Matthew Driscoll's WINNER'S TOOLBOX: Practice Drills, Proven Concepts & Skill Development Secrets For Building Sustained Success

with Matthew Driscoll,
NC State Assistant Coach;
Kansas State University Interim Head Coach in 2026;
Kansas State University Associate Head Coach from 2025 to 2026;
University of North Florida Head Men's Coach from 2009 to 2025;
3-Time Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) Conference Coach of the Year (2015, 2016 & 2020);
3-Time A-Sun Conference Regular Season Champions (2015, 2016 & 2020);
2015 A-Sun Conference Tournament Champion;
2015 NCAA Tournament & 2016 NIT postseason appearances;

When it comes to building a program for sustained success and holding players accountable, there is no better coach to understand the process than Matthew Driscoll. The man who turned around the University of North Florida basketball program has developed one of the strongest teams in the nation when it comes to offensive efficiency. 

In this video, Driscoll breaks open the lock on his toolbox of winning ideas and shows off the skills they teach and emphasize in his program – in a way that allows viewers to take what they want and make it fit into their own program. Along the way, viewers will pick up basketball concepts, coaching points and drills that they can immediately add to your own practices!

Coaching Tools and Props, Ball-Handling Work

Every coach has different tools and unusual props in their bag of tricks that they use to help make their players better. Pool noodles are the props of choice for Driscoll. (Yes, pool noodles, as in, the floppy, Styrofoam floatation devices used in water!) With any layup drill his coaches will use pool noodles to simulate going up against contact and shot blockers. These are great tools to use with any finishing drill and will advance your players confidence and offensive moves around the rim.  

By combining ball handling and passing, in the next portion of the video, Driscoll shows how coaches can help their players build better combo skills and develop into dynamic attackers and passers. In the drill ‘1-Minute Passing,’ viewers are shown how players must focus on pivoting and passing to develop both right and left foot passing skills. By always faking a pass to make a pass, players in this drill are also simultaneously being trained to improve their ability to read the defense and deliver a pass on time and on target. 

Full Court Drills and 4-Vs-3 Scramble

In the next segment of this loaded video presentation, Driscoll highlights his ‘Lakers Drill,’ in which players will improve their skills and apply them to full-court transition principles, as players continuously work on making as few passes as possible to get up and down the floor. The video builds up to a terrific 3-vs-3 full-court drill called, the ‘Laker-To-Heat Drill’ – in which players work on communication and attacking the basketball in a 3-on-3 setting. Once one team scores, they must locate the moving coach before they can spring back and recover. This is a great drill for players sprinting up and down the floor on defense and offensively attacking the basket while only using a few dribbles and passes as possible.

Next up is a valuable ‘4-vs-3 Scramble Drill,’ where offensive players push the defense to think about where the next logical pass is going to be made. The concept behind this drill improves players defensively and helps them become better at anticipating passes and knowing where the offense will be moving the basketball to. The coach emphasizes that every offensive player must touch the basketball before they can look to score with their 4-on-3 advantage. This competitive drill also helps offensive players think about how to move the ball quickly in order to score.

In this jam-packed video presentation, Driscoll opens the winner’s toolbox and gives viewers an inside look at the coaching concepts and basketball skill-development techniques that he has used successfully in his program.

97 minutes. 2022.