Keeping up with the Joneses: HoopsHD interviews Yale head coach James Jones

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Jon Teitel

This was supposed to be a big week for the Jones family. We have seen other coaching brothers make the NCAA tourney in recent years (Archie/Sean Miller, Bobby/Danny Hurley, etc.), but this was going to be the year of the Jones. Yale coach James Jones made the tourney last year and had a legendary upset of Baylor in 2016, and after 16 years as a head coach his brother James finally made it this year as coach at BU. Then the NCAA tourney was canceled and we were left to wonder “what if”. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 7-part series of Joneses past and present by chatting with James about upsetting Baylor in the 2016 NCAA tourney and the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball.

You were a player/assistant for the legendary Doc Sauers at Albany: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was dedicated to his craft and worked extremely hard. I learned about the importance of a strong work ethic from him more than anything else. He worked out every day and still does so today even in his 80s: staying in great physical condition is really important.

In the 2014 CIT title game your team had 52 REB but had their shots blocked 14 times in an 8-PT loss at Murray State: how close did you come to winning a title? Our best player Justin Sears was out after breaking his wrist in the semifinals. If we had him then we would have had a much better chance to win but we were still close.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney Makai Mason scored 31 PTS/11-11 FT in a 4-PT upset of Baylor: where does that game rank among the highlights of your career? It has to be at or near the top. It was the 1st NCAA tourney win in Yale history and Makai was spectacular in that game. It got our program on the map and moving in the right direction.

Each of your 1st 6 losses this season were by single-digits (including road games at Penn State/North Carolina): how exciting is it to coach a team that literally has a chance to win every single game it plays? It is a great feeling. We lost the regular season finale but had clinched the league title the night before. We had a great group who played really well together and defended/rebounded/shared.

You lost your regular season finale at Harvard but after the Ivy League canceled its postseason tourney you were awarded the conference’s auto-bid to the NCAA tourney: how did the team feel about the whole situation? It was kind of crazy: things were still evolving so we never knew what was going to happen. Our kids were saddened that the opportunity to celebrate a championship was taken away from us. At the same time, we reached our goal of qualifying for the NCAA tourney so we were elated about that.

Your brother Joe won the Patriot League title last week as head coach at BU: how excited was your entire family at the prospect of seeing the rest of college basketball trying to “keep up with the Joneses”?! It was short-lived but was great for our family. I saw a couple of brackets that had us in the same region, which meant that we might have been able to play each other in the Sweet 16. My dad lost a chance to peacock a little bit: Joe and I were going to fly him from 1 location to the next so he could watch all of our games in person. Our family followed us both throughout the year and were happy for our success.

What kind of seed do you think that you deserved? I have not given it a lot of thought but suspect that we would have been a 12 seed. At the beginning of the year I thought we would be good enough to win the conference. After a few games I really thought that we were good enough to win an NCAA tourney game, especially after we almost beat Penn State.

You just completed your 21st season as head coach at Yale: how have you been able to stick around for so long, and how much longer would you like to stick around for? My former athletic director who hired me had a lot of faith in me and we have had some success. I do not know how my career will end but I feel that I still have a lot of life left in me. I would like to win the most games of any coach in Ivy history but I just live day-to-day. It would be nice to challenge former Princeton coach Pete Carril and become the best of the best.

You will lose 2 senior starters this spring in Eric Monroe/Jordan Bruner but bring back almost everyone else (including 2020 conference co-POY Paul Atkinson/2020 conference co-DPOY Jalen Gabbidon): how do you like your chances for next season? I feel great about our chances! We will also return a 1st-team All-Ivy player in Azar Swain. We just need to have the right guys who are willing to sacrifice to be successful like Eric/Jordan did.

Any thoughts on the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball this month? It has affected all of our lives: athletics is just a small part of it. It has jeopardized many people’s lives and caused a lot of people to get out of sorts. There is no meat or canned goods at the supermarket. I had a friend in the Army Reserve who once told me that the biggest problem in a situation like this is feeding ourselves. I hope that we can get back to some sense of normalcy in a couple of months: it has been an eye-opening experience.

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The Tournament That Wasn’t: SEC

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next is the SEC Tournament, with Kentucky entering as the top seed, and Auburn, Florida and LSU all looking strong for NCAA bids.  However, several other teams needed wins to make their case led by a Mississippi State team that was squarely on the bubble.  Who would have won it and who would have punched dance tickets?  It is time to find out!

