Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: Search seventy Sixers podcast Wherever you get your pots, Hi.
Speaker 1: This is Tom McGinnis. Over the course of twenty five
Speaker 1: years of calling seventy Sixers games on the radio here
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia, I met hundreds of people. It's one of
Speaker 1: my favorite things about the job. Seventy Sixers head coach
Speaker 1: Brett Brown has helped to develop not only dozens of
Speaker 1: players in his tenure in Philadelphia, but several assistant coaches
Speaker 1: as well. One who's moved on to be a college
Speaker 1: head coach is South Jersey native Billy lang. Lang has
Speaker 1: just completed his first season as the head coach of
Speaker 1: Saint Joseph's University. In my third installment of Tom's Talks,
Speaker 1: I visit with Billy lang Well, coach, Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for doing this. You're my third guest, but fret
Speaker 1: Nott Jordan was the third pick, so you're still in
Speaker 1: good company. And as I said to my other guests,
Speaker 1: Todd McCulloch and George Lynch, you too are one of
Speaker 1: my all time faves. We know you've moved on to
Speaker 1: Saint Joseph's University. We're going to talk about that, but first,
Speaker 1: how is your family, your immediate family, your parents, and
Speaker 1: how are you guys doing in this time of quarantine
Speaker 1: if you will, Yeah, thank you, Tom. You can see
Speaker 1: as soon as I knew I was going to get
Speaker 1: on with you, I made sure I was representing the
Speaker 1: logo of my favorite NBA team of all time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for having me. This is an honor to be here
Speaker 1: with you family as well. We've got four boys, all
Speaker 1: at different stages of puberty and teenage years, so we're
Speaker 1: trying not to cannibalize each other during this time right now.
Speaker 1: But we're healthy, which is the ultimate blessing to have,
Speaker 1: and so are my parents and my ninety six year
Speaker 1: old grandmother who is doing well quarantine Din, everybody's good
Speaker 1: right now. We'll keep it going that way. That's great. So,
Speaker 1: as a college basketball coach at Saint Joseph's, the season
Speaker 1: was just about to end when everything got shut down,
Speaker 1: I can only imagine what it was like to touch
Speaker 1: base with your players, make sure they were okay, and
Speaker 1: then sent the template for this time. That is really unprecedented,
Speaker 1: particularly for you in a period after your first year.
Speaker 1: So we lost our last game of the season, which
Speaker 1: was the first round of the Atlantic ten Tournament in
Speaker 1: a real nail biter against George Mason at the Barclay Center.
Speaker 1: We were in New York, ironically, and then got on
Speaker 1: the bus and came home. I had dinner with my
Speaker 1: staff that night, and just as we were eating, the
Speaker 1: announcement came out about the Rudy Gobert and the cancelation
Speaker 1: of the season. So we had already kind of set
Speaker 1: our goodbyes and we were on spring break, so the
Speaker 1: guys were already home. Little did we know they were
Speaker 1: not going to come back, and that has since changed everything.
Speaker 1: But everyone's going through this, so I there's very little
Speaker 1: stress level amongst us as coaches. We missed being with
Speaker 1: our guys. It was an abrupt end of the season,
Speaker 1: and obviously we were all looking forward to work attitude
Speaker 1: that we were going to be able to restore here
Speaker 1: in the spring, particularly coming off the season we had.
Speaker 1: But we had energy and we were ready for it.
Speaker 1: But now it's different and we just have to adjust
Speaker 1: to the difference. How did you feel this season went.
Speaker 1: I mean, we followed it. Obviously, Ryan Dailey had a
Speaker 1: tremendous year, But I always described your first season as
Speaker 1: coach at Saint Jo. You know, it's it's funny because
Speaker 1: in many ways the record obviously is disappointing for players, coaches, fans, constituents,
Speaker 1: the whole bit. You know, when we lost Taylor Funk
Speaker 1: seven games into the year, we already were a group.
