How long have you been training players?

10 years

What is your background? (have you coached, played etc.)

Coaching/ Player Development Experience Montreat College, Head Coach ‘14.

Over ten years of training/coaching experience: High School National Champions, NCAA. D1, D2, D3 players, WNBA players, FIBA players and more.

Professional Career (WNBA, FIBA)

WNBA #5 Draft Pick 2006.

WNBA 3point Leader 2008.

WNBA Play of the Week 2008.

Top Player in Turkey 2007 and 2008.

Won Latvian National. Championship 2010.

Collegiate Career (UCLA)

2006

Named prior to the season by Nancy Lieberman of ESPN as the nation’s best defender.

Honorable mention AP All American.

Third Team All American selection by Women’s Basketball News Service.

Pre Season Naismith Award Nominee.

Nominated for the Bayer Advantage Senior Class Award.

UCLA’s All time 3point shot leader (second on All Time PAC10 list). Ninth on the All-Time school scoring list.

Fifth in all time games played.

13th on all time school rebounding list.

10th in all time school scoring list.

Eigth in all time school free throw percentage.

Second in all time school steal list.

First player in history to record three straight seasons with 100 or more steals.

2005

USA TEAM

Earned Gold medal.

Ranked first in 3point shooting on USA Team.

Ranked fourth in scoring on USA Team.

2005

UCLA’s all time 3point shot leader.

Selected first team All PAC10.

Ranked sixth in nation in steals.

Became first Bruin to record back to back 100 steals seasons.

Tied her own school record for made 3point shots.

Had 26 double figure scoring games.

Had nine double figure rebounding games

2004

Total of 100 steals was the most ever by a UCLA sophomore

Ranked third in NCAA in steals per game

Ranked ninth for sophomores scoring at UCLA

Ranked first in PAC10 in steals

Ranked first in PAC10 in 3point shots made

Ranked seventh in PAC10 in defensive rebounding, 15th in overall Ranked tenth in PAC10 in scoring

2003

Finished the regular season seventh in PAC10 3pointers made. Ranked second on UCLA’s All-Time single season freshman list for 3pointers

High School Career (Narbonne High)

Won two straight City Championship.

Second team All-State selection by Cal Hi Sports.

Los Angeles City Player of the Year.

First Team Marine League.

First Team All-City.

Second Team All-Area by Daily Breeze.

Back to back City, State, and US National Championships.

Nike All American.

Honorable mention All American US Today and Street & Smith’s. Sophomore State Player of the Year.

Do you currently have a website that explains your services?

www.thinkworkplaybasketball.com

Do you specialize in skill development or agility/conditioning or both?

Skills Development

How many clients do you normally have under your tutelage at one time?

It varies. I just got to MD 2.5 months ago. I currently am working with 14 girls

Do you have any high profile clients, organizations or teams that you train that you would like to mention?

Not currently. However, I have worked with professional athletes (men and women), and numerous D1, D2 athletes.

Do you have a structured fee schedule? ( no one's fees will be disclosed in the article. I will simply mention the range that people can expect)

Yes. Academy is $240 for 6 weeks. Private lessons are $80 an hour. Shooting Clinics are $100 (1 hour) Team trainings range from $175 to $350.

Where are you based? Do you move around or have a central location?

I’m currently doing business in Columbia (and Laurel) but I do travel.

What should parents look for in a trainer?

• A trainer who is about teaching the player. Parents are paying the trainer to teach them basketball and the player is expecting to learn.
• A trainer with a high basketball IQ. It’s one thing to be able to put a player through a series of drills, however, if you aren’t knowledgeable as to how the [college] game is played, the coaches operate and what efficiency looks like, the best drills in the world don’t matter. When giving a player a tool, you must give them the manual as well.
• An experienced trainer is always a plus. Essentially, you wouldn’t take marriage advice from a single person nor would you take financial advice from someone who has limited money. The same applies here. I don’t believe that just because you haven’t played D1 you can’t help a player get there any more than I believe just because you have played D1 you can help. But, I still feel that there are experiences gained having played at higher levels that positively impact one’s training capabilities.
• A trainer that goes to the player’s game. While I have all the confidence in what I’m teaching the player, it’s still imperative to go see them in action. It’s not enough to get feedbackfrom the player or parents because if they had the same basketball competency as the trainer, the trainer wouldn’t be necessary.
  • The trainer needs to see the implementation of the new skills.
  • The trainer needs to see if there are issues that are more pressing than what’s currently being worked on
  • The trainer needs to see how the player is being utilized within the offense (i.e. where they are getting their shots at, where do they play on the zone, what side of the court do the struggle more with, etc.)
  • But if for nothing else, the player needs to feel supported by the trainer!
• A trainer that doesn’t mind learning the player as a person to better assess how the player can be motivated, coached, etc

If your stable was full can you name some trainers that you would refer a player to?

Unfortunately, I don’t know too many trainers locally.

Please feel free to include any videos, photos, web links etc of yourself.

Think. Work. Play! website

www.thinkworkplaybasketball.com

Lisa C. Willis Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Willis

UCLA Bio (throwback)

http://www.uclabruins.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30500&ATCLID=208206276