Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Charleston PF Jarrell Brantley

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Jon Teitel

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

We continue our season preview coverage with Charleston PF Jarrell Brantley. Despite having only 3 seasons under his belt he already ranks in the top-25 in school history in career PTS/REB. He is no stranger to the Cougars, having been born in Charleston. He started all 31 games as a freshman en route to being named CAA ROY, and his FT%/PPG have gone up during each of his 1st 3 years on campus. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jarrell about a near-perfect performance on New Year’s Eve and how close his team came to upsetting Auburn in the NCAA tourney last March.

You play for Coach Earl Grant at Charleston: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? He has been amazing: I have played for a lot of coaches in my life but he is the 1st 1 to allow me to use every tool in my game. What makes it easy to play for him is that he is willing to fight for us: he runs conditioning drills with us, stretches with us, and that makes us want to fight for him.

On New Year’s Eve 2015 you scored 29 PTS/13-14 FG in a 3-PT win at James Madison: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I felt good that night. Our leading scorer Marquise Pointer was having a really tough game but I was just starting to get the hang of the college game. Things started to click for me that night and it was fun.

You started all 31 games as a freshman and were named conference ROY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot and showed that hard work pays off. We had a lot of injuries that season but it gave me a chance to get on the court and help the team.

In the 2018 CAA tourney title game you had 18 PTS/11 REB in a 7-PT OT win over Northeastern: how much of a home-court advantage did you have while playing in North Charleston, and how were you able to overcome a 17-PT 2nd half deficit? The fans were unbelievable and completely helped us get back into the game. That game was a testament to everything that we had gone through since the 1st day I stepped onto campus. It was like a yearlong comeback in just 1 game if that makes sense: it showed how tough our team was.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored 24 PTS/9-16 FG in a 4-PT loss to Auburn: how close did you come to pulling off the upset, and what did you learn from that game that you think will help you this year? We came really close. The biggest takeaway is that we are not far away from any team in the nation. We just have to make sure that we close out every game: we missed a few FTs, which cannot happen if we want to make a deeper tourney run.

You missed the 1st 10 games of last season due to a knee injury: how is your health doing at the moment? Honestly, I feel better than I ever have right now and am getting back into shape with conditioning drills. I feel really explosive so God willing I can stay healthy.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Rhode Island/Oklahoma State/LSU: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? If we come in and do what we are supposed to then we should have a chance to win every game. I am just looking forward to competing at a high level against high-quality opponents.

Your FT% has increased during each of your 3 seasons (from 71.6 FT% to 75.8 FT% to 82.1 FT%): what is your secret for making FTs? Getting into the gym every day. We put our work in and finish our workouts by trying to make 20 straight FTs: I can usually make 18 of 20.

You are 1 of 5 seniors on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success this year? I think it will play a big role: we have all played valuable minutes and won a lot of big games so we need to lead the younger guys.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? The only goal right now is to continue to get better at winning. If so then everything else will fall into place and we should be able to win games and make a tourney run.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Butler assistant coach Jeff Meyer

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Jon Teitel

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

We continue our season preview coverage with Butler assistant coach Jeff Meyer. There are few assistant coaches in the country with more experience as a head coach and a winner than Coach Meyer: 1980 Final 4 as an assistant at Purdue, winningest head coach in Liberty history, 3 straight NCAA tourneys as associate head coach at Winthrop, 2 NCAA tourneys as an assistant coach at Indiana, and a run to the 2013 NCAA national championship game as an assistant at Michigan. After helping Butler head coach LaVall Jordan beat Arkansas in the NCAA tourney last March, he will try to help the Bulldogs advance even further this season. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Meyer about his 1st tour of duty at Butler and almost upsetting a #1 seed in the 1994 NCAA tourney.

