Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Greg Herenda

Posted on September 12, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Greg Herenda. When he was hired 6 years ago you might not have been impressed by either his alma mater (Merrimack) or his new team (FDU)…but now the Warriors are beginning their 4-year transition to D-1 and the Knights are coming off of their 1st NCAA tourney win in school history. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Herenda about his 3-PT philosophy and winning a conference tourney title on the road.

You were a PG at Merrimack College where you set a school record with 22 AST in a game: how good a player were you back in the day, and what is the key to being a good PG? On a relative scale I could play. I was a tough/gritty PG from Jersey City and could see the floor because I could not really get by anyone. The guy keeping the stats for the 22 AST game ended up being part of my wedding party! Being a PG leads to being a good coach because you need an intuitive feel for the game and the ability to know where everyone is on the floor.

How did you 1st get into coaching, and why did you take the job as head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson back in 2013? I got into coaching for 1 reason: it was the only job offer I had after graduating from Merrimack. Someone else took the head job at Lowell but then left it so Don Doucette offered me the job and I was Johnny-on-the-spot. The #1 reason I took the FDU job is that was a D-1 program in New Jersey and allowed me to come home. The only direction the program could go was up so it was a combination of location/opportunity and I am really glad that I got the job.

You began your career in Hackensack with a pair of 21-loss seasons before making the NCAA tourney in 2016: how were you able to make the leap entering year #3? Just hard work/good players/great staff and a very strong belief in myself. I knew that it would happen since I was able to perform some turnarounds at my prior coaching jobs. 2016 was the 1st time that we had our entire group who we had recruited but it happened faster than I thought it would. We went from the outhouse to the penthouse and were very fortunate. Without my players/staff we could not have done that.

Last season you had a 25-PT loss on Valentine’s Day that put your record at 12-13, but were able to turn things around and win 8 straight games including the NEC tourney title game where your 5 starters scored all 85 PTS in a 9-PT win over St. Francis PA: how much of a home-court advantage did the Red Flash have, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? That place was just banging: they had a white-out and it was filled to capacity. We had about 250 fans behind our bench and by the end we owned that gym. Our players expected to win on the road: St. Francis has incredible fans but we were not afraid of any gym we went to. That night was our night: I do not think the wheels of our bus ever hit the road on the drive home and Darnell Edge/Mike Holloway never took off the nets that they were wearing after cutting them down. It was the beginning of a historic championship run for our school.

In the 2019 NCAA tourney you had a 6-PT win over Prairie View before losing to Gonzaga: what did your team learn from that postseason experience that will help them this year? The more experience that you gain from every game (especially the big ones that you win), the more you grow as a player/coach/program. You gather confidence/wisdom: the hard part is getting back but if we do then we will be able to draw upon that. Our 3 returning starters will hopefully lead us to more championships.

You return most of your players from last year but only have 1 senior/1 grad student on the current roster after losing a pair of super seniors in Darnell Edge/Mike Holloway: how will you try to replace all of that offense/leadership? I do not think that you can: we will evolve into a different team. Without players like “Big Mike” there are possibilities for other players to step up. We cannot replace those 2 guys: they were the cornerstones of building our program into what it is but we have a talented freshman class and other guys who came off the bench last year. We love/miss them but will win a lot of games without them as well: you have no choice but to move on.

Your team was #5 in the nation with 40 3P%: what role does the 3-PT shot play in your offensive philosophy? I think that it is a complement: we want to get the ball to the basket and play at a really high velocity. We want to get a layup/dunk, and if not then we will try to get the best shot available. Everyone has to get comfortable with the new 3-PT line, especially after we lost the best 3-PT shooter in school history in Darnell, but it will help to open up the floor when opportunities arise. I give my players a great deal of confidence to shoot the 3 and they work very hard on it during the summer.

Your non-conference schedule includes road games at DePaul/Notre Dame/Kentucky: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? They all do, even our 1st game against D-3 FDU-Florham. Kentucky is the gold standard and should vie for a national title but all 3 of those teams will be difficult. We have played at Arizona/Villanova before so we know what it takes: you have to defend/rebound/take care of the ball. We love our schedule: it is exciting/sexy!

