1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:10,320
Speaker 1: This is kJ Live with Chris Johnson. Allen and Chris

2
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,680
Speaker 1: is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and

3
00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 1: entertainment in a strain. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now too,

4
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,680
Speaker 1: then kJ Live Today's guest show the show is the

5
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,680
Speaker 1: head coach of the Minnesota Golden Golfers of the Big

6
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,640
Speaker 1: Ten Conference men's basketball. Let's welcome Ben Johnson to the show. Coach,

7
00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,080
Speaker 1: what's good? Not much? Man? What's going on? Shot man?

8
00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:38,960
Speaker 1: I mean anything and everything. I can imagine that you

9
00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,680
Speaker 1: have had a pretty busy off season with recruiting and

10
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,159
Speaker 1: things of that nature. Can just talk a little bit

11
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,000
Speaker 1: about what your first off season has looked like as

12
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,199
Speaker 1: a head basketball coach in the visual one left, I

13
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,160
Speaker 1: can tell you this, it's a lot more enjoyable than

14
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,640
Speaker 1: about a year ago. Uh, when I first got the job,

15
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,240
Speaker 1: and you're trying to navigate everything and build a whole

16
00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,399
Speaker 1: roster from the ground up and staff and you know,

17
00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,280
Speaker 1: figure out your exactly you know, philosophy and how you

18
00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,680
Speaker 1: wanna you know, start this program from day one. So

19
00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,319
Speaker 1: I'm unfortunate, you know, we we had a really good

20
00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,480
Speaker 1: group that uh, you know, we had on the on

21
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,240
Speaker 1: the team this year and and fund kids that built it.

22
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,320
Speaker 1: And we've got a lot of kids returning that were

23
00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,000
Speaker 1: a big piece of what we were trying to do

24
00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,200
Speaker 1: and the foundation we're trying to lay. And we're fortunate

25
00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,800
Speaker 1: enough to get some some four key high school kids, UM,

26
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:36,399
Speaker 1: and so we didn't have to jump in the portal

27
00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,240
Speaker 1: and get a crazy amount of guys like last year.

28
00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,920
Speaker 1: But we're able to definitely add a couple of pieces

29
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:47,360
Speaker 1: with with Dawston Garcia and Tar Samuel's who's who's from Dartmouth, UM,

30
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,000
Speaker 1: just to kind of add some veteran leadership, UM and

31
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,760
Speaker 1: some older bodies to our to our roster. And so

32
00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,560
Speaker 1: right now, UM, you know, we just finished up with

33
00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,120
Speaker 1: with the spring semester, so our guys are on break

34
00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,280
Speaker 1: right now. UM. Then we'll we'll look forward to getting

35
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,800
Speaker 1: kicked in gear here for summer in about two weeks.

36
00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:10,440
Speaker 1: You brought up last year the challenges with not only

37
00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,760
Speaker 1: inheriting a program that being a first year coach, but

38
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,480
Speaker 1: inherited program that lost around nine ten guys. Just talk

39
00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,920
Speaker 1: to us about how challenging that was and the methods

40
00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,840
Speaker 1: in your process that you went about to fill that

41
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,720
Speaker 1: roster with a quality roster that would be able to

42
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,760
Speaker 1: compete in the Big Ten. Yeah. So you know, when

43
00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,840
Speaker 1: I first took the job over, um, you know, I

44
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:37,800
Speaker 1: knew it was the first year of the Portals, So

45
00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,160
Speaker 1: there were gonna be kids that we're gonna make decisions

46
00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,840
Speaker 1: based off that. They were gonna test it because it

47
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,320
Speaker 1: was new, something exciting. I totally understood it with a

48
00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,080
Speaker 1: coaching change, you know, I also get that piece of it.

49
00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,800
Speaker 1: They didn't know me, I didn't know them, they didn't

50
00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,639
Speaker 1: owe me anything. Um, A kind of end of the

51
00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,440
Speaker 1: year tough and so there are a lot of decisions

52
00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,080
Speaker 1: that you know, I just had to assume we're going

53
00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,000
Speaker 1: to be made. And when I met with the team,

54
00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:02,880
Speaker 1: you know, my biggest thing was to get a feel

55
00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:04,560
Speaker 1: for them and for them to get a feel for me,

56
00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,200
Speaker 1: to figure out if if this relationship was gonna work.

57
00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,280
Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure that from day one I

58
00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,280
Speaker 1: was able to lay a foundation, um that I was

59
00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,880
Speaker 1: comfortable with and the one that was gonna be able to,

60
00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,000
Speaker 1: through wins and losses, be sustainable and set the tone

61
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,079
Speaker 1: for years to come. And so um, you know, after

62
00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,520
Speaker 1: about a couple of weeks in and meeting with guys,

63
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,280
Speaker 1: and guys making decision. I ended up keeping one player. Um,

64
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,799
Speaker 1: so it was from the from the whole crew, the

65
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,400
Speaker 1: whole crew. There was there was one kid that stayed

66
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,880
Speaker 1: and um Isaiah and and and to his credit, um,

67
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:41,960
Speaker 1: you know, it was a cruiting process. I mean it

68
00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,040
Speaker 1: was about a two or three week deal where you know,

69
00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,720
Speaker 1: I was meeting with him daily and working them out. UM.

70
00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,240
Speaker 1: But he he decided to stay two feet in and

71
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,760
Speaker 1: and the kid was playing really good basketball. UM. Was

72
00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,000
Speaker 1: was confident, was energetic, was was kind of really embracing

73
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,839
Speaker 1: the change. And no lie the first week, I think

74
00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,680
Speaker 1: the first day in the summer school towards a c

75
00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:09,240
Speaker 1: L and so we legitimately put a team on the

76
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,120
Speaker 1: floor with no players that had that had really played,

77
00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,960
Speaker 1: UM minus Eric Curry who decided to come back midsummer. Now,

78
00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:19,880
Speaker 1: Eric was a kid I recruited out of high school

79
00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,200
Speaker 1: that had a really really bright future and just had

80
00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,240
Speaker 1: battled injuries. And Eric was playing on one foot um

81
00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,040
Speaker 1: you know, the year before and and he got the

82
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,800
Speaker 1: bug to come back and play. So I had Eric,

83
00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,080
Speaker 1: and then I recruited Peyton Willis, and Peyton I recruited

84
00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:38,839
Speaker 1: out of high school. He had you know, kind of

85
00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:40,920
Speaker 1: been at a couple of schools in Minnesota being one

86
00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,320
Speaker 1: of them. Uh, those are the only two players that

87
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,000
Speaker 1: had ever played high major basketball. Everybody else that we

88
00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,560
Speaker 1: took or we added was either a freshman or somebody

89
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,760
Speaker 1: that came from Division two um or a low major

90
00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 1: a mid major level. And so just kind of the

91
00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,880
Speaker 1: challenge of making sure I got it right with the

92
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,080
Speaker 1: players that were in our locker room that was gonna

93
00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,120
Speaker 1: be huge. Again your first year, when you're when you're

94
00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,120
Speaker 1: that heavy into the portal, you don't know the type

95
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,919
Speaker 1: of talent that you're gonna get that's that's gonna translate

96
00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,760
Speaker 1: to to like Big ten success, right, You don't know

97
00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:17,640
Speaker 1: if you're gonna get that all lead type players. So

98
00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,400
Speaker 1: I just say, Okay, we gotta get the talent, but

99
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,640
Speaker 1: more importantly, we gotta get guys that we can lose with.

100
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,000
Speaker 1: We gotta get guys that we want to go to

101
00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,200
Speaker 1: battle with every single day and practice. They're gonna fit

102
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,279
Speaker 1: the culture, They're gonna set the tone. That's gonna be

103
00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,919
Speaker 1: examples on and off the floor that are gonna be

104
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,120
Speaker 1: able to be coachable, that are gonna be able to

105
00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,400
Speaker 1: show our fan base, you know, the type of basketball

106
00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,640
Speaker 1: that we're gonna play, the type of program that we're

107
00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,560
Speaker 1: gonna be offensively, defensively and yet still be competitive. And

108
00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,640
Speaker 1: so that was kind of challenge. But to get it

109
00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:48,640
Speaker 1: right with the with the right DNA, with the right

110
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,840
Speaker 1: makeup was huge. I think we did that and we

111
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,280
Speaker 1: we definitely set the tone and the foundation for years

112
00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,839
Speaker 1: to come. Yeah, it's establishing culture. Year one is the page.

113
00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,320
Speaker 1: It's like playing seeds and the page it's diver ends

114
00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,919
Speaker 1: later on down the line because you got recruits and

115
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,560
Speaker 1: other people that are watching this, watching the energy, watching

116
00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,839
Speaker 1: the home games, looking at the crowd, seeing how engaged

117
00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,360
Speaker 1: wins and losses sometimes become secondary. We all want to win, coach,

118
00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,679
Speaker 1: don't make no mistake, but if you lose a certain weight,

119
00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,120
Speaker 1: it's encouraging versus losing another ways, you know, getting blown out.

120
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,560
Speaker 1: Every dog gone night. I December one, I want to

121
00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:28,960
Speaker 1: talk about this seventy five sixty five at Michigan. Would

122
00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,119
Speaker 1: you say that that was one of your biggest wins

123
00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:36,840
Speaker 1: of your first year? Yeah, I would say without a doubt. Um,

124
00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,800
Speaker 1: you know, it was a game that that I'll never

125
00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,960
Speaker 1: forget for a lot of reasons. Um, you know, one.

