Balancing a high school basketball program with a professional organization is not something most coaches ever experience. For varsity boys’ basketball head coach Erick Graves, however, that balance has become part of everyday life.

After recently joining the Frederick Flying Cows as an associate head coach, Graves has found himself coaching players at two completely different stages of their basketball careers, while still leading this school’s program. “My good friend coach Dan Prete, who I coached with years ago at the elite high school level was offered the head coaching job,” Graves said. “When we were speaking about an assistant coaching opportunity, we decided to ‘Let’s do something new.’”

While coaching professionally was not originally part of Graves’ long term plan, he said the opportunity has helped him grow as a coach and view the game differently.

The transition into professional basketball also gives Graves a unique perspective that few high school coaches experience firsthand. While many coaches spend their entire careers at one level of the game, Graves now moves between coaching teenagers still learning the fundamentals of varsity basketball, and professional athletes competing at a much faster and more demanding level.

The experience allows him to constantly adapt, whether that means adjusting communication styles, preparing more advanced game plans or understanding how different players respond to coaching. “I never saw myself coaching at the high school and professional levels at the same time, but what’s great about this is working with players at different points in life and in their development and understanding of the game,” Graves said. “I think it helps me as a coach to grow and see the game in different ways.”

Despite the differences between high school and professional basketball, Graves said balancing the two roles has been manageable because of the timing of each season. Although there is some overlap between Wootton basketball and the Flying Cows’ training camp, most of the professional season takes place during the spring, where high school basketball is mostly in the winter. “When the high school season was wrapping up and our training camp was going at the same time, those were full days, getting to work a little after 7 a.m. and not getting home until 10 or 10:30 p.m.,” Graves said. “But, with the professional team being in the spring season, the time commitment is a lot more doable, as there isn’t much of an overlap.”

Even with the added responsibility of coaching professionally, Graves said maintaining balance away from basketball remains important. “It’s a balance any time you’re coaching. There needs to be a balance with your family time also,” Graves said. “Now, I still have a good amount of family time, I can take care of responsibilities here at Wootton, and enjoy the new opportunity.”

According to Graves, his time coaching professionally has already started influencing the way he approaches coaching at this school. Being around professional players and concepts has allowed him to bring new ideas back to the high school level. “I really like some of the concepts that are used in the professional game, and see how they can be applied here,” Graves said.

Although the environments between a high school gym and a professional court may be different, Graves continues to work in both spaces with the same goal: helping players grow through basketball.