 

SEC SECOND ROUND

Second round play got underway in the SEC with 8-seed Tennessee taking on 9-seed Alabama.  Both of these teams had dreams of an at-large bid well into February, but probably entered the conference tournament needing to win it all to advance.  The Crimson Tide built a 10-point halftime lead that they extended out to 14 early in the second period.  Tennessee was not done, however, and came fighting back to take the lead with just under 6 minutes left to play.  Alabama seemed to run out of gas at that point, as the Vols built the lead as high as 9 and held on to win 83-79 (a 3 from the Tide at the buzzer made the final score a lot closer than it really was).  Santiago Vescovi was the star for the Volunteers, scoring 25 points in the win.

The second game of the day matched up 5-seed Florida and 13-seed Georgia.  The Gators had been up and down all season, and could really use a run in the SEC Tournament to improve their position in March Madness.  Today, the Gators were nothing but business as the built an early lead and cruised home for an 80-65 win, despite a strong 19-point effort from Georgia’s Anthony Edwards.  Keyontae Johnson led the way for Florida with 21 points as his team moved on to the quarterfinals where 4-seed Mississippi State was waiting.

The evening session began with the 7 vs 10 battle between Texas A&M and Missouri.  The Aggies had been one of the most surprising teams in the SEC this season under new head coach Buzz Williams, but that season was set to end today.  Mizzou took control of the game early and was able to cruise to a convincing 67-46 win, as staunch defense held A&M to under 30% shooting from the floor.  The Missouri Tigers advanced to the quarterfinals and a Friday matchup against 2-seed Auburn.

The day ended with 6-seed South Carolina taking on 11-seed Arkansas.  Despite their finish in the lower division, the Razorbacks had done enough out-of-conference to still be on most people’s Bubble Watch lists heading into this tournament.  Two hours after tip, the Razorbacks were gone from those lists.  Despite Arkansas being back near full-strength, the Gamecocks handled them fairly easily, cruising to an 81-63 win as five different players scored in double-figures led by 15 each from Kayshawn Bryant and Jair Bolden.  Arkansas’ dream of an NCAA Tournament bid was pretty much over, while South Carolina moved on to a date with 3-seed LSU.

 

SEC QUARTERFINALS

On March 3, the Tennessee Volunteers had gone to Lexington and shocked Kentucky by a score of 81-73.  With that win still fresh in their memories, the Vols knew they had the ability to beat UK again in the first quarterfinal of the day.  Tennessee held a one-point lead at the half, and the game remained tight throughout the second period as well.  The game actually came down to free throw shooting, and Kentucky went 10-for-12 from the line in the final two minutes to hang on for a hard-fought 88-84 win and a berth in the semifinals, despite an impressive 30-point effort from Tennessee’s Jordan Bowden.

In the second quarterfinal, 5-seed Florida was favored to take down 4-seed Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs knew an NCAA Tournament bid would likely require at least a win in this game.  Ben Howland’s team may have needed the win more than Mike White’s Gators, but the Gators proved to clearly be the better team.  Florida held an 11-point lead at the half and held off every run that State made in the second half, winning by a final score of 85-75.   Noah Locke led the way for Florida with 19 points as the Gators advanced to the semifinals and a date with top-seed Kentucky.  Mississippi State was left to see what their fate would be when the Selection Committee announced the field.

10th seeded Missouri took on Bruce Pearl’s 2nd seeded Auburn team in the third quarterfinal of the day.  Despite having 25 wins already on the season, there were some who questioned whether this Auburn team was nearly as good as their national top 20 ranking.  Missouri played tough for the first half and had the game tied at the break, but Auburn had just enough to pull away in the final minutes of the game, winning by a final score of 84-74 in a game that was much closer throughout than the final 10-point margin.  Austin Wiley’s 16 points led the way for the victorious Tigers from Auburn.

South Carolina and LSU were up next in the final quarterfinal game.  The Gamecocks knew that they were still quite a distance away from an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, but that a run to the SEC finals could get them there, even if they did not capture the automatic berth.  LSU also had something to prove, notably that the Bayou Bengals were worthy of a solid seed in the Big Dance.  And it was LSU that came out strong in this game, building a 50-33 halftime lead and cruising home for a 91-73 win.  Ja’vonte Smart scored 21 points and Skylar Mays had a double-double to lead the Tigers to a semifinal matchup against Auburn.

