Meet Jeff Osterman & Lason Perkins 

Jeff Osterman

I am a native New Yorker who grew up an outlet pass north of Madison Square Garden. I left the Big Apple behind and now live in Minneola, Florida (30 minutes northwest of Mickey Mouse.) I married a girl from Massachusetts and now live in a “House-Divided” with all the Yankees-Pink Sox wars. Kristin (we call her ‘Toast’ – because if it isn’t burnt, it is not ready) is a portrait artist and middle school art instructor, and JC (his next assist will be his first) is 16 and attends Montverde Academy; and always looking for the perfect landing spot on a Par 3. Our house is ruled by our 4 year old Aussie-Doodle; Riley (so yes I am also a "girl dad")

I have coached 25 years on the collegiate level, filled with lots of wins, All-Americans, March Madness, and championships rings & watches, that someday I will pass onto JC; but nothing compares to the teaching and the relationships with all “my kids”

I created the website CoachOsterman.com as a way to give back with a Quick Hitter, ATO, BLOB or just a way to have people enjoy an idea and share a laugh.

My interests include: putting a T-bone and some shrimp on the grill … sitting on the porch with Beau at the Iron River Ranch ... having a glass of red wine with a pizza while watching Casablanca or Tony Soprano make a collection … I am a connoisseur of chicken wings and believe they can be eaten at any hour of the day … my favorite color is NY Yankee Pinstripes and I am still sad just thinking about Thurman’s plane … I love - the Wentworth Hotel … Rocky Patel’s Decade ... St. Francis of Assisi's kindness … drinking a Transfusion in a plastic cup ... eating peanut butter by the spoon ... wearing jeans & bucks ...learning from Leo McGarry… finishing a good meal with a Cannoli… trying to chip in from the rough ... and I am still in pursuit of the perfect chili-cheese dog.

There are three things that I am high allergic to: broccoli, black jelly beans & roller coasters.

I believe in ‘Faith not Fear’ and trying to be kind in everything I do. Staying Positive – no matter what the scoreboard of life says. Fierce loyalty like Walt Longmire to my “WHO”. And that my next putt is going to get me on the Tour.

There is a special place in my heart for those that served our Country and raised their right hand for something bigger than themselves and for the great good; and I love to buy from Veteran owned companies.

You should start every day with a good cup of coffee, the sports section of the NY Post and Sports Center.

I think we should all help impact young people’s lives and share knowledge with everyone we meet.

In the end I want to know that I made a difference; I am the CEO & President of Full Court Dreams. The company helps guide parents and student-athletes through the process of attaining college basketball scholarships, the website is FullCourtDreams.com. 

If you can’t find me I am probably on a hammock listening to Jimmy Buffett preach sipping on two fingers of bourbon while following Myron and Win in their next caper.

Lason Perkins

I wish I had a cool origin story to tell you like a superhero from a Marvel Comics movie.

My love for basketball started in 4th grade at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Alexandria, Louisiana.  I started playing basketball in the Royal Ambassadors church league.  My coach, Mike Johnson, sometimes picked me up and brought me home from practice because I was raised by a single mom and she worked late occasionally.

I struggled to learn how to shoot at first, but one thing I did enjoy was rebounding.  I would get every missed shot and put it back in or get it back to a teammate.  Coach Johnson recognized that and complimented me for my effort.  

Around that same time, I also began to discover my love for reading.  In 5th grade, I won a read-a-thon event at the parish (county) level.  Instead of sending me to summer camp (because my mom could not afford it), she would drop me off at the parish library where I would spend all day among the bookstacks.  I loved it there.

We eventually moved to a rural area outside of Alexandria to live with my grandmother.  My grandmother bought me my first pair of basketball shoes (Chuck Taylors) and I remember my first shot I hit in a middle school game (a baseline shot thanks to an assist from my cousin, who has been a highly successful high school baseball coach in Louisiana.  The family joke is always he has more championship rings that I do!).

Entering high school, I wanted to play basketball and baseball, but my mom could not afford all the costs of playing.  So I ended up being a manager on the team.  During our Christmas tournament my 10th grade year, we were scheduled to play a team who was one of the top programs in our classification in the second round.  I asked our coach if I could scout the team and give him a report on what they did.  The first time we played them, we lost by over 20 points.  The second time, we only lost by 4.  For a young man needing a boost of confidence, I felt my work made a difference.  Our coach even said it was a good breakdown of the opponent.

Going into my junior year of high school, one of my favorite teachers was also coaching our middle school team.  I asked him if I could help him, which he said I could.  Since he lived about 30 minutes from campus and we started practice at 6:30 AM, I would start practice and then once Coach Jackson arrived, he would take over.  To increase my coaching knowledge, I would read every copy of Scholastic Coach I could get from our school library, along with any books I could get.  I would write coaches and ask for play ideas and content from them.   When I got my drivers license, I would drive over to the libraries at Louisiana College and LSU-Alexandria and look at back issues of Scholastic Coach magazine or read books written by coaching legends.

