Southland Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 11, 2023 by David Griggs

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SOUTHLAND MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. SE LA
  2. McNeese
  3. New Orleans
  4. TAMU-CC
  5. Northwestern State
  6. Nicholls
  7. TAMU-Commerce
  8. Houston Christian
  9. Lamar
  10. Incarnate Word

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SOUTHLAND 1ST TEAM:

-Christian Shumate – JR, F – McNeese
-Jordan Johnson – SR, G – New Orleans
-Roger McFarlane – SR, G- SE LA
-Bonke Maring – SR, C – Houston Christian
-Shahada Wells – SR, G – McNeese

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SOUTHLAND 2ND TEAM:

-Nick Caldwell – SR, G/F – SE LA
-Tyson Jackson – SR, F – New Orleans
-Javohn Garcia – JR, G – McNeese
-Jerome Brewer Jr – SO, F – TAMU-Commerce
-Micah Thomas – SR, G – Nicholls
-Alec Woodard – SR, G – SE LA

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-SE LA is the preseason media favorite with four starters returning from last year’s team.  They finished a very respectable 12-6 in the league despite having only eight scholarship players throughout most of conference play.  With more depth and more experience this year they are definitely good enough to win the league.  Roger McFarlane is one of the best guards in the conference and a terrific outside shooter so he is a player to watch.

-McNeese is coming off of an unspectacular year where they were just 6-12 in league play and finished 8th in the conference, but with Will Wade taking over as coach (after being fired from LSU amidst allegations of NCAA violations) and the addition of several players who were contributors at D1 programs prior to transferring in, the expectations are immediately high.  They do have some talent and we likely will see a big turnaround.

-New Orleans won just ten D1 games a year ago, but they were very good in the final few weeks of the season, winning six of seven before losing in the semis of the conference tournament.  With three starters back including Jordan Johnson (who shot over 48% from beyond the arc last year) and Tyson Jackson (who also averaged in double figures), expectations are high for the Privateers considering how strongly they finished the season last year.

-TAMU-CC had a great year last year!  They were the first place team!  They won the conference tournament!  They advanced to the NCAA Tournament!  This year…none of their starters are back, their coach is gone, and they have to start completely over.  Only two players are back from last year’s roster so it is hard to know what to make of them just yet.

-Northwestern State is also in a reset mode after a really good season a year ago where they won 22 games.  Rick Cabrera takes over as head coach and he has just one starter returning.  They do have some guys coming in who were really strong at the JUCO level, namely Addison Patterson and Jamison Epps, but while they are adding several strong JUCO players they are kind of light on guys with D1 experience.

-Nicholls is yet another team with a new coach (Tevon Saddler) and an overhauled roster.  Micah Thomas is the only returning starter and they are a team that, like many teams in this conference, is a little hard to read coming into the year.

-TAMU-Commerce won an impressive 12 D1 games as a first year transitional team, but the second/third years of the four-year transition are often the hardest.  Most key players have either graduated or transferred to teams that are not barred from the NCAA Tournament, and it is hard to replace them with players who can contribute at the same level because the team is barred from the NCAA Tournament.  It could be a long year for the Lions.

-Houston Christian won just ten games a year ago, and finished outside the KenPom top-350.  Bonke Maring is a really solid player and their top returner.  The bad news is that he is their only key returner.  They’ve added some JUCO guys to fill some key roles and we may see some improvement this year…but it may end up being another long season.

-Lamar won just six D1 games last year, and while three starters are back expectations are low.

-The expectations for Incarnate Word are even lower as they have just one starter returning and are looking to overhaul their roster.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Ohio State director of professional development Terence Dials

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Jon Teitel

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 Ohio State director of professional development Terence Dials, who talked about some of his team’s new additions and his expectations for this season.

You played for Coach Thad Matta during your final 2 years as a player at Ohio State: what makes him such a great coach? Thad was a motivator who was able to get the best out of his guys by letting them play free, which did not happen under the previous coach. He instilled a lot of confidence in us, which is why we were able to be so successful.

As a senior in 2006 you averaged 15 PPG/8 RPG and were named conference POY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot. We went 26-6 that year so it was a testament to all of our coaches/players who all had 1 common goal and believed in what Coach Matta was preaching. We made the Big 10 tourney title game before losing to Iowa and made the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney before running out of gas against a juggernaut in Georgetown.

After going undrafted you spent almost a decade playing pro basketball overseas: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball in other countries? It is more about fundamentals in other countries. Players born in the US are more physically advanced from a younger age. When you see team USA play in U16/U17 tourneys we are more physically imposing. A lot of basketball in the US is about a highlight-driven/1-on-1 kind of game but the game overseas was a little bit slower for me. The NBA game is built for entertainment while European ball is more about “real basketball”.

