Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new San Francisco assistant coach Derrick Phelps

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Hoops HD’s preseason previews, articles, and interviews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with new San Francisco assistant coach Derrick Phelps.  You might remember him from such championships as the 1993 North Carolina Tar Heels, thanks to the most talked-about timeout in NCAA tourney history.  In addition to winning an NCAA title as a player for Dean Smith, he also won a CIT title last spring as an assistant to Kyle Smith at Columbia.  Coach Smith headed west after being hired as head coach of the Dons last March, and he brought along his assistant to help him build a contender in the WCC.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Phelps about winning a title and building a coaching resume.

phelps

In 1990 you were named a McDonald’s All-American: which of your fellow honorees impressed you the most (Grant Hill/Ed O’Bannon/Khalid Reeves/other)? At the time it was O’Bannon, for sure. I played against Grant in college when he was at Duke and Khalid was my teammate in high school so I went against him every day in practice. My future Tar Heel teammates Eric Montross/Clifford Rozier were impressive as well. It was a real big year for NYC that year: we had 4 McDonald’s All-Americans.

You played for Coach Dean Smith at North Carolina: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was always prepared for any situation that you could think of. In practice we prepared every day for different situations based on time/score. He always watched a lot of film and would bring me in to look at whoever I would have to defend in our next game. As a PG I was an extension of him on the court so I had a special connection with him. When I was a freshman my teammate King Rice told me that when you get into a rhythm/flow you will end up calling a play in the heat of the moment before Coach Smith would call out the very same play.  It eventually happened, which was very special to me.

In the 1993 NCAA title game you scored 9 PTS in a 6-PT win over Michigan: what was your reaction when you saw Chris Webber signal for his infamous timeout, and what did it mean to you to win a title? My 1st reaction was that the game was over because we were going to get 2 FTs and the ball back. We knew that they did not have any more timeouts so I was shocked to see Webber call a timeout. You prepare the whole preseason/regular season to win a title so accomplishing your goal with the guys you run hard with every day is great. It was 1 of the best things to ever happen to me on the court.

In the 1994 NCAA tourney you scored 3 PTS before Danya Abrams hit you in the head and knocked you out of the game with a concussion in a 3-PT loss to BC: how much did teams worry about concussions 2 decades ago, and do you think that you would have won the game if that play never happened? Of course I think that if I kept playing that we would have won the game! We had a lot of good young guys like Jeff McInnis/Jerry Stackhouse/Rasheed Wallace so I wanted to help us compete as a senior leader. I never watch the tape of that game: it was the last game of my college career so it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I thought that I was fine and passed most part of the concussion protocol but there was 1 part that I simply could not complete before the timeout ended. I remember exactly what it was more than 2 decades later: the doctor said that I had to count back from 100 by 7 and I could just not do it. It was a real sore situation for me because right after the game I was able to do the counting.

You graduated in 1994 with a school-record 247 career STL: what is your secret for being a great defender? I do not think there is a secret: you just need to take pride in playing defense. I loved the challenge of guarding guys and had a good anticipation of when to reach for the ball and where it would be so that I could jump into the passing lane. I knew how to guard within our system and was aware of all the shortcuts. When I try to coach defense now I find it is sometimes hard to explain to our players about seeing something or having the natural feel of how close to get to your opponent.

You played pro basketball for more than a decade overseas: what is the biggest difference between college ball and pro ball? Biggers guys are more skilled overseas: they can put the ball on the floor or pull up for a 3. It is more physical in the pros and they know when to be physical. Older guys know how to play the game better and do a lot more things, while college kids primarily use their athleticism and are more 1-dimensional. There is not too much dunking in Europe.

After winning a CIT title at Columbia last spring as an assistant to head coach Kyle Smith, you joined him when he took a new job as head coach of San Francisco: why did you follow him 3000 miles west, and how has the transition been so far? As a coach I try to be more well-rounded so the key for me was the opportunity to learn about the West Coast. I would love to become a head coach 1 day and I love coaching with Kyle. It was fun to win at Columbia with high-academic kids, but I have never recruited out here so I think that it will be good for my resume. I think that eventually I will be able to coach anywhere in the world.

You have only 1 junior and 1 senior on the roster: how does your approach change when you are coaching a young team vs. when you have an experienced team? The key is to install your culture and show the young guys what was successful for us in the past at Columbia. We have guys who will compete and are much longer/more athletic. We will pressure opponents and run the floor, and as the young players grow with us they will become even more dangerous over the next couple of years. It is tough to lose so much experience but we are building for the future.

