Hoops HD

SWAC Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 5, 2023 by David Griggs

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SWAC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

Texas Southern
Grambling
Alcorn State
Jackson State
Southern
Prairie View A&M
Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Bethune-Cookman
Arkansas Pine Bluff
Florida A&M
Mississippi Valley State

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SWAC 1ST TEAM:

-Zion Harmon – Bethune-Cookman
-Jeremiah Kendall – Alcorn State
-PJ Henry – Texas Southern (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Chase Adams – Jackson State
-Kylen Milton – Arkansas Pine Bluff

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SWAC 2ND TEAM:

-Romelle Mansel – Jackson State
-Ken Evans – Jackson State
-Joe French – Arkansas Pine Bluff
-TJ Madlock – Alabama State
-Jourdan Smith – Grambling

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

The SWAC is perennially one of the worst conferences in all of D1, and you have to go back to 2015 to find the last time the SWAC champion received a seed that was better than 16th. It is also very difficult to tell how good these teams are before conference play (at least when trying to compare them to each other) since the vast majority of their schedules are made up of road buy-games. But, as poor as this league is, they did manage three wins against Pac-12 teams in last year’s Legacy Series with Grambling knocking off Colorado, Texas Southern beating Arizona State, and Prairie View knocking off Wazzu. All three wins came at home, and the series was actually a 3-3 tie with the Pac 12! So, even when playing against SWAC teams, it is hard to win on the road!

-Texas Southern had an unspectacular season last year where they finished the regular season 7-11 in SWAC play, and were as low as 8th in the standings…but they won when it counted. After barely making the SWAC Tournament, they won three straight games and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 7th time in the last 9 years. They are this year’s preseason favorite, which makes sense because they have been the flagship program for the past decade, but they are not the team I would personally pick. Still, they do have two starters back, and should get big time minutes from Jaylen Wysinger, who is a transfer from Incarnate Word. Like a lot of teams these days, they look to their transfers to play key roles.

-Grambling finished in a tie for first last year, and I am once again excited about this team. It has been fun watching them go from being one of the worst teams in the SWAC, and for that matter in all of D1, to a conference contender. This is an experienced team that has two key starters back, and is adding some key JUCO transfers as well and I think they will once again be dangerous. They are balanced, have depth, and will likely again finish at or near the top.

-Alcorn State also finished in a tie for first last year, and has some key players returning, including three starters. They appear to be particularly strong and experienced in the backcourt, and also have Jeremiah Kendall returning, who should be one of the better frontcourt players in the entire conference.

-I am a little surprised Jackson State is only picked 4th. They were a modest 12-6 in SWAC play last year, but they were absolutely on fire in the second half of conference play winning 8 out of 9 before losing to Grambling in the semifinals. All five starters are back. They have talent. They have experience. They are dangerous and I think they are good enough to win the league. My pick is still Grambling…but I really like this Jackson State team as well.

-Southern, like a lot of teams, is in a bit of a reboot mode with just one starter returning from last year. They do have some guys back that came off the bench last year and who could end up playing a bigger role this year, and they also add Tai’Reon Joseph, who averaged over 26ppg as a JUCO player a year ago. So, the Jaguars do have some pieces.

-Prairie View is rebuilding from a 13-win season that saw them go 9-9 in SWAC play. All five starters are gone, and they have gone into the transfer portal where they picked up players who appeared to play limited roles at UTR schools last year. I do not think they will be at the bottom of the league, but I do not see them at the top of it either.

-Alabama A&M finished the season fairly respectably last year by winning 5 of their last 7 before losing in the semis of the SWAC Tournament. With three starters back and some decent looking JUCO transfers I think they can finish in the top half of the conference this year.

After that, it appears to be a rather big dip…

-Alabama State won just 7 D1 games last year, and while they have three starters back it could once again be a long season.

-Bethune-Cookman looks a little better to me then where they were picked in the preseason. They did kind of collapse in the month of February, but finished the season by winning three of their last five. Three key players are back, including two double-digit scorers, and I think they can contend to at least finish in the middle of the conference.

