Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Season Previews and Interviews

We continue our season preview coverage with Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson. This decade got off to a good start for the 49ers: 4 straight winning seasons from 2010-2013, including 3 straight conference titles and 3 straight postseason tourney appearances. The past 5 years have been less kind to the Beach, featuring only 1 winning season, yet last March the administration decided to reward Coach Monson with a 5-year contract because even though the team has not had any NCAA tourney appearances recently, they have more importantly not had any FBI investigations either. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Monson about his new contract and his scary schedule.

Your father Don was a head coach at Idaho/Oregon: how much influence did he have on your own decision to become a basketball coach after being a football player at Idaho? My dad was my idol growing up and I wanted to be like him. I learned what it is like to be a coach from my dad and I learned how to be a coach from Dan Fitzgerald at Gonzaga.

You were a grad assistant to College Basketball Hall of Fame coach Gene Bartow at UAB: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? The biggest thing I learned was that there are many different ways to be a coach. Gene was a simple coach who was more of a players’ coach: he only had a couple of offensive sets and primarily played man-to-man defense. It was really refreshing because he let his assistants do a lot more work than other head coaches allowed.

In the 1999 Sweet 16 as head coach at Gonzaga, Casey Calvary scored 12 PTS including a tip-in over 2 defenders in the final seconds to clinch a 1-PT win over Florida: did you think that his shot was going in, and where does that game rank among the highlights of your career? I thought that it was going in: I actually thought the shot that he rebounded was going in originally. I told the team to look for a rebound if we missed a shot and that is exactly what he did. It is probably the greatest moment of my career: the only unfortunate thing is that it was my 2nd year as a coach and I thought that it would always be like that!

After leaving Spokane to coach at Minnesota your assistant Mark Few took over as head coach: how many more 30-win seasons/conference titles does he need before we can finally put him in the Hall of Fame? Zero! It is just semantics: it is going to happen eventually because he has earned that. I think he will be known as 1 of the top college coaches ever because he turned a mid-major into a major.

You were 1998 WCC COY and won 3 straight Big West COY awards from 2011-2013: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? The older you get the more it means to you. I blew it off a bit in 1998 and then had a great season in 1999…but I did not win the award that year so I was taken back a bit. I realized those things do not grow on trees and are not easy to accomplish. I remember when I won a rookie COY award: when the SID told me I thought it was silly because I had never even heard of it!

You lost your leading scorer from last year (Gabe Levin) but you bring back almost everyone else (including 6 seniors): how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success this year? We brought in 6 new guys the year before who are now among our top-8. We will definitely miss Gabe but the ties to Gonzaga still run deep: Bryan Alberts transferred here after playing for Coach Few. We need them to take over for Gabe because our conference will be very deep and the best teams have most of their players back as well.

Your team’s 501 turnovers last year were bottom-10 in the nation: can you just verbally tell them to stop turning the ball over or do you have to physically coach them to protect the ball better? I think it is just a mindset: we had a lot of new guys who did not value the ball enough. Some kids try to get away with things they did in high school/junior college but that does not work at this level.

Your typically brutal non-conference schedule includes games against UCLA/ASU/Mississippi State/Oregon State/USC/Stanford: when are you going to just join the Pac-12, and which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? We always try to challenge ourselves and have had the #1 non-conference schedule several times during my tenure. This year we will try to stay on the West Coast more and keep the travel down (besides the trip to Starkville). I look at UCLA as the hardest test because it is our very 1st game.

You signed a restructured 5-year contract in March after your athletic director commended you for “doing things the right way” over the past 11 years (rather than compromising your integrity in order to win 20+ games every single year): do you think this is the start of a nationwide trend or are you simply at a very special kind of school? I think it is a combination of those 2 things. After the FBI investigation last year the scrutiny on athletic directors has become very intense, but the administration here shares the same values that I do. I have only had a few losing seasons so for them to say that they believed in me was very gratifying. We have a new president/athletic director and it is a rare thing for them not to go out and hire a new coach to make a big splash.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Our program is at the level where every year our goal is to win the Big West regular season/tourney titles and then make a deep run in the NCAA tourney. I have been trying to instill that culture into this team because we do not have a player who has done any of those things at Long Beach State. Fortunately, they are open to the challenge.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Stephen F. Austin G-F Kevon Harris

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Season Previews and Interviews

We continue our season preview coverage with Stephen F. Austin G-F Kevon Harris. Since going 12-15 in 2005 under Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have axed that losing feeling with 13 straight winning seasons and 5 trips to the NCAA tourney (including tourney wins under Brad Underwood for 3 years in a row from 2014-2016). Coach Kyle Keller hopes to keep chopping wood in March with a veteran team led by the nucleus of TJ Holyfield/Shannon Bogues/Kevon Harris. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Kevon about recovering from injury and being a great 3-PT shooter.