In 2015 you were inducted into your school’s Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? That is right up there with winning a Big 10 title and playing in the NCAA tourney. When you get inducted into the Hall of Fame at a prestigious school like Ohio State it is very humbling. It was never in my thoughts because I was just playing because I loved the game.

After a few years out of basketball you were hired at your alma mater in 2019 as director of professional development: why did you take the job, and how do you like it so far? I took the job because it gave me an opportunity to be around the sport and get paid for it: there is literally no better feeling than coming to “work” and having fun on the court while talking strategy with coaches and helping student-athletes. It was a no-brainer for me and is very fulfilling because I love my school: I am so glad that Coach Chris Holtmann gave me the opportunity.

How much involvement do you have with NIL stuff, and how would your own college experience have been different if NIL had been around 20 years ago? That is something new on my plate so I am starting to help guys get out in the community because there are a lot of local small businesses who love the Buckeyes. A lot of it is relationship-based: the more people you engage with, the more possibilities are out there. It is a mind-shift for them but it is happening. I see what a lot of the players now are getting and the biggest thing is to take care of your own. 20 years ago I was the best player on my team for 3 straight years so I feel that I would have garnered a few dollars! However, I am not mad that I missed out because I walked so they could run. It is just about advancing the culture and how the NCAA views student-athletes: the NIL intentions are correct.

2 of your new additions this year are FR Scotty Middleton and grad transfer Jamison Battle: how are the new guys looking so far? They are looking pretty good. Jamison is a proven commodity in the Big 10 after playing at Minnesota the past 2 years so we know he can shoot/score and is very smart. Scotty is a highly-ranked recruit but we do not know how he will perform until the bright lights come on. He is a big-time communicator and is 1 of the more vocal freshmen that we have: he has been doing a really good job in practice.

Last summer you started co-hosting a podcast with Coach Holtmann called “More Than Coach Speak”: any advice for those of us who want to do our own podcast? Like with anything you should do your research with whoever you have as a guest so that you do not offend anyone or look unprepared. You should read all of your notes in advance and just let the conversation flow a little bit, which Coach and I have gotten better at. You can always ask a foundational question if things go dry but a back-and-forth conversation is the best. It is easier than I thought it would be to start.

The Big 10 will be adding several new teams next year: how do you feel about the future conference realignment? We all know why we are realigning: football/money. The 4 new teams are really good schools/programs and will boost our conference footprint on the West Coast. I look forward to going out to California during the winter where there is not 6” of snow: LA will be a breath of fresh air!

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Last year was a down year so we are looking to be much better this year and compete for a Big 10 title in a very tough conference. Michigan State/Purdue are bringing most of their rosters back so it is a tough task ahead, but if we get better every day then we can be peaking in February/March. There are definitely some salty vibes in our office and we have a chip on our shoulder.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Detroit Mercy women’s coach Kate Achter

Posted on October 10, 2023 by Jon Teitel

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 Detroit Mercy women’s coach Kate Achter, who talked about her recruiting philosophy and her expectations for this season.

In 2005 as a freshman at Bowling Green you were named conference tourney MVP: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from high school to college? The reality of the transition was that it was not easy at all. I did not start the first handful of games as a freshman, and even when I was able to get the confidence to be on the floor the pace/strength was a lot to handle. Thankfully I played with exceptional teammates who took a ton of pressure off me so that I was able to just focus on competing. Once I figured out that I was a better competitor than just a basketball player, it all seemed to sync up.

In 2007 you were part of the 1st women’s team in MAC history to make the Sweet 16: what is your favorite memory from that postseason run? My favorite memory from that postseason run came after our last game. We got beat up pretty bad by ASU and we were all exhausted/dejected. As we pulled onto campus our coaches asked us to go over to the rec center because there was a dance-a-thon and the school wanted to welcome us back. We had not even gone back to our houses yet and now we all had one more thing to do: you can imagine how thrilled we all were! So we all headed over in our matching bright orange/black travel suits…and were absolutely blown away. The students rushed the stage, cheered us on the whole way up to the stage, and gave us a champions welcome. We could not believe it; they were so proud to be Falcons because of what we had done. It was easily one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of.

As a senior you were named conference POY/All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? Those are two of the best honors of my career and ones that came with so much work/preparation. I am immensely proud to be one of the few to have ever earned that recognition at Bowling Green, but I certainly understand that those awards are not earned alone. I had tremendous teammates/coaches who were a huge part of my individual success.

