Austin Ernst-Finnie standing in the Huron Heights Secondary School basketball gym, taken on Nov 25, 2024. Photos by Anashe Mapuranga/Spoke Online
Despite playing basketball since he was 14 years-old, Austin Ernst-Finnie didn’t ever see himself becoming a basketball coach.
“In the beginning I couldn’t shoot. But it wasn’t until I realized that I was working on shooting for seven years of my life that I could probably end up coaching, because I really focus on the details of a lot of the things.” Ernst-Finnie said how he noticed a lot of players would be drawn towards him during pickup basketball games, due to his ability to coach them while on the court.
With that in mind, Ernst-Finnie took a step back from playing and started looking to coach and he’s never had more fun believing in others.
Now 25 years-old, Ernst-Finnie is three years into coaching and is currently in his first year as the head coach of Huron Heights Secondary School senior basketball team in Kitchener, Ont.
He first got the role after seeing a job posting for the position at his former high school and promptly put his name in for consideration.
In addition, Ernst-Finnie is also the coach of the KW Vipers rep basketball U12 team. He further encouraged to pursue that position by parents who said he’d be better coaching older players.
“There’s one thing that I don’t want and that’s a team that should’ve been able to play, not having the chance to play,” he said.
Ernst-Finnie looks on with co-coach Austin Rush while his players are going over set plays in practice, taken on Nov 25, 2024. Anashe Mapuranga/Spoke Online
Ernest-Finnie said his love for basketball came from the culture and swagger of the sport, along with the difficulty and hard work that comes with it.
“I loved the fact that there were players out there like Kobe (Bryant, who passed away in 2020), who could take on a whole team and still get the W. But it’s also just the teamwork behind it,” he said. “Because even though people thought Kobe was a ball hog, other players had to do specific things for him to get his buckets off, so I really understood the teamwork and the determination from it all too.”
His first year playing basketball Ernst-Finnie made the high school basketball team. He believed he got lucky to make the team, but said the coach told him he made it because of his determination, effort and hustle. He also said the coach saw him out-hustle a lot of the players on the court, and that would help become a better basketball player.
The most important lesson that was instilled into Ernst-Finnie as a player was “There’s no I in team.”
“I’ve played on some teams where the whole offence was built around one player, and I can see how the success wasn’t the greatest there. But once you decide to build the offence around your teams’ strengths, it honestly makes your team a lot better.”
Ernst-Finnie also used LeBron James as an example. He attributed the fact that even though it can look like James is taking on teams by himself, the spacing of the floor players setting screens and distracting other players allows him to do what he wants to do.
“Because his teams fulfilled their roles and did their jobs, he was able to be the star of the show. And I just love how a team can also bring that one person from the bottom to the top and make me even better than what they think they are,” he said.
One of Ernst-Finnie’s favourite motto’s as a coach is “no excuses”.
“Nobody gets great by making excuses, nobody gets great by skipping any type of hard work. You get great by putting in the work, you get great by sacrificing all what you want and doing what you need.”
An important drill that Ernst-Finnie’s teaches is on the defensive end of the ball.
“A lot of people lack defensive effort and intensity, which definitely comes from the amount of reps that you do because it’s all how your body moves and reacts,” he said. “And the more you practise reading and reacting, the better you get at it, but a lot of people don’t practise defence.”
Ernst-Finnie also highlights conditioning, in particular running.
“In general, a lot of people just hate running. If your stamina is down, you got to be able to just push through that. And a lot of coaches at the higher level, they run practices without basketballs, and they just make their teams run.” Ernst-Finnie also focuses on form, shooting and curl drills for layups and jump shooting.
Ernst-Finnie instructs his players where to go for a practice drill, taken on Nov 25, 2024. Anashe Mapuranga/Spoke Online
Asked about his future coaching, Ernst-Finnie said “I hope to be a coach of a higher level. Even if I could coach for Ontario, maybe even Canada, or in the NBA. I don’t know where, but I just want to be able to coach and train and help players become better players, but also better people at the end of the day.”
