Basketball <\/p>\n
DJ Sackmann is a world-renowned NBA skills coach with millions of social media followers \u2014 and extensive experience working with stars. In 2018, he founded HoopStudy<\/a>, one of the largest online basketball education companies in the world, and he\u2019s hosted basketball training events in countries around the globe. <\/p>\n Now, he\u2019ll be one of six head coaches in Unrivaled<\/a>, the new 3-on-3 women\u2019s professional basketball league set to begin in Miami in January. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been a fan of the WNBA<\/a>,\u201d Sackmann said. \u201cSo, when I got the call for this, I was extremely excited. I\u2019ve been able to spend offseasons working with [WNBA] players and got to understand the development side of things. When I got this, I just looked at it as an opportunity to learn from the best women in the world from my side of development, and then also be able to help them grow and work on their game throughout the offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n Unrivaled, which will include at least 34 WNBA stars playing full-court 3-on-3 basketball, was co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart to provide players an opportunity to stay in the U.S. in the offseason and work on their games rather than needing to go overseas. <\/p>\n With that in mind, Unrivaled\u2019s president \u2014 Collier\u2019s husband, Alex Bazzell \u2014 recruited coaches with a breadth of experience in player development: former Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon<\/a>, longtime NBA assistant Phil Handy, current Washington Mystics assistant Andrew Wade<\/a>, and former Brooklyn Nets<\/a> assistant Adam Harrington. <\/p>\n Sackmann said he already has relationships with Weatherspoon and Handy, among others \u2014 and that he relishes the opportunity to work closely with them. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll just bounce ideas off them, and help me manage this new space,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n For Unrivaled, Sackmann will coach the Lunar Owls Club, a team currently comprised of five WNBA standouts, three of whom have been All-Stars. Collier, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, headlines the roster. <\/p>\n Lunar Owls Players<\/strong>: Skylar Diggins-Smith (Seattle Storm), Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Natasha Cloud (Phoenix Mercury), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Shakira Austin (Washington Mystics), Wildcard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Other head coaches in the Unrivaled mix have more experience working with actual teams and in the WNBA arena. But, Sackmann is highly regarded for his strength in player development.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s probably the best at being able to describe what he is teaching,\u201d said Harrington, another Unrivaled head coach. \u201cHe\u2019s such a phenomenal speaker and teacher.\u201d <\/p>\n Tom Crean, the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers<\/a>, similarly gushed about Sackmann\u2019s impact in his website\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 51,\u201d Crean said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a head coach for 18 years, and I\u2019ve learned more watching DJ in one week than I could have possibly imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n For Sackmann, Unrivaled will serve as an official entry point into the WNBA space. He hopes he\u2019ll be able to leverage his extensive player development background to impact the women, while also taking lessons away from the experience to improve as a coach himself. <\/p>\n \u201cSeeing what that process truly looks like from a development standpoint \u2014 what they\u2019re doing in the weight room, how they approach practice, and how they\u2019re approaching just their overall professionalism, and then being able to take that and pass it down to the younger generation,\u201d he said. \u201cI spend a lot of time every year with younger high school, high-level basketball players. Being able to pass that down to some of the young women who I\u2019m working with is going to be a great add-on to me as a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n This article is part of a series featuring the <\/em>six Unrivaled head coaches<\/em><\/a>. You can also read about <\/em>Andrew Wade<\/em><\/a>, a former sports blogger and college hooper turned player development specialist. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n