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Speaker 1: Hey, what up? Welcome and I've done godly this is

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Speaker 1: all ball. Yeah, that's right. We have a great conversation

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Speaker 1: for you. Actually, um, you know part two of a

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Speaker 1: previous conversation uh on on all ball. In that Brian

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Speaker 1: Wortle Part two, we talked about his journey from a

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Speaker 1: kid growing up in the Midwest, kid growing up in

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Speaker 1: Chicago to now being the head coach downstayed a little

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Speaker 1: bit in Peoria, Illinois at brad the University. Of course

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Speaker 1: he's head coach at at Green Bay. A lot to

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Speaker 1: get to, Um, should we really be surprised that the

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Speaker 1: Lakers can't shoot? Just not a good roster, just not

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Speaker 1: a good roster. But I love the fact that, like

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Speaker 1: we're three games in and Russell Westbrook already already has

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Speaker 1: piste off all the Laker fans, right, like I do.

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Speaker 1: I I feel bad for him on some level. Right

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Speaker 1: at your hometown, you come back, you have to play

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers, play with Lebron. Lebron kind of hand

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Speaker 1: selects you and things go poorly and now people are

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Speaker 1: booing you off your own home court. But he was

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Speaker 1: oh of eleven against the Clippers, and then you know

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Speaker 1: they're playing the Trailblazers. They're leading late, but I just

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Speaker 1: you know, like again, I don't know what you thought

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Speaker 1: you were gonna get. And why why did the Lakers

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Speaker 1: go back to him? Why I go back to him?

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Speaker 1: You have the game one, You're playing better without him,

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Speaker 1: Like this is part of what it takes to be

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Speaker 1: a coach is you're gonna have to sometimes sit a

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Speaker 1: guy who makes a ton of money if it's the

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Speaker 1: right thing for the team. And that's what we thought.

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Speaker 1: Well that's what people thought you were getting, not what

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Speaker 1: they've gotten so far. But in the Lakers are exactly

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Speaker 1: what I think many people predicted them to be, or

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Speaker 1: somewhere midpack, maybe a playoff team. They're oh and three

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Speaker 1: right now. And this is with Lebron and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: playing every game. Likely it is they don't play every game.

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Speaker 1: Probably both play in the seventies. God for did they

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Speaker 1: get hurt and you take one of those two players

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Speaker 1: off the game, out of the game, and that it's

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Speaker 1: a really bad roster. All right, Let's get the part

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Speaker 1: two of our discussion with Brian Wortley. Okay, so what

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Speaker 1: was Todd culture like when you get to Green Bay? Oh,

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Speaker 1: super detailed which I loved. UM. Very organized, UM staff

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Speaker 1: knew the game plan for the week, the practice. UM

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Speaker 1: a really good offensive mind. UM tactician when it comes

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Speaker 1: to the baselineut bounds, late game situations really good. And

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Speaker 1: obviously Coach Green and my dean we're all good at

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Speaker 1: that too, But Todd, really, I thought, took it to

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Speaker 1: another level of studying that and a great guy to

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Speaker 1: work for. Uh, still one of my best friends in

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Speaker 1: the business right now at Toledo, and he's done a

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Speaker 1: great job at Toledo. UM. But just learn how to

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Speaker 1: really organize your program to like, how to delegate properly,

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Speaker 1: how to give out responsibilities, how to be efficient so

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Speaker 1: everyone's working in a un working as one. And I

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Speaker 1: learned a lot of that from Todd and had brought

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Speaker 1: that into my career for sure. That the job. And

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Speaker 1: you're the youngest head coach in America. How were you

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Speaker 1: your so you're thirty years old? UM. The good news

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Speaker 1: is you're in a state where everybody knew you, an

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Speaker 1: area where everybody it's gonna be really hard for those

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Speaker 1: guys to you're young, and you go kind of out

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Speaker 1: of your market, rightbody knew you hadn't Marquette. Everybodyknew you

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Speaker 1: from growing up. I knew you from being an assistant.

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Speaker 1: It's not like you were handed the heat keys took

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Speaker 1: some kingdom you didn't earn UM. So, having worked for

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Speaker 1: those three guys, first order businesses? What staff or players? What? What? What?

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Speaker 1: What's the first order business? When you get that job?

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Speaker 1: Staff staff number one I got. I had to find

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Speaker 1: guys that um I knew I can trust and I

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Speaker 1: knew we're hard workers with good personalities. I think if

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Speaker 1: you have those things, loyal, hard working, smart too, you

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Speaker 1: gotta have smart guys. And so that was my first

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Speaker 1: order of business was get the staff together. So it

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Speaker 1: was hard because it was like a two and a

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Speaker 1: half month process, the interviewing process. So they had to

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Speaker 1: go through the grind as a young assistant to prove

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Speaker 1: to Ken about off the a D that I was

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Speaker 1: the right guy for the job. And there are a

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Speaker 1: lot of guys that were interviewing for that job. Great

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Speaker 1: guard now Wisconsin porter Moser, you know, was interviewing for

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Speaker 1: that job. And it was a tough job. You know,

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Speaker 1: green Bay was a tough job in the Horizon League

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Speaker 1: at the time. So I knew the inner workings of

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Speaker 1: the city, the fundraising, all the little details that I

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Speaker 1: thought played to my advantage. And obviously a lot of

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Speaker 1: this coaching business is timing and luck, and I had

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Speaker 1: I had a lot of that in that situation. But

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Speaker 1: the two and a half months we lost players, Like

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Speaker 1: I knew Todd was going to take some of our

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Speaker 1: better returning players went with him to Toledo. We graduated

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Speaker 1: five seniors, so it was a complete rebuild other than

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Speaker 1: one senior guard that we had back that was good,

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Speaker 1: Ramont Fletcher. So I had to not only get a

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Speaker 1: staff right away, but I had to go recruit and

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Speaker 1: bringing some play years and so that was that was

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Speaker 1: a grind. It's always a grind when you take over

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Speaker 1: a program and you have to build a roster and

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Speaker 1: rebuild a program. And so we got on the road

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Speaker 1: and we brought in some players that I thought helped

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Speaker 1: changed the culture we had and Verman was really good.

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Speaker 1: We also had a guy, Bree Prene, that was solid

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Speaker 1: players senior, so we had a couple of players back,

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Speaker 1: but we started three freshmen that first year and then

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Speaker 1: kind of built from there. But a big game changer

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Speaker 1: was Alec Brown, a seven footer I got from Minnesota

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Speaker 1: who ended up being a late bloomer and getting draft

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Speaker 1: in the NBA, and then obviously key for Psykes. Um

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Speaker 1: was a huge player for me out of Chicago Marshall

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Speaker 1: to get and he took over and I handed him

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Speaker 1: the ball as a freshman in year two. And we

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Speaker 1: kind of took off after that and had some great players,

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Speaker 1: I mean Greg May's, We had Al McKinney, who's been

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Speaker 1: in the NBA still in the NBA. Um Carrington loved

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Speaker 1: Jordan Fauss. I mean, we had some really good players

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Speaker 1: that were fund to coach Um. Okay, but but and

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Speaker 1: it probably helped that you had a whole new roster. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: now you're the head coach and your thirty so you

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Speaker 1: don't have to make the eighteen inch move over like

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Speaker 1: you know, you know, it's sometimes hard for an assistant

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Speaker 1: coach to become the head coach. Like, no, now you

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Speaker 1: have to pay attention to every day. So, but you

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Speaker 1: kind of got a new team. Outside of her mind, Um,

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Speaker 1: what was your plan? Like who did you think you

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Speaker 1: wanted a coach? Like? How would how were you in

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Speaker 1: that first year in dealing with staff, in dealing with players,

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Speaker 1: in dealing with administrators. Yeah, I mean I tried to

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Speaker 1: just be myself. I think that's what you'll always hear

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Speaker 1: people say, be yourself. Um, and I tried to do that.

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Speaker 1: You're never ready. It's like being a parent. You're not

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Speaker 1: ready until you have a kid. I mean, you get

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Speaker 1: a kid and you're like, oh, I'm ready, I'm prepared

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Speaker 1: to change diapers and do all. No, you're not. You're

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Speaker 1: never ready until you have kids. And you're never ready

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Speaker 1: to be sit that seat over until you get there.

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Speaker 1: And then you learn, um, how difficult it is and

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Speaker 1: how many things come across your desk each day that

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Speaker 1: you're not prepared for and you gotta find solutions for

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Speaker 1: and so um, I just tried to be myself. I'm

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Speaker 1: an a tense competitor by nature, hard worker. I love loyalty. Um,

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Speaker 1: and so I had to navigate through that first couple

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Speaker 1: of years, and it was it was a learning experience.

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Speaker 1: I mean I learned a lot and that first to

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Speaker 1: three years a ton. I'm still learning to this day.