-Arkansas Pine Bluff finished 9th last year and looks to be about in that range again this year. They were noticeably better last year than they had been the previous three years, so perhaps that trend will continue and they will finish higher than expected.

-Florida A&M appears to be among the worst ten teams in all of D1.

-Mississippi Valley State has won a total of 13 games in the last four seasons, and once again looks to be among the worst in all of D1.

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged Media Day, swac, texas southern | Comments Off

Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Hawaii JR G Lily Wahinekapu

Posted on October 5, 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 Hawaii JR G Lily Wahinekapu, who talked about making the NCAA tourney last March and her expectations for this season.

You were born in Oahu: how did you enjoy growing up in an island paradise?! I loved growing up in Hawaii. It is very family-oriented and there is sunshine all year so it is a great place to grow up.

You are 5’7”: do you see your size as an advantage or a disadvantage on the court? Size does not really matter: even though I am not tall I am 1 of the fastest players on the court. Growing up some people said I could not play basketball due to my height…but I can!

You began your college career at Fullerton, where you scored 14.7 PPG as a freshman en route to being named 2022 conference ROY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot to prove to myself/my family what I could do. I missed my senior season of high school when it was canceled due to COVID so I just worked out every day, and that was 1 of the goals I wrote down on paper.

Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Hawaii? There were a lot of reasons to choose Hawaii but ultimately I did so because it was home. My sister committed here and it was our dream to play together. I was kind of homesick in California but having my family at my games now is very important to me.

Last year you led the team in PTS/AST/STL: what is the key to being a good PG? I am just trying to focus on improving the little things. I can communicate better with my teammates now after spending a year in our system. I want to be a more vocal leader: we push each other during practice and have worked on our weaknesses.

Take me through the 2023 postseason:
In the Big West tourney quarterfinals you scored a team-high 20 PTS in a 7-PT 2-OT win over Fullerton: how exhausted were you after playing 47 minutes vs. your former team? Very exhausted: it was a long game! Both teams were hitting shots so it was a tough game but I was proud to face my old team. There were no hard feelings and we wished the best for each other. I had to get in the ice bath after the game: the travel to Vegas took a lot of toll on my body.

In the Big West tourney title game you had 19 PTS/0 TO in a 2-PT win over UCSB: how were you able to erase a 15-PT 2nd half deficit, and what did it mean to you to win a title? The 1st half did not really go our way so we just tried to stay positive and take it 1 PT at a time in the 2nd half. We tightened up on defense, hit some shots, and tried to work smarter/faster. We made a run in the final quarter and it felt really good. It was a tough year due to all of our team’s injuries but the title made it worthwhile. I hope we can do it again this season.

In the NCAA tourney you scored 11 PTS in a loss to eventual champion LSU: where does tourney MOP Angel Reese (34 PTS/13-20 FG/15 REB/3 BLK/3 STL) rank among the greatest college players that you have ever seen? She is definitely in the top-25. She is very athletic/tall and pursues the ball very well.

1 of your teammates is your younger sister Jovi: who is the best athlete in the family? It is definitely me, even though I am the shortest. She is faster and we push each other: I would not be here if she were not here with me.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Our overall goal is to win another Big West title and advance to the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney. I would like to increase my PPG/APG and advance all of my numbers.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Hawaii, Lily Wahinekapu | Comments Off

Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews San Diego State women’s assistant coach Kellie Lewis

Posted on October 4, 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 San Diego State women’s assistant coach Kellie Lewis, who talked about making the WNIT last March and her expectations for this season.

You grew up in California and won 4 Sierra Foothill League Championships as a player at Placer High School: how big a deal was it to later become the 1st women’s basketball player inducted into your school’s athletic Hall of Fame? It is probably top-2 among my life accomplishments. We have had some really good players come through the school and even a couple who won a state title.

You were a 2-time captain as a player at Boise State: what is the key to being a good leader? As a PG I naturally had to lead from that position. You need to know your system, communicate what your coaches want, and pick things up quickly.

You majored in social science/public affairs with an emphasis in sociology/psychology: which of those subjects serves you best as a basketball coach? Definitely the psychology part. It was a long time ago but learning/reading people and figuring out what motivates them is very important.

