[00:00:13] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Thanks for your time. Our guest today is Melanie Balcomb. She was hired in April as associate head coach for the Wichita State women's basketball team. Melanie has 26 seasons of experience as a head coach, including 14 at Vanderbilt, seven at Xavier. She coached teams to 19 NCAA tournaments, including a 2001 trip to the Elite Eight while at Xavier, 12 straight trips to the NCAA tournament with Vanderbilt. Also notably in 2017, she was on Dawn Staley's staff at South Carolina when the Gamecocks won the NCAA title. Melanie, tell us about your start in coaching. How did you decide on this as a career?
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Well, my dad was coach. I was a boys high school coach in New Jersey at South Brunswick High School. And so I'm a coach's kid. I watched film back in the day when it was reel to reel in my living room with my dad. So I kind of was born into it. And then I played. And then after I played, I decided I wanted to get right into coaching. That's what I did.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: 22 years old and previous to Wichita State, you had an interesting stop. You were an assistant boys coach in Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio. Tell us about that piece of your resume.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Well, I have a son that I coached boys AAU in Columbus and then followed them and then ended up training some boys. And since my dad was a boys coach and I actually helped him one season with the JV squad, I felt like I just wanted to maybe jump on the other side and go a different direction. So I got myself out there on the boys high school side and I just, it was so rewarding. It's actually one of the reasons why I'm here in Wichita.
It made me realize that I still had a lot to give and so much that I wanted to get back in and got blessed with this opportunity.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: What did you learn about the difference in coaching men and women?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: The boys, you can be a lot more direct with them. And being from Jersey, I'm very direct.
You can really tell it like it is. It's more so than with the girls. They're a little more sensitive. Not all of them. Everybody's different. Obviously your personalities are different. You got to learn as a coach how to coach each kid and how they, you know, what motivates them.
But with the boys, I think the direct straightforwardness that I brought to the table, they really liked and I really liked engaging with them in that way.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Describe your coaching philosophy.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: My coaching philosophy is easy it's basically do for others and it comes back tenfold. And I've always taught life skills through sport. And the sport I chose was basketball. That was my love. And so I think I do a really good job of teaching what, like, if you get somebody else open, then it gets you open, and that's a life skill. And it kind of all goes from there in that, you know, that's what makes a team.
A team is the unselfishness and the sharing the basketball. And all those things that it takes all comes from that philosophy in life.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Why come to Wichita State?
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Terry Nooner, he is someone that I look at as a good man, good coach, but also somebody that I want to work for and with. I think there's been a lot of places, stops on my trips that I learned a lot of, you know, where I want to be is not about the name of the school, the location. I've never lived in Kansas. I've never been to Wichita.
It was about who I would work for, not where I would work. And I know Terry as an assistant, and he's scouted and coached against me as an assistant when I was a head coach. We have a lot of mutual friends, and I knew that this is a place where I wanted to come and serve, learn and grow.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Head coaching stops at Xavier and Vanderbilt. Highlights. What are you most proud of from those 10 years?
[00:04:37] Speaker B: Oh, that's easy.
Xavier was building it from the ground up and just every year getting better and taking those kids further and getting to the Elite Eight with that group we just at at Xavier. I was just inducted in the hall of Fame this last couple months ago, this last spring, and we brought back the Elite Eight team. And so many of those girls come back and they are coaches. They played for a long time.
They have families, you know, just getting to reconnect with those relationships I had at Xavier.
My first job, I was also the men's coach. I was very close to Skip Prosser, who tragically passed at Wake Forest. And knowing so many of those, Terry and I were just talking about James Posey. He's friends with and I'm friends with, and we go. We were like family at Xavier. And that's probably why I did what I did and continued to do what I did because that first stop was amazing.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: In D1, so lengthy, successful coaching career. Who's the player you coach that you would consider?
This is a great developmental story.
Who you really helped hit the, you know, the top of their achievement possibilities.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: I'm blessed to have quite a few it's hard to narrow it down to one.
I was really blessed with finding some diamonds in the rough and that's what Coach Noonan and I were just talking about, the recruiting trail. I have a really good eye for what I think is somebody that people are going to overlook but is actually, unless you evaluate them, you're not going to be able to see the potential that I see. Like I see potential in a house. I've redone every house that I moved into. I don't move into the house that's already built, that's perfect. I go to a house that has a great foundation and I look at it and I say, oh my God, I could take this scarecake out, house this, this out, and I could put this in and I could do that. And I did that with every house I've been in.
