¶ Dan Interviews Basketball Trainer Stan Kimbrough
Absolutely nothing beats windshield time , a road trip and good conversation in the car . Welcome to another episode of Dan the Road Trip Guy , where we have entertaining conversations about cars and road trips , life lessons and maybe , every now and then , a little advice . I'm your host , dan Neal Road Trip Extraordinaire , and now buckle up and enjoy the show .
I have been looking forward to this virtual road trip today for several months . I was persistent chasing after my guest to get him on the show . I think a great deal of him . We met him in probably like 2006 , when our daughter was training with him for basketball .
My guest is Stan Kimbrough , former college and professional basketball player , and today he trains young people in the skills of basketball .
The one thing you'll hear me say on this podcast later is Stan is extremely competitive but he's extremely compassionate and he just wants young people to learn the skills of basketball , but not only that the skills of life to succeed . You'll hear him say later in the episode Keep Dreaming . Who is Stan Kimbrough ?
Stan Kimbrough is a guy born in Tuskegee , alabama , raised in Cleveland , ohio . He just fell into sports and just loved to compete and every aspect , whether that be on the basketball court , the football field , whether that be in the classroom , what have you . He's just a fierce competitor .
Older age I've had to kind of tone that back because what I would call in the real world being that competitive isn't cute . So I've had to tone it back in . Now in business I get that competitive edge scratched .
We experienced that with you and you were probably one of our daughter's favorite coaches in probably the mid-2000s , best I remember and yeah , you were very competitive but you were very compassionate . That's kind of how I always described you .
Thank you . I truly love what I do . You know I've been very fortunate in growing up to be able to put two things together I love working with kids , I love athletics , so I've been very blessed and fortunate to be able to combine those two this is not a sports talk show , but I really like to talk about .
Tell me what your first car . If you can think back that far , what was your first car ?
I'm going to go with the first car that I had access to .
Okay , I can go with that .
The first car I really had access to was a lime green station wagon that if you went through a puddle of water the power steering would go out and I rode around like it was a Mercedes Benz because I had 90% access to it . I could ride my friends around , I get to and from the next bus anymore . I just enjoyed that vehicle .
Looking back on what I was able to do and learn and learn how to change oil , park clubs , change flat tires , jump batteries . I enjoyed that came to tail with this vehicle and my friends often talk about it to this day , about that car , because we had a lot of fun with it .
Yeah , you remember what the make was .
You know I think it was a Ford , a whole Ford station wagon and I never will forget that lime green . I often think about it as my kids grew up and getting cars and I was getting them little high school cars . I was like they don't say something like you wouldn't drive that way . I drove a lime green station wagon . You'll have no wind there .
Whatever you get is well above this lime green station wagon that the power steering went out when the cable got wet .
Yeah , there you go . Now was that a station wagon that had the you know , the jump seat in the back where you could pop it up and ride backwards .
Yep , ride backwards and go to the . You know , man , my friends , we get there and go to the drive in and of course don't tell nobody . But we have people in the back and feel that station wagon with people in the drive in .
Yeah , that's long before we worried about seat belts , right .
Exactly , I don't know seat belts . Of course you had to worry about getting a cigarette lighter burned because the cigarette light is in there too , yeah .
Yeah , did that have a ? Do you remember ? Did it have an eight track or no ?
It had that old eight track that we really didn't use because we were caught . In my era we were caught right at the end of eight tracks , kind of moving forward .
Okay .
But we saw them but we really didn't use them like that . We were getting to the cassette type things .
Yeah .
As that came , so you had those adapters .
All right , that's fun . Oh , great story , stan . Thanks for sharing that . Any epic road trips in your life that just stand out to you of , maybe something funny happened on it , maybe it was a breakdown , or maybe it was cross country .
You know what ? I've been very fortunate in my trip up . I've taken a lot of them . The best one I think I'm going to say was a trip to Scotland .
Oh , wow .
I went over that up to do a again , not a sports show , but a lot of my life is sports , so it ends up in circles back . I got up to go to Scotland to do a camp . It was a great experience .
I was going to take my cousin a cousin that she played at the University of Alabama and I was going to take her to help me , but first I'm going to take my wife .
