WAC Media Day Recap and Responses

Posted on October 10, 2019 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL

  1. New Mexico State
  2. Grand Canyon
  3. Seattle
  4. UTRGV
  5. Cal Baptist
  6. Utah Valley
  7. Cal State Bakersfield
  8. Kansas City
  9. Chicago State

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL – Same order as Coaches’ Poll

 

MEDIA DAY COACHES’ PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM 1ST TEAM

Milan Acquaah – Cal Baptist
Terrell Brown – New Mexico State
Terrell Brown – Seattle
Carlos Johnson – Grand Canyon
Alessandro Lever – Grand Canyon

MEDIA DAY COACHES’ PRESEASON ALL-WAC 2ND TEAM

Ivan Aurrecoechea – New Mexico State
Myles Carter – Seattle
AJ Harris – New Mexico State
Javon Levi – UTRGV
Trevelin Queen – New Mexico State

 

MEDIA DAY MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-WAC 1ST TEAM

Milan Acquaah – Cal Baptist
Terrell Brown – New Mexico State
Carlos Johnson – Grand Canyon
Javon Levi – UTRGV
Trevelin Queen – New Mexico State

MEDIA DAY MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-WAC 2ND TEAM

Brandon Averette – Utah Valley
Ivan Aurrecoechea – New Mexico State
Terrell Brown – Seattle
Jaylen Fisher – Grand Canyon
Alessandro Lever – Grand Canyon

 

NOTES FROM DAVID.  I believe the WAC has given us a first.  Two different players with the same name on the preseason all-conference team!

Okay, so I like, watch, and follow all of college basketball, but like everyone else I find some leagues to be a lot more intriguing than others, and the WAC has become one of my favorite leagues.  It actually has a rather rich (and largely forgotten) history, and was at one time a league that regularly put teams in the rankings and sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament.  During all of the conference realignment, the WAC was decimated more than any other conference that actually survived, and while many dismissed it (and understandably so) as an also-ran league, it has actually become quite a competitive basketball league.  Now I’m not going to compare it to the Power 5, but I will say that it is far more exciting than what most people realize.

Let’s start with New Mexico State.  I’ll try my best to not gush over them too much.  They won 29 games a year ago, one of their regular losses was by just 3 to Kansas, and after losing their conference opener to Cal Baptist they won out all the way through the WAC Tournament.  I’m convinced that had New Mexico State played in the Pac-12 last year, they would have finished in first place.  I really mean that.  In the NCAA Tournament, they faced Auburn, and the most accurate way to describe what happened in that game was that they played great, they were in a position to win it, and they blew it.  Auburn went on to the Final Four and lost about as close as you can lose to Virginia, who won it all.  Now, I’m not saying that New Mexico State would have made the Final Four…but I do think they were a top-20 team and would have made the Sweet Sixteen.  But, because their chances at notable wins are so limited, no one outside of the die-hard basketball fans really noticed them.  That’s why I hated to see them not pick up the win against Auburn.  They were good enough to where they deserved more recognition than what they got.  Well, I’m telling you that you need to notice them.  Four starters from last year are back.  This is a VERY good team!  Their guards are outstanding, they’ve got depth, and they are a ton of fun to watch.  They face both Arizona and Mississippi State on the road this year, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they won both of them.  This is a DAMN good team!!

Grand Canyon is another intriguing story.  As a program that is just beginning its third season since completing the transition to D-1, they’ve become competitive right away having finished in the top three the last two years, and making the conference championship game both years.  They’ve got a great home court advantage and atmosphere, and with three starters back from last year’s team, including their top two scorers, they should be good again this year.  When GCU and New Mexico State play each other, I highly encourage you to browse Twitter and watch those two fanbases go at it.  It is classic!!

Seattle is interesting.  They got off to a really solid 12-3 start to last season, and then were hit hard with injuries.  They ended up going just 6-10 in WAC play, but with four starters back, and a presumably healthy roster, they could be tremendously improved.  They’re definitely worth keeping an eye on.

UTRGV is not at the top of the league, but they are a program that is definitely going in the right direction.  Last year they won 20+ games in the first time in close to two decades, they made the semis of the WAC Tournament, and made it to a postseason tournament as well.  They’ve got three starters back this year and should get some strong play out of their guards.  They could take another step forward as they continue to build their program.

