About

James Mooney is entering his sixth season as the head men's basketball coach at his alma mater, the College of Mount Saint Vincent (CMSV) in the Bronx, NY, where he is also the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,793 points and in 2021, he was inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame.

At CMSV, Coach Mooney has given the program a complete turnaround. Since 2003, the Dolphins had been to the conference semi-finals only three times and under Mooney, the Dolphins have made it to the semi's twice. Coach Mooney has coached three all-conference players and one 1,000 point scorer. He has also raised the team's GPA significantly as they have hit the 3.0 GPA mark three separate years. 

Coach Mooney has an extensive background in playing, coaching, and training. As a player and assistant coach at Iona Prep in New Rochelle, NY, he has won both City and State CHSAA championships. At CMSV, Mooney was a four year starter, three year captain, and in his senior year he averaged 26.2 points per game. Mooney then went on to play professionally in Ireland, England, and Switzerland and was named the MVP of his English team. 

Coach Mooney began his coaching and training career in 2009 when he joined the Iona Prep varsity basketball team's staff. At the same time, he worked for Teaches Hoops as a player developer and camp director. When House of Sports in Ardsley, NY opened in 2012, Mooney joined the staff as a full-time player developer and AAU coach. From there, Mooney went on to become the East Coast Regional Manager for Ultimate Hoops at Life Time Fitness in 2014, where he oversaw training, camps, and adult leagues. During his tenure there, Mooney was also the head boy's varsity basketball coach at Rye Neck High School in Mamaroneck, NY. 

"If we train like we play, we will play like we train."

3E Basketball is on a mission to restore the art of basketball training with the simple philosophy of learning to play through play. What we have seen is a heavy emphasis on skill development and a lack of instinctual development. You may be asking yourself, "What's instinctual development and what's the difference?" Allow us to explain with just a few examples below.

Shooting

Skill Development = learning the proper form and technique for shooting a basketball

Instinctual Development = learning how to shoot over a defender, when to use a shot fake, how to create your own shot, etc.

Ball Handling

Skill Development = learning the proper way to dribble, how to effectively make a crossover,  etc.

Instinctual Development = learning how to create space, learning when to use certain crossovers, etc.

3E Basketball is COMMITTED to teaching the game of basketball with a combined approach of developing both skill AND instincts. These instincts are not developed from attacking a chair or cone. It is developed from live competition with live defenders. The more our players are exposed to game-like scenarios, the more instincts our players will develop.

Knowing the difficulty and the challenges faced with developing these skills, our #1 PRIORITY is creating a fun, positive, and ENCOURAGING learning environment for our players. That means they are free from criticism, free from judgment, and they are ENCOURAGED to just play!