Under the Radar Game of the Day: Milligan at Middle Tennessee

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Chad

 

For the rest of this weekend’s highlighted games, CLICK HERE.

Milligan at Middle Tennessee, 12:00 PM Eastern, cusa.tv

Milligan College is a small school with enrollment of just over 1200, located outside of Johnson City, Tennessee.  The Buffaloes, who have been participating in collegiate basketball since 1914, are coming off a 16-14 season in the NAIA’s Appalachian Athletic Conference.  Normally, despite their history, Milligan is not the type of school that would garner any attention here, even from the Under the Radar Game of the Day.  But this year they do have our attention.  They have our attention because at noon Eastern today they will be in Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee in the first official game of the 2016-17 men’s college basketball season.

It may be appropriate that head coach Kermit Davis’ Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are the first team on the court this year, given that they pulled off one of the top upsets of all time in last year’s NCAA Tournament, knocking out #2 Seed Michigan State in the Round of 64.  Although the Blue Riders lost a pair of double-digit scorers off of that team, they do return their top two scorers in Giddy Potts and Reggie Upshaw.  Both players averaged right around 14 point per game last year.  A pair of new additions, Arkansas transfer Jacorey Williams and junior college transfer Brandon Walters figure to be big pieces of this team this year as they look to not only return to the Big Dance but maybe even secure a better seed than 15.

This will be the first game to tip since Kris Jenkins hit his three-pointer to capture the national championship for Villanova.  Let the games begin!

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Opening Weekend!! November 11th, 12th, and 13th Highlighted Games

Posted on November 11, 2016 by David Griggs

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH

-MILLIGAN (nondiv1) AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE.  This is a buy game and is highlighted only because it officially tips off the season.

-LESLEY (nondiv1) AT NEW HAMPSHIRE.  It’s the Team of the People!!  This is also a buy game, but all games by UNH get full coverage!!

-UMASS-LOWELL AT MASSACHUSETTS. This is the first matchup today involving 2 D-I teams and also the first matchup between both schools since UMass-Lowell moved up to Division I. The River Hawks are a dark horse pick in the America East and would love nothing more than to start their season off with a win against the Minutemen.

-LOUISIANA TECH AT SOUTH CAROLINA.  SC just missed the tournament a year ago.  This is the kind of game they can’t be losing if they want to get back in the picture this year.

-VANDERBILT VS MARQUETTE (Annapolis, MD).  Marquette is looking to take a huge step forward.  A win against a rebuilding Vandy team would be a good way to start.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT KENTUCKY.  It’s technically a buy game, and it’s a huge mismatch considering how SFA is completely rebuilding, but we’ll put it with the highlighted games due to SFA’s recent success.

-CHATTANOOGA AT TENNESSEE.  We feel Chattanooga is good enough to make the NCAAs with or without the automatic bid.  If that’s true, this is the kind of road game they need to be able to win, so it’s a good test right out of the gate.

-ARIZONA VS MICHIGAN STATE (Honolulu, HI).  Arizona is dealing with injuries right out of the gate, and Michigan State is young but still very talented.  This is a great first game for both teams because the winner is off to a big start, and the loser isn’t really hurt by the loss.

-GEORGIA AT CLEMSON.  This is a rivalry game between two teams who are looking to get over the top and make the NCAAs.

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT PITTSBURGH.  This is a buy game, but with Eastern Michigan being one of the better teams in the MAC, we’ll go ahead and highlight it.  It’s probably a mismatch, but it’s worth highlighting.

-VIRGINIA AT UNC GREENSBORO.  Once again, Virginia is playing an early season road game.  In this case they wanted to play at a site where they believed they’d be placed for the NCAA Tournament, but since it was moved out of Greensboro it may have backfired somewhat.

-LA SALLE AT TEMPLE (Big Five).  La Salle should be much improved, and Temple should be rebuilding.  Gotta love Big Five action on opening night!

-DREXEL AT MONMOUTH.  Monmouth has a lot of players back, and has a chance to once again contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  Like last year, though, they don’t have many strikes, so every game will have a sense of urgency to it.

-FLORIDA GULF COAST VS FLORIDA.  This is technically a buy game, but FGCU is one of the better teams in the ASun so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.  If this is the year the Gators can finally get to the NCAA Tournament, then they need to dominate games like this.

-FORT WAYNE AT ARKANSAS.  This is a buy game, but Arkansas better not overlook IPFW, who is one of the better teams in the Summit League.  I think they can pull off the upset if Pig Sooie overlooks them.

