Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Fairfield Road Runner Cyanne Coe

Posted on September 23, 2026 by Jon Teitel

We are less than 6 weeks away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Fairfield Road Runner Cyanne Coe, who talked about being undefeated in 6 conference tourney games and her expectations for this season.

You played high school basketball in Canada and were named Ontario Basketball Association DPOY with 63 STL/32 BLK: what is the key to being a great defender? It is not always about getting the most points/highlights: you must “want” it on defense, because that is the key and has to come before offense. It helps fire me up on the court.

What made you choose Fairfield for college? I am very family-oriented but wanted to play on a great team. It is like a home away from home here because the players/staff remind me of my own family.

In 2024 you played 33 games and were named to the conference All-Rookie Team: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I think that freshman year is the hardest, but my coaches/teammates all helped me. They pushed me every single day to be the best version of myself and I was able to put my best foot forward. I wanted to be great not just for myself but for the team.

You have been top-10 in the nation in FG% during each of your 1st 2 years: what is the secret to being a great shooter? Passing up decent shots if your teammates can get great shots. You must dominate and have the mindset that, “I am going to score on you, and if not then I will get the rebound”.

You have played in 6 conference tourney games during your career and won all 6 of them: is success in March more about talent/coaching/experience/health/other? You need talented players who each bring their own top thing. Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis is 1 of the best coaches in the nation and knows not just how to recruit players, but how to help us all think about the team and how we can help each other become the most successful.

The roster lists your position as “Road Runner”: what the heck does that mean?! It is a little bird that runs very fast. We do not have traditional “bigs” and do not play with a center: we rebound, get at it, and are quick on our feet.

Last year you were named to the conference all-academic team: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? It is hard, for sure, so you must be on it and stay organized. I always ask for extra help and try to put in 100% with everything I do. You need to take some time to focus on yourself…and then attack everything as best you can.

Your mother Rolanda played college basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? Usually I say it is me, even though she claims she was a great shooter when she was my age, but I will call it a tie.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goals are to strive to be the player I see myself becoming. I want to be more dominant/communicative/powerful. As a team, we want to win our conference, go to March Madness, and make it further.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Tennessee assistant coach Steve McClain

Posted on September 22, 2026 by Jon Teitel

We are less than 6 weeks away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Tennessee assistant coach Steve McClain, who talked about having the best offensive rebounding team in the country and his expectations for this season.

In 1994 as head coach at Hutchinson Community College you won the NJCAA national championship: what did it mean to you to win a title? When you win a title at any level it is special. As coaches we downplay it at the time, but as you get older you realize they are hard to win so they are all special.

You were also named national COY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? Those kinds of honors are due to having a great staff/players. It means we did a great job of putting a roster together that people thought was a well-coached team.

You were hired by Coach Rick Barnes last year: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He walks into the gym every day excited to help our team get better and our individual players get better as well: he is focused on that alone. I have been in this business a long time and he has more energy than anyone I have ever worked with.

You were previously a head coach at UIC/Wyoming: what is the biggest difference between being an assistant coach at a power conference school and a head coach elsewhere? In today’s world with NIL, it is very different. At the Power 5 level you are probably fortunate to have more veteran assistant coaches and strength coaches, while at other schools you have younger guys who probably want to move on to a Power 5 job. At the mid-major programs you just hire the best young guys and then try to keep them until a Power 5 school gets them.

Last spring the Vols made the Elite 8 and finished the year #1 in offensive rebounding percentage: what is the secret to rebounding, and how crucial is it to your team’s success? It is something that Coach Barnes’ teams have always been great at, and the only way to get that identity is to do it every single day. It is not an easy thing to do, so if you want to be good at it you have to emphasize it every day. It creates extra possessions and last year’s team was very good at it.

As somebody who has been in this business for a while, has it been difficult to adjust to all of the recent changes that have happened (expanded NCAA tourney), are happening (current chaos of which players have eligibility), and might happen (Protect College Sports Act)? You always pay attention to it because it can all affect you. As a junior college coach who only had his players for 2 years, I was always rebuilding my roster, so I am used to it. Hopefully we can find some common ground with the schools/conferences and get back to normalcy in the years ahead…but until then we will run with what we got.