But I see the same thing in people. I see the good in people and the potential in them. And I find that those are the kids. Whether it's Meredith Marsh, Retta Papari, Jen Phillips, Dee Davis, there's just so many of them. That was what I love doing is we took three and four star kids and made them four and five star kids. Development was our thing. But I think seeing that, seeing something that diamond in the rough that other people don't see was a gift that I had.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: So when you go to a game or a weekend tournament, a showcase, what things are you looking for that you say that's a good indicator of a diamond in the rough?
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm looking to spend more time watching a kid that I could tell you what I'm not doing. I'm not just body typing a kid. I'm not looking at a list.
I'm doing a lot of things other people aren't doing.
I'm watching for iq. I'm watching for court vision.
I coach courtvision all the time. I'm looking for a great passer, somebody that can set other people up. And I know what at every position, what I want that person to do. I recruit for a system. I know what I want to do offensively. Like I said, my dad was a coach in high school, boys high school for 35 years and then he coached with Pete Curl at Princeton. And so I know what I want to do and what that looks like. And then I recruit players that fit, that can fit in a system, but that also are better with the system than without it.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: Describe the offensive system.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: It's changed and grown over the years. A lot of it was based on two different things. I merged Rick Pitino with Princeton. So Pitino plus Princeton is the best way I can say it concisely.
I coached at providence. We beat UConn and won the Big east as an assistant, and we averaged 97 points a game. And Pitino had just left and taught my head coach everything.
The fast break, the presses, four out, one in. All that. And then when I got my first head coaching job at Ashland, my dad sat me down and said, hey, after that, four out, one in this, you need to learn some Princeton. And I had gone to Princeton games and Pete curl. I worked my dad's camps in high school, and I got to study the Pete Curl stuff. And so I basically made up a system.
Back then. I called it fast to slow. Now it's fast to flow or fast whoa, go. You know, I give it different terms that are relatable to kids today, but it's pace and space and moving the ball back and forth and learning concepts so that we can put our players in a position to be successful. That's what my job is as an offensive coordinator, is how can I put that person and their skill set in a position to be successful for this team to run its best offense?
[00:09:55] Speaker A: So that's a big part of the job this summer, I'm guessing.
[00:09:57] Speaker B: Yes, we spent a lot of time on offense. Another reason why I came here is Coach Nooner has given me the opportunity to run offense for him and be the offensive coordinator here. And that is just.
I'm just getting back in my flow. And I've studied these kids. I didn't recruit them. They were here. We have 12 new players. And so I've been studying them, their skill set, and then trying to create a system around what I have instead of recruiting towards that system, taking players and then putting them in a system where they can be most successful and they can flourish and show what they can do.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: So you mentioned 12 newcomers, five freshmen, seven transfers. How's the coaching staff go about building that chemistry, that bond during this summer?
[00:10:50] Speaker B: You know, that's been the easiest part.
It's been amazing.
There's not one kid that I haven't talked to that said, you know, we all get along. We all do things together as a team and a group, and that should be the toughest part. None of them played together before, and here they are. There's no. I call it generational leadership. Now, that's been tough as far as terminology and what I want. There's nobody that can go out there and demonstrate, okay, the returners from last year run this it's quick now I have to be more patient. They have to learn the terminology, they have to show each other. And then I'm trying to. I think my job is to find leaders that can lead that basically it doesn't matter if they're a freshman or a senior. And I think we're seeing that off the court as well.
I think a lot of teams can hang out off the court and have fun, but can you create that chemistry on the court?
And that's the challenge. And I think we're doing it really well right now.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: So you've had the Shockers back on campus for what, seven or eight weeks now, going through workouts, practices, conditioning, all that kind of stuff?
[00:11:59] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Give fans a couple names to kind of chew on before they get a chance to see them, I guess. At Shocker Madness, who's making a good early impression?
[00:12:11] Speaker B: It's been different kids, different weeks.
Off the top of my head, the hardest worker is Eazy Mo Vincent.
She came here from Missouri. I had seen a lot of film on her and I think she's just fought through a lot of injuries and is tough and that toughness and that drive. She's very open to everything, the film work, the extra work.
So I would look to Mo right away. She also is pretty positionless. She'll play a lot of positions for us on the floor after that.
You know, that's a transfer. But when you look at the freshman, Mari Milton Maury is picking up quickly. She's a point guard and with the ball in her hands, she can do a lot of things. She's got again, a lot of potential, speed, wise, athleticism. But she's also smart and extremely coachable.
[00:13:05] Speaker A: So those are the same two names that Rachel Swartz gave me. So those two seem to be making a positive impression. Mariah Vincent, a sophomore guard, six footer. She is out of Houston, Texas and as you said, a transfer from the University of Missouri. And. And then Mari Milton, a freshman, a 5 foot 7 guard. She is from North Crowley High School in Fort Worth, Texas.
