Welcome Nizzar Badgett to UPB!

3 minute read

By: Andrea Aruino

Help us in welcoming our newest Player Development Intern, Nizzar Badgett! Just like many, Badgett grew up playing basketball from a very young age. Growing up in a small town in Montana, he naturally gravitated towards basketball as it was one of the few things that he and his friends could gather for and enjoy. At 13 years old, Badgett and his family made their move to California where he attended both Point Arena High School and Mendocino College. During his time there he met many great teammates and learned a lot from his coaches, one of which he considers to be one of his best friends. 

In high school, Badgett played for the Point Arena team and played travel ball to work on his game as much as possible. His journey with UPB starts in high school where he got to attend one of Coach Packie Turner’s camps. It was during this camp that he saw a glimpse of what he wanted to do in the future. 

“Packie’s camp in high school gave me one of my first glimpses into what it’s like to teach the game in an effective way and since then I had always found interest in coaching other players,” Badgett said.

His love for being a mentor and coach to others opened up various opportunities for him to practice those skills. During his brief time at Mendocino college, he was able to work his way up to becoming a red shirt at Mendocino. In his junior year, he had the incredible opportunity to participate in a program led by Mendocino’s assistant coach, Mike Escobedo, where he traveled to Hungary and China to work with high school players at basketball camps. He really started to fall in love with the game while working with athletes who came from better high school programs within those countries. The idea of becoming a coach was an idea that was sparked throughout his time overseas.  

“I just had such a good time and being on the opposite side of a skills camp where you’re the one coaching was something that I really enjoyed. The attention to detail I noticed from coach Escobedo was something I noticed even more during these camps, which was what peaked my interest” Badgett said. 

After transferring from Mendocino to Chico State University, Badgett was introduced to even more gateways in becoming a better coach. While at Chico, he got to work as a student intern for the college’s basketball team where he would assist in player workouts and help the team in any way possible from doing stats to running their social media. Badgett got firsthand insight on how much work goes into playing at a collegiate level. 

“How Coach Cevin Meador and Coach Greg Clink interacted with athletes was a huge inspiration to go into coaching. Before this experience I had only worked with eighth graders. Seeing how coaches worked with next level athletes was really eye-opening when it came to the work that they did and the accountability that they were held to,” Badgett said. 

Chico had a rich basketball culture that he admires to this day and is something that he tries to incorporate as a coach himself. Seeing Coach Cevin and Coach Clink be able to work with different personalities and create one community of strong relationships is something Badgett cherishes and was the foundation of how he wanted to approach becoming a coach. 

Post college, Badgett was hunting for opportunities to remain involved in basketball. UPB was a place he knew he could come back to and share the knowledge he gained throughout his time as an athlete and coach. It was a simple move, UPB was hiring for a Player and Development Intern and it was a no brainer to apply. 

Badgett has been working here since April and has learned a plethora of approaches to coaching and is looking forward to working with more athletes and becoming a better mentor, coach, and friend to everyone that enters. 

“Working here has been great. Seeing how everyone takes different approaches to coaching is something I find to be interesting because I’ve never been around such a big group of coaches,” Badgett said.

The mental aspect of basketball is something he wants to place a greater emphasis on within his own coaching style because of its intricacy and importance to improving as a player. Aside from that there is so much more land to cover as he has just begun his UPB journey as a coach. His goals are simply to learn from others in becoming a better coach for anyone that comes into UPB. 

“I want to be able to create that trainer to player connection that I’ve noticed with other coaches and their athletes, I know that’s important to development. Overall I want to become a well-rounded coach and get to know all of the coaches and players on a deeper level,” Badgett said. 

This is an exciting opportunity both for Badgett and UPB as we just added a new talent who is willing to put in the work to become a better coach for those who come and join the community!