Speaker 1: This is kJ Live with Chris john Silis and Chris
Speaker 1: is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and
Speaker 1: entertainment industry. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned in
Speaker 1: to kJ Live. Today's guest on the show earned a
Speaker 1: reputation in the college basketball world as one of the
Speaker 1: best recruiters of talent in the country. His assistant coaching
Speaker 1: stops include Oregon State, Vanderbilt, col in U c l A.
Speaker 1: He is a veteran of the United States Air Force,
Speaker 1: serving twenty years, sixteen of which were as a fuel
Speaker 1: specialist and accountant in countries like Turkey, Germany, Spain, and
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia. He is currently the head coach of Centennial
Speaker 1: High School in Peoria, Arizona. Please welcome David Grace to
Speaker 1: kJ Live. Coach Grace, it's good man, it's great man.
Speaker 1: It's great to be able to talk with you. You're
Speaker 1: doing big things on this podcast. Man, I'm exciting. Well,
Speaker 1: it's gonna get even bigger now that you on because
Speaker 1: hey man, because look, man, you look you're really impressive.
Speaker 1: When you were at U c l A. Uh during
Speaker 1: your tenure, I was really as a former player and
Speaker 1: a guy that you know put it down on the
Speaker 1: championship there. I was super impressed with just what you
Speaker 1: that coaching staff, you guys were able to do. Uh,
Speaker 1: we didn't get to where we want to go, but
Speaker 1: that that that one year was just I mean not
Speaker 1: not not the one year your tenure was an exciting
Speaker 1: brand of basketball. You guys had big league, elite level
Speaker 1: talent coming through the building year in year out. What
Speaker 1: you were were responsible for. But coach, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about what it's like though, for you to be
Speaker 1: back in the high school saddle first time since two
Speaker 1: thousand and six when you let a championship. Talking about that, Man,
Speaker 1: I'm having the time of my life. Man, I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 1: I got a great, great group of its great parents
Speaker 1: and a great administration. Was it really important? Man? And
Speaker 1: uh they let me do what I do and we
Speaker 1: we have a lot of fun. We're getting ready go
Speaker 1: to practice after this man, and uh uh, I'm just
Speaker 1: really enjoying life man, and and and having the opportunity
Speaker 1: to to to try to impact young people and uh
Speaker 1: through the game that we love basketball. Man. Is it
Speaker 1: something about working with that age group, those that fourteen
Speaker 1: really impressionable coming of age to eighteen or seventeen or eighteen,
Speaker 1: you know, where they're more developed, and now you have
Speaker 1: that contrast. I remember coaching my son for three years
Speaker 1: at Palisades and just kind of, you know, being fascinated
Speaker 1: with seeing the growth and evolution from you know, year one,
Speaker 1: year two, year three. But the more particular question I
Speaker 1: want to ask, coach, where can you can leave this
Speaker 1: team back to a state championship And what is it
Speaker 1: going to take and what are you guys doing to
Speaker 1: prepare for that journey? Well? I think we can. You know, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, we have enough talent to I believe we're
Speaker 1: really going to have to have to maximize that, you know,
Speaker 1: and and and you know, and winning the state titles
Speaker 1: not easy. Um, you gotta have the ball bounce yourway
Speaker 1: a couple of times here and there. But this group
Speaker 1: is a very special group. They really like each other.
Speaker 1: We've been preparing like crazy. We went up to the
Speaker 1: Border League a couple of weekends ago and played against
Speaker 1: great competition up there. We were we did very well
Speaker 1: in the Section seven. Um, we played really well in
Speaker 1: the fall leagues here in Arizona. So um, they're learning
Speaker 1: a new brand of basketball. You know, they were more
Speaker 1: slow down walking up the court, and you know, I'm
Speaker 1: a trapping guy. I like to get after it and
Speaker 1: have fun and swarm on defense and uh play that style.
Speaker 1: So they're learning that, they're learning how to condition. You know,
Speaker 1: they weren't they weren't really ready for that type of
Speaker 1: conditioning program. So so they're they're they're embracing it. They're
Speaker 1: they're excited. Um they have they come to practice and
Speaker 1: they're they have their fun to work with. There. There
Speaker 1: were teaching them NBA terminology and college terminology, you know,
Speaker 1: the forty five and you know, hammer screens and stuff
Speaker 1: like that, stack action and so so it's been you know,
Speaker 1: it's been a lot of fun, and I think we
Speaker 1: have a shot at it. Somebody said that will be
Speaker 1: ranked seventh in the state overall, maybe second in the
Speaker 1: state in five A. So we're we're really excited. God,
Speaker 1: I mean, just that last you know, a minute or
Speaker 1: so of what you just described kind of gave me
Speaker 1: chills just hearing how you got these guys section seven
Speaker 1: for all leagues. I mean, you were putting them through
Speaker 1: the fire coach, you know, how to get some dudes
Speaker 1: ready to compete. That got me excited, like bad coaches
Speaker 1: got could you do? And now you're teaching them also
Speaker 1: teaching them the terminology coach, do you find that this
Speaker 1: generation of high school basketball player, because of all the
Speaker 1: tools and resources that they have privy that they are
Speaker 1: privy too, from Synergy to YouTube or whatever, all the
Speaker 1: video stuff, do you find that they pick up on
Speaker 1: this stuff a lot quicker, a lot easier. There's a
Speaker 1: familiarity already established this group. Does you know, Um, this
Speaker 1: group picks up pretty good. We have a smart group.
Speaker 1: You know, we do great checks every week and uh,
Speaker 1: they're all excelling in the classroom as well. So this
Speaker 1: group picks up. There's sometimes where I got to say, hey,
Speaker 1: this is a high school kid. This is not this
Speaker 1: is not you know Alonzo ball or or Cavan Looney
Speaker 1: uh at a at U c l A. Where you
Speaker 1: just tell them one time and it's done, you know,
Speaker 1: And sometimes you gotta tell them too or three times.
Speaker 1: But they're very more there. They're still the same teaching modes,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. They still really want to learn.
Speaker 1: Oh man, that's great, and and that thirst and that
Speaker 1: hunger is gonna really be the difference form. Are they
Speaker 1: gym rats? Coachy love it? Okay, Yeah, that's a big question. Yeah.
Speaker 1: We go four times a week and we don't have to,
Speaker 1: you know, and there's some days where um or one
Speaker 1: day I might just go three and they're wanting to
Speaker 1: come in the next day. So these are gym rats.
Speaker 1: These kids right here are gym rats. And uh, they're there.
Speaker 1: They'll be in the gym again to day. As soon
Speaker 1: as soon as we're done here, I'm gonna go and
Speaker 1: and get them and we'll we'll work out for a
Speaker 1: couple of hours and they're enjoying that. Awesome. Coach, talk
Speaker 1: to me about your foundation, the beginnings for you in
Speaker 1: the game. I know you're from the Aberdeen Marylands, You're
Speaker 1: from that part of town, Ravens Country. Now, Uh, I
Speaker 1: saw you. I saw your post the other day, Like,
Speaker 1: come on, coach, but talk to me about what it
Speaker 1: was like growing up out there, what your parents did then,
Speaker 1: influence they had on you, and just you know, your neighborhood.
Speaker 1: You know, what was it like, coach Man. We we
Speaker 1: had a great neighborhood a sports fanatics. You know. My
Speaker 1: dad was a sportsman still is and my mom she
Speaker 1: was an athlete too. So um, it was competed activeness
Speaker 1: from the get go, even in the even in the house,
Speaker 1: like my mom was was had some some ladies over
Speaker 1: the house. A couple of weeks ago. She said she
Speaker 1: her lasagna was going to be the best, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, still competing at seventies some years old. Man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we had that. My father's blue collar. You know,
Speaker 1: we worked, you know in Maryland area, it's it's mostly
Speaker 1: all blue collar. That's why the Ravens have taken that
Speaker 1: that that kind of blue collar work, you know, work
Speaker 1: ethic to them. And uh, you know, my my mom
Speaker 1: was spent along a lot of hours to being a
Speaker 1: beautician like your mom, you know, and she practiced on
Speaker 1: my head, always great haircuts, as you know. But that's
Speaker 1: why that's why I don't have them here now. My
Speaker 1: mom was practicing on me all the time. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so so, but it was lunch pail. You know, you run,
Speaker 1: your run your lunch pail. The guys I grew up
Speaker 1: with we still talk to this day, you know. And
Speaker 1: when it was football season, we played football. When it
Speaker 1: was baseball, we played baseball. You know, I grew up
Speaker 1: with the Ripkens you know Cal, Calm Billy who were
Speaker 1: very good basketball players. You know Cal was older than me,
Speaker 1: but Billy was. You know, he was the first one
Speaker 1: throw me a curveball when I was not what you
Speaker 1: do with the coach, and I ran out of the box.
