INDIANAPOLIS — Before he was a two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year and starting guard on Butler basketball’s back-to-back Final Four teams, Bulldogs coach Ronald Nored was a precocious 10-year-old attending basketball camp at Hall Kent Elementary School in his hometown of Homewood, Alabama.
Longtime Homewood coach Tim Shepler said a young Nored was always the first camper waving his hand to answer questions, eager to participate in every drill.
“He was always the guy at the front of the camp,” Shepler said. “If you would have a question for the campers, he’d be waving his hand or asking questions. His leadership emerged very early.”
It didn’t take long for Shepler to see that Nored processed the game at a high level. After playing sparingly on varsity as a freshman at Homewood, Shepler coached his young guard hard in an effort to prepare him for the highest levels of basketball.
Nored’s ability to see the game two steps ahead of his opponents got him in trouble as a young point guard. During practices his sophomore year, Nored kept trying to force pinpoint passes into his teammates. The passes were the right reads from a basketball standpoint but the high degree of difficulty led to turnovers more often than not.
After a particularly turnover-filled practice, Shepler let his star player know in no uncertain terms why he could not keep making such difficult passes. Nored was taken aback by the tough coaching but Shepler saw the bigger picture.
“Finally, one day after practice, he came in and said, ‘Coach, I think you’re too hard on me. I really do,'” Shepler said. “And I just remember I stopped and I said, ‘You want to try and play Division I basketball, right?’ He said yes. And I said, ‘Then do you want me to coach you like a Division I basketball player? Or do you want me to just to coach you like an average high school basketball player?’
“After that, he said, ‘I get it. Coach, I understand.’ And he took off from there.”
Nored had always excelled at basketball. He’d always been the type of person willing to put in the work to become the best player possible. By challenging how he played the game, Shepler sparked Nored’s love for basketball, propelling him on a course to NCAA Tournament stardom and a coaching career of his own.
“(Shepler) loved basketball in a football state and really pushed me to become the best player I could be,” Nored said. “He showed me a part of myself that no one had at that point, and my love of basketball really began to grow.”
Nored’s passion for basketball quickly grew into an obsession. Heading into his junior season, Shepler suggested Nored attend an event called Point Guard College in Atlanta. The camp focused on skill development and the finer points of the point guard position.
“He came back and said, ‘Coach, it was great. I really enjoyed it,'” Shepler said. “And I said, ‘Why don’t you show me your notes. I want to see what you brought back.’ He goes, ‘Coach, just give me a night and I’m gonna type them up real quick.'”
Nored returned the next day with 45 pages of typed notes going over every minute detail of what he learned at the camp. Nored carried that meticulous attention to detail with him as a head coach in G League, as an NBA assistant with the Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks, and during his lone year as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky.
“Ron is an everyday guy. Just really driven, really purposeful,” Evansville coach and former NKU assistant David Ragland said. “He did a great job keeping a journal, keeping notes on what we did on a regular basis, whether it had to do with individual workouts, scouting reports or film sessions, everything that (head coach) John (Brannen) wanted in terms of his philosophy and his core values.
“(Nored) just understood the importance of the head coach setting the standard of the culture that he wants the program to live under, and the staff enforces it and fights for it every day.”
Throughout each stop of his career, Nored has left a lasting impression on colleagues and pupils alike. Players can sense when a coach is genuine, speaking from a place of knowledge and has his best interest at heart. Insincerity is one of the quickest ways to lose a locker room. Nored’s shown the ability to earn respect in whatever room he enters.
“Ron was great, man. I thought Ron always came in extra prepared,” Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith said. “He would always give any little bits of knowledge he had to guard individuals better, to guard as a unit. You could tell with a lot of coaches if they got it in ’em to be a head coach. How prepared they are. How they approach the game. How they interact with players. That’s something Ron has had since Day 1.”
Nored’s successful career as a high-level college point guard gave him instant credibility with NBA guards, and his hard-nosed, defensive-minded playing style made him a valuable resource on coaching staffs at every level.
Shepler ignited Nored’s love for basketball and legendary Butler coach Brad Stevens shaped how he viewed the game. Nored said Stevens was on the cutting edge of fusing all aspects of basketball together and teaching it to players in a way that helped them develop.
Understanding Xs and Os is only one part of player development. Stevens, a Zionsville native and former DePauw basketball player, could relate with people from all walks of life. Nored has a similar ability to relate to people and quickly develop meaningful relationships.
In today’s transfer portal era, players may only be on campus for nine months at a time. In the G League, the roster can change weekly. Ten-day contracts and the trade deadline foster rapid change in the NBA as well.
Becoming a coach and leader is something Nored’s been preparing for since his youth. Butler is betting on Nored the people person, Nored the leader and Nored the man to bring the program back to prominence.
“I’ve been able to see his growth up close and personal,” Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. “He went to Atlanta and has grown even more as a coach. I’m excited to see him have success at Butler.
“You obviously have to be a smart coach to be a successful coach. But I think a lot of it is how you deal with people. He’s one of the most elite human beings in terms of his relationships with people. That’s why me and him have remained so close.”
IndyStar Pacers insider Dustin Dopirak contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: From youth to NBA, Ronald Nored’s journey makes him uniquely prepared as Butler basketball coach
Reporting by Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
