Speaker 1: Hey, welcome in. UM gotta let me on. This is
Speaker 1: all ball, all hoops, all the time. Sometimes leap that
Speaker 1: first into other stuff with great guests. Um, all right,
Speaker 1: this is part three of our talk with Josh Pastor
Speaker 1: and UM, let me let me do this. There is
Speaker 1: another pod or which we dropped a couple of days ago,
Speaker 1: where me and fran Fichella we talked about got a
Speaker 1: little bit more topical stuff in regards to all the
Speaker 1: things going on in basketball. What happened at the end
Speaker 1: of the son's game Game one. I'll give you one
Speaker 1: real quick thought though on these reviews. Okay, this is
Speaker 1: my thought. Look, you're not gonna do away with the reviews.
Speaker 1: You do need to put a clock on them, but
Speaker 1: you go to like a neutral corner. That's what you
Speaker 1: gotta do, is what you can bring out chairs if
Speaker 1: you wanted to sit down. I don't think you needed
Speaker 1: to sit down. But those five guys that are on
Speaker 1: the floor have to remain on the floor in an
Speaker 1: area on the opposite end of the court, on the
Speaker 1: opposite side of the court from their benches. That's the
Speaker 1: only way to do it, because otherwise you grant these
Speaker 1: teams but time out that they didn't earn, that they
Speaker 1: didn't deserve. Simple put a clock on it, put him
Speaker 1: in a neutral corner from their bench. And if they
Speaker 1: want to talk about a play, that's fine, but you
Speaker 1: can't allow for a time out to come to be
Speaker 1: that wasn't called, that wasn't earned. All right, let's get
Speaker 1: to Part three. We've heard from Josh Pastor if you
Speaker 1: missed the last two, about growing up in Houston, being
Speaker 1: part of that Arizona National Championship team early on in
Speaker 1: his his coaching days, and and and getting the job
Speaker 1: at Memphis and what all that entailed. In Part three,
Speaker 1: we talked about the accusations by a former friend that
Speaker 1: got him in hot water with the n c a
Speaker 1: A and caused an investigation. That's where we begin Part
Speaker 1: three of our discussion with Josh Pastor. Take a listen, yea,
Speaker 1: what is it like to go through what you went
Speaker 1: through where somebody who you befriended and wanted to help
Speaker 1: turns on you. And you're somebody who and I mean, look,
Speaker 1: maybe I have the wool over my eyes, maybe I
Speaker 1: don't know, but I've always You've always struck me as
Speaker 1: somebody who just you just want to help people, just
Speaker 1: enjoy people, interaction with people. But it goes through something
Speaker 1: where wait, I was trying to help you, and now
Speaker 1: you're trying to make me look like I'm a bad guy.
Speaker 1: Like what forget about the job stuff, forget about any
Speaker 1: of the other stuff at home with your wife, you personally, emotionally,
Speaker 1: what is that experience like for you? Yeah, you know, Doug, Look,
Speaker 1: I'm a just in general, I'm I'm a guy that
Speaker 1: that loves people. I'm a glass that's over I don't
Speaker 1: look at the glasses half full. I look at us overflowing.
Speaker 1: I believe in positivity. Um, you know, I live by
Speaker 1: the thing when I say about how precious life is,
Speaker 1: like I tell people all the time, I'm about you know,
Speaker 1: like every literally every day is a gift. Every breath
Speaker 1: the gift, every heart beats a gift. Like I don't
Speaker 1: just say that and then and then and then go around,
Speaker 1: not like I really believe that. Like I love life, Um,
Speaker 1: I know how precious things is, Like I like that,
Speaker 1: I know how precious Being a head coach is, Like
Speaker 1: I I don't take it for granted. There's not a
Speaker 1: day that goes by that I complain about one thing
Speaker 1: about my because I I love being a head coach
Speaker 1: and I know how precious. So I say all that
Speaker 1: to tell you that that look I mean and and
Speaker 1: I want to do good to people. I mean, I
Speaker 1: love people. You're you know, and and and so when
Speaker 1: when when when when somebody who you felt what you
Speaker 1: were trying to do good tries to turn on you
Speaker 1: for for for for um, for reasons of of just
Speaker 1: you know, greed and just not for for bad things.
Speaker 1: You're you're you have a sense of like you know,
Speaker 1: of hurt anger just like how did you know? You're
Speaker 1: you just want to do the right thing? How do
Speaker 1: you how do you how do you process that? Hey?
Speaker 1: Did you go like to go to therapy books? Like
Speaker 1: you just kind of keep piling through like that. That's
Speaker 1: a hard thing. It's a very hard thing. It's a
Speaker 1: very hard thing, you know, and your and your positivity
Speaker 1: gets tested. Um. And it's easier said than done, because
Speaker 1: it's easy to say, hey, just stay positive, um um.