Speaker 1: Call of us did at the first time we saw
Speaker 1: Curt Yeah, my dad, My dad went got a bucket
Speaker 1: of balls afterwards, and he threw curveballs to me every
Speaker 1: like for hours, for like two hours. You know, he
Speaker 1: was baseball. Your first love was that. You know, I
Speaker 1: was very good at baseball, probably better at baseball than basketball.
Speaker 1: But my first love was always basketball. You know, for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, who was it, who wasn't They made you
Speaker 1: fall in love with the game. Dr Jay, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, the doctor you know in Philly, which
Speaker 1: wasn't far from us. You know, the first game I
Speaker 1: ever went to. I was very young when when jabbar
Speaker 1: Lew Center was with the Bucks, you know um and
Speaker 1: Oscar Robinson was on that team and in the early seventies, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they played I was like very young. They played against
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Bullets with with unselling those guys, so it
Speaker 1: was uh, he could have been on the team. He
Speaker 1: could he might have been on that team. You know.
Speaker 1: So the arena man arena smell, yeah, sneaker squeaking, you know,
Speaker 1: the converse back then, you know what I mean. And uh,
Speaker 1: but I fell in love with basketball, man, and and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, just going outside. And that's another thing too.
Speaker 1: We became great drivers back then because the wind was blowing.
Speaker 1: The ball didn't bounce very high school. We had to
Speaker 1: get to the rack. Man, if you're shooting it, that
Speaker 1: thing might sway a little bit on the on the court,
Speaker 1: and the court was the biggest thing happening. Man, it was.
Speaker 1: It was the place to be, you know. And all
Speaker 1: the old heads that we're really good, they came later.
Speaker 1: We had to come early. And the better we got,
Speaker 1: the later we could go show up because we get picked,
Speaker 1: you know. And I remember Tommy Davis was the was
Speaker 1: the thing. He went on to play the NBA. He
Speaker 1: picked me. He was the first one to pick me, man. Uh,
Speaker 1: And he said, you know what, you gotta pass me
Speaker 1: the ball. I said, that's all I did. I got
Speaker 1: even the ball the whole bime. That's smart. At home,
Speaker 1: told my dad, hey man, Tommy Davis picked me, man,
Speaker 1: And he was he was the sensation back then. Man,
Speaker 1: he went on to play in Minnesota, had a great
Speaker 1: career there, Tucker and those guys. Man, so it was good.
Speaker 1: That's dope. And then through high school so you played
Speaker 1: both went. At what point did it become the focus
Speaker 1: for you go towards and listing in the Air Force
Speaker 1: instead of maybe going to college athlete route. Well, I
Speaker 1: thought I was about good as maybe a big sky good,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, maybe Shack State I could
Speaker 1: have probably played or somewhere like that. But I went
Speaker 1: to three different high schools in three different states due
Speaker 1: to my stepfather being in the Army and how he coach.
Speaker 1: Talk to talk about that, because that's a that's something
Speaker 1: a lot of people that kids our age where we
Speaker 1: were at that age, because I traveled a lot and
Speaker 1: I changed schools a lot, and it's always a weird
Speaker 1: thing kind of being a new kid in a new
Speaker 1: city in a new town. Talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: that and how you figured it out at the end
Speaker 1: of the day. I think that really helped me with
Speaker 1: my people skills and along with you too, because you know,
Speaker 1: being a new kid ain't always the best thing, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, So you always had had to
Speaker 1: work and slide your way in there, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, and uh take your lumps here and there,
Speaker 1: or you know, getting a fight here there and just
Speaker 1: to let you let them know that you wasn't messing around.
Speaker 1: So but it was. It really helped me with my
Speaker 1: people skills. It helped me with my recruiting later in life.
Speaker 1: You know, um, my senior year, I moved down to Leesville, Louisiana,
Speaker 1: Maryland kid going to Louisiana and and Nikita Niketa Wilson,
Speaker 1: who went on to play at l S. You was
Speaker 1: on the team and uh me and him became very
Speaker 1: good friends man, very very good friends. And um at
Speaker 1: right at the beginning of the year, they didn't allow
Speaker 1: me to play. So for whatever reason, I didn't get it.
Speaker 1: I didn't get allowed to play, and uh so I
Speaker 1: didn't play my senior year, so that really hurt me.
Speaker 1: A guy saw me play against the base team um
Speaker 1: in and on the base at for Polk Louisiana and U.
Speaker 1: He was connected to Northwestern State University and he contacted
Speaker 1: the coach and the coach started talking to me said, hey,
Speaker 1: because you know film, wouldn't you know we didn't have
Speaker 1: the Internet back then, or the or the phones and stuff,
Speaker 1: so it was all word of mouth. So so the
Speaker 1: guy said, hey, we got a spot that you could
Speaker 1: walk on. Well, I went and told my mom because
Speaker 1: she wanted me to join the army. And it wasn't
Speaker 1: no way in the world I was doing the army
Speaker 1: because I saw what my stepfather did. They went out
Speaker 1: in the field play g I Joe. I wasn't. I
Speaker 1: wasn't about that life, you know. But so I told
Speaker 1: her I was gonna walk on and she said, well,
Speaker 1: who's gonna pay for that? I didn't know about granted,
Speaker 1: and you know, we didn't get taught that back then,
Speaker 1: and it had no goodn't Google wasn't wasn't a Google.
Speaker 1: And uh so I just told her, you know, I
Speaker 1: probably joined the Air Force, and she said she used
Speaker 1: reverse psychology on me. She said, oh, you're not smart enough.
Speaker 1: You know, you know that I would go prove it wrong, right,
Speaker 1: So I did. I went proved the wrong obviously, and
Speaker 1: then me and my my best friend at the time,
Speaker 1: we joined together and we went in the Air Force.
Speaker 1: What was the most shelf shocking thing characteristic of the
Speaker 1: military that you may or may not have been prepared
Speaker 1: for before you enlisted, Like like, what was that moment
Speaker 1: where you're like, I didn't know it was about to
Speaker 1: be like this, you know what I'm saying, Stay and
Speaker 1: basic training. The first day the bell went off, Man,
Speaker 1: it's like four in the morning. We jump up, running
Speaker 1: around not knowing where to go. And they told us
Speaker 1: to get back into bed and then get back out
Speaker 1: of bed and clean the urinals, and man, it was
Speaker 1: it was on and popping. Man, I wasn't ready for
Speaker 1: all that. You know, you hear about stuff like that,
Speaker 1: but until you go through it. But again, another another
Speaker 1: great I think choice I made because I think the
Speaker 1: military has has really helped me throughout the years. And
Speaker 1: nothing like being in the military, and and and the
Speaker 1: people were incredible, you know, from all walks of life,
Speaker 1: you know, all different races, all different colors, and we
Speaker 1: all have to work together, you know. And then the
Speaker 1: fight of war in Saudi Arabia and everybody come back home.
Speaker 1: You know, that was that's you know, so many things
Speaker 1: have influenced me and and joining the military. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: change it for the world. You know. In the beginning,
Speaker 1: I said, Man, I wanted to play, I wanted to
Speaker 1: be like you, Chris. I wanted to play D one
Speaker 1: college basketball and get that experience. So when I joined
Speaker 1: the military, I said, I'm only gonna go four years,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna go to play bass basketball. That's that's
Speaker 1: what I was thinking. And uh, man, I got in there.
Speaker 1: They were paying me. I was playing on the bas
Speaker 1: team and and and they were paying me to play ballot.
Speaker 1: But I was a pro basically, you know, and UH
Speaker 1: have fun and and they said, you know, I did
Speaker 1: twenty years. What there's a fuel specialist due coach man.