Utah Valley has been one of the better teams in the league the last few years, but with former coach Mark Pope going to BYU, and with the bulk of their contributing players from a year ago being gone, they are in rebuild mode.

Kansas City (formerly branded as UMKC) had flirted with the idea of going down to D-2, but seems committed to staying up.  They’ve got a new coach in Billy Donlon who had some pretty good years at Wright State earlier in his career and can hopefully get things turned around.  Three starters are back, so they should be able to improve on their 11 win season from a year ago.

Cal State Bakersfield will be playing (I think) their final season in the WAC this year before moving on to the Big West.  That is one horrendously ugly court that the league will now be without.  With three starters back from last year’s team the Roadrunners should also be a little better than they were a year ago.

And that leaves Chicago State.  They’ve won just three games in each of the last two seasons, and are one of the worst programs in D-1.  I’m actually rooting for this program, and this institution, to build and experience some success.  Another thing that’s crazy, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before, is that they have just one returning player from last year’s team.  I don’t even know what to think about that.  An infusion of productive JUCO transfers as well as the new freshmen may actually make Chicago State not as bad as they have been in recent years.

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Pac-12 Media Day Recap And Response

Posted on October 9, 2019 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL

  1. Oregon
  2. Colorado
  3. Washington
  4. Arizona
  5. USC
  6. Arizona State
  7. Oregon State
  8. UCLA
  9. Utah
  10. Stanford
  11. Washington State
  12. California

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM

Tyler Bey – Colorado, JR G/F
CJ Elleby – Washington State, SO F
Nico Mannion – Arizona, FR G
Remy Martin – Arizona State, JR G
Jaden McDaniels – Washington, FR F
Payton Pritchard – Oregon, SR G
Nick Rakocevic – USC, SR F
Isaiah Stewart – Washington, FR F
Tres Tinkle – Oregon State, SR, F
McKinley Wright IV – Colorado, JR G

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM

Timmy Allen – Utah, SO F
N’Faly Dante – Oregon, FR C
Daejon Davis – Stanford, JR G
Josh Green – Arizona, FR G
Ethan Thompson – Oregon State, JR G

 

NOTES FROM DAVID.  Last year the Pac-12 failed to put a single team in the top half of the NCAA Tournament, and while three teams got in, Arizona State just barely made it and was placed in the First Four, and Oregon (who was playing well at the end of the season and ultimately made the Sweet Sixteen) had to win the Pac-12 Tournament in order to punch their ticket.  This year, the league should be substantially stronger.

Colorado has all five starters back and although they missed the NCAAs a year ago, they won 9 of their last 11 games heading into the NIT.  It’s possible/probable that they’ll begin this season nationally ranked.  The Buffs have a deep bench as well, and are strong in both the frontcourt and the back court.

Oregon got off to a very slow start last year, largely due to the fact that they had some crucial injuries.  They would have actually been watching the NCAA Tournament on TV had they not win the Pac-12 Tourney, but by the end of the year they were playing like a Top 25 team and it showed with them making the Sweet Sixteen.  Just two starters are back, but they do have several key players returning to go along with a very strong recruiting class.  The Ducks will likely once again be a force.

Arizona missed the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time in several centuries, or something like that.  It has been tumultuous on the court, and perhaps more tumultuous off the court for the Wildcats, but they still managed to sign an outstanding recruiting class and while it may take a little time to gel with young players, they should be back in the national spotlight (for the right reasons) this year.

The coaches and the media seem big on Washington and have them picked third.  While that makes sense considering how steadily and consistently they have improved under Mike Hopkins, they did lose pretty much everyone from last year’s team.  They do have some outstanding recruits coming in, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if they were once safely inside the bubble come March, but as of now I personally have more questions than certainties about the Huskies.

Andy Enfield has done a fantastic job at USC.  They aren’t the class of the league by any means, but they are tons better than they were when he first arrived and they have another strong recruiting class this year.  It looks as though they could end up being a sleeper team.  Again.

For the last two years Arizona State has seemed to come out huge in November and December, then slipped a little bit as the season progressed, and then backed into the NCAA Tournament as a First Four team, but has been extremely entertaining along the way!  With three starters back, including a strong guard in Remy Martin, and with what appear to be some pretty solid additions to the roster the Sun Devils should, if nothing else, be entertaining!

