Men's Basketball Recap!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I think that one of the biggest parts of that is recruiting a population that wants to invest in the school, not recruiting a population of student athletes that want to kind of do their own thing and create their own culture, but really recruiting a population of student athletes, basketball players, which is hard because basketball players are kind of different sometimes, but that want to be here and that want to invest in the campus and invest in the student body. [00:00:29] Speaker B: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the official athletic podcast in the nest. I'm your host, Shane Douglas. I'm usually a co host here with Matthew Thomason, but Matthew Thomason is not here. We kicked him out for a superior guest. [00:00:47] Speaker A: Wow. [00:00:48] Speaker B: Well, you are. [00:00:49] Speaker A: What an honor. [00:00:49] Speaker B: Roll wise. Roll wise. You are. This is coach Phillip Parker, the heads, head men's basketball coach and assistant id ad. So welcome back to the show. You've been on here once. We, you were just here a couple months ago. Last fall. In the fall. In the fall. So that's a couple months. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Hey, thanks for having me back. [00:01:13] Speaker B: Hey, no, we want to, we just finished up our winter sports here at Emmaus, so we kind of want to recap a little bit. We talked a little bit about women's basketball now a little bit more about men's basketball. But the show is familiar to your face, familiar to seeing you on the court side, I guess, in a way. But thanks for being here. We're. We're super excited to have you back, and hopefully you can be back here more. But this show, this episode is brought to you by the coffee bean, of course. [00:01:41] Speaker A: Amen. [00:01:42] Speaker B: I got. I got a blue lotus today. [00:01:44] Speaker A: I thought about stopping in on the way over, but. [00:01:46] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [00:01:46] Speaker A: Didn't make it. [00:01:47] Speaker B: What's your, what's your go to drink? [00:01:49] Speaker A: I'm doing decaf Americano. [00:01:51] Speaker B: Okay. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm trying to make a lifestyle change. [00:01:53] Speaker B: Okay. Do you, do people go decaf? Because that is the. [00:01:56] Speaker A: It's not for the flavor. [00:01:57] Speaker B: Not for the flavor. [00:01:58] Speaker A: Yeah. It's for the lack of caffeine. [00:02:00] Speaker B: Okay. Do you still. Decaf? [00:02:02] Speaker A: Has some. [00:02:04] Speaker B: Just less caffeine. [00:02:05] Speaker A: Less caffeine. Okay. [00:02:06] Speaker B: Good to know. Well, make sure to go to the coffee bean, I guess. Get Coach Parker a decaf coffee latte americana. There it is. Yeah. Everyone knows my order. Usually it's not Lotus is the a chai spice. Chai spice. Try with pumpkin season. I'm basically like that. I'm basic either way. Let's get into. Yeah, let's get into the show. I want to hear more about you, coach Barker. All right. [00:02:30] Speaker A: Okay. [00:02:31] Speaker B: Can I call you Phil? [00:02:32] Speaker A: Not Phil. [00:02:33] Speaker B: I gotta. [00:02:34] Speaker A: I gotta be older before I'm Phil. [00:02:36] Speaker B: Really? [00:02:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I think some, somewhere in the forties. Then I can go by like President Phil. [00:02:40] Speaker B: Boom. [00:02:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Phil's kind of young. It's like, it seems, it seems young. It seems like very, like, enthusiastic, energetic. Philip. [00:02:51] Speaker A: That's, that's not me. [00:02:52] Speaker B: But then Phil. Well, yeah, but it's good for the kids. [00:02:55] Speaker A: There you go. Yeah. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Okay. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Do for the gram. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Philip. Coach Philip Parker. Parker Philip. Who are you? I want to hear. I want to hear your story, man. I want to hear like a little bit of how you got to Emmaus, but not even just how you got to Emmaus, but how you came to know our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. [00:03:12] Speaker A: Yeah, 100%. Yeah. No, no. So. Oh, goodness. Long story. [00:03:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:17] Speaker A: You ready for this? [00:03:18] Speaker B: I'm. Dude, I got 40 minutes. Then you walk out that door. [00:03:22] Speaker A: No, I mean, it really wasn't until probably closer to college that I came to know the ward. Grew up in a christian home, and my dad's a pastor and was one of those pastor's kids that knew the things. You knew how to act, you know, what to say. We're in a really small town and so I think even for us, it was probably more important that we. Yeah. Look and act the right way and for good reason, you know, but, yeah, grouping church and going to church and youth group and kids club and all those things. But definitely there was very little, if no heart change. You know, I had the prayer, made the prayer, you know, at eleven or something like that. I think 1112 then it really wasn't till went to college where I was forced to study God's word. And I was forced to, and I actually mean forced to actually look at God's word and understand what, what it means, what it says. And those were the first time too that I actually had an opportunity to ask questions and to think through things. [00:04:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:26] Speaker A: And I just, you know, I'm sure I could have had that before. I didn't want it before, but now being in a christian school environment, being away from my family, my parents, and being away from those things really did change me. And so it was kind of a crazy thing, right? Calvary to play basketball had health issues with some chronic fatigue stuff, and so that got taken away. And basketball was my idol. In high school, like, I worshipped the sport, I worshiped the idea of success in sports, I worshiped the idol of being a