Your non-conference schedule includes a game against Utah: how do you prepare for such a big test? Hopefully by the time we play them in late-December in Hawaii during the Diamond Head Classic we will be a little more seasoned. It will be a good test to see where we are at but we will just prepare as we normally do and try to get better each and every game. We just want to compete and give our players the mindset that it is a good challenge for us.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We have not really discussed all of our goals yet but we want to stay healthy, improve every game, and try to win a WCC title. We cannot get ahead of ourselves so we will just use the model of 1 game at a time.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new South Dakota State coach TJ Otzelberger

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s preseason interviews and articles

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with new South Dakota State coach TJ Otzelberger.  He has always been a great recruiter while working for former Iowa State head coaches Greg McDermott/Fred Hoiberg, and now we get to see how he does while running a  program of his own.  He was hired as head coach of the Jackrabbits in April and he will get tested quickly with a non-conference schedule featuring several teams from the NCAA tourney last March.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Otzelberger about his recruiting philosophy and the best athlete in his family (we also wish him a happy birthday today!). 

tj

You played basketball at Wisconsin-Whitewater: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? I was a very average player at best, so I took a lot of pride in just getting to play in college and having a chance to start my career. I had a job lined up in the business world but my old high school coach said that he thought I might have the coaching bug: I tried it and was hooked.

In the 2013 NCAA tourney as an assistant to Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State, Aaron Craft scored 18 PTS including a 3-PT shot with 0.5 seconds left in a 3-PT win by Ohio State: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That is really high up there. We had an opportunity to win at Kansas that same year and they banked in a 3 at the buzzer. Craft had that shot available all game long and elected not to take it, and then he stepped up at the end and made it.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney your new team had a 5-PT loss to Maryland: what do you think they learned from that game that can help them this year? I watched the game: I think that it will teach us to schedule against teams with athleticism/quickness in non-conference play so that we are prepared for the postseason. We have to schedule very competitively.

In April you were named head coach of the Jackrabbits: why did you take the job? I have been fortunate to work for 4 highly successful coaches: they won in different ways, which helped prepare me to have success. My wife and I love being in a college town where basketball is a big deal, and it is a great environment to raise a family. From a professional standpoint you want to be at a school that is committed to winning at the highest level, and South Dakota State offered that to us.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Cal/Northern Iowa/Wichita State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? A lot of the schedule was already in place when I came on board, but we were fortunate that Cal offered us the opportunity to go on the road and play an NCAA tourney team who had a top-5 draft pick in Jaylen Brown. It is an immediate challenge to see where we were at, and is great for Mike Daum to play against a guy of Ivan Rabb’s quality. In the long term the experience we will get from it will be great.

You only have 2 seniors on the roster: do you think this team is built to win now or is it going to be a work in progress? I am still evaluating each day on what everyone needs to improve on. We return 8 players, 4 of whom played significant minutes last year, so our approach is to put 100% into each day and just focus on the process. We lost our top-4 guards from last year but we just want to make this team the best we can this year.

You also have 3 in-state players on the roster: what sort of recruiting philosophy will you have in terms of geography? We are going to try and do a great job of in-state recruiting and be very aggressive early in the process. However, my staff and I have a background of recruiting throughout the Midwest, and if the talent we need does not exist in our region then we will utilize relationships elsewhere and recruit nationally.

SO PF Mike Daum won almost every award in the Summit League last year: what makes him such a great player? He has great character and a great work ethic. He has persevered through a lot of ups and downs and very few schools recruited him coming out of high school. He redshirted as a freshman and continued to grow as a person/player. He is an unbelievable teammate who takes care of his business every day. I think that those awards will continue to come for him.

Your wife Alison played in the WNBA: who is the best athlete in the family? My wife is absolutely/unequivocally the best athlete in the family!