Speaker 1: And that's easier said than done. But you you've gotta
Speaker 1: you know, I was, you know, you try to keep
Speaker 1: things in the best you can in perspective. And it's
Speaker 1: again I say that easier said than done. I was
Speaker 1: very thankful that I've had great you know, I've had
Speaker 1: I've obviously my family has been unbelievable, but I've had
Speaker 1: great bosses who have been extremely supportive during some really
Speaker 1: tough times. And um but but I also, you know,
Speaker 1: I still and maybe it's just my character, of of
Speaker 1: my of just my DNA. I'm such an ultra positive
Speaker 1: guy that I that even in the worst of times,
Speaker 1: I've tried to find some positive out of things and
Speaker 1: and it's just kind of how my mind works. Um.
Speaker 1: But but I will say, you know, you're more aware
Speaker 1: of things. Unfortunately, you get a little more aware when
Speaker 1: I say unfortunately, maybe you're you're a little more guy.
Speaker 1: You're a little more cautious before you're ready just to
Speaker 1: jump and answer that email or answer that text, or
Speaker 1: answer that phone too when somebody's needing some help. You know,
Speaker 1: you're a little more Okay, let me check this out first.
Speaker 1: And so you know, beforehand, I was just whatever I
Speaker 1: can do to to to to help to to to
Speaker 1: to make someone feel better as a human being, if
Speaker 1: I can do that through basketball because of being a
Speaker 1: head coach, um, and and give them a ray of
Speaker 1: sunshine and a ray of hope and positivity and excitement
Speaker 1: and enthusiasm when they're going through some tough times. I
Speaker 1: look at like that. I that's a that's a great
Speaker 1: thing to be able to do. But because of that,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at of what I went through. I'm more
Speaker 1: cautious now. I'm not so as quickly to just to
Speaker 1: say yes to someone who's saying they need help. I
Speaker 1: might need a little more checking, a little more careful
Speaker 1: on some things. And you learn, you live and learn.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're just again, if I knew what I
Speaker 1: knew now, Doug, I would when I look back, you think, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, But but it happens to people, millions of
Speaker 1: people all the time where where people get hit by people,
Speaker 1: you know, of all kinds of different ways, and they
Speaker 1: look back and they said, I should have seen that
Speaker 1: at the time, but they just didn't see it, because
Speaker 1: usually you're looking to see the goodness and things. Okay, uh,
Speaker 1: I don't want to I don't want to lament on
Speaker 1: all this stuff, but I do want to ask one question.
Speaker 1: You give me the clearest answer you can. Okay, this
Speaker 1: is all that matters to me. If somebody to say
Speaker 1: pastors that cheer, right, cheer. What would you response to, Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I mean I can't worry what people think,
Speaker 1: but I really, you know, it's very important to me
Speaker 1: that we do things the right way. You know that
Speaker 1: we follow the rules and and um and you do
Speaker 1: the very very best you can. I've really tried to
Speaker 1: create an incredible atmosphere of compliance um um, following the
Speaker 1: guidelines by the n c t A, the mission of
Speaker 1: the n c TA, the mission of our athletic departments,
Speaker 1: um and um and and part of that is is
Speaker 1: you know you're you're That's that's important to me. That's
Speaker 1: important to me to to be a rules guy, to
Speaker 1: to to to to follow. That's when when when this
Speaker 1: stuff went down. The people I know who know you're like, dude,
Speaker 1: of all the guys, and I don't think the guys
Speaker 1: that do it the right way, like Josh, you be
Speaker 1: the guy that writes and and we're friends, but I
Speaker 1: can't tell you. I know intrigiately well about how you
Speaker 1: do what you do. But the way I the way
Speaker 1: I try and approach things is I just ask people
Speaker 1: that know and they're like, no way with Josh, right,
Speaker 1: Like I just don't. I don't. I don't see it.
Speaker 1: And to me, here's here's the deal where I you
Speaker 1: cannot like the rules, okay, but there's a difference between
Speaker 1: breaking the rules and intentionally and then saying, well, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't like the rules, right. To me, it's go
Speaker 1: after the rules right and and try and generate the
Speaker 1: momentum which they're now obviously evolving and changing. Do you
Speaker 1: change somebody's grades or do like that? To me? Is
Speaker 1: it isn't no go right? Uh? Do you do? You
Speaker 1: just give a guy a bag of cash like that's
Speaker 1: a that's a nogo? Like these are cheating things, bumps shoes,
Speaker 1: don't freaking care right like those are? Like are we
Speaker 1: some of the the workout stuff like you were talking
Speaker 1: about where they used to limit workout times, Like oh
Speaker 1: my god, are you kidding? Right? Um, so if if
Speaker 1: when you say, like, hey, look it's important we do
Speaker 1: it the right way, it's those basic things right that
Speaker 1: we're we're discussing, Like I don't we don't buy kids
Speaker 1: again to come to school, We don't change their grades
Speaker 1: to get it right? Like those are the things that
Speaker 1: you are I mean, we we do the very best
Speaker 1: we can and even on the littlest thing stug, I mean,
Speaker 1: even on the little things. You know, I have a
Speaker 1: great relationship with our compliance department. Even when I was
Speaker 1: at Memphis as the head coach and and here a George,
Speaker 1: I've been, you know, being heavily involved with the with
Speaker 1: our compliance department. You know, we're very transparent. Um. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: things can happen just inadvertently, you know, their mistakes can happen.