Top goals this summer for the Shockers?
[00:13:33] Speaker B: I think like I said earlier, I think our biggest goal was to figure out an offensive system for them to work in and work together.
The chemistry on the court, not just off the court. I think that separates a lot of teams is, like I said, it's easy for everybody to go out and have fun, you know, but when it comes playing time, minutes, positions, pecking, orders, that what's going to change, you know. And so one of my biggest goals is always to get these kids to understand that we're better together being unselfish and sharing the basketball.
I don't think defense is a skill. A lot of people do. I think defense is character, hustle, desire.
Those things we will put in place in the fall, but the summer, that chemistry of, hey, everybody likes to touch the ball, not everybody's going to. Going to shoot it. You have to teach shot selection. You have to go to your strengths. All those things, they're roles.
We're looking for different players to accept their roles and be successful. And we're already building on those things.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: You mentioned court vision earlier, and I want to go back to that because I would consider that something you're largely born with.
Can you teach it? To what degree can you really improve a player's court vision?
[00:14:53] Speaker B: I find myself.
I find myself coaching it more and more. I think the kids have a tendency now to be ball watchers because they didn't really run a system other than dribble drive in high school or in aau where they're watching the ball and everything they do is based on the ball driving or the ball being passed to them and then they drive it and where the ball moves and how they move.
So I think that's the biggest thing is court vision is looking at the court and knowing on the catch what's in front of you and where those people are and what those opportunities they have and yourself. As far as, do I have a shot? Do I have a pass in the post? Do I have a clear drive? You know what's going on. I always say it's like traffic in the Jersey. Being from Jersey, I always say the turnpike. Like, there's eight lanes. You know, you have to change speeds, planes, but you also have to see a car ahead. If you're only staring at the car in front of you, you're gonna have a lot of fender benders because you're just gonna, like, react. So. And you don't want to be dictated. So everything's determined by. It's a counter to what the offense is doing. If I don't see a play ahead, if I don't see what's going on and I'm staring down the ball all the time, and. And then when I catch it, everything's going fast. Somebody's running at me, there's a post here, I don't know what's going on over there. And I have to make those 0.5 decisions when I haven't seen the traffic. Who's two cars ahead? What's in this lane. What's over here? How can I make that, that. That decision? I can't. I'm going to turn it over, I'm going to pass it late. I'm going to make bad decisions. And that's what offense is. It's like making good decisions all the time.
And so I coach court vision constantly and I think that is one thing that's changed in the game. I think people used to see the floor better than they do now because of the type of offenses that they're coming from.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Do you have a favorite WNBA NBA player who you love to use an example, this person has great court vision and I'm going to ask you to watch them on YouTube
[00:17:04] Speaker B: again, a good question. I have some players that I really love.
Court vision isn't one of them that comes to me. My son comes to me. I've been coaching my son and he's been in the gym with me since Vanderbilt in South Carolina. And like, I feel like that's what separates him. And I don't think coaches appreciate that or see that he's a pass first point guard and I think he's the best passer in the state of Ohio. But everybody wants a point guard to score now.
And I think that there's been so many, like, Sue Bird was really good and she's out of it now.
I think there's.
I look at players now and like to watch ones that I had at or coached against or I.
And I've gotten to the peak of their potential. Like watching Alicia Gray, who I coached at South Carolina.
Like she's just a bull in a china shop, but the hardest worker and best unselfish kid. She's. She's. We just went to an Atlanta Dream game with my family and I stay in touch with her and her family. Asia Wilson, incredible what she could do. You know, we were sitting on the bench during the game and I'm going, everybody's nervous. And I go, yeah, but we got Asia. This is. This is going. This is what's going to happen. And it did. And so. But I love watching them develop.
I coached against Caitlin Clark when I was at Purdue. She was at Iowa. I was not. I was really impressed with Caitlin Clark and probably everybody wants to know my opinion on that.
Watched her on film and said, wow, this kid can really play.
And she was a sophomore, but my whole staff was like, you won't like her because of her attitude once you get out there. And I think she's such a hot conversation right now that yeah, she's gotten a lot better.
Where I see her improving is her maturity, her attitude. I think she's handling some really tough political situations that she's put under with a crazy fan base and all that. Those things. When I saw her, I give Lisa Bluder a lot of credit for being able to coach her and what that she was able to get that team dynamic. Angel Reese is another one. Just saw Alicia Gray again play with Angel Reese, and I remember when Angel Reese was at Maryland, I never saw a kid with a second jump like that, a female. I remember, you know, watching her going, wow. And then she transferred to LSU and followed her there.