Speaker 1: We put fuel on airplanes, you know, the store of
Speaker 1: the fuel. We we moved the fuel uh logistically, and
Speaker 1: we work with liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen. You know,
Speaker 1: when you breathe that air in the in the plane,
Speaker 1: that's the liquid oxygen, you know, and uh having the
Speaker 1: story and sample it and a whole lot of things
Speaker 1: goes on to it. Man and and jet fuel back
Speaker 1: then was very explosive, so you had to be very
Speaker 1: careful you blow things up. So um another discipline. It
Speaker 1: taught me. You know, when you went to work, you
Speaker 1: couldn't make a mistake because you might die, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So use you know, if you don't
Speaker 1: ground it to the to the ground and to the
Speaker 1: plane static that happens. Next thing you know, things are
Speaker 1: popping man. So so that's another discipline. So I did
Speaker 1: that for most of my career. Fox Sports Radio has
Speaker 1: the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
Speaker 1: of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and
Speaker 1: within the I Heart Radio app search f s R
Speaker 1: to listen live. And you're in. You're in Turkey, Germany, Spain,
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia. Of all those countries, where did you feel
Speaker 1: or have like the best experience. I can't imagine if
Speaker 1: that's a you know, it's a relative term as far
Speaker 1: as experience, because depending on what was happening. Did you
Speaker 1: play in Turkey, Yeah, I did. I played in Turkey.
Speaker 1: I lived in Istanbul. Yeah, I played it next door
Speaker 1: to Saudi Arabia in Qatar. So I was over there
Speaker 1: in Opera when um during two thousand one. So I
Speaker 1: went over there right after nine eleven. I went over
Speaker 1: there in December of nine eleven, of the nine eleven years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was over there in the heart of it. It
Speaker 1: was interesting, it was an interesting experience. Yeah, I bet,
Speaker 1: I bet that was. It's similar to some of the
Speaker 1: experiences that I that I um did as well. Um.
Speaker 1: I love Turkey. I was in South Park. I was
Speaker 1: in a Donna a little not as more third world,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean than then it's Tanble. It's Tremble.
Speaker 1: It's a major city. But I love the culture. I
Speaker 1: love the food. The food was great, the chicken tie
Speaker 1: of the e mag Yeah, yeah, yeah, you real with it.
Speaker 1: So I love Turkey, you know, you know, I love Spain.
Speaker 1: I went over to Spain. I didn't I didn't live
Speaker 1: in Spain, but I played fast pitched softball on the
Speaker 1: base team and we went over there for two weeks
Speaker 1: and uh loves loves Spain, you know, man, Spain is
Speaker 1: my favorite country, to tell you truth that in Australia
Speaker 1: side of the United States. Yeah, I had a very
Speaker 1: amazing experience in Australia when I was around twelve or
Speaker 1: thirteen years old. My dad was on a tour team
Speaker 1: uh called Kareem Abdula Jabar in the Traveling Day Dal's.
Speaker 1: So it was my dad, Marcus Johnson, artist, Gilmore how
Speaker 1: how Macy, Dwayne McClean, Johnny Moore, George Gervin oh Man
Speaker 1: by backing Dude O man, Hey, come on man, it
Speaker 1: was the Hall of Famers, right, And so that's on
Speaker 1: that trip. So we went to China, Australia in China
Speaker 1: and so we you know, we flew and we have
Speaker 1: long bus rides. But I would I was hanging out
Speaker 1: with gerv George gervin a lot. He taught me how
Speaker 1: to play jin roomy, he taught, He taught me how,
Speaker 1: They taught me how to play bear with, they talked,
Speaker 1: They taught me how to play space, they taught me
Speaker 1: how to play tonk. So it was two weeks and
Speaker 1: we just I just picked I picked up all this
Speaker 1: knowledge and skills and stories, and so, I mean it
Speaker 1: was I think I think people don't understand how when
Speaker 1: we as Americans go overseas or we're together with you know,
Speaker 1: other people overseas, there's just such a heightened level and
Speaker 1: sense of camaraderie that exists. And so and I'm not
Speaker 1: sure I would have had the same experience if I
Speaker 1: was hanging out with George out here in l A.
Speaker 1: But I know for a fact that I was putting
Speaker 1: that place for a special reason, and it was it
Speaker 1: was a wonderful, wonderful, uh time. Coach stand on that
Speaker 1: military topic. I really find it fascinating that some of
Speaker 1: the best coaches that have ever coached the game of basketball,
Speaker 1: you know, Coach K, Bobby Night, Greg Popovich are coach
Speaker 1: to have military experience. I think there's a correlation between
Speaker 1: the core values of the military and the athletic arena.
Speaker 1: When you can create that like perfect storm or perfect
Speaker 1: synergy of of the two, that's when you achieved you know,
Speaker 1: the heights of like Coach K, and that's when you
Speaker 1: can really it's the perfection part. What described or talk
Speaker 1: to me about the core values of the air Force
Speaker 1: and military and how you implement them in your day
Speaker 1: to day when you're dealing with coaching basketball. I did
Speaker 1: it ever since day one I was. I was eighteen
Speaker 1: years old and I and I went into military instill
Speaker 1: those core values to me. The integrity part, you know,
Speaker 1: doing it the right way when no one's looking, being
Speaker 1: disciplined enough to you know, get to bed on time,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and stuff like that, and
Speaker 1: just do it over and over when it becomes a habit.
Speaker 1: You know, the excellence and all we do, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, You're striving for excellence in every part
Speaker 1: of the of of of your day. You know, my
Speaker 1: my podcast is called Do More with Your twenty four.
Speaker 1: So I'm teaching kids. I'm teaching kids the whole. Like
Speaker 1: today I had to. I saw three classes today and
Speaker 1: I was asking them, did y'all make your bed? You know, well,
Speaker 1: I know how you make you know? Why not? Why
Speaker 1: do you have that discipline you do was seventeen days
Speaker 1: in a row becomes a habit at eighteen that you're
Speaker 1: gonna wake up and make it, you know. So those
Speaker 1: things go with coaching in my opinion, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, And in the discipline, and uh, the the
Speaker 1: integrity part of it, and the strike for striving for
Speaker 1: excellence in every part of your day. You know what
Speaker 1: I mean, and and and to be able to sell it,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean in a way and capture
Speaker 1: it in a way like the Popovich is the coach
Speaker 1: ks and and and the other military people that's had
Speaker 1: great sins as the Bobby Knights, you know, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: even though Bobby did some other stuff, but what he
Speaker 1: was at an excellent coach absolutely cannot cannot deny his
Speaker 1: his basketball actum right, very true. Yeah, So you started
Speaker 1: your college coaching career at Cow State Sacramento with coach
Speaker 1: Jesse Evans who recruited me him and Luke recruited me.
Speaker 1: I love Jesse. I love Jesse. Uh. He was one
Speaker 1: of my favorite people to talk to, you know, coach
Speaker 1: back in the day, in the nineties, you know, you
Speaker 1: couldn't wait to get home and get that phone call.
Speaker 1: So and I talked to a lot of coaches from
Speaker 1: you know that that ended up being head coaches down
Speaker 1: the road, from Kelvin Sampson to Mark Turgin too, Ray
Speaker 1: Ti and COLLETTI. I mean, all these names are just
Speaker 1: you know, in blazon. But but Jesse is one of
Speaker 1: the guys that I really enjoyed talking to. Talk to
Speaker 1: me about that first year, uh, and how you got
Speaker 1: your start? Well, actually a coach with Jesse at USF UM,
Speaker 1: I was with Jerome Jenkins at Sacramento Sticks. Oh forgive me, yeah,
Speaker 1: but that's what Jesse was. You're right, man, Jesse. You know,
Speaker 1: I learned from every coach, and Jesse was a great
Speaker 1: recruiter obviously did a lot of great things for lud
Speaker 1: Olsen and Luke. Luke and I became really good friends,
Speaker 1: um and he became a mentor of mine due to
Speaker 1: the fact that he was recruiting Jared Bayless and he
Speaker 1: was on my AU team, so so um and obviously
Speaker 1: they got him. And Jared had a great year at
Speaker 1: at Arizona. You know he he he went on in
Speaker 1: eleven year in the NBA. So he was the eighth pick.
Speaker 1: Was he the eighth pick of the trap? I think
Speaker 1: he was the eleventh? I think him the rest Westbrook
Speaker 1: got up in there. I think was the difference. I'm
Speaker 1: not I could be wrong. Um, but uh, he's back here.
Speaker 1: I was with his brother last night at the Gold
Speaker 1: State Warriors game and I coached his brother to uh
Speaker 1: with with the son. So I had a great time
Speaker 1: last night. But but how I got the job, you know,
Speaker 1: I was obviously I coached the year with the Compton Magic.