Speaker 1: But but we do the best we can to to
Speaker 1: making sure that even the littlest of rules or fallow,
Speaker 1: I'm not. I mean, look, we we've all I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just normal. You're gonna have um, you know, you're
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna have minor um violations throughout. That's just
Speaker 1: part of it. And that's and actually that's a healthy
Speaker 1: thing because if you catch it, you turn it in
Speaker 1: your report. That's part of running a program. You're gonna
Speaker 1: have little things. But what I would tell you is
Speaker 1: when the when when you know they went. When I
Speaker 1: got we got fully investigated and fully through, I wasn't
Speaker 1: even named and I wasn't named in anything in the
Speaker 1: in the n C two A report. When everything came out,
Speaker 1: there was no, I wasn't you know named. Uh, there
Speaker 1: was no head coach control, there was no violation. Um,
Speaker 1: there was just you know, just you know, unfortunately, um, um,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, some things happened and and and we
Speaker 1: were fortunate that that that we had a good compliance
Speaker 1: uh and and and and we had a really good
Speaker 1: atmosphere of compliance. Unfortunately, just some you know things happened
Speaker 1: here and there, and that's just part of the world
Speaker 1: we live in. We're able to move forward from it,
Speaker 1: and and and and continued onward and upward with it
Speaker 1: with our program. Okay, so you get the job. Was
Speaker 1: Josh already going there? Did you get Josh josh a
Speaker 1: Kogi was already signed? He was, so he didn't come
Speaker 1: to Georgia Tech yet. But Brian Gregory and his staff
Speaker 1: did a really nice job of finding him. I say
Speaker 1: it was a three pronged part. Um. Uh, josh A
Speaker 1: Kogi or Brian Gray during his staff did a great
Speaker 1: job of evaluating because he was not a highly leveled
Speaker 1: great to recruit. He wasn't a top hunter player, wasn't
Speaker 1: a top ten player in the state of Georgia. Um,
Speaker 1: but he was. But he was a good player. So
Speaker 1: Brian Greag and his staff did a good job on
Speaker 1: the evaluation. Our staff did a really good job on
Speaker 1: developing him. He let don't don't skip. Okay, So you
Speaker 1: get the job? Yeah, okay, because I don't think people
Speaker 1: understand how this ship works, right and honestly I don't
Speaker 1: totally know how it works. Okay, So you're at Memphis,
Speaker 1: b G gets fired, you get the job, okay, Like
Speaker 1: while you're in route, are you like who do they
Speaker 1: have signed? Like when do you when do you get
Speaker 1: to the All? Right? What are what are we working
Speaker 1: with here? Because, as as I've learned, and as you've
Speaker 1: kind of pointed out, when you're coaching a team, you're
Speaker 1: not you don't know about what's going on the A
Speaker 1: C C. You don't care. You're worried about your team,
Speaker 1: your kids, your program, and maybe your lead. That's it.
Speaker 1: And Georgia Tech, as much as it's a great job
Speaker 1: at age school in a great city, like their stuff
Speaker 1: isn't in your kind of purview, Like that's you're you're
Speaker 1: in a tonnel, Okay, So you like are you on
Speaker 1: a private plane to go to the press conference and
Speaker 1: you're figuring out staff and roster, like how does it
Speaker 1: had it actually work? Yeah, So when I got the
Speaker 1: job in Memphis, I I went When I got the
Speaker 1: job at George Tich, I was in Memphis and then
Speaker 1: and then we fluted to Atlanta to do the press conference.
Speaker 1: And UM, yes, you're you know, you're you're just trying
Speaker 1: to get your you know, you're grasping everything that's that's
Speaker 1: you know, your head around everything of when you take over.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of going on. I mean, you
Speaker 1: got tons of phone calls. Obviously people wanted the job.
Speaker 1: You get the current staff there that just got you know,
Speaker 1: relieved of their duties, they obviously would like to stay on.
Speaker 1: You've got the current players, you got recruiting, um, the signees.
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of people you got to meet.
Speaker 1: So there's just a lot of stuff to do, you know.
Speaker 1: And and I felt like a good job. You know,
Speaker 1: I didn't rush in anyone I hired. I took my time. Um,
Speaker 1: I was really running the program by myself for almost
Speaker 1: a month in a sense before I hired it, and
Speaker 1: when I really was slow moving on on on my
Speaker 1: hiring um and um, but but I ended up you
Speaker 1: know again, just like I did at Memphis had a
Speaker 1: lot of really good coaches. I did the same thing
Speaker 1: at Georgia Tech hired a lot of really good coaches
Speaker 1: and um and so uh but I say all that
Speaker 1: to say that, UM, like, you gotta re you gotta
Speaker 1: re recruit these kids right now. The correct want them
Speaker 1: correct And you're like, well, he signed, so technically I
Speaker 1: take him, but I gotta go, like, O, you could come,
Speaker 1: but you might not play, Like for Josh specifically, how
Speaker 1: did you decide, like one, did you want him too?
Speaker 1: Did you have to fight to keep him right? Like?
