Random House New Releases - Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball

Chasing Perfect by Bob Hurley

2013-03-19T00:30:00-05:00

Chasing Perfect The Will to Win in Basketball and Life
Written by Bob Hurley

Hardcover, 336 pages | Crown Archetype | Biography & Autobiography - Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Basketball | $26.00 | 978-0-307-98687-0 (0-307-98687-X)

The inspiring story of the most famous high school basketball coach in America.

In 40 seasons as the head coach of St. Anthony High School, a private parochial school in Jersey City, New Jersey, Bob Hurley has established a standard of excellence and achievement without peer, and remarkably, he has done this at a high school with a total student body enrollment of about 230, with no gymnasium, and with an operating deficit that threatens to shut the place down each year. Hurley himself sweeps the floor before each home game. Despite the long odds against them, Hurley's teams have captured 26 state titles and four consensus national championships, all behind an astonishing career winning percentage of .905.
In Chasing Perfect, Hurley opens up his tool box and shares some of the championship strategies he's developed to help lift his players up and out of Jersey City. The narrative centerpiece will be each of St. Anthony's seven undefeated seasons, with sketch profiles of some of the most memorable players, making some of the most memorable plays in St. Anthony history. Along the way, he'll offer empowering insights to help coaches and players to elevate their games, while empowering the rest of us to walk a more purposeful path. Part memoir, part coach's notebook and part reflection on the St. Anthony players it has been Hurley's privilege to coach, Chasing Perfect will stand as a compelling barometer of life in and around the hardscrabble streets of Jersey City, set against the backdrop of one of the most enduringly competitive high school basketball programs in the country.

Chasing Perfect by Bob Hurley

2013-03-19T00:30:00-05:00

Chasing Perfect The Will to Win in Basketball and Life
Written by Bob Hurley

eBook, 336 pages | Crown Archetype | Biography & Autobiography - Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Basketball | $12.99 | 978-0-307-98688-7 (0-307-98688-8)

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann

2012-02-07T00:30:00-05:00

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
Written by George Dohrmann

Trade Paperback, 448 pages | Ballantine Books | Sports & Recreation - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Sociology Of Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball | $16.00 | 978-0-345-50861-4 (0-345-50861-0)

Winner of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting
Winner of the Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Youth Sports

Eight years of unfettered access and a keen sense of a story’s deepest truths allow Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist George Dohrmann to take readers inside the machine that produces America’s basketball stars. Play Their Hearts Out reveals a cutthroat world where boys as young as eight or nine are subjected to a dizzying torrent of scrutiny and exploitation. At the book’s heart are the personal stories of two compelling figures: Joe Keller, an ambitious coach with a master plan to find and promote “the next LeBron,” and Demetrius Walker, a fatherless latchkey kid who falls under Keller’s sway and struggles to live up to unrealistic expectations. Complete with a new “where-are-they-now” Epilogue by the author, this thoroughly compelling narrative exposes the gritty reality that lies beneath so many dreams of fame and glory.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST SPORTS BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE LOS ANGELES TIMES • THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR • KIRKUS REVIEWS

Look for the exclusive conversation between George Dohrmann and bestselling author Seth Davis in the back of the book.

More Than a Game by Charley Rosen

2011-01-04T00:30:00-05:00

More Than a Game
Written by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen

eBook | Seven Stories Press | Biography & Autobiography - Sports; Sports & Recreation - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball | $24.95 | 978-1-60980-262-2 (1-60980-262-4)

More than a Game is the odyssey of Jackson's journey—from New York Knick and world champion, to CBA coach, to six-time Chicago Bulls world champion, to this year's L.A. Lakers world champion—and the lessons in leadership he learned each step of the way. It is the tale of Rosen's journey as well, carrying the torch for the game of basketball through careers as star college player, CBA coach, and preeminent novelist of the game. It is also the story of the system jackson coaches, the powertriangle, as put forth by Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter. The triangle can be understood as a philosophy of basketball and life—one that values role players almost as much as star players, and where fundamentals rule. More Than a Game is also a story of the friendship between Jackson and Rosen, forged in the sacred brotherhood of the hoop.

How Lucky You Can Be by Buster Olney

2010-11-09T00:30:00-05:00

How Lucky You Can Be The Story of Coach Don Meyer
Written by Buster Olney

Hardcover, 240 pages | ESPN | Biography & Autobiography - Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball; Sports & Recreation | $25.00 | 978-0-345-52411-9 (0-345-52411-X)

In September 2008, Northern State University men’s basketball coach Don Meyer stood on the brink of immortality. He was about to surpass the legendary Bobby Knight to become the all-time NCAA wins leader in men’s basketball. Then, on a two-lane road in South Dakota, everything changed in an instant.

In How Lucky You Can Be, acclaimed sports journalist Buster Olney tells the remarkable story of the successive tragedies that befell Coach Meyer but could not defeat him. Laid low by a horrific car accident that led to the amputation of his left leg below the knee, Coach Meyer had barely emerged from surgery when his doctors informed him that he also had terminal cancer. In the blink of an eye, this prototypical 24/7 workaholic coach—who arrived at the gym most mornings before 6 a.m.—found himself forced to reexamine his priorities at the age of sixty-three. A model of reserve, Coach Meyer had sacrificed much of his emotional life to his program. His wife, Carmen, felt disconnected because of his habitual reticence, while his three children—all now well into adulthood—had long had to compete with basketball for his attention.