Your 688 AST remains #1 in school history: what is the secret to being a good PG? The biggest key: have teammates who can make the open shots you are giving them. The other is knowing when/where the opening will come: sort of an “if this, then that” approach to reading the game.

After graduation you played pro basketball in Greece: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US v. basketball overseas? For me the biggest difference aside from language was experience/age. I was competing against grown women as opposed to 18-22-year-olds. Everything that was a struggle during my freshman year of college was immediately multiplied ten times over.

In the 2012 Sweet 16 as an assistant at St. Bonaventure you had a pair of single-digit wins before losing to eventual national runner-up Notre Dame: could you tell at the time that Skylar Diggins was going to become a star? Absolutely. Scouting that Notre Dame group was a nightmare: they had so many options out of their Princeton offense and so many weapons to hurt you with. Skylar was obviously the head of the monster, but man: they had a lot for us to contend with.

You have a BS/Masters in education, and during your 6 seasons as head coach at Loyola Chicago your team’s GPA increased from a 2.4 to a 3.5: how much importance do you place on academics? Academics have always been/will always be a priority for me as a head coach. We are on a similar path here at Detroit and our women are responding like champions. I know that the ball will stop bouncing one day and it is my job to help prepare our women for that day.

In 2018 you were inducted into the Bowling Green Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is the biggest honor of my career. I think the thing that is still hard for me to wrap my head around is that the Hall of Fame was never my goal: winning was the goal. Now that I am part of the Hall of Fame my ties to BGSU will never fade. What we did as a team will always be recognized for a number of reasons, but to also be recognized personally for being a big part of that success is surreal.

Your roster includes 4 players from Michigan and 5 players from foreign countries: what sort of recruiting philosophy do you have? I think our roster only tells a small piece of what our recruiting philosophy is. The international influence on our roster is mostly inherited. I took over a team that had 6 players from Spain/Portugal. Many of those players are currently seniors…but the Michigan part we had to work really hard on. Our overall geographic philosophy is to be within about 4 hours or so of Detroit, with a hard focus on the city itself. That does not mean we cannot look outside that radius: it just means we want to protect our home base first. Some of our must-haves for recruiting include being a competitor, a two-level scorer, and a great teammate.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I expect our team to be better in almost every area. We have experience in positions we did not have a year ago and we became more athletic across the board. I think we will still have moments where we are learning to come together as a team, but overall it should be much improved. The goal right now is focused on improving through each phase of our season: non-conference, conference, and postseason play. Obviously, we have numbers that we would like to reach, but I think those are the intimate pieces that we get to hold onto as a team. For now, the goal is to improve our win total from last year and have a whole lot of fun checking off the boxes in getting there!

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Name, Image, and Lots of money: HoopsHD interviews Travis Diener of the Be The Difference NIL Collective

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Jon Teitel

The marketplace for college athletes to engage in Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) deals was created in 2021 after the NCAA v. Alston case and now it seems like every college is ready to start spreading the wealth. There are already more than 100 “collectives” either in operation or being formed. They allow alumni/fans/whoever to donate money to assist a specific school in creating opportunities for student-athletes to make some money off of their celebrity. We have reached out to many collectives and will try to interview representatives from as many of them as possible to see how each of them operates. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Travis Diener of the Be The Difference NIL Collective, who discussed what his group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

In 2001 you were named a Parade All-American: which of your fellow honorees impressed you the most (Tyson Chandler/Channing Frye/LeBron James/other)? It was probably Tyson because I competed against him on the AAU circuit. We played the SoCal All-Stars in the Peach Jam, and then he went right to the NBA out of high school as the 2nd overall pick.

In the 2003 NCAA tourney as a player at Marquette you made the Final 4 before losing to Kansas: what is the secret to winning games in March? You need to be pretty talented from 1-10, which we were. You also need some luck and a few bounces to go your way: we almost lost our 1st game to #14 seed Holy Cross. It is all about matchups: we had some great matchups along the way until Kansas blitzed us.

You spent 5 years in the NBA: what is your favorite memory from your time in the league? I am from a small town in Wisconsin so growing up my dream was just to play high school basketball for my uncle. To end up playing with/against the best players in the world (some of whom were my idols) was always memorable.

In the 2020 TBT title game you made the title-winning 3-PT shot to clinch the $1 million 1st prize for Golden Eagles: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It felt good! It is all about muscle memory and I had taken that shot before tens of thousands of times. That kind of capped off my long basketball journey in my late 30s: to play with some guys who I had actually coached and relive those moments is something that I will never forget.

Last July you held a “Champions for Literacy” basketball camp: what is it like to work with former Marquette teammate/newly inducted Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade? It was great! Our lives have obviously gone in different directions since we joined the NBA, but to get back together with him and have a 3-day weekend celebrating literacy in southeast Wisconsin was a lot of fun.

