CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard men's basketball assistant coach Brian Eskildsen is set to participate in the prestigious 2020 TopConnect Virtual Seminar taking place June 11-12. TopConnect (formerly Villa 7), which originated in 2003 by then VCU Athletic Director Dr. Richard Sander, identifies the top basketball assistant coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major athletic directors providing tremendous networking opportunities for both parties.
TopConnect also develops programming that allows these top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders. Prominent head coaches, panels of mid-major athletic directors, major media and sport influencers, the inner circle of college basketball and extremely successful business leaders share their leadership experiences. The three-word mantra of "Connect. Prepare. Lead." identifies the purpose of TopConnect.
This year's presenters include national coach of the year Anthony Grant of Dayton, national mid-major coach of the year Steve Forbes, formerly of East Tennessee State and now Wake Forest, hall-of-fame coach Muffet McGraw, hall-of-fame coach and current Tennessee Athletic Director, Phillip Fulmer, and three-time NFL Coach of the Year, Mike Smith. Additionally, three panels of ADs will discuss what they look for in hiring a coach, expectations of the head coach and building a successful basketball program. A panel of Division I university presidents organized by ETSU's President Dr. Brian Noland will discuss basketball's role from the CEO perspective.
Other areas covered will be the search process moderated by Dan Walters (Buffkin/Baker) and Jeff Schemmel (Collegiate Sports Solutions), the media perspective including ESPN's Seth Greenberg and Debbie Antonelli, as well as Stadium Basketball Insider, Jeff Goodman. Also presenting is ETSU's Chair of the Department of Media and Communications, Dr. Stephen Marshall, who will share his expertise in using social media to build a personal brand.
Since the inception of Villa 7 (now TopConnect), the program has spawned numerous Division I head coaches including Grant (Dayton), Buzz Williams (Texas A&M), Shaka Smart (Texas), Forbes (Wake Forest), Rodney Terry (UTEP), John Groce (Akron), Kevin Keatts (NC State) and recently Greg Gary (Mercer), Brett Nelson (Holy Cross) and Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois).
TopConnect works in conjunction with East Tennessee State University's Doctoral program in Global Sport Leadership. Van Wagner, Fast Model Sports, ARMS Software and Daktronics continue to support TopConnect.