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Speaker 1: But like I'll never forget, you know. I'd call Todd

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Speaker 1: and be like, man, you made this look easy. This

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Speaker 1: is not easy. Um, this is this is tough. But

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Speaker 1: I knew one thing I wanted to do with that

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Speaker 1: program was we we wanted to get better defensively and

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Speaker 1: we wanted to get you know, a little bit more

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Speaker 1: athletic and try to beat people on the glass and defensively,

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Speaker 1: and in that league, I thought that's what we could

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Speaker 1: do to win it and get in contention every year.

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Speaker 1: And that's changing the identity, and it takes years to

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Speaker 1: change in identity. But we were able to do that.

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Speaker 1: And obviously when some championships and I have a lot

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Speaker 1: of success, well it's it's well documented, right you had

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Speaker 1: you had at least one kid go and complain about

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Speaker 1: you and um, you know we're like nine years move

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Speaker 1: from it and take me through that process. How do

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Speaker 1: you who comes and talks to you, how do you

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Speaker 1: know you have an issue? How did you deal with Well,

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Speaker 1: I'll say this is, um, there's always two sides to

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Speaker 1: every story when those things break, and I think as

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Speaker 1: a coach, it's hard because you can't tell your side.

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Speaker 1: You just got to kind of sit there and and

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Speaker 1: take all the media blitz that sometimes can come with

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Speaker 1: those situations, and you see it happen all the time. Um,

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Speaker 1: but I you know, I knew the truth, and so

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Speaker 1: I kind of just I knew who I was, I

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Speaker 1: knew how we ran the program. I knew that if

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Speaker 1: they looked into this, that they're not going to find

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Speaker 1: that these things were true. And and that's eventually what happened.

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Speaker 1: So it's not easy to go through. Um it was

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Speaker 1: hard to go through for my family and and even

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Speaker 1: for my players because I have a very close relationship

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Speaker 1: with those guys and and and everyone around there, and

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Speaker 1: we were having success too, so um, it was interesting.

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Speaker 1: I think you learn a lot in those situations to

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Speaker 1: you learn how to be over communicate even with players,

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Speaker 1: over communicate with parents, and make sure everybody's on the

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Speaker 1: same page, and um, as you run your program each year.

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Speaker 1: So it was always difficult to go through that. I

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Speaker 1: wish it upon no one, but I always know that

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Speaker 1: you can't believe everything that you read. There's two sides

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Speaker 1: every story, and that the truth will always eventually come out.

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Speaker 1: But it's got to be hard. It's got to be

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Speaker 1: hard to be you when you're like, I just want

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Speaker 1: to be me, and like even if you know you're

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Speaker 1: doing the right thing, you're still that in the back

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Speaker 1: of your mind, like some we're gonna take this the

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Speaker 1: right way. Right, how do you I'm wondering, even when

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Speaker 1: you feel like I'm cleared, I'm good, you still want

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Speaker 1: to coach in your way and not worry about parsing

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Speaker 1: every word that you say. How do you how do

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Speaker 1: you deal with that? Well? I think you just stay

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Speaker 1: true to who you are. Um demand, never demean and

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Speaker 1: I've never done that. You know, we've we've been coached

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Speaker 1: that way. I never wanted to. I've never done that

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Speaker 1: and never wanted to do that. And so just still

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Speaker 1: you still gotta demand, You still gotta hold accountability. And

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Speaker 1: I think those players coming back we won the championship

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Speaker 1: to following season and held up the trophy and beat

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Speaker 1: Miami Virginia. I mean, we had an unbelievable year following that,

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Speaker 1: and that's because the players around me kind of told me, coach,

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Speaker 1: be yourself, keep coaching us. It's we're doing right things,

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Speaker 1: We're going in the right direction. We're gonna keep winning.

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Speaker 1: So please don't change who you are because of what

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Speaker 1: people may be on the outside or the media they

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Speaker 1: write up about you, because it's not true. And you've

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Speaker 1: gotta keep doing what you're doing. So that I think

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Speaker 1: that Doug probably gave me the most um best feedback

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Speaker 1: for me, it was just my players wanting me to

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Speaker 1: coach the same and be demanding, have standards, high standards,

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Speaker 1: hold them accountable, and we're gonna go win if we

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Speaker 1: do that. And that's exactly what we did. Um why

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Speaker 1: why take the Bradley job? Oh? I grew up watching

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Speaker 1: Bradley so eighties as a kid. That's when I dove

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Speaker 1: into you know, it was Michael Jordan came to the Bulls.

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Speaker 1: Bradley in Illinois State were really good in the eighties

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Speaker 1: and so it's obviously Illinois. Illinois basketball was at its

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Speaker 1: height at the late eighties UM and into the nineties,

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Speaker 1: and that all from college to NBA with the Bowls.

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Speaker 1: So I, you know, I would watch Bradley play on TV,

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Speaker 1: play Illinois State, see that environment. As a senior, I

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Speaker 1: went down state and played at Carver Arena in Peoria

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Speaker 1: and I played an All Star game in Pure Illinois.

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Speaker 1: So I started, you know, I had a connection with

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Speaker 1: Central Illinois through going to the games as a kid

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Speaker 1: and then going to Pure as a player, and it

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Speaker 1: was it was kind of a no brainer. I was

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Speaker 1: fortunate and blessed enough out of Green Bay to have

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Speaker 1: a couple other options. And once Bradley opened up and

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Speaker 1: I saw Dr Chris Reynalds got the job, Um that

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Speaker 1: that was a place that I thought I could build

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Speaker 1: a program and build something that could last and and

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Speaker 1: hopefully I have a good run in the Valley. I

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Speaker 1: mean the Missouri Valley, dug. It's a it's it's a

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Speaker 1: great basketball league, great cities, a lot of tradition, and

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Speaker 1: I wanted to go see, you know, could we win? Um,

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Speaker 1: can we go do something at Bradley? Can we get

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Speaker 1: back to the tournament? Can we go win there? And Uh,

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Speaker 1: it's been a great run. I've really enjoyed it. You know,

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Speaker 1: when you when you leave a place like Green Bay

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Speaker 1: where you had been for it was nearly a decade, right,

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Speaker 1: it was you know six seven years, right, you're there

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Speaker 1: as an assistant, then as a head coach. Um. I

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Speaker 1: think people think, and this is outside the basket world,

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Speaker 1: like you just like, hey, I'm just I'm out. But

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Speaker 1: you know, you start a family there, you start your

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Speaker 1: basketball coaching career there, you go through all the stuff,

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Speaker 1: which I know I'm sure there's some negativity to what

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Speaker 1: you had to go through there. On the other hand,

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Speaker 1: like you said, you learn who your friends are who

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Speaker 1: had your back, so you obviously have some really good

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Speaker 1: friends there. What's that like to pack up to you

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Speaker 1: haul and to leave the first place to give you

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Speaker 1: a head coaching job. That's hard, really hard. I think

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Speaker 1: you're hitting your You're hitting on some things that people

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Speaker 1: don't really maybe a understand until you are a head

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Speaker 1: coach and have to do it. I had. I was

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Speaker 1: there for ten years, five as assistant five as I

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Speaker 1: had had great relationships with a lot of people in

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Speaker 1: the community. The packers were great to us. Um, I

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Speaker 1: had relationships with that organization. All three of my kids

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Speaker 1: were born there. Maya now is sixteen, and these thirteen,

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Speaker 1: and Devin's ten. I mean, all three were born in

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Speaker 1: Green Bay. My sister was, I mean, my wife was

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Speaker 1: born in Wisconsin, so she was a huge packer fans.

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Speaker 1: So my whole house is packer fans. Um. It was

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Speaker 1: very hard. It was very hard, and it's and it's

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Speaker 1: a it's kind of a myth out there in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: that coaches can just get up and bounce whenever they

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Speaker 1: want and it's just like, oh, they want me and

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Speaker 1: they're gonna offer me that I'm out. There's a lot

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Speaker 1: of contingenciese in your contract and things that are in

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Speaker 1: your contract that make it tough for you to just

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Speaker 1: leave for whenever you want and feel like and that's

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Speaker 1: not really the case, like you said, families a part

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Speaker 1: of that, and but it was. It was a time

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Speaker 1: where we had a great five year run at green Bay,

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Speaker 1: a really good team coming back though, so that that

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Speaker 1: was really hard to leave was that roster coming back

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Speaker 1: ended up going to the Unsimilay Tournament the next year,

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Speaker 1: and it was a really good team and really good

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Speaker 1: players left on that roster. So we knew we were

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Speaker 1: going to be good at green Bay and I knew

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Speaker 1: going to Bradley was a total rebuild. It was gonna

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Speaker 1: be from the bottom up and we're gonna take some

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Speaker 1: punches our first couple of years. But for me, it was,

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Speaker 1: you know, it was the right time for our family

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Speaker 1: and I to make a move, and our kids were

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Speaker 1: young enough still um and uh, I couldn't be happier.

