Dagostino Mark - Attitude develop a winning mindset on and off the court

W HEN I WAS drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, I found myself a place to live. It wasnt far from Villanova.

In that era, we were a group of young men fresh out of college who loved basketball. I played with and became friends with the guys who won the national championship in 1985: Ed Pinckney, Dwayne McClain, Harold Pressley, and all of the rest. I got to know the coaches too. We spent a lot of time with one another in the summer months playing ball and then having fun hanging out at our favorite spots, Alligators and the Yorkshire.

One of the young coaches I met was Jay.

I honestly dont remember if Jay had the style then that you see now. I just remember a good young guy who loved basketball. We spent a lot of time together, and as it turned out, we both left Philadelphia in 1992. I was traded from the Sixers to Phoenix, and Jay left for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with Rollie Massimino.

In this business, though, you always keep tabs on your friends. So I kept track of Jays career. I followed him during his time at UNLV (19921994), and when he got the head coaching job at Hofstra (19942001).

The thing I liked most about Jay was that he went away and made a name for himself on his own. A lot of assistant coaches move up to the top spot. They may not even deserve it. But Jay went away and made his own name, getting to the NCAA Tournament twice at Hofstra. He wasnt just handed the Villanova job in 2001he earned the job.

I would have loved to have played for Jay Wright, and Im going to tell you why: The guy has not changed in thirty years. That same guy I hung out with at Alligators is the same guy I went to dinner with recently. Even with the success he has had, culminating in a national championship, hes the exact same guy.

The best way I can describe Jay is that he is successful in life, not just as a basketball coach. For a lot of players, their success in life is dictated by how great they are at basketball. For a lot of coaches, its measured by how many games they win. To me, you dont define Jay that way.

Understanding the responsibility of Villanova is, in my mind, Jays greatest leadership quality. If you go to Villanova, you arent going to a place where basketball is the most important thing. You are going there for an education. Jay is a great caretaker of the Villanova culture.

I know that for a fact: My daughter is a Villanova graduate, and Jay is the reason she went there. Before she attended Villanova, I didnt really appreciate the full significance of the place. The quality education she received and the family atmosphere made it special for her.

Hardly anyone picked Villanova to win the national championship in 2016. It was incredible that they wonand even more incredible how they won. A lot of you may have seen my celebration dance on our TNT set when Kris Jenkins shot sealed that game at the buzzer.

Heres why I was so excited: Its a terrible thing when people tell you that you havent won the big one. Im on that list of people who didnt win a championship. Its something you have to live with. I tell people all the time that I root for the guys who havent won the big one.

When that shot dropped I was thrilled for Jay. He was off the list.

But to me, Jay has always been about a lot more than any list. Hes a great leader. As you read through this book, I think youll see why.

C HARLES B ARKLEY , November 2016

A S WE GATHERED into our huddle, the sound of nearly 75,000 fans shook every seat in Houstons massive NRG Stadium.

The NCAA Championship game. Tied at 74. With 4.7 seconds left on the clock.

It was difficult to hear anything over the roar, but I had absolute confidence in our team. Within our basketball family at Villanova we liken every season to a journey, and this one had been our longest and most thrilling ride yet. Marcus Paiges miraculous off-balance leap of a three-pointer to tie the game was an incredible shot, the kind you come to expect from an opponent the caliber of North Carolina. The Tar Heels had erased our 10-point lead in the span of a few minutes, thanks mostly to their skill, precision, and composure.

But when I looked into the eyes of our players and coaches, I saw no anger or regret. No one bemoaned Paiges lucky shot, or that any of our guys had failed to stop him from grabbing the pass that led to that shot, or anything else. When youre playing against the best of the best, huge plays happen. You cant allow yourself to be consumed by them. You move on to what you can controlthe next possession.

With so much on the line, wed executed well. Even in the final two minutes in this pressure-packed setting, we hadnt flinched. I was proud of our teamand I let them know it.

The play we tend to call with 4 to 7 seconds remaining on the clock is called Nova. As we stepped into the huddle, each of the players understood the responsibility that they would have on this possession. Executing that play in 4.7 seconds against the Tar Heels defense, though, would not be easy. The ball would be inbounded from under the North Carolina basket. Wed have to advance nearly the length of the court in order to score.

We broke the huddle with a familiar shout: ATTITUDE! Thats the word we use to break every huddle, in every gamechampionship or not.

As the crowd grew even louder, co-captain Ryan Arch Arcidiacono walked past the midcourt line and gestured to one of the officials, pointing to a spot on the floor. This was the same area in front of the UNC bench where our other co-captain, Daniel Ochefu, had lunged and fallen to the court in his attempt to deflect the pass to Paige seconds earlier. Arch noticed there was still moisture on the floor, and he asked the official to have a ball boy mop it up.

Daniel was standing nearby as the young man began mopping. When he finished, Daniel asked to borrow the mop. For the next twenty seconds, the 6'11" Ochefu painstakingly made sure every drop of sweat was dried from that floor. Some people chuckled as the scene unfolded. Even I began to grow impatient at Daniels thoroughness. But we knew there was a good reason he wanted that area dry: It was exactly where he planned to set a screen to spring Arch loose from his defender.