We are still about 4 weeks away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to prepare 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 UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino, who talked about making 3 straight Sweet 16s and his expectations for this season.
You played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley Sr. at St. Anthony High School: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He is arguably 1 of the best coaches in basketball history. I learned so much from him such as focusing on the competitive drive/hunger of a team: that really stands out. Our team just refused to lose because of how he pushed us/coached us.
In 1989 your team won the USA Today national title: what was Bobby Hurley like back in the day, and what is it like to face him now when you play ASU? Bobby and I are childhood friends so we go back to age 5-6 when we lived on the same block in New Jersey. It is not fun to play ASU but I definitely see similarities between his own defense and his dad’s defense: great intensity.
You were an assistant to Mick Cronin at Cincinnati/Murray State and are now on his staff at UCLA: how close have you 2 grown during the past 2 decades? We have a good relationship after having worked together for so long. I am close to his family but this is a business so I try to separate the 2 because I have to do the best I can to help our team be successful.
You have made 3 straight Sweet 16s but had your season ended by Gonzaga on deep 3-PT shots in the final seconds in both 2021/2023: is there anything more that you can do as a coach or do you just give a tip of the cap to Jalen Suggs/Julian Strawther and hope that the 3rd time’s the charm sometime in the future? It stinks to lose that way but I have been on the other side of it when we won games on last-second shots. You go back through the film to see where you could have gotten a stop. I do not know if it is bad luck but we made a lot of defensive mistakes in the 2nd half last March and it was a tough way to lose.
In addition to the Maui Invitational your schedule includes games against Villanova/Ohio State/Maryland: how will you try to survive that gauntlet of big-time opponents? It is a tough schedule: the Maui Invitational is extremely loaded this year (including Gonzaga/Kansas/Marquette/Purdue/Syracuse/Tennessee). We are such a young team so we are focusing on the day-to-day. We just need to worry about our 1st scrimmage/exhibition and then build off that, and hopefully we can compete with those teams.
You lost each of your top-5 scorers from last year (Jaime Jaquez/Tyger Campbell/Jaylen Clark/Amari Bailey/David Singleton): how will you try to replace all of that offense? We are so young that we are solely focused on teaching winning habits: defense, rebounding, etc. The past 2 years we had older players who already knew what a winning team looks like…but our current guys do not know that yet. The scoring will just happen via guys like Dylan Andrews.
You have 1 5th-year player/no seniors/1 redshirt junior/1 junior: have you figured out yet who is going to be your team’s leader? Lazar Stefanovic is an older player who is a really great leader. Even though he is new to our team he has fit into that leadership role 100%. Adem Bona has a work ethic that is unmatched and is a very vocal guy. We do have a core of upperclassmen who are good guys and want to win.
Your team got to travel to Spain in August: what was the best part of the trip? The food…although I do not know if the kids would agree because they would rather have McDonald’s! We could not have drawn it up any better because we have some international players (including guys from Nigeria/France/Turkey/Serbia/Spain/Slovenia). The chance to bond off the court and outside the weight room helped speed everything up. Spain is beautiful and everyone really enjoyed it.
The Bruins will be switching conferences next year: how do you feel about moving to the Big 10 and the implosion of the Pac-12? I do not want to even think about playing at Villanova this year, much less the entire Big 10 next year! We are bringing some familiar faces with us in USC/Oregon/Washington. It will be extremely challenging but is a great branding opportunity for everyone. It is sad that an elite conference like the Pac-12 might be coming to an end but as coaches we just focus on the positives.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Mick always says that the goal is to get to a Final 4 and win a national title. I know we have talented/great guys who are listening to what we are teaching them so it just depends on how fast they can grow. Once you get in the NCAA tourney you have a chance: just look at what we did in 2021 (going from the 1st 4 to the Final 4).