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Speaker 1: It was We're closer to my family, my family still

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Speaker 1: in Chicagoland area, so that played a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a factor. But I really wanted to get to the valley,

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Speaker 1: and I really wanted to see if I could build

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Speaker 1: another program and do it at another level higher. And

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Speaker 1: and that was the competitiveness in me and the challenge

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Speaker 1: really drove me ultimately to take taken in Heartbeat. Fox

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Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

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Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot

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Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app search f

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Speaker 1: s R to listen live. Didn't Keeper get hurt his

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Speaker 1: last in the championship game, I'm sorry, I'm bring I'm

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Speaker 1: bringing up all the bad, thank God. Like I thought

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Speaker 1: it was gonna be a memory land, We're we're gonna

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Speaker 1: bulls hit and tell my day stories the whole time.

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Speaker 1: So okay, So for people who don't remember, this is

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Speaker 1: this is my memory of it. Um. It was the

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Speaker 1: Horizon League championship game, I want to say, and Keepers

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Speaker 1: the best player in the league. Right. This is back

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Speaker 1: when Butler was Butler still in the Horizon. They were

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Speaker 1: I believe they were still in the Horizon. They just left.

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Speaker 1: So we just left. We we It was actually in

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Speaker 1: the semis and it was in the final four and

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Speaker 1: we're the number one seed. We want where is it

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Speaker 1: in Green Bay. It is in Green Bay. Um and

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Speaker 1: Key for sprains his ankle first five minutes into the game.

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Speaker 1: Bad tries to plan it. U W M are our

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Speaker 1: rivals Rob Jeter Um and I think we've beating him

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Speaker 1: twice in the regular season. And Keifer goes down. Alec

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Speaker 1: Brown separates his shoulder too, like the game before. So

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Speaker 1: our two best players and that's why the horizon and

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Speaker 1: they're both hurt. It's so hard to get to the

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Speaker 1: tournament in a one big league, and there is luck

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Speaker 1: involved in health is such a factor for all of us.

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Speaker 1: But Key first tries to play, struggles were losing overtime.

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Speaker 1: I like to we don't play very well, you know,

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Speaker 1: goes on to win the next game, and that was

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Speaker 1: crushing because then we end up going to the n

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Speaker 1: I T. And I didn't have either of those guys

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Speaker 1: playing the n I T either. They were still injured,

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Speaker 1: and so that that was a crushing year. And then

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Speaker 1: we come back the next year. Alec Brown League, you know, graduates,

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Speaker 1: that class graduates, and then we come back again and

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Speaker 1: we finished what fifteen three years some in valve holding us.

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Speaker 1: Bryce Drew had great teams during that run too. And

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Speaker 1: we finished that and we lost in the championship game

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Speaker 1: the next year in the championship by like four. So

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Speaker 1: the big question with me could I win the big one?

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Speaker 1: Can I get to the tournament as a coach? And

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Speaker 1: so the good part about Bradley, We've been able to

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Speaker 1: win our tournament twice and and get there. Now I

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Speaker 1: want to win a regular season and get back and

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Speaker 1: win games. I think that's where our programs at now.

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Speaker 1: But it was it was hard. It was hard losing

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Speaker 1: those games and senior players get injured in those big moments.

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Speaker 1: How are you different putting together a staff at Bradley

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Speaker 1: as opposed to at Green Bay. Well, I think you

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Speaker 1: just look at for me, recruiting networks, recruiting basses. Uh.

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Speaker 1: Coming down here into the Valley. Um, we're gonna have

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Speaker 1: to upgrade in some areas, especially on the front line

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Speaker 1: with players, because the Valley is just physically bigger, stronger league. Um.

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Speaker 1: But also you know there were some coaches I had

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Speaker 1: more resources financial to go after some coaches, Uh, and

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Speaker 1: get on my staff too. So UM. You know, Jimmy

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Speaker 1: Foster has been with me a long time. He's great coach.

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Speaker 1: He was with me at green Bay's with me still

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Speaker 1: at Bradley, I was able to go get Mike Bargain,

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Speaker 1: who played at Marquette, was an old teammate but had

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Speaker 1: great success as a head coach and the junior college ranks.

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Speaker 1: And tried to get him at Green Bay, but I

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Speaker 1: just couldn't offer him enough money to bring him over.

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Speaker 1: So I was able to get him. And then I

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Speaker 1: Drew Adams, who because now at Cincinnati, but Drew it

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Speaker 1: was a guy of Nolan and I knew he was

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Speaker 1: tied in that work and a great recruiter. So UM,

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Speaker 1: I was able to bring those three guys and we

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Speaker 1: had a long seven years together, longest tenure in the

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Speaker 1: league besides Northern Iowa. So uh, that's big. Consistency and

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Speaker 1: continuity on your staff is big for your players to see,

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Speaker 1: but also to help your program grow and and those

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Speaker 1: guys have been influential. But that's the biggest thing is

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Speaker 1: just finding you know, some really good personalities and recruiters.

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Speaker 1: But they all got to be smart and hard working

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Speaker 1: and loyal. I think that's the biggest three things for

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Speaker 1: that I look for in a staff member. Um, you

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Speaker 1: didn't leave this time when you finally made the tournament. Right,

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Speaker 1: we know how the business works. Right, even if like

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Speaker 1: you make the tournaments somehow you're a genius. Right, you

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Speaker 1: guys make the tournament at Bradley, everybody sees you play

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Speaker 1: on arch Madness. The first thing is what's it like

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Speaker 1: to to do that? To accomplish that? Considering your college career,

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Speaker 1: you guys didn't get to where you wanted to get

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Speaker 1: to as a as a um, as a coach at

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Speaker 1: Green Bay, you hadn't gotten to the tournament. You finally

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Speaker 1: get there, and it's what. There's a lot of tournaments

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Speaker 1: you can win, and they're all meaningful. I would say

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Speaker 1: arch Madness is a little different in terms of the

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Speaker 1: level of meaning. So you're in St. Louis, you cut

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Speaker 1: down the nets. What do you remember? It was huge?

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Speaker 1: I mean it was honestly. I mean it was a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a relief off my shoulders. I mean

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Speaker 1: for my career. It's like, I know I can do this.

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Speaker 1: I knew as a player I could accomplish this. I

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Speaker 1: knew as a coach I was I could do this.

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Speaker 1: It was just you had to have some timing, some

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Speaker 1: luck involved, and and we had at that year we

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Speaker 1: were beat up a little bit that year and then

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Speaker 1: got healthy and we just boom. We rode through February

401
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Speaker 1: into that tournament and won it. And we were playing

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Speaker 1: very well and we were healthy and had all our

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Speaker 1: top guys on the floor and um it felt good.

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Speaker 1: And lost a close one in Michigan State in the tournament,

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Speaker 1: but uh, great feeling. All the hard work kind of

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Speaker 1: paid off building that program. So that first class recruited

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Speaker 1: a Bradley. We're seniors when we won that tournament. So

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Speaker 1: just to see them get a chance to go to

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Speaker 1: the ends of going from five wins Doug five. It

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Speaker 1: was a hard year, five wins to thirteen wins to

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Speaker 1: two and see them go off was was really really

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Speaker 1: cool to be a part of and and see those

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Speaker 1: seniors smile on their families and how excited they were.

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Speaker 1: And then you know, we were on a mission again

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Speaker 1: the next year with a lot of guys back to

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Speaker 1: do it again, and we were able to do that,

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Speaker 1: and then COVID hit us, So that was another experience. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm only get that a second, but you mentioned the

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Speaker 1: five win years. Okay, how do you do it? Keep

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Speaker 1: coming into work and not get not getting negative, not

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Speaker 1: get to you know, how coaches getting Like, when I

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Speaker 1: get my guys in here, you know, or you know,

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Speaker 1: we'll get five winches hard. Honestly, I um, if you

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Speaker 1: asked my assistance that were with me, that might be

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Speaker 1: my best coaching year we had. Yeah, No, and just

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Speaker 1: to get we didn't finish last in the Valley. We

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Speaker 1: did not. We were the youngest team in America by far,

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Speaker 1: the youngest team in America, started five freshmen. Um, we

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Speaker 1: didn't finish last in the Valley. We played our best

430
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 1: basketball in February March. Like we won like three three

431
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,080
Speaker 1: of the five games in the last three weeks of

432
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,480
Speaker 1: the season, which is unbelievable with how young we were

433
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:47,520
Speaker 1: playing eight freshmen. Um. I just think it was about

434
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,159
Speaker 1: the little things, Like our goals weren't about numbers. It

435
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,959
Speaker 1: was about I want to be the best most together bench,

436
00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:56,840
Speaker 1: uh in the league. I want to see a sprinting

437
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,159
Speaker 1: to help each other up. It was all standards, it

438
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,680
Speaker 1: was all culture goals. It was I want to see

439
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,160
Speaker 1: the bench standing and sprinting, help teammates off the floor.

440
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,680
Speaker 1: And we would watch film and grade that and show them, hey,

441
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 1: we're getting better. I wanted to be the best blockout

442
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: team like not even rebounding because we knew we weren't

443
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 1: going out rebound which toss eight and some of these teams,

444
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: we just wanted to block out at a high level.