My dream was to go to LSU and work for Dale Brown as a manager.  Instead, I went to Northwestern State University and worked as a manager for Coach Don Beasley and Coach Dan Bell.  Billy Kennedy, the former head coach at Texas A&M, was an assistant on Coach Bell’s staff and he would let me come into his office and read copies of the NABC Journal or go through his notebooks.  It was Coach Bell who introduced me to Coach Don Meyer’s videos.

I moved to the Raleigh, NC area in 1988 and attempted to join Les Robinson’s staff as a manager at NC State and finish my degree.  Buzz Peterson and Ed Conroy both tried to help me, but I was unable to get into school because I had to work full time.  I would not go back to finish my degree until 1998.

One day in August of 1992, I decided to walk into the gym at Cary High School to ask the head coach if I could help out there.  His name was Bill Boyette.  At first, Coach Boyette was skeptical, asked me questions about offensive schemes and things I had seen.  Little did I realize the impact Coach Boyette would have on my life.  Three years later, I was on the sidelines as an assistant when we won the 4A Championship.  Several of the players on the team were also playing AAU for me in the summer.   I would also get to be the head JV coach at Cary HS from 1998-2000.

I would go on and coach with 2 other AAU programs where I was fortunate to work with 2 future NBA players (Chris Wilcox and PJ Tucker). 

At this same time in 1992, I began to start writing articles for Scholastic Coach magazine, the same magazine I would study when I was in high school, along with Winning Hoops.  Then in 1997, a local coach named Murray Pool stated a publication called Basketball Sense.  I started to write for him, which led to the publication of 5 books with him.  My work with Murray would lead to an introduction to Brian Brinkerhoff, a former music executive at Disney, who wanted to buy the rights to my book and make instructional videos for his new company.  I would work with Brian for over 5 years and create 20 titles through Basketball Sense Publications and Level X Hoops.  It would also allow me to travel to various clinics across the country where I got to meet coaches like Don Meyer, Fran Fraschilla, Kelvin Sampson, and others in person.  I also worked camps at UNC and Duke, where I would make friendships with coaches there as well.

My fascination for international basketball started when I would read articles in the NABC Journal and the old Medalist/McGregor Clinic notebooks about teams from Yugoslavia and their methodology of play.  In 1994, I was asked to coach a group of high school players competing in a tournament in Belgium, where I got to see European teams for the first time.   A loss to a team from Zagreb, Croatia in the semi-finals of the tournament drove me to learn more about the international game.  Since then not only have I constantly added notes and game films from around the world (It was watching an Olympiacos game that I first saw the European Ball Screen offense) but collecting t-shirts of favorite teams which has lead to interesting conversations at my son’s doctor's office (I was wearing an Olympiacos shirt and the nurse was a Panathiniakos fan) as well as a Zalgiris shirt to my son's daycare, where one of the teachers got excited because she was from Lithuania.    

Since 2006, I have coached at Millbrook High, as well as Chapel Hill High School where we built one of the top 3A programs in NC during our tenure.  I also spent 4 years as head coach at Cary Academy.

My love for learning continues with the work I have done with the virtual coaching clinics and interactions with coaches from around the world.

When I am not watching a Euroleague game or diagraming a new play idea, I love to travel with my Susan and my son Jack.  We toured the facilities at FC Barcelona, where my son met Nikola Mirotic and got a surprise introduction to some of the FC Barcelona soccer players.  We have played 1-1 on the court where the movie Hoosiers was filmed and attended games together. I look forward to being able to travel again in the future and meet some of the coaches I have met via the virtual clinics.  

I am still an avid reader and learner.  Just the titles on my Kindle are over 1,000.  I need to start putting together some lists like Coach Mike Neighbors does.

My favorite quote has to be from Eric Hoffer, an American writer and philosopher:  “In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.”

I also love to grill and smoke different items for my family and friends during the year.  I have a huge collection of sauces and BBQ rubs.  My goal is to have a BBQ competition team made up of coaches.  The team name will be Blind Pig Action.

The only time I can be a sports fan is when I watch LSU football.  

I do have my favorite shows that I will binge watch on Netflix like The Crown.  My degree is in Political Science, so I tend to prefer history, political thrillers (when I grow a beard I look like Saul Berenson in Homeland) and I had decided at one point that if I did not coach, I wanted to work for the CIA as an analyst, like Jack Ryan did (Tom Clancy is one of my favorite authors).  I did spend two years in the Army National Guard, so I have tremendous respect for the men and women who defend our country.  George Orwell said it best when he penned "We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men (and women) stand ready to do violence on our behalf" 

This podcast is a labor of love with my friend Jeff, as well as another avenue for me to help coaches the way I was helped over the years.  I am so fortunate to have so many friendships through basketball, and I look forward to building more friendships down the road.

We hope that you find something of value each time you listen to the podcast.