You had a health scare a couple of years ago: how is your health at the moment? Thank god I feel strong and have energy. Coaching is a very taxing profession that takes a toll on you emotionally/spiritually. I am blessed to have good kids in my program who keep me young and were behind me when I was down. I am as good as I can be and as excited as I have ever been.

You got a contract extension last summer: what are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We are here to win championships. Once we do that, we want to 1-up what we did in the NCAA tourney last year. We have to take it 1 step at a time, which is not easy, but it is attainable. Right now we are just remaining hungry and working hard and staying humble, which is our path to getting back there. We play in a really good conference and want to continue to succeed.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Greg Herenda

Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Notre Dame FR F Sam Brunelle

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Notre Dame FR F Sam Brunelle. Even though the Irish lost the NCAA title game last April by 1 PT and then lost all 5 of their starters, the future looks bright thanks to a pair of fabulous freshmen in Anaya Peoples/Sam Brunelle. Sam has won so many awards/titles/events over the past few years that it is hard to keep up: 3 gold medals with Team USA, Virginia high school Player of the Year, and even the 3-PT contest at the 2019 McDonald’s All-American game. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Sam about winning a gold medal and having a brand-new starting lineup.

You won a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup: what did it mean to you to win a gold medal, and which of your teammates impressed you the most (Fran Belibi/Azzi Fudd/Jordan Horston/other)? I always love playing for USA Basketball and have been fortunate to play for 4 different teams. It is hard to put into words because it is so special and means a lot. I enjoy playing with the best of the best and all of my teammates will do great wherever they go.

You won the 2019 McDonald’s High School All-American 3-PT contest: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? Shooters shoot! I was pretty nervous but just let it fly and it worked out for me. I trust in what I know.

You missed half of your senior season at William Monroe High School due to a broken left foot: how is your health doing at the moment? I am doing amazing and should never have a problem with that foot again: I have been 100% for awhile.

You had a 4.15 GPA in high school: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? It involves being good at time management. It is a challenge here because college is a whole other challenge but the upperclassmen are helping me through it.

You grew up in Virginia: what made you choose Notre Dame, and what was your reaction when they fell 1 PT short of beating Baylor in the title game last April? There are so many reasons I choose to come here. I committed in April of my junior year because it was the most perfect situation that I have ever been in. As far as Baylor, you cannot win them all but every single starter got drafted so it just shows how much talent they had.

What makes Muffet McGraw such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? I love Coach. She told me that the Notre Dame decision is not just for the next 4 years but for the next 40 years as well. She empowers women and stands up for equal rights by using her platform so well to inspire others. She has a lot of confidence in me, which is a great thing for me to have and I will keep earning her trust.

The Irish lost their entire starting 5 from last year leave: how will you try to replace all of that offense/leadership? The team we have now is a new group: we are all trying to figure things out but have amazing chemistry both on an off the court. We are definitely going to be a special team and have such a great variety of players that we will be able to do so many things.

I know that the season has not even started yet, but how excited are you to spend Thanksgiving in Mexico? I always love to travel but have never been to Mexico so it should be fun…but we are going there to take care of business.

Your father Rod played minor league baseball and your mother Katie won a basketball regional championship (which was the last 1 at your high school until you won 1 yourself last spring): who is the best athlete in the family? I would vote for myself but both of my parents were very athletic so I got a great mixture there.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I hope that I can make a big impact this year by doing whatever the coaches want me to do. Hopefully we can get back to the places we were before but will just take it day by day. I am excited for it and hope to make some special things happen during my time here.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Notre Dame FR F Sam Brunelle

Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Kentucky SO SG Rhyne Howard

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Kentucky SO SG Rhyne Howard. You may have thought that the best freshman in Lexington last season was Tyler Herro or Keldon Johnson…but Howard was the 1 who was named unanimous national Freshman of the Year. After winning a gold medal with team USA in 2018, she scored more than 16 PPG and helped her team win a game in the NCAA tourney in 2019. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Rhyne about making a game-winner last February and playing in the SEC.

You grew up in Tennessee: what made you choose the Wildcats? It was close to home and felt more like a family setting.