Right , she's going to go .
That's probably a good first choice right . Exactly . Let me fix that up right now . So we're going to take her . We get pregnant , okay . So she couldn't travel during the time . Now my cousin comes into play . She couldn't go , her dad wouldn't undergo because he messed up in a college course or something . So I'm like I .
Now I'm down to my wife's nieces boyfriend who helped me do camps a little bit .
Okay , and .
I kind of wanted to go but not , but needed something , okay . Okay , so we get over there and and I'm having a great time , but he's a little younger , so he's into . The kids and School team wasn't to help . They were 16 and over there . Of course , the drinking age is 16 sure and all that come with that , so they got wrapped up in that stuff .
He goes out . I'm trying to find him , can't find him , and then I find him , and that is , we can't like just stay home , let's go out with me , and all this next week we go . We're going out now because we kind of get the night scene , the day scene scene , the site .
The funny part about it , though , is I'm walking around Scotland as if I'm in cognito . I'm like , dude , when I came , I'm like people knew you were there , brother .
You were the talk of the town because you were there , but I had an opportunity , you know , bring back pictures of me and a killed With my little dagger in my socks , and all nine yards and the sun coming up at three in the morning . It's bright as can be . It's just a great time . I mean it was it was fun , it was entertaining the .
The guys got intrigued out of my meal . I hope I got in trouble not major trouble , but it was . Um , it was everything to come with been around kids . It was a great experience for me and just a funny part to me is getting home looking back thinking that I was in cognito walking around Scotland .
Yeah , that's funny .
But that was probably one of my favorite favorite trips that I've taken .
That's cool . Thanks for sharing that . Let's jump to basketball , because that's how we know you and how we met you through Training that you did with our daughter . Take me back to your childhood . Were you always into basketball or just all sports , or what that looked like ?
Oh , the football guy my uncle played at Tuskegee Institute . I grew up seeing this trophies around , all in all bad , and it was towards him playing . So the football guy , lynn swan , was my guy .
Okay , I .
Adelaide and watch him play , and one to mimic him on the football field and be that receiver and that type stuff . I did that initially . Then I got introduced to basketball
¶ Journey Through Basketball and Loyalty
. Going to my friends actually Talked me into going to this YBA thing and I never forget them . We're on the phone , all of us on the field , four way , three way , whatever we are , and they're talking about going this YBA thing and I'm like just listening . I say you want to go , come on , you should go .
They start talking about what positions they want to play , one on top of . They want to play this . I want to want to play guard .
I'm being in my mind guard .
That's what what they talking about . So I don't know the positions . Pretty soon they finally convinced me to go ask my mom . She said okay , this you can go , we get you up there . What happened after about a week of this ? This guy who's like the coach of this YBA they came to me and said you know you're gonna have a team .
They practice after this clinic . Would you like to be a part of my team ? Now I don't know this , I just know this guy from being at the YMCA . You know , at that time for the clinic and I'm on the third or fourth grade , I call my mother . She said well , what do you want to do ? Do you want to stay ? I think , oh yeah , I do stay .
Of course my friends like you shouldn't stay , I wouldn't stay . He looked me , so they try to talk me out of it and I'm like I'm gonna stay . I never forget the YMCA . That time most of them were all cookie-cutters . So there's a big old picture when that you can look out and see like the courtyard and the street and all this stuff .
As a third , third or fourth grader , I set that picture window and watch my friend walk away from the YMCA without oh , wow , and usually what we would do , we would . You know , I've had to have a couple bucks . We go to McDonald's and then we laugh and joke and talk about each other on the way home and stuff like that .
I allowed them to go away and to stay here by myself .
That's pretty big for a third or fourth grader , you know that's pretty big right .
I mean I have kids and it's and often come to pass when I hear when I'm doing my training , I'll come to a parents and let me see if his friend wants to come , because it was pretty . No , it'll be easy for him to come and I'm like , yeah , that's pretty much the norm .
But for me , for some reason and this guy ended up taking me on his wing , dan , he ended up doing training stuff with me , kept me out of trouble , talked about , you know , not smoking , not doing drugs , getting good grades . I mean , matter of fact , I want our practices .
