Destination success

By Rachel Smith

Staff Reporter

David Bensch and Andrew Hemminger have grown up around sports. Both grew up in Oak Harbor playing baseball and basketball. They are graduates of the Oak Harbor class of 2003.

Dave attended Baldwin Wallace majoring in mathematics and Andrew attended Bowling Green State University for sports management. Throughout college the two kept in touch. The summer before their senior year of college the two decided to take a journey. "We wanted one last hurrah together before we entered the real world," said Bensch. Both were interested in college basketball and followed the sport so they thought it would be fun to interview basketball coaches. "We thought it would be something people would enjoy," said Hemminger.

The result of this journey would be something neither of them expected.

Over the span of 15 months, the two friends traveled 27,000 miles around the country to interview 28 college basketball coaches. Setting out on this journey, a book seemed a far off goal. Yet, that changed quickly as the two traveled the country. "The more interviews we got the more it seemed possible," said Bensch, "We had a good response from the community."

Late in 2007, the book Destination Basketball became a reality.

Each chapter of the book is devoted to one coach: how they got to the interview, a biography of the coach, and then the interview. The questions asked in each interview did not always involve basketball. The coaches were asked questions about leadership and life as well as the sport of basketball. The two writers tailored certain questions to different coaches, but one question was the same for all: What do you hope your players will take away from their experience with you?

During the 2007-08 basketball seasons, the two friends went on a book tour. They visited colleges and had book signings. They even had some of the coaches with them.

Both Bensch and Hemminger have the same favorite experience and that is the interview with John Wooden. John Wooden was the long time UCLA coach who led his teams to ten national championships. Wooden resides in California where the two writers meet with him in his home. Both were appreciative of the experience. "The meeting is engrained into my memory," said Hemminger. "Wooden is the coach all other coaches look up to," said Bensch, "He exemplified the right way to coach."

Currently Hemminger is in the process of working on a second book. It is the same concept expect with football coaches. Hemminger has learned from the process of the first book. The next book with have fewer coaches for more in-depth interviews.

For more information about the book or how to contact the authors with questions visit the book's website www.destinationbasketball.com. There is a list of the coaches interviewed as well as some pictures. There is also a place to order the book online. One dollar from each book sold goes to the V-Foundation for cancer research.

Though the two friends have been separated by life's turns, they remain close friends and make an effort to talk to each other as often as possible. Though their destination was basketball, their journey was friendship and the love of basketball.