Grace Christian's Brandon Clifford is PrepXtra boys basketball coach of the year

A year working in the NBA taught Brandon Clifford just how universal of a language basketball is. It reinforced what he already knew: You have to dominate simple.

Clifford coached at High Point Christian Academy in North Carolina for seven years before deciding to try something different and join the Dallas Mavericks player development staff. It turned out not to work for his young family — three kids under age 7 — and he returned to the high school ranks at Grace Christian this year.

“The thing I took away most from the pros, is the same things 5-year-old kids should be working on is the same thing the pros are working on,” Clifford said. “The thing that makes them professionals is the simple things. The game is the same but those that work the most dominate simple.”

The Rams won the school’s first basketball state championship after moving to Division II-A this year, and only the second title in any sport. Clifford has been named the PrepXtra boys basketball coach of the year.

Clifford values relationships. The first thing he did upon arriving at Grace was to start building some with players, sitting down with the main returners and their parents.

“So much of high school coaching is getting kids to trust you,” he said. “Before you worry about ever touching a basketball, get to know your players. Sit down with your players and their families and break their barriers.”

Clifford wanted to make sure he, the players and the parents all understood the expectations. Joining a program, you can get some pushback, based on what was. He didn’t get much of that at Grace.

After that, he focused on improving on defense. Clifford says he let a lot go offensively, gave players freedom, because they spent a lot of focus on defense. With two players averaging more than 20 points in CJ Gettelfinger and Grant Ledford and a 6-foot-8 presence in Baylor Younker, he had that flexibility.

That trust and defense came through in the end when the Rams hit a bump with consecutive losses to Webb and then Catholic. They returned to the defensive focus and rebounded to win 13 of their last 14 games (the loss being to Webb in the region final).

“I think we realized that was our rock-bottom, we realized it couldn't get much worse than that,” Clifford said. “When you get that kind of buy-in, in January, it works.”