LeBron James' right hand man Brandon Weems chases coaching dream at Oakland University

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1 LeBron James' right hand man Brandon Weems chases coaching dream at Oakland University Loading Photo Gallery Eric Woodyard By Eric Woodyard Follow on Twitter on January 27, 2015 at 5:00 AM, updated January 27, 2015 at 9:09 AM ROCHESTER HILLS, MI When NBA stars fly into Michigan as visitors at The Palace of Auburn Hills, many of them alter their schedules to hit up Brandon Weems. If time permits, they'll step out for dinner, catch up on lost time, chill at the team hotel or occasionally pencil in a workout. Oakland University men's basketball loyalists may recognize the 28 year old as a laid back member of Coach Greg Kampe's tight knit staff. But if you closely follow the career of the NBA's marquee player, LeBron James, then you're familiar with his name. Weems is one of James' closest homeboys from Akron, Ohio. "I make sure I look out for him," James said. "He's my little brother." Weems is pursuing his coaching passion for the second straight season as a Golden Grizzlies assistant. James' lifelong friend is doing everything in his power, using all of his superstar connections, to take OU's program to the next level. "I definitely think people say 'Oh, that's just LeBron's guy,' but that's OK. I don't mind that," Weems said after an intense Oakland practice. "When I came here I didn't mention (LeBron). "That's not something that I want people to think, but I know that's part of the territory," he added. "All I do is I try to work as hard as I can and do my job to the best of my ability and let all those things speak for it." Cool, calm and collected is the best way to describe Weems on OU's bench. His style is never too up or down, rarely yelling, but more dishing out pointers and ideas for in game adjustments. Growing up with James in Akron can have that effect. Weems was playing high school basketball in sold out college arenas, signing autographs and being nationally televised on ESPN as James' high school teammate at St. Vincent St. Mary, so pressure isn't an issue. When James missed two high school games due to his much 1/5

2 publicized high school suspension for accepting throwback jerseys, guess who started in his place? "I told Coach (Dru Joyce) the whole time, like, 'I'm just a better player than him,' he didn't need no suspension," Weems joked about the jersey situation. #LaFamilia Entering James' inner circle didn't happen overnight. Weems' and James' friendship first started through Pee Wee football as teammates at 5 and 6 years old. From there, they continuously played in the same sports organizations, spent nights at each other's homes, battled in intense backyard sessions and built a strong connection. In their 8 to 10 year old rec league at Akron's Summit Lake Center, James was clearly the most talented but Weems possessed the clutch gene. Facing a sudden death situation in triple overtime of the championship game, it was Weems who hit the final shot to capture the victory. "It was called for me but Weems stole my shine," James laughed. "He stole my shine that day, man. He was very good, very cerebral, too. He was a smart guy that knew the game and every time we got on the floor we all loved to play." "That'll be a lasting memory," St. Vincent St. Mary basketball coach Dru Joyce recalled. "You could tell at a very young age that Brandon had a thirst for the game. He was skilled and very knowledgeable." Even deeper than their relationship through sports, James' and Weems' moms shared the same birthday. Weems' mother, the late Brenda Weems, adopted a godmother role to James and his oldest son, LeBron Jr. Brenda Weems passed away at 45 years old on April 16, 2006, after a long battle with cancer. So James decided to dedicate his first career playoff game to her after visiting her wake the night before and signing her name and 'R.I.P' on his exclusive white/gold Nike Zoom LeBron sneakers as a tribute. The result: 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. He became the first NBA player to debut with a playoff triple double in nearly 30 years. "I got my first playoff victory and I think she had a lot to do with that," James said. "She was looking over us. "Just her strength and what she believed in throughout what she went through she meant everything to us," James added. "It's still sad to this day but obviously she's in a better place today, and the man above don't make no mistakes, but she meant everything to us." Although James has reached international stardom with his basketball gifts, Weems isn't his yes man. He's not some flunky that stands around waiting for a hand out from James. 2/5

