--- id: 20261008_143000_randy-360men-basketball-tape title: 'Dean Rush: Basketball (360MEN Mugshots and Coffee with Daniel Comp)' category: Videos content_kind: video source_kind: youtube youtube_id: nX5oBYOtV5Y youtube_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX5oBYOtV5Y youtube_title: '360MEN: MUGSHOTS and COFFEE - Dean Rush - Basketball' youtube_channel: '@scotomaville' youtube_channel_url: https://www.youtube.com/@scotomaville youtube_description: Part 1 of a Mug Shots and Coffee with Dean Rush. Dean shares about his early years in basketball and the lessons he learned that helped him excel in the corporate leadership roles he commanded. Dean's character has been fashioned by basketball, Vietnam and Jesus Christ. His professorship sings with deep convictions and connections with young and old. Learn from Dean why he has championed causes and corporate challenges with success and humility. Join him in conversation at [http://360MEN.net](http://360MEN.net) and [http://DeanRush.com](http://DeanRush.com) youtube_duration: '8:33' source_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX5oBYOtV5Y source_date: '2018-04-24' watch_stem: dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-basketball-farm-hay-balers-college-scholarship-team-dynamics-christ-in-the-workplace watch_path: /v/dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-basketball-farm-hay-balers-college-scholarship-team-dynamics-christ-in-the-workplace.html summary: Dean Rush tells Daniel Comp, in Daniel's Airstream in Katy, Texas, how basketball shaped his life. His father wanted his children to go to college, so hired men baling hay taught the boys the game between loads. Dean earned a scholarship, played four years of college ball, and tried out at the next level. Basketball taught him team dynamics, which he later taught as Organizational Behavior, and his mission is to get Christ into the workplace. keypoints: - His father, who died in Dean's teens, wanted his children to go to college; hired men baling hay taught them basketball. - 'A scholarship and four years of college ball, then tryouts at the next level: ''I could shoot the ball really well...and I could take abuse.''' - He met his wife on a team flight to an exhibition game; she was a flight attendant. - 'Team dynamics: ''I love the teams that actually use the team not individuals.'' You can''t do it alone.' - 'Dean''s mission: ''to get Christ into the workplace,'' empowering people to take Christ into the marketplace.' - 'Companion article on Ask Dean (see Articles): Playing As If His Life Depended on It: Dean Rush on Basketball, Read Back Like a Flight Log' tags: - 360men - mugshots-and-coffee - dean-rush - daniel-comp - basketball - father - farm - scholarship - team-dynamics - anger - grief - think-straight - romans-12-12 - joyful-in-hope - christ-in-the-workplace - flying-free - flight-log - youtube corpus_topic: 360MEN Mugshots and Coffee sentiment: Conversational sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: public agent: randy created: '2026-10-08' updated: '2026-10-08' date: '2026-10-08' vault_stage: 07_CODEX enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: bot pipeline_filename: VIDEO_dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-basketball-farm-hay-balers-college-scholarship-team-dynamics-christ-in-the-workplace.md content_status: approved routing_source: carbon prefix: randy headwaters: randy asker_site: ask.deanrush.net question: What did basketball teach Dean Rush, as he tells Daniel Comp on 360MEN Mugshots and Coffee? owner: dean drafted_by: randy requested_by: Daniel Comp (co-founder and steward) voice: dean_first_person interviewer: Daniel Comp (360MEN host; co-founder and steward of Intelligent Netware) book_url: https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md related_article: /a/RANDY_dean-rush-basketball-father-hay-balers-scholarship-think-straight-romans-12-12-joyful-in-hope-team-dynamics.html cross_links: - 'Be Strong and Courageous: Dean Rush''s Three Life Lessons, Read Back Like a Flight Log: https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-three-life-lessons-be-strong-and-courageous-deuteronomy-31-6-even-in-the-face-of-your-enemy-flying-free-check-your-instruments.html' - 'Dean Rush: 3 Life Lessons (360MEN Mugshots and Coffee with Daniel Comp): https://ask.deanrush.net/v/dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-3-life-lessons-grandfather-porch-swing-vietnam-deuteronomy-31-6-empowerment-listening.html' - 'Under the Bed in Honolulu: Dean Rush''s Hawaiian R&R, Read Back Like a Flight Log: https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-hawaiian-r-and-r-vietnam-shelling-under-the-bed-know-your-cockpit-psalm-55-6-wings-like-a-dove-rest.html' - 'Dean Rush: Hawaiian R&R (360MEN Mugshots and Coffee with Daniel Comp): https://ask.deanrush.net/v/dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-hawaiian-r-and-r-vietnam-shelling-honolulu-blasting-under-the-bed-vickie.html' - 'Playing As If His Life Depended on It: Dean Rush on Basketball, Read Back Like a Flight Log: https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-basketball-father-hay-balers-scholarship-think-straight-romans-12-12-joyful-in-hope-team-dynamics.html' - 'Dean Rush Reads Flying Free, Chapter One (video): https://ask.deanrush.net/v/dean-rush-reads-flying-free-chapter-one-steady-as-you-go-eagle-free-fall-crisis-opportunity.html' - 'When Life Pushes You Out of the Nest (article): https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-reads-flying-free-chapter-one-eagle-out-of-the-nest-crisis-to-opportunity-maintain-control.html' approved_by: dean approved_quote: Approved approval_message_id: msg_bc827082219b47488cb7e15d8350c2f7 approval_rfc822_message_id: approval_thread_id: thr_136b4ae62aca46d686e6f9f08e74c52a approval_inbox: randy@deanrush.net approved_at: '2026-10-08T14:07:38-07:00' owner_change_request: 'Modify Deuteronomy 31: by adding at the end … Even in the face of your enemy' preauthorized_by: 'Daniel Comp (co-founder and steward), in chat 2026-10-08: post on Dean''s APPROVED' transcript_kind: owner_cleaned_transcript_lightly_edited transcript_note: 'Daniel Comp''s cleaned transcript (danielcomp.com/kb/Video/Transcripts), lightly edited by Randy: names spelled as in Flying Free; speaker labels checked; Dean''s spoken words otherwise kept, including spoken retellings that differ from printed sources. Randy did not watch the video.' --- # Dean Rush: Basketball (360MEN Mugshots and Coffee with Daniel Comp) Dean Rush talks with his longtime friend Daniel Comp for the 360MEN series "Mugshots and Coffee" (YouTube, @scotomaville, 2018-04-24, about 8½ minutes). ## Key lessons - His father, who died in Dean's teens, wanted his children to go to college; hired men baling hay taught them basketball. - A scholarship and four years of college ball, then tryouts at the next level: 'I could shoot the ball really well...and I could take abuse.' - He met his wife on a team flight to an exhibition game; she was a flight attendant. - Team dynamics: 'I love the teams that actually use the team not individuals.' You can't do it alone. - Dean's mission: 'to get Christ into the workplace,' empowering people to take Christ into the marketplace. Read Randy's flight-log article on this talk: [Playing As If His Life Depended on It: Dean Rush on Basketball, Read Back Like a Flight Log](https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-basketball-father-hay-balers-scholarship-think-straight-romans-12-12-joyful-in-hope-team-dynamics.html) ## Transcript _Edited transcript. This is Daniel Comp's cleaned transcript of the interview, lightly edited by Randy: names are spelled as in Flying Free (Vickie, DePauw), and speaker labels were checked. Otherwise Dean's spoken words are kept as he said them, including places where his spoken retelling differs from printed sources. Randy did not watch the video._ **Daniel:** I’m Daniel Comp with 360MEN and today we have coffee with Dean Rush in Cinco Ranch, Texas. Come on in. Welcome back to the channel. This is D. Rush. I’ve known him for 15 years and he’s dropped in for coffee in our Airstream. We’re in Katy, Texas. I’m gonna have Dean tell you about his experience when he was young playing basketball. **Dean Rush:** Daniel, that was so many years ago but I can still relate to a lot of the actions and inactions that took place over that time. I grew up on a farm and my father died when I was young — that was in my teenage years. For some reason he had foresight before his death and he decided that there was one way he was anxious for us to go to college. No one in our family had ever gone to a post-high school degree. So he had people that he would hire to bale hay — what he called “tuff” in Indiana in the summertime — but between loads of hay these guys came in and they would teach us how to play basketball. That’s really the time in my life we became enthralled with being better and better and trying to discipline myself to be able to do something later on. Well, I was able to get a scholarship, attended DePauw University, played basketball there for four years. At the end of the time I just wanted to go to the next level. So I got a call one day from Coach McCall and he said, “I know you’re interested. I don’t know whether you can make it but would you like to try out for the St. Louis Hawks?” This is before St. Louis moved to Atlanta. I said sure. He said, “Well you have to be at Washington University tomorrow night — this on a Friday — and go through their tryout procedure.” I did that on Friday, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, and then they had us go through another drill on Sunday afternoon. They came in and announced that I had at least made the taxi squad. What that means is you’re in the upper third of the bottom fifth of their recruits. As we began to play I found out I was a little slower than some of the other folks. I could shoot the ball really well, I could handle the ball really well, and I could take abuse. One of the reasons they kept me at that time was I wasn’t afraid to get hurt. As my wife said, I was thrown into the stands by the best. At that time in that era if you got into a fight you both got thrown out. So quite often I would come from the end of the bench, the coach would say go in and hit Johnson or hit whoever that was the leading scorer on the other team. When he hit me back we both got tossed. I didn’t hurt our team but it sure hurt their team. That’s one of the reasons that you would have a nose like this — I have no cartilage in my nose because it was hit a few