When Shannon Bush was named head coach of Colgate women’s basketball last April, it marked the Holy Cross alumna’s return to the league where her own playing career began. A two-time Patriot League champion and former team captain, Bush comes to Colgate after a year as assistant head coach at Cornell and previous posts at California State University, Fresno; Siena University; University of Vermont; and Sacred Heart University. Each stop was marked by her knack for developing players and building cohesive, competitive programs. At Colgate she’s already off to a promising start: At press time, Bush had just made University history as the first women’s basketball coach to win her first three games.
She recently appeared on the University’s podcast, 13. Here are some highlights from the conversation:
“I think the Patriot League is the best league in the country. It gives the holistic student-athlete experience in a way that other conferences simply do not. You get to explore your passions outside the court. You get a great level of education, and the priorities are right. So it is about the championship experience, having great success on the court, and seeking to hang banners, but it’s way bigger than basketball. That’s something I really value about the league and a huge reason why I wanted to coach in it.”
“It’s been an absolute focus of mine since [I was] hired to connect with the alumni base. We want to reach out to [alumni] as we travel, get them to games, and have them meet our players. One of the things we’re looking at doing is a mentor program [connecting] our student-athletes with alumni who wore the jersey, did the same major, and are now in the career fields that [players] hope to go into. We have incredibly successful alumni all over the country doing amazing things; it helps the student-athletes to have somebody to relate to, but it also brings [alumni] closer to Colgate and, hopefully, back to games and back to campus.”
“As a coaching staff, we are focused on relationships and connection. We had the team here for a couple of weeks this summer. It was about basketball, but a lot of it was about relationships … getting to know each other, and for them, [learning] what to expect from us as a coaching staff. I meet with players individually once every two weeks so we can start to build the trust. I want them to know that I care about them as people first. Certainly we talk about basketball, but a lot of it is ‘How’s your family? What’s going on with you? What things do you want to share?’ We are working to have that trust ahead of the season, so that when we face hard things, we know that both sides have the best intentions.”
[The Patriot League] gives the holistic student-athlete experience in a way that other conferences simply do not.
“[The Carey Center] is a complete game changer, and I honestly believe it makes this one of the best jobs in the country. I am so excited about what [the new facility] means for the student-athlete experience. To have that level of training facility and opportunity is a game changer for recruiting and for programmatic success.”
“I can’t say enough about the Hamilton community and the way that I have felt embraced. I joke that I have to give myself 10 extra minutes to get anywhere because people stop me, they want to talk, they want to engage, and I love it. You go downtown and everybody knows each other. They know my sandwich order at the deli. It sometimes feels like living in a Hallmark movie.”
“This season, you’re going to see a lot of passion. I have it. I love this game. I coach basketball for the relationships and because I am so passionate about the transformational power of this sport. It turns people into leaders, and learning how to go through adversity is a huge part of what we’re teaching as coaches.”
“We’re trying to win the next moment. That really is where it’s at. I said it to [the team] on our first day of practice, ‘You don’t win on day one when you have big goals, and nothing is done in a day.’ We are focused on winning, but we’re mostly focused on the process, because the process is what leads to the winning. Do we have great habits? Are we doing things the right way? Are we doing it collaboratively? Are we being great teammates as we do it? Because if you focus so much on the goal, you’re going to miss the middle. And the middle is where all the good stuff is.”