In the 1979 NIT title game as an assistant coach to Lee Rose at Purdue, Jerry Sichting missed an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer in a 1-PT loss to Indiana: how close did you come to beating Coach Bobby Knight? It was heartbreaking because we led the game for about 39 minutes until the Hoosiers made a shot at the top of the key to take the lead. Coach Rose (my mentor) took a timeout to draw up a play to get the ball to midcourt and then call another timeout, which I had never seen before as a young coach. Jerry ran around 3 screens, came back to the ball, and was wide open. He would make that shot 8 out of 10 times in practice but he just missed it that night off the rim. Our previous game was against Alabama and I had to go get some videotape of the Tide from Coach Knight himself, which was unbelievable. We tied for the Big 10 title that year with Michigan State (who won the NCAA tourney with Magic Johnson) and Iowa, but only 2 teams from a single conference were allowed to go to the NCAA tourney, so we went to the NIT despite the fact that we tied for the conference title. The next year they instituted the “Purdue” rule to allow a conference to send more than 2 of its teams to the tourney.

Take me through the 1980 NCAA tourney:
Isiah Thomas scored 30 PTS in 40 minutes in a 7-PT loss by Indiana: was it extra-special to beat your in-state rival after the previous year’s NIT title game loss? It was special. We made the adjustment to stay on their shooters like Isiah/Mike Woodson even after they dumped the ball into their big men in the post. Coach Knight got a technical foul on the way into the locker room at halftime, so after making some FTs we started the 2nd half with a 21-PT lead. The Mideast region was pretty impressive that year: teams like Duke/Kentucky were in the other half of the bracket.

Kiki Vandeweghe scored 24 PTS in a 5-PT win by eventual national runner-up UCLA in Indianapolis: how close did you come to winning that game, and could you tell at the time that Vandeweghe was going to become a star? They had a really talented team coached by Larry Brown and Kiki was a tough cover for us. We had a chance to take the lead late but a shot by Joe Barry Carroll went in and out. There was also some late controversy when the wrong guy got called for a foul. We played in the 2nd to last consolation game in tourney history and beat Iowa.

In 1981 you became head coach at Liberty, and in 1988 the school made the transition to D-1: why did you take the job, and what is the biggest difference between D-2 and D-1? It is a story inside a story. Rose left to go to South Florida and I followed him there. He knew the AD at Liberty Baptist and asked if anyone was interested in going there. I said yes and interviewed there: I was not their 1st choice but when I got the job I looked at it as a great opportunity to run/grow my own program. I was 1 of the youngest coaches in the country at age 26. We were an Independent for 3 years, which was really hard because we had to play a lot of road games and had no postseason options. The biggest difference is obviously the recruiting rules and having to be compliant.

In the 1994 NCAA tourney your #16-seeded team was leading with 10 minutes left before losing to North Carolina (Eric Montross had 17 PTS/10 REB/3 BLK): did you really think you could pull off a historic upset? It was a David vs. Goliath deal and a landmark game for our school to get the exposure on CBS. We knew that we would have to keep the game to a low number of possessions against a team with guys like Jerry Stackhouse/Rasheed Wallace/Montross, so we expected their traps and rotated the ball to create some open 3-PT shots. It was a 1-PT game with 8 minutes left…but then Coach Dean Smith said something to the refs and it began to unravel from there.

You remain the all-time winningest coach in Liberty history: what makes you such a great coach, and do you think anyone will ever break your record? I am thankful for the opportunity I had at a very young age to coach at Liberty and lead them to the D-1 level. I stay in touch with so many of the players who helped build the program, and a lot of the relationships I made back then have allowed me to stay in the profession.

You later became an assistant coach at Winthrop: how did you like working for Gregg Marshall (who is now at Wichita State)? Gregg is an outstanding coach: we made 3 straight NCAA tourneys after being a traditional doormat. It was interesting to stay in the same league (Big South) while switching teams and going from head coach to assistant coach. It also helped me get my next job because the Butler head coach was looking for an assistant with some good experience.

Take me through the 2003 NCAA tourney as an assistant coach at Butler under Todd Lickliter:
Brandon Miller scored 14 PTS including a runner in the lane with 6 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Mississippi State: where does that shot rank among the most clutch you have ever seen? It is definitely in the top-3 because the other Bulldogs were a very talented team. We got slighted by the NCAA the year before despite starting the season 24-3. Brandon used a ball screen and then a re-screen to make a floater: it was a great experience.

Darnell Archey scored 26 PTS (8-9 3-PM) in an 8-PT win over Louisville: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? We sold our guys that 94 feet was a large area to press despite Coach Rick Pitino’s teams being known for doing that, so we attacked it 5-on-5. They tried to play us 4-on-3 and we were able to get Darnell some really good looks.