times. Well I played ball and moved quickly to the Cincinnati Royals for a tryout. I went from the Cincinnati Royals, they traded me to Baltimore and before I received a full contract at Baltimore even arrived actually they put me on waivers which told me where I stood in the basketball world. Well then at that time Abe Saperstein who owned the Harlem Globetrotters was starting the ABA — the American Basketball Association — and they had teams all over the place: San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Chaparrals, Cleveland Cavaliers. We were the Cleveland Pipers when I went there and Cleveland Jets then became the Cleveland Pipers in the ABA that eventually evolved into the Cleveland Cavaliers. I say all that because I found that in basketball I could relate to other people and I began to learn team dynamics. I learned team dynamics in a way that was sort of uncanny when I began to understand that the people around me were teaching me about life. As we traveled we had some great experiences. I met my wife on one of the trips when we were going to play the Bulls in an exhibition game. She was a flight attendant and we were going to be friends but she seemed to enjoy basketball so we were able to eventually come to an agreement and get married and that was about 51 years ago. So I think the agreement has stood the test of time. Well basketball was something that never ever left my soul. My son played basketball, my daughter played basketball and I’ve watched over the years and those team dynamics that I learned are still going on. I love the teams that actually use the team not individuals. And so much in life today depends upon the people around you. I teach Organizational Behavior at Liberty University and I love the subject because it talks about team dynamics — when you’re developing an organization, when you’re trying to stabilize the team, stabilize an organization. You can’t do it alone and that’s one of the reasons that I’ve enjoyed teaching but I’ve also enjoyed the interaction with the students because I find that many students these days really don’t realize that they’re part of an organization. You know God made us that way. He said that we were to come together as one and quite often we begin thinking that we’re one and our individual thinking takes us away from His real purpose and that was for us to touch other people. My mission in life at my age is to get Christ into the workplace. I don’t know whether you know Christ but the idea for me has been trying to get people to understand what I found through basketball, through life, and through the understanding that it was Jesus who opened the eyes of the blind and He opened the hearts of those that were being persecuted. An idea that I have today is that we can through you and I empower people to go into the marketplace, go into the workplace and let them know about Christ. So it’s with that that I expound on the ideology of empowerment. I found when I was running companies — and it was very fortunate I ran some very large companies — I couldn’t do the work myself. I had to have people around me who were capable and enthusiastic about doing their jobs. With that I would say that I’m very interested in knowing you and having you know some of my thoughts and they’re worth just what you’re paying for them. I believe that God has put us in a position to talk to one another so this is my method of expounding my gospel to you and hopefully the gospel of Jesus Christ and His salvation as well. --- [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX5oBYOtV5Y) · [Read the article](https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-basketball-father-hay-balers-scholarship-think-straight-romans-12-12-joyful-in-hope-team-dynamics.html) · Flying Free: [Chapter 14, Think Straight](https://ask.deanrush.net/a/flying-free-14-think-straight.html) · [the whole book](https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md) ## More from Dean's coffee talks with Daniel - **3 Life Lessons:** [Be Strong and Courageous (article)](https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-three-life-lessons-be-strong-and-courageous-deuteronomy-31-6-even-in-the-face-of-your-enemy-flying-free-check-your-instruments.html) · [Dean Rush: 3 Life Lessons (video)](https://ask.deanrush.net/v/dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-3-life-lessons-grandfather-porch-swing-vietnam-deuteronomy-31-6-empowerment-listening.html) - **Hawaiian R&R:** [Under the Bed in Honolulu (article)](https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-hawaiian-r-and-r-vietnam-shelling-under-the-bed-know-your-cockpit-psalm-55-6-wings-like-a-dove-rest.html) · [Dean Rush: Hawaiian R&R (video)](https://ask.deanrush.net/v/dean-rush-mugshots-and-coffee-hawaiian-r-and-r-vietnam-shelling-honolulu-blasting-under-the-bed-vickie.html) - **Also on Ask Dean:** [Dean Rush Reads Flying Free, Chapter One (video)](https://ask.deanrush.net/v/dean-rush-reads-flying-free-chapter-one-steady-as-you-go-eagle-free-fall-crisis-opportunity.html) · [When Life Pushes You Out of the Nest (article)](https://ask.deanrush.net/a/RANDY_dean-rush-reads-flying-free-chapter-one-eagle-out-of-the-nest-crisis-to-opportunity-maintain-control.html) · [All of Dean's videos](https://ask.deanrush.net/v/index.html)