Last Saturday Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beat Southeastern Louisiana 73-65 in the Southland tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. Last month the Islanders were in the middle of a 5-game losing streak but got hot down the stretch to make the school’s 1st NCAA tourney appearance since 2007. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi coach Steve Lutz about getting hired last spring and winning the conference tourney last night.
You played basketball for 3 years at Texas Lutheran and were named captain as a senior: how good a player were you back in the day, and what is the key to being a good leader? I was not a very good player at all but I was a good leader. I was the guy who orchestrated things for the team but my stats would not have translated well in today’s game. However, the lessons you learn as a player help you when you become a coach. I think my college coach would say that I had good leadership abilities, which helped me moving forward: I always try to put my mind into what my players are thinking.
You later served as an assistant to Matt Painter at Purdue/Greg McDermott at Creighton: what is the most important thing that you learned from either of them, and who will you cheer for if they end up facing each other next week? 1 of the most important lessons from both of them was to treat everyone unbelievably well both in victory and defeat. There are no highs/lows: they always appreciate you and make you feel wanted. They are competitive but never berate you or treat you poorly. They were both great to me and my family and I have always tried to emulate that going forward. If they play each other then I will plead the 5th! This is my 5th year away from Creighton so I do not have a connection with any of their current players.
Each of your last 3 NCAA tourney games as an assistant have gone to overtime (a 5-PT OT win over Tennessee in 2019, a 5-PT OT loss to eventual champion Virginia in 2019, and a 9-PT OT loss to North Texas in 2021): what is the biggest factor in deciding close games in March? They are no different than any other close game: you just need more possessions than your opponent. You can get turnovers or offensive rebounds because it is just a chess match. In March everyone plays so hard that you need to be able to score, which I think is the biggest separator.
You spent more than 25 years as an assistant coach before being hired by Texas A&M CC last April: why did you take the job, and did you think that you could have this much success in year #1? I have always wanted to be a head coach. A good friend texted me a couple of days ago and said, “This is what you always wanted: I am so proud of you!” He is right: I have always been interested in putting all of the pieces together to figure out what makes us best. It would be a lie to say that I thought we would make the NCAA tourney this year…but starting last summer I told the team that we had enough talent in the room to achieve our goals.
You lost to a pair of bubblicious teams earlier this year in Texas A&M/Notre Dame: which of them impressed you the most? We played them during 2 totally different times of the season. Buzz has done an unbelievable job with that team: they had a stretch in conference play (like us) when they were not that good, but they looked great vs. Auburn the other day in the SEC tourney. We played the Irish right before Christmas and COVID was spiking at the time. A&M is a little bit faster/more athletic but Notre Dame shot the cover off the ball against us. Mike Brey is 1 of the great guys in college basketball.
JR F Isaac Mushila ranks top-25 in the nation with 9.5 RPG: how has he been able to grab so many boards despite only being 6’5”? That is a true 6’5” on a good day! He has a nose/knack for the ball and does a good job at positioning/timing and goes after it with 2 hands. He has God-given talents and the mindset that every rebound is his. There was 1 stretch vs. Nicholls State where he grabbed 4 rebounds in a row: it was fun to watch.
You started conference play 3-6 (which included a 5-game losing streak): how were you able to turn things around 3 weeks ago to win 7 of your final 8 games? We had gotten off-track: 1 of the hardest things to do is handle success, which we did not do well. People were telling us how good we are, but we needed to get back to the basics of forcing turnovers and sharing the ball instead of going 1-on-1 on offense. We looked in the mirror and got back to our defensive principles/motion offense and started playing for 1 another, and it has been a good recipe for success.
Last Saturday in the Southland tourney title game you had an 8-PT win over Southeastern Louisiana: how were you able to overcome a 10-PT 1st half deficit, and what did it mean to you to win the title? We overcame the deficit on the defensive end. The Lions made 4 threes in a row to start the game, including a couple that were wide-open, but then we finally got a couple of stops and built our confidence. It is a 40-minute game so we knew that we would have plenty of opportunities and we just stayed the course. Other than getting married/having kids it was 1 of the most awesome feelings ever, especially to watch my guys enjoy it. To see the young men who have given their heart to our program hugging all of their teammates was really cool.
Your school has not made the NCAA tourney since 2007: what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? We left after the game and I rode home with my family. We arrived around 4AM and will head to campus soon for a selection show party. However, we are on spring break so there will not be a ticker-tape parade. Ultimately you want to share it with your team/staff and their families because we have all invested so much in this season and sacrificed a lot of things to do this.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I have had a million people telling me that we will be going to Dayton as a 16-seed: to get a good NET ranking you need to win your road games. We will give it our best and try to give ourselves a chance to win.