Speaker 1: What was that? Like? Yeah? I mean, look, I had
Speaker 1: some I had some opportunity of these, you know, with
Speaker 1: the guys when I met with them, and a couple
Speaker 1: of guys didn't stay the current guys. A couple of
Speaker 1: had ended up moved on, but thankfully majority and you know,
Speaker 1: stayed a lot of them state and and and they
Speaker 1: were seniors, they were going to be seniors. So we
Speaker 1: had some guys upper classroom guys. And then we had
Speaker 1: you know, the signings of the of the recruiting class
Speaker 1: and um and Josh a Kogi was one of them.
Speaker 1: And so I had to go to his home and
Speaker 1: try to you know, and I didn't know. Job. I've
Speaker 1: never seen Josh play before me getting to the job.
Speaker 1: I mean, he wasn't like some highly level raids. Again,
Speaker 1: he paid the picture. What's it like? What's would tell me?
Speaker 1: Josh a koke home visit? You just get the job? Go? Well? Yeah,
Speaker 1: And and it took and it was about you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't the first day or second day. It was
Speaker 1: a couple It was about a week later when I
Speaker 1: went to his home because there's just so much going on.
Speaker 1: I went to his home and um and we you know,
Speaker 1: he has a beautiful family and um and they were
Speaker 1: really big about him going to Georgia Tech. His mom
Speaker 1: and dad based on based on academics. They did not
Speaker 1: have any they were not they didn't have a basketball field.
Speaker 1: They you know, they were all about academics. They didn't
Speaker 1: even know if the kid would ever play or if
Speaker 1: he was even any good. They had no clue. It
Speaker 1: was academics, academics, academics and um. Um, you know, his
Speaker 1: high school coach, UM was in the meeting and he understood,
Speaker 1: you know, Josh has a chance to be a good player.
Speaker 1: And his brother, Josh's brother there who was who was
Speaker 1: a dentist. But again he he he thought, well maybe,
Speaker 1: but but again, academic academics was the number one thing
Speaker 1: for that family, and there wasn't even a talk about basketball,
Speaker 1: and of course, so we were talking about Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1: But then I explained about my style and what I
Speaker 1: think I'd be good for Josh and um, you know, look,
Speaker 1: my style is not for everybody. And I tell everyone this.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't curse, um, I don't use any
Speaker 1: foul language. I'm very positive, I'm very demanding, and I
Speaker 1: high have high standards. But but and um, but but
Speaker 1: if so, I tell them you, look, if you if
Speaker 1: you need a coach that's gonna be in your grill
Speaker 1: and cursing at you to get you motivated. I'm not
Speaker 1: a good guy for that. Like I I'm I'm a
Speaker 1: motor guy. I believe in motor and and and positive
Speaker 1: and like I'm gonna demand excellence from you. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: hold you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. But I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna play mind games. I'm not you know, I'm
Speaker 1: very direct. What you see is what you get. I
Speaker 1: believe in like having a pep in your step, like
Speaker 1: being excited about life being excited about opportunities, but if
Speaker 1: you need someone to kind of curse that you and
Speaker 1: get underneath your skin by like you know, I said,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I'm the wrong coach because I don't and
Speaker 1: I said, I'm gonna and and and so when I
Speaker 1: recruit guys, I tell them that, like I'm, I might
Speaker 1: not be the guy for you. If that's if that's
Speaker 1: what you you know, and and and and if that's
Speaker 1: not what you want, um, that's okay and um and
Speaker 1: so if you don't have that internal drive, that self motivation,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm not the right this. I'm not gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna drive you to be excellent, but I'm gonna drive
Speaker 1: you to be excellent through a lot of positivity, through
Speaker 1: a lot of like you know, motor and and and
Speaker 1: and holding to a high standard, but doing in a
Speaker 1: way of of with with with the ultimate level of respect. Um.
Speaker 1: And I think the family and appreciated that. So they
Speaker 1: signed off, as did Josh to play to say hey,
Speaker 1: let's let's continue to add. But he wasn't a highly right.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like a bunch of schools were trying to
Speaker 1: get him. So how long after you had him where
Speaker 1: you're like I thought, after the first, after the after,
Speaker 1: after the summer, I told our staff, I think he
Speaker 1: by his junior year, he could be all a C
Speaker 1: C by his junior year. And that's what ended up
Speaker 1: hurting what what what? What? Actually, you know, we won
Speaker 1: the a CEC this past season. But what hurt us
Speaker 1: um and he getting there even quicker was I did
Speaker 1: not plan and for josh leaving after a sophomore He
Speaker 1: was tremendous for us for two years. I thought he'd
Speaker 1: he a third year, and I thought after his third
Speaker 1: year he'd probably good enough to go after I after
Speaker 1: especially after his freshman year. But I said he'd be
Speaker 1: I told our stelf after his junior even all a
Speaker 1: C C. Well, look is after a sophomore year, he was.
Speaker 1: He was. He was a twentieth pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: And we probably that in my third year in the program,
Speaker 1: we took a little step backwards because of the fact
Speaker 1: that I didn't prepare accordingly for Joshua Koge leaving after
Speaker 1: a sophomore year. And if you look, because we had
Speaker 1: a great my first year. We had a great first year.