college athlete. That was my idol. And when I got to college, God was like, you're not going to worship anybody besides me. I'm not going to let you have this idol anymore. And just, yeah, God was so kind to me, really, that first year, and even ever since, obviously, of giving me people to be around me, had built good friendships right away, which was huge, which is, you know, similar to emmaus, like, great friendships are integral spiritual growth. Had several people disciple me, had a pastor disciple me. And I remember just sitting in a panera and Panera. Yeah, Panera, man, I love Panera. I do, too. [00:05:54] Speaker B: I didn't start going to really Panera. It's a dangerous place. It is. I didn't start going until I got into a relationship, to be honest. [00:05:59] Speaker A: Really? [00:06:00] Speaker B: Yeah, so the girl brought me there. That was it. So before it was just like Espinier, but now it's like, Panera. Yeah, sorry, continue. [00:06:09] Speaker A: But no, just sitting there and having a pastor, that was really influential. Let me ask questions, and let me ask, like, is scripture true? I got me asked that and he wouldn't say, really? You're gonna ask that question? Like, you'd actually like. He would take it seriously. And he actually helped me think through things. And all those just combined with a lot of different things, was really influential. And then at that point, seeing how God had really worked in my life even before I would surrender to him, to bring him to him in that point. And so, yeah, it really is so much of my, so much of this is just the goodness and kindness of God saving me from so many things, obviously in the eternal sense, but even in the temporal sense of sustaining me on a path that I didn't want to be on, I wanted to go down a different path that would have been very different, but God had been really gracious to keep me from those things and bring me along with me kicking and screaming sometimes. And so just, yeah, just really looking back, you're in awe of God's kindness and his sovereignty, his goodness and everything. Yeah, absolutely. And so, yeah, really, which is nothing I did right. And I think that's the thing, is I didn't do anything. I didn't want it even. But God really sought me out and really worked in my life. [00:07:36] Speaker B: I love hearing that. And I see that your story, not to, not to pull anything away from it, but, or take anything away from it, is, you see, it is very common, a lot of people growing up in a christian home or around the church that don't have their identity set. And so I love hearing this. This is, you know, all glory to the Lord and what he's been able to do in your life, through your life, and what he's going to, what he has in store. And that's for everyone. Even the people who grow up in christian homes. You know, they come to know Jesus when they're five or eight and they're. Everyone's so shy to share their testimony. They're like, my life is boring. It's not. Your life reflects more of God's blessing ever than. More than mine or yours or whoever. So. [00:08:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. [00:08:23] Speaker B: I love hearing that. So you went to Calvary. Did you grow up in the Kansas area? [00:08:27] Speaker A: No, from Nebraska. Red. Go big red. Yeah. Uh, no group in the. [00:08:33] Speaker B: Can't say that around here. Just. [00:08:35] Speaker A: This is especially on eastern big boy too. [00:08:37] Speaker B: Okay, fair enough. [00:08:37] Speaker A: But like a different boy, but. [00:08:39] Speaker B: So you grew up in Nebraska from. [00:08:40] Speaker A: A little town and little cowboy town in Nebraska? Yeah. [00:08:43] Speaker B: Nowhere. Nowhere. [00:08:44] Speaker A: Nowhere. Nowhere. [00:08:44] Speaker B: That's nuts. And then found your way to Calvary. [00:08:47] Speaker A: I'm working. [00:08:47] Speaker B: How'd you get to Calvary? [00:08:48] Speaker A: So I had a sister there, actually. Okay. My older sister, that. That's, I guess at that point she was working there. I think she worked in admissions there at that time and actually had some family in the area too. And so it was just kind of a familiar thing. My. My parents were dead set against it. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Really? [00:09:08] Speaker A: Like dead. Like it's so far away. And it was at that point, it was expensive. [00:09:13] Speaker B: So being in Nebraska and for everyone who doesn't know, Calvary's in Kansas. [00:09:17] Speaker A: Kansas City, Missouri, technically, but fair enough. [00:09:20] Speaker B: When I say Kansas City, I meant Kansas City. And I paused. Kansas City. You know, like James Bond. Bond. James. Whatever. Either way, Calvary's in our circle. They're in the same conference as ours, as well as compete in the same level with NCCA. Grace. You had Grace right there in Omaha. Did you know Grace existed? Did you not want to go there? Another school in our inner circle? [00:09:46] Speaker A: I think I did. I wasn't good enough to play there for sure. I wasn't very. I wasn't great player. Basketball? No. [00:09:51] Speaker B: They focused a lot on sports. [00:09:52] Speaker A: They did, yeah. And there is a very different school. My parents actually, my parents were actually teachers before they got called to ministry. My dad got called the ministry full time and actually they looked at Grace, but they didn't end up going there. So if they would have gone there, it might have been different. [00:10:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:07] Speaker A: So it was an option. Yeah. [00:10:09] Speaker B: Got to Calvary. [00:10:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:12] Speaker B: Started playing basketball. You got hurt. [00:10:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Stop playing basketball. [00:10:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:16] Speaker B: So what led you to coaching? [00:10:18] Speaker A: I've wanted to coach since I don't know, 8th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, something like that. I just knew for some reason. Some reason, at some point I started playing, I