126
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,680
Speaker 1: We haven't won at Michigan and traditionally very often, and

127
00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 1: and so to win there, to win against the team

128
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:53,800
Speaker 1: that I have a ton of respect for a program

129
00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,039
Speaker 1: I have a ton of respect for. Jawan does a

130
00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,720
Speaker 1: great job. You know, they have a ton of talent.

131
00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,120
Speaker 1: For are guys to be able to battle that environment.

132
00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:07,480
Speaker 1: Our first true Big ten road game was was phenomenal. Um,

133
00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,960
Speaker 1: you know, you never know, uh, you know, how guys

134
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,239
Speaker 1: are gonna respond, especially guys that are new to the

135
00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,400
Speaker 1: big tent um, and and for them to respond the

136
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,400
Speaker 1: way they did and for guys to step up and

137
00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,920
Speaker 1: play the way they did with special I hadn't really

138
00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,880
Speaker 1: thought about this. So after the game, um, you know,

139
00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,280
Speaker 1: coach sent me a text and he just was, you know,

140
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,400
Speaker 1: saying congrats and and I hadn't even processed that, like

141
00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,920
Speaker 1: this was my first Big ten win. And he was like, man, congrats.

142
00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,440
Speaker 1: I always remember where I was the first team, first

143
00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,000
Speaker 1: time I won my first Big ten game. It's your

144
00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,840
Speaker 1: first Big ten road game. On top of that, and

145
00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:46,960
Speaker 1: and then I started process like, you know what, day,

146
00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,440
Speaker 1: He's right, it's kind of cool, you know, to be

147
00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,600
Speaker 1: able to win at a traditional powerhouse, you know, a

148
00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,560
Speaker 1: national brand like Michigan against again a program of the

149
00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,160
Speaker 1: team that I really respect. Um, you know, it was

150
00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:01,560
Speaker 1: great for our guys just to see them, you know, happy,

151
00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,960
Speaker 1: and then the locker room and and celebrating. I mean,

152
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,120
Speaker 1: you know, as a as a player, like those are

153
00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,200
Speaker 1: special moments. And it goes back to your point when

154
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,160
Speaker 1: you when you have a team of guys that you

155
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,960
Speaker 1: can lose with with the right type of character. Dudes,

156
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,440
Speaker 1: when you win games like that and that bus ride,

157
00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:22,120
Speaker 1: in that plane ride, there's nothing like it. The sweet satisfaction. Uh,

158
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,680
Speaker 1: winning at Michigan, I liken it to us winning at Arizona. Uh.

159
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,280
Speaker 1: You know, going into these you know these dog fights

160
00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 1: where it's you know, the odds just insurmountable, it seems,

161
00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,120
Speaker 1: and it's gonna take your best game because hey, you

162
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,600
Speaker 1: can't hear as much. You can't hear each other. So

163
00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,280
Speaker 1: now it's definitie can't hear coach, so we gotta just

164
00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,600
Speaker 1: look at the board and be just signed language like

165
00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,200
Speaker 1: a So you know, all those factors kind of covered

166
00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:45,680
Speaker 1: to play in those type of games, and so it

167
00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,800
Speaker 1: makes the w at the end of it, at the

168
00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,400
Speaker 1: end of the fight that much sweeter. When I was

169
00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,520
Speaker 1: looking doing some background research on your coach. I saw that,

170
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,440
Speaker 1: you know, you're from the state of Minnesota. But the

171
00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,680
Speaker 1: thing that stood out not only were you all stay

172
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,120
Speaker 1: in basketball? Okay, you was top twenty in football or state?

173
00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,640
Speaker 1: Is that? Did I read that right? Or what? Yeah? Yeah? No,

174
00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,280
Speaker 1: I uh I had I had a little football in me. Okay,

175
00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:15,959
Speaker 1: what position? So I went to Dealings South of High School,

176
00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,719
Speaker 1: which is normally like a traditional football army basketball kind

177
00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,520
Speaker 1: of power. Um, so we didn't have the numbers with football.

178
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,559
Speaker 1: So the best part about is back then, man, you

179
00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,520
Speaker 1: got to play everything. So you was a wide receiver,

180
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,679
Speaker 1: you were. I was a cornerback. I was a kick return.

181
00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,320
Speaker 1: I was a punt return. I was a kickoff. I

182
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,520
Speaker 1: was still go protect like we we did everything. Um,

183
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,800
Speaker 1: and so uh you know I would I would definitely

184
00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,680
Speaker 1: could admit that football probably was my first like love,

185
00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,319
Speaker 1: like there's nothing like high school high school football, uh

186
00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,720
Speaker 1: you know, and and and definitely enjoyed the times of playing.

187
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,319
Speaker 1: But then I quickly realized as I was becoming a

188
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,240
Speaker 1: recruitable athlete that I don't know if I loved the

189
00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,840
Speaker 1: lifting weights year round, the seven on seven, you can't

190
00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,240
Speaker 1: just go to a to a field and play pick

191
00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,760
Speaker 1: up football. Um, you know the practice, you know, five days,

192
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,480
Speaker 1: only played one day a week, and so my decision

193
00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,160
Speaker 1: kind of became a little bit easier. And then, um,

194
00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,000
Speaker 1: on top of it, you know college football, you've got

195
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,040
Speaker 1: some big boys. Man. Yeah, nobody loves to get hit.

196
00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,360
Speaker 1: So um ended up sticking with basketball on that one.

197
00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,840
Speaker 1: And you chose Northwestern out of high school? What made

198
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,560
Speaker 1: you decide to go to Northwestern outside of you know,

199
00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,960
Speaker 1: obviously one of the greatest academic institutions, but what about

200
00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,360
Speaker 1: the program the school made you decide to choose there?

201
00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,640
Speaker 1: So um, you know, I was recruited by Kevin O'Neill

202
00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,880
Speaker 1: KYO so KO and KO and and then his assistant

203
00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,640
Speaker 1: Brian Gregory were the two guys that recruited me. So Printon,

204
00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,240
Speaker 1: she's not actually the head coach at South Florida, got it?

205
00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,160
Speaker 1: So um, so b g recruited me and those guys

206
00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,440
Speaker 1: wrong me since my sophomore year, and just the relationship

207
00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:03,160
Speaker 1: that developed with Ko, um, you know, it was really strong.

208
00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,240
Speaker 1: He was a lot like my high school coach, State

209
00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,800
Speaker 1: Dorson was now all my staff, just kind of a

210
00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,800
Speaker 1: no nonsense, tough, hard nose, and that's kind of what

211
00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,000
Speaker 1: I was used to. Selfishly, I knew I was gonna

212
00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:17,640
Speaker 1: be able to play right away as a true freshman.

213
00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:19,600
Speaker 1: I was one of the kids I was just used

214
00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:21,360
Speaker 1: to playing. Man. I wanted to be on the court,

215
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,200
Speaker 1: and you know, knowing that i'd be able to start

216
00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,400
Speaker 1: and big b B be a big pieces as a

217
00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,560
Speaker 1: true freshman was intriguing. And we had a young court.

218
00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:32,480
Speaker 1: We were the youngest team in the country. We had

219
00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,760
Speaker 1: some really talented freshman in my class. There were six

220
00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,920
Speaker 1: of us that I really thought down the line we

221
00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,120
Speaker 1: could be really good. And it was in the big tent,

222
00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,040
Speaker 1: and it was not too far from home, and so

223
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,320
Speaker 1: kind of all those opportunities. But really the relationship I

224
00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:47,760
Speaker 1: had with with Ko probably put it over the top.

225
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,319
Speaker 1: And what made you decide to transfer back to Minnesota.

226
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,920
Speaker 1: So after my freshman year, um so b g left

227
00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,080
Speaker 1: before I even got there, and he went to Michigan

228
00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,439
Speaker 1: State with Is. I would kind of hurt KO left

229
00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,560
Speaker 1: and went with Van Gundy to the next And now

230
00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,040
Speaker 1: I'm looking around and I loved my teammates and I

231
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,680
Speaker 1: have great relationships, but I'm like, dang, you know, the

232
00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,040
Speaker 1: two big pieces of what I came here just took off,

233
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:19,040
Speaker 1: and you know, it kind of made me think, um,

234
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,600
Speaker 1: you know, all right, I gotta I gotta reevaluate and

235
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,560
Speaker 1: coach Karbody end up coming from from the Princeton's system,

236
00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,720
Speaker 1: and I love Coach Karbody. I think, Um, I learned

237
00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:30,679
Speaker 1: a lot from it, but it just kind of wasn't me.

238
00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,880
Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, and um, you know,

239
00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,480
Speaker 1: after my sophomore ended up making a decision to transfer

240
00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,120
Speaker 1: back home and playing for coach Musson. Now, did you

241
00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,959
Speaker 1: have league aspirations or professional basketball aspirations at this time?

242
00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,920
Speaker 1: I did, you know? After my my freshman year, Um,

243
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,080
Speaker 1: you know, I just sit down with with Ko and

244
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,240
Speaker 1: and UM, I was fortunately I had a pretty solid

245
00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,000
Speaker 1: freshman year, and so there were some teams that were intrigued.