445
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 1: And every as a year went on, we just kept

446
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,400
Speaker 1: getting better and better and better. And you just show

447
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,720
Speaker 1: your team those goals and show them how you're getting better,

448
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:26,520
Speaker 1: and you don't get caught up in the results, and

449
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,359
Speaker 1: you talk about the process, the journey. You know the

450
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,000
Speaker 1: quote unquote what all coaches say, but it's true. When

451
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,119
Speaker 1: you're rebuilding like that, it's gotta you gotta try to

452
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,719
Speaker 1: find ways to enjoy the journey. We would have some

453
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:41,199
Speaker 1: fun days. We would um just kind of keep the

454
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,040
Speaker 1: guys working hard, but knowing that you are getting better,

455
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,440
Speaker 1: don't worry about the result. And by the end of

456
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:48,840
Speaker 1: the year, I mean we were in every game with

457
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,680
Speaker 1: about five minutes ago, and we either like I said,

458
00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:53,480
Speaker 1: we won some and then we lost some, but we

459
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:55,719
Speaker 1: get We just kept getting better gradually. And I think

460
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: that year really set the tone because our standards were

461
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,280
Speaker 1: set to how we were the locker room cleaning up,

462
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:02,879
Speaker 1: how we were on the bus, how we were in

463
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,199
Speaker 1: the hotels. I mean, all those things. We really established

464
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,400
Speaker 1: even though we weren't winning games. Now you established that

465
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,359
Speaker 1: you make the tournament. You have all those guys that

466
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,439
Speaker 1: had had bought and believed, And that also sends a

467
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,199
Speaker 1: good message to somebody who wants to hire you. Hey,

468
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 1: here's the guy who wants to build a legit program.

469
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,120
Speaker 1: You know You're enrage is high which all of these,

470
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,919
Speaker 1: all these athletic directors and presidents. Juan, why stay at

471
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,199
Speaker 1: Bradley when you could have left? Well, I just I

472
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 1: felt it was the right place for me and my

473
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,159
Speaker 1: family at the time. UM and I love Chris Reynolds,

474
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: my my athletic director, and I have a very good relationship.

475
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 1: I believe in his leadership. Um, the community of Peoria,

476
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,920
Speaker 1: I mean, Doug, you've probably been here at some point

477
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: in your playing career, and they love basketball. So we

478
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,760
Speaker 1: were leading the league in attendance. We built that back up.

479
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 1: We are guys were doing great in the classroom. The

480
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,640
Speaker 1: university has been very supportive, so UM and I felt

481
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,600
Speaker 1: like there's more to accomplish to like. The competitive edge

482
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 1: to me is there's more boxes to check, There's more

483
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,320
Speaker 1: things we have to do, and and I wanted to

484
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: do and I thought we were starting to get more

485
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,639
Speaker 1: support back, um that was here in previous you know,

486
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,880
Speaker 1: decades at Bradley and seeing those resources grow and get better,

487
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 1: you know, get you as a coach to be excited

488
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 1: to try to get back back in that office and

489
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,760
Speaker 1: get back to winning and trying to build a program up.

490
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: But there is the fear of being stuck though, right right,

491
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: I mean it's happened up Bradley. I mean I think

492
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 1: every coach year has been fired. Well Jim Jim left

493
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 1: played their legend there, take him to the Sweet sixteen

494
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,840
Speaker 1: and ultimately gets between Ben Jacobsen's He's the longest hanger

495
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,800
Speaker 1: coach in the league. An amazing job. And I know,

496
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 1: like knowing Jake, I know that Jake will be like, look,

497
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 1: I get to raise my family in one place. I'll

498
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 1: have to move around. This is way more money than

499
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,439
Speaker 1: I ever thought I would make. All this stuff like

500
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: that sounds great, but you are in fact stuck. Like

501
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,199
Speaker 1: I'm sure you had other coaches you'd be like, Bro,

502
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 1: you gotta get out right. Oh yeah, there's no doubt.

503
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,600
Speaker 1: I think you know, after year five when we went

504
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,479
Speaker 1: back to back and then COVID hit obviously COVID probably

505
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 1: installed some opportunities. But I'll tell you what that's that's

506
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,360
Speaker 1: something you talk about, Doug. I'm not gonna lie. That's

507
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:18,959
Speaker 1: something you think about. That's something you talk to your

508
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 1: agent about. And you don't want to get stale. You

509
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 1: don't want and I think people at Bradley don't want

510
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 1: to be viewed as that job that you know, you

511
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,879
Speaker 1: get stuck at and can't get out. Jim Alinaria at

512
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:34,159
Speaker 1: hell of a hell of a run here. No, I

513
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 1: didn't know that. Yeah, that's great. So it's it's it's

514
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 1: always in the you know, it's something you've gotta in

515
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,159
Speaker 1: the coaching business. You've gotta be aware of. But honestly,

516
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: if you just take it one day at a time

517
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 1: and one week at a time, try not to get

518
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 1: wrapped into that and in my competitiveness and what I

519
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: want to do and try to take us to another

520
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,040
Speaker 1: level is really what drives me every day and hopefully

521
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 1: we can do that. UM, how do you find the

522
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: balance with your family? You have a great wife, First off,

523
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:10,240
Speaker 1: support support with her. UM. She's former athletes, soccer players,

524
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,480
Speaker 1: so she she gets the student athlete experience and the

525
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 1: work that needs to be put in. Uh. I think

526
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,959
Speaker 1: it's important though. I mean, my staff, I don't want

527
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 1: him here all night at all. I think the better

528
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,440
Speaker 1: father you are, the better husband you are, the better

529
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,399
Speaker 1: coach you are, and I think it's great for your

530
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: players to see you in that light. So my players

531
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 1: see me as a father and husband all the time

532
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,400
Speaker 1: because my girls both played basketball and they're over your

533
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,199
Speaker 1: shooting or working out. And my son does too, and

534
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 1: so I think they get a chance to see me

535
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,800
Speaker 1: as a husband and as a father in that is

536
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: a very very positive thing in my opinion, with these

537
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,680
Speaker 1: younger generations especially, so helps all of us. My staff

538
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,280
Speaker 1: all has kids and they know. You know, I think

539
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: the work environment is very healthy to be a father

540
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,720
Speaker 1: and a coach here, and and we're always battling it though.

541
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: I mean we always have moments of you know, we

542
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,440
Speaker 1: probably should not be working this much. But I think

543
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 1: if you can take Sunday's off, I really do try

544
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,719
Speaker 1: to take Sunday's off um and be with my family

545
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 1: and watch football and relax, um. And I try to

546
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: get to my kids events because I think that all

547
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 1: makes us better as coaches, So we make it a

548
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: priority here. Um. You mentioned COVID, what was COVID Like

549
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 1: in Porre, Illinois, it was, Oh, it wasn't coaching that

550
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,879
Speaker 1: year is managing and it was. It was tough. It

551
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:31,680
Speaker 1: was tough because everybody kind of was going through their

552
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: own um so wait, wait when it when it when

553
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,919
Speaker 1: it hits, When it hits, you guys were where you

554
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,199
Speaker 1: guys had finished the conference tournament, right, Yeah, we just

555
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: won the Archmanness again and this is my best team

556
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 1: four wins, were rolling again, got really good players and

557
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 1: literally we're practicing on Wednesday, after practice we find out

558
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,160
Speaker 1: and say we're shut down COVID And it was shocking.

559
00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,200
Speaker 1: It was it was like a roller coaster of emotions.

560
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: I really it was awful. Now did you know did

561
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 1: you have any sense something was coming? Because I will

562
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 1: tell you I've told the story a couple of times

563
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,840
Speaker 1: that I was. I was filling in on TV at

564
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 1: Fox Counter and like two days before I had said like, hey,

565
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: we have like a you have like a three a

566
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: meeting like three hours two and a half hours for

567
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,800
Speaker 1: the show. And I was like, hey, do we want

568
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 1: to talk about this COVID thing? Like they're like not

569
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:29,560
Speaker 1: a sports story, like okay, And then I remember, like

570
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,960
Speaker 1: that day I was driving home and I was talking

571
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 1: to a buddy because I was getting ready to the

572
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,879
Speaker 1: Big ten tournament and I was flying out like after

573
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 1: the Wednesday show or something, and it was Tuesday. It

574
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 1: was the Tuesday was with the Rudy Gobert thing. So

575
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: remember driving home, They're like, my buddy was like, dude,

576
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:48,480
Speaker 1: I don't know if the nca A tournament's happening. It's like,

577
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 1: come on, man, like we've been around this enough, Like

578
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: it would take it would take something other worldly to

579
00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,920
Speaker 1: stop like that machine, Like they'll be fine. I'm like

580
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 1: you sure, Like, yeah, these things are bad, but I

581
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 1: don't think it's it's not bad yet. Okay. So then

582
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 1: the next day, like I'm literally going out to I

583
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 1: remember having this conversation like I think we should talk

584
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,040
Speaker 1: about this today. I think it's gonnaffect sports, Like now

585
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 1: talk to the bosses. People don't want to hear bad,

586
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 1: bad stories. Just keep it positive, keep it sports. That

587
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: night was Rudy Gobert. I'm driving to the airport the

588
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: next day, literally bags back going l A X L

589
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: A X two. I don't know it was. I think

590
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 1: it was in Chicago that you maybe it was in Indeed,

591
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,720
Speaker 1: and I get a college from around go home. Yeah,

592
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,479
Speaker 1: and um, so you're you get your at practice when

593
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 1: they cancel it right after practice, Yeah, they d get

594
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: our s I d comes in and goes he the

595
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: in Sibili tournament is getting canceled. He's like, I just

596
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 1: need you to know so your guys don't find out

597
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 1: on social media and stuff. And I'm like, what, you know?