You grew up in Georgia: what made you choose Stephen F. Austin? I came here due to the culture. I was really excited about the coach and it has worked out great.

You play for Coach Kyle Keller: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? He holds everyone accountable for their actions and has pushed me beyond the limits that I thought I had.

You played in all 33 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I felt that I could contribute in multiple ways: even if I was not scoring I just did whatever I could to help the team.

Last December you scored a career-high 31 PTS/8-11 3PM in a win over Rice: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I caught fire a little bit that night…and plan on having multiple games like that in the future. However, even if my shot is going in I need to stay humble for the next 1.

You finished the year ranked #2 in the conference with 42.6 3P%: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? Just repetition. I have a hard work ethic: I am the 1st 1 in the gym and the last 1 to leave. Even if I miss a shot I think that the next 1 will go in.

In the 2018 Southland tourney title game you scored 9 PTS in a 4-PT win over SE Louisiana: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? It was a great feeling: there is nothing like it. I hope to win many more titles because I did not want that feeling to end. We have some of the best fans in the nation so we got a lot of love even before we left for the tourney.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney you had 12 PTS/4 STL in a 10-PT loss to Texas Tech: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? I got some experience that should help me in the long run. It was a great learning opportunity but I view every game as a big game so I plan on going back next year.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Miami/Baylor/Alabama: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? None of them really: I try not to look down the line because every game is big. We will just come out ready to play every night.

You suffered a nerve injury in your leg last January: how is your health doing at the moment? I am definitely 100% and have been fine for awhile. I have been doing everything since the summer so I have no worries at all.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I plan on getting better every year so I want to make a big upgrade this year. I definitely plan on winning another ring, making the NCAA tourney, and then winning some games. I would love to win conference POY and help our team get another ring.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Murray State G Shaq Buchanan

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Season Previews and Interviews

We continue our season preview coverage with Murray State G Shaq Buchanan. 1 of the most fascinating social trends of the past few decades was the rise/fall in popularity of the name “Shaquille”. Here is the short version: the name was very uncommon prior to 1990, then skyrocketed for several years as Shaquille O’Neal became national POY at LSU/was selected #1 overall in the 1992 NBA Draft/won ROY in 1993/released a rap album called “Shaq Diesel” that went platinum/was featured in the movie “Blue Chips” (sidebar: why did “Neon” not turn into a popular name?!)…then went downhill after album #2 (Shaq Fu: Da Return) and movie #2 (Kazaam) did not do as well (for further information I recommend: https://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/shaq-attackthe-rise-of-the-baby-name-shaquille). There are still a couple of versions left in college (including Shaqquan Aaron at USC and Shaquille Doorson at Rutgers) and 1 in the NBA (Shaquille Harrison of the Phoenix Suns) but they are getting harder and harder to find. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with 1 of the few remaining “Shaqs” about being a good defender and making the NCAA tourney last March.

You grew up in Mississippi and began your career at Northeast Mississippi, where you became the 1st player from the school in more than 50 years to be selected for the NJCAA All-Star Game: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was a big honor for me and my family. It just showed that my hard work paid off.

What made you choose Murray State? The atmosphere here is great: they treated me like I was their own child. I am a homebody and they made me feel like I was at home.

You play for Coach Matt McMahon: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? The thing that nobody sees is how he helped me off of the court. I have a child and he has helped me grow up faster: he pushes me every day.

Last year you started 30 games how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? The main thing was knowing my role. We had 3 guys who were the focal points of the offense (double-digit scorers Jonathan Stark/Terrell Miller Jr./Ja Morant) so I just played my role as hard as I could. I tried to be the energy guy, lead the team on defense, and stay positive.