 

SEC SEMIFINALS

The Kentucky Wildcats were two wins away from capturing the double – the SEC regular season and tournament championships, and potentially having a shot to finish as high as a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.  First, they needed to get past a Florida Gators team that wanted to prove they were the preseason top national 10 team and not the team that had sputtered and faltered throughout the regular season.  The Gators played this game like the former, building a 33-22 halftime lead and holding off every second half run that the Wildcats through at them.  When the game ended, Florida had a 79-71 win and a berth in the championship game.  Keyontae Jackson (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Kerry Blackshear (10 points, 10 rebounds) both notched double-doubles for Florida.  For Kentucky, it was time to return to Lexington and wait to see where the Selection Committee would send them in the Big Dance.

After taking down the Missouri Tigers in the quarterfinals, Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers had another group of Tigers waiting in the semifinals, the Bayou ones from LSU.  Both teams had a lot to prove heading into this game and the bigger tournament that would follow.  The game itself proved to be one of the best in the SEC Tournament so far, as both teams seemed to choose not to play any defense at all.  When the dust settled, Auburn was walking off the floor with a 108-96 win, though the game was closer than that for pretty much the first 35 minutes.  Six different Auburn players ended the game in double-digits on the scoreboard, led by 24 points from Samir Doughty and a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double from Austin Wiley.

 

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

The SEC title game matched up 2-seed Auburn and 5-seed Florida.  Both teams were easily confident that their names would be called later that day by the Selection Committee, but this was one last chance to impress with a quality win.  Even more importantly, however, it was a chance to cut down the nets and win a championship.  Mike White’s Gators were playing their fourth game in four days, so despite building a 7-point halftime lead, the question was if and when this team would finally run out of gas.  If that was going to happen, it wouldn’t be until the ride home, as the Gators held off several Auburn runs in the second half and locked down a 79-70 win and an SEC Tournament championship for the first time since 2014.  Keyontae Jackson was again the top player for the Gators, scoring 21 points in leading his team to the championship.

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The Tournament That Wasn’t: Pac-12

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next is the much-anticipated Pac-12 Tournament where Oregon entered as the top seed, and teams like UCLA, USC and Arizona State were looking to cement tournament bids and move up the seed list.  What would have happened in this conference tourney?  It is time to find out!

 

PAC-12 QUARTERFINALS

The Oregon Ducks entered the Pac-12 Tournament looking to secure a high seed in the Big Dance.  Their rivals, the Oregon State Beavers, were playing for their postseason lives after knocking off Utah the night before in the 8/9 game.  The Beavers slowed the game down and were able to keep it tied at halftime, with each team only having scored 24 points.  That same strategy failed, however, in the second half, as the Ducks pulled away to coast to a 64-52 win.  Payton Pritchard was the game’s leading scorer with 17 points for Oregon.

The second quarterfinal presented an intriguing matchup of two teams that looked to be in solid shape for NCAA Tournament bids – 4-seed USC and 5-seed Arizona.  The game may have looked good on paper, but on the court it was not much of a contest.  Arizona built a halftime lead and kept extending it out in the second period, winning by a final score of 81-61.  Nico Mannion led the way with 23 points for the Wildcats, who now had a date with Oregon in the semifinal round.

The evening session began with the 10-seed Cal taking on 2-seed UCLA.  Despite being the 2-seed, UCLA was not an NCAA Tournament lock, and a loss to a non-tournament caliber Cal team could put the Bruins on the outside looking-in on Selection Sunday.  Mick Cronin’s team instead took care of business, pulling out to a 6-point lead at halftime and winning by a final score of 67-57.  Jalen Hill had a double-double for UCLA, scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

The final game of the day matched up 3-seed Arizona State against the surprising 11-seed Washington State Cougars who were fresh off an upset the night before over Colorado.  Wazzu’s win over Colorado had turned a few heads, but their win over Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils on this night had the college basketball world suddenly paying attention.  Isaac Bonton led the Cougars with 17 points as they built a 7-point halftime lead and refused to let off the gas, winning 75-66 and advancing to the semifinals against UCLA.

 

PAC-12 SEMIFINALS

The semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament began with a matchup of two teams, Oregon and Arizona, that had at times each played like the best team in the conference this season.  The experts predicted a tight battle, but the Ducks had other plans once again.  Oregon pulled away late in the first half to build a 16-point halftime lead and never let the Wildcats make any serious runs in the second.  The final score was 89-78 in favor of the Ducks, as five different players scored in double-digits led by 20 from Payton Pritchard.