246
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,120
Speaker 1: And at that time, you know, um, when you're young,

247
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:00,760
Speaker 1: as you know, if you're kind of on the radar,

248
00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,520
Speaker 1: you're in a good position. And so, UM, you know

249
00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,040
Speaker 1: I was excited looking forward to that. Um. As I

250
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,480
Speaker 1: got older, UM and started to play more, you become

251
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,280
Speaker 1: a little bit more realistic and like, uh, you know,

252
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,439
Speaker 1: the dreams always there, but you get older and you realize,

253
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,040
Speaker 1: you know what I'm good, but I don't know if

254
00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,480
Speaker 1: I'm that good, right, And so the dream never faded,

255
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,760
Speaker 1: but I think reality quickly hit me that I better

256
00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,360
Speaker 1: get my butt into coaching if I wanted to stay

257
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,240
Speaker 1: around the game. Um. And so that's kind of when

258
00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,040
Speaker 1: I when I made the move to the other side

259
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,840
Speaker 1: and decided to try to to help the young guys

260
00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,120
Speaker 1: that were that were more talented me get to that

261
00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,560
Speaker 1: get to that level. I'll tell you what, though, coaches,

262
00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,400
Speaker 1: it takes a level of maturity and forceight to to

263
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,720
Speaker 1: stop chasing the dream, if you will. Sometimes it's hoopers.

264
00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,480
Speaker 1: We kind of you know, well, we'll chase that character forever,

265
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,880
Speaker 1: and you know, you'll miss out on a lot of life,

266
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,640
Speaker 1: miss out on a lot of opportunities. And so it's

267
00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:01,200
Speaker 1: important to recognize where you are and be real self evaluation.

268
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:03,480
Speaker 1: Did you have somebody in your life at that time

269
00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,640
Speaker 1: that kept it real with you or did you kind

270
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,760
Speaker 1: of just make this decision where you you were kind

271
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,560
Speaker 1: of operating on your own and you saw what time

272
00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,079
Speaker 1: it was and was like, look, I'm gonna do the

273
00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,000
Speaker 1: coaching thing. Yeah, you know, I'm pretty I'm pretty. I

274
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,120
Speaker 1: tried to find myself on being self aware. I think

275
00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,280
Speaker 1: your point, I think that's huge and anything you do

276
00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,880
Speaker 1: and we all have ego, and I think that's healthy.

277
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,800
Speaker 1: But then you also got to be smart. And you know,

278
00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,360
Speaker 1: one of my one of my good friends is J. B. Bickerstaff,

279
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,280
Speaker 1: and so he was actually an assistant. He was a

280
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,480
Speaker 1: directive operations my last year at Minnesota, and I knew

281
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,000
Speaker 1: he was getting into coaching. Part of it was he

282
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:39,920
Speaker 1: had some injury so he was forced into get in

283
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,000
Speaker 1: there a little bit earlier. Um, I knew he was

284
00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,520
Speaker 1: gonna get into coaching, and just the way he talked

285
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,360
Speaker 1: about it and the way we would kind of talk

286
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,720
Speaker 1: about it. I had kind of always noticed high school

287
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,120
Speaker 1: something I wanted to do. And then I think I

288
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,640
Speaker 1: just realized, like, Okay, I'm young, I don't have a

289
00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,360
Speaker 1: ton of responsibilities right now. I can start from the

290
00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,000
Speaker 1: bottom up. I can take my time. I don't have pressure.

291
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,720
Speaker 1: Was of a wife for a family. Um, you know,

292
00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,920
Speaker 1: as you know the beginning stages, you're not making money. Um,

293
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:07,960
Speaker 1: you you're you could live wherever you want to and

294
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,760
Speaker 1: it it didn't matter. So I said, you know what,

295
00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,360
Speaker 1: like let's do it. And it was it was one

296
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,280
Speaker 1: of those things where You're always gonna miss playing, you

297
00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,600
Speaker 1: know it, like you could be fifty years old, right,

298
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,880
Speaker 1: You're always gonna miss playing. That's never gonna go. So

299
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:22,760
Speaker 1: I said, why would I live a feeling that's never

300
00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,720
Speaker 1: gonna leave me prevent me from diving in early and

301
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:27,440
Speaker 1: getting the head start on what I want to do.

302
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,120
Speaker 1: And so, um, it was a hard decision, but I

303
00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,000
Speaker 1: know it was the right one for me, and I

304
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:33,880
Speaker 1: was able to get in the coach and bug and

305
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,720
Speaker 1: dive in at a young age. Fox Sports Radio has

306
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,680
Speaker 1: the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all

307
00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,960
Speaker 1: of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and

308
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,680
Speaker 1: within the I Heart Radio app search f s R

309
00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,920
Speaker 1: to listen live. And and your first stop as a

310
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:54,240
Speaker 1: grad assistant was with University Dayton and then ut Pan American, Yeah,

311
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,520
Speaker 1: Northern Iowa with Ben Jacobson to Nebraska with ten miles.

312
00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:02,000
Speaker 1: Just if you could take and I know this might

313
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,040
Speaker 1: be a little much, but take each stop that you

314
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,520
Speaker 1: had and tell me something that you learned that made

315
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,080
Speaker 1: you better as a coach from each stop or the

316
00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,720
Speaker 1: man that you might have been mentored under. What I was,

317
00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,520
Speaker 1: I was very fortunate. Um, I worked under unbelievable people

318
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,920
Speaker 1: that gave me a lot of responsibility and and you

319
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:24,960
Speaker 1: not know, like that's not that's not rare. You know,

320
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,400
Speaker 1: sometimes guys that look like us can easily get pigeonholed

321
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,720
Speaker 1: or you're not giving freedom to to coach or the

322
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,120
Speaker 1: learner to grow. And I didn't have any of that.

323
00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,520
Speaker 1: I was lucky. So I got my first job as

324
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,440
Speaker 1: a g A for Brian Gregory. He was head coach

325
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,000
Speaker 1: at Dayton at the time, and so he got me

326
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,240
Speaker 1: into coaching. And you know on that staff was Reggie

327
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:56,080
Speaker 1: rankin scout scouting, yeah, with Golden State, Billy Schmidt who

328
00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,720
Speaker 1: is now with with coach Donovan with the Chicago Bulls,

329
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,280
Speaker 1: by Buyer, who was a long time NBA assistant coach.

330
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,440
Speaker 1: I had an unbelievable tree. You know, those are guys.

331
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,480
Speaker 1: Billy was at Northwestern, Bible was a Northwestern, and Big

332
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,200
Speaker 1: was a Northwestern. So those were guys that all knew me.

333
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,920
Speaker 1: I knew them, um, so it was a great fit.

334
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,360
Speaker 1: You know. I learned like unbelievable work ethic from from

335
00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,359
Speaker 1: my stop at Dayton um to understand and respect to grind.

336
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,400
Speaker 1: It was old school. I learned the right way from

337
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,440
Speaker 1: b g On just how you operate every single day,

338
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:35,760
Speaker 1: how everything matters, the details matter, how perception is reality. Um.

339
00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,760
Speaker 1: You know, he really kind of molded and gave me

340
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,240
Speaker 1: a good understanding at the early age of like, you know,

341
00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,760
Speaker 1: you start from the bottom up and you you work

342
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,359
Speaker 1: with no ego, no expectation, and it's all about the

343
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 1: program and the players. I was fortunately after one year

344
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,600
Speaker 1: to get on with Tom Schubert at what used to

345
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,680
Speaker 1: be U T p A which now I think Real

346
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,959
Speaker 1: Grand for two years and it was the funnest I've

347
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:05,280
Speaker 1: ever had. And we were we were the lowest. It

348
00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,399
Speaker 1: was independent Division one basketball, so it was like it was,

349
00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,399
Speaker 1: you know, you're not even in the league. So we

350
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,520
Speaker 1: made up to our guys this fake lead that we're

351
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 1: in there with all these other independence I mean, I'm

352
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,679
Speaker 1: years sold, making eighteen thousand dollars. Um. I'm in charge

353
00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,000
Speaker 1: of designing our gear, like legitimately the logos we're gonna

354
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,440
Speaker 1: have on our practice uniforms, on T shirts, on our hoodies.

355
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,560
Speaker 1: I'm designing the colors of our gear. I'm ordering our shoes,

356
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,119
Speaker 1: I'm doing film deck to deck um. Um. You know,

357
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:44,120
Speaker 1: recruiting all the time, which for the first year guy,

358
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,480
Speaker 1: the freedom to recruit. I mean that was everything to me. Um.

359
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:49,960
Speaker 1: I'm able to have a skill group and individual and

360
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,280
Speaker 1: do actually do on the court, coaching and be in

361
00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:56,480
Speaker 1: charge of the perimeters at twenty five years old, I'm

362
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,760
Speaker 1: able to make decisions and calls, and the head coach

363
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,280
Speaker 1: me that, and so Tim shoot with that. I'm forever

364
00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 1: grateful man Um. And you're able to make mistakes. I

365
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,399
Speaker 1: think that's the best part. Like I was at this

366
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,560
Speaker 1: in a situation where again everybody wants to win, is competitive,

367
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,959
Speaker 1: but you're at a level where everybody's growing. All right,

368
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,879
Speaker 1: the A D S young, your s I D s young.

369
00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,760
Speaker 1: These people at the scorers table are all first your graduates.

370
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,080
Speaker 1: The whole stat like everybody in the department is young.