Speaker 1: It had a very small margin for any sort of
Speaker 1: error that was on kind of like our pre mortem list,
Speaker 1: like we can't lose one of these guys, and we
Speaker 1: lost him, so that that hurt. But I will say this,
Speaker 1: of all the years off coach as a head coach
Speaker 1: or an assistant, this was one of the most rewarding
Speaker 1: in this facet. This was one of the most competive, competitive,
Speaker 1: spirit filled, engaged groups I've ever been around, from day
Speaker 1: one till the end. I mean, there was never a
Speaker 1: sign of disengagement. The reason of some of the games
Speaker 1: might have seemed that way time, but it wasn't. These
Speaker 1: guys came to work. We might have had two bad
Speaker 1: practices all year. So my experience with Brett in the
Speaker 1: first few years with the seventy sixers gave me a
Speaker 1: different lens on that type of process than I probably
Speaker 1: would have had if I didn't have that experience with
Speaker 1: the seventy sixers, and we were able to keep the
Speaker 1: focus on the game rather than the gap. And over
Speaker 1: the last three weeks of the Atlantic ten regular season,
Speaker 1: outside of maybe three or four teams in our league,
Speaker 1: we were playing as well as anyone. We just weren't winning,
Speaker 1: which that is the result we all want. But we
Speaker 1: were able to step back and see where the trajectory
Speaker 1: of the group in the program were going, and we
Speaker 1: felt excited about it. So disappointed in the record, but
Speaker 1: not disappointed at all in the process and the games
Speaker 1: we made them very encouraged. Speaking of the program and
Speaker 1: when you speak the recruits and certainly going forward, when
Speaker 1: you talk about the rich history of Saint Joseph's basketball,
Speaker 1: McKinney line them O'Brien or undefeated, Phil Martelli, Mike Phantom.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's an incredible program. I must be the
Speaker 1: great selling point of tradition of Hawkhill. It's easy for me,
Speaker 1: you know, growing up in South Jersey and really growing
Speaker 1: up on Philadelphia basketball from high school through college and
Speaker 1: the NBA, Like this is what you follow, right, This
Speaker 1: is a passion. This is just part of growing up
Speaker 1: in this in this Delaware valley area. It's easy for me,
Speaker 1: It truly is. And with each passing day, I'm learning
Speaker 1: more and more about the tradition. Like you just brought
Speaker 1: up a couple of names that wouldn't roll off the
Speaker 1: tongue necessarily if I know, I mean nah, but I
Speaker 1: mean it's it's everything, and so um, you know, talking
Speaker 1: about guys like Brian Work, you know, and like these
Speaker 1: type of players have created such an incredible legacy in
Speaker 1: history here. It truly is across the country of all
Speaker 1: college basketball, one of the best stories. So we just
Speaker 1: have to continue to tell it, and we have to
Speaker 1: modernize it in a way that is kind of really
Speaker 1: able to today's youth, which that's what we need because
Speaker 1: we're recruiting. When I go back to my first year
Speaker 1: in the NBA nineteen ninety five, we actually practiced at
Speaker 1: Saint Joe's and the Sixes. Of course, the practiced there
Speaker 1: for many years before, and where I went to high
Speaker 1: school and where I went to college and played basketball.
