Profile: Coach Scott McMillin

>>>>>Intense, loyal and caring. These are the words used to describe Coach Scott McMillin. McMillin has been the head men’s basketball coach at Lynn University for the past five seasons, and in that time he has brought success to Lynn time and time again.
>>>>>I met with Coach McMillin one morning in his office. It’s a relatively small office, but on one wall, there were at least a dozen plaques showcasing his accomplishments. That’s no surprise, considering he has been named coach of the year three times – once at Santa Fe Community College, and twice at Lynn University – among other achievements.
>>>>>We talked about his childhood and where he grew up: Wichita Kansas. I guess the look on my face gave me away, because he laughed and said that Wichita isn’t what most people think. “It’s a town of about 300,000 people; an urban city with Midwest values and a small town vibe.” That definitely clarified some things for me. He further explained that in Kansas, most children get attached to sports. “I always played sports. Basketball, baseball, soccer. But it was in junior high and high school that I really fell in love with basketball…When you’re a kid growing up in Kansas, basketball is in your blood.”
>>>>>Well, that certainly explained his enthusiasm when I asked about his job. He couldn’t help repeating how much he loved his job and I could tell by his approach to it. With an MBA, he could be working as a top business executive right now, but he turned down job offers in order to do what he loves. “I had the opportunity to work on Wall Street in New York,” he says, “but I turned it down to work at Central Florida Community College. I could have been earning a lot of money at 23, but I took a job that paid $7,000 [per year] instead.”
>>>>>Prior to his stint at Central Florida, he was assistant coach at the University of Buffalo, which is actually where the idea of coaching occurred to him. “I didn’t think about coaching as a career until I played at the collegiate level at the University of Buffalo.” After graduating from the university, he stayed on as assistant coach, and then he took the job at Central Florida, where he played the part of assistant coach once more. In the midst of all this, he met his wife, Crystal, through mutual friends in the summer of 2001. “I was home for the summer and our friends introduced us. She was a CPA working in Wichita at the time, but she was getting ready to move to Denver and I was one month away from moving to Gainesville, to work at Santa Fe Community College.” In spite of the distance, their relationship grew and she moved to Florida less than a year later. He was head coach at Santa Fe for two years, and then he accepted the position he now holds at Lynn.
>>>>>“I know in terms of age, I’m pretty young to be a head coach, but I have seven years of experience in this position, so with my age comes this qualification.” And rightly so. At Santa Fe he pushed the team academically, which resulted in a program high average GPA of 3.05 in the fall of 2002. At Lynn, he and his team have broken quite a few records, and they ended the 2006-07 season ranked 11th in NCAA Division II.
>>>>>When I asked him what he attributed to all his success, his response was simple. “Having the right people involved in the program, from players to assistant coaches, is what I would say is the reason for our success. We have a group of very hard working, driven people, who are self-motivated, and who will go above and beyond the call of duty. You need to have people who are going to work hard. There’s no secret to success.” Once we got into talking about his job, the enthusiasm showed even more. He’s not a man who is in this for the winning. The one thing that he stressed the most was that he is in this to influence the lives of his players more than winning. One of his former players, Sheldon Edwards, confirmed this. “He’s a very caring person. I’ve known him quite a while. He’s an intense person, he puts all he has into whatever he does. And obviously he really cares about his players since we still have a relationship. He’s thoughtful and caring and genuine.”
>>>>>McMillin remembers what his coaches were like in high school and college, and his aim was to help his players improve in every aspect. “I feel like they gave me something really important, and I feel like I owe it to my players to give them what my coaches gave me.”
His best moments, he says, actually happen off the court. Moments like conversations with players and keeping in touch with former players are important to him. With a sparkle in his eyes, he said: “I have the ability to see a young man’s life develop… The winning is great, but it’s the bigger picture. All the players come from different backgrounds: some come from good homes, some come from bad homes, some are well-off and some are not so well-off. Taking all those guys and bringing them together for one common goal is important to me.”
>>>>>The worst thing that has happened in his point of view is when he doesn’t get through to a person. There’s also the losses. Although his current team has netted more wins than losses each season since his arrival, he says, “As a coach, you tend to remember the losses more than the wins.”
>>>>>Maybe this is why his assistant coaches describe him as intense and loyal. Assistant coach Marcus Hayes said: “He’s a very driven individual. His coaching style is very hands-on, very detail-oriented. And he’s passionate and enthusiastic towards his teaching. That’s what I call it anyway.” His other coach, Tim Heskett, spoke more about the mood he brought to the program. “He is an extremely loyal individual. Everything he does in the program is to make the atmosphere more like a family.”
>>>>>With a personality like his, it is no wonder that he loves what he does so much. He says: “The pressure of winning and losing is tough. But every day is an opportunity to maximize their [the players] potential as individuals. That’s the goal, and the process is the end result.”