You are executive director of an NIL collective called “Be The Difference” that was formed last year: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did you do it? It was not too complicated but was something that needed to be done. If you look around the college landscape I think that NIL is a top priority for a lot of student-athletes. If you want to stay competitive nationally then you need a collective in place to provide opportunities for players to better both themselves and their community.

Your focus is on basketball: how/why would you decide to open it up to other sports? We started off with men’s/women’s basketball and the next 2 sports where we will sign people up are volleyball/lacrosse. Now we are in a place where we can continue to better the experience for student-athletes in several sports.

Do you think the NIL model will be as effective at a non-football school, and what is the biggest difference between your collective and those at football schools (if any)? Not having football is not detrimental because men’s basketball has always been a huge focus for our alumni/donors. Even in my era we had an extremely high budget and were treated well. A lot of our time/effort is spent on basketball because we do not have as many sports as other schools do.

What kind of deals have you been able to work out so far? We partner with nonprofits like Big Brothers/Big Sisters and our main vision is for our students to represent themselves and the school in the right way. We will continue to grow and add new organizations in the future.

Earlier this year we saw a basketball team’s season suspended (New Mexico State) and a football team’s coach fired (Northwestern) due to hazing: how concerned are you about entering contractual relationships with teenagers who might end up behaving badly? When you are talking about 18-19 year old kids they are still trying to grow/develop, but it comes down to the fact that I trust our coaches/administration and the character of players they are bringing into the program. We have not just talented players but also good human beings.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Jon Teitel

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).

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Ball State coach Michael Lewis

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Jon Teitel

We are still about 5 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 Ball State coach Michael Lewis, who talked about winning 20 games last year and his expectations for this season.

Your 2138 career PTS at Jasper High School was #13 all-time in Indiana state history: what is the key to being a good scorer? Good teammates! In high school I had the opportunity to play at an early age and I knew what I could and could not accomplish on the court.

You played for Bob Knight at Indiana and worked for him as a grad assistant at Texas Tech: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was able to win all of those games while only coaching 1 future NBA All-Star (Isiah Thomas). He saw things in his players that we did not see in ourselves and pushed us to do great things. He never allowed good to be good enough as we played outside our comfort zone. The most important thing I learned was a level of accountability to myself, which allows you to demand it from others.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney you scored 2 PTS in a 7-PT OT win over Oklahoma: how were you able to get refocused after blowing a 19-PT lead with 13 minutes to go? I just remember that we played Oklahoma.

Your 545 AST remains #2 in school history: what is the key to being a good PG? Good teammates! It forced me to see the game differently and has allowed me to coach. For us to be as good as we could be I had to play a role that I was unaccustomed to coming out of high school. I had great shooters around me and that was how I could best help us win.

In the 2021 Final 4 as an assistant to Mick Cronin at UCLA, Jalen Suggs scored 16 PTS including the game-winning 40-foot buzzer-beater in a 3-PT OT win by Gonzaga: where does that rank among the most amazing shots that you have ever seen? It was not really amazing to me because I was on the other end of it! It was a high-level game with great shot-making by both teams: it was 1 of the best tourney games of all-time.

You were hired as head coach of Ball State in March of 2022: what was the best part of Year #1? The best thing we did last year (aside from winning 20 games) was that we reestablished a pride/excitement in the program that we have not had here in 2 decades. The community/state took notice: it is our job to get back to that by continuing to build off our success last year.

Your 23 FTA/game was #4 in the nation: how crucial is that to your team’s success? I think that it was big. It causes a lot of problems and puts a lot of stress on the other team. Our roster looks very different this year: we do not have a 6’7”/250-pound bully on the block (Payton Sparks). 1 of the things I believe in is to get easy points at the FT line.

You were 20-8 in late-February before losing your final 3 regular season games and then your conference tourney opener: what happened, and how will you get back on track this year? We did not play with a full roster in any of those games, as we had some all-conference players out due to injury. When you take 1 of the top-10 players in the conference off your roster it is not good, especially when you lack depth.

You have 1 grad student and no seniors on your roster: have you figured out yet who will be your team leader? You look right to the returners. JR Basheer Jihad is due for a big year even though he is just 19 years old: I expect him to make a jump. JR Mickey Pearson Jr. does his job at a high level and has improved during the off-season. We will rely on those guys but our 5 freshmen will quickly have to become semi-sophomores as they get thrown in the fire right away.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I expect us to compete and play hard and be well-prepared. I think we will be hard to score on and hard to guard even though we look different schematically from a year ago.

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