The University of Delaware recently hosted the fifth edition of the International Coaching Apprenticeship in Basketball (ICAB).

ICAB, which is funded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Olympic Solidarity Fund, Federation Internationale Basketball (FIBA), the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and UD, provides national-level coaches and sport development professionals from around the world with enriched basketball coaching skills and exposes them to American intercollegiate basketball.

The program is organized and led by Matthew Robinson, professor of sport management in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, and Jeffrey Schneider, lecturer in UD’s College of Health Sciences.

This year’s ICAB participants included national team coaches from Cyprus, Gabon, Lebanon, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia and Sri Lanka. Coaches were nominated by their respective FIBA regions and ultimately selected by the FIBA Coaching Development Department.

Participants received a full scholarship through the financial support of the Olympic Solidarity, USOC and FIBA to cover all of the associated expenses.

ICAB was created based on relationships formed during UD’s offering of the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP), a multisport coaching development program funded through the IOC and the USOC.

During the past nine years, ICECP has hosted over 220 coaches from 100 countries in 23 sports. Included in that number have been basketball coaches from 45 countries.

“We are very proud of the impact ICECP has had on growing the game of basketball and educating basketball coaches globally,” Robinson stated. “Based on that impact, Olympic Solidarity and FIBA were interested in offering a basketball-specific program. We were fortunate to be asked to organize the program and it has been an honor to host the past several years.”

About the ICAB program

The ICAB program consists of three modules spread over 35 days and includes a 30-day apprenticeship with a NCAA Division I basketball program.

This year, Module 1 included three days of lectures, panel discussions and presentations by:

• Sean Ford, men’s national team manager for USA Basketball;

• Tommy Sheppard, vice president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards; and

• Edgar Johnson, retired UD athletic director.

During Module 2, the coaches were embedded within NCAA Division I basketball programs for 30 days where they attended all training sessions, individual workouts, team and staff meetings, film sessions and other activities related to the program.

The men’s programs at Davidson College, LaSalle University, Lehigh University and Temple University and the women’s programs at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Lehigh, Davidson and DePaul University served as apprenticeship sites. All of the programs except DePaul have hosted coaches in the past.

“The strength of the program comes from the willingness of these basketball programs and their coaches to grant access to the participants and their willingness to share,” said Schneider. “All of the coaches of these programs are great teachers and ambassadors for the game globally.

“Lehigh basketball has enjoyed a very positive relationship with the International Coaching Apprenticeship in Basketball (ICAB) program,” said Brett Reed, the Murray H. Goodman '48 Head Men's Basketball Coach who hosted Marios Argro from Cyprus this year and coaches from Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovakia in years past. 

“This year was no different. A very engaged and talented coach, Marios, joined us for a couple of weeks,” Reed said. “During that time we had the opportunity to share the way in which we run our Division I basketball program while also getting to learn more about Marios and the international game.”

Temple men’s coach Fran Dunphy, whose program hosted Raoul Toupane from Senegal, and a coach from Italy last year said, “This was an incredible learning experience for both Raoul and us. The staff and players enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to interact, share and learn with the international basketball community.”

The ICAB participants also interviewed members of their host schools’ athletic departments, such as athletic directors, compliance directors and directors of athletic fundraising, to gain an understanding and appreciation of all that goes into basketball in the American university environment.

Participants also completed analytics projects using statistical models presented in Module 1 as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) that they were interested in tracking.

They also conducted a program analysis that covered basketball theory and styles of play, coaching philosophy, program management and an overview of staff responsibilities.

“Given the importance the University places on globalization and creating global partnerships, we are proud of the role both ICECP and ICAB have played in fulfilling that mission,” said Schneider.

Tatiana Gallova, an ICAB participant from Slovakia and sponsored by the Austrian Olympic Committee who completed her apprenticeship at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said, “ICAB is a very intense, well organized program which gave me good insight into college and USA basketball. Discussions held with different experts in their areas was a great source of information.”

Gallova added, “I was also introduced to new analytics and statistics that opened up new way of evaluating the performance of teams and players in games and practices.”

LaSalle men’s coach John Gianni, whose program hosted Michael Okanda from Gabon and coaches from Iceland and Denmark in past years, said, “This is always an incredible learning experience for both the participant and us. The staff and players enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to interact, share and learn with the international basketball community and Michael was a pleasure to host.”

Module 3 included a presentation on grassroots basketball initiatives and a trip to the Philadelphia 76ers game, where the participants attended the team’s shoot around before a game with the Indiana Pacers.

In past years, the ICAB program has hosted coaches from Iran, Turkey, Chinese Taipei, Demark, Norway, Estonia, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Estonia, New Zealand, Iceland, Finland, Belgium. American Samoa, Bulgaria, Demark, Israel, Italy and Slovakia.