{"id":51553,"date":"2017-02-15T13:59:46","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T19:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=51553"},"modified":"2017-02-15T14:18:26","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T20:18:26","slug":"college-coach-looks-to-guide-players-on-off-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/college-coach-looks-to-guide-players-on-off-court\/","title":{"rendered":"College coach looks to guide players on, off court"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Suriel<\/strong><\/p>\n

College basketball coaches have different goals. Some want to win national championships. Some want to have a top-five recruiting class. Tommie Posley just wants to guide young men to make positive strides in their community..<\/p>\n

A point-guard at St. Michael\u2019s High School during the 1970s, Posley began to work with young kids at local basketball courts around the Chicago area because of the potential he saw in them. It eventually led to him becoming the coach at East-West University, a school in the city\u2019s South Loop area.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw kids that needed a lot of help,\u201d said Posley, who turns 59 this year. \u201cA lot of these kids don\u2019t have a father figure, or any real guidance, so I\u2019m not just a coach; I\u2019m more like a parent.\u201d<\/p>\n

His players at East-West feel the same. Posley has found ways to teach them life lessons through the sport they all bond over. One player even says Posley is in fact his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up I never had a father figure, so he\u2019s the one I look up to,\u201d said Devonte Smith, who is in his senior year. \u201cHe\u2019s the one that got me back into playing. I call him pops because that\u2019s what he is, my pops.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from his work as a basketball coach, Posley also works as a substance abuse counselor at Cook County Jail. Seeing people go down the wrong path when he was young was what motivated to enter that field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up around people who were doing all that bad stuff,\u201d Posley said. \u201cSo I wanted to be able to help them stay away from those drugs just so they could stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"secondary\"<\/p>\n

Photo above: Coach Posley talking to his players about the upcoming game plan. (Alan Suriel\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n

Posley is a natural leader. It is also why he has become a motivational speaker throughout for members in jail and public schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking to people is a way to motivate them to do some good in the community,\u201d said Posley, who is currently in his third season at East-West. \u201cThey see what I\u2019ve been through and they can take away some positives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Posley finds a way to relate to his players on a personal level, he\u2019s still a strict coach who deals with no nonsense. Players have said that his practices quickly put them in top shape especially if they come into the season unprepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first got here I was a bit out of shape,\u201d said Sherman Carter, who recently scored 31 points against Malcolm X College. \u201cCoach makes us run everyday so we\u2019re the best we can be. I\u2019m way better now because of all the training that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Posley has said that he will sometimes act like he is mad just so he can get the most out of his players.<\/p>\n

When it is all said and done, Posley wants to be remembered as a person who took the time out to turn boys into men, whether it was on the hardwood or in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to know that I tried to help them the best way possible,\u201d Posley said. \u201cI put everything I had into helping these kids get to the next level. It doesn\u2019t have to be just basketball. If they\u2019re successful in life then my job is done. I\u2019m just trying to set them up for success and not failure at the end of the day.”<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Coach Posley is attentively watching his players at practice. (Alan Suriel\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Suriel College basketball coaches have different goals. Some want to win national championships. Some want to have a top-five recruiting class. Tommie Posley just wants to guide young men to make positive strides in their community.. A point-guard at St. Michael\u2019s High School during the 1970s, Posley began to work with young kids […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":397,"featured_media":51567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nCollege coach looks to guide players on, off court - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/college-coach-looks-to-guide-players-on-off-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"College coach looks to guide players on, off court - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alan Suriel College basketball coaches have different goals. 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