Backcourt Skills Development

with Greg Heiar,
Trinity Valley Community College Head Coach;
2025 NJCAA Division I National Champions;
In 2025, set a school record for wins in a season (finished at 34-3);
2025 NJCAA Division I Coach of the Year;
2025 Region XIV Coach of the Year;
Mineral Area Community College Head Coach from 2023 to 2024;
New Mexico State Head Coach from 2022 to 2023;
Northwest Florida State Head Coach from 2021 to 2022;
2022 NJCAA Division I National Champions;
2022 NJCAA Division I Coach of the Year;
LSU Assistant Coach 2018 to 2020;
2019 SEC Championship;
2019 Sweet Sixteen;
Wichita State University Assistant Coach from 2011 to 2017;
2013 NCAA Final Four;
worked with All-American guards, Ron Baker & Fred VanVleet (both went on to the NBA), to first team all-conference in back-to-back-to-back seasons

With today's guard-oriented offenses, developing backcourt players is more important than ever.

Coach Greg Heiar (pronounced 'higher') brings his championship experience that helped lead the Wichita State Shockers to the 2013 NCAA Final Four and five Missouri Valley Conference regular season championships.

In this video, Heiar emphasizes the importance of ball handling drills as the key to developing in-game confidence in your players. He utilizes a variety of techniques to demonstrate how to develop a backcourt that maximizes assist opportunities while eliminating turnovers. You'll learn how to build these essential backcourt skills:

• Ability to handle pressure and cut down on turnovers.
• Increase finishing skills around the basket.
• Create shooting space and scoring opportunities.

Ball Handling Drills

Coach Heiar credits his team's ball handling drills with a reduction in Wichita State's turnovers and lack of travel calls. He gives you 13 stationary/on the move ball handling drills that are progressive, game-like, and challenging. You'll see:

• How to develop "ball confidence" to get your players comfortable with handling the ball.
• How to incorporate 2-ball dribbling or modifying the drill to incorporate a tennis ball.
• The importance of staying low on your dribble.
• How to add combinations moves such as: crossover, between the legs, behind the back, and multiple ball handling moves while catching a tennis ball.

Finishes

Having guards that can finish at the rim can improve your efficiency on the inside by way of perimeter players. Heiar shows you nine finishes around the rim that will help your players finish in a variety of situations. You'll see:

• How to finish off the inside foot and outside foot.
• How to finish using both the inside and outside hand.
• How to incorporate the in-and-out dribble.
• How to use the "step, pick and finish" move.

Shooting

Good form is necessary to improve your consistency as a shooter. Additionally, in order to make game shots, players must work drills that replicate them. Discover 11 shooting drills that can be run within the same shooting sequence to save on time. You'll get:

• The benefits of chair form shooting.
• How to get players to master the backboard shot.
• How to shoot off stagger screens by using pump fake, pull ups and rip through.
• How to teach the foot fake.

Ball Screen Reads

As teams look to incorporate more ball screens into their offense, guards need to be able to appropriately attack/counter defensive strategies. Coach Heiar teaches you how to play offense when guards overplay screens on defense, teams ICE a screen, or when teams switch a screen. You discover:

• The importance of getting to the sidelines when playing pick & roll offense.
• How to get a 4-on-3 offensive advantage.
• How to read the big man's feet and attack them in the pick & roll situation.

Heiar's dedication to process and his ability to challenge players to execute in every drill will serve as a guideline for any coach to improve their own level of coaching and raise the skill level of their team. This unique video gives you the chance to learn the basics of improved guard play from a tournament-tested and highly sought after coach renowned for his skill development.

Produced at the 2016 IBCA clinic.

50 minutes. 2017.