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Paved with no excuses: The road to elite
It’s the five-letter word every college basketball program in the country seeks after, but only a modest few find.
Elite.
Steve Schmidt, 20 seasons as head men’s basketball coach at Mott Community College, is the CEO of a truly recession-proof industry: winning.
Schmidt has put his thumbprint on the national JUCO basketball scene and created a culture of winning with a mixture of hard work, basketball savvy and a no-excuses approach to basketball.
And in 20 years, no excuses has been necessary. Since taking the reins at Mott in 1991, Schmidt has never lost more games in a season than he’s won; and in the past 16 years, no Schmidt-coached team has won fewer than 25 games in a season. No active coach in the NCAA division one ranks can equal Schmidt’s track record of winning.
In 2003, after two consecutive final four appearances, Schmidt once again led his team to the national tournament, this
time coming away with the school's first national basketball title.
In 2007, Schmidt's 35-3 record—a school record—culminated in a second NJCAA national championship. The Bears started the season ranked number one in the country and turned pollsters into prophets at the national tournament in Danville, Illinois.
Then, he did it again.
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