Speaker 1: You know, we got we you know we we we
Speaker 1: did some things that not been done in Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1: The second year we were up and down. But I knew,
Speaker 1: because we had lost a lot of seniors, I knew
Speaker 1: second year was gonna and I said this earlier, you know,
Speaker 1: in our in our in our first episode, that it
Speaker 1: was gonna be that that that second year is usually
Speaker 1: the hardest year because you're new. So I knew. I
Speaker 1: thought the third year we were gonna be we were
Speaker 1: gonna be really good. I thought, I thought the third year,
Speaker 1: we're gonna start making the move. But because Josh left,
Speaker 1: that ended up hurting us in took us a step back.
Speaker 1: And then when he told us he was not coming back,
Speaker 1: it was too late in the recruit to sign and
Speaker 1: I I couldn't get anyone. And then now, so we
Speaker 1: had some ups and downs at third year. But then
Speaker 1: I will tell you our fourth year and fifth year.
Speaker 1: In the last two years here we have done some
Speaker 1: things that Georgia Tech that has not been done one
Speaker 1: in the history of Georgia Tech, hadn't been done in
Speaker 1: over thirty years, hadn't been done things in fifteen years,
Speaker 1: and over a day. I mean I could just round,
Speaker 1: I could just start running off a bunch of stats.
Speaker 1: The point is is it took us probably the fourth
Speaker 1: and fifth year to do that. It would have probably
Speaker 1: happened a year earlier year if Josh had not left us,
Speaker 1: and I would have been more prepared for Josh leaping
Speaker 1: after junior than the sophomore year. 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. UM Jose Albruno. First time you saw
Speaker 1: him was when I saw him um in in um
Speaker 1: in the summer or uh AU basketball after I got
Speaker 1: the job, and you know, and my assistant and you
Speaker 1: know again I've had great, great assistant coaches. UM and
Speaker 1: to VARs Hard he was now the head coach at
Speaker 1: Loyal of Maryland. UM brought me to see him and
Speaker 1: he had he was at Georgetown prior to me hiring
Speaker 1: him here at Georgia Tech. But he UM, he told
Speaker 1: me about Jose Alvarado and he says, coach of tennis kid.
Speaker 1: And you know, of course when you watch Jose, he's small,
Speaker 1: you know, and there's a lot of things. He wasn't
Speaker 1: overly quick. Um. I had a lot of people tell
Speaker 1: me from New York like, coach, are you sure you know?
Speaker 1: Because I and I kind of I liked him. I went,
Speaker 1: but I was, you know, as he but he would
Speaker 1: tell me he's not you know because at the time
Speaker 1: he's a two star, three star guy. But he's you know,
Speaker 1: but he's been around winning. He won in high school,
Speaker 1: he wont in a U ball and and and what
Speaker 1: was interesting is had so many people tell me I'm
Speaker 1: not so sure he's good enough, like because he's small,
Speaker 1: he's not quick, he can't do this. Coach, you're in
Speaker 1: the a c C. You're in the A c C. Well.
Speaker 1: I remember in a Sunday morning game in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: It was eight am game. His team had a bunch
Speaker 1: of really good players here and and they were playing
Speaker 1: eight and it was I was in the you know,
Speaker 1: they had some high level guys and they didn't feel
Speaker 1: like it was a long summer. I could tell they
Speaker 1: were ready to go home. Eight you always like I
Speaker 1: had this. I had a pod with Jamal Thomas right
Speaker 1: and we have part two coming out as well. And
Speaker 1: Jamal was on the GAU shows and he had him
Speaker 1: Sham God and Stephan Marbury and they lost in the
Speaker 1: when it was it used to be just one big term.
Speaker 1: Remember the Nike Nike on John Ferrell's and everybody say like,
Speaker 1: you don't play New York team playing at eight am
Speaker 1: because they just got in at four am, right, And
Speaker 1: so you're painting the picture perfectly, kind of marrying our
Speaker 1: two podcasts. Right, So it's eight am. Do you remember
Speaker 1: what high school? What Jim time? Yeah, it was, it
Speaker 1: was that it was at Durrang, It was at Gorman, yeah,
Speaker 1: and um um and I remember and um I was
Speaker 1: there and it was eight am. There's not a lot
Speaker 1: of people in the in and they didn't feel like playing,
Speaker 1: but other than one guy, and that was Josie Alvarado,
Speaker 1: And Josie Alvarado got into these guys in his own
Speaker 1: teammates face because they weren't playing hard. They weren't and
Speaker 1: I and I mean, and it didn't matter. He wanted
Speaker 1: to win so bad, like so bad, it didn't matter
Speaker 1: because along winning matter to him more than breathing literally,
Speaker 1: And I saw that, I was like, I have to
Speaker 1: have this kid, because you know why. I in my
Speaker 1: mind and my vision, I said, when we line up
Speaker 1: for the national anthem and We're playing Duke North Carolina Sarracuseta,
Speaker 1: and they have all these McDonald's, all Americans and the
Speaker 1: best players in the country. And you're done with warm
Speaker 1: ups and the sweats coming down. Jose Alvarado is gonna
Speaker 1: look across the line there on the other side of
Speaker 1: the free throw line and be like, man, I'm going
Speaker 1: right for your juggler, Vein, I'm going right at you.