371
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,640
Speaker 1: You're all growing together. And you know, there's nothing like

372
00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,639
Speaker 1: you're getting on the six am flight. You're connecting in

373
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,280
Speaker 1: Houston to get to Salt Lake City. And we didn't

374
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,480
Speaker 1: even have we couldn't afford the charter vans, so you're

375
00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,600
Speaker 1: driving the fifteen passenger buses. So I got one bus

376
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,359
Speaker 1: another since and coaches got another. We weren't licensed to

377
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,639
Speaker 1: drive those things. We're going to drive those things, you know,

378
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,800
Speaker 1: getting it done, get it done, coach, And this is

379
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:52,800
Speaker 1: after you got up at four thirty, so like you're

380
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,440
Speaker 1: trying not to fall asleep as you'r you know, hits

381
00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,040
Speaker 1: mid afternoon. But man, all those things were awesome. And

382
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,639
Speaker 1: then you're recruiting kid were all they wanted was a

383
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:06,120
Speaker 1: chance of Division one. So you're recruiting kids that were hungry,

384
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,760
Speaker 1: that just were there for all the right reasons. Like

385
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 1: it was just pure and you know, the valleys an

386
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,840
Speaker 1: unbelievable place. Love living there. It's eighty five degrees every day,

387
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,440
Speaker 1: it's sunny at eight in the morning. Um, it was awesome.

388
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,200
Speaker 1: So I'm there for two years. Um that I'm fortunate

389
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,640
Speaker 1: enough to get on with Ben Jacobson in Northern Iowa

390
00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:29,160
Speaker 1: and that really kind of changed the landscape for me. Um,

391
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 1: you know, phenomenal coach. We went to the Sweet sixteen.

392
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,119
Speaker 1: Remember I remember that. I remember that was number one

393
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:42,920
Speaker 1: in the Countryman, this shot you know, yeah, yeah, yeah,

394
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,320
Speaker 1: that was you know, we won an unbelieva amount of

395
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,640
Speaker 1: games about four years. We went to the tournament twice,

396
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,800
Speaker 1: won the league twice, won the league tournament twice. But

397
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,080
Speaker 1: to experience that Sweet sixteen was the first taste of

398
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 1: like the big stage, Like it's different. As you know,

399
00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,800
Speaker 1: you walk out like the first round games are cool.

400
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,720
Speaker 1: You start getting that sweet sixteen of leade eight, the

401
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:07,120
Speaker 1: lights hit a little bit different. Get hot, coach, you're

402
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,960
Speaker 1: living on press row. It's a little bit different faces

403
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,359
Speaker 1: on press rows. You start getting there, and and to

404
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,199
Speaker 1: get a taste of that at a young age, it

405
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,240
Speaker 1: was like, man, this is what I want to be.

406
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: This I knew, you know what, this is the right choice.

407
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:21,800
Speaker 1: You get that bug, this is what I want to

408
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,080
Speaker 1: get back. You get that thirst. I need to get

409
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:27,719
Speaker 1: back to this point. And um, you know, from there,

410
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,480
Speaker 1: I was able to get on with Tim Miles at

411
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,320
Speaker 1: Nebraska and that was my first He gave me my

412
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:35,000
Speaker 1: first opportunity at a Power five job, and that was

413
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,679
Speaker 1: you know, I was on cloud nine, you know, to

414
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,119
Speaker 1: be able to be and I think it was at

415
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,560
Speaker 1: that time one years old as a Power five assistant

416
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,919
Speaker 1: coach in the Big ten. Um, I was awesome and

417
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,199
Speaker 1: worked with a guy that I had known. You know,

418
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,480
Speaker 1: Tim was a Division two coach in Minnesota when I

419
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,280
Speaker 1: was in high school. He recruited my high school starting

420
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 1: point guard. So I've known coach Miles forever. And then

421
00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,920
Speaker 1: when I was at pan Am, he was a since

422
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,119
Speaker 1: he was the head coach at North Dakota State, so

423
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,520
Speaker 1: they were also independent. So we were battling each other

424
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,240
Speaker 1: for those two years as independence. So I knew. I

425
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:12,000
Speaker 1: knew what Miles was about. Phenomenal coach. I knew offensively,

426
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,359
Speaker 1: he was gonna challenge me, and he was gonna teach

427
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 1: a different style of different brand that was new to me.

428
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,320
Speaker 1: It was excited about it. Was there with him for

429
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 1: a year and they will never forget Man, this is

430
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 1: just the type of guy. Is um. I me at

431
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 1: my house in the spring and Tubby had just gotten

432
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:28,840
Speaker 1: let go, and he calls me and says, hey, man,

433
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,840
Speaker 1: you know I don't want you to go, but I

434
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,520
Speaker 1: also want to be you know, true to you. You

435
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,159
Speaker 1: gotta you gotta start thinking about trying to get on

436
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,440
Speaker 1: at Minnesota with this new coach. And I'm like, man,

437
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,719
Speaker 1: you know, and it ain't too many coaches that are

438
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: gonna do that. You know, He's just trying to build Nebraska.

439
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,280
Speaker 1: I was. I was in there in the fight with

440
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,239
Speaker 1: him and he's telling me, look, man, I don't want

441
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: to lose you, but like you might have a really

442
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,399
Speaker 1: good opportunity to go home and being assistant for the

443
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,600
Speaker 1: program that you played at. And I didn't know Richard

444
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,800
Speaker 1: at all. Um. I think Richard was looking looking for

445
00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,360
Speaker 1: a local dude. You know we met at the final four. Uh,

446
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 1: you know, got a chance to meet with him for

447
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,719
Speaker 1: the first time. The true chest was his dad was.

448
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: That was what moving was in the National Championship Game.

449
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,040
Speaker 1: So I meet with him in Atlanta. We talked, We

450
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,480
Speaker 1: have a really good conversation. He's like, look, man, I

451
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,680
Speaker 1: think I want to hire you, but you gotta meet

452
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,919
Speaker 1: my dad. And I'm like, all right, great. You know

453
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:24,959
Speaker 1: how is this gonna go? You hear everything all these

454
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,120
Speaker 1: rumors about you know, coach p and and this and that.

455
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 1: So you know his dad plays in the name champihip game.

456
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,880
Speaker 1: They went it. Richard gets me called. He goes, hey,

457
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 1: I need you to fly down to Miami to meet

458
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 1: with my dad at his house. And I'm like, all right, cool.

459
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 1: So I don't know what to expect. You don't know

460
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 1: how that goes. I go fully sooner it's just gonna

461
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 1: be you know what conversation of meeting and he calls

462
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,400
Speaker 1: me just says, hey, man, just how wide Like it's

463
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,359
Speaker 1: gonna be easy. He's on cloud nine. He just won

464
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 1: a national championship. So you know, I flow down there

465
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 1: for a day and a half and met with Rick

466
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 1: and at his house and could have been a better guy.

467
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 1: I mean, we sating there and talked to old school basketball,

468
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,119
Speaker 1: We talked from a mashburn, We talked NBA Kentucky. You know,

469
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,680
Speaker 1: he talked about Louisville, he talked about Minnesota and explained

470
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,199
Speaker 1: Richard and kinda style of play and this and that,

471
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,639
Speaker 1: and it was pretty cool. So was it sitting with

472
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,919
Speaker 1: Richard for five years and then went with coach Steele

473
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,640
Speaker 1: at Xavier for the last three and was fortunate enough

474
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,520
Speaker 1: to get this job here at Minnesota. So it's very rare.

475
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,040
Speaker 1: I'm a guy that I've seen the program from a

476
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,480
Speaker 1: young kid growing up, so watching it, to being recruited

477
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: to it, to playing for it, to being an assistant

478
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 1: and now to be a head coach. I understand the position,

479
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,399
Speaker 1: I mean and and blessed, but it doesn't happen that often. Man, No,

480
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,240
Speaker 1: it doesn't. And you definitely are in a unique position.

481
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,439
Speaker 1: Why do you feel that kind of focusing on the

482
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,400
Speaker 1: local talent, local recruits and making sure that they stay home.

483
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 1: Why is that important to build your program? I think

484
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 1: if you look across the country, but especially in the

485
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: big ten, the programs that are able to sustain success

486
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,160
Speaker 1: the ones that we're striving to be. If you look

487
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: at their rosters, it's a lot of in state or

488
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,720
Speaker 1: regional local talent. I think there's a different sense of

489
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,760
Speaker 1: pride um, there's a different sense of ownership, um of

490
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 1: buying with local kids. And I don't care where you're at,

491
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 1: you could be at U c l A, U s C.

492
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,400
Speaker 1: I mean those guys in l A. They grow up

493
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 1: watching you know, you would think if the program is good,

494
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 1: they're really good U c l A teams. So like

495
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,879
Speaker 1: U c l A should mean more to an l

496
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,640
Speaker 1: A kid or a Southern California kid than a kid

497
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 1: from Tampa, Florida. Right, you see it all the time.

498
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:42,640
Speaker 1: You've got a family member that maybe you went there.

499
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,080
Speaker 1: And then on top of that, we have really good

500
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 1: high school coaches, we have really good high school basketball.

501
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,440
Speaker 1: You have really good talent, and talent that's good enough

502
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,959
Speaker 1: and it's proven to help you win on the biggest

503
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:57,760
Speaker 1: scale in the biggest arena. And so whenever you can

504
00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,920
Speaker 1: get it's a lot easier to get a kid that's

505
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:01,520
Speaker 1: enough that can help you move that you know, twenty

506
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:03,359
Speaker 1: minutes away, and if I got to hop on a

507
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 1: flight and connect the dots and meet people and go

508
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 1: out of area or just go deep further in the region.