Your brutal non-conference schedule includes games against Michigan State/NC State/Purdue as well as a trip to Vegas for the Players Era: is there any 1 game that you feel will be your biggest test or that you are most excited about? If you look at the history of Coach Barnes, he has never been afraid to play great non-conference opponents, and we are also part of the best league in the country. We try to find non-conference teams who will prepare us for SEC play, so we will go on the road and play in difficult environments like Purdue and against great coaches like Tom Izzo. We want to end up as 1 of the best teams in the SEC.

Earlier this month we learned that freshman Ralph Scott underwent surgery on his left knee and will be out for 6-8 months: how devastating was it to hear the news, and is it now just a matter of “next man up”? We kind of knew that it was a possibility: he tried to strengthen everything but eventually reached a decision to have the surgery. It is unfortunate, but hopefully he can come back better than ever, and it shows the importance of having depth at this level.

1 of the other new additions to your roster this year is Juke Harris, who transferred in from Wake Forest after scoring more than 21 PPG last year: how has he looked so far? He has been very good thanks in part to playing for a very good coach in Steve Forbes. He is competitive and tries to get better each day, so it has been fun to watch how much quicker/stronger he has gotten over the summer and his ability to shoot the ball at such a high level.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? When you have been to 3 straight Elite 8s, you are trying to get 1 more! We want to play on that final Monday night in April so that is the ultimate goal.

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The Hoops HD Report – Offseason September Special

Posted on September 21, 2026 by David Griggs

Chad is joined by a full panel of experts (and David Griggs) and they discuss what has been a very busy offseason so far. The NCAA Tournament field has expanded to 76 teams (much to our dismay). We also have two new conferences with the UAC and the return of the Pac 12, the Protect College Sports Act is working its way through congress and could go into law during this athletic year, there is a new five-year eligibility rule, and several schools are still uncertain as to what their final rosters will look like given all of the litigation that is going on. We discuss all that, and more!

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Happy Birthday! HoopsHD interviews Lehigh coach Brett Reed about CJ McCollum

Posted on September 19, 2026 by Jon Teitel

2 decades ago CJ McCollum was a 5’2″ high school freshman, but both his stature and his game have grown quite a bit since then. He was named Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year in 2009, Patriot League Player of the Year at Lehigh in 2010, graduated in 2013 as the all-time leading scorer in Patriot League history, and 13 years after being drafted 10th overall by Portland he is preparing to begin his 14th year in the NBA as a member of the Hawks. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Brett Reed about his former player’s amazing college career and his legacy at Lehigh. CJ turns 35 today so let us be among the 1st to wish him a happy birthday!

CJ was born/raised in Canton, OH, and was named Gatorade state POY as a SR: how did you convince him to join you at Lehigh? It was a great sales pitch! We heard about him after he had a 50-PT outburst at GlenOak High School. I had a chance to see him play and thought that he was terrific. I made the understatement of my career and said, “He can probably help us”!

He started 31 games as a freshman and became the 1st player in Patriot League history to be named conference ROY/POY in the same season: how was he able to come in and dominate right from the start? He is a terrific player, as you can tell. He did not start the 1st couple of games that season because we were bringing back a player who had been named conference ROY in Rob Keefer, but eventually I realized that we could not keep CJ off the floor. We had some great senior leaders, and they wanted him to succeed.

As a sophomore he led the league in MPG/FT%/SPG/PPG: I remember him as primarily a 3-PT shooter, but it seems like he was a great all-around player? He was an excellent shooter but was so much more than that. He was a little smaller in stature but was very elusive and had a smooth game that allowed him to create angles/advantages. We got on him to make other people better, rebound the ball, and play a little defense.

In the 2012 NCAA tourney he scored a game-high 30 PTS in a 5-PT upset of #2 seed Duke in Greensboro: what are your memories of arguably the biggest win in school history? It was a great moment for him, for me as a coach, and for our entire team. He made a choice to come here and get a great degree, but that day he had a chance to show everyone what he could on the national stage. He was confident/competitive and brought our group of guys together, as evident by the upset.

In January 2013 he broke his left foot in a game against VCU: how disappointed was he/you to see his college career end early? It was incredibly disappointing. He made the decision to put the NBA on hold, and then he was unable to do the 1 thing that he loved to do. I thought our team could have gone further in the NCAA tourney that March, but not after losing a player like that.