As an assistant coach at Indiana under Kelvin Sampson you helped recruit Eric Gordon after coaching his dad at Liberty, although the controversy surrounding the recruitment led to Sampson getting fired: how good a player was his father, and how good a player do you think the son will become? The very 1st player I recruited at Liberty was Eric Gordon, Sr. He played for me for 3 years after coming out of junior college and his wife used to babysit my kids! I think Eric Jr. is already 1 of the top 25 players in the NBA and will eventually turn into an All-Star.

Take me through the 2009 NCAA tourney as assistant coach to John Beilein at Michigan:
KC Rivers missed a 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 3-PT loss by Clemson: did you think the shot was going in, and what was the reaction like in the locker room afterward? I do not think it had much of a shot to go in. They chased us and caught us but we contested that final shot.

Blake Griffin had 33 PTS/17 REB in a 10-PT win by Oklahoma: where does Griffin rank among the best college players you have ever seen? Blake was like King Kong but I am unsure if I can even rank him. I have seen some great ones like Magic Johnson/Isiah Thomas/Joe Barry Carroll.

In the 2011 NCAA tourney Darius Morris scored 16 PTS but missed a runner in the lane with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT loss to Duke: what was it like to see Coach Mike Krzyzewski win his 900th career game? We were just a young, gritty Wolverine team that could have folded up our tents after winning 8 of our last 10 conference games just to get into the tourney and then beating Tennessee by 30 PTS. We were down by 15 PTS to Duke with 10 minutes left but we had tremendous leadership by Darius and others to fight and fight and give us a chance to win. Duke had their way with us in our man-to-man defense but Coach Beilein switched to a 1-3-1 zone and really changed the complexion of the game.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews CSUN assistant coach Jim Harrick

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Jon Teitel

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

We continue our season preview coverage with new CSUN assistant coach Jim Harrick. When Mark Gottfried was hired in March to lead the Matadors he decided to have his former Bruins boss join his coaching staff. If there was an NCAA tourney from 1982-2002 there is a good chance that Harrick was there: 4 tourneys as head coach at Pepperdine, 8 in a row as head coach at UCLA (including a national title in 1995), 2 during his 2 years as head coach at Rhode Island, then 2 more as head coach at Georgia. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Harrick about working with John Wooden and winning a title.

John Wooden made you the director of his basketball camp while you were a high school coach in Los Angeles: what role did Wooden play in your life, and what was your reaction when he passed away in 2010? He played a tremendous role in my life including mentor, leader, and teacher. I think his system of basketball was the best of all-time. We used to have meals together at his camp and he would hold court for me and a bunch of other coaches. My wife and I once took him to a UCLA football game and got to spend the entire day with him. It was a thrill when he came out to join us for the Final 4 in 1995. I view his passing as a terrible loss: he was 1 of the greatest human beings I have ever known.

In the 1983 NCAA tourney as head coach at Pepperdine you had a 2-PT 2-OT loss to eventual champion NC State: how were they able to overcome a 6-PT deficit with 24 seconds left in the 1st OT? It was a knockdown drag-out game. Coach Jimmy Valvano started having his players foul us at the end of the 1st OT and we missed some FT down the stretch.

What are your memories of the 1986 NCAA tourney (Len Bias scored 26 PTS in a 5-PT win by Maryland, the last win of Bias’ career before he died a few months later)? We had a chance to win the game at the end but we were called for traveling. Bias was absolutely a monster: he made a dunk that brought OUR team off the bench!

Take me through the 1990 NCAA tourney as head coach at UCLA:
Freshman Tracy Murray made 2 FT with 9 seconds left to clinch a 1-PT win over Kansas: did you think that Coach Roy Williams’ decision to call back-to-back timeouts was going to freeze Murray, and where do those FTs rank among the most clutch that you have ever seen? Tracy was only 6 months out of high school yet he was pretty clutch. As he was just a freshman, it was a smart move by Roy to call the timeouts.

Christian Laettner had 24 PTS/14 REB in a 9-PT win by Duke: where does Laettner rank among the best college basketball players you have ever seen? He is probably 1 of the top 10 college players ever. We kept it close in the final minute but just could not get it done.