The late game saw everyone asking if Washington State’s Cinderella run could continue, especially given that they were facing a UCLA team that had quite a few head-scratching losses on their profile.  Washington State came ready to play, taking a 43-42 lead into the halftime break.  The second half was back-and-forth the entire way until Chris Smith nailed a 3-pointer for the Bruins with just over a minute left to play to extend a 2 point lead out to 5.  Washington State couldn’t get the clutch shots to fall in the final minute, and when the game ended, UCLA was off to the title game by a final score of 79-74.

 

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP

The Pac-12 title game saw a matchup of an Oregon team that had to beat their top rivals and then get by a very good Arizona team taking on a UCLA squad that benefited from upset victories by Cal and Washington State to have a much easier (at least in terms of seeds) path to the finals.   The fact that they failed to beat an NCAA Tournament-caliber opponent along the way still had the naysayers doubting whether UCLA even deserved an at-large bid.  The Bruins decided to take matters into their own hands.  Despite trailing by 5 at the halftime break, UCLA fought hard throughout the second half and opened up an 8-point lead late.  Oregon had one last run left and cut the lead to 2 on a Chris Duarte 3-pointer with just over a minute left to play.  However, despite a pair of defensive stops in the final minute, the Ducks missed on three separate chances to tie the game and the UCLA Bruins were Pac-12 Tournament champions, 73-71.

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Keeping up with the Joneses: HoopsHD interviews Boston University coach Joe Jones

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Jon Teitel

This was supposed to be a big week for the Jones family. We have seen other coaching brothers make the NCAA tourney in recent years (Archie/Sean Miller, Bobby/Danny Hurley, etc.), but this was going to be the year of the Jones brothers. Yale coach James Jones made the tourney each of the past 2 years after having a legendary upset of Baylor back in 2016, and after 16 years as a head coach his brother Joe finally made it this year with his team at BU. Then the NCAA tourney was canceled and we were left to wonder “what if”. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel begins our 7-part series of Joneses past and present by chatting with Joe about winning the Patriot League tourney last week and the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball.

You played basketball at SUNY-Oswego where you still remain in the top-5 in school history in AST/STL: what is the key to being a good PG, and how did you 1st get into coaching? When I was 17 and preparing to start my freshman year of college I worked at an overnight sports camp as a counselor/coach. I got the coaching bug back then: I can still remember having my 1st practice. I kept going back every summer and loved every minute of it. There are a lot of factors that go into being a good PG but you have to see outside yourself to make the game easier for the people around you. You should be vocal, have a good feel for the game, and understand spacing. You need to be a good connector and keep everyone on the same page. I was a big Magic Johnson fan growing up: I could not emulate him but I took as much as I could from him.

You were an assistant to Jay Wright at Hofstra/Villanova: what makes him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He is very consistent with his message. He struggled to figure things out as a young guy at the collegiate level but had great confidence in himself and was unwavering in how hard he wanted his team to play. Jay taught me so many lessons but the most important is that he really cares about the people around him: even today he will give me credit for his success at Villanova. He had all the qualities of a special coach even before winning 2 national titles.

You spent 7 years at Columbia before being hired at BU in 2011: how does the Ivy League compare to the Patriot League? The Ivy League has changed a lot since I was there: it is a much more athletic/competitive league. When Harvard/Princeton began to offer more aid money then everyone else followed suit. I think the Patriot League is more competitive from top to bottom: we had more games with a final scoring margin of 1-5 PTS than any other conference in the country.

Walter Whyte missed all of last year due to an ankle injury: how much did you miss him last year, and how much of an impact did he have this year? He was highly missed and we really struggled without him. I think that we were 10-4 in league games when he was healthy as a freshman.

You started 3-7 this season: how were you able to turn things around in December? It was a weird 3-7. We won at South Carolina on a Tuesday in mid-November and flew home that night before flying to West Virginia on Thursday. We did not play well that day, then flew to Mexico and had 3 starters get food poisoning, which really shook us. We were confused and it jolted us, then we went to Binghamton and could not make a single 3 in the 2nd half and lost by 5 PTS in OT. After we beat Dartmouth in mid-December everything shifted and you could see our confidence come back. The trip to Mexico gave us a poor indication of where we were, which really hurt us.