think maybe in fifth grade, I guess when I started playing basketball, like competitively. Yeah, we didn't have a. You. We didn't have summer league. Like my graduate class was eleven kids didn't have anything. Right. Had no travel. [00:10:44] Speaker B: Wait, you weren't homeschooled, were you? [00:10:46] Speaker A: I was partially homeschooled, partially. I did a little bit of both. [00:10:49] Speaker B: So you homeschooled that like played out like a private school or public. [00:10:51] Speaker A: We had to play at public school, yeah. Small public school, the only school in the county. And, and for some reason it clicked. So I just played with the public school kids, you know, in fifth grade for a middle school. Yeah. And, you know, we'd go play other little middle schools, you know, that are 6 hours away, you know, almost not, but for somebody just clicked and I just really enjoyed it. And it was just, I don't know, I could think through it better. It's better at football, to be honest with you. It's a much better football player. But football just didn't click with me as basketball did. I think a lot of it was the creativity behind it and flow behind it. I just thought it was a really incredible game. Poetic, I think. Yeah, I'd say artistic. So just really clicked with me and, yeah, never a great player. I could just never was anything incredible. Were you better than Matt in high school? May. Maybe in high school I think I could have been. [00:11:50] Speaker B: That's a thing. But you didn't like him, but you thought he was a punk. [00:11:54] Speaker A: Well, that was, that was maybe early, uh, early discipleship stage. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Okay, fair enough. So, like, still you're still, you're just, you're being sharpened, you know, when you're still rough. [00:12:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:05] Speaker B: You're like, oh, that, that, uh, receding hairline guy with the headband? [00:12:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [00:12:11] Speaker B: That's always shooting threes. And he's either on it one night or completely trash the other. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, that was. [00:12:17] Speaker B: I'm sick of him, but. And now he's your assistant coach either way. [00:12:21] Speaker A: Look at that. Isn't that funny? [00:12:22] Speaker B: It is kind of funny how things work out. [00:12:24] Speaker A: Lord, Simon, what were we talking about? Where were we? [00:12:28] Speaker B: I'm joking. No, you're talking about coaching. [00:12:30] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And so I just knew, yeah, I think 8th grade, I was like, I want to coach. I want to coach in high school. And so worked really hard at it. I remember dribbling a basketball between like it sounds silly, but I did. I, like, in high school, I dribbled a basketball from my house to the school every day. [00:12:45] Speaker B: That's your. Did you walk through, or I guess you didn't go to school. Would you, any opportunity. Would you walk down, like, a hallway with a basketball in your hands? [00:12:52] Speaker A: I would have dribbling if they would have went through. [00:12:55] Speaker B: You're one of those guys. [00:12:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Those students were. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Did it help? To the extent I wish it did, no. [00:13:00] Speaker B: Okay. [00:13:00] Speaker A: Just being honest. [00:13:01] Speaker B: But I'm surprised we don't have no basketball players do that here. When I was a student, we had. [00:13:06] Speaker A: Kind of glad they don't. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. I mean, it's just like, it's. We did have some that carried tennis balls around, and they would bounce those. [00:13:14] Speaker A: That, too. [00:13:15] Speaker B: So I actually did that. I was even a bastard. I just find it fun. I want to bounce a ball, bounce off the walls. Thought it looked cool. Heck, yeah. [00:13:23] Speaker A: Could you do it? Could you bounce it and catch it? [00:13:24] Speaker B: Yeah, easily. [00:13:26] Speaker A: Okay. [00:13:26] Speaker B: What do you mean, bounce it and catch it, man. Hey, I might not. I might not be playing inner meals right now. I'm too busy. [00:13:32] Speaker A: I'm not either. Okay. [00:13:34] Speaker B: But I'm a baller at heart. Okay. Thank you. You guys see me on the court. [00:13:38] Speaker A: I would love to. [00:13:39] Speaker B: Or on the pitch, wherever. [00:13:40] Speaker A: Oh, the pitch, too. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Everywhere. [00:13:42] Speaker A: Wow. [00:13:42] Speaker B: I can do anything except for, like, single sports like tennis or ping pong. I can't do that either way, so, coach, everyone gets into a lot. I really see a lot of people who are athletes in high school, good athletes or not, that want to go into coaching. And, I mean, a lot of times, people, like, their careers don't take off, they get hurt, and they go into coaching. So what. What was. What do you feel like yours. Your. Your story's a little different or how did you kind of find that path as well? [00:14:13] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, really, the path was, you know, all my high school career was, was, I know I want to coach high school basketball and I want to teach. