Belmont head coach Cameron Newbauer lead the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament in his third year as head coach. Photo cred – Belmont Athletics
**The Program Feature highlights select college basketball programs from around the country. Each article shows a snapshot of what makes each school successful.**
By: @JLHemingwayPSB
A 24-9 record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament birth since 2007 is how the Belmont Women’s Basketball concluded last season. We had the opportunity to catch up with head coach Cameron Newbauer to get an understanding of the program’s recent success.
Recruiting is the Back Bone of Every Program
Coach Newbauer made it clear that the most important part of their recent success is having the right players.
“We understand that not every player is going to fit at Belmont. We make it a point to find players that are going to fit our culture and be on the same page with the values of of this program.”
He went on to talk about how the program is bigger than basketball. The women’s program is active in serving others through community service and mission trips.
Newbauer added, “We try to recruit people, not just the player. We are diligent in the recruiting process so that we know that the players we bring in will be ready to fight for each other when things get tough on the court.”
He also points to his staff as being extremely important in this facet of the program. Stanford alum Lindy La Rocque enters her second season on the bench with the Bruins. While Jamey Givens will jump on board for his first season in Nashville after helping Radford enter post season play in 2015.
Newbauer says that experience is not always the most important part in picking an assistant coach. “I look at the values and the work ethic of a coach before I hire them. Sometimes the years of experience do not always speak to how effective they can be with players.”
Excited to announce @lindylarocque as our new assistant coach! http://t.co/BwUG50d2W3/s/bOur @BelmontWBB is #BruinSomethingSpecial
— Cameron Newbauer (@camnew) May 5, 2015
We Over Me
Newbauer points to the slogan We Over Me, which is often mentioned in practice and meetings. However, he says those words were more than a slogan as last year’s team embodied it all year long.
“We had an extremely young team. But we built a culture of togetherness. Over the course of the year we had nine different players score in double figures and seven different leading scorers in games.”
Sophomore Sierra Jones was a prime example of putting the team’s interest over her own goals. In Jones’ freshman year she led the Bruins in scoring. However, with a few new faces in uniform in the 2015-2016 season, Newbauer asked the 5-foot-9 guard to come off the bench.
“Jones never wavered. She accepted her role and that was a big reason why everyone was able to buy-in to what we were doing,” Newbauer added.
Jones went on to average 8 points per game while playing 23 minutes per game.
Thank you @danielboyette for the great article on Sierra Jones!!! Check it out here: https://t.co/L6xsljxuE5
— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) March 17, 2016
Something Bigger Than Yourself
Belmont’s success is certainly connected to culture and vision. However, it would be erroneous to say that they made the NCAA Tournament with just average talent. In fact the Bruins have multiple 4-star prospects on their roster who had opportunities to play at schools in bigger conferences.
The Bruins leading scorer, Kylee Smith of Alpharetta, Ga., was ranked No. 62 in the country in the class of 2013 per ProspectsNation.com. OVC Freshman Player of the Year, Darby Maggard of Larwill, Ind., was ranked No. 96 nationally in the class of 2015. While 6-4 post Sally McCabe of Old Hickory, Tenn., and the aforementioned Jones were both 4-star prospects as rated by ProspectsNation.com.
Newbauer adds this, “All of our impact players had opportunities to go somewhere bigger than Belmont. But instead they wanted to do something great here.”
.@belmontWBB Kylee Smith and Darby Maggard Earn OVC Weekly Honors https://t.co/5wv7HNO53O pic.twitter.com/IhP6Wuhtt4
— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) January 19, 2016
Something’s Bruin
Heading into the fourth quarter of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament versus Michigan State, the Bruins found themselves trailing just by four points. A series of unfortunate plays started the final period and the more talented Spartans cruised to a double digit victory. Many coaches could have been found grinding their teeth and pounding the desk saying, ‘if only…’ months after the loss.
When we caught up with Newbauer last month evaluating talent at the PSB Summer Invitational, the 38-year-old father of two had a much different perspective. He said, “We use this game to become better people. All of this starts with me and it trickles to our staff, then to the players and then hopefully to our community.”
Today I’m feeling very thankful for @BelmontWBB and getting to head to Rio De Janeiro in 5 days to spread God’s word with them. #5for5CP
— Madison Blevins (@M_Blev_4) July 28, 2015
Visit the Belmont Women’s Basketball Site to keep up with their latest updates.
Jonathan Hemingway is the Assistant Director of Scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com International Scouting Report, is on the Naismith Trophy Board of Selectors and owns CoachHemi.com, the go-to source for coaches for X’s and O’s. He is the floor director of #TeamEBA camps, a site director for #TeamPSB tournaments and can be reached at jonathanhemingway@peachstatebasketball.com.