598
00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 1: The ball dropped? It was? That was difficult, man. It was.

599
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 1: It was because we worked so hard after losing a

600
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,960
Speaker 1: Michigan State that that whole mission of that team was

601
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,719
Speaker 1: to get back and win games. We wanted to get

602
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: back there, and it crushed us pretty good. But I

603
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 1: just remember like having to tell the team and how

604
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 1: everyone in tears, crying and and it was so upsetting

605
00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,719
Speaker 1: for everyone there. Um and then I remember laying like

606
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,680
Speaker 1: in my bed at that night, looking at my wife

607
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,280
Speaker 1: going did this really just happened? Like? Are we really

608
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 1: not playing this encitible a tournament and no selection Sunday

609
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: And We're just sitting there going, yeah, it sure sounds

610
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,240
Speaker 1: like it is. You know. I still had hope. Doug like, hey,

611
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 1: maybe in a month or two we'll figure out how

612
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: to have the tournament or will have it in may

613
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,200
Speaker 1: or or I mean not May yet, may or June.

614
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 1: There were some rumors going around about all that. Um,

615
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,680
Speaker 1: it was just amazing that it actually went down and

616
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 1: the tournament never happened. And I still feel awful for

617
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 1: those seniors, I mean all the seniors and all the

618
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: all the student athletes across the country that worked to

619
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: get to that tournament and get back to their tournaments

620
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 1: and compete. It was just it was gut wrenching for

621
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,479
Speaker 1: a while. So what did you What did you do

622
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 1: when everything when the world was shut down? What were

623
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 1: you doing? Oh? Just oh, best true story. They took

624
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:20,600
Speaker 1: down the rims at our park basketball rooms. My kids

625
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 1: were like, Dad, we have nowhere to shoot in my

626
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: front yard. Driveway is sloped too much to put like

627
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 1: a hoop on. I called concrete guy I knew, who

628
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:32,479
Speaker 1: was a big supporter of ours, and said, is there

629
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: any chance you could put a half court in my

630
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: backyard during COVID So I had didn't come over. He

631
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 1: marked it off and we put a little hoop in

632
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 1: a court in my backyard so my kids could shoot

633
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,440
Speaker 1: and play, and and we ended up starting to have

634
00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,239
Speaker 1: the whole neighborhood over playing two on two and three

635
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 1: on three kind of brought back memory. So that was fun.

636
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: You know. It's like, I don't I don't want the

637
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 1: world to completely shut down, but there was there was

638
00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 1: a lot of good stuff that happened there, right like that,

639
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,960
Speaker 1: you don't have anything, no reason to not just have

640
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:09,640
Speaker 1: conversations with your kids now, and I don't I don't

641
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 1: want several months long shutdown, but it would be cool

642
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 1: if we could find a way, like, hey, let's just

643
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: have a week where everybody has to stay home, put

644
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: the phones away, you put the phones away, no sports

645
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:23,240
Speaker 1: on TV, and let's kind of reconnect with everybody. You know,

646
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: you're like, hey, I kind of like my neighbors again. Yeah, no,

647
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 1: I totally agree. I think we did more family like

648
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 1: we were watching series together, like TV series as a

649
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,000
Speaker 1: family in the basement, playing more board games and games

650
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 1: because we're all home. Um now there, I think you're

651
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,640
Speaker 1: spot on. There's positives and everything. If you look at

652
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 1: that glass half fol and and there were definitely some

653
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,600
Speaker 1: really cool family connections that we had. And we drove

654
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,280
Speaker 1: down to Florida pretty quick, not too quick, but we

655
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: we got to Florida, to see my wife's family. All

656
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,480
Speaker 1: all of them lived down in Florida, So, um, that

657
00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 1: was cool to just connect with family too, and and

658
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:02,360
Speaker 1: see family. And you mentioned how much you like the

659
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 1: state college basketballs, and I think a lot of people

660
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:08,120
Speaker 1: would disagree with you. My question is what you've been

661
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,400
Speaker 1: able to what you were able to do last time?

662
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 1: You built it? Right, Let's start with freshman, keep them

663
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,240
Speaker 1: and then build a league champion? Right? That's can you

664
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,840
Speaker 1: still do that now with the portal and with all

665
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 1: these other factors? Not right now? UM? I like that.

666
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,920
Speaker 1: I like the state of coaching a lot where we're

667
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,960
Speaker 1: going with coaching in college basketball. But meaning what what? Meaning? What?

668
00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:36,400
Speaker 1: Like it was? Why would you say that the the

669
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:38,960
Speaker 1: style of coaching that's you know with these kids that

670
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 1: they want, the one on one attention to talking the

671
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 1: um um, just how we go about, you know, dealing

672
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 1: with certain issues and talking to them and practice length

673
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 1: and intensity and days off. I think everything we have

674
00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,840
Speaker 1: for the players is a lot healthier. Um in a

675
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 1: lot of ways. The n I L I think is

676
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: a positive thing. I think there personally there if they

677
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 1: get a get a few more regulations in it, it

678
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 1: can make it even better. Um, but the portal is

679
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,319
Speaker 1: the big one, Doug, like you're saying, and that has

680
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,839
Speaker 1: changed the game. There's no doubt the last two years

681
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 1: is totally different than any years I've ever had as

682
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 1: a player and as a coach. You just gotta find

683
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: ways to navigate it and make the best of the situation.

684
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,640
Speaker 1: You can't complain about it. You've got to adapt. And um,

685
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,360
Speaker 1: we've just tried to find a kind of find a

686
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 1: rhythm and how to recruit the portal and how we

687
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 1: want to recruit a roster every year because you don't

688
00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,120
Speaker 1: know how many scholarships going to have, especially at our level,

689
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:37,160
Speaker 1: the mid major mid major plus level, you just don't know.

690
00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,000
Speaker 1: So you've got to plan, you know, to you know,

691
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,919
Speaker 1: four or five guys like recruited starting five every year

692
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:47,000
Speaker 1: and kind whatever. Like. There's there's two different levels to it, right.

693
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:50,399
Speaker 1: There's the first level to it is is you're trying

694
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,919
Speaker 1: to recruit a team. You don't know who you're gonna play,

695
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,400
Speaker 1: but also do you are you able to recruit guys

696
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 1: and and get guys to commit who are maybe above

697
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,440
Speaker 1: your level because is the high majors are waiting on

698
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:07,160
Speaker 1: portal kids. We have we haven't yet been able to

699
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,239
Speaker 1: snag those kids, but I think we will be able to.

700
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 1: We were trying, um, and then you you might lose

701
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,600
Speaker 1: them in a year or two if you develop them right. Um,

702
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 1: But I would rather get him into Bradley and show

703
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,839
Speaker 1: them our family atmosphere, our facilities are resources and hope

704
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,879
Speaker 1: that they would want to stick it out for four years.

705
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,640
Speaker 1: But it is different. Um, it's not like our day

706
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 1: when senior four seniors graduated. You lost a five man in,

707
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 1: a point guard and a shooting guard and you just

708
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,359
Speaker 1: replace those three spots with freshmen point guard, shooting guard,

709
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,680
Speaker 1: five man and then you develop them and and and

710
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: get them to be playing as juniors and seniors. So

711
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:42,560
Speaker 1: it's definitely different in the sense of you've got to

712
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,880
Speaker 1: recruit junior college. We've got to recruit uh, you know,

713
00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 1: prep schools international. We've had a lot of success internationally

714
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:53,480
Speaker 1: here at Bradley too, And so it's it has changed

715
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,920
Speaker 1: the game and you have to recruit all positions all

716
00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:00,399
Speaker 1: year round and anticipate signing a pretty much a team

717
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 1: in the spring. So spring signing period as is more

718
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 1: important now than fall, where it used to be you

719
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 1: wanted to sign in November and get your get everyone

720
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,120
Speaker 1: signed in the fall. I have. I've had two official

721
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,960
Speaker 1: visits this fall. That's a two total. And if we

722
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,960
Speaker 1: don't get one of those kids, I'm fine with going

723
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,799
Speaker 1: into the spring and signing guys because that's kind of

724
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:22,759
Speaker 1: what has changed. The portal has changed that dynamic of

725
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 1: when when you want to sign and when you don't,

726
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 1: especially at our level. So it's really it's crazy, right,

727
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 1: like you'd go into a spring without anybody there, whereas

728
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:39,440
Speaker 1: just go back before this, all before COVID, if you

729
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:43,439
Speaker 1: would have been coaching in the valley and I open

730
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:46,920
Speaker 1: up your notes and there's nobody in your and your

731
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 1: signing class, your recruiting class to tout everyone be like,

732
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:54,360
Speaker 1: oh he's he's out. Yeah, what are you doing? Yeah?

