Southall and Spriggs round out MBB staff

A coaching staff isn't solely defined by the head coach or his full-time assistants. Something that continues to foster success in the Wildcats men's basketball program is their ability to round out the coaching staff from the top down. While little to no turnover in the full time positions in recent years has given the program consistency, it is important that they find the right people to fill the smaller staff roles as well. 

Colton Southall enters his second year as a graduate assistant with the program and with each passing day has earned more respect and responsibility. Southall handles the team's social media, is in charge of film for both practice and games, and coordinates travel. Prior to his time at ACU, he spent four years as a student manager at Radford. 

“I knew this was a good opportunity to work with a great staff,” explained Colton. “I could work with great people and also work on the operations side of things which was something I wanted.”

New to the staff this season is Special Assistant to the Head Coach, Bryen Spriggs. Spriggs comes to Abilene after several years coaching at community colleges throughout the Midwest. He played basketball at DII Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania, and after graduation he spent two seasons coaching there as well. He has only been with the team for a week or so at this point, but he expressed his excitement at getting to be a part of this coaching staff. 

“I just think that this staff, from the top down, is one of the best staffs out there,” Bryen stated. “Everything they are about, hard work, player relationships, and just loving the game of basketball, they are doing things the right way.”

Wildcats basketball has had great success under Coach Golding and both Bryen and Colton are happy to be a part of it. With a year under his belt, Southall has seen how building player relationships and having high accountability standards have created a culture for success. 

“I think our success kind of derives from our consistency,” Southall explained. “In the last three or four years, I don’t think we have had many transfers, so by building those great relationships we are able to build a more successful program. We hold the players accountable on and off the court, and we have seen those results on the court and in the classroom.”

With Bryen being so new to the program, he has seen it from the outside and is beginning to experience it with the team. 

“You know, from the outside looking in, you can just tell they put the students first,” Spriggs explained. “When you put the student-athlete first and invest in them, it has a lot to do with the success that coach Golding has been able to establish here at ACU. In my short time here, that is one of the biggest things that I have picked up on is how important, you know, and how much emphasis he puts on relationships.”

Both coaches have expressed how fortunate they are to get to work with coach Golding. Every year he has taken the program to new heights and they are getting the chance to build their resume with one of the best coaches in the game. 

“I think I gain a lot from him when we are in film sessions when he’s walking through film with the guys, I think that’s one of the best parts for me, learning from him,” Southall stated. “I get to see what he sees, and through his knowledge I am able to coach the guys up a little bit better. He’s also very energetic and we are all able to feed off of his energy.”

With a few years of head coaching experience himself, Spriggs is able to see what makes Golding such a great head coach and how he can put those traits to work in his own coaching style. 

“With my experience coaching the last three years, to see the way coach Golding does it helps me to be a better coach off the court,” explained Bryen. “He is great off the court, he never meets a stranger, he speaks to everybody that walks by, and he builds great relationships.”

With the season quickly approaching, they are excited to get back into the season and back to competition after the abrupt end to the 2019-20 season. The Wildcats return a majority of their players and there is hope that their experience can lead them back to the postseason. 

“We have 11 guys back from a year ago and…I think we can go up a lot from last year,” explained Southall. “We expect to compete with the top teams in the conference, get to Katy and then go from there.”

Bryen joined the Wildcats staff just a couple of weeks ago, but he has seen a lot of positives from the team and knows that Golding's teams have been consistent from year to year. 

“I haven’t been here very long, but one thing that seems to be in every team since coach has been here at ACU have been hardworking teams [who] always play together and have a hard-nosed mentality," stated Spriggs. "Personally, I would like to see that continue into this year.”

The Wildcats continue to build upon their previous successes and their dedicated coaching staff has been a huge part of what they have accomplished. ACU will begin their season in late November and will look to once again be at the top of the league standings come March.