This kid came who was a really good basketball player , so we're in a little thing after having a meeting and he asked him what school he goes to now . Now we're about the fifth or sixth . He said I don't go to school and my coach says , well , until you get back in school , you can't be a part of his team with that .
I'm like , but he , good , yeah , we need him , we need you . And coach went ahead and he said , if you're not in school , there's no system me rewarding you and being a part of not gonna be a part of that Situation . So that stuff that stuck with me a lot and this guy just did . Chris left this is so much With me and kept me around people . You know .
He had me around the Clark Kellogg's and guys like that who they cleaned up , who were older than me Playing on these teams , and the brass sellers and all those guys . He really did a lot for me and introduced me to the game and I was doing playing football there .
Eventually I'm in Cleveland now and I end up going to st Joe high school , which sits right on Lake Erie , so our practice was right down there on the lake , okay . So I'm thinking , okay , I could practice on the lake right next to Lake Erie up in Cleveland , 30 degree weather , or I'm going to Jim and adjust the thermostat .
Yes .
I'll take the gym for 200 jacks .
There you go .
I gave a football . I end up hitting the guy . I'll pay center my sophomore year . I end up hitting the guy Dan , and he ended up going to composure on the field and I was never the same . Wow , I would never the same player , fair play . I end up meeting the lady , the little girl that they were their trainer . We end up at Indian Hill together .
I was put in here and straight and she was a trainer At Lake Catholic when that incident happened .
Oh , wow .
So we're talking about that . In fact , I was all right and all that type stuff , so so now so I got introduced to basketball .
It's been my love and passion ever since so you played in high school and then you you went to a college in Florida . You started in Florida .
Yes , I went to a went to a basketball camp as a junior and it was actually Bob Huggins , his dad's , who we went to . That's what I met , huggins and Coach Mayshog and those guys who , like Huggins Brother was at Larry , played at our house bank . So they're all there and the coach .
And since the coach came down to the camp to speak and he saw me , we kept in touch from being on and then he ended up getting the central Florida job . So he took the central Florida job . Bob Huggins was his assistant at the time . They're recruiting me to come to central Florida and Bob , of course , the lead is the lead recruit .
Okay now , before I sigh , bob Huggins leaves and gets the Akron job , central Florida , the thousand miles away , acron , 24 miles , my doorstep right . And again , I don't know how people feel about Bob Huggins . Most people are one or the other side is not really in the middle of a box . Yeah for sure for me . I'm gonna tell you we talk about recruiting .
It's a . It's a treacherous Thing . You want the players that's gonna help you keep your job and win game . Okay , but here's a Bob car , he said he called me . Say , stan , I want to recruit you , but I'm not gonna recruit you unless you tell me central Florida is out of the pick due to his loyalty .
The coach may shot with up in a radio guy and that's how the story to . That's . That's a lot of loyalty for someone have when you try to build a program and keep your job . It pay raises and all that stuff sure , so after after central Florida they were getting rid of .
They were down paying the program to want to build football Because many times I just not gonna be the program that I told you guys it was gonna be , so he didn't know if he's gonna be there next Years is like told me , and a couple of the freshmen , if I want to transfer , I helped out transfer the older if we were oldest team in the country that that
year we had a kid , a man , 29 , 27 , 26 , oh , wow 50 , a senior at 23
¶ College Basketball, Recruiting, and NBA Experience
. When I added up , our average age for this college basketball team was like 23 and a half . Okay , and that's what me and two other guys being 18 years old , yeah . So we put an average way down . We told them bitch , our last shot , stay here , get your degrees and move on with life . A guy that coaches they would play against Xavier .
I had pretty good game against them . They knew I was open . They start contacting , talking and said if want to come there and it was pretty attractive because I had a bunch of a lot of boxing ones down there to take me out of games and Byron Larkin he was going through the same thing .
But to team up they would have to choose which one of us they were gonna try to stop . Secondly , freshman score in the country At 18 one and Byron was third or fourth . Oh , wow . And that's how I ended up at at safe and we played against . I could tell they were close knit team . Those seniors , I mean it was just great guy .
