DePaul University Athletics
New Assistant Coach Sellers a Winning Choice for DePaul
6/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO -- After sitting on the Creighton bench as an assistant coach and also scrutinizing hours upon hours of game film, Patrick Sellers knows a little something about the DePaul men's basketball program.
And, that's one of the reasons why new Blue Demon coach Dave Leitao added him to his coaching staff.
There is also the strong connection Sellers and Leitao share in the Jim Calhoun coaching bloodline. Leitao was a Connecticut assistant coach for eight years and an associate head coach for six years. Before that, he was Calhoun's assistant at Northeastern for two seasons.
"I was an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State under Howie Dickenman who is a former Calhoun assistant," Sellers said. "With my four years at Central Connecticut, six years at UConn (assistant coach) and now at DePaul under Dave Leitao, this is my 11th year in the Calhoun system.
"The common thread that connects all of us to coach Calhoun is the discipline and super competitiveness we learned from him. It's like all of that was channeled into each one of us."
And now, Sellers will channel that into the Blue Demons.
"DePaul was my scout, and I've seen around 40 DePaul games these last two years," Sellers said. "DePaul has some of the best talent in the BIG EAST, but had a tough time playing together. When things went bad, they didn't have the resiliency to fight back.
"One of the first things we have to do is get these guys to feel good about themselves. Then we put them in adverse situations so they learn to fight through them.
"I'm a big fan of being in tip-top shape, and I work out five or six times a week. We're going to push these guys to the threshold, watch them break through it and become tougher."
But advocating this new attitude and discipline can't come just from the coaches.
"We have to find a leader to put his stamp on the team," Sellers said. "I thought last season that Billy Garrett Jr. was trying to be the team leader. But it wore him down trying to get the guys to follow him.
"Coach Leitao will be very good at teaching Billy how to be a leader. He needs to be more vocal and can get better at that. At the same time, we want to give more responsibility to Myke Henry.
"Myke is a good kid, so easygoing and happy-go-lucky. We want him to be a little tougher and show some leadership in the locker room when we're not in there.
"We are going to give Tommy Hamilton IV some goals. There is no reason he shouldn't be averaging 10 rebounds a game. If he does that, all the little things will happen for him."
Sellers is quite optimistic about the upcoming season.
"My early impressions are that we have three really good players in Billy, Myke and Tommy," Sellers said. "Once they get in shape, they will become one of the best threesomes in our conference.
"There is no reason Billy shouldn't be as good as Providence's Kris Dunn. Billy is a better shooter, he's bigger and can be a leader and a vocal guy."
The new assistant coach who was hired in April shared some insight into a player that he hopes is headed for a breakout season.
"In my scouting, I got to know R.J. Curington very well," Sellers said about the 6-foot, 5-inch guard. "He was always trying to do too much. He is a really good outside shooter who needs to stick to his role and play within himself. Instead, there were times when he would drive, crossover, spin and make a turnover.
"We talked in my office. I told him I wasn't trying to dissect or disrespect his game. But he can really shoot the ball. He needs to do the little things like space the floor, sprint to the corner and be shot-ready. When the pass comes, shoot it with confidence even with a defender flying at your face.
"I've been texting him during the NBA playoffs, pointing out how J.R. Smith, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson get their spacing and get open. R.J. has bought into it and is putting that into his game. He's been getting better and better at understanding his role."
Sellers has an idea that he has successfully incorporated with individual players, but never an entire team. In October, he is considering energizing the players with a nutritional fitness challenge that will be dubbed "Sellers' Choice."
"This will be like a basketball version of Lent," Sellers said. "I'm going to challenge the players to give up something they enjoy for one month with the idea that taking something away from you makes you better. Maybe it's no fast foods or no candy or no chocolate or no coffee. I'm going to be a part of this sacrifice, and I'd like to get other coaches, staff members, everybody involved.
"I did this last year for a month and gave up artificial sugar, which I love. I ate a lot of fruits and other stuff with natural sugar. I continued working out five to six days a week and it felt great.
"I'm thinking about challenging the players for the month of October. I've never done it with a whole team. I have done this with individual players at UConn and Creighton. Each time, the players got healthier and performed better."
The role model for this Sellers' Choice is a former UConn great.
"Look at Ray Allen," Sellers said. "He'll be 40 years old in July and he has the body of a 25-year-old. He is into nutrition, takes great care of his body and hasn't had a cheeseburger since he was 19.
