“I'm not in this position to grow as a coach if I didn't spend those two years at Holderness,” Austin Spurs Head Coach Scott King ’10 said as he reflected on his first season in charge of the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA G League affiliate.

Finding Community and Purpose at Holderness

Joining Holderness as an 11th grader, King was quickly fostered into the school community: “Everything was done together. The shared responsibilities, whether it's in the dining hall cleaning dishes or raking leaves early in the morning. It just becomes who you are. It's all about service. It's all about community. It's all about helping each other.” Building on what he learned as a Bull, fostering community is a focal point of King’s coaching philosophy.

Rising Through the Coaching Ranks

Beginning his professional coaching career in 2017 with the Indiana Mad Ants, King spent one season as a Video Intern with the Detroit Pistons before joining the New York Knicks in 2019, where, after 3 seasons, he was promoted to Assistant Director of Player Development. Stepping into his new role within the Spurs’ organization for the 2024-25 season, King had a strong start to his head coaching career. He led the Spurs to a 22-12 regular season record, securing the second seed in the Western Conference and earning a bye in the first round of the G League Playoffs. King’s work was recognized as he was named the 2025 NBA G League Coach of the Year. 

The G League serves as the development league for the NBA. In 2023-24, 50% of players on NBA start-of-season rosters spent time in the G League. While the G League is home to many future NBA players, it is also a development league for coaches, trainers, officials, and front-office staff. 

Helping young players establish themselves in professional basketball and creating a foundation upon which they can build was a key focus of King’s first season in Austin: “I took a tremendous amount of pride in making sure that these guys had a great first year as a professional in terms of their habits.” Strong habits are necessary for success in the NBA, according to King: “There are 450 [NBA] players, and hundreds are trying to get in every year. The ones who make it are the ones that know how to work, that know how to stick with the process, that have a routine, that don't go with the highs and lows of a result-based sport.”

Leading with Authenticity and Purpose

As he entered his first season as a head coach, King understood the importance of authenticity in his leadership: “The identity and the culture had to match who I was and what I valued as a person… Most of my time throughout the season was spent making sure that the words and the actions from me and the staff matched the things that we were asking the players to do.”

King enjoyed the opportunity to establish a team culture: “If I'm asking them to be the most prepared team every night, we better be the most prepared staff. I spent a lot of time making sure there was no hypocrisy behind the words that I was saying, making sure everything was genuine and authentic. That was probably the most fun part of my job because you started to feel it as a group, they started to buy in, and then they pushed each other. It starts getting self-policed within the team. You don't even have to blow your whistle; they're already on it. I think we got to that as a group, and it was a joy to see that build.”

A Coaching Philosophy Rooted in Holderness Values

King sees the connections he developed within the organization as the key to the team’s success:

“It all just comes back to the relationships and care with the players and everyone. We're all going through the same stuff, and being able to be there for people has probably been the most rewarding part of this game.”

Reflecting on his growth as a coach, King traces emphasis on relationships back to his time at Holderness. 

Holderness gave King a place to grow outside of basketball: “I was challenged early on at Holderness. I wasn't a great student. I was a basketball player. I was challenged, but it never felt in a way that wasn't for the best… It's the investment and the care from the teachers. You build relationships with them and they really care about helping you learn and helping you grow… It shaped who I was.” Carrying this community mindset throughout his life, King has built a career that places people and growth at the forefront of his work.