I like this Oregon State team more than most other people.  They were kind of pitiful down the stretch losing four of their last five, but all the games were close.  They won 18 total games last year, have four starters back including Tres Tinkle who is a very solid player, and are very well coached his father Wayne Tinkle.  No one is expecting them to make a whole lot of noise, but if I had to pick a dark horse it would be the Beavers.

The Mick Cronin era at UCLA will begin this year!  Mick Cronin did tremendously well at Cincinnati.  When he took over that program it was in shambles.  Like…it was worse than what Cal has been.  And, he slowly progressed and by the time he left there they were a regular in the Top 25 and making the NCAA Tournament each year was seemingly a given.  He has his work cut out for him at UCLA, and it may be a struggle early on, but it’s important to remember that they are nowhere near as bad off as Cincinnati when he took over there.

Mark Fox is a decent coach, but his new team at Cal is anything but decent.  They are awful.  He has his work cut out for him.

Kyle Smith is also taking over at Washington State, who is bad but not as bad as Cal.

The only team that I haven’t really talked about is Stanford.  I guess because I don’t think they’re going to be good enough to really be all that excited about, but at the same time aren’t as bad as Cal and Wazzu where you have to point at them and say “WOW ! just look at how BAD they are!”

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SoCon Media Day Recap and Responses

Posted on October 8, 2019 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL

  1. East Tennessee State
  2. UNC Greensboro
  3. Furman
  4. Wofford
  5. Samford
  6. Chattanooga
  7. Western Carolina
  8. Mercer
  9. The Citadel
  10. VMI

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL – IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME DAMN ORDER!!

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM

Bo Hodges – East Tennessee State, JR G
Jeromy Rodriguez – East Tennessee State, SR F
Daivien Williamson – East Tennessee State, SO G
Jordan Lyons – Furman, SR G
Ross Cummings – Mercer, SR F
Isaiah Miller – UNC Greensboro, JR G
Josh Sharkey – Samford, SR G
Carlos Dotson – Western Carolina, SR F
Nathan Hoover – Wofford, SR G

NOTES FROM DAVID.  Last year Wofford landed in the top half of the bracket, and UNC Greensboro ended up being the contingency team, meaning that had Oregon not won the Pac 12 Championship game then UNCG would have been in the NCAA Tournament.  Having a team that was in the field on the first ballot and another one that just missed the cut is the best year the SoCon has had in recent memory.  Here’s the thing: I think it could be even better this year!

East Tennessee State is the consensus favorite to win the league from pretty much everyone I’ve seen, and that obviously includes the coaches and SIDs.  All five starters are back from a team that won 24 games and finished in third place last year.  This is a team that is certainly good enough to land inside the bubble.  They are multidimensional, are good in all five positions, and have sufficient depth.  The question is will they have enough realistic opportunities to make a strong case to the committee.  They go to Kansas on November 19th, and obviously if they win that they’ll be well on their way, but that’s probably too tall of an order and other than another road trip to LSU there doesn’t appear to be much that will get the committee all that excited.  So, as good as they are, they’ll have a small margin for error when it comes to making the field.

I’m HUGE on this Furman team!  They are yet another team that I think is good enough to land inside the bubble.  They won some big games last year and actually cracked the rankings earlier in the season, had 25 overall wins, and have four starters back.  Notable OOC games include going to Auburn and Alabama, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if they ended up winning all the rest of them and entering conference play with a bloated record.

UNC Greensboro, as mentioned earlier, barely missed the NCAA Tournament last year, and had they won just one more game at any point during the regular season they would have probably made the field.  They return three starters from a team that won 29 overall games last year and who didn’t lose any conference games to anyone accept Wofford.  Replacing Francis Alonso, who was a fantastic three point shooter, won’t be easy.  I like this UNCG team a lot, and it wouldn’t shock me if they were once again knocking on the door of the NCAA Tournament, but I don’t like them quite as much as Furman and ETSU.

Wofford was a strong team a year ago, and you never want to write off the terrors, but they lost a ton.  Three starters are gone, including Fletcher Magee who was perhaps the best player in the SoCon, I don’t foresee them finishing ranked in the top 20 like they did a season ago.  Also gone is Mike Young, who left to take the head coaching job at Virginia Tech.