733
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,440
Speaker 1: What do you guys? What do you guys? What are

734
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,640
Speaker 1: you guys doing? So it's it completely. It throws off

735
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:03,520
Speaker 1: your rhythm right in terms of everything you know and

736
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:09,080
Speaker 1: done for your professional life for twenty years has dramatically,

737
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,840
Speaker 1: dramatically changed over the past two years. No, it has,

738
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: and and it's it's where you have to adapt as

739
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: a coach. You can't get set in your old ways.

740
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: You've got to develop new ways of doing things. And

741
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: you know the COVID fifth year that everyone got to

742
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: for four classes that changed to that changed the game too.

743
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:30,600
Speaker 1: And so when that runs out, when that's done, which

744
00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 1: is coming soon, I think that can maybe settle it

745
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,120
Speaker 1: down a little bit, hopefully, and I hope because it

746
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:38,839
Speaker 1: is hurting high school recruitment. It's hurting high school kids.

747
00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:41,160
Speaker 1: I feel for high school kids right now because there's

748
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,400
Speaker 1: just not getting recruited like they used to h on

749
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:49,560
Speaker 1: the boys and girls side, and so, um, we just

750
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 1: recruit year round. We recruit all positions. We're on our

751
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,080
Speaker 1: junior college kids for on. You know, we don't look

752
00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:59,279
Speaker 1: into hey, who's gonna have a big year D two

753
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 1: that we could go pluck. We don't really get into

754
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:04,240
Speaker 1: that at all. That's something we'd probably do more towards

755
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:08,200
Speaker 1: February and March saying all right, maybe you try to

756
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:10,799
Speaker 1: project who might transfer because you can't call on any kids,

757
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,319
Speaker 1: can't do any of that. But it's like it's a

758
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,560
Speaker 1: it's a different ballgame. So when March hits, you've got

759
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:18,480
Speaker 1: to be ready to hit the road running and be

760
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:21,799
Speaker 1: out every night recruiting because it's it's a it's a

761
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 1: dog fight once that once March hits in April. I've

762
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:28,160
Speaker 1: had people tell me they've adjusted, like you got to

763
00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:31,319
Speaker 1: look at the length of time and handshake lines, right

764
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:34,919
Speaker 1: that it used to be like just all blow byes,

765
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:38,600
Speaker 1: blow by blow byes. Then the coaches, you know, shake hands.

766
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,520
Speaker 1: Now it's like, oh, where's your mom at hey? Yeah? No, no,

767
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,279
Speaker 1: it's funny. I know head coaches that now want to

768
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 1: go on the back of the line. Yes, yes, I

769
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:51,960
Speaker 1: used to always be the first guy. Now I'm the

770
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,560
Speaker 1: last guy. We we strategically put the assistance. They shake

771
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,879
Speaker 1: hands with certain guys right like this is a real thing.

772
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:03,279
Speaker 1: Oh it's cut wrote it is? Um. Yeah, we I

773
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,560
Speaker 1: think it. I think everything goes in cycles, and I

774
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 1: think it will settle down. I hope not right now,

775
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,400
Speaker 1: not these these coming years, but I hope it the

776
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,319
Speaker 1: portal settles down because there's a because the one thing

777
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 1: you do know factually, and we've we've been presented our

778
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,239
Speaker 1: head coaches meaning said the portal does not help graduation

779
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,719
Speaker 1: rates at all. You know, kids, kids are not graduating

780
00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 1: at all on time, and most of them aren't now

781
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,520
Speaker 1: because it's hard because those credits don't transfer to get

782
00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 1: credits into Bradley is really hard. So like I'll take

783
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,000
Speaker 1: a transcript and I'll be like, hey, sorry, eighteen of

784
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,399
Speaker 1: your credits aren't coming in here, and they're like what.

785
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: So like it's hard for us to recruit the portal

786
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 1: because of that. To our standards are very high or academically,

787
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:45,839
Speaker 1: So I hope it settles down just so that these

788
00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:50,000
Speaker 1: kids can get their degrees on time and we don't

789
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,759
Speaker 1: have so many kids left out in the Gray. A

790
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,759
Speaker 1: lot of them leftist full ride and don't now don't

791
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:57,839
Speaker 1: have a full ride, And I think that's a that's

792
00:39:57,840 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 1: a huge adjustment for a lot of these kids that

793
00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:03,319
Speaker 1: need support and help to get that education and get

794
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,319
Speaker 1: on a team. No, I agree. We we we just

795
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,160
Speaker 1: completely diminished it um and made it try to sort

796
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,680
Speaker 1: of semi professionalize this thing and it's just not just

797
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:15,600
Speaker 1: not what it's it's wired for. Does name, image and

798
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:20,319
Speaker 1: likeness does it play a part at all in the Valley?

799
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:24,000
Speaker 1: I think it it does a little bit right now.

800
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 1: Um of definitely retaining players. Uh you know, I lost

801
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 1: the point guard last year to Georgia. You know, my

802
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: my all Valley guy, Terry Roberts, great kid love him

803
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:40,680
Speaker 1: to death, still love him today. I can't compete with Georgia. Um.

804
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 1: I think if we can get good an I L

805
00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,799
Speaker 1: deals for It's funny because they lost their point guard

806
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,400
Speaker 1: to Kentucky, right like, it's that and then and then

807
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:48,759
Speaker 1: it was like it was like you're go and get

808
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:53,560
Speaker 1: somebody else's point guard. It's it's a it's a cycle. Um,

809
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 1: but I think I hopefully it can help retain players.

810
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 1: We have an n I L H group here that

811
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 1: was warm, that is helping and support our players and

812
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,880
Speaker 1: student athletes, and hopefully that can help retain our guys

813
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: because the goal, I mean, you don't want to lose

814
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:09,759
Speaker 1: number one and two when your roster. If you can

815
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:13,239
Speaker 1: retain three through ten and you you know you only

816
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 1: have three or four transfers coming in, that's doable. You

817
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:19,040
Speaker 1: can keep your culture, you can keep your standards, and

818
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,080
Speaker 1: and you can keep I think a high level of play.

819
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:23,440
Speaker 1: When you start getting five to six to seven to

820
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 1: eight transfers in and you've got to redo a whole roster,

821
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:31,520
Speaker 1: now you can struggle, especially in the valley. And you know,

822
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 1: hopefully these n I L groups can help us keep

823
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,919
Speaker 1: number one and two around longer at least three through

824
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:40,440
Speaker 1: ten on the roster as long as possible. Things you

825
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:43,120
Speaker 1: never thought you'd be dealing with, right, No, I know,

826
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 1: I know. I love when number ten is like, hey,

827
00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:51,200
Speaker 1: I need some man I have, like, oh it happens

828
00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:54,320
Speaker 1: to I know it, I know it, I know it happens.

829
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 1: Um okay, A couple of quick ones. Favorite place to

830
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:03,320
Speaker 1: play in the valley. You can't say your own gym

831
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:05,040
Speaker 1: Red Bird Arina is a lot of fun just because

832
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:09,440
Speaker 1: Illinois stating Bradley tradition and robbery normal Illinois. How far

833
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:13,400
Speaker 1: drive is that? About forty five minutes? Awesome? War on

834
00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:17,319
Speaker 1: seventy four across Highway seventy four. Least favorite place to

835
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:22,719
Speaker 1: play in the valley Valpariso. I don't know Valparaiso if

836
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,640
Speaker 1: I had some tough losses there and in Green Bay,

837
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 1: so don't like, don't like the ark right and called

838
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,960
Speaker 1: the arc something like that. Yeah. Yeah, Actually that's where

839
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,080
Speaker 1: I first met Brad Stevens. It was his first year coaching.

840
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:38,680
Speaker 1: I was doing their game against Valpo and I remember

841
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:40,440
Speaker 1: like they got down with shoot around and he's like

842
00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:41,920
Speaker 1: you want to go? You wanna go grab lunch? And

843
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:43,520
Speaker 1: I was like yeah. We started talking. I'm like, this

844
00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:49,120
Speaker 1: guy is amazing Mark, just smart guy, nice guy. Whatever

845
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:51,879
Speaker 1: you would have told me he played for two national championships,

846
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:56,680
Speaker 1: I'd like, no, no way, not no no chance. Um

847
00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 1: far for Aaron Rodgers. Oh man, Well I'm a Bears fan.

