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We continue our season preview coverage with new Wofford coach Jay McAuley. There were only 8 teams in the entire country last year who lost 5 or fewer games and 1 of those 8 was Wofford. The Terriers lost to 4 high-major teams in non-conference play last November/December, then went 18-0 in SoCon play, won 3 games in 3 days to clinch a conference tourney title, and beat Seton Hall by 16 PTS in the NCAA tourney before a 6-PT loss to Kentucky to end 1 of the greatest seasons in school history. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach McAuley about starting a new job and celebrating his birthday.
You were co-captain as a senior at Georgia: what is the key to being a good leader? There has to be a sense of experience and you need a good blend of command with your voice while working hard and being consistent. You need the gift to motivate guys, which is what I tried to do despite not being a great player myself. I tried to lead by example and be all about the team, which has helped me since I became a coach. Everyone has mentors who help shape their path but my leadership skills started from an early age.
In the 2008 SEC tourney, your team won 4 games in 3 days (due to a tornado) to win the title despite going 4-12 in conference play and only having 8 healthy scholarship players: what are your memories of that wild weekend? It was something that was really special. Basketball is a great team sport so when things are clicking and you have momentum then you see the beauty of March. If you ask what changed I would say that I learned an important lesson: it is not about what you do but how you do the things that are necessary to win a game. We simplified the game and played really hard for each other. We were playing with house money after the tornado hit and the venue changed, which favored us. It was a pretty cool thing that we accomplished.
Last season your team won 30 games and went 18-0 in conference play: where does that season rank among the greatest in school history? It is certainly up there by statistical measurement: we were the only team in the nation to go undefeated in conference play (both regular season and conference tourney). You need good players to do that and we have surrounded ourselves with good people who sacrifice some things that our society right now is not used to doing. Our guys are really talented and believe in what we do. It was a fun ride and we can take a lot of good things to build on that. We are not satisfied with last year: we are a competitive program and have another level that we want to get to.
In the 2019 NCAA tourney you had a 16-PT win over Seton Hall and then a 6-PT loss to Kentucky: how close did you come to beating the Wildcats, and what did your team learn from that postseason run that will help them this year? Just being in the NCAA tourney was an incredible experience. We has such good momentum entering the tourney that there was a belief that we could go far. That final 4 minutes vs. Seton Hall where we were on fire and the fans going nuts was amazing. We were riding high and were super-close to beating Kentucky but were a little flat when we just needed to be ourselves. I take nothing away from the Wildcats: if you had told me that we would be right there at the end with a chance to win the game I would have taken that.
Last April your former boss Mike Young was hired as head coach at Virginia Tech: what makes him such a great coach, and are we going to see the Hokies on your schedule anytime soon? He is an awesome guy/incredible coach. People call him a “basketball genius” because he is a really good tactician but has a great feel for all of the components within a program. He allows others to showcase their skills/talents: he is not a dictator where it is all about him and I think he will continue that at Virginia Tech. I do not think that we will face them anytime soon but who knows.
You begin your 1st season as head coach this fall: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? It has been great! I am lucky to have already been here and won multiple championships as an assistant. It has been a smooth transition because the players know me: it is not like I need to get the feel for a new situation. We feel that we can continue the winning tradition here and push the limits. It was a no-brainer for me and was a natural time for me to become a head coach and I think that I can do a pretty good job here.
You graduated your top-2 senior scorers from last season in Fletcher Magee/Cameron Jackson: how will you try to replace all of that offense/leadership? I tried to convince them to medically redshirt and hang onto them before they walked across the graduation stage but it did not work! We have developed 23 pro players over the past decade, which is an amazing stat. They left a work ethic that our younger guys have adopted and now it is time for the next group coming up. We have a lot of returning guards and just need our young big men to step up.
Your non-conference schedule includes games against Butler/Missouri/UNC/Duke: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I was waiting for you to say that the Celtics/Lakers were on our schedule as well! We had the 6th-hardest non-conference schedule in the nation last year and it is getting harder to find teams who want to play us. Those games will help prepare us for both conference play as well as games that matter in March so that we do not blink against Seton Hall/Kentucky. We also play South Florida and will have our hands full but will prepare our best and expect to win.
You turned 36 last month: what did you do for the big day? I finished up 1 of our camps and went out to dinner with my daughter and then had a tea party at my house.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? The expectation here is pretty simple: to win. I talk to our team about the daily process: as clichéd as it sounds we simply need to outwork our opponents in everything that we do. We put the work in to be confident: we do not listen to the outside noise and just try to be competitive.