-KANSAS VS INDIANA (Honolulu, HI).  Two teams that are high in the rankings and who could both end up as protected seeds in the NCAA Tournament!  It’s a great opening night match-up where the winner gets a big win, and the loser is probably just fine.

-OHIO STATE VS NAVY (Annapolis, MD).  Ohio State is looking to rebound this year, and having a winnable road game on opening night is a good way to start things off.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT TULANE.  This game isn’t on campus, but it’s a very winnable road game for a UNC team that has struggled in early season road games in recent years, albeit those struggles have come against teams that are generally much better than this Tulane team.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT AUBURN.  For the last two years we’ve started off thinking Auburn is going to be good, and they ultimately haven’t been.  They should be tested tonight by a North Florida team who will contend for the ASun title.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT CALIFORNIA.  Cal should get a decent test from a South Dakota State team that could make some noise in the Summit League this year.

-HARVARD VS STANFORD (China).  Harvard should contend for the Ivy again this year.  Don’t be surprised if they really give Stanford a scare.

-NEVADA AT SAINT MARY’S.  This is an underrated match up between a nationally ranked Saint Mary’s team, and a Nevada team that we think will finish near the top of the Mountain West and contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  Picking up a win tonight would really give the Wolfpack a boost.

-SAN DIEGO AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  This appears to be a huge mismatch, but San Diego did pull off the upset last year.  SDSU doesn’t want this loss on their profile.

 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH

-GRAND CANYON AT DUKE.  Last year’s team of the people, who will once again contend for first place in the WAC, travels to Duke.  They’re probably way overmatched, but it’s still a good litmus test for a GCU program that is growing very quickly.

 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT SMU.  Eastern Michigan will contend for first place in their division in the MAC, and can pick up a notable road win to really help their NCAA Tournament Profile and give their season a huge momentum boost if they’re able to pull this one off.

-CHATTANOOGA AT NORTH CAROLINA.  As we mentioned in their Friday write up, we feel that Chattanooga is an NCAA Tournament caliber team, but as good as they are they’re probably swinging over their heads today.  We feel Chattanooga can make the field as a bubble team, whereas we feel UNC will contend for a #1 seed.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT COLORADO STATE.  This is a chance for what appears to be a pretty good New Mexico State team to pick up a somewhat notable road win.

-YALE AT WASHINGTON.  Yale had a big season last year, and will try and carry that into this year despite some of what they lost.  We feel Washington will be much improved as well, so this will give us a chance to learn something about both teams.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT WICHITA STATE.  Long Beach is one of the better teams in the Big West, and as per usual they are playing an absolutely killer out of conference schedule.  Wichita, on the other hand, appears to be the Missouri Valley frontrunner, but is going through a major rebuilding period after losing so much from last year.  It’s a chance for us to learn something about both teams, and for both teams to get a notable early win.

 

