Mission. Roster. Money.

It’s been a decade since I left college basketball and moved to Oxford to teach at Ole Miss. There are plenty of things I miss about coaching, but one feeling always comes back to me around March.

By the time you reach conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament, a good team has usually changed. Roles are clearer. Egos have settled. Everyone has been together long enough to know what each person does well. Most importantly, there is a shared obsession with one question: How do we win?

I miss that.

I miss being surrounded by really good people who are collectively trying to accomplish something difficult. At that point, very little energy is spent wondering who gets the credit. The goal is too close and too important. Everyone is trying to figure out how their particular expertise can help the team get there.

Over time, I’ve tried to recreate that feeling in the way I work in Oxford - building alongside people I respect, around work that matters.

It has also changed how I think about recruiting talented people.

When organizations want to attract someone really good, I think they often start with compensation.

Money does matter. But I don’t think it comes first.

The first thing a talented person wants to know is whether there is something meaningful to pursue. Is the goal ambitious? Is there a credible plan for reaching it? Is there evidence that the leadership and system are capable of actually pulling this off?

Great people want to work on things that matter. They also want to believe the system can work.

Then they look at the roster.

Who else is here?

I learned this in basketball. Good players want to play with other good players. Good coaches want to coach with other good coaches. The same thing is true almost everywhere else.

Talented people want colleagues who stretch them. They want to bring something unique to the group, but they also want to know they won’t be asked to carry the entire thing.

Only then do I think compensation becomes the deciding question. If someone brings meaningful expertise, pay them accordingly. But money is a poor substitute for an unclear mission and an empty roster.

That’s why the order matters: Mission. Roster. Money.

If you’re trying to recruit someone exceptional, spend less time asking what you need to offer them and more time examining what you’re inviting them into.

Is the mission worth their time? Is the system credible? Are there already people around the table they’ll be excited to work alongside?

Then make the compensation worthy of their contribution.

Great talent isn’t simply looking for the highest bidder. They’re looking for a place where their talent has a chance to matter.

What I miss most is being surrounded by people I respect, pursuing something difficult enough that none of us could accomplish it alone.

Over time, I’ve tried to recreate that feeling in the way I work in Oxford - building alongside people I respect, around work that matters.

I think talented people are drawn to that too.

They want meaningful work. They want to believe something special is possible. And they want to do it alongside people who make them better.

Give great people something worth pursuing - and great people to pursue it with.

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