Passion and accountability: How Corey Standerfer went from Big V icon to coach and content creator
A fateful phone call with a friend led Corey Standerfer to a 15 year career in basketball which has blossomed into a career in content creation.
It was 2011. Corey Standerfer was working a job at a boys and girls club in his hometown of El Reno. He’d just graduated from college, where he spent time in the NAIA with stints at York University and Saint Gregory’s University.
“I’m happy just doing this,” Standerfer shared recently to The Pick and Roll. “I played my couple years in college, I was done, I was happy to hang ‘em up.
“Then one of my friends called me and asked ‘hey our import didn’t come out; do you want to fill in and be the import?’ And I was like, do y’all even play basketball in Australia?”
As this door opened, Standerfer knew he had a big decision to make. “I was just out of college and I liked this job. Actually, I really liked the job, but this was like a once in a lifetime opportunity. So I ended up taking it and then that was my first year at Bulleen.”
Standerfer turned out to be superlative in his rookie season with the Bulleen Boomers. He finished second in the league for points per game, with 22.8 points along with a 10.6 rebound average, but the Boomers tallied a 7-13 record for the season.
Despite receiving offers from other teams through that first season, Standerfer stayed loyal to the Boomers. This decision would pay off as the team, coupled with the arrival of a new player by the name of Ben Simmons, flipped their fortunes to finish on top of the ladder with a 15-3 season record. Standerfer was solid once again, averaging 23.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 steals.
During his time at Bulleen, Standerfer sowed the seeds of a decade-long basketball playing and coaching career in Australia. He ventured overseas, playing in the English basketball league for a season before getting homesick for Australia and returning to the Chelsea Gulls.
“The boys and girls club stuff for me in my hometown was awesome. I was still getting to teach kids, still getting to help out kids in the community and be a positive impact. But to get that opportunity to go play overseas and the amount of learning I did while I was there coaching and playing just feels like it was the best step to take to build my basketball knowledge even more and have these experiences.”
The Chelsea chapter in his life is perhaps the most notable for his time in Australia, and where his strongest basketball memories were made. He was the director of coaching for a decade, and played for the Gulls for eight seasons.
Standerfer was referring to the 2016 season, which he then followed up with an MVP and championship in 2017. Among other accolades, Standerfer was also voted as one of the two best imports of all time in the Big V.
Following the culmination of his playing career, Standerfer’s not only continued to coach, but also added another niche as a YouTube creator. The Mid Range focuses on big picture content, as well as popular topics within the zeitgeist like sports gambling and how it’s ruining basketball. Mr Coach Midrange on the other hand, is largely analysis and live reactions. It not only gets to the nitty gritty of how a professional sees a player processing what’s in front of them, but is also a great look into Standerfer’s love for coaching. He doesn’t gatekeep basketball, and he isn’t a basketball snob either. He’ll watch two influencers play in a one-on-one and give it the same energy and insight as Kevin Durant and Naz Reid going at each other.
A connective thread to everything Standerfer has done in his life? Accountability.
In the space of content creation and social media where the relentless chase for eyeballs and engagement sometimes result in controversial content strategies, this is devastatingly refreshing.
“A lot of it goes back to my life experiences,” Standerfer shared. “Some of the best coaches I’ve ever had were just good people.
“I think being a good person first is the most important thing. I think character is one of the most important things. That’s where your credibility stems from.
“If someone says you shouldn't do sports gambling and then they have a sports gambling ad in their next video, you've lost me for good now, because you're also the person that will recruit a kid and say, ‘hey, I'm going to get you to the NBA. We're going to work on this together. We're going to do all these things’ and if a better player comes along, they'll cut them.”
Corey’s passion is palpable, and the insight into his motivations is patently grounding. He has a patient tone that’s aligned with long-term success and development, foundational traits for a coach who genuinely cares about ushering kids along a path toward their ideal outcome, rather than selling them a dream.
“Some of the best coaches I've ever worked with were just random construction working parents,” Standerfer said.
“They were good because they wanted to see the kids succeed so they'd do whatever it was for the kids. They would hold them accountable, they wouldn't just play the best player. They didn't care about winning, they cared about development. And I'm like, this guy is better than half the professional coaches I've worked with because it's less about the X's and O's than people realise.”