BUY GAMES

-Lafayette @ Villanova (Friday)
-UT Martin @ Ole Miss (Friday)
-American @ Maryland (Friday)
-McNeese @ Purdue (Friday)
-Western Carolina @ Miami FL (Friday)
-Georgia Southern @ NC State (Friday)
-Colgate @ Syracuse (Friday)
-Marist @ Duke (Friday)
-Evansville @ Louisville (Friday)
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ West Virginia (Friday)
-Oral Roberts @ Baylor (Friday)
-Wagner @ UConn (Friday)
-Brown @ Cincinnati (Friday)
-UNC Asheville @ VCU (Friday)
-Austin Peay @ Dayton (Friday)
-Lehigh @ Xavier (Friday).  Lehigh should be a force in the PL, but they are way overmatched in this one
-UMES @ George Washington (Friday)
-Dartmouth @ Rhode Island (Friday)
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Seton Hall (Friday)
-Radford @ Wake Forest (Friday)
-Houston Baptist @ Texas Tech (Friday)
-Norfolk State @ Mississippi State (Friday)
-Incarnate Word @ Texas (Friday)
-Central Arkansas @ Wisconsin (Friday)
-Savannah State @ Iowa State (Friday)
-Southern Utah @ Valparaiso (Friday)
-Gardner Webb @ SMU (Friday)
-Morgan State @ Houston (Friday)
-Pine Bluff @ UAB (Friday)
-Coastal Carolina @ Alabama (Friday)
-Northwestern State @ Texas A&M (Friday)
-Howard @ Michigan (Friday)
-Maine @ Virginia Tech (Friday)
-Sacramento State @ Colorado (Friday)
-Prairie View A&M @ Oregon State (Friday)
-Portland State @ Arizona State (Friday)
-Pacific @ UCLA (Friday)
-Utah Valley @ Gonzaga (Friday)
-Western Illinois @ Kansas State (Friday)
-UMKC @ Creighton (Friday)
-SEMO @ Illinois (Friday)
-Kennesaw State @ Iowa (Friday)
-South Carolina State @ Wichita State (Friday)
-Idaho State @ New Mexico (Friday)
-UTSA @ Fresno State (Friday)
-Montana @ USC (Friday).  USC is rebuilding and needs to win games like this if they want to repeat last year’s success
-Army @ Oregon (Friday)
-Bryant @ Notre Dame (Saturday)
-South Carolina Upstate @ Georgetown (Saturday)
-Charleston Southern @ Florida State (Saturday)
-NW Nazarne (nondiv1) @ Utah (Saturday)
-Northern Colorado @ Butler (Saturday)
-Appalachian State @ Davidson (Saturday)
-Trinity (nondiv1) @ Valparaiso (Saturday)
-IUPUI @ Michigan (Sunday)
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ NC State (Sunday)
-Bucknell @ Wake Forest (Sunday)
-Cornell @ Siena (Sunday)
-Central Connecticut @ Seton Hall (Sunday)
-Savannah State @ Iowa (Sunday)
-UTSA @ Oregon State (Sunday)
-Northwestern State @ Oklahoma (Sunday)
-Canisius @ Kentucky (Sunday)
-Holy Cross @ South Carolina (Sunday)
-Northern Kentucky @ Illinois (Sunday)
-Omaha @ USC (Sunday)
-Mercer @ Florida (Sunday)
-Cal State Northridge @ UCLA (Sunday)

Posted in News and Notes | 1 Comment

Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews UNC-Asheville JR PG Kevin Vannatta

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Jon Teitel

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with UNC-Asheville JR PG Kevin Vannatta.  Last year he started all 30 games and led the Big South in minutes played.  He does everything you need a PG to do: he makes shots from all over the floor (50 FG%), makes most of his shots from the FT line (80 FT%), and also led the team in AST.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Kevin about playing a ton of minutes and facing the champs in the NCAA tourney.

kevin

You grew up in Ohio: what made you choose the Bulldogs? I ended up choosing UNC-Asheville because it was the best fit for me in terms of athletics/academics. They showed me during the recruiting process that I was a priority and they offered opportunities that some other schools did not.

You scored 7.6 PPG as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I just tried to come onto campus and compete from Day 1. As a freshman I focused on playing hard/tough and having the best attitude/effort. Once I found myself on the floor I just took good shots within the flow of the offense.

Last year you led the conference in total minutes played: how exhausted were you by the end of the season? When you are playing that amount of minutes the days in between games are crucial to getting your body recovered/ready for the next game: I spent a lot of time in ice baths last year! The coaches and I had great trust in one another so we could make sure that I was getting the proper treatment/preparation for games.

Your 79.5 FT% was #7 in the conference: what is the secret to making FTs? I think that the secret is a mix of practice/confidence. I try to consistently practice FTs all year and then I just trust in my practice, have faith in my routine, and shoot with confidence. I expect to make every one.

You were #2 on the team in PPG and #1 in AST: how do you balance your scoring with your passing? I do not look at it in those terms: I look at it as what I need to do to help the team. If the right play is to shoot then I shoot and if there is a teammate open then I pass. The most important thing to me has always been and will always be winning games.

In the 2016 Big South tourney title game you scored 12 PTS in a 9-PT win over Winthrop: what did it mean to you to win the title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? Winning the conference championship was a dream come true. All of the hard work we had put in it finally paid off. Being able to climb that ladder and cut the nets down was something very special that I will remember forever. The city of Asheville went crazy: our school was a very fun place to be during both the conference tournament as well as the NCAA tournament a week or so later. The support we received from everybody was tremendous.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney you scored 5 PTS in a loss to eventual champion Villanova: what did you learn from that loss that you think can help you this year? I learned what an NCAA championship team looks/plays/acts like. They were such a talented, well-coached, disciplined team. The image of playing against them is still fresh in a lot of our minds so we can bring that toughness/attention to detail to the table this year. We have a better understanding of what it really takes.

