Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Iowa State G Donovan Jackson

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

The good news for Iowa State is that they were only a few points away from reaching the Sweet 16 last March. The bad news is that they lost a ton of senior starters but the cupboard is not totally bare thanks to guys like SR G Donovan Jackson.  He played in all 35 games during his 1st year with the Cyclones and shot 45.4 3P%/80.5 FT%.  Winning the Big 12 tourney may have been the cherry on top, but 1 of his sweetest moments was a game-clinching 3-PT shot in OT to end Kansas’ 51-game winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Donovan about winning the conference tourney and trying to replace all of those seniors.  

You began your career at Iowa Western CC and had offers from Illinois/Miami/Oklahoma: what made you choose Iowa State? At the time assistant coach TJ Otzelberger (now the head coach at South Dakota State) was a good family friend and I had developed a nice relationship with him.  Iowa State was just the best fit for me.

You play for Coach Steve Prohm: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? He has taught me a lot both on/off the court. He has a great track record of developing very successful guards including Cameron Payne/Isaiah Canaan/Monte Morris.

On 2/4/17 you scored 10 PTS including the game-clinching 3-PT shot in a 3-PT OT win over Kansas to end the Jayhawks’ 51-game win streak at Allen Fieldhouse: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I actually called that shot because I am a pretty confident player: I think it was the best shot of my career so far.

Last year your 45.4 3P% was 4th-best in school history: what is your secret for making shots from behind the arc? Repetition, repetition. I put up 500 shots a night in the gym and try to make all of them, which carries over into the game.

In the 2017 Big 12 tourney title game you scored 6 PTS in a 6-PT win over West Virginia: how hard is it to win 3 games in 3 days, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? It is tough because there is not a lot of time to recuperate but our whole team was on a mission. Everyone was excited after the win because the Mountaineers had swept us during the regular season.

In the 2017 NCAA tourney you had a perfect shooting night (4-4 FG/4-4 FT) in a win over Nevada: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I felt at home during that game because it was in my hometown of Milwaukee and I had a lot of family there.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Missouri/Iowa/Tennessee: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? The very 1st game will show everyone where we are at: I think we are looking good.

You are the leading returning scorer after losing each of your top-4 scorers from last season (Monte Morris/Nazareth Mitrou-Long/Deonte Burton/Matt Thomas): how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this season, and how are you going to try to replace all of that offense? All of the new guys are looking up to me/Solomon Young/Nick Weiler-Babb. We have a lot of talented players on our team including some aggressive freshmen who can shoot the ball very well.

You have several graduate transfers including Hans Brase/Jeff Beverly/Zoran Talley: how hard is it to get everyone on the same page when you are bringing in so many new people? It is tough at 1st but everyone has bought in to what is going on. We are known for winning so everyone is comfortable with taking a role to help us win as many games as possible.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is to win as many games as possible and prove to everyone in the country that I am 1 of the best players. I am not settling for anything less than winning another championship and making the NCAA tourney.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Furman head coach Bob Richey

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

If you can win 10 straight games in conference play then you will probably make a postseason tourney: Furman won 10 SoCon games in a row last January/February and their reward was a trip to the CIT semifinals.  As is the case with many successful mid-major programs, head coach Niko Medved used the run as a stepping stone to become head coach elsewhere (Drake), which cleared the way for Bob Richey to move up from assistant coach to head coach last spring.  He is a very young head coach but has plenty of experience as a D-1 assistant as he prepares to begin his 1st year as the new guy in charge.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Richey about his new job and his spectacular senior backcourt.  

You won a state title and were 3A state POY at Florence Christian School: how good a player were you back in the day? I guess that I was decent. It was a small private school but I set 7 school records so I was not too bad.

You graduated summa cum laude from North Greenville University in 2006: how much importance do you place on academics? It is who I am as a person and I took a lot of pride in it. It was an expectation in my family to do your best in all walks of life.

In the 2017 CIT semifinals as interim head coach at Furman you lost to St. Peter’s: how did it feel to get thrown into the fire on short notice?! It was a great learning experience. It was hard for our team to learn that we were losing our head coach only a few days before that game so my main purpose was to give them support. St. Peter’s played a phenomenal game, defended us as well as anyone had all year, and made almost every shot they took.