I don’t know if it’s fair to call Samford a sleeper because they got off to a fantastic start in OOC play last year, had an overall winning record, and have four starters back, but it wouldn’t shock me if they made more noise in the league than what many are projecting them to.  They may not have won the league, but they had what was perhaps the highest point of awesomeness in conference play last year when referee Karl Hess decided to step up on Samford head coach Scott Padgett prompting him to ask “Are you stepping to me right now?”  This lead to what is perhaps the greatest t-shirt in the history of college basketball:

After Samford, there appears to be a big drop-off.  It is worth noting that The Citadel, despite not really being in a position to compete for the league title, is still a ton of fun to watch.  Chattanooga didn’t do too badly in conference play last year at 7-11 and has three starters back, but they don’t appear to be as good as they were a few years ago.  I’m not seeing a whole lot from Western Carolina, Mercer, or VMI either.

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Summit League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 8, 2019 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON RANKINGS

  1. North Dakota State
  2. South Dakota
  3. Oral Roberts
  4. Omaha
  5. South Dakota State
  6. Fort Wayne
  7. Western Illinois
  8. North Dakota
  9. Denver

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SUMMIT LEAGUE FIRST TEAM

Stanley Umude – South Dakota, JR F (Preseason Player of the Year)
Emmanuel Nzekwesi – Oral Roberts, SR F
Kevin Obanor – Oral Roberts, SO F
Vinnie Shahid – North Dakota State, SR G
Triston Simpson – South Dakota, SR G
Kobe Webster – Western Illinois, GR G

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SUMMIT LEAGUE SECOND TEAM

Tyler Hagedorn – South Dakota, SR F
JT Gibson – Omaha, SR G
Matt Holba – Fort Wayne, SR F
Matt Pile – Omaha, JR F
Tyson Ward – North Dakota State, SR F

 

NOTES FROM DAVID:  South Dakota State tried to be nationally relevant for most of the season, but like a lot of UTR teams as good as they were they didn’t quite do enough in the regular season to land inside the bubble, and when they failed to win the conference tournament they were left out of the Big Dance despite being the best team in the league.  You never want to write off the Jackrabbits, but with just one starter back it looks as though they will be in rebuild mode this year.

South Dakota had what was an unimpressive overall year last year, but they won four of their last five going into the conference tournament (where admittedly they were slaughtered in their first game), and the only loss was a close one to South Dakota State.  With four starters back, including the conference player of the year in Stanley Umude, I’m kind of big on the Yotes this year.

North Dakota State is pretty much the consensus preseason favorite.  The Bison were last year’s tournament champions and went on to win a game in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament.  All five starters are back from last year’s team, and they appear to have a very strong back court.

Oral Roberts is another team the coaches and ADs seem to like.  I realize they’re getting a quality guard in Deondre Burns who is eligible to play this year after transferring, and they should have a little more depth, but there is something about them that’s jumping out at everyone else that I must be missing.

I do kind of like this Omaha team.  I realize that their two best players are gone, but three starters are back and they look to have a pretty decent back court.  This was a team that finished second last year and advanced to the championship game.  They’re not my pick to win the league, but I think they’re definitely good enough to make some noise.  Again.

When it comes to the other four teams, I think Fort Wayne, or IPFW, or Purdue Fort Wayne, or whatever the hell they’re calling themselves this week, is the best out of the rest of the group, but I still don’t see them finishing in the top half of the league.  The Leathernecks of Western Illinois, who really don’t get enough credit for having one of the best nicknames in all of college sports, have four starters back!  That’s good!  But, they won just four conference games a year ago.  That’s not good.  Yeah, they’re experienced, but are they returning players who will have developed enough to make them competitive within the league?  North Dakota and Denver will likely struggle this year.

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West Coast Conference Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 7, 2019 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON RANKINGS

  1. Gonzaga
  2. Saint Mary’s
  3. BYU
  4. Pepperdine
  5. Santa Clara
  6. San Francisco
  7. LMU
  8. Pacific
  9. San Diego
  10. Portland

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL WCC TEAM

Yoeli Childs – BYU, SR F
Tahj Eaddy – Santa Clara, JR G
Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine, SO F
Malik Fitts – Saint Mary’s, JR F
Jordan Ford – Saint Mary’s, SR, G
TJ Haws – BYU, SR G
Charles Minlend – San Francisco, JR G
Colbey Ross – Pepperdine, JR G
Killian Tillie – Gonzaga, SR F
Jahlil Tripp – Pacific, SR G

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID.  Like everyone else, I was shocked…SHOCKED, I SAY!!…to see that Gonzaga was picked to finish first at Media Day.  We reached out to the WCC to make sure this wasn’t some sort of error.  It’s not.  The Zags are the preseason favorite to finish in first place.

