Villanova's Unsung Hero, Kris Jenkin's Mom

by: Brendan Magee


Villanova's NCAA Championship game last night was thrilling beyond belief. Honestly, I do not remember such an amazing game. Villanova, its players and coaches will be, deservedly so, showered in adulation. From this moment on Kris Jenkins' will be associated with college basketball legend.

However, one person will probably be given maybe a few minutes of fame and then will fade away as a distant memory to most basketball fans. Her name is Felicia Jenkins and she is Kris's mother and many years ago the seeds for last night's buzzer beater shot were sown. When Kris was just a little boy learning how to shoot a basketball,. Ms. Jenkins was the one who taught Kris the right way to shoot. Don't laugh!. She was the head basketball coach of a small college in South Carolina.

As they worked on his shot, Kris was not allowed to shoot from beyond the foul lane. She wanted to make sure that Kris developed a fundamentally sound shot and if he was out there heaving 19 foot jump shots his shout would be a heave rather than a pure jump shot. As we can see from the results last night, she did a great job with Kris.

Sounds simple, but in reality, as it is for investors following the rules isn't the easiest. Go to a basketball court and watch the young kids shoot. You will see kids trying to emulate what they see on t.v. Just like Lebron James and Steph Curry,  they'll be shooting from down town. It's fun, but it won't develop a shot that will come through in the clutch. The majority of kids don't want to follow the rules as Ms Jenkins laid them down to Kris. They'd rather go with the flow. Thank God for 'Nova' that Felicia didn't allow Kris to go with the flow! We'd all be singing a different tune today.

Investing is very much in the same vane. There are certain rules that need to be followed all the time in order to assure success. They are not always easy to follow and many times you will be doing the opposite of what everyone is telling you to do.

Inside the lane shooting for investors is, owning equities or stocks, diversifying, and rebalancing (buying low/selling high).  Outside the lane is, moving money around based on someone's forecast about the future, loading up on a stock because you feel or have been told it can't miss, or going with a fund because the fund has been at the top of the performance list for the past 10 years. It's fun and exciting, but doesn't lend itself to any kind of consistency. In each case the investor is trying to anticipate what will be happening in the future. No one can do that consistently.

It would be better to stay inside the lane knowing that with each passing day you are getting closer to your own personal investing championship.

Way to go Wildcats!!

Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching. With questions or comments e-mail brendan@coachgee.com or call 610-446-4322.