You were an assistant to Niko Medved before taking over for good in April: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? Taking the job was a no-brainer: there are only 351 D-1 head coaching jobs out there and I always felt that once we built a winning program we could be a consistent winner here. I looked forward to the opportunity: there is no better city in the Southeast than Greenville and we attract quality human beings.

You turned 34 back in March but already have more than a decade of experience as a D-1 assistant coach under your belt: do you see your relatively tender age as an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to being a head coach? I think that age is just a number. It is a people business so it is about how well you can relate to/connect with people. You have to be prepared to do whatever you have to do and I have seen a lot over the past 12 years as an assistant.

Last year you set a school record by winning 12 games on the road: what is the secret to winning games away from home? You need an experienced group: this group has as good a chemistry as I have ever seen. They can handle adversity on the road because they have been through the wars. They are willing to defend and have the ability to make shots.

Your non-conference schedule includes road games against Butler/Duke/Tennessee: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? We have a lot of really good opponents on our schedule. Duke is at the top of most preseason ballots so they will be a tough test for us but we look forward to taking things game by game and seeing what we can do.

F Matt Rafferty missed more than half of last season due to back surgery: how is his health at the moment? He is not on the injury report and has had an unbelievable summer. He is 1 of the toughest players in the country and has been resilient so we look forward to getting him back out there.

You have a great senior backcourt in Devin Sibley/Daniel Fowler: how crucial will all of their experience be to your team’s success this year? It is huge: Devin was conference POY, Daniel is our vocal leader, and John Davis is the straw who stirs the drink and sets the tone for us defensively. They are a special group of seniors, which is a pretty good formula for success: we will miss them in a lot of ways when they leave next year.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We have a really good team coming back after a really good season. We lost 2 of our final 3 regular season games and then again in the 1st round of the conference tourney so we have talked all summer about finishing. The seniors have come up with about 6-7 goals but we have a close/talented team and will try to get a little bit better every day.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Oakland head coach Greg Kampe

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

Anytime you are mentioned in the same breath as coaches like Jim Boeheim/Mike Krzyzewski you know that you are doing something right, and when it comes to active guys who have spent 34+ years at their D-1 school the 3rd member of the trio is Oakland head coach Greg Kampe.  He also seems to be getting better with age like a fine bottle of wine: a Horizon League regular season title in 2017 and stands only 17 wins shy of 600 in his career.  Tonight he becomes 1 of 8 inductees into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and we congratulate him on this awesome accomplishment.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Kampe about his longevity and his health. 

You are about to begin your 34th year as head coach at Oakland, which makes you the 3rd-longest-tenured head coach in D-1 (behind Jim Boeheim/Mike Krzyzewski): could you have ever imagined in the fall of 1984 that you would still hold the same job more than 3 decades later, and how long do you plan on sticking around for? Absolutely not: I thought that I would be here for a couple of years, win a couple of national championships, and then move on to UCLA! I became a head coach at age 28 as 1 of the youngest in the nation and am very fortunate to have survived. I still feel young and expect to be around for a long time.

Take me through the magical 2005 postseason:
Despite entering the Mid-Continent Conference tourney with a 9-18 record, Pierre Dukes made a 3-PT shot with 1.3 seconds left in the title game to clinch a 1-PT upset of #1-seed Oral Roberts and earn the school’s 1st-ever NCAA tourney berth: did you think the shot was going in, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? It is still 1 of the most euphoric moments of my basketball career. I have seen both sides of a game that is decided at the very end but that basket changed the face of Oakland basketball after we had moved from D-2 to D-1. That was supposed to be a rebuilding year but we turned a magical moment into a chance to make the NCAA tourney.

In the NCAA tourney play-in game Rawle Marshall scored 29 PTS in a 10-PT win over Alabama A&M: what did it mean to you to win a tourney game? We became Cinderella for a few days and the university got a taste of what the national media can do for you.  After that, we could start getting into homes and winning recruiting battles.

