The Hoops HD Report June Session – Interview With David Worlock

Posted on June 15, 2021 by David Griggs

David Worlock, Director of Media Coordination and Statistics for Men’s Div1 Basketball (and all around NCAA Tournament VIP) joins us for this special audio-only episode.  We look back at one of the most unusual basketball seasons and NCAA Tournaments of all time.  We also briefly look back and discuss how incredible the 2019-2020 season was, and what it was like for that to suddenly come to a complete halt due to COVID-19.  We discuss the challenges that the selection committee faced this year, how the committee is going from 10 to 12 members, and how they go about extensively monitoring and evaluating all 358 teams in Div1.  All that, and more!!

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Basketball and Brains: HoopsHD interviews South Dakota State Academic All-American Matt Dentlinger

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Everyone knows that Jackrabbits are fast and can jump but they are also pretty smart. Matt Dentlinger is Exhibit A: a near-perfect GPA off the court and 1 of the best field-goal shooters in the Summit League on the court. His team has won at least 68% of its games for 3 straight years and the fans in Brookings cannot wait to see what is in store for the season ahead. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Matt about being a mechanical engineer and a great shooter.

You were born/raised in Iowa: what made you choose South Dakota State? I was always aware of who they were because a player from my area had gone there for college. They really stuck out to me during the recruiting process as being great basketball-wise and were also good in the subject I wanted to major in so they were my best option.

You play for Coach Eric Henderson: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He brings a ton of energy every day and has a great attitude/work ethic, which he stresses a lot.

You redshirted during your 1st year: how did that impact you either on/off the court? I redshirted along with 3 other freshmen, which was a really good experience. We had a lot of good upperclassmen to learn from and it gave us a chance to develop in the weight room. It really helped my basketball/strength/ability to play, while also allowing me to get acclimated to college life.

In January 2020 you scored a career-high 26 PTS/13-18 FG in a loss at South Dakota: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? A lot of it had to do with my teammates who are an amazing/selfless group. They got me the ball at the right time and fortunately it went in the basket a lot.

You beat Omaha in in the Summit tourney last March but lost your 3 other career conference tourney games by a combined 8 PTS: what will it take to get over the hump? Historically our program has been able to win the Summit tourney and get to the NCAA tourney, so that is a big goal of ours next season. It goes back to hard work and taking it 1 day at a time while getting better every day.

Your FG shooting has increased every single year (56.3% as a freshman/62.8% as a sophomore/63.7% as a junior): how have you been able to improve throughout your career? That has a lot to do with being smarter/more comfortable on the floor and knowing when to take a shot or when to pass it. My teammates are unbelievable passers who find the big men in the right spot every single time so they deserve a lot of credit for my point-blank layups.

Last month you were named 3rd-team Academic All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was awesome! Academics has always been pretty important to me so I give a lot of credit to my parents. They taught me to work hard and do my best at everything I do, and I learned a lot from my siblings as well. It is a great honor that I will remember for a while.

You have a perfect 4.0 GPA: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? Unfortunately I got a B last semester so I no longer have a 4.0! Balancing basketball and academics while being on the road during the season is a big challenge. Sometimes I have to watch a lecture online if I miss a class so it takes a lot of organizational skills. It comes back to working hard and getting it done so that I stay up to speed with everything.

What was the hardest part of being a student during a pandemic, and what was the hardest part of being an athlete during a pandemic? The hardest part of being a student was the abrupt switch from in-class learning to online learning. For engineering majors we have a lot of labs involving hands-on work so being unable to do those activities definitely posed a challenge, but my teachers did a great job of adapting. The biggest challenge as far as basketball was being unable to work out as a team after previously being together all of the time. After we were sent home last year we were on our own for workouts.

You are a mechanical engineering major: why did you choose that subject, and what do you hope to do in the future? I chose mechanical engineering in part because my dad/brother are engineers as well, and growing up on a small farm I was used to working with my hands and solving problems. I always enjoyed science/math so I figured I would be interested in it, but I do not have any specific plans yet for the future.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Rice legend Michael Harris

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Rice became a member of Conference USA in the summer of 2005 after having some serious success in the WAC: 17 wins in 2003, 22 wins in 2004, and 19 wins in 2005. The main factor during that winning era was Michael Harris, who remains the greatest scorer/rebounder/field goal shooter in school history. He later made the NBA playoffs in 2008 and was named MVP of the D-League in 2010. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Michael about playing pro basketball and making the NBA playoffs. Today is Michael’s 38th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

You grew up in Texas: what made you choose Rice? Coming out of high school I had 3 schools that were interested in me: Southwest Texas State, Rice, and a partial scholarship from Baylor. I did not want my grandmother to have to pay for me to go to school and Rice had the better academic setting for the future. I wanted to make my mother/grandmother proud.

