Watching N.C . State basketball this year has shown me how much of an influence one person can have on other people.

Mark Gottfried took a team struggling from last season and made it into a success story. We essentially have the same players we had last year, minus a talented point guard and plus two promising new recruits. Last year was filled with lazy passes, lack of motivation and little intensity. It’s no wonder we were the target of ridicule to our rivals down the road.

What we lacked last year is what coach Gottfried has provided for us this year-a leader. He has instilled hope and pride into Wolfpack basketball by giving our boys the passion to play with intensity and fight to win each game. We haven’t had a successful season in many years and I think many fans thought we were long overdue for a breath of fresh air in the basketball program.

The idea of a passionate leader and motivator extends beyond the scope of a college basketball team, though. Who is the Gottfried in your life?

I don’t have just one Gottfried in my life; I have many. Family, friends, coaches, teachers, bosses-I could list people all day if I wanted to, but I won’t for the sake of brevity.

My first, and most important, Gottfried in my life is my family. Like coach Gottfried , they have been there every step of the way and they have coached me in the fundamentals with my success being their ultimate goal. I know they will continue to coach me from the sidelines and provide me with much needed time-outs when I need a break.

Another Gottfried is my boss. Coach Gottfried believes in his players and motivates them to do their best. My boss motivates me by giving me responsibility because he believes I can get the job done and do it well. He finds things in my work I can do better, and he helps me to learn how to be more successful the next time I carry out a task. He lets me be the point guard for my work by letting me call the shots, but I know I can count on him to call the next play if I need him to.

The next group of Gottfrieds is all of the educators who believed in my abilities and motivated me to challenge myself academically. There are too many to list, but if you are a past teacher of mine who is reading this right now, you are probably on that list. Every once in a while in my educational career, I would start to slip up on studying hard or I would slack off on getting my work done. When players make costly mistakes late in a game, I can usually see the look of disappointment on coach Gottfried’s face. Knowing that many of these educators would be disappointed in me if I did not perform to the best of my abilities was usually enough to make me get my head back into the game and focus on my school work.

I’ve listed my Gottfrieds , but who is your Gottfried ? Who motivates you to do your best and turns you into a success story? Who believes you can do big things when others believe you will fail?

I can’t promise you I will be the equivalent of an NCAA champion one day, but as long as I continue to have the Gottfried-like people in my life, I will be the best I can be.