Dimitris Kiriakou was invited to the Italian webinar where he analyzed the methodology of recruiting that can be turn into transfer targets. This specific seminar had a great impact and it ranked first on views in the "basketball24H" platform. It exceed the limits of Italy, as it was attended by coaches (either from clubs or national teams) from all over the world.
Dimitris Kyriakou is an experienced coach who has offered his services to many basketball clubs (eg Iraklis, Aris, Rethymno, Anatolia and YMCA of Thessaloniki) and to national teams. Moreover, he worked as assistant coach at NCAA for three consecutive years and recently completed his PhD in "Leadership with an emphasis on the dynamics of small groups". The PhD was awarded to the University of Nevada, which belongs to the class of Carnegie Universities (Top-100 Universities of USA).
The Greek coach was the keynote speaker of the Italian webinar and started his talk on how a coach should approach the recruiting process. Coach Kyriakou noted that there are three fundamental elements in recruiting. First, the general philosophy of a coach, (e.g., fast paced game). Second, the aims and goals that a coach has set. Coach emphasized that the goals must be clear and address whether an organization intends to maintain, evolve, or "change" an athlete.
That is, if a coach chooses a player to assist the team for a year or chooses to develop athletes and utilize them for more years based on a long-term plan. The third element of the process is related to the outcomes a coach expects when selecting a specific basketball player. That is, what kind of a player is he/she and how the player "reacts" particularly during critical points of a game. Is the player efficient (using a rating system), areas he/she can excel or if the player has the ability to contribute to 2 or 3 positions, as well as if the basketball player is able to fulfill the role assigned by the coach.
Dimitris Kyriakou also referred to additional individual elements that coaches are called upon to study to identify potential candidates. The Greek coach stressed that it is necessary for coaches not to solely rely on watching videos of a basketball player (an area in which coaches have always have been emphasizing), but to look at the bigger picture by looking at Big Data. Initially, statistics (hard statistics and data analytics) of a player, and then study the personality as well as the level of adaptability of the player, which is crucial and requires to weigh more individual details.
These details relate to the image that can be formed for a player through his/he interviews (audio/video, websites, newspapers, and magazines), through University articles - local or national. In addition, monitoring the athlete’s social media (Facebook, twitter, Instagram) and using opinions of third parties such as his/her coaches or opponents are essential tools that can assist in the recruiting process. An important element that Dimitris Kyriakou talked about in this international webinar, concerned the individual elements that relate to the study of the personality, which is insolubly connected to the adaptability and success of a player.
That is, an interview that a coach or the organization can conduct for the purpose of receiving vital information about the athlete by "using" non-stereotypical questions. These questions can include the worst or the best collaboration of a candidate with a coach or teammates and how the athlete can justify his/her answer. Through these answers, a coach can receive important facets of a player’s personality and philosophy. Interestingly, the interview comprised of atypical questions suggested by Dimitris Kyriakou, received great interest by those attending the Italy based international webinar and sparked very flattering comments about the Greek coach!
Check out his talk in this link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=635262450389791&ref=watch_permalink