"What if our whole team takes the Sellers' Choice and we go on a long winning streak. Nobody will want to change anything. Maybe we design T-shirts for our players to wear. Once we're winning, we can get our fans involved. They can take the Sellers' Choice, give up something for a month and wear the T-shirts, too."
This new coaching staff is on the lookout for ways to be innovative and creative in maximizing their players' potential. One of Sellers' specialties is working with big men. At UConn, he helped develop Hasheem Thabeet who is now in the NBA Development League and Jeff Adrien who is playing in China after stints with the Houston Rockets, Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
"We want our big guys moving---sprinting down the court to get early post-up position," Sellers said. "That will help someone like Tommy. Our scouting report at Creighton was that you wanted to make it tough for him on the inside and discourage him about fighting for post position. Tommy, Rashaun Stimage, Peter Ryckbosch and Joe Hanel---we want them fighting for deep post position early in the offense.
"We want our big guys to be in great shape and be able to run up and down the court. Tommy is blessed with the ability to post up and also face up and shoot the jumper. He can be a force with a deep post and scoring down low. On a pick and roll, we want our bigs to sprint to the ball screen and then spin out of it to the basket.
"Tommy said his goal is to get 10 rebounds a game and Rashaun said he will get eight a game. I'm going to write down their goals and put them in their lockers."
Rebounding was a key in Leitao's success at DePaul the first time and at Virginia.
"Again, I'm tracking the NBA playoffs and pointing out that Tristan Thompson is a force getting offensive rebounds and creating so many second-chance points," Sellers said. "He's not much taller than Rashaun, but he is hustling all over the place. He isn't the most gifted offensively, but is going to get a big contract based on defense and rebounding.
"Our big guys play in the BIG EAST Conference in front of a national TV audience. You do those kinds of things in our league and people are going to notice you. I coached Jeff Adrien at UConn, and he is one of the toughest rebounding guys I've ever been around. At 6-8, Rashaun is an inch taller than Jeff and can jump higher."
Both Sellers and Leitao were hard-nosed, physical, blue-collar type basketball players who prided themselves on rebounding and defense. Leitao was the tough rebounding enforcer at Northeastern while Sellers was the East Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Central Connecticut State and twice led the team in rebounding.
"Dave was a lot like me," Sellers said. "In order to get on the court, we often guarded the other team's best offensive player. It was tough, but we had to play well defensively.
"I noticed with DePaul last year that when things didn't go well on offense, their defense went into the tank. The defense was dictated by the offense. We have some talented offensive players and we've got to get them to buy in on defense. You don't let your offense dictate your defense.
"Chicago is a blue-collar city defined by hard work and tough people. We have a lot of Chicago kids on our team, and we want them to be tough, hard-nosed and resilient."
And Sellers would like nothing better than to help convince some of the top local recruits to stay home while also attracting talented prospects nationwide. Sellers is credited with recruiting Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, Tyler Olander, Roscoe Smith, Michael Bradley and others to UConn---key components in the Huskies' NCAA titles in 2011 and 2014.
Lamb currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Napier with the Miami Heat. Olander plays in Lithuania and Smith in the NBA D-League.
"With Shabazz, I was fortunate to find out he could leave high school early and had the necessary SAT and ACT scores," Sellers said. "Shabazz wanted to wait so he could attend the LeBron James camp as a player. I told him he could come to UConn and would be able to work the camp as a counselor. I talked to his mom about it.
"I was honest with Shabazz and told him he wouldn't start as a freshman. We would insert him into the game as the point guard and move Kemba Walker to the two-guard. I think he appreciated my honesty.
"The vibe I got from him was that people were telling him whatever he wanted to hear. He realized I was genuine and was not going to sugar-coat everything to get him to come to Connecticut. Shabazz was a tough guy who would get guys to fight together.
"My thing is to figure out what works. What would be the best fit. When I was at UConn, I developed a good rapport with each kid. I knew the families, and that worked well with each one. Each of those recruits that came to UConn bought into what we were trying to do."
The youthful and fit Sellers looks much younger than 46 years old, and he can jump into a drill without missing a beat. He watches a ton of pro and college basketball.
"The kids know I am a huge fan of the game and can relate to me on that level," Sellers said. "I'm a hard-core basketball junkie, and I love the game. If I won the lottery, I'd try to become the 15th man on the Los Angeles Lakers and play for nothing."
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