In the Patriot League tourney title game last week Max Mahoney scored a team-high 18 PTS in a 3-PT win at Colgate: how were you able to win on the road against a team that swept you this year while making 4-14 FTs, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? If there is 1 thing that I liked it is that we tried to prepare our guys for what it would feel like. We pumped noise into our practices and talked through what it would feel like when Colgate went on a run and how we needed to stay together after losing our composure in the 1st 2 games. They deserve all the credit for being confident throughout the game. At halftime I went right in and said that I thought we would be right there at the end. It was an awesome feeling after we won: the goal is to make the NCAA tourney and to finally get there is the dream. To see the smiles on their faces made it even better.

Your brother James won the Ivy League regular season title earlier this month as head coach at Yale and was awarded an auto-bid to the NCAA tourney after the Ivy tourney was canceled: how excited was your entire family at the prospect of seeing the rest of college basketball trying to “keep up with the Joneses”?! That was short-lived so I did not get to think about it too much…but it would have been a phenomenal feeling.

What kind of seed do you think that you deserved? To be honest I do not know and have not even thought about it: just being in the tourney was enough for us.

You will lose 1 senior this spring in Mahoney but bring back almost everyone else: how do you like your chances for next season? The goal is always to win the regular season/tourney titles and that will not change. Hopefully the experience this season will help us.

Any thoughts on the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball this month? The big thing is to keep this in perspective. There are more important things going on right now and if we have to put sports on the shelf for a few months that is okay. The world needs to get healthy and we need to fight through this tough time. I feel awful for the seniors who missed out on this opportunity and the teams who would have made it. I have fought off the feelings about us making it and have just been thinking about my colleagues.

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The Tournament That Wasn’t: MEAC

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next is the MEAC, a tournament with a history of giving us surprising champions.  The top two seeds, North Carolina Central and North Carolina A&T had already advanced to the semifinals.  There are two quarterfinals left to play — will one of these games give us a Cinderella in the league, or will one of the top two teams be dancing?  It is time to find out!

 

MEAC QUARTERFINALS

With North Carolina Central and North Carolina A&T having already advanced to the semifinals, two quarterfinals remained to be played on Thursday evening.  In the 4 vs 5 game, 5-seed Morgan State built a small lead at halftime and was able to pull away from Bethune-Cookman in the second, scoring a 79-64 win and advancing to a matchup with top seed NC Central.  Despite 3-seed Norfolk State having the tournament in their home city, it was 6-seed Coppin State that pulled the mild upset in the late game, taking down the Spartans 74-69 thanks to 26 points from Kamar McKnight.

 

MEAC SEMIFINALS

Morgan State entered the semifinal matchup with North Carolina Central as a decided underdog.  However, this was the MEAC Tournament – an event with a strong history of upsets during tournament play.  Therefore, it should not have been a shock when the Bears overcame a 6-point halftime deficit to win 87-79.  Sheryn Devonish scored 20 points to lead the way and put his team in the championship game.

The second semifinal featured 6-seed Coppin State taking on the 2-seed North Carolina A&T.  The league looked to be on pace for two semifinal upsets when Coppin built a 9-point lead at the half.  However, the Aggies dominated after the break, storming back to tie the game before the first media timeout and winning the game going away, 80-68.  Ronald Jackson led the way for A&T, scoring 13 points while pulling down 18 rebounds.

 

MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP

Earlier this season, North Carolina A&T had announced that next season would be their last in the MEAC as the Aggies were heading off to the Big South.  On Saturday afternoon, they had a chance to win the league’s automatic bid in their second-to-last attempt ever to do so.  Standing in the Aggies way was the Morgan State Bears, who had stunned top-seed NC Central in the semifinals.  Ronald Jackson and the Aggies were not going to let themselves be upset this day.  Jackson notched another double-double, with 18 points and 13 boards, as his team rolled over Morgan State by a final score of 84-61.  The Aggies were dancing for the first time in 7 years – though a berth in the First Four in Dayton was likely in store for them.

