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Coach West & Spencer — Product Vision

westside-coach-west-spencer Doc

active product vision
Project

Overview

Brainstorm capture from Lucas + Spencer conversation (2026-03-24). Spencer's product vision for a basketball platform — currently using Westside Kings & Queens (Coach West / Dave) as the proving ground.

Core User Story

Athlete: "As a high school basketball player, I want to understand where I realistically fit in the college landscape so that I can set goals and plan a path — whether that's D1, D2, JUCO, or leveraging basketball for academic scholarships."
Coach: "As a coach, I want to manage my roster, create plays, track player development, and demonstrate my program's track record so that I can attract better athletes and place seniors in college programs."

The Flywheel

Coach wins games → attracts better athletes → places seniors in college programs → street cred → attracts MORE athletes → better roster → more wins. The platform sits in the middle of this flywheel. Data serves two purposes: (1) athlete pathway planning, (2) program track record proof.

Business Model

B2B SaaS for high school basketball programs. Goal: get high schools to purchase the software stack to manage their teams. Target: 500 users on the platform by fall season. Thomas Chambers (local entrepreneur) is involved in funding conversations. Customer acquisition is the identified risk — Spencer and Dave's coaching network is the distribution channel.

Key Insights

Progressive Profiling

Main friction: asking too much at signup. Solution: minimal signup (email + password), immediate value, then contextual asks. Each data request must correlate to unlocked value. "Want to see college matches? Add your GPA." Direct info-to-value correlation.

Coach-First Data Model

Athletes (15-year-olds) won't enter their own stats. Coaches already have the data — rosters, stats, game results. Coach data entry IS the athlete's onboarding. Kid shows up and their profile already exists because coach built the roster.

Content Generation Model

Coaches are the content generators: stats, playbooks, scoring systems, evaluations. Communities (players, parents) are the consumers. Optimize this network and you optimize connections. "Skool for basketball" — coach is the influencer/creator, team is the community.

Qualitative Player Traits

Beyond box scores: coachability, basketball IQ, leadership, clutch performance, decision-making under pressure, ability to break up a defense, low turnover rate, court vision. These are what college coaches actually recruit on. Only a coach can enter this data — reinforces coach-first model.

Bench Player Self-Advocacy

Feature idea: players can pitch themselves to coaches — "I'm working on X, I know you need a player who does Y, here's how I fit." Teaches life skills beyond basketball. Unique differentiator.

Team Chemistry / Glue Players

Who creates camaraderie? Who holds the team together? The glue player isn't always the most athletic. Tracking and surfacing this is valuable and nobody else does it.

Halftime Analytics (Case Study Goal)

Spencer wants to provide valuable insight that helps coaches pivot during halftime. Track play score rates, who is on court during scoring runs, potential correlations. Immediate, tangible value that coaches see right away.

Marketing / Social Proof

Get a social media kid genius with an NIL deal as a spokesperson. Real stories and conversations on the platform. Network effect: everyone knows someone, platform optimizes those connections.

Win Rate Analytics

Jordan Aut (Suns connection — exact spelling/role TBD, Spencer reference) — study what inputs elite coaches track that correlate with wins. Build those inputs into the data model for credibility and real coaching value.

College Pathway Data Needs

  • GPA — self-reported, simple number. Asked when showing college match results.
  • SAT/ACT — self-reported. "Have test scores? Add them to refine your matches."
  • NCAA eligibility requirements — publicly documented per division (sliding scale for D1, 2.0 GPA for D2). System compares player data against these benchmarks.
  • FERPA constraint — cannot pull grades from schools without parental consent + data-sharing agreement. Self-reported is the practical approach.
  • JUCO → transfer portal path — underserved pipeline. Many kids don't know this is a legitimate D1 route.

What Exists Today (basketball-api)

Registration → contract → payment pipeline. Tenant, Team, Player, Parent, Coach, Registration, Subscription, Product, Order, Jersey, Contract, EmailLog, Outbox. Solid roster and billing. Zero on-court data — no games, stats, plays, schedules, evaluations.

Spencer Wants Access To

  • GroupMe channels
  • Team calendars / practice schedules
  • Every game and practice (to attend and observe)
  • Live data during games for halftime analysis

17U Practice Schedule (Current)

Travel (Recruiting Team)

  • Sunday — Kongo (Farmington), 2–4 PM
  • Tuesday — West High Field House, 6–8 PM
  • Thursday — LCA, 5-6 PM weights, 6-8 PM practice (optional)
  • Tournament circuit: California → Vegas → California (championship) — live periods

17U Local

  • Monday — BWill, 7–9 PM
  • Tuesday — West High Field House, 6–8 PM

Next Steps (TBD)

  • Define which two features to build first
  • Play maker interface for coaches (strong candidate)
  • Second feature TBD
  • Determine repo strategy (new SvelteKit app? playground first?)