All kidding aside, I don’t think everyone fully appreciates how good Gonzaga has been the last five years.  They’ve won 30+ games in four of the past five years, been to five straight Sweet Sixteens, and have been past the Sweet Sixteen three of the past four years.  I haven’t counted the number of weeks they’ve spent ranked in the top ten, but it’s a lot.  It may actually be the most of any team in college basketball.

Now as for this year, four starters are gone from last year, and while they will still obviously be good and will remain in the rankings and nationally relevant, will they continue to be a Final Four caliber team like they have been for the better part of the last five years??  That’s tough to say.  It looks like they will continue to have mostly upperclassmen in the starting line up, and it’s not crazy to think that the four new starters will embrace their new roles, but for three of the last four years HoopsHD has projected the Zags to be a Final Four team.  I don’t think I will be making that projection this year.

Saint Mary’s was good last year and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after upsetting previously mentioned Gonzaga in the WCC Championship game.  They should be even better this year with four starters back to help make up what appears to be a very strong and balanced frontcourt and backcourt.  Their season opener against Wisconsin is a huge game for both teams that should tell us something about the Gaels right out of the gate.

As for the rest of the league, it hasn’t quite yet caught up to the Zags and Saint Mary’s, but the overall roster of coaches is impressive and you get the sense that a lot of them are moving in the right direction.

BYU is under new leadership as Mark Pope takes the reigns.  With three starters back the Cougars should improve from last season and make a push for either the NIT or the NCAA.

LMU got off to an 11-1 start a year ago and was one of the teams that really grabbed our attention, especially since they only won 10 games against D-1 teams the year before.  With three starters back this year, including what should be a really strong frontcourt, they could be a sleeper team this season

San Francisco was a 20+ win team a year ago that got off to a very exciting start and at one point seemed to be positioning themselves for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  They tapered off some down the stretch, but overall it was still a big year for the Dons and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them build on that this year.

San Diego was another 20+ win team from a year ago.  The problem is that the Toreros are going to be rebuilding this year with almost all of their starters being gone

Herb Sendek managed a winning record last year at Santa Clara and has shown steady improvement since he arrived there.  With three starters back that trend could continue.

Pepperdine, Pacific, and Portland have work to do…

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Elon women’s coach Charlotte Smith

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Elon women’s coach Charlotte Smith. If you feared that Coach Smith might have peaked early during her playing days at North Carolina (title-winning buzzer-beater as a freshman and dunking in a game as a sophomore), think again. She was named an ABL All-Star in 1998, set a school record at Elon in 2012 for most wins by a 1st-year coach, and led her team to the postseason 4 years in a row after the Phoenix switched from the SoCon to the CAA in 2014. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Smith about winning a title and celebrating a birthday.

In the 1994 NCAA tourney title game as a freshman at UNC you made the title-winning 3-PT shot at the buzzer while tying a tourney record with 23 REB in a 1-PT win over Louisiana Tech en route to being named tourney MOP: what is the key to being a great rebounder, and how did that shot change your life (if at all)? The key to being a great rebounder revolves around making the decision to be one. Rebounding mainly takes effort and heart. I will say that I was blessed with the natural gift of being a leaper: I had a 32” vertical and could dunk a basketball by the time I was in high school so that was VERY helpful! However, rebounding is also about positioning and waiting for the trajectory of the basketball. You know that if a shot is taken from the left side of the floor that it is more than likely that it will come off the rim on the right side of the floor. You should box out well to secure the ball. You should not run underneath the rim for rebounding positioning because you will more than likely only get made rebounds. You should wait until the ball hits the rim so that you can understand the trajectory of the ball. More than anything, you have to be in it to win it: get in the paint! Crash the boards and give your team multiple opportunities.

