Real Talk with Orem's New Head Coach DJ Conner | Basketball, Life & Lessons
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What does Coach DJ Conner say about returning to coach at his alma mater Orem High?
All right, we are here with Coach DJ Connor. Thanks for doing this with me. Yeah. New coach at Oram High School, your alma mater, we'll call it that. So what is it like coaching at your high school?
You know, it's interesting because you know, my dad was a high school coach for 40 years. And looking back, it's something I never wanted to do. I, you know, my dad made a lot of sacrifices. To me, the best dad in the world. I got to be in the gym with this guy all the time. But I saw that, you know, there were some sacrifices he made of not being with my sisters or at dance competitions or cheer. And so he he missed a lot of those things. And I I I didn't wanna do that. That was not something that I kind of had on my radar to to to coach in high school. I I love basketball. I love playing basketball, but it was something that just probably wasn't on my mind. And then opportunity came up a couple of years ago uh at Mountain View at the time.
I tried to get this other guy to take it 'cause I live in Mountain View Boundaries. I still live in Mountain View Boundaries and the youth is is amazing there. And so I tried to get this guy to take it. He wouldn't. I got talked into coaching and took an interview and I never really had an interview in my life. You know, I've kinda been in sales or, you know, kinda done the entrepreneur thing. So I go in there and, you know, get in a suit and, you know, answer all the questions and And I walked out of there pretty confident and thinking, oh, I think I'm I might get this job. And and a couple of days later their AD called me and and ended up getting the job. So then I stepped right into this thing a couple years ago at Mountain View and I I loved, loved, loved my time at Mountain View.
And so when this opportunity came up at Orm High I just thought, hey, I'd probably go back home and it's where my dad coached for twelve years. It's where I got to play with some of my best friends and teammates for three years. And so it was a it was a tough decision to make because Orm and Mountview, if you know, they're they're rivals and And so, but I'm I'm super excited for the opportunity here at Orm.
Were you coaching before Mountain View, maybe not high school, but other teams? Like what were you in the coaching world?
Yeah, I've always kind of been around the you side of things. So after uh I served an LDS mission, came home, my dad was here at Orm. I I helped a little bit with the sophomore and J V, you know, in the mid two thousand, you know, five, six, seven, eight. Uh so I I I loved it. I loved coaching and then my son, I got uh two girls who were older than I got a little boy. And started doing the junior jazz thing with him and then got into this crazy club world when he was about in second grade. And so started some clubs. We have a basketball club called Real Athlete Club that that we do, you know, through through Utah County. So I've always coached, just never in high school. Yeah.
Yeah. And this actually came up on our Instagram. A coach had mentioned something about he's going for his first head coaching job and the podcast kind of helped him understand how to go through that process. And so the question for you is like specific to this Aurum job, a lot of coaches applied for it and a lot of like pretty well known coaches applied for it. So what do you think during the interview process stood out in what you could offer Aurum?
You know, it it it's interesting because you know, I tell this to people if from a resume standpoint, you know, from some of these guys that were applied, they're ten times better than me from a resume standpoint. And I think what happened was there was a lot of things that I probably checked a lot of boxes that maybe Orm was looking for. Um, one, you know, a community feel. Um, I played here, my dad coached here, a lot of my friends and their kids go here. And then I think the the one thing that that I've done really well with, not from just coaching high school basketball, but the thing that's shifted over the last 10 years is
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does Coach DJ Conner say about returning to coach at his alma mater Orem High?
0:00–8:50
2
How did DJ Conner transition from playing at Orem to coaching at Mountain View and what lessons did he learn there?
8:50–16:34
3
What stood out in DJ Conner’s interview process that helped him land the Orem head‑coach job?
16:34–24:45
4
How is Coach Conner building a new program at Orem by leveraging community ties and youth clubs?
24:45–32:20
5
What are Coach Conner’s philosophies on tryouts, player cuts, and emphasizing effort?
32:20–39:50
6
How does DJ Conner handle multi‑sport athletes, parents, and playing‑time discussions?
39:50–46:37
7
What standards and coaching philosophies does Conner use when adapting offense and defense systems?
46:37–54:24
8
What is Coach Conner’s vision for the upcoming season, including winning the state title and boosting fan engagement?
54:24–1:02:05