We are less than 6 weeks away from the tip-off of a new college basketball season, 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 UCSD coach Clint Allard, who talked about how his new job is going and his expectations for this season.
You were a 3-time team captain at UCSD: what is the key to being a good leader? The key is to be authentic to yourself. As a captain, my goal was just to make sure I knew the way we wanted to operate better than anyone, so I could not only lead by example, but also be constructive in my feedback to teammates.
Back then the Tritons were in D-2: what is the biggest difference between D-2 and D-1? There are a ton of differences! I would say the biggest is all the resources to maximize the scholar-athlete experience. From improved travel and nutrition to resources to help with mental and physical performance, there are a lot of tools at our players’ disposal that have increased since the move to D-1. The community and national recognition is also a big difference, and hopefully it is increasing the visibility of UC San Diego.
Take me through the 2025 postseason as an assistant coach for your alma mater:
In the Big West tourney title game you had a 14-PT win over eventual NIT runner-up UC Irvine: what was it like to have a pair of 30-win teams in 1 conference? UC Irvine had a really talented team and they always do a tremendous job. We have had some good battles over the past few seasons and always know we have to play our best to have success against them. Our 2 teams’ success last year really elevated the awareness of the competitiveness of the Big West Conference.
In the NCAA tourney you had a 3-PT loss to Michigan: how close did you come to pulling off the upset? We dug ourselves a hole in that game, and then felt we were playing like the true version of ourselves after that. I had so much belief in our team last year that I always thought we had a chance until the final buzzer sounded.
Later that month you took over as head coach when Eric Olen left for New Mexico: how is it going so far? It is going really well. I really appreciate everything Coach Olen did to elevate UC San Diego Basketball, and he was a great mentor who prepared me to take over. With so much turnover in staff and roster, there has been a lot of teaching, but we have a great group of people so that has made this an enjoyable experience.
You have stated that you will take a “very data-driven, analytical approach”: have you found any specific metrics that are strongly correlated with success? A big emphasis of our program is winning the possession battle, so we focus on limiting turnovers on offense and being disruptive on defense. We value skilled/smart players during the recruiting process, which allows us to have an efficient offense, and then a large portion of our focus goes toward the possession battle.
You lost each of your top-6 scorers to the transfer portal/graduation (Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones/Tyler McGhie/Hayden Gray/Nordin Kapic/Justin Rochelin/Chris Howell): how on earth will you try to replace all that scoring/experience? You listed a whole lot of guys who are very, very hard to replace! That is also college basketball: players graduate or move on, and then the next group of guys get an opportunity. What we will try to do is play to our strengths: those strengths might not be exactly the same as we had with last year’s group, but we will have to find our own identity/path to being our best.
Your wife Sara played softball at UCSD: who is the best athlete in the family? We have put big pressure on our 2 kids (Everly and Reid) to become better athletes than the 2 of us!
You had a big birthday last month: how did you celebrate? We have a great group of friends, including another guy who has the same birthday as me, so our wives surprised us by putting us in matching outfits (Sara knew that I would agree to wear whatever she said)! We had a big group of friends/family waiting to celebrate with us, and I really appreciated the chance to just spend some time with everyone.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We are still at the stage where we are trying to establish the right habits, so by the time we get into games, my goal is that we are all on the same page and everybody understands the team concept and buys into it. I am a big believer that it takes everyone in that locker room to give what they have to be the best version of ourselves, so we will celebrate everyone’s contributions. It is no secret that this program has been elevated because of the last few seasons of success, and my expectation is that we continue that positive momentum with a product that our fans can be proud of.
