We are less than 7 weeks away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of 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 Kennesaw State coach Antoine Pettway, who talked about making the NCAA tourney last March and his expectations for this season.
You were born/raised in Camden, AL, and won a state title as a senior at Wilcox Central High School: what did it mean to you to win a title? I actually won 1 as a sophomore and another 1 as a senior: it meant everything. I came from a small community and all the businesses in town closed down for the day and we had 12 charter buses to drive everyone to the gym to see our game.
You arrived in Tuscaloosa as a walk-on but by your senior year you were captain of the team: what is the key to being a good leader? When people see how hard you work and how you put the team before yourself, it is easy to lead. You need to show up early and leave late.
Take me through the 2004 postseason as a player at Alabama:
In the 1st round you scored 6 PTS including the game-winning runner with 5 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Southern Illinois (www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaxq0mvaTFU): where does that rank among the highlights of your career so far? It is up there: we would not have reached the Elite 8 had we not beaten Southern Illinois. I wanted us to keep playing and I ended up making the shot. The 1st round is very hard.
In the Elite 8 you had 4 AST in a loss to eventual champion UConn: where does that Huskies team (featuring 6 future NBA players) rank among the best that you ever faced? That was the best team I ever played against. They had so much depth with guys after guys after guys. I tried guarding Ben Gordon but had no chance.
In 2023 you were hired as head coach at Kennesaw State: why did you take the job? It felt great. I met the athletic director/president and knew that we could compete for championships. There is a family atmosphere here and alignment with the administration.
Take me though the 2026 postseason:
Despite being a #6 seed in the CUSA tourney you won 3 games in 3 days against higher-seeded teams with a different leading scorer each night to clinch the title: how on earth were you able to become the only team in the nation to beat 3 top-4 seeds in its conference tourney? Last year our conference had so much parity: there was only 1 game separating the 5 teams seeded 3 through 7. We felt that if we played the way we were capable of then we would make a deep run…and we did.
In the NCAA tourney you had a 9-PT loss to Gonzaga: what do you think your team learned from that game that will help them this year? It was outstanding for our program to be on that stage and a great opportunity for us to showcase our school. We showed that we belonged and played well, but Coach Mark Few and his team were spectacular.
Last April you were named Ben Jobe national COY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant so much to me. I even had the chance to meet Ben, who is a terrific person. My name might be on the trophy, but there were so many people who had a hand in me winning it (players/administration/etc.).
You have an amazing group of sophomores including Trey Simpson/Amir Taylor/Kaden Rickard (and brought in Jacksonville State transfer JaCoby Hill to join them): was it easy to convince them all to stick around, and how crucial will that class be to your team’s success this year? We have a great group of dudes, and it was big for our program to bring back Trey/Amir/Kaden and bring in JaCoby. In this era of college basketball, players must quickly progress from freshmen to leaders: they all came back because they want to win another title.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We do not talk much about expectations. We have a certain standard that we operate to every day: we want to be the hardest working team in the country, feisty on defense, and play with space/pace on offense. We want to compete for championships every single year, and the way you do that is based on how you show up every single day.
