For fourteen seasons, Chicago native Rus Bradburd coached alongside basketball legends, first Don Haskins at UTEP and then Lou Henson at New Mexico State University. In 2000, after eight NCAA tournament appearances, Bradburd shocked the world of college hoops by walking away from a successful coaching career to pursue a life in writing. Bradburd completed his MFA in 2002 and journeyed to Ireland, where he expected the relaxed atmosphere and literary inspiration of Ireland to allow him time to complete his collection of short stories Make It, Take It. To earn his keep, Bradburd planned to coach Tralee’s struggling Frosties Tigers. “I thought Ireland would be a great place to come to work on my book, play a little fiddle and maybe coach a little basketball,” Bradburd says. The journal he kept while coaching in Tralee evolved into his first book, Paddy on the Hardwood: A Journey in Irish Hoops.

On the court, Bradburd is a renowned teacher of dribbling, having tutored NBA greats Tim Hardaway, Rudy Gay and Shane Battier and the star woman player, Nancy Lieberman-Cline. His popular basketball camp, “Basketball in the Barrio,” brings hoops to poor kids in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio. In his work with the camps and as a member of Athletes United for Peace, Bradburd teaches that basketball can be used as a unifying force for peace, tolerance and cultural pride. In the classrooms of New Mexico State University, Bradburd teaches writing, as does his wife, poet Connie Voisine. Bradburd’s stories have been published in The Southern Review, Colorado Review, Puerto del Sol, and Aethlon. Bradburd is also an accomplished musician. He began playing the fiddle in 1994 and is active in the old-time music scene. A Chicago native, he lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Q: You’ve coached all sorts of players in many different places. What is your basic philosophy on basketball?

A: Coaching five players to play together is similar to the dynamics of playing in a band—having the best player means little if you can’t get people to blend. The most difficult thing for a coach is to get individuals to put their natural selfishness in their pocket and do things for the team. I was so lucky to work for Don Haskins and Lou Henson. In many ways they were different, but in other ways exactly alike. I say I got my B.A. from Haskins, my Master’s from Henson.

Q: What surprised you most about Irish basketball culture?

A: The Irish players would constantly remind you that basketball is a ‘minor sport.’  I’d say, “Well, it's not a minor sport to me. And it shouldn't be to you, either.” The Irish players are rugged, tough guys. Blood? Broken finger? Knocked out tooth? That won’t stop them for a minute. Yet, if there is a christening, a wedding reception, or a work-sponsored party to go to, they miss practice or have to leave early. It’s an odd mentality.

Q: What lessons did you learn in Tralee?

A: I learned that it's silly to think that you won’t get emotionally involved with your team—no matter at what level you coach. I thought I’d coach just for fun, collect my check, and focus on writing. But as the Tralee Tigers plummeted, I became even more attached to them. So, I guess I learned that you can love your team even when they stink. And, I learned from Paddy Jones that the fiddle is an old man’s instrument. Now I have a lot to look forward to.

Q: What did you enjoy most about living in Ireland?

A: Irish culture: the music, the history, the politics, and the mindset.  I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me, but I feel as if I’m Irish now. I hadn’t been there very long when I started thinking of the Irish as “we.” There is no other country in the world where being a writer or a poet is more esteemed. But being a basketball coach? Well, that’s another story.

Q: You’re a teacher off the court, too. How does teaching writing compare to coaching basketball?

A: Reading and writing are incredibly personal. You’re alone with words. That was the element of basketball I liked best, too. I could get better, just my ball and me.  But in order to improve at either, you’ve got to be perceptive and humble enough to understand your weaknesses.  I had plenty as a player and even more as a writer. That humility makes me a better coachIn coaching writing or basketball, you have to be part psychologist, part drill sergeant, part father. I’ll say this: as a writing teacher, I never have a bad day. That wasn’t true at all in coaching. But I never have the ecstatic days in writing class I had on the court either..

Q: How would you describe your writing style?

A: I grew up reading Mike Royko, the great Chicago columnist, so my impulse is to be a hard-hitting smart aleck.  Paddy on the Hardwood began as a journal for my own sanity, and it reads differently from my fiction. Paddy is accessible and funny, but at the same time a completely unique take on sports. My fiction is darker and more open-ended

Q: Are you working on other writing projects now?

A: I was supposed to be in Ireland to finish Make It, Take It —a short story collection about college basketball.  It’s taken longer than I’d hoped. When I first quit coaching, several of my colleagues called that first year and said, “When is your book coming out, then?”  Coaches are all impatient. That book is close to completion now, and I'm looking for an agent. I've also begun a biography of a retired coach. I won't say who yet, but his story is riveting.

Q: When and how did you come to play the fiddle?

A: My mother made me take lessons as a boy, and I hated it—reading music, the classical stuff. So, I quit. Twenty years passed, and I was trying to give up TV for good, and needed a hobby.  Just as writers are avid readers who have spilled over, I think musicians who start late—I was 35—are really listeners who love music and spill over. If I had had Paddy Jones as a teacher when I was a kid, I would have hated him. To call Paddy Jones a fiddle teacher is like calling Guinness a beer. But after I heard the stories about him, I actually hunted him down in Ireland.

Q: You are a man of many loves: family, basketball, writing, music. How do you find time for all of them?

A: I am blessed with tremendous energy levels. Like Lou Henson, I'm a happy worker, and happy when I’m busy. Also, my wife Connie likes the old time and Irish music, and she is a better writer than I am. It helps that we have similar interests.

Q: How much head makes for a good beer?

A: In Ireland, a man could be executed for pouring beer the way Americans do. Pouring a stout can’t be hurried. A well-poured stout is a thing of beauty—3/4 inch head that stays all the down to the bottom.  I’ve never been much of a drinker, but Ireland embraces you: your shoes are damp, you scoot close to the open turf fire and the music...one fellow slaps you on the shoulder and welcomes you. The next thing you know some other grizzled old guy is explaining Ireland’s history and handing you your fifth pint. Beware the fifth pint.

“Paddy on the Hardwood is hilarious, heartbreaking, and touching. I’m an avid reader and this is the best sports book I’ve read in a good long while.”—Jerry West, NBA legend

“No reader will come away from this irresistable, honest and deeply human account without a profound appreciation for Ireland and the beguiling power of its people and culture. Paddy on the Hardwood is a basketball book, to be sure--but also one about questing and, ultimately, finding. And it's all the richer for how in engages things that seem distant from sports, but in the end aren't so unrelated at all.”—Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated senior writer and author of Big Game, Small World. 

“Paddy on the Hardwood is a refreshing and disarming memoir that, like its narrator, defies easy classification.  Exotic, suspenseful, heart-wrenching, and surprising, this journey is a hugely appealing adventure, and there's nobody this book isn't meant for.”—Antonya Nelson, author of Some Fun.  

“Fascinating.” Irish America Magazine

“A gem of a book. I defy anyone to read this book and not get caught up in the rhythms of the games and the personalities of his players. This is the book I’ve been waiting for, the book that’s arrived to remind us, even for a moment, that it is still just a game. And a beautiful blarney one, at that.” David Zirin, The Nation columnist, writing for SLAM magazine.

“Absolutely fantastic – colorful characters, warm humor, great scenes, real drama, and a rich personal touch. This book is a treat.” Dan Wetzel, author of Glory Road.

“Enthralling, with a cast of characters that leap with life from the pages. This book, its stories and the lessons therein are a treasure.” Michael Foley, The Sunday Times