509
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 1: So I think whatever program you're at, you know, you

510
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,480
Speaker 1: gotta do a really good job in your backyard to

511
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:16,919
Speaker 1: get those kids that are local that can help you,

512
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:19,119
Speaker 1: and and do a really good job in the in

513
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,640
Speaker 1: the community that you're at to build those relationships. Absolutely. Uh.

514
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 1: When you look at U c. L A twenty something

515
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 1: years ago, our national championship team which we won in

516
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 1: ninety five, we had probably one guy that wasn't from

517
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: l A on that on two Cameron Dollar from Georgia.

518
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,439
Speaker 1: I can want go from Houston, Texas, but you know

519
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 1: ten guys that are l A bound and it and

520
00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: it does something with the fans because these fans have

521
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 1: been watching us. We're watching us through our our high

522
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 1: school and the youth career, and there's like this level

523
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,399
Speaker 1: of allegiance and you know these guys and so you

524
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,399
Speaker 1: just have this loyalty. Is that am I hitting that on?

525
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 1: I mean and think about too, like those hands grew

526
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 1: up reading about you, right, and so they followed your

527
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:08,880
Speaker 1: career all the way from maybe even junior high and

528
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,520
Speaker 1: especially if you have you know, we have a lot

529
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 1: of former players who who's kids I either recruited that

530
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 1: played for me when I was an assistant with The

531
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,199
Speaker 1: other cool thing you saw now is like you have

532
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: some lineage. You know, I coached a Mirror Coffee and

533
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:25,119
Speaker 1: recruited a Miror Coffee. His dad played at Minnesota. So

534
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,600
Speaker 1: now you have fans and boosters and season ticket holders

535
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,639
Speaker 1: who watched dad. Now they're watching the Mirrors. Now you

536
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 1: have that buy in, you have that lineage, and so um,

537
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,239
Speaker 1: that part is cool. But without of doubt, you know,

538
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 1: that's what fans do. Fan fans. They want to win

539
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 1: at the end of the day. So I could have

540
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 1: a team for the kids from Alaska we win in

541
00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: can matter, but uh, you know what I mean. But

542
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: at the same time, it's sweeter for them when they

543
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: feel connected to the team because it's oh man, that's

544
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: that's so and so that I used to watch in

545
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,879
Speaker 1: high school or when you know, my family grew up

546
00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,239
Speaker 1: you know, knowing and reading and hearing about that name

547
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,359
Speaker 1: or that's Mr Basketball. You know, brain Carrington. Oh Man,

548
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,160
Speaker 1: I get to continue to watch him grow and become

549
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 1: an end and play for our state school. I think

550
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 1: that's powerful. It is powerful. It's just that with the

551
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 1: transfer port portal, the n I L and this game

552
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,199
Speaker 1: notoriety of the transfer portal, it seems like coaches like

553
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,360
Speaker 1: yourself are in a conundrum. They have a choice to make.

554
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: Do you go and try to get older quick because

555
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,200
Speaker 1: everybody's doing it and we're trying to win and we're

556
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:27,800
Speaker 1: trying to you know because because because you got to

557
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,400
Speaker 1: compete against everybody that's doing it, or do you keep

558
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,480
Speaker 1: in mind that, hey, we can still have to develop

559
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,119
Speaker 1: some young guys. We still gotta keep our ties into

560
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: the local community, the grassroots aspect. We can't just go

561
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 1: top heavy with portal guys. How do you what side

562
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 1: of the equation do you land? Yeah, that's a great question. Um,

563
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: it's a tough balance because I believe that you do

564
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: you wanna you wanna develop a program from the high

565
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 1: school stages. Um, you know, you put time in recruiting

566
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: those kids. Hopefully they're with you for extended period of time.

567
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 1: You're invested in them, you're able to develop them the

568
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: right way at the same time, though, the leagues are

569
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 1: forever changing, and you might be forced to do more

570
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:17,840
Speaker 1: portal because if you can't stay old and everybody else is,

571
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 1: that could be right. So they might force your hand,

572
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,480
Speaker 1: Like you might not want to the old league is

573
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 1: staying old, you don't have the timeline to pay fan

574
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: base and a d I'm gonna take a couple of

575
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,240
Speaker 1: years to develop these guys. They don't want to hear that,

576
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,240
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So if the league is

577
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,800
Speaker 1: going old, it might force your hand to go older

578
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 1: more than you want. I think we're gonna try to

579
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: have a balance, you know, I don't want to do

580
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 1: portal where every year we're trying to go in there

581
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 1: and get three or four kids. But I'm also realistic

582
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 1: and knowing you know, the likelihood of us getting one

583
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 1: or two every year, it's probably real, and so you're

584
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 1: trying to navigate that. But at the same time, it's

585
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: it's not losing focus on At the end of the day,

586
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,200
Speaker 1: we want to build from the high school ranks on up,

587
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:01,880
Speaker 1: and we want to be able to use that. The

588
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 1: also benefit of the portal is we have a lot

589
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: of kids that Okay, maybe you don't get them on

590
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: the first time that are from Minnesota or that a

591
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 1: good pleasure recruited. Well, maybe you can use the portal

592
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 1: and if they end up going in there, you you

593
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 1: get them on the back end. Yeah. So there's a

594
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:17,960
Speaker 1: lot of ways to do it. Um. I just think

595
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 1: each coach is just up to kind of what their

596
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 1: philosophy is. Yeah. I found it funny. I was watching

597
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,840
Speaker 1: one of your older press conferences and you describe the

598
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,120
Speaker 1: way that you pay attention to the portal as a sickness. Uh,

599
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,080
Speaker 1: you have me rolling on that because he and you

600
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: said you got guys dedicated to it, and you know

601
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,000
Speaker 1: you might be on the recruit you might have a

602
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,120
Speaker 1: visit or something, the staff meeting, and you might get

603
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 1: hit on your phone like yo, so sos in the

604
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,200
Speaker 1: portal and you gotta respond. But that's that's sort of

605
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:45,600
Speaker 1: the new reality for college coaches and nowadays with with

606
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 1: the new transfer portal and all this availability, you gotta basically,

607
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 1: it's it's the wild wild West, and you gotta jump

608
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 1: on things asap. Hunh. You do because it's it's it's

609
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:59,280
Speaker 1: speed dating. You know, it's it's recruiting on steroids. You know,

610
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,280
Speaker 1: you you don't you're not. You don't have the leucture

611
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,960
Speaker 1: of having a process of okay, you know, we'll be

612
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,160
Speaker 1: able to get to know him and and court them

613
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,720
Speaker 1: a little bit. Like No, you gotta These kids want

614
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 1: to be recruited right away. They want to feel the

615
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 1: love right away. Then the minute they're in the portal

616
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 1: that they're gonna have you know, five programs already talking

617
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,720
Speaker 1: about official visit dates. You know. Part of that is

618
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: because when kids go on to portal, there's not a

619
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,880
Speaker 1: lot of guesswork because you can quickly go on Synergy

620
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: and they have stats that back up what they've done. There.

621
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,959
Speaker 1: There's equity, so you know what you're gonna get, so

622
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 1: you can you can already say, look, let's get this

623
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:34,800
Speaker 1: kid on campus. We know what he is, he fits,

624
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 1: there's here's his numbers, here's the data that backs it up.

625
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 1: This is a no brainer. There's less risk, so you

626
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 1: gotta be quick on it. You gotta have. That's why

627
00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 1: it's kind of that sickness. The kids like trying to

628
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,959
Speaker 1: hear the talk earlier. They want to know coach might

629
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: come to campus or not. You know, some of these

630
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,520
Speaker 1: kids have already been recruited there over that which is

631
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:54,400
Speaker 1: a good thing. They're ready to get down to the

632
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 1: nitty gritty. They're ready to get down to the the

633
00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 1: nuts and boats and they want to see the place.

634
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: So yeah, you gotta be on it. And I've had guys. Honestly,

635
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 1: it would be a week courtship, which is is rare.

636
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 1: But like they might know, boom this, I hit it

637
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 1: off with this coach. They have a need for me.

638
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,440
Speaker 1: Let's get it done. So again, you're you're sped up

639
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: because you don't have the luxury of having time on

640
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 1: your side. No, wow, was that a right roller? Yeah, yeah, yeah,

641
00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:23,760
Speaker 1: I can hear. I hear it, I hear I hear

642
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 1: the grab. Yeah, I know exactly. I used to have

643
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 1: a right while when I was when I was a youngster.

644
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 1: He ended up passing away. But I grew up with

645
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,960
Speaker 1: right so yeah, I know what's up. Beautiful dogs man,

646
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:40,320
Speaker 1: beautiful beasts. Um. Staying on sort of these new developments

647
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,280
Speaker 1: in college basketball. The n i L has been in

648
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 1: the news as of late. Coach Nick Saban, coach Jim

649
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 1: bow Fisher kind of had award words. Um. We've seen

650
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,200
Speaker 1: n i L deals done all over the country. University

651
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: of Miami, Kansas state. I even saw university specific got

652
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 1: a guy off a n I L twenty five tho dollars.

653
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the n I L and

654
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:05,920
Speaker 1: how much do you use that in your recruiting present day?

