Everick Sullivan

Everick Sullivan, head coach of the Vincennes University Trailblazers, former U of L player from 1988-1992.

Everick Sullivan enters his third season as head coach of the Vincennes University Trailblazers, the fourth winningest program in junior college basketball history. His two-year record as VU head coach is a lofty 51-14 (.785) and his overall head coaching record is 79-19 (.806). The Trailblazers posted a 25-8 record last winter, which included winning the Region and District titles and making a record-tying 26th  trip to the NJCAA Finals in Hutchinson, Kan. Sullivan took the reins as Trailblazer coach in mid-summer 2005 and began the difficult task of building a competitive team only ten weeks prior to the start of the school. To say he was successful is an understatement. The Trailblazers won 26 games and the Region 12 championship before losing to 18th ranked Iowa Western College in the district playoff contest. The Blazers were ranked as high as 13th in a mid-December National Junior College Athletic Association poll. Sullivan arrived at VU after leading Lincoln Trail to a 28-5 record during the 2004-05 season. The Statesmen won their first Great Rivers Conference title and then beat John A. Logan College, 76-73 for the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 24 Championship. The 16th ranked Statesmen lost 62-57 at 11th ranked Iowa Western College in the district playoff game. Prior to taking the Lincoln Trail job, Sullivan was the assistant coach for two years under Mark Nelson at Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, Ill., where the Warriors had consecutive 20 win seasons. WVC was ranked in the NJCAA top 25 and finished runner-up in the Great Rivers Athletic conference in 2002-2003. During that period, WVC graduated more than nine players to four-year colleges and universities.

A native of Simpsonville, South Carolina, Sullivan attended Hillcrest High School from 1984-88. He earned a number of awards and honors including Parade All-American, McDonald’s All-American Honorable Mention, and Greenville News Upper-State Player of the Year. He played at the University of Louisville under Hall of Fame Head Coach Denny Crum from 1988-92 and was the sixth man on a team that made it all the way to the NCAA “Sweet Sixteen”. He played with NBA number one draft pick Pervis Ellison.  Sullivan has a Bachelor's Degree in communications from Louisville where made three NCAA tournament appearances and is among the Cardinals’ all-time leaders in Scoring (14th), Assists (9th), Three-Point Percentage (8th), and Dunks (10th).  After a solid career as a collegiate player, Sullivan attended a couple of pre-draft camps, then was drafted by the Global Basketball Association’s Greenville Spinners. Sullivan spent eight years playing professional basketball in Finland, Portugal, Slovenia, Poland, Puerto Rico, Cyprus, and Lebanon. One of his biggest highlights was when he won the championship in the Cyprus league in 1998 and was voted MVP.

Q&A with Everick Sullivan

Q. What motivated you to choose the coaching profession as a career path?

A. After nine years playing overseas, I felt coaching was a natural fit for me. With very few American players on my team, I was always acting as a coach on the floor. I developed some great instincts and characteristics while playing overseas. This experience allowed me to develop a feel for the game that ultimately led me into coaching.

Q. What are some of the concepts or practices that you learned from Coach Crum during your playing days at UofL? Do you apply any of his philosophy to your own coaching style?

A. I learned many things from Coach Crum. One of the major things I learned was to make sure your team is fundamentally sound. Another thing I learned from coach is how to dictate tempo. Make sure opposing teams play at your tempo, not vice-versa. Basically, never allow your opponent to get into a comfortable flow during the game.

Q. While playing professionally overseas, you spent your off-seasons in Louisville working towards a degree in communications, which you earned in 1998. What did it mean to you personally to achieve this goal?

A. I had made a promise to my mother to finish my degree and I was committed to fulfilling that promise. While playing professionally overseas I would spend my off-season taking classes at UofL. This taught me the discipline and commitment that has carried over with me to the coaching profession.

Q. You played several years overseas in places such as; Greece, Poland and Lebanon. What was that experience like?

A. This experience has helped me in my coaching career by learning to adapt to the environment around me. I learned a lot about different cultures and different people. I definitely learned a lot about basketball and have applied some of these things to our own style of play.

Q. Do you stay in touch with any former players or coaches from your playing days at UofL?

A. Yes. I talk to Kenny Payne, who coaches at Oregon, all the time. I also talk to Todd Howard, James Brewer, and Cornelius Holden. Although my schedule is somewhat hectic, I always try to stay in touch with these guys.

Q. What is your favorite memory from your playing days at the University of Louisville?

A. I have a lot. Definitely, my three appearances in the NCAA tournament would be up there. Some memorable dunks come to mind. Making the last second shot to beat Florida State is definitely a highlight. But more than anything else, just the time I spent with my teammates on and off the court are some of my greatest memories.

Q. What are some of the challenges you face coaching at the Junior College level?

A. The number one challenge we face at this level is the high turnover rate. We can never seem to develop any continuity within the program. Another challenge at this level is the limited resources we have to work with. As a coach at this level you have to wear many hats. Scouting, recruiting, academic advising and even doing team laundry are all part of what we do as Junior College coaches.

Q. How do you motivate your players to perform both on the court and in the classroom?

A. The expected goal here is that you always want to move on to a four year school and excel at that level. The reputation that Vincennes University has with getting players to succeed at the next level is well respected. Shawn Marion, Bob McAdoo, and Eric Williams are just a few players that have played at Vincennes, and then moved on to enjoy successful careers at the major college and professional level. Kids look at this success and that is motivation in itself.

Q. In your brief career as a head coach you have been very successful, what do you attribute to this immediate success?

A. I thought coming in to this profession that Junior College was a good fit for me. Sometimes coaching is about finding a good fit. I think my work ethic contributes to some of the success we’ve had. I put in a lot of time with my players and coaches to ensure that we are prepared to play each and every game. I also try to instill a winning mind-set to our team to establish a high level of play.

Q. If there was one and only one thing a student-athlete at Vincennes University could learn from Everick Sullivan, what would you hope that would be?

A. Well, I definitely think character is important. You also need a good foundation to be successful. Character, work ethic, and discipline are just a few of the things that contribute to a good foundation. This foundation is something that is going to take you further, both on and off the court, than just basketball itself. I try to help the student-athlete develop this foundation so that they can be successful not only in basketball, but in life.