Marvin Harvey (basketball) facts for kids
Marvin Wayne Harvey (born May 12, 1954) is an American basketball shooting instructor. He used to play and coach basketball in college. Today, he owns and runs the Shot Lab™ in Tampa, Florida. He also runs the Marvin Harvey Basketball School of Excellence.
Marvin Harvey has been teaching people how to shoot a basketball since 1982. As a coach, he has won over 400 games in high school and college. For more than 28 years, he has trained some of the best shooters in the world. Two famous players he taught are Raja Bell and Tamika Catchings. People often call him the "Shot Doctor" because he's so good at teaching shooting.
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Early Life and Basketball Dreams
Marvin Harvey was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He went to Paseo High School. After high school, he played basketball at Penn Valley Community College for two years. Then, he received a scholarship to play at Ottawa University, where he graduated in 1980. In 1982, Harvey tried out for the NBA in Los Angeles. He made it to the final tryout cuts. He was then chosen to attend two more training camps for different NBA teams.
Becoming the "Shot Doctor"
Marvin Harvey became a head coach for boys' and girls' basketball teams. This was at Santa Fe Trail Jr. High School in Olathe, Kansas. His boys' team had three seasons with only one loss each. In 1983, he became the shooting coach for the University of Kansas Women's Basketball team. After that, he coached shooting for many major colleges in Missouri and Kansas.
He started the first special training program for individual players in Kansas. It was called the Basketball Workshop. Through this program, Harvey began training his first NBA player, Clay Johnson. Clay Johnson later won an NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.
During one summer, Harvey toured the United States as the "Shot Doctor." He joined top college women's basketball coaches for free basketball camps with Lynette Woodard. These tours offered free clinics. They also talked about being a good person, working hard, and being a student-athlete. Harvey also created a video called "Shooting the Basketball." It came with a free poster and was sold all over the country.
Training Players Across the Country and World
From 1991 to 1993, Marvin Harvey traveled all over Florida. He taught girls how to shoot a basketball correctly. In 1993, he became the Athletic Director for Pine Castle Christian Academy in Orlando, FL. The Academy was nominated three times for a sportsmanship award while he was there.
He also worked as an Assistant Coach for the University of South Alabama Women's Basketball team. Later, he coached the Alabama Mobile team in the NWBL. He also helped young people at Bishop State Community College. He worked to guide them toward a better path.
In 2000, Harvey decided to focus on training individual players. He moved to Houston,Texas. There, he trained college and professional players with John Lucas II. He also worked at training camps for the WNBA Houston Comets. He was even allowed to watch the Houston Rockets workouts. At this time, Antonio Lang from the NBA Philadelphia 76ers hired him. Harvey helped Lang change his playing style from a forward to a guard.
In 2001, Harvey returned to Florida. He started a non-profit group called C5D Inc. He also opened Harvey's "Shooter's Touch" Academy. In August 2002, Marvin Harvey received awards in Bogotá, Colombia. He trained international teams for the SaludCup, a FIBA Basketball Association event. He taught his shooting methods to coaches from many countries. These included Europe, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba.
In 2003, he brought his HSTA/Shot Lab LLC on the road. He became the Shooting Director at the RDV Sports Complex. This is the home of the NBA Orlando Magic. Here, he started using "video-analysis" to help NBA players. The next year, Harvey became the Director of Basketball Operations at Champions Sports Complex of Orlando. He later held the same role at the EDGE Training Facility. In 2005, Marvin Harvey expanded his training to Monterrey, Mexico. There, he met Vicente Fox, who was the President of Mexico at the time.
The Shot Lab Today
In 2008, Marvin Harvey worked with a South African Petroleum Company Engen and Octagan Marketing Company. They created a Coaches DVD. It was made to help build basketball programs in South Africa. Later in 2008, Harvey moved his C5D Inc Foundation and Harvey's "Shooters Touch" Academy to Tampa, Florida. The Shot Lab was created in 2009. It is known for breaking down the shooting form and mechanics of basketball in a very detailed way.
The Shot Lab has helped many college and WNBA players. These include John Henson (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Dominique Jones (University of South Florida). WNBA players like Alana Beard (Washington Mystics), Marie Ferdinand-Harris (Los Angeles Sparks), and Armintie Price (Atlanta Dream) have also learned there. In 2009, Harvey officially became the shooting coach for the WNBA Eastern Conference Champion Indiana Fever.
In 2010, Harvey wrote three books: Winning Within Reason, The New Fundamentals: Coaches Manual, and The New Fundamentals: Coaches Workbook. His 2010 Spring Tour included Italy, France, Serbia, Georgia, and Turkey. His summer teaching tour included the National Basketball Team of Rwanda, Africa, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, and Japan.
Harvey joined the Winthrop University Women's Basketball coaching staff for two years (2015–2017). He studied shooting percentages there. After that, he created the Eight to IX Lab. This lab helps players improve their skills from basic to professional levels.
Books
- Winning Within Reason
- The New Fundamentals: Coaches Manual
- The New Fundamentals: Coaches Workbook