Speaker 1: You know what me and a told are very great,
Speaker 1: great friends. And uh really I coached more. I coached
Speaker 1: years one year with the Compton Magic, but I coached
Speaker 1: four years as the Arizona Magic. And uh so you
Speaker 1: know eight told me to call to and so did
Speaker 1: Jeff Tyler who was part of the part of the
Speaker 1: Compton Magic program, and Jerome Jenkins. And but Jerome said
Speaker 1: he man when lud Olsen calls, man, I gotta, I gotta,
Speaker 1: I gotta go ahead and hire this guy. So that's
Speaker 1: how I got hired. I did a twenty took a
Speaker 1: twenty dollar pay cut, remarried two days that full custody
Speaker 1: of my children, and remarried two days before I left
Speaker 1: and slept on the floor in the locker room. People
Speaker 1: don't A lot of people only see all great viewers
Speaker 1: at U c l A and associate head coach at Vanderbilt,
Speaker 1: but they didn't see that the beginnings, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, and and uh and to be a sack
Speaker 1: statement with one of the worst high school gyms in
Speaker 1: the in the country, you know, and you had to
Speaker 1: recruit to it. So what's the toughest part about that
Speaker 1: level of division? One? You know, I was spoiled at
Speaker 1: U c l A and almost oblivious until I got
Speaker 1: older about mid major life, low low major life, high
Speaker 1: major life. What was the biggest challenge for you as
Speaker 1: an assistant coach on that level? Well? Resources, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, And you know it's the playing field
Speaker 1: for college athletics is and isn't equal. You know what
Speaker 1: I mean, C l A is you get a lot
Speaker 1: more stuff. You got a lot more resource. Obviously we
Speaker 1: know that. So so what just an example. My first year,
Speaker 1: I'm the recruiting coordinator. I get these books. Man, it
Speaker 1: was map Quest back then. We didn't have So I'm
Speaker 1: printing all these out right and put them in the books.
Speaker 1: And it's April geting coming. We're getting ready to go recruiting.
Speaker 1: So I take them in there to Jerome and I
Speaker 1: I said, look, coach, this is what I got. And
Speaker 1: he said, hey, grades, this is really nice. But we
Speaker 1: ain't got no money to go recruiting, so we ain't gone.
Speaker 1: Plus we're not going to get any kids in April anyway.
Speaker 1: We gotta wait for the other schools to pick and
Speaker 1: we get the leftovers, the scraps. Yeah, the scraps. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I was heartbroken. Man. I worked long hours on
Speaker 1: those books. Man. So I told him, I said, they
Speaker 1: don't worry about it. There's a there's a tournament in Vegas.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna drive. So I drove down there myself and
Speaker 1: went went to the went to the games and we
Speaker 1: got Vinnie McGee uh for mcclimates High School Freshman Player
Speaker 1: of the Year, and uh, I was really excited. To
Speaker 1: get him and uh uh played for the Open Soldiers
Speaker 1: and yeah, tough, tough Vinnie McGhee. Jack checked this out.
Speaker 1: So we bring him on an official visit. We don't
Speaker 1: even show him the gym, so that at the end
Speaker 1: of at the end of the visit, he said, hey, coach,
Speaker 1: where's the gym? Mat I said, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: He's got ten foot goals like everything else. We'll get
Speaker 1: you on the next one. You know what I mean,
Speaker 1: because I think he might not have came here. That
Speaker 1: might have been a deal breaker. Yeah, man, So when
Speaker 1: he came without even seeing the gym, man, and then
Speaker 1: you went to USF and work with Jesse. Yeah, did
Speaker 1: you live in the city, Yeah, I lived in South
Speaker 1: San Francisco, barely made it man, Penny's bro. Yeah, I know,
Speaker 1: I know that was hit hard out there. And after
Speaker 1: San Francisco you got with Oregon State. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1: That was always interesting to me because that's sort of
Speaker 1: when you started to get I would say, you're notoriety.
Speaker 1: Well I started hearing your name more and I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know it was it was the Pac ten
Speaker 1: or if it was. You know, some of the guys
Speaker 1: you were bringing in probably a combination of both. But
Speaker 1: I was always curious about how that behind the scenes
Speaker 1: and whatever. You can talk about working with the first
Speaker 1: Lady's brother, you know, was it special like security stuff
Speaker 1: detail you guys tell you a little bit about that
Speaker 1: behind the scene. Yeah, it was really special. Man. We
Speaker 1: had Uh, Craig Robinson my boss. Great dude, man, really
Speaker 1: a great dude. Uh. He had security and he got
Speaker 1: briefings like every day, you know, from the Secret Service
Speaker 1: that was in Oregon. Uh to see because I remember
Speaker 1: one time we were walking through a volleyball camp on
Speaker 1: campus and we're all three of us are walking together
Speaker 1: and we're gonna go see a uh we're recruiting a kid.
Speaker 1: It and his sisters playing volleyball. So we're gonna go
Speaker 1: watch the volleyball game because the dad and the mom
Speaker 1: are there watching. So as we're walking, you know, this
Speaker 1: was the excitement of Obama and the height of it,
Speaker 1: and somebody just grabs Craig's arm. It's a lady that
Speaker 1: grabbed his arm to get his attention. Man. I had
Speaker 1: a military flashback. Almost hit the ground. I thought he
Speaker 1: was getting I thought he was getting to get kidnapped.
Speaker 1: It got crazy, got crazy because he got startled, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. And uh and uh, I'm like, whoa,
Speaker 1: this is the power of where we're at right now.
Speaker 1: And then to go to the White House every year,
Speaker 1: you know, we always would play George Washington or Howard.
Speaker 1: You know, Barrock would come. We played Towson and Rock
Speaker 1: would come, so they would sweep the thing. But this
Speaker 1: is what impressed me most about Barack. We're in the
Speaker 1: warehouse and we're doing food. We're at a food bank,
Speaker 1: like you know, we're putting food in boxes like a
Speaker 1: conveyor like a conveyor belt. Michelle, she's like two people down.
Speaker 1: So here comes Barocking and there's like forty people in
Speaker 1: the warehouse that's it, and some of his family, some
Speaker 1: of us the workers, and our our basketball team and
Speaker 1: and any supports staff. So he goes and starts saying
Speaker 1: hello to everybody, and it's like forty and he gets
Speaker 1: to me and I'm like third to last before Craig
Speaker 1: and Craig. And he walks up to me and never
Speaker 1: met him before, and he says, hey, David, how you
Speaker 1: doing take good care of Craig for me? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: how does this dude, no my name, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Does he do that? The most powerful man
Speaker 1: in the world. And he came up, gave me some
Speaker 1: dap and just like we were boys, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. And that made the biggest impression to this day.
Speaker 1: Eight about Barack Obama, you know what I mean? And uh,
Speaker 1: he would mess with Craig during the games. You know,
Speaker 1: Craig with we we couldn't shoot free throws our first year, right,
Speaker 1: So Craig would turn around every time we would go.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't look at when you look at he wouldn't
Speaker 1: even look at it. And I remember Barack said, like
Speaker 1: four rows up and we were in Uh, I forget what.
Speaker 1: I forget what arena we were in. But he would
Speaker 1: yell out Craig turn around and watch the kid free throw,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So you're like, damn, that's
Speaker 1: the president talking, you know what during the game. So
Speaker 1: it was a whole lot of stories. You know. It's
Speaker 1: really cool. Yeah, man, working out in the morning with
Speaker 1: Michelle Obama and Craig's wife. We're the only ones in
Speaker 1: the way room. Wow, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 1: I should have the pictures. I didn't take pictures man, Now,
Speaker 1: you're just in the moment, coach. That's not your style.
Speaker 1: That's probably not your style. Coach. You live through moments
Speaker 1: because you know what I'm saying, you just live through it, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: the same way. I'm kind of the same way too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean this to sit there and talk there, we're
Speaker 1: talking about normal stuff, you know what I mean? What
Speaker 1: was on TV? Because we were watching the TV monitors
Speaker 1: on Elliptical, you know, and she was on the trademill
Speaker 1: I think so, so we're just talking everyday stuff and
Speaker 1: she's that's the first lady man. So it was. It
Speaker 1: was amazing. Last thing on Oregon State, Roberto Nelson, your
Speaker 1: first major recruit, led the conference and scoring enjoyed a
Speaker 1: long professional career. He's bawling, I believe in Italy. Now,
Speaker 1: talk to me a little bit about Roberto's game and
Speaker 1: what he meant to that team and that program at
Speaker 1: that time. Well, you know, you see all it was
Speaker 1: all over him at the time. I remember his Yeah,
Speaker 1: his dad was very you know, he grew up his dad,
Speaker 1: he grew up in Santa Barbara, So m Roberto was
Speaker 1: an incredible kid man and me and him are he's
Speaker 1: like a son to me. Um. He calls me almost
Speaker 1: every other day or to this day. You know, he's
Speaker 1: up important now. Incredible kid, um, very bright, very very bright. Um.