What are your memories of the 1992 NCAA tourney (Calbert Cheaney scored 23 PTS in a 27-PT win by Indiana, the most lopsided loss by a top-seeded team since the selection committee started seeding teams in 1979)? We had beaten them in the Hall of Fame Game earlier that season but they beat us really good the 2nd time.

In the 1993 NCAA tourney Jimmy King made a controversial put-back with 1.5 seconds left in a 2-PT OT win by #1-seed Michigan: did you think his shot should have counted? King pushed Tyus Edney right out of bounds…with 2 hands. The Loch Ness Monster (Chris Webber) helped the Wolverines come back.

You started the 1994 season 6-0 before a 10-PT loss on the road at Oregon, then won 26 games in a row over the next 3 months: how were the Ducks able to beat you, and did you say anything special after the game that got the team refocused on winning? That is not totally accurate: Cal beat us by 7 PTS in late January in a game that they later forfeited. We were a really good team and ranked very high.  After a tough 5-games-in-10-days stretch in February (the 2 Arizona schools, a road trip to the 2 Bay Area schools, and a game against Duke) we won all 5 and became #1.

Take me through the 1995 NCAA tourney:
Tyus Edney scored 15 PTS and dashed the length of the court in 5 seconds to make a layup at the buzzer in a 1-PT win over Missouri: how did you draw up the play, and where does that rank among the biggest wins of your career? We used to work on a play that I got from the NBA…but nobody could ever make it all the way down the court in 5 seconds! We would work on that play once a week and Tyus was fast enough to get it done. I would say that was the defining moment of my coaching career.

Tourney MOP Ed O’Bannon had 30 PTS/17 REB in a win over defending champ Arkansas to win the title: what did it mean to you to win the title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I had spent the prior 2 decades as a coach so it was a true honor to finally reach the pinnacle of the profession. We spent the summer partying: we were on the Jay Leno Show and even went to Disneyland.

You finished that season by going 32-1 and being named Naismith COY: what did it mean to you to win such an outstanding honor? It comes from your peers voting on you so I was humbled by that tremendous honor.

In the 1996 NCAA tourney Steve Goodrich made a bounce pass on a backdoor play to Gabe Lewullis for a layup in a 2-PT upset by #13-seed Princeton: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? Being in the college game for 33 years I thought that I had seen it all. We had 9000 chances to win that game but just missed some layups/FTs. How did the San Francisco Giants win the 2010 World Series after barely making the playoffs?  They were just meant to win it.

UCLA fired you shortly before the start of the 1996 season after you were accused of falsifying receipts at a student-athlete recruiting dinner (the NCAA later exonerated you): do you think that you did anything wrong, and do you have any regrets about the situation? Nobody is perfect, including me, but I did not do anything to get fired. It is a very political thing and being a coach is a very volatile position: you have to take the good with the bad.

Take me through the 1998 NCAA tourney when you were head coach at Rhode Island:
Cuttino Mobley scored 27 PTS in a 5-PT upset of #1-seed Kansas: how were you able to beat a team featuring a pair of All-Americans in Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz? The Jayhawks came into the game with a record of 35-3 but Cuttino was such a confident guy that he felt nobody could play better than him. We shot the ball very well that night.

Antonio Reynolds-Dean had 16 PTS/11 REB in a 6-PT win over Valparaiso: was it weird to coach against the Crusaders with your son Jim Jr. as 1 of their assistant coaches? Valpo had hit the home run play with Bryce Drew in the 1st round: it was so exciting to watch that I had to go home and take a nap afterward! Homer Drew and I are great friends…but when the game starts you forget about everything except the game.

Tyson Wheeler scored 24 PTS but missed 3 FTs with 5 seconds left in a 2-PT win by Stanford: how devastating was that loss (you were up by 6 PTS with 1 minute to play), and did you expect Wheeler to make all of his FTs? That is the worst tourney loss that I have ever had. It is hard to make FTs when you are down and we had lost our momentum by that point.

What are your memories of the 2001 NCAA tourney as head coach at Georgia (Clarence Gilbert made a baseline jumper with 0.9 seconds left in a 2-PT win by Missouri)? We had the #1 schedule in the nation that year, which is what the committee tells you to do, but we somehow ended up with a #8 seed. The Tigers held the ball for the last shot and we were 1 second away from winning.

