Following the wins, we asked Rising Stars Founder Paul Savramis why Gimpel’s championships stood out for him from the others.
Q: What made Dan Gimpel’s championships stand out for you this month?
Paul Savramis: To answer that, I need to stress that every win by any Rising Stars team is a special one for all of us, but what Danny has done with his team has a backstory that makes his wins stand out for me.
Q: Considering how many highlight tournaments there have been this year, that's something we'd want to hear.
Paul Savramis: To start, Dan is much more than a coach for Rising Stars. As the Executive Director of Rising Stars, he lived through 30 years of championships as a Rising Stars player before taking on his role as a Rising Stars coach. Dan’s wins, and also his losses as a player, definitely contributed to how he approaches the game as a coach. This team's success, and its wins, are special because Dan has built on it from the third grade.
Q: That doesn’t sound like something that’s too common these days in youth basketball.
Paul Savramis: That’s true. Firstly, doing what Dan has done is noteworthy as he shows that he still has a love of coaching, training, and building Rising Stars teams, along with all of his administrative duties as our executive. It's a very special feeling for him to be able to get away from behind the desk and back on the court. It’s also especially great for the kids, because in addition to being a great director, Dan is also one of Rising Stars' best coaches.
Q: We read that Rising Stars had won the first Junior NBA championship held a few years back with Duke standout and current NBA player Kyle Filipowski? How are you comparing teams like that to a group of local seventh graders?
Paul Savramis: Very easily. That Junior NBA team was built for one event and at the NBA’s request. They had asked us to help kick off the inaugural Junior NBA league here as part of other select teams in the Metropolitan region. Consider having two 6’9” players (one being Filipowski) and then add his 7’ twin. The question then became, how not to lose an eighth-grade tournament. That team was unusual for us as it came together for one big event. Gimpel develops and trains players for the long run over time versus looking to recruit kids for one team every year. It's not about one or two superstars; it’s about nine or ten solid players that play well together. You can win doing it either way, but there’s a great deal of other benefits that come with doing it as a team that’s been together and built for the long run.
Q: We are beginning to see your point.
Paul Savramis: Thankfully, so does all of Rising Stars. Winning the right way has a way of getting a point across. Dan won six straight championships with this one group, and that’s just recently. His overall record with them goes well beyond that. Our other coaches are following that example, and now we are keeping our teams together from grade 3 through senior year in high school.
Q: Not to belabor the point, but you still have other coaches in RS that are winning games with one-year players, prep school standouts, and during this year we heard you even used some European players?
Paul Savramis: Yes, that’s true, and at the older levels we still do that now and again, but remember, Dan is also Rising Stars’ Executive Director with a history and mission beyond just wins or losses. He has a responsibility to do more than just X’s and O’s. His personal story as a Rising Star, and his success on and off the court, are a result of hard work and putting the time in. He fully appreciates the optics of one way to win, but still embraces the long-term value of the other. These kids are beyond lucky to have him.
Q: If you had one last point to make, how would that best help end this Q and A and drive your message home on this topic?
Paul Savramis: When I started Rising Stars, it was never just about basketball, and definitely not just about winning a basketball game. It was actually called Rising Stars Clinic because it was more about teaching life’s lessons using the power of teams and having the platform of basketball as the teacher. Dan’s still all about that original mission and teaching through coaching. In doing that, he still gets to win a great deal of games. My best closing message? Dan’s philosophy has not been lost on all these kids over the past 30 years. Regardless of where they go as the years pass, they aren’t going anywhere. They come back and they become a part of what he does. That’s what Rising Stars is about.