You play for Coach Nick McDevitt: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? Coach Nick is a great coach because he has a fantastic understanding of the game and how to manage his players. Something he taught me that will stick with me for life is the list of our core values: TEAMS (Toughness, Effort, Attitude, Motives, Servant Leadership).

Your non-conference schedule includes road games against VCU/Georgia/Kansas/Ohio State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think that all 4 of those games will be extremely difficult because all of those teams are tremendously talented, well-coached, and tough. We will have our hands full with each of those 4 as well as many more on our schedule for that matter. We look forward to those opportunities and when the night comes we will be ready to step onto the floor and compete.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Every year the goal is to win a regular season championship and win the conference tournament. My expectations are not measured in wins vs. losses, but rather that our team will compete everyday and be a tough, hard-nosed, hard-playing team. If we do that then we will give ourselves a great chance to win.

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Throwback Thursday: The 1980 NCAA Tournament

Posted on November 10, 2016 by John Stalica

For Chad Sherwood’s West Coast Conference Preview – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Loyola Ramblers head coach Porter Moser – CLICK HERE

For the countdown clock to tomorrow’s season opener – CLICK HERE

In the 2016-17 season premiere of Throwback Thursday, we look back at a major checkpoint year in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The field consisted of 48 teams and was the second year in which teams would be formally seeded in each region. Most notably, this was the first season in which the restriction on the number of teams from a conference would be lifted.

For the ACC, this meant that North Carolina, Maryland, Duke, NC State and Clemson could all appear in the NCAA Tournament. For the Pac-10, Oregon State, Arizona State, Washington State and UCLA were invited. For the Big 10, Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa and Purdue were invited.

The East regional started harmlessly enough – the top 3 seeds of Syracuse, Maryland and Georgetown advanced to the Sweet 16 along with Iowa. Georgetown beat Maryland in a match of DC foes (just up the road in the Spectrum in Philadelphia), but Lute Olson’s Iowa team crashed the party with upset wins against Syracuse and Georgetown to clinch a bid to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

The Mideast regional started with Penn trying to pull a repeat Cinderella run – the Quakers were the 12th and final seed in the region but managed to upset Washington State in the first round. Duke would end Penn’s run with a 52-42 win in the 2nd round and would also stun top-seeded Kentucky 55-54 in the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena in a revenge game from 2 years earlier in the 1978 national championship. Purdue (like Iowa earlier) took full advantage of their at-large status in the NCAA Tournament that would not have been available the year before. They beat La Salle and St. John’s to set up a matchup with Indiana in the Sweet 16. Purdue would also avenge their NIT championship loss to Indiana from the year before and beat Indiana 76-69. Purdue then defeated Duke to advance to the Final 4. After Duke’s loss, head coach Bill Foster moved on to South Carolina and opened the door for a young head coach at Army to become Duke’s next head coach. That coach, you ask? Mike Krzyzewski.

In the Midwest regional, this was as about as close as you could get to chalk holding up throughout the regional. Top-seeded LSU was able to advance to the Elite 8 with wins over Alcorn State and Missouri. Texas A&M was able to upset North Carolina in a double-OT game in the 2nd round, but would end up losing to Louisville in overtime in the Sweet 16. Even though Louisville and the Doctors of Dunk played in what amounted to a road game in Houston’s Summit against A&M, they had little trouble in knocking out LSU to earn the 3rd ticket to the Final Four.

The real Island of Misfit Seeds was in the West region. The top 3 seeds (DePaul, Oregon State, BYU) would all lose their opening games in the 2nd round despite 1st-round byes. UCLA upset DePaul in a rematch of the prior year’s West regional final and would beat Ohio State to advance to the Elite 8. Clemson beat Utah State and BYU in the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament and beat the Cinderella team of Lamar in the Sweet 16. Lamar (coached by Billy Tubbs) was the 10th seed and scored upset wins over Weber State and Oregon State before bowing out to Clemson. UCLA would beat Clemson 85-74 to earn the 4th and final ticket to Indianapolis.

Despite being in the heart of Big 10 country, neither Iowa nor Purdue were able to win in their respective semifinal games. Purdue would defeat Iowa 75-58 in the 3rd place game, however. As for the other two teams, Louisville would edge out Iowa in the semifinal game and ended up defeating Larry Brown’s UCLA team in the national championship by a 59-54 score. Ultimately, if you go in the official history books at NCAA headquarters, you’ll also see “VACATED” because of NCAA violations against UCLA.

As for the 1980 Final Four, click here to see the official NCAA video.