Speaker 1: That setting was exactly like that. And so for me
Speaker 1: to be back on campus, I used to go to
Speaker 1: mass at the Chapel at noon. At the time, it
Speaker 1: was the Green gym and the the Red gym and arena
Speaker 1: and played picked up there. I mean it was a
Speaker 1: great atmosphere, and that too, I would think as a
Speaker 1: selling point as a great university. It is, and basketball
Speaker 1: matters a great deal. You know, all the sports at
Speaker 1: Saint Joe's have great tradition and they all matter. But
Speaker 1: one of the pillars that this school is built on
Speaker 1: as the tradition in the history of Saint Joel's basketball
Speaker 1: on Hall Hill, from great coaches, the great players, to
Speaker 1: great memories, to great competitions in the Big Five and
Speaker 1: in the Atlantic Ten. And there are so many students
Speaker 1: that I had met over the course of my one
Speaker 1: year here and I would say, like, how did you
Speaker 1: get interested in Saint Joe's And most times it relates
Speaker 1: back to a brother or a sister, or a mother
Speaker 1: or a father or or an uncle who a grandparent
Speaker 1: who introduced them to the idea of the university through
Speaker 1: some sort of basketball related vertical. Right, So it's it's
Speaker 1: a big deal. It's just part of the blood of
Speaker 1: Saint Joe's. And then part of that if the outreach
Speaker 1: is the Big Five, the City Six, the rival Rays,
Speaker 1: the games at the Palestra, the battles with the Villanova
Speaker 1: that's another slice of what you I would think would
Speaker 1: bring to young people that want you want to play
Speaker 1: basketball for you, I mean, I hope so, because that's
Speaker 1: how I see it. You know, we play in a
Speaker 1: really good league in the Atlantic Ten. But outside of that,
Speaker 1: you know, think about the things you get to be
Speaker 1: a part of. You get to be a part of
Speaker 1: the Big Five, which is incredible, right, And you get
Speaker 1: to be a part of a five, part of a
Speaker 1: competition that actually has a name to it in the
Speaker 1: Holy War, Right, So you know that's cool. I mean,
Speaker 1: and Villanova has been such an elite level program for
Speaker 1: the last decade that a chance to actually have that
Speaker 1: type of built in competition year after year is truly
Speaker 1: an opportunity for us to continue to grow our own tradition.
Speaker 1: We'll have more of my conversation with Billy Lange in
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Speaker 1: my conversation with Billy Lang. So you spent two stints
Speaker 1: coaching at Villanova with coach write your coach and Navy
Speaker 1: Academy and other jobs in terms of assistant coach on
Speaker 1: that collegiate level. What's it like to be in a
Speaker 1: program now and all of those all the things you've
Speaker 1: learned and now putting them in place and beginning to
Speaker 1: put them in place as you go forward. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean outside of my own Let me back up. So
Speaker 1: I've had great mentors first, you know, from Speedy Morris
Speaker 1: at LaSalle to her McGee at what is now Jefferson University,
Speaker 1: but I was there when it was Philadelphia Textile, to
Speaker 1: Jay Wright, to Brett Brown, to my father who I
Speaker 1: played for and grew up on their obviously going those games.
Speaker 1: So like, I take a little bit of everything that
Speaker 1: I've learned from them, and then I've had my own
Speaker 1: tenure as head coaches, once in Division three and once
Speaker 1: at the Naval Academy, which you alluded to where I
Speaker 1: can harken back on successes and failures, you know, areas
Speaker 1: where I feel like, hey, I was pretty good good
Speaker 1: and areas where I need to be aware that I
Speaker 1: was weak. And then put all that together, and now
Speaker 1: it culminates in an opportunity to be a head coach
Speaker 1: in the Big Five at Saint Joe's. And this is
Speaker 1: probably about as ready as I would have been for
Speaker 1: a position like this, and yet I still have so
Speaker 1: much more to grow, So I'm excited for that as well.
Speaker 1: So you speak of your heritage and your pedigree, and
Speaker 1: your father was a coach at Eustace and you played
Speaker 1: at Rowan, but it all goes back to Saint Rose
Speaker 1: and Hadden Heights and you have a special group there.
Speaker 1: And I know you lost one of your friends, but
Speaker 1: I mean that was I would think a basketball clearly
Speaker 1: you were successful, but built the foundation of how enjoyable.
