Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Howard head coach Kenny Blakeney

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Jon Teitel

We are still about 6 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 Howard head coach Kenny Blakeney, who talked about making the NCAA tourney last March and his expectations for this season.

You played for Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School and were named Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland: what made him such a great coach? He was such a humble dude and super-smart. He had already been coaching for 35 years at that point and it felt good to be around him because he always had the right answers. He was the smartest guy in the room but never wanted that perception. He was so well-read/well-spoken and fundamentally sound and played a huge part in my growth/development.

What made you choose Duke for college? I love winning! Duke had been to a number of Final 4s over the previous 6-8 years but had not been able to get over the hump. I am a 1st-generation college kid so to set the precedent for my family and see that I put education 1st was a big thing for me. Coach K was wonderful and I had a great relationship with the rest of his staff including Mike Brey/Tommy Amaker. I had great conversations with Grant Hill and his mother and was also great friends with Brian Davis.

Take me through the magical 1992 NCAA tourney:
In the Elite 8 Grant Hill threw a full-court pass to Christian Laettner who made the game-winning jumper at the buzzer in a 1-PT win over Kentucky: what is your memory of 1 of the greatest college basketball games ever? We beat UNLV in the Final 4 before winning the title in 1991, so the goal in 1992 was to win it again. It was a heavyweight fight with Kentucky/Coach Pitino and went back and forth all night. Whoever had the ball last was going to win: I do not know if there has ever been a better game in any sport.

In the title game you had a 20-PT win over Michigan: what did it mean to you to win the title? To win back-to-back titles has only happened again with Florida so it is an incredibly hard feat. When you are the defending champ you will get everyone’s best shot, from your opponent to their fans to even the announcers! Coach K kept saying that we were not defending our 1991 title but rather pursuing the 1992 title.

You served as team captain as a senior: what is the key to being a good leader? I had to learn from some incredible captains before me like Brian/Christian/Grant/Bobby Hurley. Getting to sit in Coach K’s classroom everyday was like getting a PhD in basketball/leadership. I was fortunate to have so many mentors along the way who help put our team in a position to win. Our team imploded in 1995 but it prepared me for the future.

After graduating you spent almost 2 decades as an assistant for several great head coaches including Lefty Driesell/Mike Brey/Tommy Amaker: what was the most important thing that you learned from any of them? You take a lot from each 1 of them, both what to do and what not to do. Our grad assistants at Duke were Quin Snyder/Jay Bilas so there were plenty of intelligent people in that locker room. You have to be true to a style that fits you as a person.

In 2019 you were named head coach at Howard: why did you take the job, and did you have any regrets after going a combined 5-33 during your 1st 2 years? I saw a blank canvas at a campus that has accomplished so much. When you see the list of alumni who have walked our halls (Thurgood Marshall/David Dinkins/Kamala Harris), they have done so many incredible things. 1 thing that had not happened before was a sustainable successful basketball program, which I saw Tommy do with an “undervalued stock” at Harvard. You have to go through some hard times to get to the other side. Howard has often been ranked 350th or so in the nation so there was not the winning DNA that any program needs to become successful. It was hard to try to flip it but we have a great administration that has been a great partner as we build this program.

Take me through the 2023 postseason:
In the MEAC tourney title game Jelani Williams made 2 FTs with 6.1 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Norfolk State: how big a deal was it to clinch the school’s 1st MEAC title since 1992? It was absolutely huge when you talk about 3 decades without going to March Madness so we checked a box that had not been checked in a long time. It not only ignited our campus but energized all of DC: we have the best record of any team in DC over the past 2 years! We are looking forward to the challenge of trying to be good again this year.

In the NCAA tourney you lost to #1 seed Kansas: what did your team learn from that loss that will help them this season? The message that I conveyed to the team was that you do not win or lose it on gameday: it is about how you prepare and build up to having some resiliency when you compete against a team like Kansas. We need to practice/prepare today with a vision toward winning a game in March. We have Cincinnati/Rutgers/Georgia Tech on our schedule this year and want to have a chance to win those games.

You ended up winning 22 games and were named MEAC COY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It is not something that you go to work to try to accomplish. I have great partners/great assistant coaches who complement each other well. We added a “chief program strategist” in Daniel Marks to help us accomplish some social justice goals in the community. I do not think that we would have won as many games last year had our guys not been so mature: it ended up making the basketball part look easy. The number of Black women dying during pregnancy/childbirth/post-pregnancy due to maternal health problems was both alarming/shocking. Our team took on such a serious topic that it scared me, but we took a deep dive before amplifying/supporting those women.