3 Contrary to popular belief, he goes out and makes his own way. They aren't afraid to keep things brutally honest with each other, either. "He is one of the guys that can tell me whatever he sees," James said. "If I'm doing great or if I'm BS'ing myself, so to have that type of support is great." Because of that brotherhood, Weems has learned to spot the people approaching him from a mile away with ideas that aren't in James' best interest. From shady business propositions to autograph seekers, Weems has heard it all through the years. Nothing is surprising anymore. "People always want to come up to me and ask about him, saying they need this and that," Weems explained. "I try to help when I can, but for the most part I'm like 'Hey man, that's like my brother' and we don't have that kind of relationship. I don't want to put him in any kind of crazy position. "They think that just because it's LeBron that he can do anything," Weems said. "I don't like when it's coming, but also I know that it's a part of it." Earned not given Weems' road from Ohio to Michigan wasn't solely based on his connection to James. Sure, that may have helped, but he tirelessly put in work to enter the college basketball coaching ranks. One of the benefits of having a megastar athlete as a buddy is getting your foot in the door. But it doesn't carry much weight if you're not working up to par. Weems knows this, so at every stop he comes prepared to work hard and log the graveyard shift hours whenever necessary. "Let's be real about this, in today's society it's not about what you know but who you know," Joyce said. "Any time you can use something in your favor to get you in the door, then you use it. Now, once you get in the door, it's all on you. He's proving his worth. There's no shortcuts." After graduating from St. Vincent St. Mary in 2004, Weems enjoyed an All American career as a star point guard for Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. His four year college career ended in He eclipsed the 1,000 point scoring mark, dished out over 600 assists and led the program to a NAIA national title in His next stop: The University of Kentucky. He learned from coach John Calipari from Weems worked on his staff for three seasons, first as a graduate assistant then as the assistant director of basketball operations. Kentucky won a national title in 2012 and Weems was able to form bonds with future NBA pros such as John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Brandon Knight, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd Gilchrist when they were Wildcats. "I was very fortunate that Coach Calipari really trusted me and he really took care of me," Weems said. "A lot of 3/5

4 times when you're a grad assistant, some coaches can treat you as if you're not a coach, so they'll have you go get his car or something. But he really let me be a coach and he treated me as if I was an assistant." Weems landed his second coaching gig as a staff assistant at Philadelphia's Drexel University for the season. He then was hired at Oakland. Calipari played an integral role in reaching out to Kampe on Weems' behalf. "He suggested Brandon and gave me the reasons he thought Brandon would be very good," said Kampe, recalling the conversation with Calipari. "I wanted to get someone that would expand our recruiting base going into the Horizon League, so he was the perfect fit for what we needed at that time." It turns out that Kampe has one of the state's hidden gems for recruiting with Weems. His ties to James and connections to some of the NBA's hottest stars have an effect on top prospects. Oakland currently wears basketball uniforms sponsored by the Jordan Brand. With Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul being a close friend of Weems, as well as a Team Jordan athlete, Paul donated three pairs of his signature Jordan CP3.VIII's to the program in exclusive black, gold and white Oakland colorways. "He's young, so he understands where we're coming from but at the same time he's been around the game a long time," Oakland guard Kahlil Felder said of Weems. "With the workouts he can get in practice and actually show us what to do so it's actually good to have that. "We appreciate him for the new CP3's that we're wearing." Golden Grizzlies James made a surprise visit to OU's Horizon League matchup against Cleveland State on Monday, Jan. 26. It's a testament to his friendship with Weems. Drop by an open practice at Oakland on any random day, and Weems will be wearing a pair of the dopest Nike sneakers on the market. "He loves my shoes so it's great to be able to send some stuff to him and for him to rock them," James said. "He'll tell me if my shoes are not nice he won't wear them." Weems a 5 foot 10, 167 pound Akron native could easily get confused with student athletes if you don't know his history. Weems envisions a head coaching position in his future, within the next five or six years. He's enjoying every step of the process to reaching that goal while fine tuning some of the nuances of the job. "I can always improve on the X's and O's of basketball," Weems said. "Every stop you've been, you take what you like and what you don't like and try to incorporate that into your personality." Weems isn't the only one benefiting from his friendship with James. Having a go getter in his inner circle also 4/5

5 keeps one of basketball's biggest stars on a straight path as he strives for greatness in his second stint with Cleveland. "Everybody that you see around me is the people that I grew up with," James said. "We've got the same tools we've had since we were kids, so it's easy to trust." 2015 MLive.com. All rights reserved. 5/5