It runs in the family: former UNF hooper Chase Driscoll begins coaching career close to home

John Watson, Sports Editor

As a former basketball player at UNF, Chase Driscoll is no stranger to the legacy behind the last name of “Driscoll”. Now, he looks to create his own story as he looks forward to a new opportunity in coaching just few miles down the road.

Driscoll, the son of UNF men’s basketball head coach Matthew Driscoll, is embarking on a similar journey to his father’s as he has accepted a job as Assistant Coach at Webber International University in Babson Park, FL. After playing four years of D1 basketball at UNF and becoming a graduate assistant at Oral Roberts, Driscoll is excited about the new opportunity and also being close to home.

“I’m blessed to have this opportunity at Webber” Driscoll said, “being back in Florida and close to family… It has really been a blessing to be back.”

While an athlete under his father for four years at UNF, Driscoll was able to learn from some of the best coaches while also developing bonds with some of his teammates. His goal as a walk-on was to be treated no differently than any of the other guys although sometimes being called the coaches son.

“Being a player for Dad, I thought it would be difficult.” Driscoll explained, “I just wanted to be treated like one of the guys and I think he did a really good job at doing that.”

Driscoll mentioned that his freshman year in the ’14-’15 season was the best year of his life and being a part of a talented Osprey squad that included guys like Dallas Moore and Beau Beech made his journey worth it. Driscoll highlighted that being on an ASUN Championship team was unlike anything else in his life.

“Being on the team with those guys was something really special” Driscoll mentioned “I’m glad we won an ASUN championship and did something really special for the university.”

After completing an internship with the coaching staff at UNF and graduating from the university, an opportunity arose to begin a career in coaching at Oral Roberts University while working on his Masters degree as a graduate assistant. Working with head coach Paul Mills and other reputable names like Sam Patterson and Russell Springmann was a great experience while Driscoll also connected with the players.

“Some of the guys were in our classes because of graduate transfers” Driscoll explained, “Being able to help talk to those guys if they couldn’t understand something coach was trying to say… and things like that.”

Now, as an assistant coach at Webber, he is trying to take things he’s learned from his father and from the coaches at Oral Roberts and implement it into his young career.

“I’m still learning to be my own coach and what my style is” Driscoll mentioned, “Being able to be around my father for so many years and watching him with Scott Drew and Larry Shyatt has set me up to be able to coach the right way.”

While Driscoll’s main job is to help lead the Webber Warriors to many championship titles, he sees an opportunity to do something bigger than basketball.

“I want to make an impact on my players’ lives” Driscoll said, “I want to win championships, but at the same time… I want to see those guys walk across the stage and go out into the real world.”

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