Kids usually start playing basketball at ages when their world views and values are still being shaped. Heck, most of the time they’re just waiting for recess or lunch, just so they can get back to having fun. For Standerfer, basketball is an avenue for those kids to learn about adversity.
“You'll get kids that have everything going right for them at home. They don't really have any big issues that they have to tackle. I like that sport can give them those really tough life issues that aren't serious. It's a safe space to learn how to deal with adversity and deal with not being the best. If they can overcome that as a young kid and build those tools and resilience, they can go out into the real world and be successful. So I think for me, I've always wanted to be the coach that I didn't have when I was younger.”
This spark has always existed and Standerfer’s energy to coach is ubiquitous. It’s now extended itself to a different medium, audience and demographic, and his character holds true. “YouTube's allowed me to do that now for thousands more people rather than just the kids I coach. Adults are commenting on my stuff and saying how much they're getting out of it. Coaches are commenting. It's kind of driven me to put a lot of time and effort into it and keep that going.”
Fundamentals aren’t just the skills you learn and build. It isn’t just about what you do when you have the ball in hand, it’s also about how you understand the game and they way you fit into it on any given play, and Standerfer sees the same challenges at all levels.
“One thing I started realising really quickly is that everyone struggles with the same problems. Eight year olds will come to you and be like my coach doesn't know the plays and my coach yells and my coach does this. Then a 22 year old will come into your office and say the same things.
“Once I started seeing the same issues happen at every level, see everyone dealing with things. Everyone has questions at every level. Again, they're all just people. We're all just humans. We forget that. So I think the way I coach is holistic. I've played with professional athletes who can't pivot, I've played with professional athletes who can't read a ball screen. Then I've coached ten year olds who can do those things.”
It can be easy to forget we’re all just humans online, but Standerfer keeps the same approach there too. Compound accountability with consistency, and you get reliability and authenticity.
Experiential learning and failure cut through as part of Standerfer’s philosophy and approach to development. This isn’t only true to how he guides kids he coaches, but it’s true to his own growth as a basketball player and a person.
“Now I’ve come back [to the United States] and I'm still doing the thing that I love to do, I just have all this extra resumé that I don't have to use it to get my foot in the door most of the time. But there's times where I have to mention that I did play overseas and they say ‘oh, oh, okay, yeah, we would love to have you help’. I wish I didn't have to say that but that’s the industry sometimes.”
Even with the resumé, Standerfer keeps it real. Ultimately, the credentials he has amassed over his life aren’t what people take away from their time with him. It’s his ability to connect, communicate and the content of his stewardship.
“It’s the ones that gatekeep and hold you to your credentials. They’re like you can’t critique me unless… whatever it is. And then that's when I can step in and be like, well, no, I did so and so. Then they'll listen to my complaints, but it shouldn't have to come to that, like, do you agree or disagree with my point?
“I think, luckily, one of the things that could be a downer or what most people think would be a failure is that I've been cut a lot. I've played for a lot of different teams. Failed a bunch of tryouts, I've been all over the place trying to succeed so much that I think it gave me a really good perspective on different coaches, different coaching styles, different teammates, different cultures and noticing the habits of the ones that win and the habits of the ones that don't.”
He went on to discuss the biggest influences in his life and how they tied into what influenced his decision making.
“So the first is my mom. She was obviously a really good influence for me. She played basketball and she just never let me get too high or too low but she also stayed out of my basketball stuff. Like if the coach was yelling at me, she just let it go but she was always there if I needed help or needed anything. But she never inserted herself.”
He followed this with a story about another great influence at a critical, formative juncture of his life.
It’s clear what Corey has carried with him through his life. He credits and remembers the people that were present in the moment he shared with them. It’s not some theatrical, profound piece of advice, but a genuine, profound person. He takes note of who sees something in him, but it’s just as much about what he sees in other people.
There’s nothing exclusive in Standerfer’s approach to teaching others about basketball. Equally, there are no exceptions to be made as his acumen for analysing and coaching are as high quality as the world’s best trainers, with no price tag. What he wants to achieve with his coaching runs parallel to the best coaches he has crossed paths with. Whether that be a parent who’s a construction worker or his mother, he channels the best coaches he has ever had, and continues to bring his authenticity and passion to the front, every time.