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:23] Speaker A: And that was it. And that was. That was even my first three and a half years of college was, that's what I'm gonna do. And that really had never changed. Like, I never. I never thought that was different. You know, I had just had some really good coaches in high school that I wanted to kind of be like, in a sense, and learned a lot from them. I had my basketball coach in high school. I played for two, but I think the guy that was last two years of high school, like, I just sit in his. He was the computer teacher, and so we just sit in his classroom. I was the only kid in the class, and we just talked basketball. [00:14:58] Speaker B: That was fun. [00:14:58] Speaker A: And we talked through things, and he was trying to put an offense, and I just asked questions and. And really just. He helped me a ton. And once I got to calvary and went through three and a half years of teacher education for social studies, and I just thought that was what I was going to do. But basically at one. I don't even know what it was. I think actually, you know what it was. We were in Georgia. [00:15:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:15:25] Speaker A: We were in the same. I'm actually going there this weekend, same place, really, which is funny. [00:15:30] Speaker B: What was in Georgia? [00:15:32] Speaker A: We were playing some games and. Games in Georgia. [00:15:34] Speaker B: Really? Calvary went that far? [00:15:36] Speaker A: Yeah, we did. It was. It was incredible trip. I loved it so much. And I had a friend, still. Great friend. Yeah. Incredible friend. I think he would. I think what it was is he sat in front of me and said, if you don't want to teach, why are you doing it? [00:15:52] Speaker B: Fair. [00:15:52] Speaker A: Because at that point, I'd already pivoted from I think I want to teach to, like, I've been in some classrooms. I've done this stuff. I've done lesson planning, and I hate all of it. [00:16:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:03] Speaker A: Like, I just. Oh, it was terrible. [00:16:05] Speaker B: You know, you were like a junior, right? [00:16:06] Speaker A: I was a junior, and I think he sat down. He's like, why are you doing it? Then I was like, well, right. Oh, I guess I don't have to, you know. And so that was, like, another huge pivot point in my life that actually got to use that friend to really, like, transform my path at that point. And so talked to a bunch of people and had, you know, at that point, had still, you know, good pastor and some really wise people around me, and they're all like, God has given you a passion to coach, and it's not to teach in a classroom. I think one person in particular was really on that point of, like, I think God has gifted you and giving you a passion to coach and disciple. Do it right. You have to do it, essentially is, I think, what they said. And so I was like, oh, okay, then I'm gonna have to do it. So at that point, you know, almost my fourth year of college, I switched to a sports management degree, which I didn't really need to, but that was the best option to graduate in a decent amount of time. [00:17:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:03] Speaker A: And really started focusing on growing my coaching skillset and growing my network and growing those things to be prepared to coach at that point. I've been. So as a sophomore, I started as a student assistant coach, and so I worked under two different guys, and that was really, really impactful for me. Might have been better if I could have played, you know, technically, you know, if I wanted to grow in some other areas, but that just wasn't. I couldn't do it. I had to quit. And so God really just provided an opportunity to sit on the bench with a coaching perspective for four years, I think, as a student assistant, and then my last year there as the head assistant. And, yeah, I worked for some great people. I learned a lot from the coach that was there for the first two years and learned a ton from coach Sanders. He really mentored me a ton and invested in me a lot. And they're still, him and his wife, April, are still super impactful to us, and we talk all the time, but really God had used him, and God brought him in at a point that was good for everybody, but even for me, just saying how God brought him at that certain time because I needed more perspective and I needed more experience, and it wasn't for me. God didn't bring it in for me, and I'm not saying that, but God really used and kind of worked in such a way that. That he was there and I was under him for, you know, I guess it was three years, two years, three years, and just. Yeah. And it really just grew tone under him. [00:18:37] Speaker B: Yeah. So what, after graduating Calvary, so where'd you go? [00:18:42] Speaker A: So I actually didn't graduate until later. [00:18:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:45] Speaker A: So I graduated in six years, six and a half years. [00:18:47] Speaker B: Okay. [00:18:48] Speaker A: So, um. So what happened in 2019? This is 2019. So this is my end of my fifth year in college. I got a job offer to coach at Spurgeon. So the program at Spurgeon. And so at that point, I didn't even have my bachelor's degree. [00:19:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:04] Speaker A: At that point, I was working admissions at Calvary. I was their sid, I was assistant coach. I was the athletic recruiter and doing all this stuff. And really, honestly, I loved it. It was crazy. It was a ton of work, but really loved that. Didn't love the admission side as much, but it was paid the bills. But, yeah, I had a connection with a guy at my church who worked at midwestern seminary, and he knew the guy that was in charge of the college. And so, yeah, just had me apply and for some reason got. Got hired there when I was 23. Yeah, that's young. Yeah. And. [00:19:45] Speaker B: But you had tons of years of experience of being assistant, student assistant, et cetera. [00:19:50] Speaker A: Yeah. So I had some experience for sure, as an assistant. And, you know, Coach Sanders, here's what he's really good at, is helping his assistants think through things as they would do them as head coach. So it was good. And so, so what I did there, you know, three years there, so got. Actually, essentially got hired, I think, in March of 2019, got married in May, and then moved up there, I think, that September or something. [00:20:17] Speaker B: And you helped grow the program of Spurgeon. [00:20:20] Speaker A: Yes. There wasn't anything there, which has been. [00:20:22] Speaker B: Growing since, and it's continuing to. [00:20:24] Speaker A: So they'll be a powerhouse soon. They are 100% to us, sadly for us. Great for them. We'll get there, too. [00:20:31] Speaker B: Hey. [00:20:31] Speaker A: Okay. But, yeah, no, it was incredible experience of being in a different environment, being in a much bigger environment, working for different people. [00:20:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:42] Speaker A: And really just a lot of that was administrative. So just building out how a school would go from zero intercollegiate athletics to one intercollegiate athletic team, you know, and there's just, you know, doing that and working through that process, there was so much that you just don't think about. Right. