MBU’s Matt Brock – Still Learning

(St. Louis, MO) – Despite very significant success, Matt Brock is still learning what it means to be a head coach. The Missouri Baptist basketball coach has taken a team that was 13-48 the two years prior to his arrival and has crafted a three-year record of 59-35.

After a stellar playing career at Truman State, Brock made the natural move into coaching. His father, Skip Brock is a member of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall-of-Fame and was Matt’s high school coach, but he was still learning.

After three stops on the coaching trail the younger Brock landed at American Midwest Conference power Columbia College. The Cougars were 93-11 and went to three NAIA national tournaments while Brock worked for the legendary Bob Burchard. Brock’s admiration and respect for his former coaches and mentors is enormous.

Brock’s younger brother (Thomas) is also in the ‘family business’ as the top assistant at Columbia. The confident MBU leader admits he’s learned a lot during his first three years in West St. Louis County. Despite producing a record that is 24 games over .500 he says he’s still learning.

 

 

Returning Players

One of the things Brock has always done well is to recruit good talent. Returning Honorable Mention All-American Pablo Hernandez leads a group of veterans that includes red-shirt junior point guard Jahmouri Robinson. Three-point specialist Jesus Castillo and rim protector Torrance Little provide additional experience.

 

 

While Brock admits Robinson is still learning how to be the team’s lead point guard, he expects significant contributions from Castillo, Littles James McKelvin and Hasaan DeCarolis.

Developing Men & Students

Brock believes his job is about more than just basketball. His desire is to help his players develop as students and how to prepare for their future roles in society. MBU recently received academic notoriety from the National Association Basketball Coaches. The Spartans were one of 211 teams nationally to receive a ‘Team Academic Excellence Award’.

The NABC awards go to NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA teams with a cumulative 3.0 grade point average. MBU accumulated a 3.19 average and the award was the Spartans’ third in as many years under Brock.

Brock realizes his role as a mentor takes many forms. His players are still learning how to balance basketball, studies and character development.

 

 

In Part Two of our interview coach Brock will talk about his incoming recruits, the American Midwest Conference and the direction of the program.

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