You were a 4-time all-conference all-academic selection: how did you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I would like to give a profound answer…but academics just came easily to me. I had some high goals during high school and pushed myself hard to reach them, which made the transition to college easier, as did the fact that I enjoyed my classes.

You remain #4 in school history with 80.7 FT%: what is the secret to making FTs? The best part of my game was my ability to shoot so that was a stat that made sense for me. I did not get rattled under pressure, which has also helped me as a coach, so I was able to maintain my confidence.

In 2012 you were named head coach at FAU: what is the biggest difference between being a head coach vs. being an assistant coach? You have to carry so many other things on your plate as a head coach and so little of it involves what goes on between the lines. You cannot really understand all of it until you are thrown into it. There are so many other things to manage/deal with so as an assistant I try to make the head coach’s job as easy as it can be.

At FAU your team had the 2nd-highest scoring offense in school history, and as an assistant at Colorado State your team had the 2nd-fewest turnovers/game in the nation: is it easier to teach players how to score or how to not turn the ball over? I think it is hard to teach them how to take care of the ball. At FAU I had players with certain skill sets that I could build around, which seemed easier.

Last spring your women’s team at San Diego State made the WNIT and your men’s team made the NCAA title game: how excited was the city to see both teams having such success simultaneously? It was awesome: kudos to the men for their unbelievable run! It was not surprising to me because those players are in the gym all the time. We had a lot of 5th-year seniors using their COVID year and they deserved to go out by making it to the postseason. The way that the fans got behind both teams was pretty cool.

You have 6 seniors on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? They will be a big piece of who we are. We have added some transfers as well but the biggest thing is to get everyone on the same page. We do not have to coach effort so once they understand what we are trying to do that leadership will be big for us.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? The #1 expectation is to compete/play hard, and then the rest will take care of itself. We will celebrate the big/small victories and will continue to get better every day by excelling at the little things.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Kellie Lewis, San Diego State | Comments Off

Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Niagara JR G Aaliyah Parker

Posted on October 3, 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 Niagara JR G Aaliyah Parker, who talked about being 1 of the best defenders in the nation and her expectations for this season.

You were born/raised in New York: what made you choose Niagara? I wanted to stay close to home so Niagara was one of the main schools I was looking at. Every time I was at Niagara it would feel like a second home to me, plus I was able to play with my sister again.

You play for Coach Jada Pierce: what makes her such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? She always says the right thing at the right time both on and off the court. She is a great motivator and her pregame speeches are the best: she always gets you in the right mindset before the game. The most important thing I have learned from her is to take everything one step at a time.

In 2022 you led the team with 6.3 RPG and were named conference ROY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot to me because I came in hoping to do everything I could to help the team. Receiving this award showed the work I was putting in paid off and motivated me to do even better the next year.

Last year you were #2 in the nation with 3.7 SPG: what is the secret to being a great defender? There is not really a secret, but I have long arms/quick reflexes so I feel those things help me out a lot on defense.

You finished the season by being named to the conference All-Academic Team: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I usually put all of my homework assignments in my calendar and set times to do them. I also try to do most of my assignments ahead of time (especially on the weekends) so I will not have to worry about them later on.

In the 2023 MAAC tourney quarterfinals you had 18 PTS/14 REB/11 STL (the 1st triple-double in MAAC postseason history) in a win over Rider on International Women’s Day: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? I do not really rank my games…but it would probably be in my top-3.

Your schedule includes games against LSU/UCLA/Maryland/West Virginia: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? All of them will be a test but LSU would probably be the biggest since they just won a national championship.

You are majoring in sports management: what is the post-graduation plan? My plan is to either play professionally or become a coach.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? My goal for this season is to win a MAAC championship. I just want to do the best I can this season and be the best teammate that I can be in helping us get there.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Aaliyah Parker, Niagara | Comments Off

Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews GCU head coach Bryce Drew

Posted on October 2, 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 GCU head coach Bryce Drew, who talked about his famous shot and his expectations for this season.