You played in the 2018 Jordan Brand Classic: which of your fellow honorees impressed you the most (Jazmine Massengill/NaLyssa Smith/Christyn Williams/other)? It was the 1st time that I ever saw NaLyssa play and she was really good.

In the summer of 2018 you were named tourney MVP after leading team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA U18 Americas Women’s Championship: what did it mean to you to represent your country, and what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? It meant a lot to be chosen from a select few. It was great to play with new people and develop a different bond.

Last November you scored 29 PTS and tied a school record with 7 3PM in a 50-PT win over Southern: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? I would not say that it is a secret: sometimes I just throw it up there!

Last February you had 18 PTS/14 REB and made the game-winning 15-foot jumper with 1.3 seconds left before stealing an inbounds pass to clinch a 2-PT win over Arkansas: did you think the shot was going in, and what was the feeling like in the locker room afterward? I felt confident in the shot and thought that it was going in. There was a lot of great energy in the locker room: everyone was pumped up!

In the 2019 NCAA tourney you scored 15 PTS in a 5-PT win over Princeton and scored a team-high 21 PTS in a loss at NC State: what did you learn from your postseason run that will help you this season? Anything can happen in the postseason so you have to be prepared for the best/worst. It will help me be prepared this year for teams with more physicality.

You finished last season by being named unanimous national Freshman of the Year after averaging 16.4 PPG/6.6 RPG: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from high school to college? I got a lot of help from my teammates/coaches who made it easy on me. My teammates gave me advice every step of the way about what our coaches would be looking for.

What is it like to play at a school where the men’s team has so much tradition, and what is it like to play in a conference with 2017 NCAA champ South Carolina/2017 & 2018 NCAA runner-up Mississippi State? It is great because the fans here get 2-for-1 in the basketball department. The SEC is 1 of the toughest conferences so you never know what you will get when you step onto the court.

Your mother Rhvonja Avery played basketball at Florida and coached you all the way to high school: what was the best part of having your mom as your coach, and what was the not-so-best part? You always get yelled at the most…but learning from someone you have always looked up to was the best.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I would like to follow up Freshman of the Year by being Player of the Year so I will have to work twice as hard as I did last year. We expect to be a great team and win as many games as we can.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Kentucky SO SG Rhyne Howard

Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Abilene Christian SR SG Payten Ricks

Posted on September 9, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Abilene Christian SR SG Payten Ricks. During the preseason every single team is talking about the desire to improve, but it will be hard for the Wildcats to top last year. After 7 straight seasons with a record of .500 or worse, ACU went 27-7 last season and won the Southland Conference tourney title game by 17 PTS before running into another group of Wildcats from Lexington. Coach Joe Golding lost 5 of his top-6 scorers from last year so he will rely heavily on his SR SG to lead the way this year. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Payten about making a game-winner last January and facing Kentucky in the NCAA tourney.

You grew up in Kansas: what made you choose Abilene Christian? After being recruited by ACU and taking my visit, I liked the Christian aspect of the school. The community was very inviting, the coaching staff was genuine, and the players were really close with each other. I enjoyed my visit and even wanted to commit while still on campus but I waited until I got home to make sure. I committed a couple of days afterward because I still felt like it was the best fit for me.

You play for Coach Joe Golding: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? Coach Golding is a good coach because he cares for his players and respects us as men, not just as basketball players. I really value that fact that he genuinely cares for our well-being and prepares his players for life after college as well. The most important thing that I have learned from him is to not change no matter the circumstances or who you are around. For example, he wore the infamous navy blue suit with a rip in his pants at the NCAA tournament last March. He could have bought a new suit but he stayed true to who he is.

You played in 28 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? The coaches trusted me enough to put me in the starting lineup and my teammates instilled the confidence in me that I could play at this level even though I was just a freshman.

Last January you scored a game-high 22 PTS including a 3-PT shot with 2.7 seconds left in a 3-PT win at Southeastern Louisiana: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I have worked on that shot a lot during my career so it felt natural and I felt it had a good chance of going in: thankfully it fell through the net. It ranks pretty high for me in my career.

You shot 84.2 FT% last year: what is the secret to making FTs? The secret to making free throws is confidence and extra reps, but I would say mostly confidence.