848
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:06,160
Speaker 1: But my my my wife would say my wife would

849
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:10,919
Speaker 1: say far and my three kids will say Aaron Rodgers. Um,

850
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:14,960
Speaker 1: how great was it as the Chicago guy during COVID

851
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:20,160
Speaker 1: to watch the Last Dance and like all that I

852
00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:23,960
Speaker 1: should have remembered. That was the highlight of like family time,

853
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:26,680
Speaker 1: well whole family. I made my family all sit and

854
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 1: watched Last Dance together. We get popped yes, and we

855
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,680
Speaker 1: sat there and that was Doug unbelievable. It was probably

856
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,279
Speaker 1: the best experience of COVID was watching every episode of

857
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:39,560
Speaker 1: the Last Dance right, wait for you waited for the

858
00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:41,799
Speaker 1: next one. It was like I remember, I remember my

859
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,279
Speaker 1: first year of playing. I was in Russia and it

860
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,800
Speaker 1: was when UH was swin. Survivor was Survivor's first season,

861
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:53,440
Speaker 1: and we'd get we'd get weekly we'd get a Survivor

862
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:57,560
Speaker 1: tape in the mail right and we'd only we'd sometimes

863
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:00,480
Speaker 1: watched an episode. Sometimes we just watched like two segments

864
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,080
Speaker 1: and like that's how we're watching tonight, right, Like, because

865
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:06,040
Speaker 1: that's how you get that was what the last dances, Like,

866
00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:07,759
Speaker 1: you're actually waiting on the next show, like, man, I

867
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:09,880
Speaker 1: can't wait for the next episode, can't wait for next Sunday.

868
00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:12,080
Speaker 1: Gave you something to look forward to. But also as

869
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 1: a guy, I'm sure you grew up. I'm a Jira

870
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,759
Speaker 1: Jordan guy. I'm a Jordan guy, right, And you just

871
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:20,680
Speaker 1: want to tell your kids, like se told you, Yeah,

872
00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:24,680
Speaker 1: this is this is why he won. It's this this Kobe.

873
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,600
Speaker 1: This is kind of how Kobe was in it was

874
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:30,759
Speaker 1: it's a different mentality. So it's good for young kids.

875
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:33,040
Speaker 1: I thought it was great for my I typed up

876
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 1: last dance notes dug and sent them to my team,

877
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 1: like lessons learned in in episode one, Lessons Learning, Episode two,

878
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:43,000
Speaker 1: Lessons Learning, episode three, because it was lessons that we

879
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:46,120
Speaker 1: kind of preachus coaches that are considered throwback now, just

880
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:49,799
Speaker 1: how Jordan's held his teammates accountable and how demanding he

881
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:54,200
Speaker 1: was and competitive everything was, and um, you know, I

882
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:57,720
Speaker 1: always say to be a great teammate and you got to, um,

883
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:00,000
Speaker 1: you know, set that, you know, set the standards set

884
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,120
Speaker 1: the example, but also you have to hold your teammates accountable.

885
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,799
Speaker 1: And it was a great lesson there and with when

886
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:07,839
Speaker 1: you're dealing with the generation that loves to be light

887
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,759
Speaker 1: and clicked light and loved Um. It was really cool

888
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:13,600
Speaker 1: to watch, and the lessons in it was really good.

889
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 1: It was really, really really good. Um, okay, it's Justin Fields,

890
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:22,920
Speaker 1: the guy to rescue your Bears. I hope I'm a

891
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:26,200
Speaker 1: you know, we have group group text with the family

892
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:29,239
Speaker 1: members and huge Bears fan. I grew up Walter Payton,

893
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:33,719
Speaker 1: Jersey on my back, Jim McMahon. Um, I hope he is.

894
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:35,960
Speaker 1: I hope he is. I'm rooting for him. I know

895
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,640
Speaker 1: that because we need a quarterback. Bears need a quarterback,

896
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,600
Speaker 1: because everyone knows we Bears. Bears literally needed a quarterback

897
00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:45,440
Speaker 1: their entire existence. I always joke with people, are last

898
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:48,880
Speaker 1: really good quarterback was Eric Kramer's season? No one remembers

899
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,839
Speaker 1: that Eric Kramer's season like that. He said, I think

900
00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:54,560
Speaker 1: he has a yardage and touchdown record Eric Kramer one year.

901
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:56,279
Speaker 1: It was a pro bowler. I think that year. But

902
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: We've had a long tradition of not having a great

903
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:03,400
Speaker 1: Q Bees, So I'm hoping fields can start sleeing that

904
00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:05,319
Speaker 1: thing a little bit and figure this whole thing out.

905
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 1: The best game you ever played? Mm hmm. It wasn't

906
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:16,960
Speaker 1: the best game I played, but it was it was

907
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:20,799
Speaker 1: I made at since I'll always remember we beat We

908
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:23,600
Speaker 1: swept Cincinnati my senior year, first team to ever sweep

909
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 1: Bobby Huggins ever in the Conference USA era when since

910
00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:28,640
Speaker 1: he was there and they were always top five every

911
00:46:28,719 --> 00:46:31,879
Speaker 1: year I was in college. We swept in my senior year.

912
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:33,839
Speaker 1: I made three free throws in overtime. I got filed

913
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:36,839
Speaker 1: on a three. Um might have been a flop. Maybe

914
00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:38,680
Speaker 1: not a flop. We don't know. That's up for debate,

915
00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:41,279
Speaker 1: but um, I made three free throws in a row

916
00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:44,120
Speaker 1: to win that game in overtime, not with like I

917
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:46,719
Speaker 1: don't know, under a minute to go to seal the game.

918
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:49,600
Speaker 1: And I just remember that feeling of finally getting since

919
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:53,760
Speaker 1: he twice after getting beat by them and them dominate

920
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:55,640
Speaker 1: the league for so long, so that that was a

921
00:46:55,840 --> 00:46:57,680
Speaker 1: that was a good moment. But they were a team.

922
00:46:57,719 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 1: They were a team, and they would win some games

923
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 1: and lay up lines like they come out and they

924
00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:04,600
Speaker 1: just look like badasses. Yeah, you had like mart Long

925
00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:07,120
Speaker 1: and Bobby Brandon who punched his horses and stuff like

926
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:15,960
Speaker 1: police force. They were legendary stories about these guys, Um,

927
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:17,680
Speaker 1: and they were I mean, if you weren't intimidated. But

928
00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:20,200
Speaker 1: we were pretty marquete. We were big. We were big team,

929
00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:24,040
Speaker 1: strong team, so like they could, they would physically out

930
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:26,640
Speaker 1: tough you and intimidate you from the jump from the jump.

931
00:47:26,719 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 1: And Kenyan Martin was monstering, I mean, just a monster

932
00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:31,920
Speaker 1: in college. So it was fun. It was fun competing

933
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:36,719
Speaker 1: against him. Though in ten years, little brand will be

934
00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:43,080
Speaker 1: oh Man, hopefully coaching at my last spot and retiring

935
00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:46,680
Speaker 1: very soon too, so I can see my kids play

936
00:47:46,719 --> 00:47:48,799
Speaker 1: and and and grow up. I'm not one of those

937
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:51,719
Speaker 1: coaches that wants to coach the seventy at all or sixty.

938
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:54,839
Speaker 1: I pray I can coach. Uh, If I can coach

939
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:59,040
Speaker 1: another decade, that'd be great, and then maybe hopefully just

940
00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:01,120
Speaker 1: at my last spot, and then maybe getting into some

941
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:04,360
Speaker 1: radio or TV and do some basketball stuff. Good pipes.

942
00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:09,880
Speaker 1: Pipes always had good pipe, always had good pipes. Um.

943
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:13,920
Speaker 1: The best the coach that you go against, that is,

944
00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:16,920
Speaker 1: he's the best coach you go against, And people maybe

945
00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:20,400
Speaker 1: don't realize that or understand it because he's in the

946
00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:22,879
Speaker 1: Valley or is in the Horizon. Give me somebody who

947
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:24,920
Speaker 1: you really respect, you know, to be friends with him,

948
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,759
Speaker 1: just you respect what he does. Now he doesn't wow.

949
00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:31,880
Speaker 1: Porter and I are good friends and we can We

950
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:33,560
Speaker 1: competed when I was at Green Bay, when he was

951
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:35,520
Speaker 1: at Loyal in the Horizon League, and then to see

952
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:37,640
Speaker 1: what he did with the Loyal program and how well

953
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:41,600
Speaker 1: that he had them playing, I respected them a great deal. Um.

954
00:48:41,640 --> 00:48:45,320
Speaker 1: But Ben Jacobson, I mean, I just respect longevity and consistency.