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Basketball and brains: HoopsHD interviews Charlotte Academic All-American Amidou Bamba

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In these troubling times when many of us are watching the stock market jump all over the place and employees are getting laid off/furloughed, there is a greater need than ever for someone to tell us how to hold onto our money. In the case of the Charlotte basketball team they can turn to grad transfer Amidou Bamba, who has a 4.00 GPA while getting his MBA. He started his college career at Coastal Carolina and is finishing it with the 49ers, where his team won 10 of its 1st 15 games before learning that the C-USA tourney was canceled last week. Earlier this week HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Amidou about winning a gold meal and the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball.

photo credit: Sam Roberts

You were born in Toronto: how did you 1st get into basketball? When I was younger I played Raptor Ball at the YMCA. Vince Carter was a big influence up there so the Raptors were really big culturally.

You began your college career at Coastal Carolina with Coach Cliff Ellis: what makes him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? His experience made him the coach that he is. After coaching for 40 years he has such great wisdom about the game: I really learned basketball from him.

Why did you decide to transfer to Charlotte? There were 3 main reasons. Mainly I was trying to put myself in a position to make professional connections in a big city where I wanted to be for the long-term. I looked at several cities including Charlotte/Houston/Boston. Charlotte is the 2nd-largest financial center in the country, which seems like a good fit for me. I was also looking for a different basketball experience to see if things would be more beneficial to me at a different program.

In 2017 you won a gold medal with the Canadian U19 national team at the FIBA World Cup in Egypt: what did it mean to you to win a gold medal, and which of your teammates impressed you the most (RJ Barrett/Lindell Wigginton/other)? That was my 1st-ever experience with the national team after trying out and not making it for several years. It was such an important milestone for the country and was a massive turning point for Canadian basketball. RJ impressed me the most: we played team USA in the semifinals and he scored 38 PTS before fouling out. I had never played with him before but to do something like that at age 17 was so amazing to see. Lindell was battling a concussion at the time and was kind of limited but was still very impressive, as was everyone on that team.

In January of 2018 you scored a career-high 18 PTS/8-10 FG in 22 minutes off the bench during a 10-PT win over Little Rock: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yes. I did not play with a chip on my shoulder but definitely had an edge and I felt that every shot I took was a good shot. My teammates got me in the right spots and I was able to exploit the way that Little Rock was defending us inside.

Your favorite pro team is the Toronto Raptors: what did it mean to you see them win the NBA title last summer? It was huge! There is no ill-will toward Kawhi Leonard after he decided to leave the following season: he played 1 year for us and brought us a championship. Everyone was a Raptors fan that summer as we all came together to celebrate a huge moment in our country’s history.

You finished your career as a 57.3% FG shooter: what is the key to being a good shooter? A lot of repetition: I think of myself as having a patented left-hand hook. Every day Cliff taught me to shoot 40 hooks before practice. When you put shots up constantly in the gym and know when to take those shots by assessing the situation it helps you make a lot of shots. You should not go out of your element.

Earlier this month you were named an Academic All-American for the 2nd straight year: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? Time management for sure. I have always excelled academically so it just came down to budgeting time for each thing. I try to go the extra mile for basketball when I am on the court and go the extra mile for academics when I am off the court. I try to not put things off or waste time so that I can do everything at a high level: you cannot dedicate all of your time to just 1 thing.

You got a degree in finance at Coastal Carolina and have a 4.00 GPA while working on your MBA: why did you choose business, and what is the post-graduation plan? I was originally a biochemistry major and wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon. I want to help people improve their current situation and took that desire to finance because I have always liked the business world and am good with numbers. I started to realize that the best way for me to help people was via financial planning so that I can help people gain some financial stability. It was natural for me to go into the business world because I always had a knack for understanding money.

Any thoughts on the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball this month? From a collegiate standpoint it is very tough. The virus has far-reaching ramifications: the seniors who wanted to boost their draft stock, the players who had 1 opportunity to make the NCAA tourney, etc. You feel like you have unfinished business but do not have the chance to redeem yourself. Even for the younger players who did not get to complete their season it is tough. It is heartbreaking for coaches who worked an entire season with their players: we become like family and there is no way to get that back. From a fan standpoint you become so invested in these programs and then it hurts to see everything get stripped away. There were people who had already made travel plans to watch more basketball, and then to have it taken away made it difficult on them. I think it was the right/prudent decision to mitigate the circumstances…but it is never easy to come to terms with it. Some spring athletes just started their season before everything got canceled. As a family of athletes it helps that we are all going through it together. I think as a community going through it together it helps in a sense, although it is never easy. I hope this can be contained in the near-future so that something like this never happens again.

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