In the 2017 NIT you had a 4-PT loss to Richmond: what do you think your team learned from that game that will help them this year? We were the #1-seed after winning our league championship but had a devastating loss to Youngstown State in the conference tourney that still stings to this day. Kansas/Purdue can still make the NCAA tourney if they lose as #1-seeds but we cannot. We won at Clemson in the NIT and were leading Richmond but had a call that did not go our way late in the game.

You had 3 surgeries in July due to infected kidney stones: how close did you come to dying, and how is your health at the moment? I came as close as you can come and still live: I do not know how to put it any other way. We are still unsure about what a 106-degree temperature did to my organs, but I feel good and am on the path to a 100% recovery by the start of the season.

You have a brutal non-conference schedule featuring Syracuse/Kansas/Michigan State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Both Kansas/Michigan State might be #1 when we play them. We try to challenge ourselves year in and year out with the best teams we can play against, and if you want to get an at-large berth you have to play/win some of those games. We have 11 high-major wins, which is quite a few, and we want a couple more this year.

You have a strong senior class including Kendrick Nunn/Martez Walker/Jalen Hayes/Nick Daniels: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? We have a chance for this to be a special year so we have very high expectations. I think that Kendrick will be a 1st-round pick eventually and Martez/Jalen might work their way onto draft boards. Nick has had a very solid career as well and you do not get a group of 4 guys like that at the mid-major level very often. When you have a veteran team you can handle pressure.

If you win 17 more games this year you could become the 100th men’s coach ever with 600 career wins: do you just view it as a nice round number or a way to help cement your legacy as a great basketball coach or other? It is not something that I am focused on but it is a big # so it is being put in my face a lot. I have to give it its due without making it too important. The 4 players you mentioned will make it a heck of a lot easier to reach and if I get 17 wins I will be very proud of it. It is rare to win 600 games at 1 place so it would be a great reward, but it is a minor accomplishment that would come along with the major accomplishment of our team having a great year.

Your son Keith played on the Golden Grizzlies’ baseball team, your son Branch played football at LSU, your father Kurt won a national championship on the Michigan football team, and your brother played football for the Wolverines: who is the best athlete in the family? Me by far! My youngest son is a drummer who is probably more talented in music than any of us were in sports. I will ask the family what they think when we are all together this weekend.

Tonight you will be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is probably far and away #1. Michigan is an unbelievable state in terms of both pro/college sports so there is an array of great players in our Hall of Fame. 1 of those was Al Kaline, who I wanted to be growing up: I wore #6 and when the basketball coach would not give me that # I pitched a fit! To enter a Hall of Fame that includes Al is unbelievable.  I talked to him after they made the announcement because I could not believe it and he told me I belonged, which is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I do not like to talk about awards but it is hard to downplay joining a Hall that has legends like Barry Sanders/Sparky Anderson.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I want to reach the Final 4 but my boss would say “how about you just win the conference tourney this year?”! At a place like Oakland we do not often have 4 good players who are all seniors at the same time (3 of whom are among the best players in our conference), so we are going after it, have very high expectations, and will not back down.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Vermont PG Trae Bell-Haynes

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

The Canadian takeover of college basketball started with Steve Nash at Santa Clara in the 1990s and has peaked recently with All-Americans like Andrew Wiggins (Kansas) and Jamal Murray (Kentucky), but there is even more talent heading to the US from the Great White North.  Toronto native Trae Bell-Haynes may have only been a 2-star recruit back in 2014 but he is blossoming in Vermont, where he made the America East All-Rookie team in 2015, the All-Tournament team in 2016, and was named conference POY in 2017 after helping the Catamounts reach the NCAA tourney before losing to Purdue.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Trae about his jersey # and going undefeated in conference play.  

You were born in Canada: how did you 1st get into basketball? I just played in leagues when I was younger as something to do. I was not passionate about it at a young age but by high school I started to grow taller and began to like it more.

You allegedly wear #2 because it is #5 upside-down: is that true? It is true and everyone ridicules me for it. I was born on 9/5 so I liked wearing 5 for that reason, but when I got here 1 of our seniors wore #5 so I tried to do something else.