In the 2002 NCAA tourney you had a 2-PT loss to SIU: do you think that Jonas Hayes was correctly called for an intentional foul with 14 seconds left? We were up by 19 PTS, and in retrospect I should have rested my PG. Hayes just grabbed the guy, which they had not been calling all year, but that play did not cost us the game.

After resigning in 2003 you worked as a scout for the Nuggets and helped develop basketball in China: how did you like being a scout? I had a wonderful time in Denver with some great guys on the staff: Scott Brooks, Adrian Dantley, etc.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Memphis assistant coach Sam Mitchell

Posted on September 2, 2018 by Jon Teitel

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

We continue our season preview coverage with new Memphis assistant coach Sam Mitchell. He 1st gained notoriety as a player at Mercer, where he was named the 1985 conference POY. After joining the NBA in 1989 he spent over a decade with Minnesota/Indiana and even made it to Game 7 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals. Since retiring as a player in 2002 he got into coaching and was named 2007 NBA Coach of the Year with Toronto. This season he will be returning to the college ranks as an assistant to new Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Mitchell about facing Mark Price in the NCAA tourney and having a 13-year NBA career.

In 1985 you were named conference POY and graduated as the leading scorer in Mercer history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were? I never thought about it at the time. After my junior year my coach called me into his office and asked me if I wanted to turn pro: I said, “what are you talking about?!” The big schools that I looked at out of high school wanted me to redshirt but I chose Mercer because I wanted to get a good education.

What are your memories of the 1985 NCAA tourney, the last time that Mercer made it to the tourney until 2014 (you scored 17 PTS in a 7-PT loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, who was led by Mark Price with 14 PTS)? We were down by 2 PTS with a minute left but missed a pair of FT and had to foul Price. We lost by 7 but the game was much closer than that. If we had a shot clock and a 3-PT line back then we might have won the game. If you have 1 great player today you can upset a big school.

In the summer of 1985 after being named MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament pre-draft camp, you were selected in the 3rd round by Houston (12 spots ahead of Michael Adams): were you thrilled to realize your dream of making it to the NBA, or disappointed that you did not get picked earlier despite your performance in Portsmouth, or something in between? My 1st night at Portsmouth we had to introduce ourselves and a lot of the ACC/SEC guys started laughing because they did not think a guy from Mercer could play that well. I had to force my coach to play me because everyone was supposed to get an equal amount of playing time: I scored 20 PTS in 20 minutes and we went on to win the tourney. I had to fight for every little thing every single day. I was not highly recruited coming out of high school and played in a small conference so just getting drafted meant a lot to me. I was at basic training at Fort Bragg when they called me in and told me I had been drafted. I thanked them for letting me know and asked them I could go to bed: we had only been getting about 2 hours of sleep that week!

Instead of going straight to the NBA you spent several years playing professionally in the CBA (where you won a title) and in France: what did you learn from these experiences, and how did they compare to college basketball? I was the last man cut by Houston. The day before they had told me that they were making a trade that would allow me to make the team but the trade fell through and they ended up cutting me. I showed up in Oshkosh and was competing with 50 guys for 10 spots in the CBA. Playing in college was fun but all the pro guys took basketball so seriously because that check was their livelihood. I had to take my concentration to a whole other level. The CBA taught me how to survive: it is hard to live on $300/week…before taxes. I was sleeping on a sofa and decided that instead of giving up I would just keep trying to make it as a pro.

In 1989 you signed your 1st NBA contract on player personnel director Billy McKinney’s back prior to a summer league game and join the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves for their inaugural season: what was it like to finally make it to the NBA, and what was it like to play for an expansion team? I played great in our 1st summer league game. Billy asked me if I wanted to sign after game #2 but I ran right off the court and signed a 2-year deal for about $125,000. We won more games than any expansion team had up to that point and could have even won a few more. I loved playing for Coach Bill Musselman: it was a great experience even though we did not play for a championship.

What are your memories of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals with Indiana (after losing 3 games to Orlando by a total of 11 PTS, you won Game 6 by 27 points, then scored 5 PTS in 6 minutes off the bench in a Game 7 loss)? That was the year Houston won their 2nd straight NBA title. We were disappointed because we had beaten Houston earlier that season. Our team was loaded (Reggie Miller/Rik Smits/etc.) but we just could not get over that hump. I felt disappointed because I thought that we were the better team. If you are not close-knit as a team then you will have no chance at all.