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? It is exciting to be in a place that expects to win but we will not get ahead of ourselves. We expect to be at the top of the conference and compete year in and year out. When you play 3 games in 3 days during a conference tourney anything can happen, but we will try to do the best we can, maximize our strengths, and play together as a team.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews North Texas assistant coach Rob Evans

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s preseason articles and interviews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with North Texas assistant coach Rob Evans.  There are few current assistant coaches with more prior head coaching experience: 6 years at Mississippi, 8 years at Arizona State, and 3 trips to the NCAA tourney.  Now he works for Mean Green head coach Tony Benford, who was recruited to play for Texas Tech by Coach Evans back in the 1980s.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Evans about being on the short end of 1 of the most famous shots in NCAA tourney history and bringing in a McDonald’s All-American transfer (we also wish him a happy belated birthday last week!).

evans

You played basketball at Hobbs High School for legendary coach Ralph Tasker: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? I feel that he was before his time in terms of getting the most out of his players whether we were the best player on the team or the 12th-best player. He was the fairest guy in the world: we had some good players at the all-Black school and after they integrated the school system he made it known that if we were good enough then we would play for him. He taught me a lot about the integrity of the game: I remember him taking 1 of our great players out of a game after he missed me when I cut to the basket for an open layup.

You began your college career as an All-American at Lubbock Christian JC before transferring to New Mexico State, where you made a pair of NCAA tourneys and were later named to the school’s all-time basketball team: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I was actually named to the all-time team at both schools: they are retiring my # at Lubbock later this month. The honors I have received all mean a lot to me because they come from people who know me and spent time with me on a daily basis.

In the 1970 Final 4 as an assistant to Lou Henson at your alma mater, you lost to eventual champion UCLA before a 6-PT win over St. Bonaventure in the 3rd place game: what was it like to face 3-time defending champ John Wooden with a spot in the title game on the line? It was interesting: we were in the West region so we knew that we would meet them somewhere. We played some great teams in the NCAA tourney during my playing career: we lost to Houston (with Elvin Hayes) and UCLA (with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). We played UCLA again during my 1st year as an assistant coach and lost to them: nobody was beating the Bruins during that time!

In 1992 you were hired at Ole Miss as its 1st African-American coach in a major sport: how big a deal was it at the time, and how were you able to end up with the 1st 20-win season in school history in 1997? When I went to work for Coach Henson at age 21 he told me to recruit the South: I asked him how to get there and he said “I do not care”! I worked the whole South out of a hotel in Jackson, MS. When they offered me the job the AD was my former teammate Gerald Turner (the current SMU president), who I have known since age 17. When I got there the program was the worst 1 in the country: Coach Eddie Sutton told me not to take the job but I gave it a shot. Someone said I built it from the ground up…but Nolan Richardson said I built it from underneath the ground! I started to recruit in Arkansas/Louisiana and built up the program with some really good athletes on the defensive end of the floor. My philosophy was not to worry about what we did not have but rather just try to improve what we did have. 1 of my PGs was Mike White, who is now the head coach at Florida. I later left for ASU to be closer to my family.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney Bryce Drew scored 22 PTS including 1 of the most famous shots in NCAA tourney history at the buzzer in a 1-PT win by Valparaiso: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It is probably the most devastating. I spent a lot of time on the road recruiting and we spent a lot of time having everyone from the fraternities/sororities attend our games. The 1st game in the NCAA tourney is always the toughest. We were not playing our best but had a 2-PT lead with our best FT shooter (Ansu Sesay) at the line with 5 seconds left. I took everyone off the line except for Keith Carter, who got a hand on the ball after the 2nd missed FT. I was so sad for our fans because they had been down for so long.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Texas Tech/Rutgers: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think both of those teams will be a really big test, but Texas Tech will be a tough task because I coached there for 15 years. I talked to Bill Self and he said that the Red Raiders will be 1 of the toughest teams in the Big 12. Rutgers will be tough because of the timing with 4-5 games in a 10-day stretch.

You have a couple of transfers from major in-state programs including J-Mychal Reese (Texas A&M)/Keith Frazier (SMU): what is the key to having everyone come together and bond as a team? I always feel that you have to figure out why a kid is leaving: not enough playing time, his specific role, postseason ineligibility, etc. You have to make them understand that they have to conform to our system just like everyone else.

As an assistant to Gerald Myers at Texas Tech you recruited Tony Benford to play for the Red Raiders, where he became 1986 SWC tourney MVP: how did you convince him to sign, and how do you like being his assistant 3 decades later? Tony also played for Coach Tasker in Hobbs, NM, and we have some family connections: I told him that I was asking him to play for me…and that if he declined then I would go speak to his mother!

