Kissi bids farewell to Brock
Leaving the Brock men’s basketball program wasn’t an easy decision for Charles Kissi.
“Brock provided me an opportunity to lead the program and gain some valuable experience as a head coach,” said the seventh head coach in the program’s history. “You develop relationships and you become a part of the fabric.
“It was definitely not an easy choice.”
There wasn’t any one thing that prompted his departure.
“It’s life,” he said. “You just have to make a decision and live with it.”
He sought the advice of others to help him make a choice.
“You’re never 100 per cent sure,” he said. “You know you are going to make it work because of who you are but there is a lot of uncertainty.
“I want to keep learning, growing and developing in environments that can provide that for me.”
Kissi, who took a one-year absence before the start of the 2018-19 season to serve as an assistant coach with Raptors 905, said no one should be surprised that he decided to remain with the Raptors organization.
“I always told people that I never had any intention to leave unless I got an NBA opportunity of some sort,” he said. “I could say that and laugh about it, but I never thought it would happen.”
The remaining players on the team that he recruited all get his decision to leave, Kissi said.
“They understand that change happens and that is part of their growth and learning as well.”
Kissi, who in 2016 signed a three-year contract with Brock to become the manager of basketball operations, felt he evolved a lot as a coach during his time at Brock.
“You learn a lot about the game because you have to make all the decisions by yourself and you find ways to motivate,” he said. “The leadership is probably the biggest piece, coupled with the masters I am finishing in June.”
He feels the biggest challenge for any coach is to get people to do what you want them to do.
“It’s not hard to coach talent,” he said. “I think it is hard to bring the best out of people as far as performance goes.”
Kissi led Brock to an overall record of 107-72, including three consecutive playoff appearances and a berth in the nationals championships in 2017-18. He has a hard time picking one event that was the high point of his time at Brock.
“When I started, I said that I always wanted to leave it better than I found it and I am able to say that,” he said. “We were able to do some things that were bigger than us and they will stay forever. That is more important.
“Getting to nationals is cool and a lot of fun and a lot of coaches will never get to do that, but that’s not where your mark or impact is left.”
As for low points, Kissi said there weren’t any.
“The job at a Canadian university, as it stands, is a not an easy job and I give a lot of credit to the coaches who are working in systems, some with not enough resources to do the job effectively such as an assistant coaches to help them.
“It’s not a low point. You just have to understand that going in.”
It’s also a job that has many plusses.
“It’s an incredible job where you can impact people and it can be so rewarding.”
He feels the league needs to improve to provide a better experience for the athletes.
“We have to really thoughtful about how we market our sport and that goes as far as scheduling and all those types of things,” he said. “We really have to be thoughtful about the product we are delivering to our athletes.
“It’s not only education. It’s an educational experience.”
The experience should be about education and sport and what is the best way to package that for players.
Kissi won’t be say goodbye to Brock or Niagara because he plans to continue living in the region with his family.
“I will miss the five-minute drive to work but, for the most part, I won’t miss too much because I am not going to be far away.”
With Raptors 905, he started out doing a bunch of everything, but he has become the offensive coordinator.
“We have 50 games and they keep coming so you really try to stay on top of things,” he said. “There are so many things to do and you are constantly watching video, there’s scouts coming and there’s development.”
His first year was figuring out how to balance everything and, in his second year, he is focusing on being more efficient and better at his job.
He has no ultimate goal.
“When you pinpoint exactly what you want, you can do that and try to get it. Or you can have an idea of where you would like to go and travel that path.”