You led the team with 50 STL and were #4 in the OVC with 1.6 SPG: what is the key to being a good defender? I try to stay lower than my man and pay attention to the details I get from the scouting reports.

In the 2018 OVC tourney title game you scored 11 PTS in a win over Belmont: what did it mean to you to win the title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? Winning the title meant a lot: it is something that I dreamed about while going up. It was big time on campus and just showed our school’s great tradition.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored 6 PTS in a loss to West Virginia: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? I learned to not take any plays off and pay attention to all the little things (like not turning the ball over).

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Alabama/Auburn: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I would say Auburn because they have a nice team and have been talked about as possibly being 1 of the top teams in the country. We played them last year and only lost by 4 PTS so we are looking forward to the rematch.

You are 1 of only 3 seniors on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? It is not that much pressure. I had a voice last year as a junior so my focus this year is to just show the new guys the ropes and what it takes to help us win.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is to be better than last year, go undefeated in conference play, and become 1 of the winningest 2-year players to ever come through Murray State.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews UMBC head coach Ryan Odom

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Season Previews and Interviews

We continue our season preview coverage with UMBC head coach Ryan Odom. There were 3 things that I used to think were inevitable: death, taxes, and the #1 seed making it to the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney. The Retrievers might die someday, and their 1040 form is due to the IRS next April, but they crossed #3 off the list last March with a 20-PT upset of #1-seed Virginia. UMBC won all of 7 games in 2016, then Coach Odom came in and won 21 games in 2017, led his team to a final-second victory over Vermont in the 2018 America East tourney title game, then showed the country that perhaps the Cavaliers should not have been 20 1/2-PT favorites after all. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Odom about what is quite simply the greatest upset in the history of the NCAA tourney.

You were a 4-year starter at Hampden-Sydney and team captain as a senior, where you set a school record for 3PM: what is the key to being a good leader, and what is the key to making shots from behind the arc? The key to making shots is having good teammates who can find you at the right time when you are open. Repetition/practice are also important: you cannot be afraid to take a shot at a key time. Sometimes you get into a slump or get hot, which are 2 extremes that you need to navigate.  If you are labeled a “shooter” then the other team will focus on not letting you get open. People do not always realize all of the work that happens before the shot ever gets taken to make it happen. You need to have the mentality that your next shot will go in. It is an honor for any player at any level to be named captain: it means that the staff has a lot of confidence in you and that you understand the culture of the program. “Captain” is not just a label: it is used for someone who is deserving and can deliver the coach’s message to the team when he is not around. I had a great coach in Tony Shaver: you know that he had a good program because he always had the upperclassmen as leaders after they had been shown the way.

Your father Dave was a 3-time ACC COY at Wake Forest and won 3 NIT titles in a 7-year span from 2000-2006: what made him such a great coach, and how much of an impact did he have on your own decision to become a coach? I was not planning on going into coaching early in my college career: 1 reason is that my father was gone all the time due to recruiting. The rules have changed since then but he was literally gone for months at a time. I loved playing the game but did not view myself as a coach. My brother was a coach at the time and my dad had just won back-to-back ACC titles so I was not ready to give up basketball. I did an internship with Bank of America but realized that it was not what I wanted to dive into. Seth Greenberg gave me a chance and I have not looked back since.

In the 2007 NCAA tourney as an assistant to Greenberg at Virginia Tech you had a 2-PT win over Illinois: how were you able to overcome a 10-PT deficit in the final 4½ minutes without allowing the Illini to score a single point? That was a crazy game! We were in trouble but we had a good team that season. Our guards were fantastic and their leadership was spot-on. We were not afraid of anyone we played against due to our success in the ACC. We had a tough draw against Coach Bruce Weber’s team: they were beating us pretty handily throughout the game. Seth made a decision to press toward the end of the game and we were pretty good at that, which helped us get some timely steals/baskets after changing our game plan. It was a fun game…and then we ran into a tough Southern Illinois team.

You were hired in April of 2016 to take over a 7-win UMBC team and proceeded to win 21 games in your very 1st year: how were you able to turn things around so quickly? They were primed to win so the players should get a lot of credit for buying in right away. 1 word I use to describe them is “unselfish”. There have been both bumps and major highs along the way and we want to continue to grow. We had good talent when I arrived and then added some good pieces. We have moved into a brand-new arena and the recruiting footprint is very strong in this area. We tried to establish a winning culture: you cannot win every game but you can try to win every day and give your best while holding 1 another accountable. We have great character/good leadership due to guys who have come back every year and have a taste for more.

