We are less than 1 week away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we still have 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 Georgia State coach Jonas Hayes, who talked about his new job and his expectations for this season.
As a freshman at Western Carolina your 63 FG% was #12 in the nation but you later decided to transfer: what made you choose Georgia? I was born/raised in Atlanta.
Last April you were hired as head coach at Georgia State: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? The transition is going well. We have a lot of new people in new positions but our guys are mature and have handled it seamlessly. This is a university that embraces its location: we will not put a fence around the state but rather put our arms around it and paint a picture of the experience here.
Your twin brother Jarvis was your teammate at Georgia and has been an assistant coach at Georgia State since 2018: how close are you 2, and how excited are you to work with him? We are extremely close, as we shared a womb and most of our classes. I am blessed to work with him: I wonder how many twins are coaches at the D-1 level?!
1 of your “new” players is Dwon Odom, who scored 18 PTS for you in the NIT title game win last spring: do you 2 act as “security blankets” for each other because you both understand your coaching philosophy better than anyone else on the roster? We each have a level of knowledge about each other. I can point to him as an example of what is expected on both ends of the court, which has helped. He gives me a level of comfort, which goes a long way.
Your non-conference schedule includes a home game vs. Georgia Tech and a trip to Auburn: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I have not really studied the whole schedule: I am just trying to win Friday and then the weekend and I will just worry about the other games once we get there. Every game gives the team a phenomenal opportunity so I want to see how they will handle that.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Our leadership is emerging: I am a firm believer that the cream rises to the top organically. It is not just from 1 guy and I am thankful for that. I wanted to see how guys responded to different levels of adversity and we have a group of guys who are comfortable being uncomfortable. We need to be able to take a kicking or a licking and keep on ticking!