655
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: You know it it. It's one of those things where

656
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: if you don't figure it out in your own individual way,

657
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 1: you're gonna be left behind. UM. I really think it

658
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 1: comes down to each coach gonna navigate it differently. I

659
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:22,400
Speaker 1: don't know if there's a right way or a wrong

660
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 1: way to do it. I just feel like you gotta

661
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 1: be comfortable as a coach with here's how I'm gonna

662
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,520
Speaker 1: handle and I'm either gonna be Some guys might go

663
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 1: all in and might say, look, I want to get

664
00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,280
Speaker 1: guys crazy deals and and and be able to go

665
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: down that route. Other guys might say, I don't want

666
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 1: to touch it, I don't want to deal with it.

667
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 1: Other guys might say I want to deal with it,

668
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:45,760
Speaker 1: but I want to get everybody kind of the same

669
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 1: so my locker room, I'm not having to also deal

670
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: with a salary differential amongst my guys. And that's where

671
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 1: I kind of I lay where I'm realistic and who

672
00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 1: we are right now where we are as a program,

673
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:00,840
Speaker 1: who I am as a coach, Um, I'm not as

674
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:04,520
Speaker 1: veteran as a John Calipari, right, Mick Cronin guys that

675
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 1: have done it. And if our Hall of Fame type

676
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: guys that are able to maybe have a different salary

677
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,600
Speaker 1: because of who they are, they can handle that type

678
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,120
Speaker 1: of locker room, it's it's more accepted. I gotta know,

679
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 1: as a younger coach, I gotta focus on the things

680
00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,759
Speaker 1: that are gonna help us and help our program, and

681
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: I can't have a bunch of outside distractions and we're

682
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 1: just not built like that. So for me, in an

683
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,000
Speaker 1: ideal world, UM, I love all our guys that kind

684
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,040
Speaker 1: of be on an even play field. You know. That's

685
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:35,000
Speaker 1: where kind of everybody talks about the collective um, which

686
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,359
Speaker 1: I think could be a good thing. You know, if

687
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: you're able to get a collective where you know, I'm

688
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,960
Speaker 1: all for guys being able to use name, image, likeness

689
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 1: to generate money. I I completely get it. I think

690
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,360
Speaker 1: it's fair. I want to help our guys do that.

691
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 1: At the same time, you know, I don't want to

692
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: locker room when one guy is making you know, X

693
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,600
Speaker 1: amount of money and another guy is, and then I

694
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 1: got a new guy that hasn't even played a minute

695
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,360
Speaker 1: my program getting money, and I've got a guy that

696
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,640
Speaker 1: has been tributed it and has played and is getting

697
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 1: either a little or nothing. Right to me, that's not

698
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,320
Speaker 1: I'm not balancing that. I think so much to college basketball,

699
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,320
Speaker 1: you have to win your locker room. And if you

700
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,239
Speaker 1: can't win your locker room, you can win. But I

701
00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:16,920
Speaker 1: think you have a ceiling and and I don't want

702
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:18,760
Speaker 1: to have to worry about that. So I'm gonna navigated

703
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,000
Speaker 1: probably a little bit different and and find the guys

704
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,279
Speaker 1: that understand that. And I think at the end of

705
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 1: the day, no matter where you go, I don't care

706
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:28,800
Speaker 1: if you have a big deal or not. If that

707
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,720
Speaker 1: takes precedence over winning and getting better as a player,

708
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,160
Speaker 1: well then you've got more problems than than you think.

709
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,480
Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, every coach want

710
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,840
Speaker 1: guys to be there for something bigger than an n

711
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: I L deal or bigger than money that they have.

712
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,320
Speaker 1: They want to be there to get better, to improve,

713
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 1: and to win. Yeah, I mean, you know it's sort

714
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: of old school versus new school. Now, coach, we have

715
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 1: that old school way of Hey, guys are getting better.

716
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,080
Speaker 1: We need to win a championship with getting our degree,

717
00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:59,359
Speaker 1: and then there's a new school. I'm trying to get

718
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,880
Speaker 1: paid coach. Um. But one of the biggest unintended consequences

719
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:05,480
Speaker 1: that I that I've I've heard you talk about and

720
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:07,759
Speaker 1: you talked about it right here is the locker room.

721
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,279
Speaker 1: What happens when the guy that you just got on

722
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,200
Speaker 1: the n i L deal comes in and you've got

723
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 1: a guy for your contributor, blood, sweat and tears for

724
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 1: the program, fan favorite, not getting nothing. It's the dynamics

725
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,440
Speaker 1: between the players. Now you have sort of a pro dynamic.

726
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:24,920
Speaker 1: And and my question to you is, and this is

727
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:26,320
Speaker 1: the last one in the n i L when you

728
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: have if if you were a coach and you had

729
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,520
Speaker 1: that dynamic in your program the University Minnesota sort of

730
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:33,959
Speaker 1: the salary cap nature of guy the best guys getting

731
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 1: n i LS. Do you take more of the pro

732
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,400
Speaker 1: would you take more of a pro approach and coaching

733
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: these guys or do you stay true to your guns

734
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,399
Speaker 1: and and you know they either buying in or it's

735
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:48,920
Speaker 1: not gonna work. Yeah, I think you gotta have a

736
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 1: little bit of balance, Um, But I also think you know,

737
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,319
Speaker 1: I'm all about having to talk early. Um, guy's got

738
00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 1: to know. Look, if if with much as given, much

739
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,839
Speaker 1: as expected, right, And I'm all for guys getting their

740
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: money and getting deals, but they also understand that there's

741
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:09,399
Speaker 1: gonna come with a certain amount of price and it's

742
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 1: not put on me. It's been going to be put

743
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 1: on like the general public. If there's a dollar amount

744
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 1: attached to your name and it's public, we all know

745
00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:21,960
Speaker 1: you got to produce. And if you don't, that's where

746
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: you worry about. These aren't professional athletes. These are college athletes,

747
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:30,520
Speaker 1: but we're putting them in a professional forum. And so

748
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:34,759
Speaker 1: now what happens if you're the beat writer or you're

749
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 1: the columnist, or you're the fan, and you know a

750
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:40,840
Speaker 1: dollar amount that's pretty high is on a player and

751
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,800
Speaker 1: their production isn't where it needs to be. How is

752
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,239
Speaker 1: that now being handled? I need to have that talk

753
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:48,800
Speaker 1: with that player and say, look, man, I'm gonna protect

754
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 1: you as much as I can, but this with with

755
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:55,200
Speaker 1: that with money, money changes a lot of things, and

756
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 1: and and we're gonna have to work together to navigate

757
00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:00,239
Speaker 1: through good and bad. And as you know, there's so

758
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,880
Speaker 1: many presures in college basketball as is with social media,

759
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:06,240
Speaker 1: take take the money out of it, which just social

760
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:10,279
Speaker 1: media right with how it is in today's day and age. Um.

761
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:13,000
Speaker 1: That's why I think Dion Sanders made a great point.

762
00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 1: He talked about if we're gonna go this route, we

763
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:22,600
Speaker 1: better hire men or people male or female that know

764
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:26,400
Speaker 1: how to handle what all is about to come with money.

765
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,680
Speaker 1: Once you bring large amounts of money, the mentality in

766
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 1: the mindset of everything changes. We better have staffs in

767
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:38,839
Speaker 1: at let departments that are equipped to handle and help

768
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,400
Speaker 1: these young men and young women navigate this new world.

769
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,480
Speaker 1: You know, we can't expect that we can give them

770
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:46,800
Speaker 1: all this and there's not gonna be some side effects

771
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,040
Speaker 1: to it. And I think there's a lot of truth

772
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:53,640
Speaker 1: to that. Support is mando in these situations for the athletes,

773
00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:55,600
Speaker 1: especially when you when you're seeing large sums of money,

774
00:38:55,640 --> 00:39:00,040
Speaker 1: like financial literacy and money management. I think me of

775
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: like some of the responsibilities should be on the college

776
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,279
Speaker 1: athletic department to offer the resources. Now, whether or not

777
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,279
Speaker 1: the athlete uses them or not, that's on them, but

778
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:11,160
Speaker 1: at least to offer those resources would be great. Fox

779
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:14,320
Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

780
00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:17,520
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot

781
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app search f

782
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,360
Speaker 1: s R to listen live. Last thing, I was talking

783
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,959
Speaker 1: months ago to ESPN's College Basketball and on the Shan

784
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,360
Speaker 1: Farnham and he and I asked him that a similar

785
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 1: question I asked you, coach, which is, I asked him,

786
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,800
Speaker 1: would he cover guys differently if there's the dollar amount

787
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 1: associating if this guy now is a paid for professional athlete.

788
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,080
Speaker 1: He said yeah, He said, yeah, he's gonna he have

789
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:45,399
Speaker 1: to cover them differently because now the dynamic is different.

790
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:48,239
Speaker 1: And I found that. I found that very interesting. Um,

791
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 1: let's move on and kind of talk about the prospects

792
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,160
Speaker 1: for next season. Uh, you're coming off the heels of

793
00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 1: a in my opinion, a very good first year third

794
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,920
Speaker 1: teen in seventeen, which the record is deceiving. You started

795
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 1: ten one. Uh, you you filled in the roster nine

796
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,719
Speaker 1: ten guys. Now fast forward a year, you got a

797
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:10,600
Speaker 1: full year under your built, You went through the the

798
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,720
Speaker 1: the the gauntlet of the Big Ten Conference. You picked

799
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:17,600
Speaker 1: up some recruits, got some transfers out of the port

800
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:22,440
Speaker 1: or what or your season goals realistically for the Minnesota

801
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:26,080
Speaker 1: Golden Golfers. Coming into next year. I couldn't be more

802
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:30,120
Speaker 1: excited about in year two the guys that we have

803
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,440
Speaker 1: in our locker room. You know, I think we hit

804
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,759
Speaker 1: a home run with the four high school kids that

805
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:40,480
Speaker 1: we took. Um. I think they all bring a talent

806
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,320
Speaker 1: level that you need as you know, uh in the

807
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:47,480
Speaker 1: big tent. They bring the physicality, they bring the athleticism,

808
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,600
Speaker 1: which is what we needed to size the measurables. We're

809
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 1: able to get a couple of key transfers um that

810
00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:56,920
Speaker 1: all fit what we're trying to do, and then we

811
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,600
Speaker 1: have kids returning that that we're trying to do. So

812
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:02,560
Speaker 1: we're gonna have death Like this past year, we just

813
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 1: didn't have a bunch of depth. Um. You know, I

814
00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 1: only was able to play about six seven guys tops.