In the 2003 WAC tourney Carl English scored 15 PTS including a pair of FTs with 4.9 seconds left in a 1-PT OT win by Hawaii: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career, and how sweet was it to beat them by 2 PTS in the tourney the following year? It ranks really high but is behind our loss to Louisiana Tech during my senior year, which might have helped us get an at-large bid. I cramped out in the final minutes of a close game and we lost to Paul Millsap: he and Andrew Bogut always finished ahead of me in the rebounding rankings. I could not move and they had to carry me off the court.

You graduated with 2014 PTS/1111 REB: how were you able to balance your scoring with your rebounding? Rebounding was always my top priority/biggest focus: I felt I could do that with my eyes closed. The scoring credit goes to my teammates. I had a really soft touch around the basket so I would work hard to fight for position and then use my angles/athleticism. I was very explosive and could finish around the basket. I modeled my game after Tim Duncan by using the glass a lot.

You remain the all-time leading scorer/rebounder in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your records? It is a definite possibility: Morris Almond (1825 PTS) came close but we were a really good team so he did not have a chance to get the points. Records are made to be broken so I think that someone will break them someday. I did not think about records: I was just a competitor and my teammates held me accountable. I gave it my all and we motivated each other, which helped me continue to succeed throughout my career.

In 2010 with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers you were named D-League MVP and a few years later you were named MVP/Finals MVP with Leones de Ponce in Puerto Rico: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? Those are accolades that I attribute to my teammates. I was not a PG who brought the ball up the court: they put me in situations where I could be successful. The titles are the most important things: when the expectation is there for you to perform you have to be ready every night, which is the part that I love.

You have played pro basketball in several countries for almost 15 years: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? Outside of the NBA, the only difference between overseas vs. the G League is the pay. I loved traveling but after my wife and I had 3 babies it made travel a little more difficult. I played mostly in China: there is a lot more pressure on the “imports” because they are expected to contribute every night. I have been fortunate to be on teams where I can help the guys around me develop: it seemed like a player-coach experience. It is really competitive/physical in Europe and Puerto Rico: the leagues in the US have gone away from that. I understand the entertainment part but it limits guys as to how they can guard their opponent: it is a big issue that players are constantly talking about.

You played 54 games during your NBA career: what is your favorite memory from your time in the NBA? My 1st game was after coming back to China. I was working out with some guys from Rice when my agent called to say that Houston GM Daryl Morey had offered me a 10-day contract. I learned all of the plays but did not think that I would take the court that 1st night. When they put me into the game in the 1st quarter I was a little bit hesitant to play with stars like Tracy McGrady/Yao Ming. Tracy came over to me and said, “When I pass you the ball you better shoot it, otherwise I will not pass it to you again!”

You made the playoffs with Houston in 2008 but lost to Utah in 6 games: where does your former teammate McGrady rank among the greatest players that you have ever seen? I think that he deserved to make the Hall of Fame. In Game 5 he scored 29 PTS while doing some things that only a handful of other guys could do (like Kobe/Jordan/LeBron). I saw glimpses of greatness but his injuries did not allow him to propel above the other greats. He played multiple positions and his ability to pass was 1 of the best for a guy his size. I would put him in the top-20 small forwards of all-time.

In 2016 you scored 45 PTS against your former team the Shanghai Sharks who were owned by your former Houston teammate Yao Ming: what was it like to play with a guy who is 7’6”, and could you have ever imagined a decade later that you would be playing in a league for which he was the chairman? No! If Yao had not been hurt I think that he had the potential to be 1 of the top-15 big men of all-time. He could shoot from mid-range and control the paint on defense. I spoke to him 1 day and he asked me if I would ever consider playing in China and I said yes…but I never expected to go to a team that he owned. People asked me if he differed as an owner and a player and I tell them that he was the exact same person…just a little more famous.