Tony has not finished with a record above .500 during any of his 4 years in Denton: is he on the hot seat or is just a matter of trying to keep improving from 1 year to the next? Every coach is on the hot seat: I talked to Coach Self before he won an NCAA title about how difficult it was to win 20 games in a season, and he mentioned that no coaches are out there having fun. We knew that we needed to adjust some things and change the mindset of our kids and we feel that we have the right kind of kids to do what we want to do. I feel that Tony has really matured as a coach and I have given him everything that I can give him.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Our goals are always the same: it is a cliché but we are trying to win ever game, get to the NCAA tourney, and win a title. Barring injuries, we feel that we have enough talent to have a very good team.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Preseason Articles and Interviews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with new Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings.  His first taste of the Final 4 was as a player for Lee Rose at Purdue in 1980, then made it to the title game as an assistant to Roy Williams at Kansas in 1991.  The Panthers needed a new coach after Jamie Dixon headed south to his alma mater of TCU, so they hired the former top guy at Vanderbilt who has made the postseason in 16 of his past 20 seasons.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Stallings about winning in March and starting a new chapter in the Steel City.

stallings

Take me through the 1980 Final 4 as a player at Purdue: It was a long time ago! We were led by Joe Barry Carroll (who ended up being the #1 overall pick that spring) and had to beat Indiana/Duke just to advance to the Final 4. The Final 4 was in Indianapolis so we just got on a bus and drove 75 minutes to get there. I hurt my back in practice the day before the semifinal game and only ended up playing 1 minute in the game due to some back spasms before I was done for the day. We played pretty well in the 3rd place game and beat Iowa, which was the 2nd-to-last year that they held it.

Keith Edmonson scored 23 PTS in a 5-PT loss to UCLA: what sort of a home-court advantage did you have (if any) playing at Market Square Arena? I do not recall the crowd as much because I was so overwhelmed and was in a lot of pain because my back was killing me.

You scored 4 PTS in the consolation game against Iowa: how were you able to stay motivated after losing to the Bruins? Back then it was just an expected part of the Final 4. I remember Coach Lee Rose telling us that he had never told any of his teams previously, but told us to be careful with Hawkeyes guard Ronnie Lester because he had hurt his knee and Coach Rose did not want us to take a chance on injuring his knee any further. It was the 3rd time we played Iowa that season.

You played for Coach Gene Keady before becoming his assistant: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? There were a lot of things that made him great, but 1 was that he had a tremendous feel for how to motivate people and the right thing to say at the right time. He also had a very short memory when it came to certain things and could forgive/forget almost immediately. If a player did something poorly or if I screwed up the scouting report as an assistant he would get over it quickly and not dwell on it. He had a great feel for people: he could touch everyone in the room. It felt like he was talking only to you but then you would walk out of the room and 5 other guys would say they felt the same way. It was an amazing skill/ability: he could do it time and time again.

In the 1991 NCAA title game as an assistant coach to Roy Williams at Kansas, you had a 7-PT loss to Duke and Coach Mike Krzyzewski: could you have ever imagined that 25 years later you would be in the same conference as those 2 coaching legends? I always thought that I would become a head coach but never thought about who I might or might not be in the league with. It is a privilege to be with guys like that in the ACC, but we had great coaches in the MVC like Jim Crews/Tubby Smith and then obviously Billy Donovan in the SEC. When you walk into a league with 4 guys already in the Hall of Fame, that is about as good as it gets.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney as coach at Illinois State, Dan Muller scored 8 PTS including a layup with 2 seconds left in a 1-PT OT win over Tennessee: where does that rank among the most clutch shots that you have ever seen? The thing that I liked about that play more than anything else was that Tennessee had scored on the previous possession to take the lead with 17 seconds left after the refs missed a charging foul. I had a veteran group and with that kind of time I felt that our guys would have enough time to find the right shot, so I did not call a timeout. We were down 1 in the final seconds of OT but we came down and were very calm. The possession was so beautiful: we worked the ball around and had a kid take off on a baseline drive, and when Dan’s man stared at the ball and stopped coverin him, Dan just cut to the basket for the most wide-open layup of all time! What I remember the most is that he laid it in with 1.7 seconds left: 4 guys jumped up and down and started to celebrate while Dan (a 2-time Academic All-American) snapped his head around to look at the scoreboard and sprinted back to play defense. Tennessee had no timeouts but was able to take a 30-footer from the hash mark and Dan almost blocked it. Fortunately I had 1 guy that did the right thing on both ends of the court.

