State Champ Coach with 5 Regional Titles adopts Noah into Raven's Fundamentals
Reid Monson opened the e-mail from Rick Turk. Another one, he thought, another company trying to sell me something.
Monson has been the head coach of the Waterford High School boys varsity basketball team for the past 10 years. He has won 75 percent of his games, a state championship and five regional titles. He also led Waterford to a pair of state second-place finishes.
"As a coach, I get inundated with basketball stuff," Monson said. "People are always trying to sell me something. You name it, they are trying to sell it. So when I read Rick's e-mail, I was a cynic."
Turk, Noah's national sales manager, offered Monson a free shooting clinic. That kind of proposal usually wasn't enough to sway the coach. But when Monson spoke with Turk on the phone, the coach could sense that he needed to take advantage of the offer.
"Rick was pretty simple about it," Monson said. "He told me on the phone, ‘hey, we believe in our product. Give us 90 minutes to show you so you can make your own determination.'"
It didn't take long for Monson to decide.
"As I was listening to Rick talk about shooting and Noah, I realized that I was listening to someone who thought about shooting just like I have the past 20 years," Monson said. "Whenever I taught shooting, I always tried to use any diagnostic tool available because of the feedback. I instantly saw the power of what the Noah Select System could do."
Monson's basketball credentials are solid. Besides coaching at Waterford, Monson also has been a successful private shooting coach in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area for the past 20 years. During his playing days in the 1980s, he was one of the best prep players and was recruited by 20-30 colleges.
Monson chose the University of Utah where he developed into a very good role player.
"I was a 6-foot-8 skinny guy who came off the bench and learned a ton in the process," Monson said. "I never became the star player, but I would not go back and change anything. My experiences shaped me into the kind of coach I am now."
The Noah Select System arrived in Monson's possession just several weeks ago. After the first seven days, Monson wrote Turk an e-mail.
"Hey, I wanted to get back to you with a couple of things. First off, only one week in and I can safely say that you don't have a bigger believer in the system than me.....in just one week I have been THRILLED beyond belief and seen improvements from the first day on."
Monson went on the write, "For example, my senior son who is off to play Div. 1 ball next year at Utah, who would normally shoot and make about 18 or 19 out of 25 shots is now AVERAGING 23 out of 25. On Saturday he finished 24 out of 25 but was actually disappointed because his consistency wasn't where he wanted it to be. Now granted, my sons have excellent fundamentals in delivery, but still, to move from the high 70s to the 90s is a % jump that makes a shooting coach feel like he's died and gone to heaven."
Speaking of Monson's sons, he has four of them—Neal, 18; Seth, 16; Alex, 14 and Isacc, 12. He also has two very young daughters.
Neal Monson is a big-time recruit. Listed at 6-10 and 220 pounds, Neal averaged a double-double for three straight years. Last year his numbers were 20 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks per game. Neal can score on power moves inside or use his advanced ballhandling skills to create his own shot outside.
Monson and his sons have been battling to see who would reach Noah's master level first. And like so many times during basketball games in the driveway, it was the father who prevailed.
"I had to burst their bubble," Monson said. "I reached 8.9 three times. Seth got up to 8.7-8.9. It took me 10-15 times where I finally got up to 9.3, which is about 96 percent (on free throws)."
Monson said Seth has already shown a lot of improvement on Noah. The sophomore is a 6-6 shooting guard.
"We're going to lock him down on Noah and turn him into something special," Monson said.
His next son, Alex, also has trouble staying away from Noah.
"Alex loves basketball and shooting the most," Monson said. "If it's raining when I come home, I'll see Alex in the driveway playing ball."
This summer Monson plans to use Noah at basketball camps. He also privately coaches eight kids from the fourth to 10th grades. All of these players have used Noah and seen improvement.
"I can definitely second what Noah advertises," Monson said. "Every single person who has used this Noah machine has gotten better. I love that from a teacher's and coach's perspective you can tell a player, ‘here's where you're at.' Then they come back two weeks later and you can show them where they are now."
Monson also can't wait to see how his Waterford team responds after using Noah. The Ravens were 19-4 last year and lost in the Class 2A state championship game by one point.
"My plan is for every single player on varsity and JV to use it three times per week if not every practice," Monson said. "It will become part of the Raven fundamental way of practice."