Why We're Moving to Substack

And, most importantly, why will you benefit?

Back when The Athletic launched in 2016, there were a series of high-profile sports writers and personalities who joined the venture. Seemingly each one penned a starting piece that became engrained in folklore at the time: the Why I’m Joining The Athletic primer.

Explanations ranged from creative freedom to a new challenge, getting back to old school reporting or joining the wave of the future. Everyone had a purpose and a reason, and the collective articulation of that message drove interest in joining. I remember dialing in my subscription and thinking to myself “this is the way sports content should be delivered.”

The most recent revolution has been here: Substack. For some, it’s a means of individual monetization. For others it is independent publishing freedom and growth of their brand. Both are appealing to us at The Box and One… but that’s not the full story.

And when I say “us”, it really is “me”. We’re a one-man show at The Box and One. All are writing, video work on YouTube, it’s not a group venture. Which means that, as a side gig and a second job, this becomes a lot to keep up with.

I began writing in 2012, starting The Box and One on a free blog website through Google. We had maybe 30 clicks a day — most of them from college friends. The purpose of our journey was a simple one: talk about basketball in a nuanced, sophisticated way. Back then, as a sophomore in college, gaining credibility and a body of work to show others that I understood the game was paramount to my entry into the coaching profession. I wasn’t a great athlete, so finding ways to let my passion and knowledge out was necessary.

Fast forward nine years and those coaching goals have been fulfilled. I helped coach a high school team to the #1 ranking in their state and a championship. I coached and recruited (and lost a lot of games) at the college level for four years, which coincided with my shift towards covering the NBA Draft as I had a more intimate view of prospects and selfishly became a better talent evaluator. And in June of 2021 I accepted a full-time position as the head coach at Boys’ Latin, an all-boys college preparatory school in Baltimore that plays in one of the top high school leagues in the country.

Our first Fall League game at Boys’ Latin — a great group to coach

I couldn’t be more proud to have this opportunity at the age of 29, or more grateful to all the mentors, friends and readers who have helped support me. But with this new challenge — and it will be a massive one — comes the other side of the coin: I have a day job now that isn’t just basketball. I’m actually a U.S. History teacher by trade, and dive into that head on as our school year begins again.

Running a program takes a great deal of time. There’s recruiting and recruiting events, practices and workouts outside the school day, meetings with families and working to get our players recruited, film review and gear orders, the inability to stop networking and various other duties that get thrown your way. These boys deserve my efforts, hard work and attention. Sprinkle in the lesson planning and grading, or the fact I’m getting married in June, and the days fill up pretty quickly.

This isn’t a sob story about how hard life has become: this is the challenge I’ve always wanted, and am incredibly excited for. It also means I’ll fundamentally have to change the way and time I spend on creating content online — my second love.

When I started The Box and One nearly a decade ago, it was a fun college hobby. A combination of postgame analysis, some scouting thoughts and X’s and O’s, it didn’t amount to too much. Growing to write for other sites such as BBALL BREAKDOWN, NBA Math, The Basketball Writers and CelticsBlog ate into that time; it brought exposure in new ways, refined my writing and created lasting connections, but it let The Box and One slip.

I always regretted that I couldn’t do it the right way. Then the pandemic happened and everyone’s schedules opened up. Many of you found me for the first time on YouTube, where coverage of the 2020 and 2021 NBA Draft classes took off. Scouting, making videos and thinking about the draft as a unique animal became more than side jobs or hobbies, but inseparable parts of who I am and want to be.

I vow not to give up The Box and One and our scouting work despite the full schedule. But to keep this thing going, we do need your help. In order to justify this within a head coach’s schedule, we needed to change things up a bit. And we need your help.

As a coach, accountability is a pillar of our basketball program. Since I’ve been wrestling with what to do moving forward under time constraints at The Box and One, I kept circling back to this concept of accountability. How can I create accountability for myself to keep this website up?

Then, thanks to friends Sam Vecenie and Fran Fraschilla, it hit me like a Marcin Gortat pick: move to a subscription model. When people give me their time, their attention and ask directly for content, there isn’t a way to run from it. If I’m going to ask for your support (and some spare change) to keep this going, this is the best way to ensure I deliver.

The most important part of this venture is not lost on me: what does this mean for YOU, the subscriber? What will YOU get with a subscription?

First and foremost, an understanding of what will change. Our YouTube videos will not be behind a paywall. All our prospect scouting reports ahead of the draft will continue as they have the last two years. Our writing will head behind a paywall, which means our site on Weebly will no longer feature new pieces.

What does come within our Substack are more pieces throughout the year, augmented coverage of the draft and content that is exclusive to the stack. That includes…

• Retro scouting reports from prior drafts

• NBA Draft updates, scouting nuggets and game breakdowns throughout the year

• NBA or NCAA college playbook breakdowns for the X’s and O’s heads — mainly in video format but exclusive to our site

• Basketball philosophy pieces, ranging from “should we foul up three” to “will post-ups ever dominate the NBA again” angles

• Potential for Q&A sessions, full game scouting watchalongs and other ways to interact as YOU, our subscriber, sees fit

My biggest goal in moving to this model is to give you all a greater deal of control. Subscriber input is a huge part of this. Direct access to ask questions and interact outside of Twitter or YouTube, input for what articles and topics YOU want to see is all part of the deal. We’ll try to channel our inner John Harbaugh and ask you all if we should go for it on fourth down.

We also have another exciting venture to dive into with this shift to Substack: the launch of The Box and One Podcast.

Media, like anything else in the world, is evolving. Podcasts are the new norm for content delivery. Our episodes will be free and published outside the Substack, but with that new vehicle comes the understanding that articles and posts will be slightly less frequent.

We aren’t going to ask for much from you. $5 a month — that’s it. We won’t get rich off this, that isn’t the goal. It’s to create some accountability to keep this thing going, to work with you to create quality content that elevate the game and bring some unique podcast guests into the conversation.

Please consider joining us on Substack. If you can’t, keep supporting us on YouTube. Let’s make this venture work together.