815
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 1: Really this year we're gonna be you know about too

816
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,480
Speaker 1: deep at every spot. So that's gonna help with practice.

817
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,640
Speaker 1: You know, if you can have competitive practices, it's that

818
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:19,560
Speaker 1: iron shop from is iron. Everybody gets better those competitive

819
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,160
Speaker 1: juices start flowing, you're able to to to develop as

820
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,680
Speaker 1: a team. Um, So that's gonna be exciting, you know.

821
00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 1: I think the challenge for us is to not lose

822
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: focus on the big picture, I think it's obviously everyone's

823
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 1: going to make the Instant double A tournament, to try

824
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,279
Speaker 1: to win a Big ten championship, to try to make

825
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:42,160
Speaker 1: a second third, fourth weekend in the instan double A tournament.

826
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:44,759
Speaker 1: So the question is how do you do that? To me,

827
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:48,640
Speaker 1: it's not worrying about that, that's the obvious. It's being

828
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,080
Speaker 1: built into the everyday grind, right, how do we get

829
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,520
Speaker 1: better today knowing that, like some days are always gonna

830
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 1: be great, you might not always get all the way better,

831
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 1: but then you gotta be able to respond on and

832
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:02,840
Speaker 1: come back the next day. So you're not doing this

833
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:06,480
Speaker 1: or you're not plateau and you're slowly getting better. So

834
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:10,120
Speaker 1: that's the challenge. Man. I take a lot of pride,

835
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,400
Speaker 1: and I'll watch the Miami Heat a lot. I do

836
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:15,400
Speaker 1: a deep dive into's just how they go about. You

837
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,440
Speaker 1: look at the Heat, you look at the Spurs, you

838
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:23,440
Speaker 1: look at Mike Thomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sometimes it's methodical,

839
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 1: it seems boring, it seems basic, elementary, But those programs

840
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,640
Speaker 1: do it every single day consistently, and I think that's

841
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 1: the reason why you see them always contending for championships

842
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:37,759
Speaker 1: or going for on the playoffs, and that's what we

843
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,920
Speaker 1: try to do. We try to do the the boring stuff,

844
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,160
Speaker 1: the monotonous stuff, the fundamental stuff that can every single

845
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,920
Speaker 1: day to get a little bit better each day. And

846
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,319
Speaker 1: I just tell like that that's our only going if

847
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,600
Speaker 1: we if we can blow it out and get better

848
00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:55,120
Speaker 1: individually as a team a little by little every single day,

849
00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 1: and not get bored with that process, then we'll have

850
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: a chance to have a fun season. If we get

851
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:02,920
Speaker 1: caught up and looking too far down the road, or

852
00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:05,800
Speaker 1: trying to win the Big Ten in the summer, or

853
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 1: just getting consumed with like the pressures of that of

854
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:12,239
Speaker 1: making the tournament, I think it delays installs you being

855
00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:14,200
Speaker 1: able to get better as a program versus if you

856
00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 1: just worry about the day to day and and get

857
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:20,720
Speaker 1: better today and maximize him today. Tell me about Jamison Battle.

858
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:23,279
Speaker 1: I I saw, you know, he's a six seven wing.

859
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:25,680
Speaker 1: I watched a little bit of him, but as a

860
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:30,120
Speaker 1: coach coaching him up where some of his best attributes

861
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:33,600
Speaker 1: and are they enough? You know, the Big Ten player

862
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:38,400
Speaker 1: of the year next year. You don't have to answer that, coach, Uh.

863
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:41,319
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting man um when you looked at James.

864
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,080
Speaker 1: I've known Jen was since high school. Um, when you

865
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 1: look at guys in the portal and you see the

866
00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:53,400
Speaker 1: numbers like Jamison average sixteen at g DUB, which is,

867
00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:56,719
Speaker 1: in my opinion, a really good league. Very rarely do

868
00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 1: those numbers and stats transfer, especially when you're going upper level,

869
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 1: and Jamison's circumstance, they transferred, and and that is rare.

870
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:09,520
Speaker 1: And what I come to find out about him is

871
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:16,319
Speaker 1: he's a warrior, um competitive is all get out. One

872
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:20,000
Speaker 1: of the best tough shot makers I've been around. And

873
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,839
Speaker 1: I think that's a skill. Like his ability to make

874
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:27,840
Speaker 1: contested tough threes and twos is off the charts. And

875
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:30,320
Speaker 1: if he's gonna be an NBA player, I think that

876
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:32,200
Speaker 1: is gonna be one of the things that helps him

877
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,200
Speaker 1: be an NBA player, because to me, that's what the

878
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:36,920
Speaker 1: NBA is. You gotta have guys. If you're a score,

879
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:39,719
Speaker 1: you know you know how good I mean, defenses are

880
00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: obviously really good, like you have to make shots to

881
00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:47,200
Speaker 1: score versus really good defense maker. And that's where he is.

882
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:50,920
Speaker 1: He's a tough shot maker. And so now his challenge is, um,

883
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:53,480
Speaker 1: you know, he played a lot of four for US

884
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:56,600
Speaker 1: now he's gonna play the four quote the four and

885
00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:59,680
Speaker 1: the three to be able to make that transition, to

886
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:02,680
Speaker 1: be able to make the transition not only offensively, but defensively,

887
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:05,520
Speaker 1: which he took great strides in. He's done a really

888
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:07,839
Speaker 1: good job with his body physically, he's in the best

889
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:11,160
Speaker 1: shape of his life. But he's got an ug believable attitude.

890
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:14,439
Speaker 1: He wants it all in the right ways. Uh. He's

891
00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:17,800
Speaker 1: a team first guy through and through. Um, he's a

892
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:20,560
Speaker 1: guy that you want nothing but the best for and

893
00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:23,160
Speaker 1: you want him to reach all of his individual and

894
00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:26,040
Speaker 1: team goes because he's just he earns it and he

895
00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:29,120
Speaker 1: works for it every single day. Yeah, when you guys

896
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,040
Speaker 1: start working out for summer workouts, So we will start.

897
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:35,640
Speaker 1: Guys will get here June five. We'll kind of give

898
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:38,320
Speaker 1: him that first week to do some physical testing and

899
00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:41,839
Speaker 1: they start class on that Monday. Um, they'll do all

900
00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:46,640
Speaker 1: you know stuff that's non regulated and then we'll start

901
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,279
Speaker 1: that that next that next week, I leave on the

902
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:53,840
Speaker 1: twelfth or thirteen? Is it? Is it so you're on

903
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:55,560
Speaker 1: the court with them a lot in this summer or

904
00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:57,600
Speaker 1: is that we can get yea, so we can get

905
00:45:57,719 --> 00:46:02,320
Speaker 1: eight hours a week between basketball and strengthen conditioning. So

906
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,360
Speaker 1: we'll do um, you know, kind of like many stuff

907
00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:07,800
Speaker 1: up with him on the court, in the in the

908
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:09,800
Speaker 1: and the allowed time that we're allowed to have on

909
00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:12,680
Speaker 1: them have with him. And now it's you know, kind

910
00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 1: of the balance. You know, it's old school. Back when

911
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:17,080
Speaker 1: I when I'm my freshman year, we weren't you know,

912
00:46:17,239 --> 00:46:19,279
Speaker 1: when I was playing, we weren't allowed to you didn't

913
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: see coaches, you know. So now it's that balance of

914
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:24,600
Speaker 1: as a coach, you want to be greedy, but I

915
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:27,600
Speaker 1: also don't want the summer to feel like January, you know,

916
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,360
Speaker 1: because at some point I don't want our guys to

917
00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:34,440
Speaker 1: hit that wall and now in January when we need

918
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:38,439
Speaker 1: them their shot because we've been grinding crazy hearts since

919
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,400
Speaker 1: August or since June or since July. And so it's

920
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:43,320
Speaker 1: kind of having that balance. So we'll mix up, you know,

921
00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 1: making a competitive summer will probably play a lot. Uh.

922
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:48,359
Speaker 1: Let these guys get going up and down. We'll work

923
00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:51,040
Speaker 1: on some skill stuff, but keep it loose, but just

924
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:53,520
Speaker 1: developed that work ethic and that love for being in

925
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:55,600
Speaker 1: the gym. To me, that's the biggest thing. If we can,

926
00:46:56,040 --> 00:47:00,359
Speaker 1: especially with the new kids. Uh, freshman and transfers really

927
00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:03,320
Speaker 1: established the culture of the work of love to be

928
00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:05,359
Speaker 1: in the gym and putting in extra that I think

929
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,920
Speaker 1: it's a it's a success. Do you have it so

930
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,400
Speaker 1: with this time that you're able to get in the

931
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:12,920
Speaker 1: gym in the summer, especially with the new guys and

932
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:15,480
Speaker 1: the transfers. Is it something and this is kind of

933
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:17,840
Speaker 1: a strategic type of question, is it something that you

934
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,320
Speaker 1: might want to look to implement or lay the foundation

935
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:26,200
Speaker 1: of offensively and defensively, maybe not full you know, going

936
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:27,960
Speaker 1: all the way one hunted, but to kind of some

937
00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:31,719
Speaker 1: principles and this is what we do here. Yeah, no, exactly.