Speaker 1: I'm not I don't care about your accuate. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: play with such an edge and a chip. There was
Speaker 1: no fear with him. He had. He wanted to go
Speaker 1: compete against those guys and didn't care about the name
Speaker 1: on their jersey or anything, or the name on the
Speaker 1: back of the jersey of the opponent. He was going
Speaker 1: right at him. And I said, I've got to have
Speaker 1: that guy. And in order for us to be successful
Speaker 1: at Georgia Tech, we need I needed some guys with
Speaker 1: some chips and edges on their shoulders. And Jose set
Speaker 1: the tone for us on that um you know and
Speaker 1: um and and he's been an incredible guard during this
Speaker 1: time here. He I said that, and let me just
Speaker 1: say this, the year before when he got there, my
Speaker 1: first year, like I had a great guard. His dad's
Speaker 1: a head coach um now at Eastern Michigan, Josh heath stand.
Speaker 1: He says, Dad, he was a hard nose playing got
Speaker 1: Quentin Stevens. I had this kid who would not This
Speaker 1: is a this is an incredible story, honest to God,
Speaker 1: true story. I'll go back to Jose. Let me just
Speaker 1: say this story. I know we're running, but so i'm
Speaker 1: we're have we have the pro These the guys the
Speaker 1: programs in Okay, it's called the Program. They're they're military guys.
Speaker 1: They come in and it's a it's you know, they
Speaker 1: put something. It's like a thirty six hour deal. They
Speaker 1: put you through some things. It's kind of team building.
Speaker 1: And Quentin Stevens, you know, this was the greatest thing
Speaker 1: that happened to Quentin Stevens. And he'll tell you. So
Speaker 1: we're there and people always say Quentin's you know, it
Speaker 1: wasn't real tough and just you know, it wasn't a tough,
Speaker 1: hard nosed player and this and that. So we're in
Speaker 1: this preseason thing in September at the program and these
Speaker 1: two his neatness is his Navy seal in this marine.
Speaker 1: They're they're going to put us through the things, said,
Speaker 1: can anyone not go through the um the training? Quentin
Speaker 1: Stevens raises his hands and I'm like, man, they all
Speaker 1: told me when I got the driver, this guy has
Speaker 1: got a lot of know it's not tough and you know,
Speaker 1: once you get out of things. He raised his hand,
Speaker 1: he's and so he stands up and Quentin's a phenomenal
Speaker 1: young man and he says, yeah, my big toes bothering me.
Speaker 1: And he was like, you know, and what he did,
Speaker 1: he had a big toe deal. You know, big toes
Speaker 1: bothering him. And so the marine and the seals, okay,
Speaker 1: they weren't gonna make him do anything. I could see
Speaker 1: that kind of like I could see the marine the
Speaker 1: guy was like, you know, I mean this guy, this
Speaker 1: marine guy was like he was he had getting like
Speaker 1: he he he was telling stories where he like he
Speaker 1: enjoyed like wrestling with like lions and tiger. He was
Speaker 1: doing like it was just you know, it was great
Speaker 1: and so like he did things like that on his
Speaker 1: spare time, like he want to go, and like, so
Speaker 1: we're walking out, I'm walking with Quinton the guy and
Speaker 1: he grabs Quintin says, hey, let me just tell you something, dude.
Speaker 1: I just gotta tell you this, because I was on
Speaker 1: the battlefield and I had a teammate who got his
Speaker 1: who got snipered and his entire leg got blown off.
Speaker 1: And the guy is laying there his legs blown off,
Speaker 1: and his legs like you know, you know, ten fifteen
Speaker 1: feet away from his body. He's getting shot at while
Speaker 1: he's bleeding out. He he scrambles to his gun without
Speaker 1: a leg and he starts pick him his gun and
Speaker 1: shooting back at the people to to to to help
Speaker 1: his teammates, to give them cover. He was. And so
Speaker 1: the marine turns and don't you ever tell me that
Speaker 1: your big toes bothering you and you can't perform um?
Speaker 1: I mean, And the guy's eyes were like you should
Speaker 1: have seen his eyes. He was so locked in when
Speaker 1: he was telling Quintin this. I'm just telling you this.
Speaker 1: Quentin like looked at him. He performed the entire thing.
Speaker 1: Quentin Stephens became. He he was. He was the fifth
Speaker 1: the best fifty fifty ball and and defensive rebounder for
Speaker 1: in the A c C that year. He played so
Speaker 1: hard every pos you've ever seen those players or Dennis
Speaker 1: Rodman like lanes out that that was Quentin. He gave
Speaker 1: his body like you wouldn't believe. He had more toughness
Speaker 1: of rebounds, getting hit dot flipping in the air to
Speaker 1: get balls. And it was all because of what that
Speaker 1: marine told him. It changed his mindset. And I was
Speaker 1: so proud of Quinn. He helped us win so many games.