Speaker 1: Mom is tremendous. Uh. The dad is doing great now here.
Speaker 1: He did a little time and came out I think,
Speaker 1: you know, his dad was kind of pushing him the
Speaker 1: U c l A at the time. But that's before
Speaker 1: that's you know, when we hit with the Barack Obama thing.
Speaker 1: And Craig is a great salesman as well, and we
Speaker 1: and we got him, you know what I mean, along
Speaker 1: with Joe Burton out in him and Roberto could flat
Speaker 1: out score that basketball man. He could a wore it
Speaker 1: and has the confidence a scratch golfer, you know. Really Yeah,
Speaker 1: he hit a golf ball. He keeps telling me we
Speaker 1: haven't played yet, so he keeps telling he's gonna come
Speaker 1: and teach me how to play. So but but you
Speaker 1: know what he did, he did. They were they grew
Speaker 1: up kind of poor in Santa Barbara. Not kind, they
Speaker 1: were poor. This is the type of kid he is.
Speaker 1: I always call him like an intellectual gangster. You know.
Speaker 1: He would go to all the top golf courses in
Speaker 1: Santa Barbara and within minutes, he'd be on the golf course.
Speaker 1: He didn't talked his way on there to all these
Speaker 1: rich dudes coming in there, and he finds somebody that
Speaker 1: come on, come with us, competitor. Next thing you know,
Speaker 1: he's playing on some of the top golf courses in
Speaker 1: the country. Wow. I mean that's the type of kid
Speaker 1: he is. This amazing this amazing kid. Uh. But you
Speaker 1: know he played for Compton Magic as well, and and
Speaker 1: he uh had a great career. He had a really
Speaker 1: good career there. Um at Oregon State. That's where I
Speaker 1: met your dad. Yeah, I remember, I remember. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: was always a big fan of him from a distance.
Speaker 1: You know, I liked the Bucks, you know, I like
Speaker 1: how he played. And then for him he was a
Speaker 1: commentator in the Pac ten back then. Then he would
Speaker 1: come up to Oregon State and he would always come
Speaker 1: over and talk to me, and I thought the world
Speaker 1: of that man. Appreciate Yeah, he's definitely a dope, dude.
Speaker 1: How many years you spent at Oregon State? Was it five? Five? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Speaker 1: radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
Speaker 1: Search f s R to listen live. How did the
Speaker 1: u c l A opportunity come about? Crazy story Man,
Speaker 1: Crazy story you know. Um, the year before Steve Orford
Speaker 1: gets the u c l A job, Craig Neil was
Speaker 1: on his staff, um, and he called me when I
Speaker 1: was up in Oregon State and he said, hey, Grace,
Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna get Colorado State. You want to
Speaker 1: come be my associate head coach. And at that time,
Speaker 1: you know, I was, you know, you don't really want
Speaker 1: to stay more than five or six years on the staff.
Speaker 1: You know, you can, but it gets stagnated and things
Speaker 1: change and all that. So so I was kind of
Speaker 1: looking like, you know, I might need to change, you know, Um,
Speaker 1: I still love Craig and all of that. So I said,
Speaker 1: if you get it, I'll go, you know. And then
Speaker 1: so it didn't happen, and I was recruiting Craig Neil's son,
Speaker 1: who was good. He's good for he ended up going
Speaker 1: into Mexico. Yeah, So anyway, so I would go recruiting
Speaker 1: in the summer and sit with Craig because he was
Speaker 1: a coach too. So I was recruiting his son knowing
Speaker 1: that really he wasn't gonna let him go play in
Speaker 1: the Princeton offense with Craig Robinson. But I was networking,
Speaker 1: you know, so so but Steve would go sit on
Speaker 1: the other side, never say a word to me. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, that's big time Steve Offord, and
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go and say, Steve, how you doing?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, because he never said a
Speaker 1: word to me. So so, so fast forward, he gets
Speaker 1: the job at U c l A. I'm flying into
Speaker 1: Atlanta for the Final four, and Dan Marley had just
Speaker 1: got the Grand Canyon job. He was interested in hiring me.
Speaker 1: He wanted to interview me at the Final four. And
Speaker 1: Andy Enfield played. He was from Pennsylvania. He played at
Speaker 1: Johns Hopkins and my old high school coach was assistant
Speaker 1: coach at Johns Hopkins when he was there. So so
Speaker 1: Andy was gonna interview me at the final four. Two
Speaker 1: so I didn't when thinking about U c l A.
Speaker 1: So I landed, I land and man, I got like,
Speaker 1: you know, calls and texts on my phone. U c
Speaker 1: l A is interested in you. U c l A
Speaker 1: called about you. Steve, Steve was going to hire you
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, and I'm like, is this jokes
Speaker 1: you know? Uh? Uh? This is you know dude from Aberdeen, Maryland. Man,
Speaker 1: there was a military. Dude's gonna get the get the
Speaker 1: interview at U c l A. Come on, man. So
Speaker 1: so I get two or three phone calls. Uh told
Speaker 1: called me um, A couple other people called me that
Speaker 1: that that Steve reached out to. And then an hour
Speaker 1: later it was eight o'clock and Steve called me and said, hey,
Speaker 1: I understand you're in my same hotel. What the sides
Speaker 1: of that? Can you? Can you come up to the
Speaker 1: suite and I want to interview you in an hour?
Speaker 1: So I said, oh yes, O wait, so did you
Speaker 1: have to get ready for that or coach where you
Speaker 1: already ready? I had my suit already because I was
Speaker 1: going to interview already the next day with with with
Speaker 1: UH with Grand Canyon, right, so, and I knew I
Speaker 1: was going to interview with USC. So about five minutes later,
Speaker 1: I get a text from Neil because Neil and offered
Speaker 1: their best friends. So Neil text me, are you going
Speaker 1: to interview at U c l A. Yeah, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: interview with U c l A. He says, if you
Speaker 1: end it, then he calls me right, says, if you
Speaker 1: interview at U c l A, you can't interview with
Speaker 1: New Mexico. So I said, alright, alright, Noodles, you know what, Noodles,
Speaker 1: you want to play that game. I'm still interviewing, and therefore,
Speaker 1: letters a powerful man, I'm not coming into Mexican y. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then he said, uh, well, I could pay you
Speaker 1: a lot more, which was true because you know U
Speaker 1: c l A didn't pay man, so that with that
Speaker 1: part was true. He said, I could pay you a
Speaker 1: lot more. We can do a lot more stuff, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. And I said, man, I'm interviewing
Speaker 1: the U c l A. It ain't about the money, man,
Speaker 1: It's about having the opportunity to coach it. And you
Speaker 1: know how special that place is. Man, So um, I
Speaker 1: go up. I'm an interviewing and this is this is
Speaker 1: what I tell a lot a lot of kids. Halfway
Speaker 1: through the interview, his daughter walks in and because it's
Speaker 1: in a suite and they were staying in the same place,
Speaker 1: so I stand up and I go shake her hand
Speaker 1: and I said hello, she's a sophomore in high school
Speaker 1: at the time. Then she leaves. I go back down.
Speaker 1: We finished the interview and then Steve said, hey, you
Speaker 1: got anything else? So, I mean, you got you got
Speaker 1: anything you want to say? So I said, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: um when we when you know, when you're gonna make
Speaker 1: your decision? And he said you got anything left? And uh,
Speaker 1: you said you got anything else going on? I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: I got Grand Canyon. He said, what's that detail? You
Speaker 1: know he's going out joke U c l a man.
Speaker 1: He had his polo on, you know, he is, Yeah,
Speaker 1: He's like, is that D two? He went one of
Speaker 1: them numbers, right, and I said no, it's D one.
Speaker 1: And then he said what do you got? And I
Speaker 1: said I got New Mexico And he started laughing, like yeah,
Speaker 1: who cares about that? He just came from there, right.
Speaker 1: And then I said, he said you got anything else?
Speaker 1: I said usc? He he got he got serious, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, that's across town. He got USC.