938
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,360
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't know if we'll do a

939
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:36,840
Speaker 1: bunch of like close out drills and stuff like that,

940
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,120
Speaker 1: but you know, you definitely you want to give them

941
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:42,200
Speaker 1: a sense of like, okay, fellas, Defensively, here's kind of

942
00:47:42,239 --> 00:47:47,080
Speaker 1: our core main principles UM. And then offensively, this is

943
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:49,040
Speaker 1: how we're gonna play. This is how we're gonna play

944
00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:51,640
Speaker 1: in transition, off makes off mrs, and then in a

945
00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:54,279
Speaker 1: half court. I'm big on I want to teach these

946
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:56,440
Speaker 1: guys basketball. I'm not a guy that wants to come

947
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,520
Speaker 1: down and hammer out a set every single time, like

948
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:02,719
Speaker 1: just how my brain thinks and operate. So teaching them

949
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:05,000
Speaker 1: how do we call it flow? How to play and flow?

950
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:08,279
Speaker 1: Teach them on how to space and play that's the

951
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:11,880
Speaker 1: fun part um to to kind of play with that freedom.

952
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:13,600
Speaker 1: But I do I do think you learned that through

953
00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:15,600
Speaker 1: a lot of up and down four or four or

954
00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:18,279
Speaker 1: five on five. But teaching them you know, how to

955
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:21,440
Speaker 1: play in space and and we'll do a ton of that. Um,

956
00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:24,239
Speaker 1: both on both sides of the ball. No, that's that's

957
00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:26,920
Speaker 1: that's great. Those are the best, not the best, but

958
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:28,759
Speaker 1: one of the best methods. I feel like, you know,

959
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:32,160
Speaker 1: because guys earlier you get them in there and you

960
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:34,120
Speaker 1: lock it in, you know. Then you come you get

961
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:37,480
Speaker 1: around fall in October and you know we're already up

962
00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:40,520
Speaker 1: to speed. Uh, coach, one more question then I then

963
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:42,920
Speaker 1: I'll let you go. UM. I wanted to talk to

964
00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:47,239
Speaker 1: you briefly, just get a comment briefly about just the

965
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:51,319
Speaker 1: George Floyd situation in the state of Minnesota and if

966
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:56,560
Speaker 1: if you feel any responsibility as an African American person

967
00:48:56,640 --> 00:48:59,480
Speaker 1: of color and high profile position in that state, is

968
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:03,000
Speaker 1: there any possibility for you that you feel to to

969
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:07,200
Speaker 1: speak out or is it something that you let you know,

970
00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:10,080
Speaker 1: the nick kind of run its course, I just wanted

971
00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:12,960
Speaker 1: to get your thoughts on that. Yeah, and also another

972
00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:17,240
Speaker 1: really good question. Um, I feel it's like my responsibility

973
00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:21,360
Speaker 1: because I want to flip the narrative. I mean, obviously

974
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:26,280
Speaker 1: it hits home with me different because in the credit

975
00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:28,680
Speaker 1: area that I grew up in, I got a you know,

976
00:49:28,719 --> 00:49:33,440
Speaker 1: a sister that lives blocks away from where it happened. Um,

977
00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:37,960
Speaker 1: it could have you know, I'm a minority. I deal

978
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:41,520
Speaker 1: with those same feelings that all of us deal um

979
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:45,200
Speaker 1: at certain times in our life. But at the same time,

980
00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:47,279
Speaker 1: I want to be a voice because I want to

981
00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:50,799
Speaker 1: let everybody know I don't care what nationality you are,

982
00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:54,400
Speaker 1: what race you are, where you grew up. If you

983
00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:58,440
Speaker 1: see social injustice, you should say something about it. Hopefully,

984
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:00,960
Speaker 1: you know we start to rail guy, is that we

985
00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:03,920
Speaker 1: are all are a lot more similar than different at

986
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:05,680
Speaker 1: the end of the day, and that if we're going

987
00:50:05,719 --> 00:50:09,239
Speaker 1: to change this, that we all, when there is injustice

988
00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:13,040
Speaker 1: and inequality, are brave enough to speak on it and

989
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:15,840
Speaker 1: to be a voice for people who might not have

990
00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:19,239
Speaker 1: that voice, and to show strength when it's hard to

991
00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:23,000
Speaker 1: show strength. You know, for my players, I want them

992
00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:25,680
Speaker 1: to know it's important for them to see me fight

993
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,000
Speaker 1: the fight because they need to know that I am

994
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:30,640
Speaker 1: just like them. You know, we talked about that. Like

995
00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:34,000
Speaker 1: I said, Fellas, you know, when you get pulled over,

996
00:50:34,080 --> 00:50:37,920
Speaker 1: I I have the same feelings and anxiety that you

997
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:43,759
Speaker 1: might have um circumstances I've been through you might go through.

998
00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:46,439
Speaker 1: We can relate on that note, but like you also

999
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:49,200
Speaker 1: need to understand that it comes down to just being

1000
00:50:49,239 --> 00:50:51,520
Speaker 1: a good person. You know what, I think we kind

1001
00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:55,000
Speaker 1: of lose cited that we all want to categorize stuff,

1002
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:57,520
Speaker 1: which I get and and and sometimes it needs to

1003
00:50:57,560 --> 00:51:00,040
Speaker 1: be categorized because if it if it happens to a

1004
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:02,200
Speaker 1: certain demographic, a lot like it needs to be addressed.

1005
00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:04,920
Speaker 1: But also at the end of the day, if you're

1006
00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:07,400
Speaker 1: a good person, none of that stuff should matter. It

1007
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:09,880
Speaker 1: should just matter because you know it ain't right. And

1008
00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:12,560
Speaker 1: I think just trying to get our team and community

1009
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:15,880
Speaker 1: to understand, you know, we can change it, but we

1010
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:18,520
Speaker 1: all have to almost approach it from that standpoint of

1011
00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:21,800
Speaker 1: if you're a good person, this is what you do.

1012
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:24,440
Speaker 1: You know, I don't care what the situation is if

1013
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:26,640
Speaker 1: it deals with the female, it deals with the gay

1014
00:51:26,719 --> 00:51:29,960
Speaker 1: lesbian community, if it deals with a different you know, nationality,

1015
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:34,520
Speaker 1: different demographic, you know, different financial situation. Like good people

1016
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:36,719
Speaker 1: help good people. When you see something that's that's right

1017
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:39,600
Speaker 1: and you applaud it, when you see something that's wrong,

1018
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:42,200
Speaker 1: you stand up for it, and um, you know, that's

1019
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:44,160
Speaker 1: all I try to do. And you know, thankfully, I

1020
00:51:44,239 --> 00:51:46,840
Speaker 1: am in a position where I do have a voice,

1021
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:50,680
Speaker 1: and I've just told anybody that will listen, you know,

1022
00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:52,440
Speaker 1: I am here to help. I think that's one thing

1023
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:55,800
Speaker 1: that's cool about being in my position is you know,

1024
00:51:56,960 --> 00:51:59,920
Speaker 1: I've gotten here because people have helped me. I didn't

1025
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,680
Speaker 1: get here on my own, and I wouldn't have gotten

1026
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:05,800
Speaker 1: here on my own. Somebody saw something in me and

1027
00:52:05,960 --> 00:52:08,440
Speaker 1: pushed me to to get to where I am, and

1028
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:10,920
Speaker 1: somebody opened the door for me. So now that I'm

1029
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:13,920
Speaker 1: in this position, I want to be able to help

1030
00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,320
Speaker 1: the next person, whether it's one of my former players,

1031
00:52:16,719 --> 00:52:18,600
Speaker 1: whether it's maybe somebody in the community that I don't know.

1032
00:52:19,080 --> 00:52:20,920
Speaker 1: But if I can be that voice and I can

1033
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:24,800
Speaker 1: help somebody and navigate a situation, or help somebody achieve

1034
00:52:24,840 --> 00:52:27,759
Speaker 1: a certain goal, or be a voice for you know,

1035
00:52:28,320 --> 00:52:30,800
Speaker 1: a different organization. UM, you know, I want to be

1036
00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:32,400
Speaker 1: able to do that because I think it's important when

1037
00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:35,640
Speaker 1: you're in a position that that that has you know, power,

1038
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:39,520
Speaker 1: big time, big time stuff. Coach will let you go

1039
00:52:39,600 --> 00:52:42,040
Speaker 1: on that note, I appreciate you taking the time out

1040
00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:44,960
Speaker 1: from your busy schedule today and best of luck this

1041
00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:48,239
Speaker 1: year to the Gophers. I I appreciate it, man. I

1042
00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:51,120
Speaker 1: love your show, love what you're doing, and I appreciate

1043
00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:54,120
Speaker 1: you having a Midwest guy on man. Yes, sir, thank

1044
00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:57,160
Speaker 1: you so much, ladies and gentlemen. Coach Ben Johnson