You lost your top-2 scorers from last year in Elijah Hawkins/Steve Settle III: how will you try to replace all of that offense? It will be different. I was nervous as heck and had a very long summer: it is never easy to lose a couple of DeMatha guys who chose us. We helped develop them and they helped me grow as a coach. If you looked at our roster we should have had it together for the next 2 years, which I was really looking forward to. I really thought we could turn it into a mid-major program like Loyola-Chicago that can win multiple tourney games in March. However, the transfer portal can change an entire program with just a conversation or 2. On the flip side, the portal also gives you an opportunity to rebuild your program almost via free agency. We brought in Dom Campbell from Notre Dame, Seth Towns (who was Ivy POY as a sophomore at Harvard), and Jordan Hairston as a grad transfer who can shoot/score at a high clip. Joshua Strong played D-2, graduated college in just 2 years, and after applying to law school at Harvard he has 2 years of eligibility left. I love the way that we were able to put our team back together and I think that we have a chance to be competitive.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? My goal is to try to win every game and we have a fantastic schedule so that we are prepared for March with some competitive regional matchups. We will have to play a little slower and be very physical: we have some players with Big 10-type bodies so we will run more sets than I normally have done in the past. We will have to play inside-out with some big men who are physical so it will be interesting…although it makes me nervous to get away from the up-tempo style I am comfortable with.

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Name, Image, and Lots of money: HoopsHD interviews Ed Cantu of the Shakas Up Sports NIL Collective

Posted on September 28, 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 Ed Cantu of the Shakas Up Sports NIL Collective, who discussed what his group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

You are the co-founder of an NIL collective called “Shakas Up Sports” that was launched last March: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did you do it? Creating an NIL collective is a highly complex process. We were fortunate to work directly with our friend Keith Miller of Influxer, the former Compliance Director at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and an attorney who helped develop the legislation adopted by the State of Texas for NIL collectives. My four colleagues and I founded Shakas Up Sports, Inc. for the love of our student-athletes, especially those who helped Islander Athletics expand our University’s visibility and reach throughout the country and beyond.

Your focus is on basketball but you also work with some other sports: what makes basketball so important? TAMUCC does not play football so men’s/women’s basketball are our marquee sports. Our men’s team’s national exposure during March Madness the past two years was incredible. Taking advantage of this exposure is essential to our athletic program, our university, and our community.

What kind of deals have you been able to work out so far? Most of our deals have been community-based/free autograph sessions for our fans that were paid for by local businesses. Our inaugural event was sponsored by Hicks Automotive Group and Jason’s Deli and hosted at local restaurant Brewster Street Southside, where our fans were treated to free autographs and a meet-and-greet with our men’s/women’s basketball teams. Our second event was a free women’s basketball autograph signing held during the Corpus Christi Hooks’ “Women of Sports” Weekend. Farmers Insurance/Ed Cantu provided 4,400 Hooks fans at Whataburger Field the opportunity to meet the student-athletes and get their favorite Islanders gear signed. Rally Credit Union helped us develop a Meet Your Favorite Islander Podcast where listeners heard from Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Alecia Westbrook for our inaugural airing. We have since interviewed up-and-coming men’s basketball star Owen Dease. Alecia Westbrook recently locked down a deal representing Colonel’s Coffeehouse for their online coffee. You can secure your own bag of fresh grommet coffee and help Alecia by going to https://colonelscoffeehouse.com/collections/all (be sure to apply the code ALECIA10 now that you are an Islander Fan!). We are also working with AutoNation for upcoming watch parties. Many more regional businesses have shown interest and are pursuing unique opportunities to promote their organization by utilizing the services of our student-athletes.

You offer several membership levels ranging from $25/month to $1,000/month: what kind of extra perks do people get for being at the highest level? Perks for a $1,000 monthly membership still need to be finalized. We aim to arrange exclusive opportunities for VIP members, including dinners and other special events with our student-athletes and co-founders.

You graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi a few decades ago: how has the school changed from your era to now? The University has seen a significant transformation. We’ve gone from a state school named Corpus Christi State University to a member of the Texas A&M System. Ward Island, the TAMUCC campus, has grown from a small, non-traditional, 3,000-student body upper-level University without first- or second-year students to a vibrant, beautiful campus of 12,000. Today’s campus life matches that of a resort, and Best College Review has named TAMUCC “The Best College By The Sea” for several years. We have gone from not having an Athletic Department to being a competitive D-1 Mid­-Major University that competes in sixteen different sports, inducing the fastest-growing collegiate NCAA sport: women’s beach volleyball.

In the 2023 NCAA tourney you beat Southeast Missouri State before losing to Alabama: how big a deal was it to get the 1st NCAA tourney win in school history? Our first victory was huge. The exposure we gained, especially from social media fans of “Barstool Sports,” put us on the sports map. Their campus conversation, “That Can’t Be a Real Place,” spiked applications for enrollment: our freshman class numbers have grown and our total University enrollment is up as well. And yes, our victory over Southeast Missouri State helped us recruit new athletes…and I am sure it helped us retain others too.

Later that month Coach Steve Lutz left for Western Kentucky: how do people feel about your new coach Jim Shaw? Coach Shaw is very likable and his team loves him. He helped build our two Championship teams so we know he will continue to recruit and retain high-caliber student-athletes who will continue to make us proud to be Islanders.

People are obviously free to do whatever they want with their hard-earned money…but do you ever have any second thoughts about whether you should be encouraging your donors to do something else like fight cancer/reduce homelessness? Like it or not, athletics is the front door to most Universities. There are many great causes and improving the education level of our community is one of them. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is designated as a Hispanic-Serving and Minority-Serving Institution where most of our students are first-generation college students. Helping develop student­ athletes and the whole student body by improving their level of education is our primary goal/mission at Shakas Up Sports, Inc.

Do you think the NIL model will be as effective at a Southland school, and what is the biggest difference between your collective and those at high-major schools (if any)? Our model is different from most: we truly are doing this for our student-athletes. My co-founders and I keep $0 for ourselves. In addition to a quality education value, our mission is to enrich the student-athlete experience at TAMUCC and create unforgettable moments for our dedicated fans. By fostering a supportive environment, we aim to empower athletes to excel on/off the field while offering fans unparalleled opportunities to engage with their favorite teams and players. Shakas Up Sports, Inc. provides many opportunities and offers mentoring to our student-athletes to prepare them for life after they leave our Island.

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? That is always possible but Shakas Up Sports has complete confidence in our coaches. Islander Athletics is about to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. With absolute certainty, our coaches do a fantastic job recruiting high-caliber student-athletes who make us proud of them on and off the court/field. Our student-athletes have a GPA above 3.0 and continue to exceed the national average year after year.

*If you would like to contact Shaka Up Sports please go to: www.shakasupsports.com

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Wofford JR PG Rachael Rose

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Jon Teitel

We are still about 6 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 Wofford JR PG Rachael Rose, who talked about being named conference POY and her expectations for this season.

You began your career at USC Upstate, where you were named 2022 conference ROY: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from high school to college? Having a strong work ethic is something that has been engraved into me since I was little, and so truly understanding the term outwork helped me have a smoother transition into D-1 basketball. I also had a great support system and coaches back home that trained me to be ready for all situations both on and off the court.

Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Wofford? I will always be grateful for the opportunities and accolades I had at USC Upstate, but in the end it was just not the right program for me. I chose Wofford because I immediately felt a connection with the coaching staff and the girls were extremely welcoming. I saw the vision that Coach G (Jimmy Garrity) had for the program and I wanted to play a part in making history.

In the 2023 SoCon tourney semifinals you had a career-high 7 STL in a 5-PT win over UNCG: what is the secret to being a good defender? Defense is all heart. Just simply wanting it more than your opponent can win you championships. I know my teammates have my back, and so that allows me to take risks and jump the passing lanes.

In the 2023 WNIT you scored 19 PTS in a 3-PT loss at Florida: what did you learn from that loss that you think will help you this year? The loss to Florida was really tough because I felt we were in control for most of the game until we let it slip away in the end. Although we were much smaller, we never gave up and we fought until the very end. If we can keep the mentality of being the most together team and never giving in then we will put ourselves in a great position to win.

You led the conference in PTS last year and were #2 in AST: how do you balance your scoring with your passing? As the point guard, it is my job to facilitate and get all my teammates involved in the offense. I watch a lot of film and that helps me see angles and passing lanes, while also seeing openings to create shots for myself. I work hard with my coaches to create scoring opportunities for both myself and my teammates.