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:00] Speaker A: You don't think about, you know, where do we get water coolers from? Right. It's just like, where are the little things like that? Yeah. And so just is a great experience there for three years. Was able to cut my teeth in a lot of ways. What did you say? [00:21:14] Speaker B: Cut your. What? [00:21:15] Speaker A: Cut your teeth. Really? [00:21:17] Speaker B: Cut your teeth. [00:21:18] Speaker A: That's definitely saying. I'm pretty sure. [00:21:20] Speaker B: Oh, I'm not doubting it. I'm not. I just don't know. [00:21:24] Speaker A: It cut my teeth, but, yeah. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Difficult. [00:21:27] Speaker A: I just don't know. I'm curious where that phrase comes from. Yeah, but, yeah, so it was there. COVID was the second year I was there. [00:21:34] Speaker B: Oh, just. [00:21:35] Speaker A: It was. It was crazy. It was just. It was a wild experience. Really stretched me a ton. [00:21:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:40] Speaker A: But it was very temporal for what we wanted and for what our family is looking for. And. And so, yeah, thankfully, long story short, came here. End up here at Emmaus. [00:21:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:50] Speaker A: And this has been just as crazy. Yeah. It's been probably more work than I've ever done, but we're just. We're so grateful for even, you know, looking back and saying how God is taking care of us, my wife and Natasha and I and Aberret and how he's been sustaining us and bringing people along with us and really just being patient with us, too. But this has been a great experience for us and what we're learning now is really just how we're going to build this program in a way that's successful in the Emmaus way. [00:22:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:29] Speaker A: Right. Which is going to be different than anywhere else. [00:22:31] Speaker B: Yeah. And how is that different? [00:22:33] Speaker A: You know, this Emmaus is very unique. It's a very unique school in good ways. Right. Not in bad ways, but in good ways. And so what you have to do, what I'm realizing, what we're learning now and kind of knew this, but really, I think it's kind of coming into focus more now, is that there's a. There is really probably one way, and I don't even know necessarily what it is to a t yet, but there's one way to do this that creates genuine discipleship and creates genuine higher purpose basketball while being successful at Emmaus. Because we could create a program that could be. It's formatted in a way that could be successful maybe, you know, out of Calvary or at. Wherever. Right. Or at a. Yeah, wherever. Insert X school. Right. But because Emmaus is such a different environment, it has to be this way. And so I think what we're kind of leaning towards and what we're learning now, I even had this conversation with Coach McHugh yesterday. I think that one of the biggest parts of that is recruiting a population that wants to invest in the school. [00:23:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:46] Speaker A: Not recruiting a population of student athletes that want to kind of do their own thing and create their own culture, but really recruiting a population of student athletes, basketball players, which is hard because basketball players are kind of different sometimes, but that want to be here and that want to invest in the campus and invest in the student body. I think that's like our path to success. [00:24:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:08] Speaker A: And so doing that, you know, that's. That repays them. I think London actually made the comment a couple weeks ago, and I thought it was. I thought it was Wayne Jacobus. I thought it was a really well thought out statement of, just like you at Emmaus as a student, you get back what you put in, like, multiple times we put in. Right. Probably more than. And that's true. More than, I think, anywhere else I've ever seen. And so, like, that idea, and I get for him for saying that he said that to a recruitment, like, that's. I think that's it. I think that almost, that idea is like the. The driving force behind even how you recruit and what we're recruiting to and how we're gonna build this program to achieve, you know. You know, we use that phrase, like, eternal success. Right. That's what we really want, but even. Even short term success. [00:25:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:01] Speaker B: No, I love how your all that was amazing. And especially where what stands out is that you're saying program, program, program. Creating a program. And, you know, Matt and I and, you know, lots of other guests that we've had on here, we always talk about the direction we're going as may as the growth of our athletic department. But I love. And I would say this for the rest of the departments as well, or I guess the sports, the coaches is building a program that. That. That is sharpened, that is created for those type of students that want to come in here and invest exactly what you said. And they're hard to find. They're hard to find. But you're. The thing is just awesome that you're creating a program, not just a team. Not just. Not just. [00:25:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:50] Speaker B: You're not just getting people to come in for a season. [00:25:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:52] Speaker B: Or come in just to, like, fill in a team for one year. Bible. Or just because they want to play and then go somewhere else, but a program that