You averaged 8.7 PPG and 3.7 RPG during your 13-year NBA career: how satisfied are you with your pro career? I honestly feel that I left the game with nothing else to give. I was not the most talented player but I competed hard and played until I was 38 years old. As I always tell young people it is not about being the most talented but about being the most persistent.

After retiring as a player you became coach of the Toronto Raptors, where you led them to their 1st division title in franchise history and were named 2007 NBA Coach of the Year: what was it like to coach an NBA team in Canada, and how proud were you of your team’s success? Toronto is a great city even though we were a little off the NBA radar. Coaching is so stressful that it is hard to appreciate any accolades until after you get fired. Being named Coach of the Year taught me to slow down and smell the roses.

In 2007 you surpassed Hall of Fame coach Lenny Wilkens for the most wins in Toronto history, but in 2008 you were fired after starting the season with a record of 8-9: how did it feel to go from Coach of the Year to fired within such a short time span? It left a sour taste in my mouth but made me realize that life is not fair. I can forgive…but it took me a couple of years to get over it because it was not based on how we were doing as a team. We rolled the dice on signing Jermaine O’Neal and trying to work him into the rotation, and then he ended up missing half the season due to injury. I would love to get back into coaching 1 day. It is not like I forgot how to coach but we were starting 4 European players and a young Chris Bosh.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? Just as someone who gave the most he could and took care of his players. Coaches get too much credit for the wins and too much blame for the losses: players win games for you. The job of a coach is just to put his players in a position to succeed.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Saint Joseph coach Jim Calhoun

Posted on September 1, 2018 by Jon Teitel

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

Labor Day weekend signals the start of college basketball preview season: we will spend the next 2+ months interviewing the players/coaches whose teams hope to win a championship next spring. There are only 6 coaches who won at least 3 titles during their career: Mike Krzyzewski/John Wooden/Roy Williams/Adolph Rupp/Bob Knight/Jim Calhoun. 3 are retired, 2 are still battling it out in the ACC, and 1 is still going strong at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. It has been more than a decade since Coach Calhoun was inducted into the Hall of Fame but he shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Calhoun about the Tate George shot, the 6-OT Big East tourney game, and all 3 of those national championships.

You went 9-19 in your 1st year at UConn but in year #2 you made the 1988 NIT title game and had a 5-PT win over Ohio State: how were you able to turn things around so quickly? We had Cliff Robinson who was a 19-year NBA veteran and Tate George/Steve Pikiell who were freshmen the year before. Cliff became a terrific player but the biggest thing we did was change our culture.

Take me through the 1990 NCAA tourney:
Scott Burrell threw a pass the length of the court to Tate George, who made a turnaround jumper at the buzzer in a 1-PT win over Clemson: how often did you practice that play, and did you think the shot was going in? We practiced it every day with 5 different versions based on how many seconds we had left in the game. It was a major league pitcher throwing to a future NBA player: it only worked 5% of the time in practice but it worked 100% that night!

Christian Laettner scored 23 PTS including a jumper at the buzzer in a 1-PT OT win by Duke: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? Pretty close: I thought that we were good enough to make the Final 4. We had a great year but I do not like seeing Laettner any more.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney Rip Hamilton scored 22 PTS including a fadeaway jumper at that buzzer in a 1-PT win over Washington, and in the 1999 NCAA tourney title game Hamilton scored 27 PTS in a 3-PT win over Duke to snap their 32-game win streak: how on earth were you a 9½-PT underdog to the Blue Devils despite your 33-2 record, and how was Hamilton able to play his best when it mattered the most? He practiced the same way: he always wanted the ball when it counted and never worried. He had a 16-year NBA career and won an NBA championship because he just went out and played. We always got the ball in the hands of the guys who could make plays, be it Donyell Marshall/Ray Allen/etc. It was special because I knew that we were good enough to beat Duke but I was not sure how well we would play. People automatically assumed Duke was better due to their talent but we had a better team.