Last year your team went 16-0 in conference play: how was everyone able to stay focused for the entire season? We were a pretty experienced team with mostly juniors/seniors on the court so we had a lot of leaders who kept everyone in check. The previous season did not end well for us so we kept our heads on straight and just kept our focus on the next practice/next game.

In 2017 you were named conference POY/honorable mention All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I was obviously proud of it, since it puts me in the company of some of the greatest Vermont players ever, but had we not also made the NCAA tourney then it would not have mattered.

Your AST have gone up each season while your TO have gone down each season: what is the key to being a good PG? It is just about understanding the game and the offense you are running. I was thrown into the fire as a freshman and was too aggressive at times, but as you get older you learn how to pick and choose your spots. You have to be comfortable in your offense and the other players have made my job a lot easier when I find them for open shots because they can all score.

In the 2017 NCAA tourney you scored 15 PTS in a 10-PT loss to Purdue: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? It taught me that we can play with anybody if we have the right mindset from the start. You have to be confident for all 40 minutes. We played Purdue the previous year and they broke all sorts of school records against us, but we were right with them last March.

In April you declared for the NBA draft but withdrew your name in May: why did you decide to declare, and what made you change your mind? The way the rules are now I figured why not give it a shot since I had a good year. We have a bunch of big games on our schedule this year so scouts will get to see me play against good competition.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Kentucky/Marquette: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? We have a bunch of good teams on our schedule: Yale will be really good and Harvard has a lot of top-100 players. The biggest stretch will be the the tournament in the Bahamas with 3 games in 3 days against some good mid-major teams.

You turned 22 earlier this month: what did you do for the big day? I was in the gym during the morning/afternoon and then just hung out and relaxed with the guys afterward.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We obviously want to repeat and make it back to March Madness but our more immediate goal is to get better each day. I know it is a cliché but we have a hard schedule and we need to just try to take as many steps forward as we can.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Stephen F. Austin PF TJ Holyfield

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

After going 28-6 in 2016 and beating West Virginia in the NCAA tourney, Stephen F. Austin came back down to earth in 2017 but still finished with a winning record and made the CIT before losing to Idaho.  If they hope to make it back to the biggest of dances next March then the biggest of factors will be All-Southland Conference PF TJ Holyfield. Not only did he lead the the team in scoring and rebounding as a sophomore but also ranked 5th in the conference with 7 double-doubles.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with TJ about his team’s strong senior class, and we wish him a happy early birthday next week!

You grew up in Albuquerque: what made you choose Stephen F. Austin? I went to Florida after high school for a prep season and an SFA assistant was recruiting down there and saw me play. He recognized my last name because my brother Michael was in the Southland Conference (Sam Houston State): Michael had told me a lot about the school so I came to check it out.

Take me through the 2016 NCAA tourney:
You scored 4 PTS in a win over #3-seed West Virginia: what did it mean to you to pull off such a huge upset? It was my 1st time in the tourney so just being there was exciting but getting a win was even better. I did not play very well (I fouled out in 9 minutes) but Tom Walkup played really well for us (33 PTS/19-20 FT) and I did not want to go out like that.

You had 15 PTS/6-9 FG but Rex Plfueger tipped in a miss with 1.5 seconds left in a 1-PT win by Notre Dame: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That is definitely a loss that people talk about but I think the most devastating losses are against the teams that you prepare to beat for 2 weeks and then you just come out on the wrong end.

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 is a relationship guy who wants to get to know you. He is invested in our lives/friends/families and shows us that he cares for us. I learned to value the ball and value possessions: he really stresses that to us.

Last March you had 21 PTS/16 REB/4 AST/3 STL/2 BLK in a loss to Northwestern State: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? If you look at the stats I guess it was. I had a different role as a freshman where I focused more on defense, but last year I was on the court more and got to crash the glass a lot. I took advantage of the opportunities I was given in that game.