What do you hope to do after retiring? I wanted my youngest son to see me play and understand what is going on. I am no dummy so if someone was willing to cut me a check for a couple of years after that then I might not say no! It was tough to be away from my wife/kids but they understand why I did it. I definitely want to be a coach and would love to help Rice get to the NCAA tourney. We fell 1 game short and it really hurt us so that always stayed in the back of my mind. I would love to work with those guys, recruit some hard workers, and get the program going in the right direction. To see our baseball team win the College World Series in 2003 was amazing and it was something I wanted for our basketball team.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews former UTSA coach Tim Carter

Posted on June 13, 2021 by Jon Teitel

UTSA has only made 4 NCAA tourney appearances in program history…and Tim Carter was the coach for 2 of them. The all-time winningest coach in school history, he won a pair of conference tourney titles in 1999/2004 and was named conference COY in 1999. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Tim about making the NCAA tourney and working for Leonard Hamilton. Today is Coach Carter’s 65th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

You went to college at Kansas: what is your favorite memory of those late-1970s Jayhawk teams? When I transferred from Hutchinson CC I was asked by assistant coach Duncan Reid to walk onto the team after he saw me play in a fraternity basketball tourney, but I said no because I wanted to graduate on time. Professionally it might have been the worst mistake I ever made because it is important to know people on the inside. I remember sitting up in the stands thinking of the day when I would be down on the sideline because I knew that I wanted to be a coach. I enjoyed watching the games, especially my senior year when we had Darnell Valentine.

In the 1987 NCAA tourney as an assistant at Houston, Danny Manning had 12 PTS in a win by Kansas: how did it feel to face your alma mater, and could you tell at the time that Manning was going to become a star? My 1st NCAA tourney experience was in 1983 as a graduate assistant to Billy Tubbs at Oklahoma when Wayman Tisdale was an All-American as a freshman. It was a very tough time for me because I had lost my mom unexpectedly only 2 weeks earlier so I was in a fog. I knew that Manning would end up as a great player: as the saying goes, “A dog will bite you even as a puppy”.

In the 1990 NIT as an assistant at Oklahoma State, Luc Longley got an offensive rebound/put-back with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT win by New Mexico: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That would probably be far down the list: I had a few that were more devastating as a head coach (last-second losses, half-court shots, etc.) that just put you on your knees. As an assistant at Florida State we got beat at home by BC: the head of officiating got on a plane to come apologize to us in person because it ruined our chances of making the NCAA tourney.

In the 1994 NIT as an assistant at Northwestern you had a 1-PT win over DePaul: how were you able to overcome a 12-PT halftime deficit? We had a good team: I came in 3 years earlier with those seniors and we had 3 rough years before that. We were 13-14 and needed to beat Michigan’s Fab 5 at home just to qualify for the NIT…and we did it. The NIT wanted us to match up against a local team in DePaul so it was a great end to the careers of those seniors and was very satisfying. I still have a ball signed by everyone on that 1994 team. To beat another Chicago team was huge: the place was jam-packed and had a great atmosphere.

In 1999 you were named Southland Conference COY at Texas-San Antonio: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? Any time your peers vote you Anything of the Year it is great. We should have won the conference championship but lost to Southwest Texas State. We had Devin Brown, who later won an NBA title with the Spurs. We had built the program the right way and had a really good team. It is always huge to make the NCAA tourney for the 1st time as a head coach.

In the 1999 NCAA tourney Richard Hamilton scored 28 PTS in a win by eventual champion UConn: where does that Huskies team rank among the best you have ever seen? I have been in a lot of great conferences and seen a lot of great teams, but they have to be in the top-5 of anyone that I coached against. We kept it close for a while and then they went on a huge run. Coach Jim Calhoun actually missed that game due to illness so the Huskies were led by Dave Leitao. I always hated to take my team to games at high altitude like that 1 in Denver: 1 of my players subbed out of the game and it looked like his lips were blue!

In the 2004 NCAA tourney Josh Childress scored 26 PTS in a win by #1-seed Stanford: how did you prepare a #16 seed knowing that a #1 seed had never lost its 1st opening game? You do not make any changes: we just tried to go do what we did to get there. You know the opponent is bigger/stronger so you just hope/pray that you are hot that night, and if you are really hot then you will have a chance to win. If you do anything different then you might really screw your guys up: it is awfully tough.

You remain the all-time winningest coach in school history: what made you such a great coach, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? We did a really good job of recruiting and I tried to never over-coach them. My high school coach put us in a system that allowed us to play hard so I tried to do that. The key is to get good players: you cannot win the Kentucky Derby with a donkey!