In the 2004 NCAA tourney as coach at Vanderbilt, Matt Freije scored 31 PTS in a 2-PT upset of #3-seed NC State: how were you able to overcome an 11-PT deficit in the final 3 minutes? We had a ton of adversity that year due to a lot of things. Matt is still probably the best leader that I have ever coached: he never let our guys stop playing and he heated up to get our mojo going in the 2nd half. I think NC State tightened up when we closed the gap, and their best player (Julius Hodge) fouled out with about 4 minutes left, so their go-to guy not being there caused even more tightness. Ironically, Dan Muller was my assistant coach at that point. We had the ball down by 1 PT with 30-40 seconds left, and he came up behind me and told me to run “Circle”, which was a backdoor play we had. Without even thinking I yelled out “Circle”, and Corey Smith made a 3-PT play to go up by 2 PTS and ended up winnig the game. Dan made a layup to win 1 tourney game and called the game-winning play in another!

You have made the postseason in 16 of your past 20 years on the sideline: how have you been able to remain so consistent over such a long period of time? I had great mentoring from Gene Keady/Roy Williams, and those fundamentals/basics have carried me throughout my coaching career both on and off the floor. I have had great assistant coaches and we have been able to get really good players. When you have a good plan and good people, that is the best you can do to set yourself up for success.

In March you were named head coach at Pitt after spending the past 17 years at Vanderbilt: how is the transition going so far? I have really enjoyed the 1st few months on the job and enjoyed the people. It is a different “sell” here than at Vandy, and I am really enjoying the differences as well as the progressive/aggressive vision that exists within the university/athletic department. We have every chance for success here due to our resources/great people in place.

You have an impressive coaching tree: how do you think that your former assistant Tim Jankovich is going to do as the new coach at SMU, and are we going to see the Mustangs on your schedule anytime soon? I do not know about the scheduling piece, but I think that Tim will do very well there. Everyone knows that Larry Brown is a terrific coach, and I think that Tim has been a large reason why they have been extraordinarily successful already.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is for our team to have the most memorable season/basketball experience of these players’ lives. I hope we can win a lot of games and then do something special in March. My goals always revolved around their experience, and I know that winning provides a greater experience than losing. I expect us to play with great energy/effort and an obvious selflessness, as well as a tenacity/toughness that is representative of the city/university.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Northern Iowa SR SG Jeremy Morgan

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Jon Teitel

For all of Jon Teitel’s Preseason Interviews and Articles – CLICK HERE

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Northern Iowa SR SG Jeremy Morgan. He has started every single game for the Panthers during the past 2 years and does a little of everything: he blocks shots, knocks down more than 80% of his FTs, and even led the conference in SPG.  He was also front and center for 2 of the wildest finishes in the NCAA tourney last March: a half-court buzzer beater and a double-OT stunner.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jeremy about being a senior leader and coming from a basketball family.

morgan

You grew up in Coralville, IA: what made you choose the Panthers? It felt like home to me when I came up here on my visit. I got along great with the players/coaches and it felt like the right spot for me.

Last year you led the conference with 1.9 SPG: what is your secret for being a great defender? I do not know if there is a secret: I just like to go out and play hard on both ends of the court. It feels good to contribute on defense if you are not scoring a lot on offense.

You also had 32 BLK: how on earth were you able to do that as a 6’5” guard?! It is just about making the effort and using my ability to affect as many shots as I can on defense.

Your 80.5 FT% was #4 in the conference: what is the key to making FTs? We shoot a lot of them every day and try to get in some extra shots before games.

Take me through the unforgettable 2016 NCAA tourney:
You scored 16 PTS and Paul Jesperson banked in a half-court shot at the buzzer in a 3-PT win over Texas: did you think the shot was going in, and what was your reaction like after he made it? I had no idea if it was going in but I certainly hoped it was. After it went in I felt the most excited that I have ever been: I think I was the 1st 1 to run over to Paul and hug him.

You scored a school tourney-record 36 PTS in a 4-PT 2-OT loss to Texas A&M after the Aggies overcame a 12-PT deficit with 44 seconds left in regulation: how do you try to overcome such a devastating loss, and what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this year? Obviously it is not very easy to get over it but hopefully we can learn from it as we get ready for next season.

You play for Coach Ben Jacobson: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He believes in all of us: whenever things are not going our way he does a great job of bringing everyone together. 1 of the things he has been working on with the older guys is developing a sense of toughness. Basketball is much more of a mental game than most people think so he tries to build our character and make us better people, not just better basketball players.

