Description

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Courtside, by Derick Loury is an autobiography detailing the growth, development, and challenges of a man with a rich range of experiences throughout his life. Basketball becomes a grounding and centering point for him, inspiring him on and off the court. He becomes a talented player throughout high school and college, though ultimately follows a different path once reaching adulthood and he cycles through a few jobs before joining law enforcement and, eventually, becoming a prison warden.

He has many relationships along the way, friends and family that impact his life. The book is divided into three main sections–aptly titled with basketball terms–that chronicle grade school, college, and life after college. Though high school had set him up for a bright future in basketball, even earning him a scholarship to college, various obstacles kept him from achieving any true momentum with the sport. After many set-backs and life challenges, he finds a new passion and career in Law Enforcement which would eventually lead to his current career as a prison warden. Basketball remained a passion as he sought to organize leagues to give back to his community or to officiate for various schools.

This book succeeds in an interesting combination of styles, while not quite being strictly any of them. It has a stream-of-consciousness feel while maintaining a linear drive forward through the author's life. At times it reads very factual and textbook like, which feels authentic to the author's style and experiences. He blends lists and facts with a distinct narrative voice to properly capture his unique perspective on life and its many challenges.

About the Author

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Derick Loury joined the Law Enforcement community with the City of Wildwood Police Department as a Class II Special Officer. He successfully completed the Cape May Court House Special Police Training Center in 1982. After a short tenure with the City of Wildwood, he continued his education in pursuit of becoming a member of law enforcement or the criminal justice community. 

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Police Science Studies at Rider College. He joined the New Jersey Department of Corrections in 1988 as a civilian, holding various mid-supervisor positions prior to taking his oath as a sworn
Deputy Warden. 

In 2008, he successfully completed the New Jersey Police Training Commission (PTC) Executive Level 6 weeks Training Course. In 2015, he was promoted to Administrator/Warden overseeing 300 Corrections Police Officers, 125 civilian personnel  25 private contractors and within a prison complex population of 1,400 inmates. He graduated from the National  Institute of  Corrections Academy  in Aurora, Colorado for newly installed Prison Wardens in the year 2017. Warden Derick Loury has been certified by the New Jersey Regional Intelligence Academy in 8 weeks training course as a Basic Intelligence Analyst. He successfully earned NJ Police Training Commission Instructor certification since 2017. 

He has also volunteered his time and services mentoring Police Officers, Police Commanders, Correctional Police Executive Staff and other men and women in the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice field. He enjoys teaching, coaching and receiving training. During the daily operational management of the prison system, he synthesized intelligence concepts to ensure that safety is always a priority.

He is currently serving as the Chairman of a nonprofit law-enforcement organization called C.A.B.L.E., incorporated since December 2020. Collective Agreement of Black Law Enforcement was created to address and correct the underrepresentation of blacks in all areas of law enforcement across jurisdictions. He recently created a Law enforcement and Public Safety group to tackle the lack of fidelity and accountability within the police,prison, group residential programs for adjudicated offenders and schools facing safety issues.

He is an active member of Camden Board #34 Executive Committee as a Vice President since 2017. He specializes in protecting the intellectual properties of the referee organization in the South Jersey from external and internal influences that could disrupt a Class AAA independent contractor advocation. He conducts confidential inquiries with low social impact to the organization. He is an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and of Bethany Baptist Connection Church. In 21 seasons as Villanova's William B. Finneran Endowed Head Coach, Jay Wright has guided the Wildcats to new heights, including NCAA national championships in 2016 and 2018 and four appearances in the NCAA Final Four. The Bucknell University graduate (1983) was enshrined on Sept. 11, 2021, in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Villanova posted a 30-win season for the sixth time in Wright's tenure as head coach in 2021-22, advancing to the NCAA Final Four with a 50-44 victory over Houston in the South Regional Final. The Wildcats own 20 NCAA Tournament victories since 2016, the most in the nation in that span (20-4). Along the way Villanova captured the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament title, extending to nine consecutive seasons its run of winning a BIG EAST regular season or tournament crown. Since the BIG EAST realigned in 2013, the Wildcats have won 263 games, an average of 29.2 per season.

In January 2020, Wright was named the Associated Press men's college basketball Coach of the Decade.

In 2017-18, the Wildcats amassed a school record 36 victories and secured Villanova's third NCAA national championship with a 79-62 victory over Michigan on April 2, 2018. Jalen Brunson became Villanova's first consensus National Player of the Year in the modern era, joining Paul Arizin as the only VU players to earn that distinction. In 2016, Villanova defeated North Carolina 77-74 when Kris Jenkins drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap a 35-5 campaign with an NCAA national title.
The product of Council Rock High School owns a record of 520-196 (.724) in his 21 seasons at the helm of the Wildcats and is the program's all-time wins leader. With 271 BIG EAST victories, he ranks third all-time among league coaches and is 34-14 (.708) in NCAA Tournament play at Nova. His overall record as head coach – including a successful seven-year stint at Hofstra University from 1994-2001 – is 642-281 (.691).

This is Wright's second stint at Villanova. He served as an assistant to the late Rollie Massimino from 1987-92.
The Wildcats have succeeded on the academic side too. Since 2012, the Wildcats have received Academic All-BIG EAST recognition on 82 occasions and all 13 members of the roster earned that distinction in 2020-21. Brunson was named a second team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2018 and teammate Matt Kennedy received the NCAA Elite 90 Award at the Final Four. Collin Gillespie was named the BIG EAST Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2022. Every Villanova player who has spent four years in the program since 1975 has earned his degree.

In 2018 Wright received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in Los Angeles. He is a two-time winner of the Naismith National Coach of the Year award (2006 and 2016) and in 2018-19 became the first man in BIG EAST history to be selected as the league's Coach of the Year six times.

Wright is married to the former Patricia Reilly. The couple has two sons, Taylor (28) and Colin (27) and a daughter Reilly (22). Patty and Jay Wright were honored with the inaugural Saint Augustine Medal in April 2017. Wright's book "Attitude", published in 2017, was a New York Times bestseller.