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, I got USC coming up on the interview,
Speaker 1: probably having Sunday and Monday, you know. And then he
Speaker 1: got real serious. He said okay. He said, uh, if
Speaker 1: you don't hear from me tomorrow at twelve before your
Speaker 1: grand chain, you just go to that. He said. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'll make the I'm gonna make a call
Speaker 1: to tomorrow. I'm gonna make it a higher tomorrow. So
Speaker 1: it gets to be the next day, it gets to
Speaker 1: be like eleven forty, you know, and I'm walking over
Speaker 1: to the to the interview with Marley, and I'm saying,
Speaker 1: I must didn't get it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So I got to really concentrate on this Grand Canyon deal,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But I still was at
Speaker 1: Oregon State, so I was still fine, you know. So
Speaker 1: so I go and he calls me right before and
Speaker 1: he said, hey, man, I'm sorry. Bryce, his son had
Speaker 1: a three point shooting contest. He was a senior at
Speaker 1: the time at the final four. He said, I was
Speaker 1: late with that, and I had a couple of other things.
Speaker 1: He said, give me Craig Robinson's number. So I gave
Speaker 1: him Craig Robinson's number. Um, and then he said, going
Speaker 1: to that what's that Grand Canyon going to that interview,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So I go to the
Speaker 1: interview with Grand Canyon. I walked out and we're in
Speaker 1: the main lobby. So I got a suit on him.
Speaker 1: So Buzz Williams comes over and says, Gracie, where your
Speaker 1: interview at. I'm like, man, I et interviewed, don't wear man,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Yeah. Then he said, ah,
Speaker 1: you interviewed. I know you interviewed. I just know you did.
Speaker 1: So then Craig Robinson walks around on and I didn't
Speaker 1: tell Craig. I didn't tell because I didn't you know,
Speaker 1: getting these jobs right. Greg sees me in the suit,
Speaker 1: oh man, and he said, David, you got something going on?
Speaker 1: And I said yeah, And I told him all that,
Speaker 1: all the options right, and I said you could get
Speaker 1: a phone call from you know. And then Steve Steve
Speaker 1: Offord and he said, oh, okay, cool. And then you know,
Speaker 1: he was in the lobby and they were swarming him
Speaker 1: because everybody's trying to get the Barack. So at that
Speaker 1: point I just said, the heck with it. I'm staying
Speaker 1: in the lobby because I didn't know. I didn't know
Speaker 1: Craig was gonna take the call or not, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, all kinds of stuff running through my head,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, man, So I just stayed. And um
Speaker 1: and then Damon Archibald and his brother um Bo came
Speaker 1: up to me and said, hey, man, I heard you
Speaker 1: interview that U c l A. So I didn't tell nobody,
Speaker 1: you know, And I don't know how they got out.
Speaker 1: Maybe the people that Steve called. Maybe, So I said, no, man,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm trying to keep things quiet because you
Speaker 1: know how that stuff is, man, people hating. So so
Speaker 1: I stayed different about an hour, but I never let
Speaker 1: Craig out of my sight, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And then Craig walks around after an hour and he
Speaker 1: and he shows me his phone. He says, is this
Speaker 1: Steve's number? I said, yeah it is, so he did
Speaker 1: call right, So so then um, he said, I'll give
Speaker 1: him a call about five minutes. So I waited for that.
Speaker 1: He was on the phone. Then I went back to
Speaker 1: my room. Man, I was exhausted, man, and took my
Speaker 1: suit off, and I'm like, it's either I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: it or I'm not, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 1: then about two hours later, Steve calls and says, hey,
Speaker 1: you want to go to dinner. So we go to dinner.
Speaker 1: He's sitting right across from me, not saying one word
Speaker 1: to me. Uh Eddie Shillen, who's on our staff. He
Speaker 1: was eating dinner his agent Um was there and his
Speaker 1: whole family and then me and im and I'm eating, like,
Speaker 1: not talking to anybody. I don't know anybody, right, So
Speaker 1: I'm like, why you bring me here? Man? You know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Tell me I finished second or third,
Speaker 1: you know. And then he then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you know, he's laughing and joking. Then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden he said, you know what, in my twenty three years,
Speaker 1: I've never hired anybody I didn't know. And I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: you said that three or four times in the interview.
Speaker 1: I said, I really appreciate the opportunity to even interview,
Speaker 1: you know. But she said that three I said, Uh,
Speaker 1: Jerome Jenkins didn't know me either, you know, and and
Speaker 1: and neither did uh Craig Robinson, He said, yeah, Craig.
Speaker 1: Craig gave me a uh, one of the best recommendations.
Speaker 1: He said nothing but great things about you. And I
Speaker 1: didn't know if he would, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I think the world of that to this day for
Speaker 1: Craig because he didn't have to do that. And he says,
Speaker 1: he says, I'm gonna hire you. He said, but before,
Speaker 1: really why I'm gonna hire you? See that young lady
Speaker 1: down at the end of the table. She said, I
Speaker 1: better hire you if things are gonna be bad at
Speaker 1: at his daughter, for you shook when you shook her hand,
Speaker 1: when I shook her hand, and she said, no one
Speaker 1: has ever done that because she's in a household of boys.
Speaker 1: She has two brothers her dad, so legend, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And it was all basketball. So she
Speaker 1: she was so impressed that some one of Steve's people
Speaker 1: would say hied to her and make it, make it
Speaker 1: a point. She said, that's he said, that's the real
Speaker 1: reason why I'm gonna hurt you. So that's how I
Speaker 1: got hired. That you see all that character, coach, that
Speaker 1: was an amazing story. Ain't that crazy? That's an amazing
Speaker 1: that you know that that scene in the lobby, hold
Speaker 1: On Williams and you know, Craig Robinson seeing you in
Speaker 1: the suit, I know you're sweating bull, Coach. You had
Speaker 1: to be sweating, bully. I was trying to get out
Speaker 1: of there, quick man. But that's the That's how live
Speaker 1: it is. Thank you for sharing that, giving the audience
Speaker 1: just you know, some insight into this stuff actually really
Speaker 1: goes down. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
Speaker 1: lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app. Search f s R to listen live. Because
Speaker 1: maybe actually this about U. C l A. Um your tenure.
Speaker 1: You're there five years, I believe how many three sweet sixteens.
Speaker 1: You know, you guys did a magnificent job. Do you
Speaker 1: view your time there as a success or do you
Speaker 1: wish you could have done a little bit more? Well,
Speaker 1: I always think it's a success. It's the greatest place
Speaker 1: I've ever worked. Um, I had five great years. It
Speaker 1: was a lot of stress, obviously, you know, I was
Speaker 1: a recruiting coordinator and if we missed on a kid,
Speaker 1: it was my fault, you know what I mean. That's
Speaker 1: just the way it is. And I wouldn't want it
Speaker 1: any different. Um, But a lot of stress, a lot
Speaker 1: of long hours, um, no holidays, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It was. It was it was only for us. I
Speaker 1: was going up against them cats across you know the
Speaker 1: way you are seeing levin Harden and in Bland, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Yeah, they were l a cats,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. That was tough. That was
Speaker 1: a tough era. That was a tough era. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: then me and all great friends of course, and I
Speaker 1: love I love Jason, I love Tony and since she
Speaker 1: was competition, man, so it was like, man, where they at,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, where I can combat them,
Speaker 1: you know. And uh so it was a great, great
Speaker 1: five years. You know we were there. Best team obviously
Speaker 1: was the Alonzo ball team, um and which I thought
Speaker 1: we had enough to win the national titles. Ranked second
Speaker 1: in the country. You know, we're the only team to
Speaker 1: go to Kentucky and beat beat them at Kentucky and
Speaker 1: then go to Arizona in the same year and beat
Speaker 1: beat the Arizona which had great teams too. You know,
Speaker 1: so that that team, you know, we we didn't get
Speaker 1: we we we got a tough drawl in my opinion.
Speaker 1: We we go up to Sacramento, win two hard games.
Speaker 1: Now we gotta go play Kentucky basically at home in Memphis,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. That was a joke. The
Speaker 1: committee always does you like that historically, just so you know,
Speaker 1: one year, coach, we wanted to pack twelve, we wanted
Speaker 1: to pack ten out right, and they shipped us off
Speaker 1: to Indianapolis and we got a five seat. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: wanted to pack. We won sixteen games in conference coach,
Speaker 1: and they gave it were Princeton Princeton backdoors US for games.