Speaker 1: But because because of that, that instant changed his his
Speaker 1: trajectory of his career, and so he was. But I
Speaker 1: say that going back to Jose Alvarado, and I'm so
Speaker 1: proud of when I love he's such an incredible but
Speaker 1: he won us so many games because of how hard
Speaker 1: he played. But and a guy's like Josh Heath the
Speaker 1: same way, Corey, I just kid coming off the bench,
Speaker 1: Corey Hayward Man, this kid played so hard, so hard
Speaker 1: it was incredible. And Josh Akoge is a hard playing guy.
Speaker 1: You know, he his his Twitter handles NonStop, you know which,
Speaker 1: he is a high motor. But Jose Alvarado I sail
Speaker 1: that to say, I believe Jose Alvarado is the greatest
Speaker 1: fifty fifty ball guy in Georgia, tech and U and
Speaker 1: here and and then's the reason he's the two time
Speaker 1: all time back to back years led him and led
Speaker 1: the a SEC and steels. The only the player ever
Speaker 1: do that was Chris paul a SEC Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year. The guy was tough as nails and worked.
Speaker 1: Aren't Again I understand here in the bottom line business, Okay, right,
Speaker 1: I understand, like you're a nice human being and you
Speaker 1: treat people well, and you're having an amazing life because
Speaker 1: of those things, and and and you're judge based on
Speaker 1: wins and losses. But you talk about a kid who
Speaker 1: had reputations being a little soft and he becomes this
Speaker 1: incredible teammate and hard playing dude, Like, isn't that kind
Speaker 1: of what it's all about? Like didn't that Like that's
Speaker 1: like that's really what what the what the job is
Speaker 1: supposed to be. And again I under and and generally
Speaker 1: if those guys change from boys to men, if they do,
Speaker 1: you're gonna win more games because of it. But like,
Speaker 1: isn't that the core of what you're doing, right is
Speaker 1: teaching stuffing because that those lessons, Like that's why I think.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know there's there's medical sales people that
Speaker 1: they love to hire athletes because most athletes, like you're
Speaker 1: not gonna be good unless you get up and work
Speaker 1: out on days you don't want to work out, right,
Speaker 1: unless you've dealt with the that you gotta get up
Speaker 1: and get in practice. No, it's gonna suck because you
Speaker 1: guys just lost the game you should have won. Like,
Speaker 1: those are the things that help you for the rest
Speaker 1: of your life. And I would, I do think that
Speaker 1: we sometimes get lost in what is this actually all about?
Speaker 1: That's what it's about. Well, and that's where you're you're
Speaker 1: you know the the mission of the n C two A. Yes,
Speaker 1: do you got you want to win? Who doesn't want
Speaker 1: to win? That's what's great about sports. It's the best
Speaker 1: reality of the best reality TV show because you don't
Speaker 1: know the outcome. It's what makes the n C Double
Speaker 1: A tournament great, what makes just college athletics great. Um,
Speaker 1: But that's what's the mission of the n C two A.
Speaker 1: That's the mission of of college, of high school, whatever
Speaker 1: it may be. The mission is to help the the
Speaker 1: the young person and to help the student. Yes, as coaches,
Speaker 1: we all get paid a lot of money. We do
Speaker 1: have responsibilities to to to have success on the court
Speaker 1: because that helps everything. Um. But but as a coach,
Speaker 1: One of the great satisfactions is is when you go
Speaker 1: to graduation and you see the guys walk across the
Speaker 1: straight age and graduate and knowing that you know, um,
Speaker 1: you know, four years because like like Georgia Tech, they
Speaker 1: ain't no hiding majors in Georgia Tech, No no question
Speaker 1: and and and so and and and um you know.
Speaker 1: And when I was like, I was having like like
Speaker 1: at Memphis and and I feel like you might have
Speaker 1: this feeling that why you feel so close to Eddie
Speaker 1: coach Sutton, um, you know, and and just because you know,
Speaker 1: like when I was at MEMPS, I had some guys
Speaker 1: who maybe had you know, had like a second chance,
Speaker 1: and they had an opportunity where where where they they
Speaker 1: you know, they had some struggles early and I could see,
Speaker 1: man that the time, you know, I invested to see
Speaker 1: these guys change their life. Yes, I wanted to win
Speaker 1: and help them basketball, but through basketball gave me such
Speaker 1: satisfaction see them to to to understand about discipline and
Speaker 1: opportunities to really change their life. Or maybe they had
Speaker 1: a previous mistake or they had some tough issues prior
Speaker 1: to and then you see them change their life and
Speaker 1: then become you know married and have you know, kids
Speaker 1: are working and doing great things and and because of basketball,
Speaker 1: maybe because of a coach or because of environment allowed
Speaker 1: him to change and change their trajectory of their life.