In the 2017 CIT you scored 13 PTS in a loss to Idaho: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? We just were not ready to play that night. We took a long flight and then a long bus ride so we could have been more locked in and prepped more and taken them more seriously. We might have looked down on the CIT after being in the NCAA tourney the year before, which we should not have done. You cannot play down to your opponent’s level.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Mississippi State/LSU/Missouri: when did your school join the SEC(!), and which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Coach Keller did a good job of getting us opportunities to show everyone else what we can do on TV. I feel like our next game is our biggest game because we can only focus on 1 game at a time.

Your team only had 1 senior on the roster last year but has a strong senior class this season (including Ty Charles/Leon Gilmore III/Ivan Canete): how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? The seniors have been through all the hardships and know what it takes to get where they want to be. They will help out the new recruits, the transfers, and even myself with stuff both on/off the court. They will be the right-hand men for Coach Keller.

Your team’s 578 turnovers was 1 of the worst in the nation last year: how much has the team worked on holding onto the ball over the summer? We work on it daily and I feel we will do a better job this season. If we turn the ball over during practice it does not go unnoticed so we are getting better daily.

Your brother Michael was the 2015 Southland DPOY: who is the best athlete in the family? I cannot answer that!

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is to have a team that plays together and is selfless on the court. We will be tough individuals who are a bunch of hard-rocking cats on the court. We want to play faster and improve in the areas where we need to get better.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Georgia State SF Malik Benlevi

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon’s interviews, and the rest of our extensive and continuous preseason coverage

Georgia State had an up-and-down season last year: the Panthers started 8-7, then won 8 in a row, but lost 4 of 7 to finish the regular season with a 19-11 record.  They ended up making the CIT before losing to Texas A&M Corpus Christi.  Leading scorer Jeremy Hollowell and leading rebounder Willie Clayton have now graduated but Coach Ron Hunter will look to a new group of leaders including JR SF Malik Benlevi.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Malik about being a great 3-PT shooter and the team’s major goal this year.

You grew up in Georgia: what made you choose the Panthers? I chose Georgia State because it was close to home and I wanted my family to be able to make it to a lot of my games. Coach Ron Hunter and his staff showed me the most love so it was only right that I came to Georgia State.

What makes Coach Hunter such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? What makes him a great coach is his energy: he really wants you to be great both on/off the court. The most important thing I have learned from him is that life is much bigger than basketball.

In the 2016 Sun Belt tourney Bobby Conley made a 3-PT shot with 2.5 seconds left in a win by Texas State: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That shot is in the top-3 most devastating of my basketball career. I can never really forget that shot because it hurt…but hopefully it has made both my team and I better.

SO SG D’Marcus Simonds was named conference ROY last season: how crucial will he be to your team’s success this season? He is going to be a huge part of our success this year. He has a natural gift that not everybody has on the court: he was truly blessed with God-given talent.

In the 2017 CIT you had 15 PTS/4-7 3PM in a loss to Texas A&M CC: what did you learn from that game that can help you this year? I really have not learned anything from that game. Our minds were out of it after such a tough loss in the Sun Belt tournament (to Troy). We just have 1 goal this year and that is to FINISH: it is something we did not do a great job of last year.

You shot 43 3P% last year: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? I really do not have a secret recipe. I work hard on my outside shot and am fortunate that my teammates find me when I am open.

Your team shot 64.7 FT% last year, which was in the bottom-20 in the nation: how much has the team worked on FT shooting over the summer? We worked on free throws a lot in the summer, probably a lot more than normal. That is a part of finishing games. Free throws give us a chance to put the game away, which we did not do last year.

You lost your leading scorer (Jeremy Hollowell) and rebounder (Willie Clayton) from last year and only have 2 seniors on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? There is not really that much pressure on me to be the leader. I was born a leader and have always embraced it. Every team that I was a leader on while growing up ended up winning a championship…and we plan on that being the case again this year.

You have 7 siblings: who is the best athlete in the family? The best athlete in the family is me of course (with a smile), but other than myself it would be my brother Carlos.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My individual goal is to become an all-conference player. As for as our team, we want to get back to the NCAA tournament, make a run to the Sweet 16, and have the best season in program history. We are going to do anything it takes to get there but it starts with our very 1st game.

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