You finished the season by being named conference POY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I was honored to be named the SoCon Player of the Year but that was never the main goal for me. Our main goal was to win the SoCon regular season along with the SoCon tournament. We achieved ½ of our goal so we still have a lot of work to do.

Your aunt Missy played basketball at UConn, your uncle Craig played basketball at Army, and your brother Timmy played basketball at Binghamton: who is the best athlete in the family? My family has shaped me into the player/person I am today. I grew up either watching them play or hearing the stories of their days of college basketball. It is hard to say who the best in the family is because we all have had different roles on the teams we played for: however, my aunt Missy is the only one of us who has a national championship ring.

You turned 21 last June: what did you do for the big day? We were in summer session at Wofford so I celebrated at practice doing what I love most, which is competing in basketball. My teammates also made me a cake and celebrated with me at night.

Your schedule includes road trips to Wake Forest/Virginia/Tennessee/Georgia: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think every team we play this year will be a challenge. Winning at the D-1 level is hard and each game is a fight. We played Tennessee last season and did not start off the game the way that we wanted so I would love to learn from our mistakes last year and clean it up.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? We are extremely young this season so we have a lot of learning/growing to do together as a team. My goals however have not changed: I want to win a championship. Our seniors (Abbey Crawford/Ja’Rae Smith/Annabelle Schultz/Helen Matthews) deserve to leave their Wofford basketball careers on a high note.

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Name, Image, and Lots of money: HoopsHD interviews Patrick MacWilliams of The Massachusetts Collective

Posted on September 26, 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 Patrick MacWilliams of The Massachusetts Collective, who discussed what his group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

You are the director of an NIL collective called “The Massachusetts Collective” that was formed last October: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did you do it? I was somewhat familiar with the NIL space and had been following it closely but it has evolved quite a bit since then. I am still involved with the fundraising arm of UMass Basketball and have been around the program for a while. I thought it was important to form a collective and it helped that I know how to start/run a business. What I did not expect was the amount of time involved: I spend about 35-40 hours/week on it, which is a big challenge.

Your moving and storage company agreed to NIL deals with a trio of UMass athletes on the very 1st day of the NIL era (July 1, 2021): were you nervous about getting started right from Day 1 without knowing exactly how everything would pan out legally? I was not nervous at all. We were familiar with the basic framework and the school was helpful with the compliance issues. The comfort level was there from both ends for the 1st deal we did with Noah Fernandes. I love being engaged in this space and am still learning more each day.

The UMass athletics department has endorsed the GoMassNIL Collective in addition to yours: is that a good thing (since they offer opportunities for non-basketball athletes) or a bad thing (more competition for your own group) or other? Their founder, Jim Hunt, and I go way back: he was actually my dentist when I 1st moved to Amherst! We still play golf together and have talked for hours and hours about whether we want to work together/separately. Even though he wanted to work with Olympic sports and I wanted to work on basketball we still talk daily. It is not a competition so we still work hand in hand. As of this month, The Massachusetts Collective has assumed all basketball NIL responsibilities at UMass and is an official partner with UMass Athletics and Learfield.

Your entire focus is on basketball: how/why would you decide to open it up to other sports? I would consider doing something besides basketball…but only with strict conditions. We would have to find the right people dedicated to running it because I already know how much work it takes: you cannot be passive about it so it is very unlikely. The head of the UMass football collective (https://midnightridenil.com) is similar: we work together all the time and talk frequently. I do not think it makes sense to mix all of the sports together.

You have stated that your goal is to sign 3-5 players per season: why did you choose to focus on a few players rather than the entire team? We think that everyone has a different value: that is how the free market works. What has changed over the past year is creating a baseline “salary” for everyone on the team of $5000/year and then signing deals with the top guys for a significant amount more. Our current budget is around $150,000 for the 4 athletes we have currently signed, which I think is good money for the A-10. The numbers can always change and we are always working on fundraising so that we can build it out.

What kind of connection does your group have with Coach Frank Martin/Athletic Director Ryan Bamford? I talk to Coach pretty frequently, especially in the offseason, while following all of the rules/regulations. The coaching staff is made up of a bunch of great guys and we hope to do more promotions/experiences with Coach this year. We are starting a campaign next month to try to get 50 new members during the 50 days leading up to this season’s tip-off. Ryan has been extremely helpful behind the scenes to connect us with everyone for compliance purposes. He has been open with us and answered our questions: his endorsement of us was huge and he constantly supports us.

What kind of deals have you been able to work out so far? The most interesting deal we have done was our 1st 1 with an international player named Tafara Gapare. He was heading back to New Zealand for 3 days during winter break and I had to literally track his flight so that I knew when he was allowed to put pen to paper (he is now at Georgia Tech)! It shows our organizational power as to how we can get a deal done. We also have new players like highly-touted transfer Josh Cohen, who recently signed a big deal with us.

People are obviously free to do whatever they want with their hard-earned money…but do you ever have any second thoughts about whether you should be encouraging your donors to do something else like fight cancer/reduce homelessness? It is all up to your personal preference. For me, supporting UMass Basketball is something that I have always done, and through our Collective we have charitable aspects as well. People should get involved with whatever they are passionate about, be it a food bank/animal shelter/YMCA/etc. Any income that I can dedicate to other sources is important, but if we want UMass to return to a semblance of their 1996 Final 4 team then this is a big piece of the puzzle.

Do you think the NIL model will be as effective at an A-10 school, and what is the biggest difference between your collective and those at high-major schools (if any)? We can definitely have a huge role in the A-10. As you compare collectives within the A-10 I think that we are on the stronger side, but schools like Dayton are coming: if they had to raise $200,000 in a very short time then they could do that. We are focused on getting anyone involved at any level to see the benefits that we can give them. 1 difference with the bigger schools is the amount of people/money involved. We had RJ Luis signed to a 2-year deal, then he ghosted us/entered the transfer portal/enrolled at St. John’s. I know that their resources are a LOT more than ours. There is some loyalty involved but to be honest: if someone gets an offer to play for Rick Pitino at Madison Square Garden then they should f—ing go! If we can come close to the NIL money of the Goliaths then at least the players might think twice about it.

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 into contractual relationships with teenagers who might end up behaving badly? We have a great lawyer on our team but you always have to do your homework/check people’s references regardless of their age. There are bad actors everywhere but we talk to whoever we can and have protections in our contracts for bad behavior. We are aware of it but I have not really thought about it besides doing due diligence.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Mississippi State associate head coach James Miller

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Jon Teitel

We are still about 6 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 Mississippi State associate head coach James Miller, who talked about starting last season 11-0 and his expectations for this season.

In the 2018 CBI finals as an assistant to Grant McCasland at North Texas you lost the 1st game at San Francisco by double-digits: how were you able to regroup with 2 straight double-digit home wins to clinch the title? That is pretty unique to have a best-of-3 series in college basketball. We ended up on the same flight back to Texas with San Francisco after that loss! We had a really good crowd for Game 2, which helped us flip the momentum. Tourney MVP Roosevelt Smart played well for us during that entire run. We learned what we did wrong in Game 1 and then were able to make some adjustments.

You have spent the last several seasons working for Coach Chris Jans: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He holds everyone in our program to a high standard and demands the best from us on a daily basis. There are no holes in his game: offense, defense, and he still works as hard as he did when he was an assistant. You can never stop continuing to improve as a coach: he tackles 2-3 weaknesses every offseason and tries to turn them into our strengths.

In the 2022 NCAA tourney as an assistant at New Mexico State you had a 7-PT win over UConn: why does the 5 seed vs. 12 seed games produce so many upsets every year? There is so much parity in college basketball. Once you get past the top few seeds you get great teams regardless of their conference. The transfer portal has also allowed mid-major teams to get old so that you might be rolling out a 23-year old to face a 17-year old, which I think has a lot to do with it.

You also coached at Arkansas State/Omaha: what is the biggest difference between all of your former schools and schools who are part of the SEC? The resources: from travel to nutrition to academic support to whatever else we can provide. It is just stupid! These guys do not realize how good they have it: we are used to 7-hour bus rides but that does not happen any more. In the SEC anyone can beat you, whereas at New Mexico State we felt we would be all right if we showed up ready to play.

You started 11-0 last year (which tied the program’s 2nd-best start ever): did it reach a point where your team expected to win every time that they stepped onto the court? We developed confidence on the defensive end and a belief in each other…but we never thought that we would win every single night. We hit a bit of a wall right before Christmas break with a short amount of prep time. That run validated what Coach Jans had said during the preseason and showed that we could be in a lot of close games.

