Mike “Ice” Heyward '11 earned Coach of the Year honors this winter working with the Knicks—the Wilton NY Knicks, that is.

Heyward got involved with the Junior NBA/Junior WNBA basketball program at the Gavin Park recreational center while looking to fulfill the community service component of his Introduction to Social Work course. There happened to be a coaching opening in the program with a team of 6th and 7th graders; he readily accepted it and continued on well beyond his class requirement.

“The best part of the job was the kids,” says Heyward. “They looked forward to practices and games, and so did I.” He'll never forget their win in an early playoff game: “The look in their eyes when they got the taste of victory was priceless.”

Heyward's coaching experience—he also served as a student assistant coach for the Skidmore men's basketball team this past season—represents his own victory over a life-altering accident.

A standout player himself at Holderness School in Plymouth N.H., Heyward broke his wrist in the third game of senior year. He ended up having surgery twice in hopes of playing at Skidmore, but it was not to be. When his doctor suggested that he would probably never play again, he turned his attention to coaching.

Heyward is honing leadership skills with his major in management and business, service as class vice president, and membership in the student government's communications and outreach committee.

Community service through basketball comes naturally. “I want to do more coaching with kids,” says Heyward, who is planning to work at the college's basketball camp this summer. “Ultimately,” he says, “I want to be a head coach some day at the college level.”

Meanwhile, he is scoring big with young basketball players, inspiring them, as he puts it, “to be the best they can be in all their endeavors.” He's even parlayed his nickname “Ice”—which he got from an early basketball mentor—into the I Can Excel Foundation he is developing. Helping kids excel is what Mike “Ice” Heyward stands for.