He put on 30 pounds of muscle during his 4 years in Bethlehem: how much of an advantage was his strength on the court? I give him all the credit for the way he continued to grow as a player for us. Some people might become complacent after being named conference POY as a freshman, but he continued to improve/grow every year. He focused on the weight room/nutrition and his body evolved: he became someone who could use his athletic power on the court.

After being drafted 10th overall by Portland, he had to sit out the 1st 6 weeks of the regular season, then was assigned to the Idaho Stampede of the D-League once he got back onto the court: were you concerned that he had such a bumpy ride once he got to the pros? No, but injuries are a part of a game that can ruin careers. He came through some struggles and kept his confidence/focus up. The NBA is a big step up in talent even if you are not overcoming an injury. He had a great disposition and was never going to quit. He built repeated successes, which gave him a great foundation.

Off the court he married his college sweetheart Elise, worked as an ESPN analyst, and has his own wine label: is he 1 of those guys who just succeeds at everything he tries to do? He is incredibly intelligent/thoughtful and looks at the big picture. He was a great player but embraced the degree by demonstrating leadership on our campus, which continued into the NBA when he became president of the Players’ Association. He was rubbing elbows with the brightest people of his generation at Lehigh: he has a great business mind and is an excellent entrepreneur.

CJ turns 35 today and will begin his 14th NBA season this fall: when people look back on his career, how do you think he should be remembered the most? He should be remembered for being an outstanding basketball player, incredible leader, and phenomenal person. Rarely do you get such a talented player who made such a big impact, but his basketball ability pales in comparison to the man he is.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new Siena coach Nevada Smith

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for All of our Preseason Coverage, Including Interviews, Podcasts, and Conference Previews

We are less than 7 weeks away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with new Siena coach Nevada Smith, who talked about getting hired last April and his expectations for this season.

Your dad was not present at the hospital when you were born because he was instead at the Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran fight known as the “Brawl in Montreal”: did he have any regrets, and did your wife have a long talk with you before the birth of your own 2 kids? He did not have any regrets: I was a little early so he thought he could get away with it, but his brother was there. My wife knew that I would never miss our own kids’ births. Our daughter was born at 3:53AM, and even though I was there I still coached that night…and we won!

As a junior at Bethany College, you ranked 1st in D-3 in 3PM: what is the key to making shots from behind the arc? Shooting is a learned skill that you can improve on over time. You need to be a bit nuts because there is a monotony in taking a shot a million times. They are all different so the more game situations you are in, the better you will be. I played on the tightest rims in America growing up and you had to be perfect to make the ball go in the hoop. I also shot during drills with a big ball, which was crazy. Our team will be able to really shoot it this year, and I am excited to see us compete.

You were also a 3-year captain of the golf team: which sport were you best at, and which sport did you enjoy the most? Basketball: golf was more of a hobby. It was the perfect sport to go with basketball because I never had to miss any games…and we received a full-year membership to a golf resort less than 90 minutes from my house.

How did you 1st get into coaching? When I was done playing in college, I thought about trying to play overseas or get my foot in the door in the US as a coach. I got a grad assistant job right after college and have been doing it ever since.

You spent 5 years as a head coach in the D-League: what is the biggest difference between pro basketball and college basketball? The pro players are very good and work hard and have similar goals, but you must do a great job managing goals/expectations. There were young guys who had their whole career ahead of them and older guys who had 1 shot left. The college game is based so much more on continuity and performing for your teammates. In the D-League there was 1 time where we played a game, and before our next game we had lost 4 of our 5 starters because several got called up to the NBA so our roster was constantly in flux. In college you have a much better idea of who will be there for you.

You worked for Shaka Smart at both Texas/Marquette: what makes him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He is an unbelievable teacher and 1 of the smartest human beings that I have ever been around. His ability to create relationships between his players and staff is unlike anyone I have met: you are ready to run through a wall for the guy. I can still call him up at any point, and instead of a 1-word answer he will give me a thoughtful response because that is who he is.

You were hired at Siena last April Fool’s Day: were you concerned that it would turn out to be some kind of cruel prank, and how is it going so far? When I got the initial call at dinner and saw where it was coming from, I turned to my wife and said, “Great: Siena is calling me to say I came in 2nd!”. It has been a phenomenal few months building a great roster of people who want to improve and help the guy next to them. I cannot wait until we start playing against other teams. When you do this long enough you see how much of a crazy rollercoaster it is, but it worked out well for me this year.

