YOUTH

As a high school forward, Torbett's game became legendary, landing him Tri-State honors. Off the court, he served as President of the Student Council, the Senior Class, the Honor Society, and was named Mr. Central High School.

COLLEGE

Torbett played his college hoops at Cleveland State and Bryan College, graduating with a math degree and a 3.5 GPA in 1979. He finished his stellar collegiate career shooting 48.8% from the field, with an outstanding free throw percentage of 88%.

COACHING

Coach Torbett earned his reputation in 24 years as a HS coach, compiling an overall winning percentage of over 70% at four different schools, and helping countless players earn scholarships to premier collegiate basketball programs.

THE INTERNATIONAL GAME

It was proven in the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Championships that the world has caught the USA in terms of an understanding of this great sport. American basketball minds should be studying international hoops, and Coach Torbett has stayed ahead of this important curve, traveling the world to both teach and to learn. In fact, he was invited to speak at Belgium's national coaching clinic a couple years ago. There were 11 sessions at the clinic, and Rick Torbett was asked to speak at four of the eleven sessions!

Better Basketball also recently partnered with both ULEB and FIBA to add the highest levels of international men’s and women’s professional hoops to the most recent Better Basketball videos. This means that when you watch the DVDs, you will be seeing Coach Torbett’s techniques demonstrated by real pros in real games.

By the way, Better Basketball now has customers in 86 countries!

A TEACHER AND STUDENT OF THE GAME

Coach Torbett is frequently invited to speak at camps and clinics all over the world. But he spends much of his time not just teaching the game, but studying it. He is constantly consulting with coaching colleagues and players, talking and breaking down games and practices from all levels of the sport. And over the past two years, he has developed a revolutionary offensive system called the “Read and React Offense,” which is not only being run by numerous high school and college programs, but has been called by many the future of offensive team development.

TODAY, AWAY FROM THE HOOPS

Today, much of Rick's time is spent with his wife and two daughters. And for the last ten years, he has “recharged his batteries” by training in the submission sport of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu!

WHAT DOES COACH TORBETT DO ON A DAILY BASIS?

Better Basketball asks Coach Torbett to focus 100% of his time on the basketball rather than the business end of the company. This allows him to focus completely on watching, talking, studying, and teaching basketball, and nothing else. On occasion, Rick will speak at a coaching clinic, travel to work with an NBA or WNBA player, train a player looking to improve his or her skills, or teach his groundbreaking new offensive system to a team.

However, the vast majority of his time is spent working passionately on the Better Basketball videos. His passion to make the best possible product, combined with the hard and diligent work of his production staff, makes the Better Basketball videos widely considered the best in the industry. Below is the process Coach Torbett and his staff work through for each Better Basketball DVD:

1) The process begins with Coach Torbett simply contemplating the best way to teach the subject, and outlining the video. (2-3 weeks)
2) To gather every available technique and thought on the subject, Torbett reviews his notes from attending hundreds of clinics, and debating techniques with other coaches and players for thousands of hours, reviews every other book or video on the subject, and combines that information with his knowledge from 20 years of playing and 24 years of coaching. This unprecedented “research time” means each Better Basketball video contains every known technique on the subject that fits seamlessly into Torbett’s system! (4-6 weeks)
3) With this huge pile of techniques now at his disposal, Torbett carefully writes the initial script for the video. Look for him in front of his laptop at the local coffee shop during this “writing” stage! (6-8 weeks)
4) With a first draft complete, he consults with about a dozen trusted players and coaches, looking for holes and additional thoughts for the script. (2-4 weeks)
5) After finalizing the script, Torbett's dialougue is filmed, and Better Basketball carefully films players demonstrating all the techniques, along with bringing in the professional game footage. (3-6 weeks)
6) Finally, Coach Torbett personally manages the precise and detailed editing of the video, putting everything together in a professional and entertaining way, always working to ensure that the techniques are as easy as possible to understand (4-6 months).

The entire process lasts about 10 months for each video, although our three most recent videos have taken even longer. This incredible amount of effort, expertise, and time that goes into each Better Basketball video is essential to putting out the best possible product. As Coach Torbett likes to say, “if Hollywood spends months and millions making the best possible movie, why shouldn’t we do the same when we make each Better Basketball DVD?”