After your school had lost to Vermont 23 straight times dating back to 2008, Jairus Lyles scored 27 PTS in the 2018 America East tourney title game including a 3-PT shot in the final second of a 3-PT win over the Catamounts: did you think the shot was going in, and what did it mean to you to win a title? It was very emotional both during and after the game: we had to fight and claw because Vermont was playing good basketball. They were an experienced team who knew how to win in tight situations: their expectation is always to win. To go into their gym and get a win at that moment was very special for our players/program. I just wanted Jairus to have the room/rhythm to do what he does. It was a shot he worked on every day after practice: he would literally go around the horn and make the same move over and over again. It was fitting that he had the ball at the end after so many things that led up to that moment. Our guys hung in there, which is what champions do.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney Lyles scored 28 PTS in a 20-PT win over #1-seed Virginia (a 20½-PT favorite) to become the 1st #16-seed to ever pull off the upset: how on earth did you score 53 PTS in the 2nd half against a team that led the NCAA with only 53.4 PPG allowed, and how did that win change your life (if at all)? The 2nd half was obviously incredible for us but the 1st half was also key. You have to just be in the game at halftime, which was our goal. Virginia does not typically blow out teams by 25 PTS but if they get any kind of a lead it is a problem because they are so hard to score on. We knew that we would have to take some shots that were more guarded than usual. Vermont is a good defensive team so that helped prepare us for Virginia as well. I walked in at halftime when we were tied at 21 and the guys were pretty pumped up. The positivity was evident and our key to the start of the 2nd half was to attack/score in transition. When Virginia gets set in the half-court they are really tough to score on, but we did a great job of finding ways to score and stretch the lead while also getting 1st-time rebounds on the defensive end. We knew our best chance was to dominate the 3-PT line and pressure them on defense, and we were able to do that and then get loose in transition. It certainly changed all of our lives: when you have a historic upset that has never happened before then attention will come your way. It was just 1 game…but it meant a lot to a lot of people who just love basketball and wanted to see a #16-seed finally beat a #1-seed. A lot of people will remember where they were when it happened so to be the team that accomplished that was really special. I want us to be proud of it but our goals are bigger than just that: we want to create new and exciting moments because we will always have that 1.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Marquette/Penn State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Those are the 2 high-major teams we are playing and they are both really good. Penn State won the NIT and Marquette has a ton of guys back so both of them will be challenging. However, we have some other tough games as well: FGCU has a lot of guys back, Manhattan is always a tough out, Towson is in our community, etc. We are also going to the Bahamas for 3 games against teams we do not usually face so we are looking forward to that as well.

Grad student Joe Sherburne was a 2018 1st-team Academic All-American: how proud are you of all that he has accomplished both on and off the court? That is what it is all about! He has never even gotten a B and is a tremendous representative of our university. I look forward to seeing where he is at in 10-12 years and I know that he will continue to represent us so well.

You lost each of your top-3 guards from last year (Lyles/KJ Maura/Jourdan Grant): how will you try to rebuild the backcourt? Ricky Council is a transfer from Providence but played against those guys last year every day in practice, which was big. He can handle the ball and is 1 of our best shooters: I think that he will be a major-impact guy for us this year. We also recruited KJ Jackson from Texas who scored 28 PPG and has a really bright future and an opportunity to help us. We signed 2 other PGs who have international experience in Jose Placer (who played for the Puerto Rico U-18 national team) and RJ Eytle-Rock (who played for the Great Britain U-20 national team). We feel good about who we have in the backcourt, and we also have a lot of forwards with guard skills.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Our expectations do not change: we want to compete for a championship every year. We are still thinking about the Kansas State game but this is a new year and everything starts over. We are just working hard to earn the right to be in the mix for a conference championship. We have to handle the bumps along the way but you want to have high expectations because it means that your program is in good shape.

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The Hoops HD Report: September Season Tip-Off Edition!!!

Posted on September 25, 2018 by David Griggs

It is now officially college basketball season!!  Practice has officially started!!  Practice!!  Which means that teams are finally allowed to scrimmage against…well…themselves.