Your schedule includes road trips to St. John’s/Seton Hall in November: is there any 1 game that you feel will be your biggest test or that you are most excited about? Those 2 will be very fun because of my familiarity with the Big East. Dayton is a place that is special to Siena because we have won some big games on their court. It might not be our only game there(!), so we will talk about what could be coming down the road in March. We will learn a lot about each other: their venue is amazing and their fans are incredible.

Your roster includes players from Turkey/Greece/New Zealand/Spain/Australia/Germany/France: what sort of recruiting philosophy do you have, and what sort of recruiting budget do you have? We are trying to get the best players we can that fit us so we will go wherever it takes. Our staff has a lot of international ties, which has broadened the group of guys that we can recruit. The international guys are extremely skilled and come from great families and love basketball, which is why they are here. We want them to highlight our best players and eventually become our best players.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Our goal is just to improve every day and have everyone from our fans to our administration be proud of the team we put on the floor. The wins/losses will take care of themselves, but our expectations are to win the league, play in the NCAA tourney, and see how far we can go. We just need to be prepared and leave our best out there.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Kennesaw State coach Antoine Pettway

Posted on September 16, 2026 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for All of our Preseason Coverage, Including Interviews, Podcasts, and Conference Previews

We are less than 7 weeks away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Kennesaw State coach Antoine Pettway, who talked about making the NCAA tourney last March and his expectations for this season.

You were born/raised in Camden, AL, and won a state title as a senior at Wilcox Central High School: what did it mean to you to win a title? I actually won 1 as a sophomore and another 1 as a senior: it meant everything. I came from a small community and all the businesses in town closed down for the day and we had 12 charter buses to drive everyone to the gym to see our game.

You arrived in Tuscaloosa as a walk-on but by your senior year you were captain of the team: what is the key to being a good leader? When people see how hard you work and how you put the team before yourself, it is easy to lead. You need to show up early and leave late.

Take me through the 2004 postseason as a player at Alabama:
In the 1st round you scored 6 PTS including the game-winning runner with 5 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Southern Illinois (www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaxq0mvaTFU): where does that rank among the highlights of your career so far? It is up there: we would not have reached the Elite 8 had we not beaten Southern Illinois. I wanted us to keep playing and I ended up making the shot. The 1st round is very hard.

In the Elite 8 you had 4 AST in a loss to eventual champion UConn: where does that Huskies team (featuring 6 future NBA players) rank among the best that you ever faced? That was the best team I ever played against. They had so much depth with guys after guys after guys. I tried guarding Ben Gordon but had no chance.

In 2023 you were hired as head coach at Kennesaw State: why did you take the job? It felt great. I met the athletic director/president and knew that we could compete for championships. There is a family atmosphere here and alignment with the administration.

Take me though the 2026 postseason:
Despite being a #6 seed in the CUSA tourney you won 3 games in 3 days against higher-seeded teams with a different leading scorer each night to clinch the title: how on earth were you able to become the only team in the nation to beat 3 top-4 seeds in its conference tourney? Last year our conference had so much parity: there was only 1 game separating the 5 teams seeded 3 through 7. We felt that if we played the way we were capable of then we would make a deep run…and we did.

In the NCAA tourney you had a 9-PT loss to Gonzaga: what do you think your team learned from that game that will help them this year? It was outstanding for our program to be on that stage and a great opportunity for us to showcase our school. We showed that we belonged and played well, but Coach Mark Few and his team were spectacular.

Last April you were named Ben Jobe national COY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant so much to me. I even had the chance to meet Ben, who is a terrific person. My name might be on the trophy, but there were so many people who had a hand in me winning it (players/administration/etc.).

You have an amazing group of sophomores including Trey Simpson/Amir Taylor/Kaden Rickard (and brought in Jacksonville State transfer JaCoby Hill to join them): was it easy to convince them all to stick around, and how crucial will that class be to your team’s success this year? We have a great group of dudes, and it was big for our program to bring back Trey/Amir/Kaden and bring in JaCoby. In this era of college basketball, players must quickly progress from freshmen to leaders: they all came back because they want to win another title.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We do not talk much about expectations. We have a certain standard that we operate to every day: we want to be the hardest working team in the country, feisty on defense, and play with space/pace on offense. We want to compete for championships every single year, and the way you do that is based on how you show up every single day.

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