There was like the Ralph Lee , the Richie Harris is and , and all those guys Eddie Johnson . They were just great guys and great competitors . I mean they would . I mean I got here and they were going on to the fear . I said play on Saturday morning . So I get up , we go out and play , walk over there , we play , we go to lunch , go take a nap .
Two hours later they're not gonna just about , we're gonna play again . We played already . They were always in the tip .
Wow . And then , yeah , you were there for three years and I think I read on Wikipedia this morning you were one of the top scorers . You're on the top . I can't remember where you are on that list .
Were you like 14th or something like that of all time Right 14th now a lot higher when I left , and that's only counting my Xavier number . If you added my central Florida numbers in , that puts me almost second right now .
So if you'd been there for four years four years it would have been a different story .
Right , yeah , yeah , yeah , and I would have got to shoot . You know , I was standing between the guy named Byron Larkin who incidentally never passed the ball and Tyrone Hill . So since then he's got to see who wanted the basketball and say Byron was a great guy to play with . We just have fun and complimented each other so much .
Sure , we're kids , we play with and against each other . We're both competitors .
And you went to the NCAA all those years , all three .
We went all three . Tell you a story about that , but I'm talking to Coach Stack . So Coach Stack actually recruited me to come to Xavier . So I remember the conversation . I look back on it finally now , because they show me little highlight film and all this stuff . And at that time Central Florida what they call independent we weren't in the league .
We were first year , division one program , my year and we're trying to win 20 games . My first game was because Universal Florida you play Dade , you play Ohio State , you play Xavier , you play South Alabama . We played a pretty tough schedule Trying to win 20 games to get to the NCAA .
So I'm talking to Coach Stack and those guys they show the highlight family through there . They say , yeah , and if we win our conference tournament we get to go to the NCAA tournament . Automatic bird , I'm like , excuse me . They say , yeah , we win the tournament , we get to go . And I say , why don't we get into the tournament ?
Well , usually three , maybe four games to get to the championship and win it . You tell me after , when , three games a year and I go to the NCAA tournament and I'm down here trying to win 20 , I can get you three , I know what we're gonna tell them I can get you three . I might not get you 20 games there , I can get you three .
Right , right right .
Again . I came here , stack ended up leaving in court and saying one of his big mistakes was not taking me to work with him . We go every year and then when I look back and they hadn't been for years , so I can see in their minds , like this little cocky kid , he's gonna say we ain't been there , all he's talking about , we don't get it .
And we went all three years and I was there . Well , we went my first year there , my red shirt year . We went and I count that on my resume because I was there and I was practicing for pairing Ralph and the other guys to be ready . So I count that year so my four years at Xavier .
We were in the NCAA tournament all four years and two of them , one of them , we won a game first game , number one by a Xavier team and we lost two years in a row to the eventual national champ and we were and we were missing closest game into the fight . They got us about three , I mean about six .
The last closest game they lost after they won the final by like three or four or something like that .
Sure , this stuff . We were there and I remember when we met you we found out you played professional basketball then , and I remember Linda asking you well , what happened ? And you said I'm 5'11 and those are big guys . So you did play professional basketball for a season or two .
Yes , yes , I got two season two , part of two season . Again , I honestly feel that my step in the NBA was given to me so I can do what I do now . I don't think my calling was to play at that level .
I think my calling was to play at that level so I can get kids here a little bit quicker , to kind of do what I do , because I found myself in camp helping the young guys that they come in and these are my competition and I'm teaching them different things on how to get to this level .
You know right , it enables me to tell stories to kids , like one of my You're the best story of facial theories . Whatever you do , do it wire to wire . Don't be in there trying to save yourself for the next day . Don't be trying to wait and say I'm gonna be tired if I do this . Give it everything you got from wire to wire .
And I say that because you don't know when the decisions being made . You don't know when the decision they just in the build out of God . We were in camp for Preseason camp , like two months . We get to the last day . They got to have a roster down to 12 , so we got practice around 10 o'clock . So I get the price .
