Andrew Force:
Future150 National Analyst. Covering High and Middle School basketball.
Nashville, TN (Future150) -- A shooter seeks stability. A wunderkind at stabilizing his right arm, Tennessean Coulter Dotson wants to find a basketball home.
The Class of 2018 forward Dotson and his parents, Chris and Gail, are committed to basketball greatness. Together they are taking the steps necessary.
“[Coulter] did Future150,” Gail said of Coulter’s summer. “He did CP3. He did two Future150’s. He went to Fab Frosh, of course. He did go to the Super 60 in New Orleans and he played with Southeast Elite 14U. And he was playing most of the summer with Nashville Celtics 15U.”
Ranked #51 in the Future150 rankings, Dotson proved himself multiple times this past summer. So why is he still a veritable basketball nomad?
Location.
Elite AAU programs sprouted up from large metro areas, and when a talented player resides outside these hubs like Memphis, Atlanta, or Louisville he often gets gobbled up by teams representing those areas. A resident of White Bluffs, Tennessee, Dotson did.
Unfortunately, this can be a logistical nightmare. Coulter would have to travel to his travel team, simply to travel with his travel team.
“He was playing with the another team, but they were in Louisville,” Gail said.
Ultimately, Dotson selected Creek Wood High School in Charlotte, Tennessee. CWHS houses approximately 900 students, just 40 miles due west of Nashville.
Potted plants are mobile, but rarely reach their full potential. In Creek Wood, Dotson now has a home, a garden in which to grow.
“I think their first game is the fourteenth (of November),” said Gail. “Not very long (until then). They will host district and regional (games) this year. They will be able to play in their own gym.”
Private Practice
In an effort to reach his lofty goals Dotson, with his mother’s help found a professional instructor.
Enter Marcus Kinzer II.
An alumnus of Tulane University, Kinzer II coaches and gives private lessons around the Nashville area.
“She wanted me to challenge him, I guess,” said Kinzer II of Coulter's mom, Gail. “When you walk into a new situation, it takes awhile for the student and the teacher to get comfortable with each other. You have to gain a person’s respect at the end of the day. Once you gain a person’s respect it is smooth.”
Every adult in Dotson’s life acknowledged he was a good shooter. Kinzer II was a great shooter at the collegiate level. He has hit 81.6% of his free throws and buried 146 career triples.
Kinzer II’s first impression was filled with curiosity.
“I felt like, at first, he needed a little toughness,” said Kinzer II of Dotson's game. “(I thought) he is too tall to be in the eighth grade. Ball-handling. Just toughness. The small things. A little better conditioning, when you are a deadly shooter you have to be in good condition. If your legs are tired you start shooting all arms and hitting the front of the rim.”
For Dotson to hit his ceiling he will have to run and run a lot. Great shooters are always moving, always floating to find that perfect pocket. Movement off the ball takes both vision and energy.
As they worked together Coulter’s confidence grew. He began asserting himself at an age when most young men are crippled with angst. Kinzer II helped Dotson utilize that hunger for greatness, while still calmly performing a perfunctory task.
“It didn’t take me long to see what he needed to work on,” said Kinzer II. “Not just becoming a better shooter, but getting him to understand that that you have to create more. What about one dribble shot, get to the rim and finish. You just don’t want to be one-dimensional. You want to be a complete basketball player, but the greatest asset is that you can shoot.”
And so it begins, as Dotson’s high school career tips off in weeks. He must build his legend steadily. Greatness is the goal.
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