The Coach with the Most

ANOKA---With joy and passion, Coach James Fassett assisted the Lady Rams of Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC) to the third-place victory in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NFCAA), Division Three Tournament in Rochester, Minn., on Saturday, March 13.

            This coaching gig at ARCC has been a good one for Fassett.  He has been assisting  Head Coach Dave DeWitt with the women’s basketball team. Flowing with the energy and spark of a young man, Fassett explained that his coaching career started around 15 years ago. It evolved from high school sports to coaching at the collegiate level for the last six years. “I could see myself doing this for another five to ten years. The time flies by and the years kind of all just blend together,” Fassett mused. Big accolades for DeWitt were spoken by Fassett, “This is perfect for me. Plus the fact that I get to coach with and learn every day from the best coach I have ever been around in Coach DeWitt.”

             One factor that helped in the Lady Rams winning season was the lack of complaining about playing time. The long basketball season often includes bickering and major arguing but the ladies didn’t fall victim to that.  “Realistically they all pushed and encouraged each other to be the best they could be. There was not really one or two true leaders, they all lead each other,” said Fassett.

            Being a community college can have its drawbacks as far as developing a team. Women typically enroll for two years rather than the standard four years at other colleges and universities. “The girls are playing for a chance to move on to another level,” said Fassett. “As a coaching staff we really emphasize individual improvement because the best way to improve the team is to improve yourself.” The ARCC coaching staff can claim to know almost all of the college coaches in the state of Minnesota and within the five-state region. If their team members wish to continue playing basketball at the next level, ARCC will help them find a school and a team. “We send out several game films every year and make phone calls and send emails all the time.” shared Fassett.

            Recruiting players has been another aspect of the job. Making phone calls, sending emails and texting are all ways that the coaching staff has contacted high school players. ”We think we are offering a great opportunity to have a chance to prolong their basketball careers and have a chance to earn some scholarship money for college,” said Fassett.  Roughly 150 girls per year have received a recruiting call, with 100 contacted more than once and 70 that are contacted numerous times until they commit one way or the other.

            More marketing of the athletic department and more community involvement would improve the women’s basketball season. “We play in several cities around Minnesota and other states and I notice their community support seems to better than ours,” Fassett observed. “There are a lot of people right in our own community that I have talked to that don’t even know that Anoka-Ramsey had athletics, let alone the successful ones.” With a smile and nod, Coach Fassett asks the attendance of all the students, faculty, staff and neighboring communities to the next season of Anoka-Ramsey Women’s Basketball.

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