With sensitivity and skill, Olney shows how Coach Meyer mined his physical ordeal for the spiritual strength to transform his life. In the months that followed his accident and diagnosis, he reached out to family, friends, and former players in a way he had never been able to do before, making the most of this one last opportunity to tell those close to him how he felt about them—and in turn he received an outpouring of affirmation that confirmed how deeply he had affected others. Sustained throughout an often painful recovery by his love of basketball, he would return to the court once more—with a newfound appreciation for the game’s place in his life.

The inspirational story of a life renewed by unimaginable hardship, How Lucky You Can Be proves that it’s never too late to start making changes—and reminds us that fortune can smile upon us even in our most trying hours.

How Lucky You Can Be by Buster Olney

2010-11-09T00:30:00-05:00

How Lucky You Can Be The Story of Coach Don Meyer
Written by Buster Olney

eBook, 256 pages | ESPN | Biography & Autobiography - Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball; Self Help - Motivational | $14.99 | 978-0-345-52413-3 (0-345-52413-6)

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann

2010-10-05T00:30:00-05:00

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
Written by George Dohrmann

Hardcover, 432 pages | Ballantine Books | Sports & Recreation - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Sociology Of Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball | $26.00 | 978-0-345-50860-7 (0-345-50860-2)

Eight years of unfettered access, a keen sense of a story’s deepest truths, and a genuine compassion for his subject allow Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist George Dohrmann to take readers inside the machine that produces America’s basketball stars.

Hoop dreams aren’t just for players. The fever that grips college basketball prospects hoping to strike big-time NBA gold afflicts coaches, parents, and sneaker executives as well. Every one of them has a stake in keeping America’s wildly dysfunctional, incredibly lucrative youth basketball machine up and running—no matter the consequences.

In Play Their Hearts Out, George Dohrmann offers an up-close and unforgettable look inside the maw of that machine. He shares what he learned from his years spent embedded with a group of talented young recruits from Southern California as they traveled the country playing in elite Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) events. It’s a cutthroat world where boys as young as eight or nine are subjected to a dizzying torrent of scrutiny and exploitation. Coaches vie to have them on their teams. Sneaker companies ply them with free shoes and gear. “All-star camps” are glorified cattle auctions, providing make-or-break opportunities to secure the promise of an elusive college scholarship.

At the book’s heart are the personal stories of two compelling figures: Joe Keller, an ambitious AAU coach with a master plan to find and promote “the next LeBron”—thereby paving his own path to power and riches; and Demetrius Walker, a fatherless latchkey kid who falls under Keller’s sway and struggles to live up to the unrealistic expectations his supposed benefactor has set for him. As their fortunes take shape and the pressure mounts—Demetrius finds himself profiled in Sports Illustrated at age fourteen, while Keller cultivates his business empire—Dohrmann weaves in the stories of numerous other parents, coaches, and players. Some of them see their prospects evaporate as a result of poor decisions and worse luck. Others learn how to thrive in a corrupt system by playing the right angles.

Written with incomparable detail and insight, Play Their Hearts Out is a thoroughly unique narrative that reveals the inner workings of an American game, exposing the gritty reality that lies beneath so many dreams of fame and glory.

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann

2010-10-05T00:30:00-05:00

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
Written by George Dohrmann

eBook, 256 pages | Ballantine Books | Sports & Recreation - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Sociology Of Sports; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball | $11.99 | 978-0-345-52316-7 (0-345-52316-4)

More Than a Game by Charley Rosen

2001-04-03T00:30:00-05:00

More Than a Game
Written by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen

Hardcover, 320 pages | Seven Stories Press | Biography & Autobiography - Sports; Sports & Recreation - Basketball; Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball | $24.95 | 978-1-58322-060-3 (1-58322-060-7)

Random House New Releases - Sports & Recreation - Coaching - Basketball

Chasing Perfect by Bob Hurley

Chasing Perfect The Will to Win in Basketball and LifeWritten by Bob Hurley

Chasing Perfect by Bob Hurley

Chasing Perfect The Will to Win in Basketball and LifeWritten by Bob Hurley

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball MachineWritten by George Dohrmann

More Than a Game by Charley Rosen

More Than a Game Written by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen

How Lucky You Can Be by Buster Olney

How Lucky You Can Be The Story of Coach Don MeyerWritten by Buster Olney

How Lucky You Can Be by Buster Olney

How Lucky You Can Be The Story of Coach Don MeyerWritten by Buster Olney

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball MachineWritten by George Dohrmann

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball MachineWritten by George Dohrmann

More Than a Game by Charley Rosen

More Than a Game Written by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen

Chasing Perfect The Will to Win in Basketball and Life
Written by Bob Hurley

Chasing Perfect The Will to Win in Basketball and Life
Written by Bob Hurley

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
Written by George Dohrmann

More Than a Game
Written by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen

How Lucky You Can Be The Story of Coach Don Meyer
Written by Buster Olney

How Lucky You Can Be The Story of Coach Don Meyer
Written by Buster Olney

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
Written by George Dohrmann

Play Their Hearts Out A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
Written by George Dohrmann

More Than a Game
Written by Phil Jackson and Charley Rosen