Joseph Shotland: From Playing to Coaching Basketball at Trinity

By Emily Bae

Coach Joseph Shotland is a Trinity University alumnus whose life has been largely about the game of basketball. In 2010, he came to Trinity University and walked onto the basketball
​court to be a shooting guard. He described his role as bringing energy to the team. He graduated with a Bachelors in English in ​2014 and later graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching at Trinity University.

Knowing that he could not play basketball forever, he still wanted to be a part of the sport. One of his favorite aspects of basketball is the team component and he enjoyed the leadership qualities needed for basketball. He therefore thought of coaching.

Shotland approached Cameron Hill, head coach for Trinity women’s basketball, in his junior year of college and asked if he could help with the team.​

​Trinity Men’s Basketball Clicking after Rough Seasons

Trinity basketball players (left to right) Nik Oakes, Tyler Peavy, 
Tyler Sawyer, Colin Jones, Josh Ingram, and A.J.Pulliam 
during a game against Colorado College
Photo by Bennett Soriano

By Kate Irvin

At the end of the 2016-2017 regular season, which ended ​last week, Trinity men’s basketball team achieved a record of 12-13. This was a great improvement from last year’s record of 10-16, and much better than their 2014-2015 season record of 5-20.

The story of the team overcoming adversities and becoming, once again, a winning team, can be seen as a prime example of how a team can face challenges and still find a way to positive team chemistry and victories.

After two straight losing seasons (2014 through 2016) and the struggle to end the win drought, the team faced a lot of adversity. This was a new situation for a team that not long ago had won three straight conference championships. They learned to maintain a positive attitude amid negativity. They learned to have patience, trust the process, and work their way to improve every year, until their 12-13 season this year.