is sustainable year in and year out for years to come. But for. To build that, you need those players. How. What is the mindset, dude? Like, you're talking about recruiting for the people that want to put in, so they get five times put back or brought back out to them. Right. How do you find them? What is the thought? Like, how do you recruit for those. Those players? [00:26:22] Speaker A: I'm sure a ton of work. Probably more travel than I probably should do for my marriage sake, but. But Tasha's incredible. But, I mean, so a lot of it starts with kind of starting with a big pool of guys and then filtering out very, very quickly. So starting with a big group asking, you know, very targeted questions. So we have a couple forms that we filter through and filter guys through. Like, right now, we've. Throughout this, I think the last probably calendar year, we've started probably almost 300 guys that we've at least filtered through our filter and really just. Yeah. Targeting, like, some key things. Right. So, like, church involvement. Right. So if a guy has a solid church that they put on their form, they fill it out with their address or the church's address and the pastor's name. That shows me. Right, that they actually are involved in their church. They know the pastor's name. They can find the address on Google or whatever it is. But, like, even that. And so, like, that's like, a big thing for me is, like, from the initial contact, the recruiting forum, are they in a church? And if they are in a church and they're involved. Like, that's a pretty good shot. They'll do well here. Then a lot of that, you know, after that, just filtering and filtering personality. Right. A lot of this is recruiting guys that fit how I coach. And that sounds kind of selfish, but it's actually a true thing. We need guys that can put up with sarcasm, can put up with very dry humor and can put up with all these things, who can put up with even a lot of responsibility on them. And so I could even filter through. Can I get along with this guy? Yeah, can this, can we actually have a good working relationship, which is important, which is super. [00:28:17] Speaker B: I think. I feel like that's something that a lot of teams coaches. [00:28:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:20] Speaker B: Don't utilize. Don't think about as much. So that's really, that's helpful. That's goss, that's really awesome. [00:28:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And, yeah, I think, I think it is because you, obviously, if you want a guy that you're gonna coach for four years, you need to have some commonality. You need to have some. Yeah. Just ability, connect and that's gonna help. [00:28:38] Speaker B: You and Matt and even if the other, when the other coaches are doing this, similar findings, people that are willing to be discipled, you know, hungry. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing is like, you want to find this, is this gonna be funny? You want to find fat people? You want to find faithful, available, teachable. [00:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah, that's good. Use that. [00:29:00] Speaker B: There you go. You want, you want, you want them to be fat, you know, you want them to be faithful to faithful, that they want to learn faithful in their relationship with the Lord and they want, they want to, they're able to be teachable. So they're not stubborn. You know, they're, they have meekness in their life. Right. They're showing meekness and then that they're available. They're able to wake up at five in the morning before practice to go on a walk with you or to get into the word of God or to go to practice. Right. [00:29:26] Speaker A: So, yes, that's good. I like that. I might use it, actually. Yeah, I'm gonna use that. But no, I mean it. Yeah, it's a ton of work. It's a lot of phone calls, a lot of emails, a lot of texts, all that stuff. You just really, I think. And we have to, again, you have to recruit to a mas. You have to find out how, how mas works, how mace looks, how students here, you know, even analyzing, like, students that are successful and that thrive, like, what are those students? And then trying to find more of them all the while. Right. We want good basketball players. Yeah, we really do. We want to play good basket. We want to be a competitive team. And so it's a tall order and it's not, you know, I'm not complaining about it. Any respect, like, it just, it's. That's what it is and that's what we want to do. But it really just kind of just comes down to, you know, putting your work pants on and just going to work. [00:30:14] Speaker B: And I appreciate this a lot, hearing that, because over the years, me being here for eight years. Eight years come August. [00:30:19] Speaker A: Wow. [00:30:19] Speaker B: Don't. [00:30:20] Speaker A: That's a long time. [00:30:21] Speaker B: Just don't. [00:30:22] Speaker A: Don't do it. [00:30:23] Speaker B: No, no, it's great. I've loved. I always respond this way only because my heart is overseas to the unreached. And I heard that the other day. Thank you. [00:30:33] Speaker A: When you're yell. [00:30:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:34] Speaker A: When I was yelling at everyone, yelling at my recruits. [00:30:36] Speaker B: Thank you. Hopefully they liked it. Some of them talked to me afterwards. I preached in a focus chapel here for the men. I didn't miss the boys. I was talking to them. I mentioned it towards the end of the unreached. So either way, that's where that express. Yeah. Different concerning him. Shout out, you know, go look them up. But where was I? [00:31:02] Speaker A: I don't remember. [00:31:02] Speaker B: I don't either. I did, but I didn't. So appreciate, I appreciate this a lot of. If you're one of the first coaches that I've heard speak up on this topic, maybe the other ones have. Have had the same mentality, but of coming into Emmaus and not trying to change Emmaus to fit your program, not trying to change Emmaus to fit your recruits, but to make sure that the people, the students, the recruits you get and to create a program that's