955
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:48,320
Speaker 1: I think consistency and sustaining a program is so hard

956
00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:52,239
Speaker 1: to do, so hard at any level. And to see

957
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:54,160
Speaker 1: him do it, especially at the mid major level at

958
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:57,680
Speaker 1: Northern Iowa, that's impressive to me. And that he can

959
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:01,359
Speaker 1: be at one place that long and and they may

960
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:03,520
Speaker 1: not win it every year, but they're every third fourth

961
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:06,640
Speaker 1: year man, they're contending for something big and um and

962
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:12,759
Speaker 1: that's something that I greatly respect. Um. Okay, last thing,

963
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:18,319
Speaker 1: if you're a college player like yourself, okay, and you

964
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:21,879
Speaker 1: want to be a coach, well, if you could tell

965
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:24,800
Speaker 1: like you could tell your younger self this in preparing

966
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:27,360
Speaker 1: for this journey, if you could tell somebody who's similar

967
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:32,280
Speaker 1: really good college hell of a college player, right, and UM,

968
00:49:32,360 --> 00:49:35,120
Speaker 1: if you could tell yourself this, it would really help you.

969
00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:43,080
Speaker 1: The players are not you. They're not you, UM, they're

970
00:49:43,120 --> 00:49:46,480
Speaker 1: them that how you trained, how you work, your mentality

971
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:48,799
Speaker 1: is not going to be like every player that you

972
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:51,319
Speaker 1: coach at all. Most of them won't be and don't

973
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:55,239
Speaker 1: expect it to be so. Um and really they don't

974
00:49:55,239 --> 00:49:59,400
Speaker 1: care about your playing career that much. You're old and UM,

975
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:06,120
Speaker 1: you can throw some things like like like you've had this,

976
00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:09,120
Speaker 1: I you've had this. I guarantee you've had this. Right.

977
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:13,839
Speaker 1: And I had this experience recently where there's a guy

978
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:17,120
Speaker 1: we're talking about coaching whatever, and then he hopped in

979
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:19,080
Speaker 1: This was an AU and he hopped in layup line

980
00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:23,680
Speaker 1: his kids and I watched him and I'm like, well,

981
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:29,600
Speaker 1: that guy's never played basketball before. Whereas like if you

982
00:50:29,600 --> 00:50:32,120
Speaker 1: you know, you come up a screen and you get

983
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,480
Speaker 1: your feet set and you catch it and you lace it,

984
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:37,440
Speaker 1: ripe it, and people like oh, and then they look like, oh,

985
00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:39,680
Speaker 1: he's the third all time leading scorer a Marquette, Like

986
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:42,920
Speaker 1: it's it. I understand you don't call on because they

987
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:45,040
Speaker 1: don't know the teams they don't know, none of that

988
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:47,320
Speaker 1: ship resonates to him. You're just those are just words

989
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:50,560
Speaker 1: salad to him. But there is something to having not

990
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:53,040
Speaker 1: only played but been a You were a hooper, right,

991
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:55,919
Speaker 1: you were a bucket. So it's a little different in

992
00:50:56,040 --> 00:50:58,520
Speaker 1: terms of do they really care, No, but there is

993
00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:02,640
Speaker 1: a respect factor too who who you were as a player.

994
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:07,960
Speaker 1: I would agree, um, I probably should reward it, especially nowadays.

995
00:51:07,960 --> 00:51:09,439
Speaker 1: Like my staff came to me a couple of years

996
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:11,440
Speaker 1: ago and like, you need to talk about your playing

997
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:14,960
Speaker 1: career more because these younger guys like that. They want

998
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:18,640
Speaker 1: to know exactly kind of what you're saying. Where At first,

999
00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:20,359
Speaker 1: when I was younger coach, I didn't want to talk

1000
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:22,480
Speaker 1: about it because I was probably still too close to it.

1001
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:25,800
Speaker 1: But now that I'm older, I I've been talking about

1002
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:27,239
Speaker 1: it maybe a little bit more the last year or

1003
00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:29,560
Speaker 1: two than ever before because it's younger generation. I'm old

1004
00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:31,920
Speaker 1: enough where they have no idea that I played, you know,

1005
00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:37,600
Speaker 1: or could play, so times have changed there. I would say, um, yeah,

1006
00:51:37,640 --> 00:51:40,760
Speaker 1: you are right there, But I would say, just because

1007
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:42,720
Speaker 1: you played doesn't mean you're going to be a good coach.

1008
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:47,799
Speaker 1: Just because you played question doesn't mean you know that

1009
00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:49,920
Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to get to this young man

1010
00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:52,960
Speaker 1: or motivate this young man. So you have to understand

1011
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:55,200
Speaker 1: that these young people are all different than you, and

1012
00:51:55,239 --> 00:51:57,239
Speaker 1: you got to you gotta adapt a little bit. You

1013
00:51:57,280 --> 00:51:59,960
Speaker 1: gotta have standards that you don't adapt on or change.

1014
00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:02,239
Speaker 1: But there are things motivationally and how you talk to

1015
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:06,399
Speaker 1: kids that you have to do differently. And I would

1016
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:10,840
Speaker 1: say that's in That's the biggest thing is that you know,

1017
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:13,160
Speaker 1: take those intangibles that you had as a player that

1018
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:15,480
Speaker 1: made you the player you were, and try to use

1019
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:18,080
Speaker 1: those towards your coaching career like chip on the shoulder,

1020
00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:23,480
Speaker 1: calm under pressure, um preparation. You know, those things that

1021
00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:25,440
Speaker 1: I had as a player, I tried to bring to

1022
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:29,239
Speaker 1: my coaching career. UM that could that could maybe help me.

1023
00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:31,600
Speaker 1: But the biggest thing is that these young men are

1024
00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:34,759
Speaker 1: not You don't expect them to be. Don't don't think

1025
00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:37,040
Speaker 1: you're going to recruit, you know guys. And I tell

1026
00:52:37,040 --> 00:52:38,799
Speaker 1: a lot of young coaches that they get jobs because

1027
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:40,279
Speaker 1: they do. You know, I talked to a lot of

1028
00:52:40,280 --> 00:52:42,480
Speaker 1: them and they said, what you do with thirty I said, well,

1029
00:52:42,480 --> 00:52:44,800
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what I didn't do right and hopefully

1030
00:52:44,800 --> 00:52:46,759
Speaker 1: you can take that and that can help you. Like

1031
00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:49,400
Speaker 1: what the one thing you did wrong? Oh, you just

1032
00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:54,040
Speaker 1: recruit players that were like you, or try and get

1033
00:52:54,040 --> 00:52:56,280
Speaker 1: all six five tough, pass white dudes from the Midwest

1034
00:52:56,320 --> 00:52:59,759
Speaker 1: that want to store and or or some it's it's

1035
00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:03,600
Speaker 1: just not reality, or you you have a million ideas

1036
00:53:03,640 --> 00:53:07,040
Speaker 1: and you try to know it's the great. So many

1037
00:53:07,040 --> 00:53:09,719
Speaker 1: of the great players are great coaches because their expectations

1038
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:12,280
Speaker 1: are to have same level of work ethic and intensity

1039
00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:14,560
Speaker 1: that they have and they and they just don't and

1040
00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:17,160
Speaker 1: you have to teach them that. And you know, you

1041
00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:19,279
Speaker 1: say yes everything. You have a million ideas. You want

1042
00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:20,960
Speaker 1: to be involved in ticketing, you want to be involved

1043
00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:24,120
Speaker 1: in marketing, and and that's my advice. Just coach your team,

1044
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:27,880
Speaker 1: get your program right, set your standards, set your identity.

1045
00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:31,040
Speaker 1: Let other people do their jobs. Like, don't get involved

1046
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:33,319
Speaker 1: in everything because it can consume you and it takes

1047
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:37,239
Speaker 1: up too much time. Awesome advice. You've been more than

1048
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:39,520
Speaker 1: gracious with your time. I know you gotta go, no,

1049
00:53:39,719 --> 00:53:42,000
Speaker 1: thanks Doug. It was awesome man. Great couching. Next one

1050
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:44,560
Speaker 1: we're doing in person, all right, and I'll talk to

1051
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:50,480
Speaker 1: you soon. Thanks. Do well, I really like Brian. I

1052
00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:53,000
Speaker 1: think he's a fantastic coach and even better guy and

1053
00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:56,440
Speaker 1: really gets gets the college student athlete in two thousand

1054
00:53:56,560 --> 00:53:59,280
Speaker 1: twenty two. Make sure you follow him on social media

1055
00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:03,000
Speaker 1: and tell him how how amazing he was, really, really

1056
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:06,000
Speaker 1: really good. UM reminder, The Doug Alive shows daily three

1057
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:08,279
Speaker 1: to six, three to five Eastern. Then we drop up

1058
00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:12,640
Speaker 1: live pod at five o'clock on the I Heart Radio app.

1059
00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 1: It's called in the Bonus, so basically it's the radio show,

1060
00:54:17,719 --> 00:54:20,320
Speaker 1: only completely uncensored a little bit while we have a

1061
00:54:20,320 --> 00:54:22,640
Speaker 1: lot of fun. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Doug Gotli.

1062
00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:23,359
Speaker 1: This is all ball