Ben D'Alessandro has had a wide variety of experiences working with, teaching and coaching youth. A Cum Laude political science major at Providence College, D'Alessandro played basketball in the powerful Big East conference for Head Coach Pete Gillen, graduating in 1995. During this time, he played for and learned the game under the tutelage of a number of assistants who today are better known for their careers as head coaches (Louis Orr-Seton Hall, Bobby Gonzalez-Manhattan, and Tom Herrion-College of Charleston).
Following his graduation from Providence, D’Alessandro spent the 1995-96 academic year serving as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Houston, Texas, working for a drop-out prevention agency as a caseworker/ counselor for at-risk, inner-city children. As a caseworker, he founded Houston’s Wesley Athletic Club with the purpose of providing a positive structured environment for young boys without solid, family support. During this time and the subsequent academic year, he completed his teaching certification and taught fourth grade at Wesley Elementary School in Houston.
D’Alessandro served as youth minister/youth director at Charlottesville’s Church of the Incarnation from 1997-98. He worked with 600 middle and high school youth, coordinating volunteer efforts, counseling and advising, and developing youth programs.
The summer of 2007 marked D’Alessandro’s 17th year since his first coaching experience. He spent seven years in major Division I college coaching, including two at Clemson University (2003 - 2005), four at James Madison (1999 - 2003) and one at the University of Virginia (1998 - 1999). He held his first BD Basketball Camp in the summer of 1998.
D’Alessandro also has experience working with a number of high-profile basketball camps. During the summer of 1999, he was a counselor-coach for Five Star basketball camps at Hampden-Sydney College and Robert Morris College. He was the head counselor and resident coach at the PITT I and Post-Man camps and head camp director of the Five-Star Development Youth Camp in Richmond, Virginia. He has also worked/coached at basketball camps at the University of Virginia, Richmond and Manhattan College.
D’Alessandro is a Charlottesville, Virginia native and a 1991 graduate of Western Albemarle High School where he participated in basketball, football, soccer and tennis. D’Alessandro and his wife, Karen, have two sons, Rece, born June 29, 2003 and Gabriel, born January 20, 2007.
“Words cannot express how honored and blessed I feel to have the opportunity, through the sport of basketball and these unique teaching programs, to be involved in so many young people’s lives. The game of basketball is deteriorating - unfortunately, at almost the same rate as our youth culture’s moral standards. However, I believe for those people who are associated with this organization, and by way of their belief and commitment to its mission, real change can take place. ”Young people love being challenged...and then succeeding. By helping youngsters to define success and then, within a consistently disciplined environment, attempting to equip them with the values, skills and habits to achieve it, each student-athlete may begin to understand the idea that all too often life on the court represents life off of it. - Ben D’Alessandro
EXPERIENCED, TESTED, TRAINED
Ben D’Alessandro is a certified teacher who possesses seven-years of Division I college coaching experience. He is a professional teacher and coach. Teaching the game is not a hobby or a side interest he does in his spare time. He has dedicated his life to learning and teaching the game of basketball.
Over the years he has spent literally hundreds of hours studying and breaking down innumerable facets of the game in an effort to improve his trade and knowledge base. In addition, he has a tremendous level of experience in preparing teams for opponents through video analysis and on-court scouting sessions, evaluating athletes of all abilities, organizing and devising workout plans for high-caliber athletes, and planning and coordinating practice sessions. All such duties were performed while under the professional mentorship, guidance and collaboration of respective Division I coaching staffs.
Furthermore, Coach D’Alessandro has experience organizing and overseeing pre-season and post-season workout plans for guards, wings and post-players. Of those seven years, three were spent in the Atlantic Coast Conference (at the University of Virginia and Clemson University) competing against the best coaches and players in the country. He began coaching youth in the Charlottesville area in 1990, has served as Youth Minister at a Charlottesville area church, and has earned his teaching degree in elementary education. He is now focusing his energies entirely to improve basketball players of all ages and ability-levels.
Over the years, Coach D’Alessandro has developed extremely thorough, detailed and systematic teaching progressions, specifically addressing each particular facet of the game of basketball. The overall curriculum identifies key areas of skill development (both individual and team), and implements step-by-step teaching methodologies aimed at (1) Explanation (2) Demonstration (3) Imitation (4) Correction and (5) Repetition, with the ultimate goal being proper execution.
For each particular “skill area,” a set of drill progressions has been created and designed for adaptability depending on the athlete’s particular level of proficiency and rate of improvement. Each of these drills and teaching tools has been tested and retested numerous times, again, all the while evaluating comprehension, retention and proper execution.
The least effective way to teach the game of basketball is to gather together a group of young people, and just “let them play” while the adult tries to instruct “on the fly.” All too often, young players are short-changed by a disorganized, irresponsible approach that does nothing but reinforce bad habits, causing confusion and frustration. Off-season training hardly exists in Amercian basketball today. The growing AAU basketball culture promotes games rather than skill development and instruction. Unfortunately, while young players believe they are benfitting, they are often skipping vital steps in reaching their full potential.
For this reason, Coach D’Alessandro has attempted to develop an off-season “basketball curriculum” that leaves little to chance and ensures understanding. Developing skills takes time, repetition, discipline and patience. Within each BD Basketball teaching program the curriculum incorporates these methods as the key building blocks to developing the complete player and person.