Speaker 1: Yeah I remember that. Yeah, but yeah, but so notoriously
Speaker 1: they did that. But yeah, I mean, god that that
Speaker 1: that brand of basketball. And then on the offensive side,
Speaker 1: was really excited because we had just came the Brewing
Speaker 1: contingent Nation, if you will, had came out of the
Speaker 1: Howling era where it was a little bit of a
Speaker 1: contrast as far as you know, micromanaging and possession by
Speaker 1: possession less, grind out some w's and then we're doing
Speaker 1: you guys this ten you're The excitement was definitely back
Speaker 1: in the building and the and I like the players
Speaker 1: holling broad but you guys are bringing in some real dogs.
Speaker 1: I mean, one of my favorites was t J. Leaf.
Speaker 1: I always liked his game. I like the other big
Speaker 1: the big kid Eka. I thought he was man. I was.
Speaker 1: There was a point where I was gonna take him
Speaker 1: over Bam. I mean, obviously that didn't turn out the
Speaker 1: same way, but I remember when both it was both.
Speaker 1: I was looking I was looking like, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: could play man He's because remember he was only like
Speaker 1: seventeen and a half. Remember all that. I was like, man,
Speaker 1: what's the one on with this dude? Yeah, he should
Speaker 1: have stayed another year. You know. Now he's got injuries
Speaker 1: on both knees. So great kid, great family. Uh. I
Speaker 1: think Thomas Welsh thing. You know, Thomas was going four years.
Speaker 1: Thomas was more skilled offensively, and we were gonna start Thomas,
Speaker 1: you know, so e K was gonna come back. You know,
Speaker 1: when you when you're dealing with the NBA as you know,
Speaker 1: you got to hit it when you're hot, and he
Speaker 1: was hot at the time. Big time shot blocker. Probably
Speaker 1: be a shop blocker we had in our five years,
Speaker 1: you know, and you cel A don't have a lot
Speaker 1: of those, do you know what I mean over the years,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, a rim protector like that.
Speaker 1: And Thomas wasn't. He wasn't. I mean it was I
Speaker 1: can't say that because Thomas is the all time leading
Speaker 1: shop blocker. Thomas he gave that wall a little too
Speaker 1: hit on you. I mean he's smart and he get
Speaker 1: them and he just give me that. Let's go the
Speaker 1: other way. I was like, Thomas came along ways man,
Speaker 1: Yeah he did. Here Pressley, Yeah, the thing was after
Speaker 1: every practice he goes shake every coach's hand, say thank you.
Speaker 1: Really yeah, just one of those kids cut. One of
Speaker 1: those kids cut from that call. Yep. In fact, one
Speaker 1: time Steve said watch this and Steve started running to
Speaker 1: the locker room. Right, he ran down. We got out
Speaker 1: of there. That's funny. Yeah, that's funny. Then Alonzo uh
Speaker 1: Ball just talk to talk about you're were you You're
Speaker 1: pretty heavily involved in that situation, right. I recruit to
Speaker 1: him at Oregon State. So I was mainly how how
Speaker 1: how was it recruited Alonzo Ball? Real easy? You know,
Speaker 1: I knew, I knew we all. You know, I knew
Speaker 1: LaVar before LaVar, you know really because before the before
Speaker 1: the notoriety, because when we were at Oregon State, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, did nobody really know LaVar. He didn't know
Speaker 1: him until we played at the Wooden Classic and we
Speaker 1: won that tournament and then Jeff Goodman was it with
Speaker 1: ESPN and put the mic and in LaVar's face and
Speaker 1: LaVar said, hey, we're gonna win the national type that
Speaker 1: started it off, you know what I mean? And uh,
Speaker 1: but that that family very close with and they treat
Speaker 1: me like one of their own and they're incredible people.
Speaker 1: You know. I tell people all the time. The year
Speaker 1: before Alonzo gets there, we struggled. We were sixteen seventeen,
Speaker 1: Aaron Holliday, who I loved the death. He came out
Speaker 1: of high school environment where he was the only cat,
Speaker 1: so he had to score. Now, he would win games
Speaker 1: by himself, almost beat Sara Kenyon by himself. You know,
Speaker 1: he was a monster. He was right, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: But with that, when Aaron got there, he always had
Speaker 1: that chip on the shoulder. I'm the last holiday that's
Speaker 1: got to get to the league. So he he had
Speaker 1: that chip on his shoulder. And you know, when your
Speaker 1: dad age, you think you gotta score it every time.
Speaker 1: So that's that's that year we had Aaron, and Aaron
Speaker 1: was more more scoring minded. Point guard Alonso comes in.
Speaker 1: They still they're like great friends, and then we play
Speaker 1: them both. Alonso dominated. Alonzo dominated the point guards by
Speaker 1: changed the whole locker room with the past. He did
Speaker 1: it with the past. He's had to tell him to
Speaker 1: score the whole locker room changes. DJ helped ek help
Speaker 1: because they came, you know, but but Alonzo changed the
Speaker 1: whole culture in the whole locker room. Just by the
Speaker 1: pass even had Aaron passed. It was a beautiful brand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just beautiful to watch. Yeah, most assisted team I think
Speaker 1: in the country. Yeah, yeah, y'all was off the hood, coach.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was like, man, I just knew we
Speaker 1: was about to win the title. But it is what
Speaker 1: it is like just like my junior year, I thought
Speaker 1: we was gonna win a title. Made till lead eight,
Speaker 1: but then we ran into Bobby Jackson, Sam Jacobson, John Thomas,
Speaker 1: and Courtney James in Minnesota coach Clem Haskins and yeah,
Speaker 1: coach Clem, but but no, we you guys represented, and
Speaker 1: that's all we could have ever asked. Let me ask
Speaker 1: you this about the exit out of u C l A.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about the way you left? You know,
Speaker 1: I'm not, I don't. I never wanted to leave, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. It's it was that special place.
Speaker 1: So when you leave there, I went to cal Cow,
Speaker 1: paid me way more. They showed great interests when I left. Uh,
Speaker 1: I stayed in the in the retirement system. You know, yes, sir, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: but it just wasn't the same. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It's it's once you get to u C. L A.
Speaker 1: It was kind of the rest you go downhill a
Speaker 1: little bit. Not saying anything about Cow, It's just different.
Speaker 1: We didn't have the men's gym in the summer, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. We didn't have guys like yourself.
Speaker 1: The alumni base wasn't like that at Cow. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of splinter. You got you know, Jason Kidd
Speaker 1: and Kevin Johnson. But other than that, you know, it's
Speaker 1: not like the family that U. C. L A Is.
Speaker 1: You know, you guys are going threads, you know, Tius
Speaker 1: and you and and Martin and you know all all
Speaker 1: you guys. Man. I talked about you guys a lot,
Speaker 1: you know, to the kids and how your alumni is
Speaker 1: definitely a family. Yes, and you know Earl watching me
Speaker 1: and Earl very close. Um, you know, so it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's just I didn't I didn't want to leave.
Speaker 1: I thought I was gonna be there ten fifteen years.
Speaker 1: You know, I wasn't gonna be in no lobby trying
Speaker 1: to trying to get to get you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: We didn't. We know, no one could understan then what happened, Well,
Speaker 1: you know I could. I'll tell what happened. It's just Steve.
Speaker 1: We we we went to the first four remember remember
Speaker 1: that year and we got beat by Yeah, and so
Speaker 1: things weren't going for well for Steve. You know, we
Speaker 1: had the stuff the banners flying over. Yeah, me and
Speaker 1: me and Dan Guerrero were great friends. Dan. It's like
Speaker 1: a mentor. We stay in touch to this day, you know.
Speaker 1: So Steve comes into in and he was gonna say
Speaker 1: we had a staff meeting, but it really wasn't a
Speaker 1: staff meeting. He came in to say, hey, David, you
Speaker 1: you need to go find another job. Right So we're
Speaker 1: on one year contracts. So, um, I was in shocked.
Speaker 1: And then he said, pray about it. You know that
Speaker 1: I was really in shocked, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: He hit you with the pray about it. So we
Speaker 1: prayed about it. So, but you know, I'm so thankful
Speaker 1: for Steve. I'm so so thankful that he hired me.
Speaker 1: He didn't have to, and he gave me the opportunities.
