By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
MACHESNEY PARK — When basketball was placed on hold last year amid the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Mike Winters sat in an empty classroom and began to reflect on his 24 years as a coach.
It was November, and another three months would pass before Winters’ Harlem Huskies and the rest of the NIC-10 started an abbreviated five-week season. He used the time to get a jump start on his first book, “The Journey: Lessons from the Hardwood,” which was released in August and has been among the best-selling basketball books on Amazon.
“I’ve always loved helping young coaches and just coaching coaches in general,” Winters said in an interview on This Week in the Stateline with Steve Summers that aired Saturday on 95.3 The Bull, a partner of the Rock River Current.
“When the season didn’t start last November it just kind of made sense to sit down and use that time for something a little more beneficial. Maybe, hopefully, it will help some other people out,” Winters said.
The book, a mix of local basketball history and coaching advice, has lessons that can apply to the business world, too, Winters told Summers.
“It’s really designed for anyone in a leadership role,” Winters said. “If you serve in a leadership role in any way, shape or form, I think there’s a lot you can take away from it.”
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Winters has been a head varsity coach for 18 seasons at Oregon High School, Jefferson High School in Rockford, Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford, Rock Falls and Harlem High School in Machesney Park. His career record is 357-164 (.687-win percentage). Winters, the 2016 NIC-10 coach of the year, led his teams to nine 20-win seasons and two 30-win seasons.
In the introduction to his book he says the only thing he’s learned for certain over the years is that “kids are unpredictable.” But, as he writes and former player Josh Pickens reinforces in the foreword to the book, showing young players you believe in them can pay dividends.
“If your players don’t think you care about them or believe in them, they probably will not trust or believe in you,” Winters writes in the book’s introduction. “That takes time and effort. But once it happens, now you can start really pushing them and challenging them and that’s where things really tend to take flight.”
Where to buy Mike Winters’ book
You can order “The Journey: Lessons from the Hardwood” online at coachwinters.com, amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Instagram at @thekevinhaas or Twitter at @KevinMHaas.