LITTLE ROCK — Sidney Moncrief isn’t coaching basketball anymore, but drawing on his own mistakes, he is teaching something more important.
Through his company, Moncrief One Team, the former Arkansas All-American guard is mentoring students this summer and teaching them life skills that will help them in the future.
“This is the type of coaching I love to do,” Moncrief said. “These are the types of things that matter in the long term in life.”
The Little Rock native is one of the greatest Razorbacks ever. He helped Arkansas to the 1978 Final Four as one of the Hogs' famed ‘Triplets,’ alongside Marvin Delph and Ron Brewer.
In February 1978, he was featured on an iconic Sports Illustrated cover that announced the Razorbacks' arrival as a national basketball presence and still hangs on the walls of diehard fans across the state. Moncrief left Arkansas as the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, and was a three-time All-American.
The Milwaukee Bucks drafted him fifth overall in the 1979 NBA Draft. He became one of the all-time great players, was an NBA All-Star five times, a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and four-time all-NBA Defensive First Team honoree.
Inexplicably, he has not been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Since his career ended with the Atlanta Hawks in 1991, he has been a head coach in the NBA Developmental League as well as at UALR in 2000-01. He has been an assistant coach with several NBA teams and served as a TV analyst with the Bucks.
Moncrief, now 58, said he takes all of those experiences on and off the court - playing, coaching and his business ventures - and uses them to mentor children as young as kindergarten in the Dallas area, where he lives. He also has residences in Arkansas and Wisconsin.
Since last month, he has been teaching a "crash commerce course" to college students involved in a City of Little Rock summer work program. He covers everything from personal finances to business dealings with a heavy emphasis on what he calls "soft skills," fundamentals such as face-to-face communication, appearance and remembering to smile.
“It’s just some of those small things that you help be successful in life beyond the hard skills,” Moncrief said. “We want them to understand [about commerce] so they can take advantage of it instead of being a victim.”
When Moncrief left Arkansas, he admits he lacked many of the skills he is teaching in this workshop.
“I have lost millions and made mistakes,” said Moncrief, who filed for bankruptcy in 2005 . “Having a foundation earlier would have been good. It may not have made a difference with me, but at least it would have exposed me to those things earlier and I would have been able to make informed decisions. That really isn’t my motivation, though. I just want to help these kids to be prepared.”
He also teaches a leadership program for companies and is in the midst of a program with an Arkansas car dealer this month. In addition, he can be booked for inspirational speaking.
“Our motto is, ‘We love to inspire,’” Moncrief said. “We want to change people’s lives in different areas.”
And while his company, which is close to 10 years old, focuses on education and motivation, Moncrief doesn’t stray too far from basketball. Programs can hire him to consult and teach skills. He is currently working with a central Arkansas high school program.
He also keeps a close watch on his alma mater and keeps in contact with Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson. He understood when the program took a step back last season.
“When you lose [an NBA] first-round pick such as Bobby Portis and a second-round pick in [Michael Qualls], it is impossible not to have a dip,” Moncrief said. “But I think [Anderson] has done a good job of reloading with a set of talented players which will keep that lull to a year or 18 months.”
Moncrief knows all about the pressures of coaching. Maybe that's why he seems content to mentor and teach in a classroom or board room, and not on a court.
“I just plan to continue to build my company and enjoy life,” Moncrief said.