gonna last and be sustainable for years to come, bringing in those students, those athletes that have the character, have the skill, they're able to pour into the community. So I really appreciate that you've been able to take a step back and this is only your second year here. Right. And be able to, like, understand and see this already so soon, so quickly, of knowing what you have to do to build a program here at Emmaus. [00:31:59] Speaker A: And that's one of the things that really was appealing to us as we were looking at the job, was actually interviewing with the group of coaches and hearing and seeing the unity on all these fronts and seeing that every sport is essentially recruiting the same idea and the same thing. And that really is key. Right. If you want to think of individual program identity. Right. And you want an identity within your program, and we're working on that, too. But really, that identity actually comes under the umbrella of a mass athletics. Right. And what is, what does a mass athletics stand for? And there's just, there's incredible unity on all those fronts that will build and is building, you know, really long term success in every facet, not just competitively, because that's gonna happen. I really do think it's gonna happen, and we want it to happen, but that's not, it's not the primary goal. Right. That's not the, you know, we're not. Our goal is not necessary to even win. Right. Winning is a byproduct. Winning is a result of consistently doing the right things. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:09] Speaker A: And so, but in the process of getting to that point and even getting that point being at that point is when the real growth happens and the real transformation happens of character and of your heart and of your soul. And that's really what, I don't know why go on this tangent? That's. [00:33:25] Speaker B: No, this is what it's for us. [00:33:27] Speaker A: This is what this podcast go on Tangent. [00:33:30] Speaker B: Usually, Matt. Matt's been going on tangents a lot lately. He's normally, when we first started doing this, the guy was, like, pretty quiet, but we recently, we've been, I guess, touching on a lot of things that's been on his heart and mind. And he just, like, he just takes my mic and just. [00:33:45] Speaker A: He talks into both of them. [00:33:46] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, man, you're a soapbox, right? I'm just here. What's really cool, hearing your story, getting to know you more, coach Philip, is I feel like the Lord has molded you and has sharpened you for this step in life, giving you that time at Calvary, to really find your identity, to be discipled, to be poured into a mentored, to have that aspect of coaching, and then go into Spurgeon and grow a program, start a program, help it be. Work with a team to bring in athletes, find those filters. Right. Because Spurgeon is also another school that wants solid christian character, but also having an administrative side of growing a program, starting it. So those two aspects and to come into Emmaus, connecting them of see if finding. Finding students, young recruits that were where you are at in life to help be a mentor for them, but having that discipleship aspect that you had from Calvary and bring into what you learned from Spurgeon, of growing a program. So you got both best of both worlds right here. I find that super unique and awesome. And it just, I don't know if. [00:34:54] Speaker A: It'S that unique, but. [00:34:54] Speaker B: Oh, I know, but it's unique only because maybe you look, it points, it, it points everything back to the Lord and his plan for you and his guidance to you and in your life, which is awesome. We're going to cut it here. But you got to tell them why. Why should these recruits, why should these families who are listening, friends of Emmaus alum, tell their cousins, tell their siblings, tell their kids neighbors, everyone about Emma. [00:35:28] Speaker A: Stuff like podcast, talking about basketball. Not today. [00:35:32] Speaker B: What basketball you want? [00:35:36] Speaker A: Not. Right. [00:35:36] Speaker B: We are. [00:35:37] Speaker A: We'll go into that. [00:35:37] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Maybe that's the next podcast. Well, you gotta leave soon. [00:35:40] Speaker A: I do have to leave soon. [00:35:41] Speaker B: We can do X's and O's next time. We were gonna talk about exit nose and talk about formations, learning about it, but we talked more about just you and your, your story and the program, which is good. [00:35:51] Speaker A: That's right. [00:35:52] Speaker B: Yeah. Hey, we'll get this summer. [00:35:54] Speaker A: We got a whole summer banger. [00:35:55] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll just, we'll straight up just talk about that either way right now. [00:35:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:00] Speaker B: Coach Parker, tell, tell the listeners why, why they, why they should come filter through the program and be someone that wants to come to mass to pour into the school and be poured into. [00:36:11] Speaker A: Yeah. So I think what we're trying to do, which again, what we're doing as a program is, is under the umbrella of. Right. The school and the umbrella of what athletics exists for. But we're really about the idea of playing for higher purpose and not ending in a very real, true to life way, not in a way that spiritualizes, quote, unquote, unspiritual things. Right. Everything is spiritual. Right. I think actually that's true. [00:36:46] Speaker B: I think spiritual people, I think everything is, everyone's like, don't over spiritualize it. Come on. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, so actually, the reality is when you do that, you actually under spiritualize it. [00:36:56] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:36:57] Speaker A: And so one of the things I've been really, throughout the years, have been really convicted of is just the idea of everything we do, right. Not to the glory of God. Right. That's, that's that. But really, God wants to be involved and God is involved in everything we do. Right. Every job. Right. If I'm a janitor, God cares about my work. If I'm a president of a college, God cares about my work. And so God is not, like, above little things. He's not disinterested in little things. And so we want to be faithful in those little things and do things well, in those little things. And so basketball isn't a little thing. Basketball's a big thing. But we want to be a program that, in a very real life way, plays for higher purpose. And so kind of where we are is we're trying to develop a program that pictures life and pictures the christian life and that we can be. We can live together, right. As coaches and players in a way that, as you're reading first corinthians nine about running a race to win. [00:38:12] Speaker B: Right. [00:38:13] Speaker A: There's a reason Paul uses the metaphor of sport, of running, because it's a great metaphor for the pursuit of holiness or the pursuit of Christ. And so we want to be a program that, when people see us, like, that's what their mind is drawn back to of, like, my life and my interaction with my church should actually be a reflection of, like, how they're playing basketball, how they're playing basketball and how they love each other and they fight for each other and they're sacrificial, and they're how these guys are working hard, like, working really hard for a common purpose. That's how the church should look. The shirt should be as unified, as tight, and as urgent as we are, as we're playing and practicing. And so that's really our heart. And we're not saying we're going to change the world. We're not saying we're going to change college basketball. We're not saying this is the greatest thing ever, and we're not that, more than anything, what's going to be transformed is my heart and hopefully the hearts of the guys that we coach and the guys in our program, to see that really everything, everything we do really should have is, in the light of eternity, me cleaning my office, I need to do that with an internal perspective. Everything with your family and your marriage and classes, everything, there's nothing we're doing that is outside of this eternal perspective. We want to teach that through basketball, and it's the hardest thing in the world. Basketball is fairly easy, but living this life and being a program that actually teaches this and just really has that perspective is hard. But that's what we want to do. And so we think that that's our formula. That's our formula for eternal success. We think it's actually a great formula for even being successful in the court because a unified group is always going to be really good. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:23] Speaker A: And so that's our hope and that's our goal. And, you know, it's not, in a cheesy way, it's not in a, you know, it's not in a. We have to, you know, infuse. Right. What we're doing with scripture is just. No, like, actually, if we're christians and we're spiritual beings, it is going to be infused. That's what we do. Right. And so we think that's life. I think it's how God wants us to live in a very grace filled way, in a very purposeful way. And so we just want to learn and grow together in that. Together as a program. [00:40:52] Speaker B: No, that's beautiful. It's poetic, it's artistic, you know, thank you. And it's true. And if you. If you take that put into the church life and our everyday life, like cleaning your office, etc. [00:41:03] Speaker A: Which I should go do, by the way. [00:41:04] Speaker B: Yeah, you should. [00:41:05] Speaker A: I looked shirts everywhere. I actually have higher purpose shirts. [00:41:10] Speaker B: Higher purpose. [00:41:11] Speaker A: You know that? You see those? [00:41:12] Speaker B: No, I didn't look in your office. It's too far. [00:41:14] Speaker A: Matthew. Matthew. [00:41:15] Speaker B: Like, I got to go past. [00:41:16] Speaker A: That's true. [00:41:17] Speaker B: Like our closets. [00:41:20] Speaker A: But anyways, no, we got. We even got higher purpose shirts because that's like, that's what we're about, man. [00:41:25] Speaker B: I love that we're doing. I love that that sounds like a program that is worth investing in. Worth incoming, too. And what we always say, you know, come here, invest. Be something. Create a legacy. Create a program. Be part of something and have your name edged into it, you know, and history. Be a name. Be a name more than a person. And you'll be a part of it. Like, you're not just be someone who is a body on the bench. You'll be a part of it. Well, coach Parker, we enjoyed having you on. Next time we will do exit. No. Okay. I promise you. I did tell we were gonna do X and O's, but today we. I just wanted to get to know you better. I want to get to know you, man. This is good. All right. [00:42:03] Speaker A: Enjoy what you do. Hey, you do good stuff. [00:42:07] Speaker B: I try. I really do. But thank you for being on. Thank you, everyone, for listening. We appreciate you guys. Thank you. Just taking your time out in the day, tuning in here, all your subs, all your likes, all your views mean a lot to myself and Matt. We don't get nothing for this. We just get to talk about sports. But we do appreciate that we can give back to you guys and let you know a little bit more about Emmaus athletics and get a. Get a good view, a good look into the basketball program with coach Parker here, as well as the rest of our sports. We have guests on and what we can bring to you with updates and recaps of games. So we appreciate all of you, all you listeners, and continue to tune in to in the nest. We might have an episode next week. I don't know. We haven't gone over the summer schedule, but sports are done. So we are looking forward to possibly doing some more interviews or taking a break or a summer. We'll get back to you more about that in the coming weeks. But besides that, thank you, everyone, for listening. And you want, do you know Matt's line? [00:43:10] Speaker A: No, I don't. [00:43:11] Speaker B: I'll just do it. It's a great day to be ego, ladies and gentlemen, have a good night or day or morning.