I'm shooting around a little bit , just nervous , because either I'm gonna be on the Detroit because the world champion team and have a job , or I'm not gonna be on the team and Not have a job and I'll know at 12 o'clock I'm gonna go know . So I'm in practice . I'm nervous . My first pass go like eight rows up into this palace .
You see , tonight I'm gonna send me home right now , you know . So we go through all this stuff and another guy that's crying out . He's been there for too much with me now and I'm looking him in this day and all because he's whining , jumping , he's talking . I'm like man , it's kicking play . So why am I saying that ?
Two months in the camp I Said if he's that guy in that from the beginning . So anyway , long story short , we go into locker room and at that level , no losing good news right . So I'm in there and I stay to my seat right between Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumar , because I want to learn everything they know and why they're so good at their side .
We're about the same size .
Sure .
Yeah . So I'm sitting there and Joe sees my legs shaking , so you tap me on the legs and don't wake up . You good , you good , you good . I'm like , all right , cool . So you call the other two or three guys who are left , call me to the office , release them , went on , and I'm there , practice over .
First thing I do is I run out the locker room into the corridor Looking for a payphone so I can tell my mom . Yeah so I get the free phone call . Mom collect my mom . I guess what she say , what I said , I made the case .
I know they're not on the news 9 , 30 this morning and this guy's in there trying to give it one last , this effort and the decisions already made .
Hmm hence wire to wire , never stop Wow .
What's about your podcast ? You don't stop . If you want to buy your podcast , just keep going . You keep asking , just keep going to on when you're podcast .
Well , that's what
¶ Dreaming and Persistence in Basketball Training
I , you know . I told you early , when we started . I said you know , I don't give up easy . I think I messaged you about 12 times . I'm like , hey , how about now , how about now ?
Yes , you did , because I really didn't want to do it . Stuff comes up .
But I think that's great advice , stan , because you know it's easy to . It's easy to quit on anything , be it Sports or jobs or whatever it might be , but you just got to give it your all and finish and at the end of the day , if you can say you did your best and gave it your all , whatever happens happens .
You control what you can control . Like say , I'm 511 , have at that time 130 or Soaking wet . Yeah but when I went in there , I went in there to say I'm coming for somebody's job , that's it . And if I get it , fine , if I don't , but what I'm gonna do , I'm gonna go down fight Absolutely . You don't know , I was here .
So I'm right , isaiah , who the time is guy , who you are gonna guard ? Isaiah , why would a guard somebody else ? Because if I had to him , or come close to having him , everybody else gonna get in line and they respect that to this day . You know I talked about that time .
Well , thanks for sharing that . A bit about basketball . I'll shift gears on us a little bit .
Anything on your bucket list that you want to do and I've done a lot of things and I don't know if there's anything that I'm just yearning to do because I mean , I've been blessed to kind of do something that I Mostly that I want to do . You know , I'm forced out to go on and and do them , you know .
Well , if I had to say it , I'm gonna say this Yep , I was a little envious of my child , okay .
Yeah .
What she did a few years ago . Her and some friends got together and they road trip across Cross-country and just stopped in national parks and Continue on . Now that's something that I would want to do , because I was a straight hater on my daughter doing that time I was . I was calling her every day .
We had that's great that would be something to be on my bucket list RV and just go from national park to national park and just go cross-country Good time doing that perfect , perfect .
Bucket list item from and Dan the road trip guy . He appreciates that I Usually ask people . I usually ask people if you could take a road trip with anybody living or deceased . But I decided I'd ask you a little different question . If you could have a pickup game one-on-one with any Basketball guy , living or deceased , who would it be ?
You can do yeah , yeah , yeah , okay , one I'll be split . Okay okay , and this would be one of the competitive part of it , because there was a time I was I don't know where I was trying out , I was somewhere and for some reason .
Then I get the ball and I guess this guy there , you know true over tongue Bob I get the ball and throw it to me and I know this road to there and I travel , yeah and they basketball since the travel , oh sure . So I kiss the ball and I don't know what went through my head .
I just started running With the basketball course of Ralph blue , the whistle and call traveling . I look up to the bench and Spur to some guys on this laughing yeah , so I want to play spur there you go .
