Matthew Mitchell posts message on learning from mistakes through program upheaval

The UK Hoops program has taken a massive turn for the worse this offseason.

It seems like every other day his been news about a player or assistant coach leaving without any warning or previous report of unease at UK. What has gone on to this point remains a mystery, but the folks at UK continue to maintain it's a combination of bad timing and head coach Matthew Mitchell not paying good enough attention to his program and everything involved with it.

Now, Mitchell has penned a message in which he describes some of the mistakes he's made and what's he's learned through the tough times.

I have had to look in the mirror and ask myself an important question, "How did all of this happen?" How could we have success in the classroom, in our community and on the court during the 2015-16 season and simultaneously have players and coaches wanting to leave at an alarming rate?

While it's impossible for me to know every detail, what I do know is this: through all of the upheaval and all of the painful moments, I have learned lessons that will stay with me forever and will ultimately make me a much better coach.

Among the many things that I have learned in this experience, there is one that really sticks out that I want to share with you. Upon much reflection, I now know that over the past four years there were certain things that I thought had become automatic in our program because of our previous success. I’m not talking about "kicking back, not working and believing things would just happen" kind of automatic. Many players, coaches and support staff have worked very hard over the past four years. We achieved results in the classroom and on the court that most programs would be very pleased with.

What I now clearly see is my failure to get what was in my head and in my heart to enough people to prevent something like this from happening. Good intentions are worthless if they are not communicated effectively. I needed to be more involved in the details of our success and communicate that to people more effectively. I am grateful to so many people who have taken the time to listen, provide constructive criticism and share wisdom gained from their experience in an effort to help me improve.

Read the full message here.