circuit. This fall I got a call from some guy saying he wanted to enter Team Scan into my tournament and I was happy to learn that it was Munch. I always felt he was one of the good guys and needed to return. I talked to Munch and picked his brain about a few topics and here’s what he had to say;
Welcome to the Coaches Corner:
BS: When and why did you return to coaching on the circuit?
TW: Well I came back about a year ago. I started out by working with the players in my after school program (Scan). After I started developing their skills and took them out on the circuit in September. I came back because I felt players needed to get developed on and off the court.
BS: Why did you choose to work with a start up squad like Team Scan instead of coming back with an established program?
TW: I wanted to work with these guys because I believe in my program and developing young men into productive members of society. I knew while working with Team Scan I would be running the show my way and I wouldn’t have to give in to the politics of the game. I also wanted to work with younger guys because I feel they still have love for the game and it’s not about sneaker contracts or sneaker camps.
BS: How do you deal about player movement especially in NYC where it seems to be frequent?
TW: Well I try to get a core group of parents to buy into our program. I let them know that we care about their son’s well being on and off the floor. Once they see how sincere we are about 70 to 85 percent will elect to stay around while others might choose to go. As long as we are doing for the right reasons that’s all that matters.
BS: Name some of the places you have been and your tourney results?
TW: We have been to Philly, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Boston among other places. We have entered 23 tournaments since September and won 18. We haven’t finished less than the Final Four all year.
BS: What is the goal for Team Scan?
TW: Tell you the truth Mike, it’s not about basketball. I just choose to use basketball as a vehicle to help my players become successful. We do so many other things as a team such as going to church, movies, college tours and looking at different prep or private schools. I hope all my players can get a great education and go on to college. That’s my goal because the NBA is a pipe dream in many cases.
BS: How do you feel about the state of AAU basketball?
TW: I think AAU can swallow you up if you are not careful. That goes for a player, parent or coach. It seems like a lot of parents are pushing the kids to be ranked or to get noticed early but the kids are not having fun. If you look at a game most of the players on the floor don’t seem to be enjoying playing the game. Throughout the game you can see players, parents and coaches getting angry about things that are apart of the game. I believe too much emphasis is put on being on a winning team so if a team doesn’t win all the time players want to leave and other problems arrive. I think we should let the kids have fun again and focused on them going to college.
BS: I think that should sum it up.
TW: Thanks, Mike but I would also like to let you know that Team Scan also has other successful programs including our 11U team coached by Coach Dave.
