Click here to view the embedded video.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nOn a recent midweek afternoon, BMCC men\u2019s basketball coach Dan Nigro was instructing sophomore Justin Daniels, a 6\u20197\u201d forward, on the finer points of free throws, lay-ups and jump shots. The two were the only people in the gym.<\/p>\n
Nigro was clear in his directions and generous with encouragement. \u201cKeep your eye on the rim and your shoulders straight\u2014and make sure to follow through,\u201d he called from the sidelines. \u201cThat way you get the ball to rotate and spin into the basket.\u201d Daniels shot. The ball skidded around the rim and fell to the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry\u2014we don\u2019t count misses,\u201d Nigro told Daniels. \u201cIt\u2019s not like you\u2019re in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making the move
\nNigro assumed the helm of the Panthers last fall after successful stints with a number of other college teams, including Division 1 squads. He has also coached at the high school level. \u201cI got a call last year from Steve Kelly, BMCC\u2019s athletic director, who asked if I was interested in coming over,\u201d recalls Nigro, who was head coach at City College earlier in his career. \u201cWhat drew me here, among other things, was BMCC\u2019s commitment to team sports, as well as the great resources. The facilities are among the best in all of CUNY.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of this writing, the Panthers were 16-4 and won its regular season CUNY Conference Championship and Nigro couldn\u2019t be more pleased.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow BMCC will face Hostos Community College in the CUNYAC Tournament (By the way, the Women Pathers also won their regular season CUNY Conference Championship)<\/p>\n
\u201cOur main goal for the season was to stay competitive. I am overjoy that we more than successed in our goal. We made the CUNY finals, and we’d love to get into the regionals, which are statewide, and ultimately, the nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n
That won\u2019t all happen overnight, he acknowledges. In contrast to 4-year colleges, the Panthers roster changes continually, \u201csince our players stay for only two years at most.\u201d Among this season\u2019s standouts are Janel Cobb and Tony Vails, who have repeatedly garnered CUNY \u201cPlayer of the Week\u201d awards and are ranked among the nation\u2019s top college scorers and rebounders.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just about basketball
\nFor now, says Nigro, skill development\u2014both on and off the basketball court\u2014is a higher priority than trying to win championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe use basketball as a vehicle for teaching life skills,\u201d he says. \u201cPlaying on this team is about being on time, showing respect to others, paying attention to details. If the players can conduct themselves this way on a day-to-day basis, both academically and athletically, it will stand them in good stead in the future.\u201d
\nAdds freshman guard Justin Daniels, \u201cI love basketball\u2014especially playing at the college level. But I\u2019m learning a lot more than how to play the game. I\u2019m learning about responsibility and how to function independently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigro holds practices six days a week, \u201cand the players are expected to arrive punctually, just as their professors expect them to show up on time for class\u2014or an employer would expect them to show up on time for a job,\u201d he notes. \u201cI often say, \u2018How will you function in the work world if you can\u2019t function as a basketball player?\u2019 We stay in close touch with their instructors, keep track of their grades and attendance, and require them to take part in tutoring programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
What it all comes down to, he adds, is that team members must meet basic academic standards in order to keep playing. \u201cIn a sense, they\u2019re under a microscope much more than other students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here to view the embedded video. On a recent midweek afternoon, BMCC men\u2019s basketball coach Dan Nigro was instructing sophomore Justin Daniels, a 6\u20197\u201d forward, on the finer points of free throws, lay-ups and jump shots. The two were the only people in the gym. Nigro was clear in his directions and generous with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}