You became the 2nd team this century to limit each of your 1st 10 opponents to 60 PPG or less: what is the key to playing great defense? Every system is different but we really have a team concept that permeates throughout our program. If you want to get on the court then you have to play defense, take charges, and know your opponents’ personnel.

In the 2023 1st 4 your team missed a pair of last-second shots in a 1-PT loss to Pitt: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It is bittersweet when you take the emotion out of it…but 6 months later you look back on it and are thankful that we got to experience that. It ranks pretty high because it was a competitive-yet-ugly game. There were a lot of things we could celebrate about last season but we really want to advance much further this year.

You have 1 of the most veteran rosters in the nation with 6 grad students/2 seniors: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? I think that it will be crucial. We returned all 5 starters and brought in some grad transfers. It is important to get old/stay old while also developing young talent. We are so much further ahead of last year from a system standpoint and are helping the new guys with things they are not used to.

Your schedule this year includes games against ASU/Washington State/Georgia Tech/Rutgers: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Opening the season vs. ASU at a neutral site (Chicago) will be exciting to see where we stand out of the gate. We will also play 1 of Northwestern/Rhode Island in the Hall of Fame Classic and are playing Rutgers right down the road from their campus in a hostile environment (Newark). We have a lot of neutral-site games that will prepare us for SEC play.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? You can see why we have high expectations this year. Coach said that he wants to win multiple games in March so that is what our mindset is: he is NOT just talking about the conference tourney. You need to win games in the fall and then compete every single night in the SEC. It is a process and we need to get better along the way.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Arkansas SO G Saylor Poffenbarger

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Jon Teitel

We are still about 6 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 Arkansas SO G Saylor Poffenbarger, who talked about starting last season 13-0 and her expectations for this season.

You won a gold medal with team USA at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship: what did it mean to you to represent your country, and what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? It meant a lot at the time but means even more now: the girls on that team remain some of my best friends even though our paths took us in different directions. Being 1 of the best girls in my age group was pretty cool.

You began your career at UConn: what is it like to get recruited/coached by Geno Auriemma? It was an interesting recruiting process: it was obviously my dream so the recruitment process was very easy-going/insightful. I have so much respect for Geno but I was in a different stage of my life so I struggled with being pushed a certain way. I was not loving basketball as much as I did when I 1st committed there but he has written the basketball story on the woman’s side.

Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Arkansas? It was during COVID so I was struggling mentally as well. I wanted to re-love the game and realized that I would have to “go down a bit” at a place where there was less pressure than at UConn. I wanted to go somewhere where I could work out with a balance. The staff here has really good people who gave me the comfort that I needed and I have fallen back in love with the game.

You started last season 13-0: did it reach a point where the team started to feel invincible? The point of non-conference play is to build confidence and we were able to use that to our advantage. We grew closer as a team and discovered our strengths/weaknesses. We just played together and trusted ourselves because we were winning.

You were named to the conference all-freshman team: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I had a mindset of just playing and not saying much and doing what I was expected to do. This year I plan to lead by example because I have a better grasp of how to get my teammates to respond. It was hard for me because there could have been some animosity but I just changed my mindset without worrying about outside expectations.

You broke the school record with 225 defensive REB despite playing guard: what is the secret to being a good rebounder? When I was younger my trainer helped me learn how to read the ball off the rim. Defense/rebounding is just an effort thing so it was a “controllable” that I COULD worry about.

In the 2023 WNIT you won 3 straight games before losing to eventual champ Kansas: what did you learn from that postseason run that you think will help you this year? We had to show a lot of maturity because a lot of teams have a different approach if they miss the NCAA tourney. We were disappointed…but used it as fuel and do not want to feel that way again. It shows the importance of every game/possession, which was the biggest takeaway.

The SEC has had 3 different schools appear in the past 6 NCAA tourney title games (South Carolina twice/Mississippi State twice/LSU once): do you feel that it is the best conference in the country? I do: from players to coaches it is definitely better than my prior conference.

Your mother Amy played basketball at Missouri and your brother Reese plays QB at Albany: who is the best athlete in the family? Oh God! We have a very competitive family: my mom would probably pick 1 of us…but my brother and I would each pick ourselves.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I just want to be more consistent in all areas of my game. I want to have more fun out there so that I do not feel so frustrated that the joy is taken out of the game.

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