In 2006 you became an assistant coach to Leonard Hamilton at Florida State: why did you take the job, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? I took the job because I wanted to stay in the business after the AD at UTSA decided to go in a different direction. I had worked for Coach Hamilton at Oklahoma State and he called me up 1 day and asked me to work for him. I could not have asked for a better friend to reel me back in. The 1 thing I learned from him is to be singularly focused: he has an unbelievable focus and really cares for his players. He always told me that I should never turn recruiting over to my assistant coaches because I was so good at it.

You later coach junior high school basketball in San Antonio: how did you like the job, and what do you hope to do in the future? I love being back in San Antonio and teaching middle school. I had no intention of coaching but they asked me to do it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoy speaking to students about making wise decisions when choosing a college. I had a chance to get back into college coaching but I came here and really enjoyed it.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews UNCW legend Brett Blizzard

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Some people think of UNC-Wilmington as a place where basketball players are trained to become D-1 coaches, such as Mark Byington/John Calipari/Billy Donlon/Todd Lickliter. However, the best Seahawk of them all was Brett Blizzard, who remains the school’s all-time leader with 2144 PTS/371 3PM/249 STL. He was a 4-time 1st-team All-CAA player, a 3-time CAA tourney MVP, and a 2-time All-American. After graduation he spent almost 15 years playing pro basketball overseas, and currently works as a trainer for young basketball players who want to make it to the next level. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Brett about being a great 3-PT shooter and getting the only NCAA tourney win in school history. Today is Brett’s 41st birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

As a freshman at UNCW you started all 31 games, led the team in scoring with 15.6 PPG, and were named CAA ROY: how were you able to come in and be so successful so quickly? All the credit should go to my teammates: there were a lot of seniors on that team who went to the coach and said that I needed to shoot more. I just reaped the benefits of all their passes/screens.

You made 94 3-PT shots and won the Ed Steitz Award as the top 3-PT shooting freshman in the nation, and at the time you graduated your 371 3PM was top-20 in NCAA history: do you feel that you are 1 of the best 3-PT shooters in NCAA history, and what is your secret for 3-PT shooting? I feel like I could shoot with anybody. I was not the best but feel that I am among the best. I worked hard at it and the stats show that: the secret is just repetition/confidence.

You are the only player to ever be named 4-time 1st-team All-CAA, as well as the only player to win 3 CAA tourney MVP awards: how were you able to remain so consistent throughout your career, and how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? Every summer I just tried to add something new to my game. I was motivated because I knew that other guys were out there working hard and I was also motivated by being at a mid-major. I got fired up for the conference tourney and lived for those moments but the key was that the entire team/coaches were focused and everyone played their role.

What are your memories of the 2000 NCAA tourney, the 1st in school history (you scored 5 PTS in a loss to #2-seed Cincinnati)? I remember how tall Kenyon Martin and the guy with the neck injury a couple of years later (DerMarr Johnson) were. They blocked a lot of our shots (9 in total) and just overmatched us.

In the 2001 CAA tourney title game you scored 8 PTS but Ed Williams’ tip-in at the buzzer was waived off in a 35-33 loss to George Mason: what was it like to play in 1 of the lowest-scoring games of the shot-clock era? It seemed like the game took forever: it was a ridiculous battle of scouting-report defense because we knew each other so well. We were both well-prepared and it seemed like the game would never end.

What are your memories of the 2001 NIT (you scored 18 PTS/5-10 3PM in a 9-PT loss to Dayton)? We were a little mad about not making the NCAA tourney and most of us did not expect to make the NIT. It was a close/tough game and their fans were packed in there. We played okay but just not good enough to win.

Take me through the 2002 NCAA tourney:
You scored 18 PTS in 43 minutes and made 2 FT with 2 seconds left to clinch a 4-PT OT upset over USC: where does that rank among the biggest wins of your career, and how did that game change your life? I definitely think that was the game that put UNCW over the hump and got us some national recognition. It was also great for the city of Wilmington. We were happy to be there the 1st time back in 2000 and brought cameras to capture the moment, but the 2nd time in 2002 we were there to win. To be a mid-major you are always the underdog so to beat a major team in the tourney was huge.

You scored a tourney-school record 29 PTS in a 9-PT loss to eventual national runner-up Indiana: what was the feeling like in your locker room afterwards, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? We played hard and had a lot of confidence. We were not sad about losing but rather upset because we thought that we could have beat Indiana. Everyone on campus was still fired up when we got back. There was a lot of respect and love from the community.