Chad and the panel begin by taking a quick look around the country with live look-ins on the first day of practice!  Chad and David then discuss/debate the NCAA’s stance on allowing teams to have one of their two exhibition games to be a charity game against another div1 team, but not be granting waivers for a third exhibition game.

We then move on to our main topic, which is looking at the rivalries in college basketball.  We talk about what we think the biggest rivalries are in terms of both importance and bitterness.  We then look at some of the lesser known rivalries, and finally we end by talking about series that would be rivalries if the two schools would just decide to play each other…

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show….

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell

Posted on September 25, 2018 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Season Previews and Interviews

We continue our season preview coverage with new UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell. 15 years ago he was leading his college team in FT%, 5 years ago he was working for Shaka Smart as a VCU assistant during the NCAA tourney, 6 months ago he was working for Smart as a Texas assistant during the NCAA tourney…and now he is running the show in Asheville. The only downside: the Bulldogs lost each of their top-7 scorers from last year’s team. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Morrell about how to succeed on the golf course as well as on the recruiting trail.

You played basketball/golf in college: which sport were you best at and which 1 did you enjoy the most? I was better at basketball but was also a decent golfer because I grew up working at a golf course. I can assure you that I enjoy playing golf more now even though I do not have much time to golf. I used to be a golf coach at King University in Bristol, TN…which just meant that I drove the van! Your life changes when you join a Power 5 school and I have only played golf about 3 times since coming here: I miss it a lot.

You led the basketball team in FT% multiple times: what is the secret to making FTs? You just have to be a good shooter! People used to ask Coach Oliver Purnell about it when I worked for him at Clemson: he said that he just needed to recruit some better FT shooters.

You spent the past 7 years as an assistant to Coach Shaka Smart at VCU/Texas: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? I cannot pinpoint any 1 specific thing but he has the innate ability to infuse his players/staff with a tremendous amount of confidence. He gets kids to believe in themselves more than they even thought possible. He is the best that I have ever been around at having kids literally believe that they were the best version of themselves. I worked with him at Clemson too so I have known him for about 15 years: he always challenged me to not put as much pressure on myself. He does a great job of looking at everything holistically and trying to see the good no matter what the situation is.

In 2015 you were named the top recruiter in the country under age 35: what is the key to recruiting? Just work. People put too much insight into it: the better recruiters spend more time at recruiting because it is more important to them. I have always enjoyed it, as did the head coach I worked for, so we were able to recruit some really good players. Recruiting is the lifeblood of your program.

In April you were named head coach at Asheville: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? It was a great opportunity at a great place that has had a lot of success built on the backs of many good coaches including Nick McDevitt/Eddie Biedenbach. I grew up about 1 hour away from here so I am very familiar with the area. When I interviewed here I saw that it was a tremendous place with great support: we do not have football so basketball is very important here.  It is not the “stepchild” like it is at other schools so it is important that we are good.

You lost each of your top-7 scorers from last year’s team: where are you going to find some offense? If I knew that then I would be probably be making a lot more money playing poker! We are very young but will have 8 guys out there who have never played college basketball before. We only have 2 guys who even played in a game at Asheville last year so it goes deeper. We have really good young players who I am excited about but there is a maturation process so I am glad we do not play our season opener tomorrow.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against NC State/Auburn/Vanderbilt: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? All of them! Schools at our level have to go out and play those kinds of games: it is a great opportunity for our guys to go to a great venue and play some good teams. We will approach it the way that we approach every game and just try to control the things that we can control.

Your assistant coach Kyle Perry was head coach at South Carolina Upstate and a 4-time member of the All-Academic team as a walk-on for Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech: how nice is it to have a former head coach on your staff, and how smart is he?! He is a smart guy and a tremendous member of our staff: I hired him because I have known him for a long time. He has a wealth of experience at this level and know what it takes to succeed. However, it is not like I give him tests every other day: I just try to hire bright/motivated people.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Just to move forward and get better every day. It is not about being result-oriented early on since we have 6 true freshmen and 2 redshirt freshmen. We also have 2 transfers sitting out this year who I am excited about so the future is bright. I am only holding them accountable to what they can control, which will enable us to grow up quicker.

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