Speaker 1: And again you were a basketball family with your dad
Speaker 1: being a coach, But that must have been really special
Speaker 1: and something that you really treasure. My South Jersey heritage
Speaker 1: is you know my father, you know doctor John g
Speaker 1: and any who. Many people like I didn't work for
Speaker 1: him at LaSalle, but I played under him at Rowan
Speaker 1: University at Glass pro State is when I started. He
Speaker 1: was a huge influence. I learned a lot about the
Speaker 1: mental part of the game from him. But my grade
Speaker 1: school days back to Saint Rose, which not many people
Speaker 1: could even mention Tom, but you're on it under a
Speaker 1: guy by the name of Timmy Lenahan. And of all
Speaker 1: the names that I just mentioned to you, from Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer and her McGee to NBA head coach and
Speaker 1: a successful head coach, and Brett Brown J Right's got
Speaker 1: two national championships, you know, Timmy Lenahan, who was my
Speaker 1: grade school coach, is on par with them in terms
Speaker 1: of the influence that he had on me, particularly from
Speaker 1: a player development standpoint and an inspirational standpoint. I learned
Speaker 1: so much, you know, and as an influential person when
Speaker 1: you're in grades fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, and then
Speaker 1: I carried that relationship on to my twenties. He was
Speaker 1: one of the first calls that came in when I
Speaker 1: got the Naval Academy job. Wow, so blessed, and the
Speaker 1: South Jersey part of me will never leave. It's who
Speaker 1: I am, but not only am I from there. The
Speaker 1: significance of those mentors that I had. Those opportunities I
Speaker 1: had playing for those coaches were a huge part in
Speaker 1: my ascension as a head coach, and then the professional team,
Speaker 1: obviously the Sixers. You I know how long you've been
Speaker 1: married only based on you took your wife on a
Speaker 1: date to the two thousand and one NBA Finals, So
Speaker 1: you've been a lifelong Sixers fan. And then six years ago.
Speaker 1: I suppose you, seven years ago you get a job
Speaker 1: to coach pro basketball players and bring your development skills
Speaker 1: to professional players. What was that experience like? Oh, Man,
Speaker 1: I mean Tom, I will say this, I could have
Speaker 1: stayed with the seventy six Ers for the rest of
Speaker 1: my life. I loved being a part of that organization
Speaker 1: and I loved being in the NBA. I could have
Speaker 1: stayed in the NBA for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: It's just truly an opportunity that I had to be
Speaker 1: at a place that I hold in high regard. Was
Speaker 1: the only reason that I was pulled from there. This
Speaker 1: just was an epic for me. For me, being at
Speaker 1: Saint Joe's is a dream. The opportunity I had to
Speaker 1: be with the seventy Sixers was a dream too, and
Speaker 1: in many ways. It was perfect for the type of
Speaker 1: person that I am. I actually enjoyed the process part
Speaker 1: of it, you know, the it was painful to win
Speaker 1: ten games, particularly when you're playing eighty two of them.
Speaker 1: But the enjoyment of watching guys like Robert Covington and
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant and then drawing and learning from guys like
Speaker 1: Brett and Lloyd Pearce and Mike D'Antoni, you know, chatiskey.
Speaker 1: These were memories, true memories. And to think I'm like
Speaker 1: looking at that logo over your shoulder right now, and
Speaker 1: to think that I actually had an opportunity to coach
Speaker 1: this team when I stood in line to get a
Speaker 1: poster signed by Doctor J after they won the eighty
Speaker 1: three championship. To just be some small part of the
Speaker 1: history of the Philadelphia seventy six is a is a blessing.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned the eighty two games schedule and being
Speaker 1: a basketball guy like yourself to be part of that
Speaker 1: grind in terms of just how the games keep coming,
Speaker 1: the preparation and as a head college coach, you have
Speaker 1: a myriad. You have ten or twelve things you have
Speaker 1: to really be good at, and a lot of them
Speaker 1: are off the basketball court, but to be have all basketball,
Speaker 1: to manage the relationships and work with guys and work
Speaker 1: with the coaches, develop game plans, everything that goes into it.
Speaker 1: As Coach Brown says, it's like drip drip that doesn't
Speaker 1: stop in a way, as you guys say, in a
Speaker 1: perverse way, you probably like that. Yeah, I loved it.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm very regimented to begin with and very disciplined.
Speaker 1: I love routine, so is NonStop. People think you get
Speaker 1: a lot of downtime, but you don't. Like you're on it.
