Last Sunday Northern Iowa beat Illinois Chicago 84-69 in the MVC tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Panthers made back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances in 2015/2016 but had to wait an entire decade before making it back there this month. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Northern Iowa SR G Max Weisbrod about being a great shooter and making the NCAA tourney.
You began your college career at Northern Michigan, where you were named conference ROY in 2023 and conference POY in 2024: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I felt under-recruited in D-2 and had a chip on my shoulder: it was hard to get a good scholarship offer during COVID. I just did what I was supposed to do and had a good team around me.
What made you choose Northern Iowa for the next step of your journey? I went into the portal after my sophomore season and wanted to go somewhere that I could make the NCAA tourney…and now it is obvious that I made the right decision coming here!
You play for Coach Ben Jacobson: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He is a huge reason that I came here. He is a proven coach and has a great staff. All the little things matter to our program and he is a great leader: I would not want anyone else to be my coach.
Through your 1st 2 years in Cedar Falls you are shooting 39.5 3P%/82.9 FT%: what is the secret to being a great shooter? Just putting in the reps/work and getting your shots up. Consistency is the biggest thing.
Last month you set a career high with 18 PTS/5-7 3PM in a win over Bradley: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yes. We had a great game plan that night to get some open shots. My teammates found me and I just put the ball through the hoop.
You started conference play 4-0 this season and then lost 5 in a row in January: how were you able to turn things around during the past 2 months? When we had that losing streak we were missing 1 of our best players in Tristan Smith: when he has been healthy this year we are 21-6 with him in the lineup. We had a bad stretch, but once he came back we got rolling.
Last Sunday in the MVC tourney title game you scored 9 PTS in a win over UIC: what did it mean to win a title, and how exhausted was everyone after winning 4 games in 4 days? That was the goal from the start of the season so it was great to have the opportunity to win it. Playing 4 days in a row with some difficult game times was not easy, but we just tried to be the tougher team each day.
Your team’s 61.3 PPG allowed is #1 in the nation: what is the key to playing great defense? Our defensive scheme that our coaches put in has worked very well. We have size/physicality, so our personnel allows us to switch things up on defense.
You have played several top-100 teams this year including Tulsa/Wichita State/St. Mary’s/Belmont: which 1 of them impressed you the most? I would say Tulsa: we did not play great against them (losing 63-60), and they were very physical.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I think we will get the 12-seed, which we deserve, but it does not matter that much because I feel confident going up against anyone.