Speaker 1: And I'm I'm to the misture at Peace State right
Speaker 1: now in my life where I don't blame Steve. Steve
Speaker 1: that was an avenue for for my path to go
Speaker 1: up to Cow. You know what I mean. So so
Speaker 1: I even, you know, I hit Steve up and tell him,
Speaker 1: you know, wishing my happy birthday here and there, because
Speaker 1: it's it's Steve. It's just part of life, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And and uh, so Steve, he had
Speaker 1: the meeting, and Dan Garrel basically told him he's gonna
Speaker 1: get fired being going to file for next year. So
Speaker 1: that's and then after that he said, you know, Steve said,
Speaker 1: I'm sure. He said, well, I'm just gonna go get
Speaker 1: one of my best friends to come in. We'll play
Speaker 1: golf and you know, because we're not winning and we're
Speaker 1: not going to final forward that team that he had.
Speaker 1: And and then and then I went over and talked
Speaker 1: to Dan the next day because he said Dan said
Speaker 1: didn't want to you know, Steve said Dan wanted to change,
Speaker 1: which I knew that was the case. So because me
Speaker 1: and Dan, so I go to Dan the next day
Speaker 1: and then said, no, no, no, that's not the case.
Speaker 1: He said, David, more than likely he's going to get
Speaker 1: let go next year. It's probably better that you move.
Speaker 1: And uh and then you won't be a part of it.
Speaker 1: And that's what happened. Halfway through the season, he left,
Speaker 1: and that's that's exactly what happened. Um, and allowed me
Speaker 1: to get over to cow and and and and build
Speaker 1: to keep building, uh and trying to help why King out?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, absolutely thing for why King
Speaker 1: offered me the job. And I didn't know why King
Speaker 1: was gonna get let go after two years. So um
Speaker 1: and we have we have players getting ready to come
Speaker 1: in there, you know, Danny, Jerry and all that might
Speaker 1: have came to our place. Yeah. I feel like the
Speaker 1: way you approach this and the way you look at
Speaker 1: you know, maybe setbacks or things that don't go your way,
Speaker 1: is the approach. It's why you're such a great mentor
Speaker 1: as why people, these young people need to listen to
Speaker 1: folks like you, because that is a big thing. It's
Speaker 1: how you deal with getting knocked down or it's how
Speaker 1: you you dust yourself off and get back up. You know,
Speaker 1: you could be piste off at Steve, you could be
Speaker 1: pissed off surly and you can get into a whole
Speaker 1: depressive thing. But you're like, you know what, man, I'm
Speaker 1: not even thank you for the opportunity, sir man that
Speaker 1: that that it hits me right here, uh home, Coach
Speaker 1: I appreciate you being that way. Let me ask you
Speaker 1: this about your next stop at Vanderbilt. You recruited Scottie
Speaker 1: Pippen Jr. Kenyan Martin Jr. Very heavily to former NBA
Speaker 1: kids sons. Yeah, great players, high quality kids as well.
Speaker 1: Is there uh something different or something in a twinkle
Speaker 1: in the eye if you will, of an NBA player
Speaker 1: son when you recruited him versus a non NBA player
Speaker 1: son that may be talented as well. Yeah, I'm a
Speaker 1: firm believer in the pedigree, you know. You know, it's
Speaker 1: just like with you. You know, your your dad was
Speaker 1: a great NBA player, you had a great career. Um,
Speaker 1: it is different. It's different. It's just just the way
Speaker 1: it is, you know. You know Scottie Pippen was a
Speaker 1: three star recruit out of high school, I know, and
Speaker 1: that amazing coach. You could see the way he played
Speaker 1: the game because I wouldn't I did. I did a
Speaker 1: bunch of their games and I went to games. You
Speaker 1: could see that he was like his i Q was
Speaker 1: just off the rocker. It was that you could you
Speaker 1: can't speed him up. No, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: He's yeah, pois just doing what he want on You
Speaker 1: has to be like day. Yeah, he's gonna get to
Speaker 1: where he wants to get to. Man. Just a great
Speaker 1: kid to coach. Yeah, you know, he had committed to
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt before I got there, and he hadn't signed. Okay,
Speaker 1: So that was the first thing I said. I told
Speaker 1: Jerry Stackhous said, when we got to go to l
Speaker 1: a man, you gotta get him signed because we we
Speaker 1: don't have him. We're gonna be really in bad ship,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And then I said, while
Speaker 1: you're there, we're gonna get kJ, you know, because kJ
Speaker 1: hadn't committed. Yeah, what I mean, I said, that's another
Speaker 1: that's the other one I want, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: kJ committed and then you know, he his father calls
Speaker 1: me right before summer school and say, hey, coach, he's
Speaker 1: just like man, he ain't feeling there. He called, He's
Speaker 1: gonna go to i MG and be a post grad. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he probably wonna do school work there. Yeah. Facts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So he told me the truth, and that's what happened
Speaker 1: with kJ. And I actually was going to i MG
Speaker 1: because I was recruiting the kid over there, so I
Speaker 1: would see kJ a lot man and we would sit
Speaker 1: in the gym and just have great talks. Man, He's
Speaker 1: just a great kid, absolutely absolutely coach. One more question
Speaker 1: for you, now, I let you go. I wanted to.
Speaker 1: I wanted to find out now that you have made
Speaker 1: you spent. You know, you lead Shadow Mountain to the
Speaker 1: state title in oh six So now it's been sixteen
Speaker 1: years and you've been all through the college ranks and
Speaker 1: you know, kind of incredible journey with some incredible places
Speaker 1: that you've coached. What made you decide to go back
Speaker 1: to the high school level and not uh stay in college. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I interview um this past uh cycle with
Speaker 1: South Carolina State and for the head coaching job, and
Speaker 1: they actually called me and said everyone's gonna bring me in.
Speaker 1: And then at the last minute, Um, they went hit
Speaker 1: and hired Eric Martin out of l L A dude
Speaker 1: from West Virginia. How do he was that at West Virginia?
Speaker 1: Great dude and and and deserves it. Um uh he's
Speaker 1: earned his keep and uh um. So I interviewed there.
Speaker 1: I interviewed at Bellmont Abbey D two school in North Carolina,
Speaker 1: very good D two school and the A D. At
Speaker 1: the last minute, you're not the last minute during the process,
Speaker 1: said coach, I don't think you'll stay with your pedigree,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. He says, as soon as
Speaker 1: you get an opportunity to go to D one, you'll leave,
Speaker 1: you know, And he was probably right, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. So, um so then I'm sitting I'm sitting
Speaker 1: here in Phoenish, you know, um happy, excited, you know.
Speaker 1: And and then they they they got into rested in
Speaker 1: me in Centennial Man, and I did my homework on
Speaker 1: the A D. I did my homework on the principal.
Speaker 1: I did my homework on the school. They won seven
Speaker 1: state football titles, you know. So it's a it's a
Speaker 1: sports minded school. You just want to stay titled in basketball.
Speaker 1: And I just like to coach. I tell people I
Speaker 1: coached five year olds. You know, if I could make
Speaker 1: a living doing it, and you know, I'd be happy
Speaker 1: as I'll get out, you know what I mean. It's
Speaker 1: something about practice. It's something about seeing a kid take
Speaker 1: him from this A all the way to zee, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, not just on the court, but
Speaker 1: off the court. I love that and do it through
Speaker 1: a game that I love, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So that's that's why I took it, and I'm happy everybody.
Speaker 1: You know, last night, Um, I met the Warriors game
Speaker 1: and people said, grace you you you you're getting back
Speaker 1: into D one. Are you gonna go try to go
Speaker 1: get in the league? And I said, Man, I stopped
Speaker 1: predicting where the heck I'm going because I adn't figured
Speaker 1: it out right yet. I mean, I never my wildest dreams,
Speaker 1: I thought i'd be at U c l A, you know,
Speaker 1: after when I was putting gas on airplanes, not that,
Speaker 1: not that long ago. Yeah, sir, You've had an incredible journey.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your service to this country. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you for for that, Coach. That's fascinating.
Speaker 1: You're an honorable man with integrity, and I love the
Speaker 1: way that you go about your business. But the best
Speaker 1: of it. We wish you the best of luck this
Speaker 1: year at Puria Cintenna in Cintennio in Arizona, and I
Speaker 1: look forward to the next time I get to chop
Speaker 1: it up with you, coach Man. I appreciate it. Man.
Speaker 1: When you said you invited me, man, I was like, wow, Man,
Speaker 1: I get to be on kJ Live Chris Man. Sir,
Speaker 1: I appreciate I appreciate you. Coach ladies and gentlemen. Coach
Speaker 1: David Grace