Speaker 1: You know there's a game that's just right behind you,
Speaker 1: right after you close the other one out, and you
Speaker 1: learn how to not waste time and to cut to
Speaker 1: what's most important, as we learned under Coach Brown, and
Speaker 1: to try to help your guys the best way you can.
Speaker 1: I love that now. Where it's helped me actually in
Speaker 1: college more so than when I was in college before,
Speaker 1: is the discipline of like getting things done in a
Speaker 1: efficient manner and cutting fat out helps me in all
Speaker 1: those other myriads of ways that you have already mentioned,
Speaker 1: whether it's recruiting or fundraising or staff development. You know,
Speaker 1: understanding how to build a schedule for the day. The
Speaker 1: NBA has helped me tremendously. The discipline and diligence it
Speaker 1: takes to sustain a level of energy throughout a season
Speaker 1: has paid huge dividends for me as I entered back
Speaker 1: into the college space. And we'll enter back into your
Speaker 1: personal life. As you mentioned with your boys. Certainly, now,
Speaker 1: I know we're social distancing, but I imagine there's some
Speaker 1: backyard and there's some basketball going on. As a father,
Speaker 1: and each one of your boys probably has a different personality,
Speaker 1: what's it like helping to guide them and not being
Speaker 1: overly pushy? Like, what's it like that balance? And also
Speaker 1: getting in the gym and watching your kids play must
Speaker 1: be I mean, I know it's a great yeah. I mean,
Speaker 1: you and I had so many conversations about our children
Speaker 1: and watching them grow and develop, and sports just offers
Speaker 1: so much for their overall holistic development, not just the basketball.
Speaker 1: I mean, in this time of the pandemic, when we're
Speaker 1: all socially distanced and squeezed in on our quarantines, I
Speaker 1: can't imagine what it would have been like ten to
Speaker 1: twelve years ago. At least now they've got technology to
Speaker 1: go distract them for a little bit. But what I've
Speaker 1: enjoyed with this, you know, my kids have grown up
Speaker 1: with incredible resources when it comes to basketball, whether it's
Speaker 1: being able to get in a cool gym or have
Speaker 1: an NBA player development coach show them something, or guys
Speaker 1: have going over guys that Joe's. But what they miss
Speaker 1: out on is something You've alluded to earlier, is just
Speaker 1: like getting to the playground at Saint Rose and playing.
Speaker 1: So a few of my favorite memories have been our
Speaker 1: wicked juno games at the kitchen table after dinner, a
Speaker 1: lot of cheating going on there, some just organic conversations
Speaker 1: that happen, being able to see the way they exist,
Speaker 1: watching my wife and just growing like an incredible affection
Speaker 1: for what she has to do on a day to
Speaker 1: day basis when I'm out about doing what I've got
Speaker 1: to do. But what I've really enjoyed is like going
Speaker 1: to my window and watching my boys set up chairs
Speaker 1: on the driveway and pouring their own passion into their
Speaker 1: own pouring their own work into their own passion is
Speaker 1: what I should say. Where As a lot of things
Speaker 1: for kids these days are organized, but now they're being
Speaker 1: forced to figure out how much do they really love
Speaker 1: something because it's been taken away, and that's been pretty
Speaker 1: neat to see because it's really not like that that
Speaker 1: much right now. For American youth in sports, everything is
Speaker 1: pretty structured and organized, so to see them going creating
Speaker 1: their own structure has been pretty well. Coach, I totally
Speaker 1: enjoy catching up with you. We wish you the best
Speaker 1: to you and your family and your program. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to you you down the road. Thanks so much, coaching Tom.
Speaker 1: I miss you. I miss our conversation, so thank you
Speaker 1: for having me. I look forward to the NBA getting
Speaker 1: back and the Sixers making a great run in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, Billy, Thanks for listening to Tom's
Speaker 1: talks with me Tom McGinnis on the seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: podcast network. Check for new episodes every weekend.