Colorado State University Athletics
A closer look at Ram Basketball
5/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 6, 2008
By Trevor Edy
Athletic Media Relations
Before the Rams can put a basketball team on the floor, there are a lot of behind-the-scenes hurdles that need to happen. Take, for instance, team travel, film exchange and class checks. For men's basketball assistant Josh Dees, this is life. Dees has been around basketball his whole life and it is what he knows.
The life of a coach's son is not always easy, but for Dees, it was life. Son of national coaching great Benny Dees, Josh was raised in a straight-edge, `It is my way or the highway' style. While some may shy away from that method of parenting, Josh embraced it.
"It was always `yes sir' or `no ma'am' with my family, just do whatever they told me to do and I would be fine," said the 23-year-old bachelor as he sat in his chair with his short haircut and perfectly ironed pants. "They did a really good job raising me, though."
Dees said he is big on being professional, in every aspect of his life.
"My parents were great, they just established what was expected," said Dees.
Growing up in small-town Vidalia, Ga., Dees was a living basketball mind. Both of his parents were coaches at one time in his life. His mom was coaching at Western Georgia while his father had to be an interim coach for the Georgia Tech women's team when its head coach was sick (he was an assistant coach for the men's team at the time).
"They ended up playing each other in one game," said Dees. "It was pretty funny. We are totally a basketball family."
At 18, Dees started to think about what any senior in high school thinks about, life after high school. After a couple offers from Division II teams as well as some smaller Division I programs, like Creighton, Dees said that family pulled him toward the University of Wyoming, a place where his father was a former coach and led the Cowboys to a 104-77 (.575) record in six seasons from 1988-93.
After a knee injury that kept him out for a year, he decided to transfer to Western Carolina, a school at which his father also coached (1993-95), to play out the rest of his two years of eligibility.
"It really was a bummer that I didn't get to play all that much in my college career, between the injury and the transferring," said Dees, a former 6-foot-1 guard.
Nonetheless, Dees learned a lot of things while going through his college career, especially basketball. Having nagging injuries throughout his collegiate competition made learning an even larger part of his process.
"Josh is the essence of CSU basketball," said Rams Head Coach Tim Miles. "He is hard working, intelligent, and he cares."
However, the learning did not stop there. Dees said he is constantly learning from Miles about the smaller, but important, aspects of the game.
"He really stresses on the little things that other people may overlook, like boxing out, free-throw shooting, getting fouled, hustling," said Dees. "He doesn't let things get him down. I think the players respond more positively to that."
Team travel and season operations are not the only everyday tasks that Dees does. Many of the players see him as a `go-between' them and the coaches.
"I think he really is perfect bridge between (the players) and the coaches," said Stuart Creason. "He is closer to our age and just a lot easier to relate to when it comes to certain things."
Overall, Dees would not be considered your everyday men's basketball assistant. The knowledge he has brought to the program is priceless, according to the coaching staff and players.
Even through all the Xs and Os, ball screens and ball fakes, the most complimented attribute of the 23-year-old assistant is his personality.
"I love it here, it's such a great place," he said. "I just really enjoy the relationship aspect of this job."