In the 2019 NCAA tourney you had 3 STL in a loss to Kentucky: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? I learned a lot from the Kentucky game mentally: it was the biggest stage of basketball that I have played on and I kind of let the bright lights get to me. I learned that although it is a surreal experience you still have to prepare the same way and not lose sight of why you are there and how you got there.

Your non-conference schedule includes road games at UNLV/SMU/Wichita State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Wichita State for sure. I almost always forget that they are technically a mid-major school because they have been so successful in the past. They are disciplined in what they do and are a very good defensive team. That is also a home game for me in Kansas that I am looking forward to.

You are 1 of 3 seniors on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this season? I have to step up and take more of a leadership role and that is going to be vocally. There is not much pressure because every one of my teammates has confidence in me and I have just as much confidence in them. Trey Lenox is one of our seniors who I have roomed with since I have been here: he has been more vocal than ever and is embracing a leadership role as well. We have more than just one leader on this team and that will be huge for us.

You lost each of your other top-6 scorers from last year (Jaren Lewis/Jalone Friday/Jaylen Franklin/BJ Maxwell/Hayden Farquhar): how will you try to replace all of that offense? We have 5 incoming guys this year who are going to help us right away to replace the scoring from the other top-6 scorers from last year. I do not think that we will have a problem scoring the ball as a team: our biggest focus is growing defensively.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goals for this season are to make it to the NCAA tournament again and be the #1 defensive team in the conference. I expect that we will have another successful year as long as our group stays together and we trust our coaching staff.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Abilene Christian SR SG Payten Ricks

Dear NCAA, PLEASE Once Again Allow A Third Exhibition Game For Charity

Posted on September 9, 2019 by David Griggs

So before the start of the 2017-2018 college basketball season, something crazy happened.  I’m not talking about the FBI investigations that blew up all over the place.  I’m talking about something that was actually good.  Division I college basketball teams were permitted by the NCAA to schedule a third exhibition game, and this game could be against another div1 team so long as all the proceeds from that game went to charity.

And, it was GREAT!!

The benefits to this were obvious.  The teams got another game to help them get ready for the season, they got to actually play against another div1 team, and fans got to see match-ups as early as October that were far more compelling than any previous exhibition game.  In fact, in some cases the games were actually more compelling than a lot of OOC regular season games (Kansas v Missouri and Texas v Texas A&M come to mind).

Oh yeah, and tens of millions of dollars were raised for charities.

The NCAA and its members had collectively done something that seemed to have literally benefited EVERYONE and had no downside whatsoever.

So, naturally, this was discontinued the year after that.  The rule is now that schools can play a div1 charity exhibition, but the limit is back to just two.

Why??

Seriously, WHY??

So, this is my plea.  I want the charity exhibition games back.  This isn’t some cartoonish rant like the stuff that I normally post.  This isn’t some ploy to draw attention to this particular website.  In fact if any national writer wants to copy this word for word and use it, they can.  But, I am really hoping we can get some momentum going for something that I think is good for everyone.  It is a chance for colleges and universities, not just the basketball teams but the entire institution, to actively do something that raises awareness of a certain charity or cause, and/or provides aid to their own communities or to people around the country and around the world who need it.  There are absolutely NO REASONS why this should not be put into place.  It falls directly in line with what the NCAA claims to be about, and it would fall within the mission statements of most (if not all) NCAA member institutions.  If they wanted to implement this, they could do it by the end of the week.

Much of the world could use the help.  The Bahamas is a place that comes to mind.  The NCAA and its member institutions are in a unique position to offer up that help, and in doing so also get something out of it that’s good for them, and their fans, and their players, and their coaches.

