Hernando Planells on The Unique Journey

Today we go beyond the surface with Hernando Planells. Hernando is the associate head coach with Duke University's women's baskebtall team. Hernando's journey is anything but linear. Basketball has taken him all over the world and his entrepreneurial spirit can be heard throughout our conversation. Hernando is not just a coach. He also has a company that puts on workshops to develop leadership, communication, and culture, predominantly by using improv. You can also check out his podcast here. Lastly, he's a great follow on Twitter @hernandojr.

Planells has one of the most diverse backgrounds in basketball in both coaching and player development. He has coached at every level including a stint with the Maine Red Claws from 2010-11 of the NBA Development League. As an assistant coach, he was in charge of player development, scouting and did on-court coaching. He helped develop Boston Celtics No. 1 draft pick Avery Bradley and NBA D-League Rookie of the Year DeShawn Sims. Planells has also spoken at coaching clinics and conducts player development camps all over the United States and in countries such as Japan, Philippines, Australia, Switzerland and Taiwan. In 2011, he founded ELITE athlete training, which specialized in personal training and consulting services for athletes. Through his work with ELITE, he trained and assisted over 100 athletes reach their goal of gaining a college scholarship or playing professionally.

From 2005-10, Planells served as a scout for Marty Blake, who is the Director of Scouting for the NBA. In his role as a scout, Planells put together scouting reports evaluating NBA prospects which were circulated to every NBA general manager and player personnel director.

In 2008, Planells returned to the United States after serving as head coach of the Ryukyu Golden Kings, an expansion team that is a part of the BJ League (Basketball Japan). For the 2006-07 season, he served as the head basketball coach for The Hollywood Fame, a team that participated in the American Basketball Association (ABA).

In 2005, Planells was named the first head coach of the Wyoming Golden Eagles out of the All-American Professional Basketball League. At that time, the 28-year-old was the youngest professional basketball coach in the country.

From 2003-05, Planells served as the assistant coach in charge of offense for Citrus College, one of the top community colleges in the state of California. Other coaching stops include a stint as the head varsity coach at Los Angeles High School (1998-2000), Immaculate Heart High School (1996-97) in Tucson, Ariz., and as an assistant at Monrovia High School (1995-96).

Thanks to Hernando for coming on the podcast.