So there's just so many pieces of this of like, okay, who's the best player I ever saw? Like, when I saw him, Taurasi, hands down, could tell you where I was sitting talking to Pat Summitt and watching, like a man play with little girls. That's how good Diana Taurasi was at that time.
You know, there's just so many. You'd be surprised at how many players that I've either coached against or coached or got to see in the recruiting process.
That Candace Parker, like, I loved watching her as a WNBA player. Totally different than she was in college. She was hot mess in college, very emotional. Fought with Pat all the time. I had to coach against her for four years. You know, Sylvia Fowles, she just got all these awards and the banners hung down.
She was a freshman at lsu and she used to cry in huddles. And I used to ask Pokey Chapman, like, how do you not start her? And she's like, because she cries all the time.
The maturity and listening to her speech, I was blown away. And what she's done and giving the credit to the Minnesota Lynx and her coach saying, there's no way I would have been able to do this as a woman. I like that part of it for me.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: Last question, then we'll get you out of here. Favorite New Jersey singer
[00:21:02] Speaker B: right behind you, Bruce Binkstein.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: Okay, tell me more.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: I am the boss.
So even in high school, that was our warm up set. Born to Run was our warm up song, believe it or not. And I'm from Central Jersey, so I was close to where he was from. Never actually saw him live on the boardwalk and all those things, but I've seen him live in concert like a ton of times, and it was. It's an amazing whole nother level of concert. I was a Jon Bon Jovi fan as well, just because he was so handsome and I liked I used to tell people that, like, I knew him because he actually grew up and lived even closer than I did. But I. Asbury park and the history of all that.
Incredible. Definitely the Boss.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Excellent. Excellent answer, Ruth.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Springsteen. Did I mention his name?
[00:21:54] Speaker A: Bruce Springsteen? You did. You did. I've seen him 12 times, and I'm quite the. Quite the fan. You've probably seen him more than 12.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: No, no, I have. I had.
I had a lot of interest in music outside of basketball. Music would be my next highest interest. It's been a huge motivator. And I think part of that is, you know, I've lived in 12 different area codes and I've had to do a lot of recruiting on my own and traveling on my own.
And so I would listen to music while I was driving to see games and kids. And without that, music was my best friend.
And, you know, I look at it now and I still. I miss the concerts I used to go to in Nashville. My last year in Nashville, I went to every concert that I could, knowing that, who knows, I could be in small town Wichita sometime or whatever, not knowing if I'd ever be able to see those concerts. But you name it, I've seen them. And I have, like a bucket list of people that I didn't see. I actually had tickets to see Prince one night when I was in Cincinnati, and I got a call that my player, Jen Phillips, that I knew was a game changer for me.
She committed on my. I got over Penn State and Ohio State and she committed on my mom's birthday. And then on my birthday, she had open heart surgery. And she still became the best player that I ever coached at Xavier.
And I was heading out the door with a friend to go see Prince, and that was back when we didn't have cell phones. And I heard the phone in my condo and I said, wait. It was a Friday night. Why did I say wait? Let's go back in. I hear my phone went back in and was my athletics director, Jeff Vogelson. And he said, jen's. We've been testing the kids for their heart as a freshman, and she has a hole in her heart the size of a quarter. You might want to come down.
And her parents were from Alida, Ohio. Three hours, they were already on their way. And so those are the types of things like, man. And then Prince passed, so I can't get that concert. But I'd love to share and talk to you about music sometime because I do have other interests other than basketball that I really enjoy.
[00:24:02] Speaker A: We'll do a separate Springsteen podcast. Frank Sinatra would have been the other one that I would have accepted. Bon Jovi, Springsteen. Frank Sinatra would have been.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: Is Frank from New York or New Jersey?
[00:24:11] Speaker A: I think he's from New Jersey.
We'll fact check me and we'll get to this later. Melanie Baucom she is the new associate head coach for Wichita State Women's basketball team. Melanie, thank you for your time.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Thank you, Paul.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] she's
[00:24:53] Speaker B: just one of those players who could be a game changer though with one swing of the bat she can send it over the fence. We've seen her do it time and time again. Is she do with the.585 slugging percentage? 9 home runs on the season.
We'll see what they decide.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: Swinging away in a drive to center. Are you kidding? Another walk off. It is ball game. Wichita State win.
Two walk off home runs today.
Bailey laying in the first game and Lori Derico here.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: And Wichita State has knocked off off
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Central Florida five to four.