During high school you required 3 surgeries to repair a rapid heartbeat but were eventually named Mr. Basketball in Indiana after helping lead your 28-0 Valparaiso High School team all the way to the state title game before an OT loss to South Bend Clay High School: how close did you come to never playing basketball again, and how close did you come to going undefeated? A lot of it was just the blessing of having the doctor fix my heart. I was young/naive at the time but there was a risk that I would never play again. We were about 1 second away: Jaraan Cornell hit a shot at the end of regulation to send it to OT.

In the 1997 NCAA tourney as a player at Valparaiso you set a tourney school-record with 27 PTS/8-12 3PM in a 7-PT loss to BC: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yes: during that 1st half for sure. They switched to a box-and-1 and I did not get as many shots in the 2nd half.

Take me through the magical 1998 NCAA tourney:
You had 22 PTS/8 AST in a 1-PT win over Mississippi including your famous game-winning/ESPY-winning 23-footer at the buzzer on a play called “Pacer” (named after the NBA team that your father/coach Homer learned it from): how did that shot change your life (if at all)? At the time we were just excited that we won the game. We never thought it would have the magnitude that it did. I do not think it changed who I was but a LOT more people became aware of our school after seeing it on TV. Many people tell me that they remember exactly where they were when the shot went in.

You scored 22 PTS in a 6-PT OT win over Florida State after Bill Jenkins made the 2nd of 2 FTs at the end of regulation to send it to OT: did you think that Bill was going to make his FT, and what is the key to winning close games in March? You definitely need to get some breaks and have the ball bounce your way. Bill was not a great FT shooter (64%) but all of the hard work he put in showed during that big moment.

You finished your college career as the school’s all-time leader in several categories (PPG/APG/3PM) and were later nominated as 1 of the 150 most influential people in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think you belong above or below Orville Redenbacher?! I think Orville is definitely the most famous guy from Valpo: a LOT of people eat his popcorn. I even took a photo with his statue downtown. I was always striving to be better and achieve my goal of making the NBA and was able to pass some guys who were ranked higher than me.

In 1998 you became the 1st-ever 1st round pick in school history when you were drafted 16th overall by Houston (6 spots behind Paul Pierce): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It was definitely something that I had been working towards for a long time and was pretty surreal.

You were a 3-time conference tourney MVP as a player, and in the past 11 years as a coach at Valparaiso/Vanderbilt/GCU you have made 5 NCAA tourneys and were NIT runner-up in 2016: what is the biggest difference between regular season vs. postseason? The level of play goes up so you need to reach the next level of focus/determination. It is really hard to turn it on/off so it depends on the habits that you have already created.

Your father Homer won 600+ games during his college career, your brother Scott won the 2021 NCAA title as coach at Baylor, and your brother-in-law Casey Shaw is 1 of your assistant coaches: who is the best coach in the family? I will go with my dad, who has been a mentor for all of us and is the only 1 of us in the Hall of Fame.

You have 5 seniors and 1 redshirt senior on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? We are hoping that it plays a big part with the maturity of understanding what it takes to win. The veterans are further along in life and will play better on the court together.

You had a birthday last week: what did you do for the big day? Not much: we had practice and a family dinner cooked by my wife/son.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Like most coaches I really like my team as it is coming together. Staying healthy is a big thing and then making sure we get/stay on the same page.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon | Comments Off

Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Jack Castleberry

Posted on October 1, 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 Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Jack Castleberry, who talked about being hired last March and his expectations for this season.

You went to college at VMI: how were you able to go from walk-on to team captain? A good amount of hard work. I was not a great player but figured out where I fit in. Coach Duggar Baucom really appreciated people who worked hard so if I did what he asked me to do then I was able to make an impact without scoring a lot of PTS. I was the “culture guy” in the locker room.

You later became an assistant for the women’s team at Siena: what is the biggest difference between coaching men vs. coaching women? I really enjoyed coaching both genders but there are different problems that arise. It made me a better coach because it forced me to become more detail-oriented.