Yeah getting back yeah get him back , Right ?
Yeah , give him a little . Get back at that . Like you know , have the laughter in my expense . Yeah , so him for that . But other than that , I would like to play George Gurvin .
Okay .
He has the best poster ever , in my opinion I think I want to put out he's on an ice chair with two ice basketballs . Most guys who play ball scene and like that that I'm that post I would like to play and I did get the opportunity to play against me the CBA One time , but I didn't necessarily get to guard him . Sure , I like to .
I like to play George and he was each a Michigan guy from that area . Guys talked about me shot the ball a lot . He was a volume shooter and got a lot . Each of the balls are doing shoot , but his job was we don't think about NBA , there's some things that that's your job . If he don't shoot , he's gonna get cut .
Anything you gotta make them , but you gotta put them up there , yep . So that's those two guys I like to play those two .
Thank you for sharing that . You gave some advice earlier on when you got these young kids and you you've set them down and you're you're talking to them and their parents . Maybe you're in the room . What is ? Is there another piece of advice ? You know you gave the wire to wire , but is there another thing that you , you tell these kids ?
keep dreaming Because I think as we get older we stop dreaming . Yeah , and that's what's that ? The we don't hit a whistle , that polar express ? We stop hearing the whistle .
Yeah , and we get older we get so consumed with Everyday life , trying to put food on the table , trying to do this , trying to do that , that we lose sight of of dreaming and you stop dreaming . You know it just becomes damn , and I don't care if you ever accomplish it .
Like I said , if you want to go to Scotland or Europe or wherever , that's what you want to do , that's your dream . Plan NBA , and that's your dream . That's fine . You may not make it . If they don't be able to , don't be one .
Don't be able to say you guys say I should have what it could right be able to say I did the best I could put my foot forward . That just wasn't the cars for me . Yeah , I controlled what I could control .
That's great advice for a yeah , that's great advice for a 10 year old or an 80 year old , right ?
Exactly that's . That's just what it is , and and . I like stuff like that that transcends Bees and other things that I can use because I work on concept . Here's the concept . So if I have this concept , I can use that in different aspects of life . I've talked to a lady the other day .
I would always tell her kids when they were playing with me and they would come in late and you know kids won't have their excuse . Well , I'm late because my mom or my dad , they , you know they done enough . I thought your mom and dad did that , but , um , when you hit the door , I need you running . Yeah , you can control that , you know .
So those are the things . Again , I was a kid too . I like that . Oh , excuse me . Oh , I can make this on my mom . I'm good , I found her on any and go talk about . Dude , this is your . Now you control this , so control what you can control .
Yeah , for sure . Well , thank you for sharing that . And hey , stan , I just really appreciate you taking the time to have a little virtual road trip here with me and cover some of your story .
Hey , I really appreciate it and I do appreciate you being persistent . So if that keeps you going being persistent with folk , keep it going All right , because , again , most folks want to have a conversation . They just get busy and respect the fact that that's your persistent .
Yeah , well , I appreciate that Compent . Maybe somebody listening to this has a young basketball player . How do they find you to get some Stan Kimbrough training ?
Find me by my website with this Kimbrough K , I am BRO BBA LL . At calm K , I am BRO BBA LL Dot com , we train all levels
¶ From the Bottom Up
. Most people , I think , think that because of the load I played at that , I only take high level kids . I take all kids and I , when I train , I take them from the bottom up . Wherever you are , I start you there and I take you wherever you want to go . I'm not trying to put you an MBA back on what you want to do .
I'm not trying to have him to eat him that you not want to do . I want you to be able to Learn from this game , learn dedication for the game , learn commitment , learn hard work and understand what teamwork is about , and those are things that this thing is about . It's about more than basketball .
All right , stan will thank you again and hopefully we'll see you sometime in the future .
Thank you , dad , I appreciate your time until we meet up again .
You can find me on the internet at dantheroadtripguycom . I hope you will follow this podcast so that you don't miss any upcoming episodes and share it with your family and friends so they can enjoy the stories of my guests also . Until we meet again on a future episode , keep having conversations with each other and keep driving .