Your non-conference schedule is loaded once again including several teams who made the tourney last March like Xavier/Iowa/North Carolina: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? All of them will be tough especially because they are all on the road. I am just excited to go attack those challenges with our team.

You are the only senior on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? All seniors feel pressure because you only have 1 chance to play college ball so we just try to bring the young guys along with us.

Your father Michael played basketball at Iowa, your mother Cris played basketball at Drake, and your sister Mikaela plays for the UNI women’s basketball team: who is the best athlete in the family, and do you credit at least some of your success to genetics? I do not know which of us is the best: we are all pretty talented, including my younger siblings. The genetics are there a little bit but I tell my younger siblings to keep working hard to develop different parts of their game.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I have a lot of goals. I do not know how many teams have been able to 3-peat in the MVC tourney so that would be neat. I also want to find another gear and make it back to the NCAA tourney again.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Dayton SR PG Kyle Davis

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Jon Teitel

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Dayton SR PG Kyle Davis.  He has started every single game for the Flyers during the past 2 years and developed a reputation as a clutch shooter by making game winning shots last season against Miami Ohio/VCU.  In addition to his production on the offensive end he was also named the team’s Best Defender as a freshman and sophomore.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with KD about being a senior leader and making 3 straight NCAA tourneys…so far.

kyle

You grew up in Chicago and received a ton of scholarship offers, but said that you choose Dayton due to your connection with their players/coaches and their style of play: what part of their style has been the best fit for you? Coach Miller just lets his players play to their strengths: we can run up and down the court and I like how the offense flows.

You won the team’s Best Defender Award as both a freshman and sophomore: what is your secret for playing great defense? Coming from Chicago I had to play against some of the toughest players in the city so I took pride in playing defense and found my niche as a defender in college.

In the 2014 NCAA tourney Vee Sanford made a layup with 3.8 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Ohio State: for people who live outside the state, can you explain how big a deal that was? It was a big deal throughout the state because the Buckeyes are supposed to be the big program that runs the state, so for a “little” school like us to actually beat them meant a lot.

In the 2015 1st 4 you scored 3 PTS in a 1-PT win over Boise State: how much of a home-court advantage did you have at UD Arena, and were you worried that the refs were going to call a foul on you when Derrick Marks leaned into you before missing a 3-PT shot at the buzzer? We had a big home court advantage as well as support from people all around the world. I was not really worried about getting called for a foul: I left my feet but went straight up while Marks tried to initiate the contact.

Last year you were a co-captain and made a pair of game-winning shots against Miami OH/VCU: what is the key to being a good leader/clutch player? The key to being a good leader is just leading by example both on the court and in the classroom. I try to be vocal every day and teach the younger guys whatever I can. The leaders our team had during my freshman year did not jump down our backs: it was a teaching point for us since the coaches are on our backs every day. There is no key to being clutch: Coach tells all of us to always be ready at the key moments so I was focused when I got my chance.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney you scored 9 PTS in a loss to Syracuse: do you think the Orange were out for revenge after you beat them in the 2014 NCAA tourney, and what did you learn from the loss that you think will help you this year? I do not think they were out for revenge: we were just not as mentally focused/prepared as we should have been as a team. We were looking ahead and it just caught up with us at the end. It was a tough loss but it is motivation for us as we gear up for our final season as seniors.

You are 1 of 7 seniors on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? It is valuable to our team because we have been in clutch moments before and know what to do. However, we cannot win every game by ourselves so we need to get our younger players into the game and build trust in them during clutch situations.

You play for Coach Archie Miller: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He understands the game because he played it on the highest level. He motivates us every day in practice both individually and as a team. I was not playing great defense last year down the stretch but he always told me that he believed in me.

1 of your 2 freshmen is 6’10” Kostas Antetokounmpo, whose brothers Giannis/Thanasis are in the NBA: have you learned how to pronounce his name yet, and do you think he will have a big impact this year as the tallest player on the team? I learned how to pronounce his 1st name…but his last name is kind of difficult! I got a feel for his game during an open gym: he has a lot to learn but is a great piece to our puzzle.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is to take 1 game at a time, win the regular season title, and hopefully win the A-10 tourney. I would also love to make the NCAA tourney for the 4th year in a row.  I expect us to give our all and leave everything out on the court.

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