You were a 2-time ACC Tournament MVP: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? I was always a competitor. All you had to do was roll the ball out for me and I was ready to compete…but I will confess that one of the best ways for me to be prepared was having my parents in the stands. They were my biggest fans and came to almost all of my games. Coach Hatchell used to swear that I was no good until my parents showed up: LOL! Tournament time was a very special moment where you had to lay it all on the line. You knew the situation was “one-and-done”. It was do-or-die time so you had to muster all of the mental fortitude you had, bring it all to the table, and leave everything on the floor.

In a game against North Carolina A&T on December 4, 1994, you became the 2nd female college basketball player ever to dunk in a game: how big a deal was it (for someone whose Twitter handle is “exdunker”), and did you get your vertical leap genes from your uncle David Thompson?! It was a big deal to become the second woman in the history of the game to dunk. I always thought that I would be #1 but little did I know that 6’7″ Georgeann Wells from West Virginia had already dunked years before I did (vs. the University of Charleston on 12/21/84). There was not much media coverage for women in sports so this 1st dunk was under a rock! It had always been a goal of mine to dunk in a college game so when I dunked in high school I thought it would be a piece of cake. There was so much pressure to actually do it in a game but when the time finally came there was a sigh of relief as if to say, “That is finally off my bucket list”. I credit the Thompson side of my family for my leaping ability. My uncle was known as “Skywalker” due to his own leaping ability and I wanted to be like him growing up.

You finished your college career with 2094 PTS/1200 REB: how were you able to balance your scoring with your rebounding? Balancing scoring and rebounding is not something you think about: it is just something you do! In order for your team to be successful you need as many possessions as possible and rebounding is one of the ways that you can control what you can control and provide more opportunities for your team.

In 2002 you were named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team and you are 1 of only 2 UNC women’s basketball players to have her jersey retired: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I consider myself to be immensely blessed to be considered one of the greatest to play this game! It was a proud moment because it was when I realized that hard work does pay off. It was also a moment that I was able to share with family and friends. It was just as much of an honor for them (my support circle) as it was for me.

After playing for Hall of Fame coach Sylvia Hatchell (whose 1023 career wins is #5 in NCAA women’s history) you later became her assistant: what made her such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from her? Coach Hatchell was a great coach because she instilled great inspiration and hope in young women. All of her life quotes ring in my head to this day. She planted seeds that have definitely produced a harvest because I cannot get her life lessons out of my mind.

In 2011 you were hired as head coach at Elon and set a school record for wins by a 1st-year coach: why did you take the job, and how were you able to come in and be so successful right from the start? I literally took the job because I felt like that is where God was leading me and it was where I felt at home. Not only that, I believed in Elon’s mission/vision/values regarding the total student-athlete. It was not an easy decision because I had some people opposed to it who felt I could not win at Elon and the resources necessary to sustain a winning culture were not there. Success does not come easy: it is built one brick at a time. You have to instill a sense of work ethic and pride in your program. You have to establish a vision for where you want to go and then get the people there to buy-in. You have to know how to win with people first. I tried my best to cultivate good relationships with my players and connect with them as people. I tried my best to show them that I genuinely cared for them and that I was invested for their sake, not my own.

You won 25+ games and made the NCAA tourney in both 2017/2018 before going 9-21 last year: what caused the downturn, and how easy will it be to get things going in the right direction? As a leader you have to make tough decisions and there were some decisions that I made on my own and some decisions that were made for me. I had to part ways with a player whom I love dearly and then I lost our defensive player of the year to an ACL injury. These were two players who were back-to-back champions and knew what it took to win…and I did not have either of them with me last season. We had several other injuries and then it was compounded by a lot of youth. These were insurmountable hurdles that were difficult to overcome, but in all things we are to give thanks. I am grateful for that season of losses and lessons because it taught me a lot about both myself and the team that could never be learned through wins. Adversity can be one of the best teachers in life. To get things going in the right direction all you can do is continue to do the things that got you to the top, see if there are any things you need to add or subtract, and take it one day at a time during the building process. You need to have the virtue of patience.

You had a birthday in late-August: what did you do for the big day? I celebrated my day with my Hoop Phi sisters from UNC. I have a core group of friends I consider sisters and we enjoy celebrating one another through time spent together and a good meal.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goals for this season are to try to find ways to maintain a work/life balance because when I am at my best everyone around me benefits. My goal is to help everyone that God has entrusted under my stewardship to become the best version of themselves. I love winning championships, but more importantly I love helping people win in life!

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