Swarthmore College’s basketball team is having a very good season under the coaching of Landry Kosmalski and his unique approach, writes Bob Ford for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Stick to the fundamentals.

This academically exceptional school could give in to fancy schemes, but it hasn’t.

“Keep it simple,” Kosmalski says. “When I was growing up, I read the books on the Boston Celtics and, when they were doing well with Red Auerbach, they had seven plays. The same seven plays every year. These are our seven plays. Stop them.”

He calls it the Karate Kid method, repetition of the same fundamentals. He quotes Celtics coach Brad Stevens.  ‘Champions do ordinary things at a championship level.’

The work has paid off.  The Swarthmore Garnet remained undefeated this season, and the No. 1-ranked Division III team in the nation with a 17-0 record.

The program has been so consistently good during this five-season run that it is hard to remember that Swarthmore finished with a winning record only seven times in the 65 seasons that preceded it.

Kosmalski lives in Swarthmore with his family. The team’s success could open opportunities to coach elsewhere. For now, though, he remains, where simple is better—and undefeated.

Read more about Landry Kosmalski and his successful coaching career here.

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