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Conference Preview: West Coast

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Chad

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

WEST COAST

Mark Few has coached Gonzaga for 17 years heading into this season, and never failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.  In fact, counting Dan Monson’s final year at the helm, the Zags have now made 18 straight trips to the Big Dance.  No one else in the conference can even sniff that type of success.  Two other teams, however, have accounted for the majority of the conference’s successes outside of Spokane.  St. Mary’s and BYU are the only other WCC teams to earn NCAA bids since 2008, and the only other two teams to even play in a WCC Championship game in that time!  (Pacific did go to the NCAA Tournament in 2013, but they were a member of the Big West then).  Last season, though the Zags were a bubble team heading into Championship Week, Mark Few’s team won the league’s automatic bid, got an 11 seed, and promptly advanced to the Sweet 16 with wins over Seton Hall and Utah, before losing to Syracuse by 3 points in regional semifinal.  BYU and St. Mary’s both made the NIT with the Cougars advancing to the semifinals in that event.  As for the rest of the conference . . . Pepperdine played in the CBI, and everyone else started their offseason early.

This year, we expect much of the same as Gonzaga, St Mary’s and BYU look to be the class of the conference again and all three could be vying for NCAA Tournament bids.  However, the offseason has shown us that the rest of the conference seems to be done being a bunch of lapdogs.  The biggest offseason move came from Santa Clara, a program whose athletic department wants them to become Top 25 caliber, and certainly made the right first move bringing in new head coach Herb Sendek, former conference coach of the year in both the ACC and Pac-12.  Big coaching moves were also made by San Francisco, bringing in Kyle Smith, a guy with lots of WCC ties and who engineered a remarkable turnaround the last few years on the east coast with Columbia.  Pacific and Portland both brought in head coaches with known names and NBA ties – Damon Stoudamire at Pacific and Terry Porter at Portland.  Although it may take a few years for these programs to elevate themselves, the days of the West Coast Conference being a three team league appear to be nearing their end.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Gonzaga – Despite struggling at times last season and then losing a majority of their scoring in the offseason, Mark Few has completely reloaded this team and they should be even better than last time around.  Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) and Jordan Mathews (California) are the key newcomers, transferring in from Pac-12 schools and possibly forming one of the best backcourt pairings in the nation.  Down low, the key will be just how healthy Przemek Karnowski is as he returns from last year’s season-ending back injury.  He will get help though, notably from another transfer from a power conference – Johnathan Williams III from Missouri.

2. St. Mary’s – Almost everyone on the roster returns from last season’s squad that won 29 games and led the nation in shooting percentage.  The Gaels non-conference schedule was the biggest reason for their exclusion from last year’s Tournament, and they have upgraded it this year with non-conference trips out of the State of California to play Dayton and UAB, plus a road trip to Stanford.  All signs point to a very good year.

3. BYU – The Cougars may be without several very important pieces from last season, most notably Kyle Collingsworth, but Nick Emery and Kyle Davis do return and will be joined by Eric Mike and T.J. Haws (Tyler’s brother) who have both returned from missions.  A key factor could be the play of Elon transfer guard Elijah Bryant, the CAA Rookie of the Year two seasons ago.

4. Santa Clara – Herb Sendek takes over a program committed to closing the gap with the top three teams, and has assembled a squad that could be a dark horse candidate to do that as early as this season.  All five starters do return for the Broncos from last season, led by senior Jared Brownridge who should surpass the 2000 career points scored mark this year.

5. Pepperdine – Two of the team’s top three scorers from last season are gone.  It will be tough for Lamond Murray, Jr. to carry that much scoring weight, and there do not appear to be enough other pieces here to make any serious noise.

6. Loyola Marymount – Adom Jocko’s decision to turn pro after last season hurt, but the Lions will at least remain competitive with Brandon Brown, Shamar Johnson and Steven Haney, Jr. back.

7. San Francisco – Ronnie Boyce III is the only double digit scorer returning for new head coach Kyle Smith.  Smith, who coached at Columbia the past few years, has WCC ties, having been an assistant at both San Diego and St. Mary’s.  His first team in the City by the Bay is a very young one, so don’t expect much this season.

8. Portland – Terry Porter is a big name coaching hire, but the team he takes over lost 20 games last season and probably won’t be much better than that this one.

9. Pacific – Another new head coach with a known name takes over, as Damon Stoudamire gets the call in Stockton.  The athletic department is committed to improving the basketball program, but it will take time.

