Big 12 Conference Best Practices: How Kansas Gets You Better

This blog is all about inspiration. We're spending 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the Big 12. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

What makes something a best practice? This isn't about the most intricate experience. It's about looking at the world from your consumer's point of view and delivering something that hits it right smack on the head. In the case of colleges, I'm treating the primary consumer as that prospective student athlete.

Cool?

Let's go...

I could start and go into great detail on the amazingness that is Kansas University Coach Bill Self's website, linked here and pictured above. But that's for another day.

For now, I want to focus your attention on the Player Development section, here. Player Development is positioned as a way to get student athletes to the NBA. As you can see below, this is smartly positioned in their site, right below the NBA Success button. Before we dive into this further, let's talk a second on the importance of that placement. Kansas wants kids who want to have a basketball career beyond Lawrence. And their prospective student athlete is very likely to head straight into that NBA Success section.... Where the Jayhawks pack it full of expertise: a signal that they can help get you there. Smart.

Diving in, you'll see that the header of the page offers a glimpse at a hallway on campus where the NBA Jayhawk Alums' jerseys are displayed. Again, aspirational -- a hallway implies there is room for your jersey, subtly.

Scrolling down, you'll first see Coach Self's philosophy on Development. Check these words:

"If you're not getting better, you're getting worse. My staff and I take that philosophy to the practice court every day. Our commitment to one-on-one teaching and fundamental instruction with our players has allowed them to improve offensively on a consistent basis..."

Interesting, huh? What I hear is that KU is going to get you ready to shine and make it to the NBA. There isn't a comment about becoming a lockdown defender or a versatile player. You are told you'll maximize your offensive potential... which is what the League looks for and the prospective student athlete aspires for.

Next, you'll see that the Jayhawks use their assistant coaches as experts in helping you get there. There's Coach Manning on the Importance of Footwork, Coach Dooley on Guard Success and on Playing at the Next Level, and Coach Townsend on Style of Play and Opportunities to Play Early.

How could this be better? The expertise is fantastic, but I think it is a miss that this expertise is 100% from the assistants. We need to see Coach Self's role applied, as he is the face of the Jayhawk Hoops program. One thought would be to leverage the Jayhawks in the NBA to speak to how Coach Self prepared them for that step.

That's it.

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the Big 12! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy