Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Drake coach Darian DeVries

Posted on October 4, 2022 by Jon Teitel

We are still a month away from the tip-off of the college basketball season this fall, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Drake coach Darian DeVries, who talked about making the CBI last March and his expectations for this season.

You played basketball at Northern Iowa: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? I was just an okay player but loved the experience. I always thought that I would be a high school coach/teacher but later decided that I wanted to get a job in college.

You spent almost 2 decades working for Dana Altman/Greg McDermott at Creighton: what was the most important thing that you ever learned from either of them? The biggest thing from both of them was their consistency and how they approached their day-to-day. They were never too high/low and just stayed the course.

You were hired as head coach at Drake in 2018: why did you take the job? I had tried to get it a couple of times before. I grew up in Iowa and knew the Des Moines area and the value of a Drake education. I thought that it was a great fit for me and I had a clear vision of what we could do here.

You were named conference COY twice in the past 4 years: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? You win those awards when your program is doing well, which is the fulfillment/recognition that I got from those awards. It filters down to your staff/players/administration because they are group awards.

In 2020 you became the 1st coach to lead a #8-seed to a win over a #1-seed in the MVC tourney: how were you able to pull off the upset against your alma mater? We made shots, which always helps! We finished the regular season against them at our place and got beat badly in front of a sold-out crowd. That is the beauty of sports: you just have to go out and play.

The following season you started 18–0, then lost 2 of your best players to injury, then led Drake to its 1st NCAA tourney win in 50 years by beating Wichita State: where does that win rank among the highlights of your career? It is probably #1. Not only did we overcome injuries but everyone had to go through COVID with testing/lockdowns. I was really proud of our group and their resiliency to stick together despite everything that was thrown at them.

Last March as the #1 seed in the CBI you had a win over Purdue Fort Wayne and then a 1-PT loss to eventual champion UNCW: what did your team learn from that run that you think will help them this year? It was disappointing to miss out on the NCAA/NIT but we wanted to give our seniors a chance to play in the postseason. We were actually up by 20 PTS against UNCW with 10 minutes left. It left a bit of a sour taste but the guys are excited to go back out there and make the NCAA tourney this season.

You have a great returning backcourt in Roman Penn/Garrett Sturtz: how crucial will they be to your team’s success this season? They will be critical, in addition to our other returning starters. I am excited about their familiarity with what we are trying to do: it does not always equate to wins but we have a great group of guys who play hard/play together.

Your son Tucker was named MVC ROY last year, your brother Jared played 12 years in the NFL, your brother Dusty played football at Iowa, your brother Jay played college football, and your sister Jodi played volleyball at Northern Iowa: who is the best athlete in the family? I know that it is not me!

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Everyone in the Valley has the same goal of winning the conference title and making the NCAA tourney. We focus on the day-to-day: getting better, staying hungry, not getting complacent. The big picture is to try to make a run but in the immediate future it is about refining all of the little things.

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Name, Image, and Lots of money: HoopsHD interviews Tony DeSorbo & Mike Bristol of the 315 Foundation NIL collective

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The marketplace for college athletes to engage in Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) deals was created last year 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 Tony DeSorbo & Mike Bristol of the 315 Foundation NIL collective, who discussed what their group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

You 2 founded an NIL collective called “315 Foundation” with a website that went live in August: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did you do it? We are a 501(c)(3) so being a philanthropic organization does make it a little complicated. The basic NIL rule is “no pay for play,” so a quid pro quo needs to occur where the athlete does something in exchange for money…but the IRS rule is the exact opposite. It took us a little while to figure out how to compensate athletes for working with other 501(c)(3) organizations while staying within IRS rules. With the help of some attorneys/accountants we were able to get it done. What makes us feel good is that everyone around the country seemed to figure it out the same way. You cannot really be competitive unless you have a foundation or a collective: it is as simple as that. The unique part is that we took a step back and thought that a charitable aspect would make sense. We wanted to make it a win for everyone: the community/athlete/fans.

How much of your focus is on basketball compared to football? The foundation was formed to help all of the athletes at Syracuse whether they play revenue or non-revenue sports. If there are donors who like women’s tennis then that would be great to have their support but we have been more basketball-focused out of the gate. We are primarily considered a basketball school and Coach Jim Boeheim has mentioned us in numerous interviews, which has helped get us off the ground. We are also very happy that the football team has started 5-0, which should help bring in donations for them.

What kind of connection (if any) will your group have with former players and/or Athletic Director John Wildhack? Mike is a sports marketing agent who has worked with a lot of legendary former athletes and is tied in to the Orange Alumni Network. We have a close working relationship with the Syracuse athletic department and clear everything with their compliance office. John supports the things that we are doing and Mike has worked with many of the current coaches as well. Our goal with the foundation is to create a sustainable fund. What is widely reported around the country is a few wealthy people making large donations, but the Syracuse community is extremely tied into the university for both academics/athletics. The power we are trying to harness is our massive fanbase even though we are not a huge city. If we can get a lot of small donations from numerous fans, then we can fund the program and do a lot of good work in the community. We wanted to build a value-add: people can get a tax deduction for supporting charitable work but also personally influence Syracuse winning. When our teams are winning then our local economy benefits and our civic pride soars.

What kind of deals have you been able to work out so far? We are so new that we have taken in some assets but are still in the process of doing our 1st deals, such as an upcoming charity event.

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? This is why we built a not-for-profit. Tony’s wife is on the board of an organization that medically treats people experiencing homelessness on the streets of Syracuse. We would love to have our athletes get involved with that kind of philanthropic work. They will learn the power of doing good for others. These athletes’ NIL and celebrity status is a powerful influence. We think that it can help a child with cancer feel better if they show up to give them a boost of hope in the hospital. We want to teach the impact of philanthropy and make a real difference in the lives of young athletes.

In August Coach Jim Boeheim said, “My hope would be that if we did get this going, all the players would get treated equally”: do you feel that the focus should be on helping 1-2 high-profile student-athletes or all student-athletes, and why? We feel that an athlete in a non-revenue sport is working extremely hard to be great while also going to school, just as much as the athletes who are on TV all of the time. Significant donors can tell us which sport they want their money to go to, and we can also have donors give money to athletes connected to a specific charity. I think Coach Boeheim wants all of his players (not just the stars) to get treated equally so our focus is on taking care of our current athletes.

You were quoted as saying, “We have absolutely nothing to do with recruiting and obviously want to be crystal clear about that”: why is that the case, and is it possible that might change in the future? Recruiting is the coaches’ role: we are just trying to build sustainability. Unless the NCAA rules change, we do not see that as our role. If you read what is publicly available, then it sounds like some other collectives might be more aggressive than we are. That is ok with us. We are conservative and do not want to run afoul of any NCAA rules.

Last month former top high school prospect Emoni Bates was arrested after sheriff’s deputies found a gun in a car he was driving: how concerned are you about entering contractual relationships with teenagers who might end up behaving badly? It is important for the coaches to recruit good-character kids, especially now. What we have seen in working on some deals so far is that the parents are very involved, which is great. We also have a morality clause and expect the kids to act in a responsible manner. They are learning what it means to give back and help others. We are trying to look at NIL holistically and be a positive influence. If we are taking up the time of young people with good things and providing them some guidance and teaching them the power of planning today, hopefully there will be less time for them to get into trouble. Syracuse has a good reputation for high-character kids and we want to be a part of that.

What kind of cool stuff do people get if they became 1 of your top donors? Our model is not built like that: we are being as straightforward and above board as possible to remain within IRS guidelines. We are trying to do this the right way. Our donors should receive a nice tax deduction and the benefit of knowing they personally helped Syracuse’s teams win, while helping the community in general. We might do charity galas/golf tourneys in the future but for now we will stay within the guardrails of the IRS and the NCAA.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Delaware F Jyare Davis

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Jon Teitel

We are still a month away from the tip-off of the college basketball season this fall, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Delaware F Jyare Davis, who talked about making the NCAA tourney last March and his expectations for this season.

In 2018 you teamed up with Dudley Blackwell/Patrick McCaffery/Carson McCorkle to win the USA Basketball 3×3 U18 National Championship: could you have ever imagined that 4 years later you/Patrick had made the NCAA tourney while Dudley/Carson were playing at big-time schools like Iowa State/Virginia? For sure! We were all highly-recruited guys and had a lot of fun playing together. It is cool to see all of us living out our dreams now at the college level.

You began playing on the varsity at the Sanford School as an 8th grader and became the 1st player in Delaware high school history to be named 1st-team All-State 4 times: how were you able to dominate throughout your high school career, and what made you choose Providence? I enjoyed my time at Sanford. I had always played up against better/older competition and it was pretty cool to make some history . I thought that Providence would be a great fit for me.

After suffering a concussion you never played for the Friars: how serious was your injury, and why did you decide to transfer to Delaware? It was pretty serious and I was out for a while. If I did not have the concussion then I probably would not be at Delaware, but coming here was the best decision that I have ever made.

You play for Coach Martin Ingelsby: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He believes in his players: you can feel when your staff has confidence in you and we feel comfortable out on the court.

Last year you were #6 in the conference with 60.1 FG% en route to being named conference ROY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? Going into every season you always have personal/team goals. My personal goal was to be ROY and our team goal was to make the NCAA tourney so it was great to achieve both of those things.

Take me through the 2022 postseason:
In the CAA tourney title game you scored 18 PTS in a 4-PT win over UNCW en route to being named tourney MVP: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? I put a lot of work in and believed in myself. Whatever is going to happen will happen so I just tried to take a step back and not get too emotionally-involved. To celebrate in the locker room was a lot of fun.

In the NCAA tourney you scored 17 PTS/7-10 FG in a loss to Villanova: what did you learn from that loss that will help you this year? It showed me that we can play with anybody. We had a couple of mishaps here and there but it increased my belief in myself and my teammates.

You lost several starters from last year including Ryan Allen/Kevin Anderson/Andrew Carr/Dylan Painter: how will you try to replace all of that offense/experience? Those are all my guys and it will be different without them but I believe in the guys we have now.

1 of your new additions is grad transfer LJ Owens, who has 115 games under his belt as a player at William & Mary/UMBC: what does he bring to the table? He is fitting in well and will be a great scoring option because he can really shoot it and get to the basket. He is a complete guard and will have a big impact for us throughout the season.

Your non-conference schedule includes a game at Duke in November: is it just another game on your schedule or are you excited about the chance to face 1 of the best teams in the nation? Anybody who says it is just another game is kidding themselves! However, every game is an opportunity for us to get better as a team because it is a long season.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I want to repeat as CAA champs and get back to the NCAA tourney and then win some games this time around.

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Name, Image, and Lots of money: HoopsHD interviews Steve Cicciarelli of the Home of the Brave NIL collective

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The marketplace for college athletes to engage in Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) deals was created last year 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 Steve Cicciarelli of the Home of the Brave NIL collective, who discussed what his group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

You are 1 of the co-founders of an NIL collective called “Home of the Brave” that was formed last June: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did you do it? It was not so much “complicated” but did involve a fair amount of work. Bradley basketball is part of the social fabric of the city where I live (Peoria, IL). I am a Notre Dame alum so I joined an NIL collective called Irish Players Club, and later realized that there were plenty of people in Peoria who wanted to keep Bradley relevant in the MVC.

Your entire focus is on basketball: how/why would you decide to open it up to other sports? We picked the men’s basketball program because that is what is important to Peoria. We will consider helping other sports but our group was formed solely for basketball: we want to crawl before we walk and then jog/run. We did not want to bite off too big a piece of the apple, but if we gain more traction and there is not another NIL formed to help athletes in other sports then we will consider doing that in a couple of years.

What kind of connection does your group have with former players like Hersey Hawkins/current Coach Brian Wardle/Athletic Director Chris Reynolds (chairman of the D-1 Men’s Basketball Committee for the 2022-23 season)? We have contacts with all of them. I have known Coach Wardle since he came to town and remember watching Chris back when he was playing high school basketball! We have 50 influential donors and reached out to legends like Hersey/Jim Les because we wanted their support and to use their information to draw interest.

What kind of deals have you been able to work out so far? We brought in people from auto dealerships/construction companies and had the basketball players sign annual contracts. They also participate in several events/year such as a golf tourney and a chance for donors to attend practice.

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? Part of our program is to have events where half of the money goes to non-profit organizations. Participation in our NIL will not affect people’s donations to other causes.

Do you think the NIL model will be as effective at an MVC school, and what is the biggest difference between your collective and those at high-major schools (if any)? The biggest difference is the size of the money. The Irish Players Club is a Notre Dame NIL that supports only the football program by doing things such as selling leprechaun NFTs! The MVC is not a Power 5 football conference and we will never be able to compete at that level, but we feel that we have enough support to do what we need to do to keep Bradley relevant.

Your website appears to allow NIL deals with every member of the basketball team: why did you choose to focus on the entire team rather than just 1-2 high-profile student-athletes? Our intention is to do it the right way: we are not allowed to use it to recruit people. The key to a mid-major is to keep players at your program by giving them some money when they are freshmen, so if another school later offers them $25,000 and they are already getting $18,000 from us we think they will stick around due to the connections that we have made. However, if another school offers them $500,000 then that is another story! We have to “play old” with juniors and seniors.

You also have an FAQ regarding athletes who leave the program: how can you compete with other schools who might offer deals that are less limited in time/scope? We had a player last year named Terry Roberts who led our team in scoring before transferring to Georgia: if we had an NIL then he probably would have stayed here. If we have a player who is being offered more money by another school then we can do a “capital call” and try to raise some money to close the gap: we just hope it does not spiral out of control.

Last month former top high school prospect Emoni Bates was arrested after sheriff’s deputies found a gun in a car he was driving: how concerned are you about entering contractual relationships with teenagers who might end up behaving badly? There is a concern but it is no different than the concern of a coach when recruiting players. We tend to recruit high-quality kids so it has not been a problem so far.

You are not accepting 1-time donations but only annual donations: why did you decide to do things that way, and what kind of “priority access” will members receive? We do annual donations with a payment at the beginning of the year. We had or 1st meeting and limited it to 50 people…and it sold out the very 1st night! Going forward, we will develop our membership to include corporate donors to help expand the money base.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new Sacramento State coach David Patrick

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Jon Teitel

We are still a couple of months away from the tip-off of the college basketball season this fall, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with new Sacramento State coach David Patrick, who talked about his famous godson and his expectations for this season.

You were born in Bermuda/raised in Australia: how did you 1st get into basketball? We did not play basketball in Bermuda and after moving to Australia I started playing Australian Rules Football. There was a basketball court near my house and I ended up falling in love with the sport.

You began your college career at Syracuse where you made the 1996 NCAA title game before a 9-PT loss to Kentucky: how close did you come to winning it all, and where does that Wildcat team (featuring 9 future NBA players!) rank among the greatest that you have ever seen? I tell the young kids now about guys like Ron Mercer/Walter McCarty but they do not know them. I think that Wildcat team was 1 of the best ever. Players do not stay in college that long any more so being in the Big East and going against future Hall of Famers like Ray Allen/Allen Iverson was a phenomenal era. Playing for Jim Boeheim then helped me as a coach now.

In 2015 you got to coach your godson Ben Simmons as an assistant at LSU: how much did you enjoy spending that year together, and how do you think he will do in Brooklyn this season? It was phenomenal to spend time with him because we are like family. It was the last time that he was not under the professional microscope and was able to just be a kid/be innocent. It was awesome to be part of his journey: he has a lot of critics but he finally has a fresh start in Brooklyn. Remember: the last time he was out for 18 months he came back as NBA ROY. Patty Mills will be a mentor to him and help him moving forward.

You won the 2017 NIT as an assistant to Jamie Dixon at TCU: what did it mean to you to win a title? We took over a team at TCU that had only won one Big 12 game the previous year so to win the NIT was huge. The team bought into what Jamie was preaching and we taught them how to win. We had guys like Desmond Bane who was not a 5-star like Ben but still made it to the NBA.

In your 1st year as head coach at UC Riverside your team’s 37.9 3P% was top-30 in the nation, and in your 2nd year your team was #8 in the nation with 60.6 PPG allowed: do you feel like you are a better offensive or defensive coach, or do you take more pride in succeeding at 1 end of the court than the other? In our heads we all think we are offensive coaches when we design plays, but everyone who has played/worked for me would call me a defensive coach. I had a lot of great mentors including Jamie/Randy Bennett: if you can defend/rebound then it is a separator.

Last April you were hired as head coach at Sacramento State: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? This is my 2nd time around as a head coach so I do not take the opportunity lightly. There is an alignment with our president/athletic director: they understand how to build a program and will give me the resources to do so. To be in northern California near my daughters and in the great city of Sacramento: I could not be happier.

You play your home games at The Nest, which is 1 of the smallest gyms in the nation (seating capacity: 1,012): does it feel weird after starting your college career at the largest gym in the nation (Carrier Dome seating capacity: 35,642)? It is a little different! I have been in some big environments…as well as some big gyms where nobody shows up. I have been here as an opposing coach and it got loud so I hope that we have the best home-court advantage in the conference. The size does not matter: just the wins that come behind it.

Your roster is about 50% from California and 50% from foreign countries: what sort of recruiting philosophy do you have? You want to build any program from the inside out. We want to keep the best players in Sacramento here but if they leave and later enter the transfer portal then we will try to get them back. After that, via my connections in Australia, I think this is a great landing spot for foreign players. It is the closest coast to that side of the world and the weather is pretty similar to Australia. We have a history of developing players and treating them the right way.

You have previously worked with the Australian national team: do you think the team is capable of competing for an Olympic medal in 2024 with guys like Josh Giddey/Joe Ingles/Patty Mills? I think we can compete. We won the bronze in Tokyo but I tore my Achilles 2 days before we were scheduled to leave. If you look at our young talent we have guys like Jock Landale/Dyson Daniels, and if Ben joins the other veteran guys then I think we can challenge for a gold medal.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I have high expectations. I look at what Coach Tommy Lloyd did at Arizona in his 1st year by winning the Pac-12 and being ranked among the best in the nation. It takes time but we have the pieces in place. I want us to be dominant at rebounding/defense and move the needle by getting a bye in the conference tourney, because then anything can happen. We have some grad transfers/seniors so at this level you want them to win at a high level both on and off the floor.

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Name, Image, and Lots of money: HoopsHD interviews Stephen Ford of the Country Roads Trust NIL collective

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The marketplace for college athletes to engage in Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) deals was created last year 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 Stephen Ford of the Country Roads Trust NIL collective, who discussed what his group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

Former West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and Arizona Diamondbacks general managing partner Ken Kendrick co-founded an NIL collective called “Country Roads Trust” last January: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did they do it? It is a start-up so we had to get everything from an LLC to a website to a trademark. I had to finish the process while getting athletes on-boarded and raising money from donors. It was a pretty crazy process: we were building the plane while we were flying it!

You are the general manager/COO: what sort of responsibilities do you have? I manage a staff of 3 others. I work with brands on sponsor relationships and work with individuals on the donor side (anywhere from $5000 to 6 figures). I wear 100 different hats but so does everyone else in our office: accounting, putting together deals, etc. Our goal is to get every 1 of our student-athletes an NIL opportunity.

How much of your focus is on basketball compared to football? We focus just as much on basketball as football. We are lucky to have 2 storied programs here including a head coach in Bob Huggins who is top-5 in career wins. They are both huge sports in our state so we are lucky.

What kind of connection (if any) will your group have with former players like Jerry West or people like Coach Huggins/Athletic Director Shane Lyons? We have a good relationship with Bob and his current staff and Jerry is part of our athlete advisory committee.

What kind of deals have you been able to work out so far? We have an insurance deal and a big banking deal: they are both longtime supporters of WVU athletics. We do appearances at tailgates and community events at Ronald McDonald House.

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? My concern is with Country Roads Trust and helping our current student-athletes. Our donors support Children’s Hospital right across the street from us, but from a philanthropic standpoint when they donate to the basketball program it is to help our community efforts.

You are working with more than 100 student-athletes: why did you decide to “spread the wealth” rather than focus on helping 1-2 high-profile student-athletes? There are no other big-time/pro schools in West Virginia: we are the #1 focus for sports in the state. We have the #1 rifle program and a great women’s soccer program and a university fundraising team that allows donors to support non-revenue programs.

In June you hosted football camps for elementary/middle school students: how do you balance giving money to student-athletes with scheduling events that are open to the public? When we do these kinds of camps we have a company that sponsors it and provides an opportunity to market to the community and show some goodwill. We are providing camps to kids from 7 different states and having the sponsors underwrite all of the money for our student-athletes. We did a needs analysis of what is important: we will do camps for all kinds of sports and our student-athletes love that!

What kind of cool stuff do people get if they became 1 of your top donors? It depends: we want to give them access to our student-athletes that they might not otherwise get. We have signed memorabilia, exclusive content, pregame tailgates, suite invites, golf tournaments, etc.

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