More Than a Game: How Basketball Builds Character
Every Year is a Rebuilding Year (And That’s the Point!)
Coach Smith has seen it before in his nine years of coaching Basketball at Boys Home. A student shows up on campus. He has never played organized sports. He’s nervous, maybe resistant.
But by the end of the season? That same young man communicates with his teammates. He holds himself accountable. And he arrives on the court with a work ethic that carries into other areas of his life.
“Usually what happens is we’ll start a team and develop these young men because they never played organized sports before,” Coach Smith explains. “Some played football, but never basketball in an organized way. So we have to teach them from the basics. And these are 14, 15, maybe 16-year-old guys.”
But the result is that each year is a rebuilding year. Key players graduate, new students arrive with no experience, and the team starts from scratch.
This constant rebuilding is exactly what makes the Boys Home basketball program so valuable.
Setting Priorities From the Start
Before any player steps onto the court, Coach Smith makes the priorities clear. He tells them:
- Godly life
- School
- Basketball
Grades come before basketball.
The team knows this isn’t just talk. When a student earns a demerit in class, he’ll run extra laps in the gym. If a student has behavioral problems in his cottage, it results in reduced playing time. All with a hefty side of conversation on the bench about how off-court choices show up in on-court performance.
“I try to tell them, what you do off the court shows on the court,” Smith says. “The way you practice is the way you play. The way you play is the way you practice.”
This approach works! Students start connecting the dots, and self-discipline in the classroom equals success in athletics. They realize that their teachers and residential life mentors talk with Coach Smith. There’s no hiding poor behavior or effort.
More importantly, our young men start to get it. Basketball is a tool for something even greater: character development.
Research backs this up: Studies demonstrate that basketball programs are linked to higher self-efficacy, resilience, and emotional regulation in adolescent boys. When sports programs are intentionally integrated into a broader developmental framework (not just competition), they become powerful vehicles for teaching life skills such as accountability, discipline, and time management.
Building Relationships, Not Just Plays
Basketball practice runs Monday through Friday from 4:00 to 5:30 PM. But what happens during those 90 minutes goes way beyond running drills and shooting free throws.
“It’s about building relationships, team building, communication,” Coach Smith explains. “It’s bigger than just putting the basketball through the hoop. We’re building relationships with guys that rarely even speak to each other on campus sometimes, but now that they’re on the same team, they look out for each other.”
Here’s what that looks like:
- Students who usually keep to themselves start offering advice about homework.
- They encourage each other to stay out of trouble so everyone can play.
- They learn to communicate under pressure.
- They work through frustration without blaming others.
- They celebrate small victories together.
This year’s team hasn’t won a game yet. But after a recent loss, something remarkable happened.
“I thought they were gonna start arguing when we got in the van,” Coach Smith recalls. “But they actually had a good conversation, talking about what they need to work on. No one blamed each other. Everyone said, ‘We know what we need to work on.’ That made me feel good, because I’ve been here 13 years and never heard a team say, ‘It’s all right, guys, let’s just work on it.'”
That shift from finger-pointing to collective problem-solving? That’s maturity. That’s growth. That’s what the program is really about.
Meet the Boys Home Basketball Team
Although Coach Smith has coached at Boys Home since 2016, this is his first year coaching varsity. This year’s varsity squad includes several standout players:
Logan Large
- Position: Point guard and shooting guard
- Strengths: One of the best shooters on the roster, steady presence on the court
Deleon Lee
- Grade: Senior
- Awards: Former Sixth Man of the Year
- What Coach says: “He’s not my best player, but he’s my strongest, and he motivates. He doesn’t give up.”
- Impact: His resilience and leadership anchor the team’s culture
Gabriel Thompson
- Position: “Four man” (power forward)
- Recent performance: Double digits in both points and rebounds in his first game against Bath County
- Brings size and hustle to the frontcourt
Nazayah Harmond
- Position: Primary point guard
- Role: Runs the offense, keeps plays organized, keeps teammates engaged
The bench includes players like Rylan and newcomer Sammy, who are gaining experience and confidence as the season goes on.
More Than Wins And Losses
Boys Home plays in an extracurricular private league with local schools and homeschool groups. The schedule runs from November through mid-February. This year? They’re playing 26 to 28 games. That’s busier than previous seasons.
One of the program’s proudest traditions is competing for the Sam Cunningham Trophy against a rival school twice each season. Boys Home holds the trophy right now after winning it last year. The back-and-forth tradition dates back to around 2013.
But Coach Smith reminds his players (and anyone watching) that the scoreboard isn’t the only measure of success.
“Defense wins games,” he tells them over and over. “You can’t learn everything from YouTube. Some of them watch highlights. All they watch are Steph Curry highlights. So they want to come out there and shoot threes. But it’s a team thing. It’s not a one-person thing.”
“I let them know: You’re not the only one here. We have to play as one.”
Beyond the Court
Coach Smith isn’t just the basketball coach. He’s also a Campus Life Manager at Boys Home. That role keeps him connected to students’ daily lives beyond practice and games. He spent 10 years as a house parent (primarily in Green Cottage) before assuming his current dual role in 2012.
He gets help from Donnie Costigan, a Boys Home alumnus who scored 1,000 points during his own playing days. Costigan now serves as Athletic Director. His journey from student to house parent to administrator shows current students what’s possible when you stay committed to growth.
To broaden players’ perspectives, Coach Smith recently took three team members to a UVA college basketball game over the holidays. Watching high-level play in person gave them a chance to see the strategies they practice being executed at the college level.
“They were like, ‘Mr. Smith, we do that right there!” he recalls with a smile. “And I said, ‘Yeah, we do that. Look at it. Watch it. I don’t want y’all to just watch a game. Watch the guy who plays your position.'”
The Real Goal
Coach Smith continues to rotate players throughout the season. Everyone gets experience. Egos stay in check. Seniors who graduate but stick around for community college or work? They can play one more year.
The program is also looking into summer basketball camps. But the real goal stays simple.
“Long as I believe in them, they believe in themselves,” Coach Smith says. “And I want them to know that they’re here for an education first.”
This isn’t about D1 recruits or championship trophies. It’s about showing up. Working hard, and understanding that how you act in class and in your cottage shows up on the court.
“We want them to have fun first,” Coach Smith says. “We want to win, yes. But if you’re not having fun, what’s the point? And at the same time, we’re teaching them communication, leadership, how to build relationships.”
Basketball here becomes more than a game. It’s where students learn who they are and what they can do when they work together.
Curious about how Boys Home develops the whole person through academics, athletics, and character education? Connect with us today to learn more about our residential school in Covington, Virginia.