So, PLEASE!  Let’s work to make this happen!  I admit that I don’t normally like it when people petition the internet and/or social media, but that is exactly what I am doing with this.  This can work!  It worked just two short years ago!  Most of the exhibition charities from two years ago weren’t scheduled until October, so there is definitely still time!   #ExhibitionForCharity

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on Dear NCAA, PLEASE Once Again Allow A Third Exhibition Game For Charity

Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new Tennessee women’s head coach Kellie Harper

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with new Tennessee women’s head coach Kellie Harper. The Lady Vols have had a pretty good run of head coaches over the past 50 years. Margaret Hutson went 60–18 during her 4 years as coach, Pat Summitt won 1098 games including 8 NCAA titles from 1987-2008, and Holly Warlick made the NCAA tourney during each of her 7 years from 2013-2019. In April the school turned to former player Kellie Harper to uphold the tradition. Harper won 3 straight NCAA titles as a player under Coach Summitt in the late-1990s, then led 3 different schools to the NCAA tourney as head coach during the past 15 years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Harper about going 39-0 in 1998 and having her husband as 1 of her assistant coaches.

You grew up in Tennessee: what made you choose the Lady Vols, and what was it like to play for the legendary Pat Summitt? I wanted to play for the best program in the country so I chose Tennessee. Playing for Pat was intense and demanding but also very rewarding. We were playing for the most famous woman in the state of Tennessee and, of course, all of basketball.

You were the starting PG for a program that won 3 straight titles from 1996-1998: did it reach a point where you just expected to win every time that you stepped onto the court, and where do you think that 1998 team that finished 39-0 ranks among the best in the history of the sport? Quite frankly, yes. We expected to win every game we played regardless of who or where we were playing. We believed we were going to win a national championship each year.

In the 1997 NCAA title game you set a record with 11 AST in a win over Old Dominion and in the 1998 NCAA title game you scored a career-high 20 PTS/4-5 3PM in a win over Louisiana Tech: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? I think those were games in which our opponents had to game-plan a little more for our All-Americans. You cannot guard Chamique Holdsclaw/Tamika Catchings/Semeka Randall without giving up something. I was open a bit more and needed to make a few more plays for our team in those games.

You are 1 of a handful of women’s basketball coaches to lead 3 different schools (Western Carolina/NC State/Missouri State) to the NCAA tourney: how have you been able to be so successful at so many different programs? First of all, we want to do things the right way. Second, our teams have been known for their effort and toughness and ability to improve over the course of a season. We were also fortunate to recruit talented players who fit our system.

Last season as head coach at Missouri State you started 1-7 but ended up being named conference COY after winning 25 games and making it all the way to the Sweet 16 before losing to Stanford: how were you able to turn things around last December despite having only 1 senior on the roster? We knew that we had a talented roster, albeit very young. Our biggest hurdle was getting our players to believe in themselves (and each other) early in the season when things were not going well in the win column while playing a pretty rigorous schedule. Our team bought in and improved…and it paid off in a big way.

You were hired as head coach of your alma mater in April: could you have ever imagined becoming the Tennessee head coach when you were playing there 20 years ago, and how is it going so far? No. This is something that I never dreamed about growing up, probably because I felt (as did everyone else) that Pat was going to coach forever. Things have gone well thus far. I have had a lot on my plate, which is normal during a transition, but I have a tremendous staff that is working very hard to help this program be where it needs to be.

1 of your assistants is your husband Jon: what is the best part of having your husband work for you, and what is the not-so-best part? The best part of us working together is having a husband who not only completely understands the demands of this job but is just as invested as I am. The not-so-best part is navigating our schedule while raising 2 children: it takes some creative juggling at times. This program is a big part of our family, and vice versa, so our children have a lot of big sisters and are growing up in a unique environment.

You went 4-2 vs. UConn during your playing career: what is your favorite memory from any of those 6 games, and how excited are you to be renewing the rivalry this January as the schools face each other for the 1st time since 2007? Those games were usually very intense and well-attended. One of my favorite memories was back in 1997 when we beat UConn in Iowa City to go to the Final Four. Our team came together strong and peaked at the right time to win a national championship.

1 of your incoming freshmen is Jordan Horston, who was named MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game last March: how does she look so far, and what kind of an impact do you think that she can make this season as an 18-year old? Jordan is a talented and competitive young lady and a wonderful person. I have enjoyed coaching her and am excited about her future. Jordan is a playmaker who makes her teammates better because of her ability to create with the ball.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I want our team to be the best possible team that we can be. I want to see us maximize our potential and show continued improvement throughout the season. Those are goals that would put us in strong contention for postseason advancement.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new Tennessee women’s head coach Kellie Harper