10. San Diego – Lamont Smith is still cleaning house and continuing his rebuild of the Toreros program. This year will be a long one – maybe a very long one.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Loyola Chicago coach Porter Moser

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Loyola Chicago coach Porter Moser.  He has only made it to 1 postseason so far but certainly made the most of it when he got there: after leading his team to the 2015 CBI he won 5 straight games to clinch the title, meaning he is 1 of the only D-1 coaches ever with an undefeated postseason record.  He also had success as a player while winning the 1989 MVC title at Creighton, and later learned how to win games as an assistant to Wimp Sanderson at Arkansas-Little Rock and Rick Majerus at St. Louis.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Moser about having 2 seniors on the roster and his team’s summer trip to Spain.

moser

You were named conference POY as a senior at Benet Academy, where you contributed to a big chunk of the school’s state-record 102-game home winning streak: did it reach a point where the home crowd just expected you to win every time that you stepped onto the court? Absolutely. Winning was such a big part of that culture at Benet. The tradition there was all about winning, so as a player you expected to win every time you stepped onto the court. Because of that tradition the pressure/expectations mounted, but with that came the thrill of being on that platform. All of those experiences at Benet helped prepare me for my college career at Creighton.

In the 1989 MVC tourney title game as a player at Creighton, James Farr drove the length of the court/split 2 defenders/made a 13-footer with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Southern Illinois: how long did it take for that shot to roll around the rim before dropping through the net?! I cannot recall how long that shot rolled around the rim.  I recently saw James on the road while recruiting and we reminisced about that game, that shot, and how it changed our lives.

You were as an assistant to Rick Majerus at St. Louis: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? Coach Majerus had a special talent for teaching the game and his practices were special learning sessions for his players. I learned so much from him, including an abundance of X’s and O’s, but the best thing he did was teach his teams how to play the game correctly from a fundamental perspective. He would methodically go through drills over and over until they were done correctly before we moved on to something else. You achieve what you emphasize and coaches who allow slippage in practice will undoubtedly have to deal with it during games.

In the 2010 CBI with the Billikens you made the finals before losing twice to VCU: how much fun was it to face “Havoc” twice in 3 nights? Those losses still eat at me. Shaka Smart is one of the best coaches in the nation and gets his guys to buy into his system as well as any coach in the country. Their guards pressured us to no end and they had an NBA rim protector in Larry Sanders.

In the 2014 MVC tourney as head coach at Illinois State, Milton Doyle scored a team-high 19 PTS including a contested 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT win over Bradley: where does that rank among the most clutch shots that you have ever seen? The magnitude of that shot was amplified because it came during our first year in the Missouri Valley: to win a game at Arch Madness was a statement for our program at that time. For a freshman to hit that shot on that stage was huge for Milton as well as for all of us. Let us hope that he can repeat it as a senior…but in the finals!

In the 2015 CBI championship series you had a 1-PT win over Louisiana-Monroe to clinch the title: what did it mean to you to win a title? Earlier that season we won the Las Vegas Classic while playing against some good really programs such as Boise State/Texas Tech. To win a title was monumental, especially for the culture of our program. We got to experience how the pressure mounted in each subsequent round. It had been 30 years since Loyola had won a title so hopefully it has set the stage for bigger things to come.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against St. Joseph’s/NC State/San Diego State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? All of them will present a huge challenge for our program this season. St. Joe’s won 28 games last year, NC State is a program with a lot of tradition, and San Diego State should be a top-20 team this year, so it is hard to pick which will be the lesser of any evil. They are all great programs so each will present a tremendous challenge for us.

You have 2 seniors/9 juniors on the roster: do you think this team is ready to contend right now or do you think that you are a year away from doing something really special? We are no different than most programs in that we want to win this year. We worked very hard in the summer/fall and took a trip to Spain to help prepare us to have a good season. The uncertainty is having so many new guys: some of them are going to have to step up but I have confidence that they will.

Your team took a trip to Spain over the summer: what did your team get out of this experience that you think will help this season? This is a very close-knit group. We have a lot of new guys and they got to know each other faster while gaining an understanding of what to expect in practice/game situations, so that has helped alleviate the unknown. Building chemistry helps pull you together because it is inevitable that at some point you will face adversity.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I will not hide from that question: we want to win the Missouri Valley and go to the NCAA tournament. We have set the bar high in how we approach each day with our preparation and what is said to our guys, always keeping that end result in mind.

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