During your time at Siena you became friends with an assistant for the men’s team named Tobin Anderson and you later became his assistant at FDU: how close have you 2 grown over the past decade? We actually go back a little further than that: I was a camper at 5-Star Camp when he was a counselor there. He was doing some ball-handling drills and sweating and working hard, which I admired. I practiced his drills during the summer, which made me a better player. I later reintroduced myself when I was at VMI and he piqued my interest in going to Siena. We stayed in contact and I told him that if he ever got a D-1 job that I would love to come work for him. I was lucky enough that his top assistant left and I was able to join his staff.

In 2014 you left college basketball to become a financial planner: why did you do it, and why did you return to the sideline just 2 years later? I have the most screwed up career path of all-time! I was frustrated with the business side of being a coach. The on-court stuff was awesome but I was frustrated with the lack of growth in my career path so I decided to try something else. There was a VMI alum I knew who was a financial planner and he brought me in to join him in Philadelphia (where my now-wife is from). I wanted to remain in the gym in some capacity and helped out at Cardinal O’Hara High School. Getting away from the sport gave me a better perspective going forward. When you are younger you are hell-bent on taking over the world without appreciating the opportunity to have an impact on young adults. By pure luck my former coach got hired at Citadel…and the rest was history.

Take me through the 2023 NCAA tourney as an assistant to Tobin at #16-seed FDU:
You beat Texas Southern in the 1st 4: how were you able to get your team refocused after a 1-PT loss to Merrimack in the NEC tourney title game just 1 week earlier (the Warriors were ineligible for the NCAA tourney due to being in the final year of their 4-year transition period from D-2 to D-1)? Even though we lost the title game we still know what was coming after it. We had to listen to some talk about “you do not deserve it” but I think it eventually was a driver for the success we had. It was not us against the world but we still wanted to prove that we belonged, which helped us get ready to go.

You had a 5-PT win over #1-seed Purdue, which set a record for the biggest upset in terms of point spread in NCAA tourney history (the Boilermakers were a 23.5-PT favorite): how did you do it, and how did that game change your life (if at all)? You probably would not be interviewing me if we had not won that game! That is the great thing about March Madness: it was probably the most favorable matchup of all the #1 seeds in terms of our style. We saw Purdue struggle when Rutgers pressed them so we wanted to make them play faster and shoot threes. We put all of our focus on Zach Edey and they did not make a ton of threes that night (5-26 3PM). Tobin had been winning for a long time and just had not received a lot of recognition. Some of our players from St. Thomas Aquinas had been in massive moments so there was not really any fear: we would not back down from anybody.

You had an 8-PT loss to FAU: what did you team learn from your magical postseason run that you think will help them this year? That we can play with anyone: when you buy-in to our style and see that it can work then it builds your confidence. FAU was an incredible team…but if we had not missed a lot of layups in the 1st half then I think we would have been in it at the end. We both liked to dictate tempo and had aggressive mindsets: it felt like we were playing against a bigger version of ourselves.

Less than 48 hours later you were hired as Tobin’s replacement after he took another job: how is it going so far, and when are we going to see Iona on your schedule? You will never see Iona on our schedule! It is great right now because nobody is pissed off at me yet. We can be a great team but I want to manage expectations because progress is not always a straight line. For example, we lost to Hartford last year and then beat St. Joe’s, which does not make sense.

Your schedule includes games against Seton Hall/Illinois: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? When you look at size/speed those 2 teams will be very tough. We are still focused on winning the NEC: we did so many incredible things last year but did not win a regular season/tourney title.

You lost your top-2 scorers in Demetre Roberts/Grant Singleton: how will you try to replace all of that offense? It will be by committee because those 5th-year seniors were special and you cannot replace them with just 1 guy. However, we bring back 7 guys who played double-digit minutes in the NCAA tourney so we have players who know how to score and have played in big games. It is like the FAU model and with the depth we have it is certainly doable.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? The goal is to win the NEC, which is a perfectly attainable goal but will involve a lot of hard work. We expect to go after a conference championship: it is not about setting the bar lower but just admitting that we will have to work harder this year because we will have a bigger bullseye on our back.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Fairleigh Dickinson, Jack Castleberry | Comments Off