If winning is the key in March then there is no assistant coach I would rather have on my sideline then Win Case. On Saturday the Blue Raiders got a 2-PT win over Old Dominion in the C-USA tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. Coach Case joined the Middle Tennessee staff 6 years ago and this marks his 4th trip to the postseason in the past 5 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Coach Case about his old teammate Bill Self and what it took to win 4 NAIA titles in a 6-year span from 1991-1996.
You played 2 years at Oklahoma State: what was current Kansas coach Bill Self like as a teammate back in the day, and could you have ever imagined that he would win a dozen straight Big 12 titles? We always knew that he was destined for greatness because he was like a coach out on the floor. He always wanted to be a coach and was a student of the game who could break down film. That was his passion/calling even back then.
You won 2 NAIA titles as an assistant and 2 more as a head coach at Oklahoma City University from 1991-1996: how were you able to be so dominant, and what is the secret to winning a title? More than anything you need really good talent. We had some really good players come through, and then you need them to play defense and rebound. You also need them to play together for 1 cause.
Your son Jeremy won the 2008 NCAA title at Kansas: who is the best athlete in the family? His mom Rita! I tell people that all the time and we would even discuss it at the dinner table. She was a great college basketball player and her whole family also played basketball.
You have spent the past 6 years as an assistant to Coach Kermit Davis, who is the winningest coach in school history: what makes him such a good coach, and how do you like working for him? I love working for him. I thought that I knew a lot about basketball before I got here but I have never seen my boss take a day off from having practice and making the program better. He can get the most out of his talent better than any other coach in the country. He does not take anything for granted: even if we miss shots we will always play with effort/energy. I talked to Bill Self before taking the job and he said that Kermit was 1 of the best coaches out there and that I needed to take the leap of faith. I will never forget that call and I am glad that I took the job.
Last March your team lost to Kent State in the CIT: what did your team learn from that game that can help you in the postseason this year? Our team was a little beat up at the time but I think that disappointment motivated us: Coach preaches that adversity can be good for you. Our guys realized that we had to get better if we wanted to make the jump: from weightlifting to more shooting to having a better focus.
You played several fellow tourney teams in non-conference action this season including UNC Asheville/VCU/South Dakota State: which of these teams impressed you the most? Looking back on it I would have to say Asheville. We won the game by 2 PTS but we knew afterwards that the Bulldogs could make the NCAA tourney. They play hard and are well coached: I would not be surprised if they win a game or 2 this week.
On Saturday Reggie Upshaw scored 9 PTS including a pair of FTs with 2.9 seconds left to clinch a 2-PT win over Old Dominion en route to being named conference tourney MVP: did you think he was going to make the FTs, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? 1 of our previous games involved a Hack-A-Reggie, and he just got back in the gym and kept working on it until he made 10 in a row. I looked him in the eye after he got fouled on Saturday but did not say a word: when he looked back at me and nodded I knew that he was ready for that opportunity. I really thought he would make them because he had paid the price. The whole city is abuzz right now: you cannot go anywhere without having someone shake your hand and congratulate you. I just got stopped in Wal-Mart by some people who said they cannot wait until Friday!
You have only 2 players on your roster from the state of Tennessee: what is your team’s recruiting philosophy and how have you been able to get guys from so many different states? I have been in this business a long time and have people I trust who might tell me to go look at a kid. We have found some players from Memphis and Mississippi and Milwaukee. We get some recruiting reports and hear of players via word-of-mouth and then try to go all over the area: you have to be the 1st 1 there and the last 1 there. As hard as Coach Davis works at coaching he works just as hard at recruiting: he is like 1 of the assistants in that he is a tireless recruiter who does not sit back and relax because the buck stops with him.
Your team shoots 61.7 FT%, which is 5th-worst in the nation: do you fear that you might lose a close game this week due to your poor FT shooting, and as a coach is there anything you try to do besides tell them to keep practicing their FTs? Coach Davis thinks that mental toughness plays a large part in many aspects of the game: making FTs, getting a 50-50 ball, etc. We shoot FTs at the end of every single practice and if you cannot make 10 in a row then you have to come back and shoot them later.
You received a #15-seed and will be playing Michigan State in St. Louis on Friday: how are you preparing to face the Big 10 champs? Everyone is picking the Spartans to win a title…but they have to play us 1st! We are going into it with our game plan and Coach will prepare us for battle. We have to rebound the ball and guard them well, and since they will be locked in defensively we also have to find ways to score. I truly believe that we will compete and we are not going to go in scared. I am looking forward to it because in 2013 a lot of our players were just excited to be in the NCAA tourney but now they want to actually win a couple of games.