Take me through the 2004 Final 4:
In the semifinals Emeka Okafor had 24 PTS/15 REB in a 1-PT win over Duke: how were you able to overcome an 8-PT deficit in the final 3 minutes? It was a foul-filled game. Emeka picked up 2 quick fouls and I sat him for the rest of the half. He was dying to get back in and was certainly 1 of the best players I ever coached.

Tourney MOP Okafor had 24 PTS/15 REB in a 9-PT win over Georgia Tech to clinch the title: how did the 2nd title compare to the 1st? It is like asking which kid you love more: you love them all! That was the best team we had: Okafor/Ben Gordon/Charlie Villanueva/Hilton Armstrong/etc. That was the only team that I felt could answer all problems in all games.

In 2005 you were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2006 you were inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of its founding class: where do those moments rank among the highlights of your career? Dean Smith was a great mentor to me in many ways: he told me that the Hall is a reflection of what your players do. When you stand there with your family and reflect back on what you did, it conjures up special moments. My dad said that you are known by the company you keep, and to be in the company of legends like Wilt/Oscar/Havlicek/West was very humbling.

In the 2006 NCAA tourney George Mason had all 5 starters score in double figures during a 2-PT OT win over your team: what is the biggest factor to pulling off an upset in March (confidence/destiny/officiating/other)? People forget that they were on an incredible roll after beating Michigan State/North Carolina/Wichita State. They beat us fair and square but we only had about 100 people rooting for us in DC. We were Goliath and they were definitely David.

In the 2009 Big East tourney quarterfinals you had a 10-PT 6-OT loss to Syracuse: how exhausted were you by the end of the 2nd-longest game in college basketball history? I went back to the hotel with my wife and I just could not fall asleep. I kept trying to find more players to substitute in but they took advantage of us down the stretch. Both programs were great and would not give in.

Take me through the 2011 postseason:
You entered the Big East tourney as the #9 seed but won 5 games in 5 days (including each of the last 4 over ranked teams): was it just a case of Kemba Walker (who scored 130 PTS en route to being named tourney MVP) putting the entire team on his back for the week? We were an awfully young team but were as healthy as we had been all season. Our backcourt had 3 future NBA players in Kemba/Jeremy Lamb/Shabazz Napier. It was the best individual effort I have ever seen. We had won the Maui Invitational earlier that season so we knew that we had great potential and we just came together at the right time. That ride was magical as I got to watch the young kids like Kemba, who is 1 of my favorite players/people of all time.

In the NCAA tourney title game you had a 53-41 win over Butler: was it a case of amazing defense (your team set a title game record with 10 BLK) or an ice-cold shooting performance (the Bulldogs set a title-game record with 18.8 FG%) or a little bit of both? Someone did a survey after the game and found that almost every shot Butler took that night was blocked/contested. The only way they could come back was to drive to the rim, which is when our size/athleticism took over. Jeremy got us some space but our defense was textbook. We caused the frozen shooting part.

In 1990 you were named national COY and you are 1 of only 6 coaches in D-1 history to win 3 NCAA titles: what makes you such a great coach? Good players! I have always had a competitive spirit and I try to pass that along to my players. It was about 2 main things: we would compete harder than anyone else and grasp all of the fundamentals, which gave us some separation.

In 2012 you retired with 873 wins (becoming the 1st coach in NCAA history to win at least 240 games at 2 different D-1 schools), which remains #13 all-time, but last year you came out of retirement to become head coach at D-3 Saint Joseph: how is it going so far, and how long do you plan to stick around? I love coaching and missed it greatly. It was wonderful to work at ESPN but I always had an empty feeling that I was not truly part of the game. It did not fulfill the need I had to be involved as I had been my whole life, and I want to get this program going in the right direction.

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Hoops HD Podcast with Special Guest Andy Schwarz

Posted on August 21, 2018 by David Griggs

Anti-trust economist, Sports economics expert, HBL Basketball Leadership Team member, fierce critic of the NCAA, and all around genius Andy Schwarz joins Chad and David.  We talk about the HBL, which will a new basketball league starting in the summer of 2020 that intends to have universities field teams (predominantly HBCU’s) where they play their games in the summer and pay players between $50,000 and $100,000.  We also discuss, and heavily criticize, the idea of amateurism being essential to the sustainment of college athletics, and how the HBL will attempt to challenge that school of thought.

CLICK HERE to read more about the HBL on their official website

 

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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