In the 2003 NCAA tourney you scored 15 PTS but Drew Nicholas made a 3-PT shot at the buzzer for a 2-PT win by defending champion Maryland (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkviatDWwdY): where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It seemed like Drew’s shot was in the air forever. It went right over my head in slow motion and I thought “No, this is not about to happen”. It was a helpless feeling and we were shocked when it went through the net.

You remain the school’s all-time leader in PTS/STL/3PM: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and ho were you able to balance your scoring with your defense? I did not think about how good I was at the time: I just compared myself to the big superstars who got more attention than I did. I felt like I had to prove myself every year so I never got a big head or got cocky. A lot of my steals were due to my teammates helping on defense. I had a good knack for reading the situation and getting a lot of deflections: it was not like I was guarding guys for 94 feet the entire way down the court.

You played professionally in Italy and became eligible to play on the Italian national team thanks to a distant Italian relative: what did you learn from these experiences, and how did they compare to college basketball? I learned that professional basketball is a business. You lose the camaraderie that exists in college because now it is your job. Being that far away is tough for a lot of players to handle as you have to deal with a lot of new things. It was a great experience but you miss your family/friends a tremendous amount. College is about team unity/love for the game…which goes out the window when you become a pro!

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Basketball and Brains: HoopsHD interviews Dixie State Academic All-American Hunter Schofield

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Hunter Schofield is 1 smart basketball player…and that ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie! The Dixie State big man had a sensational senior season by leading his team in rebounding and finishing 2nd in scoring, then topped it off last month by being named an Academic All-American. He had a perfect 4.0 GPA last spring as an exercise science major and is planning to become a physical therapist in the future. Earlier this week HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Hunter about facing an undefeated Gonzaga team and his super-athletic family.

You were born/raised in Utah and began your college career at Salt Lake CC: what made you choose Dixie State? It was a really easy decision for me to come here after seeing the campus/meeting the coaches. It is pretty close to home and just felt like the right fit for me.

You play for Coach Jon Judkins: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has so much experience and finds a way to connect with each player on a personal level so it is easy to trust him. I have learned a lot from him about the details of the game: he has been able to help me improve individually and is great to play for.

Last year was the school’s 1st year as a D-1 program: what was the best part? It was huge for me. I always dreamed of playing at the D-1 level, which is another reason that I wanted to come here. It was cool to play against some really good teams.

Last December you scored 8 PTS in a loss at Gonzaga (Academic All-American of the Year Corey Kispert scored 25 PTS): where do the Bulldogs rank among the greatest teams that you have ever seen, and were you surprised that they lost to Baylor in the NCAA title game? They were for sure the best team that I have ever played against: they have no weak spots. I was surprised to see them lose but it is hard for any team to go undefeated.

Last February you scored a career-high 31 PTS/11-16 FG in a 4-PT win at Utah Valley: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? It definitely was 1 of those types of games. I am from Spanish Fork (which is about 20 minutes from UVU) so I had a lot of family watching that game. I got into a rhythm and everything was falling.

Last month you were named 2nd-team Academic All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It feels really cool to see all of your hard work pay off and get recognized. I have always focused on getting good grades so it was a great accomplishment.

You are an exercise science major: what is exercise science, and what do you hope to do in the future? It is about studying human movement. I plan to become a physical therapist and will be applying to physical therapy programs in the year ahead.

You had a perfect 4.0 GPA last spring: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? Sometimes it is difficult so you have to be willing to stay up late: even after you come home from practice and are tired you need to take time to do your schoolwork. When you have road games you also need to get your assignments done: you have to stay organized and stay on top of it.

What was the hardest part of being a student during a pandemic, and what was the hardest part of being an athlete during a pandemic? As a student all of our classes got moved online for a while, which was a lot different than being in a classroom so it was a big adjustment. As a basketball player we would have had summer workouts without the pandemic so it was hard that we did not get together as a team until August and did not have as much preparation time as we would have normally had.

Your wife Lauren was an All-American volleyball player at Dixie State and your father Jeff played basketball at Weber State: who is the best athlete in the family? That is a hard question! I have a lot of athletes in my family: my siblings/cousins also played college sports so it is hard to say who is the best. It helped me see what it takes to become a college athlete and has helped me in my own career.

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