Speaker 1: And and Darryl Darryl Walker, Darryl Walker tells anybody who
Speaker 1: listen that he would end up on the street dead
Speaker 1: if not for coach set in Arkansas like you, he
Speaker 1: would have And um, you know, I just that that's
Speaker 1: what in many ways we we get lost in the
Speaker 1: so many things that don't matter. And what does matter
Speaker 1: is that having and that's where the power. That's where
Speaker 1: the power of a coach can come in. And how
Speaker 1: and and and and and when you really look at it,
Speaker 1: because you know, look but see I think and again
Speaker 1: I understand that Like if you say, I don't like
Speaker 1: the transfer portal and all these things as a coach,
Speaker 1: and you've got to take kind of you gotta do
Speaker 1: it right. But I think the transfer thing hurts it,
Speaker 1: Like I just the ability to go and and not
Speaker 1: have to sit out like Okay, why didn't you play him? Well,
Speaker 1: maybe I didn't play him because he didn't practice herd.
Speaker 1: He just didn't or he wasn't doing what he was
Speaker 1: all these little things I wanted him to do he
Speaker 1: didn't do, and so I can't reward him with playing time,
Speaker 1: and what happens. I'm trying to coach the kid. He
Speaker 1: can't coach him if there's no punishment for leaving. And
Speaker 1: people you hear the word punishment and you're like, wow,
Speaker 1: that's just unfair. You're you're doing like, no, that's there's
Speaker 1: a there's a process then, right, and if you trust
Speaker 1: the person in the process and trust that by year
Speaker 1: three and four they'll be a grown up and they
Speaker 1: come in and I just I think we're ruining that
Speaker 1: with with some of the recent policies which are so
Speaker 1: in favor of the player that it takes away the
Speaker 1: ability for the coach to actually do his job. Yeah
Speaker 1: you know, um, well look, I mean the recording a
Speaker 1: transfer portal doug um um. You know that that that
Speaker 1: has you because lot of people ask me about it.
Speaker 1: You know that train has left the station is not
Speaker 1: going back, no question, it's it's so so you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to adapt to that, just like you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to adapt to the n I L name image likeness.
Speaker 1: The college athletics has changed and it will continue to change,
Speaker 1: and we'll see how the n i L changes things.
Speaker 1: Will see how you know, the transfer portal has changed
Speaker 1: things obviously, and Doug your you know, you can't complain
Speaker 1: about it or be upset. You're you're you have to
Speaker 1: be flexible. You've got to be able to adapt. You've
Speaker 1: got to be willing to change, because if not, you'll
Speaker 1: get left behind because those things have Like the train
Speaker 1: is left the station, whether people agree or disagree with it,
Speaker 1: it's not going backwards. Right, Um, what was it like?
Speaker 1: Like you take the Georgia Tech job and I think
Speaker 1: that many people is like he just had to take
Speaker 1: a job because he because because the Memphis job at
Speaker 1: Gonsdale right to go from that place? Will you take
Speaker 1: a job if you're like, hey, george Tech has got
Speaker 1: great history, but you ain't when there you know you
Speaker 1: got it? Ain't it ain't just the old days that
Speaker 1: you got Duke from Caroline. You got Duke, you got Caroline,
Speaker 1: Virginia just wont to ask the championship Syracuse Louisville, right,
Speaker 1: like real unbelievable, unbelievable. I don't even get into the
Speaker 1: other Florida state right to go from taking the job
Speaker 1: winning thirteen games in year two to winning the a
Speaker 1: c C. What is that feeling like? Yeah, no, it
Speaker 1: was an incredible First of all, again, all you know,
Speaker 1: it's just three things. One, thank god I had great bosses,
Speaker 1: you know who one gave me an opportunity and also
Speaker 1: stuck by me. Um, So you know, a mix of
Speaker 1: of of of at the time, you know, um um
Speaker 1: to get hired, and then and then to be able
Speaker 1: to continue to to see that, just to see it
Speaker 1: all the way through to I've had great assistant coaches
Speaker 1: and great staffs, that's what you interesting. And then three
Speaker 1: and most importantly, and you can't do it. I'm is
Speaker 1: We've had great um young men, and and I've been
Speaker 1: very fortunate on that. But Doug um, Yeah, to win
Speaker 1: the a c C. And and and you look back
Speaker 1: because you know when I took over Memphis, I took
Speaker 1: it over. I've seen it from both spectrums. I mean
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot. I've been through a lot. And
Speaker 1: um see something where you're taking over at the very
Speaker 1: highest of high levels and then you're taking something over
Speaker 1: where you're you're kind of starting from the ground zero
Speaker 1: to build it up. I've seen it from both directions.
Speaker 1: But to say you've you've done it both ways, you've
Speaker 1: been successful. You know, we've had good success in both ways,
Speaker 1: and then to uh to too in the end to
Speaker 1: win the a c C Championship. Um, it's it's beyond
Speaker 1: to to you know. You as time has evolved going
Speaker 1: into this summer, you look back and say, man, that's
Speaker 1: just an amazing accomplishment in this league. And because I remember,
Speaker 1: and I got a little flak for this, and and
Speaker 1: I understand looking back, why why I could get flat
Speaker 1: After my first year we finished eleven and we had one,
Speaker 1: we were eight and or we were nine and eleven
Speaker 1: in the league. Excuse me, eight and ten in the league.
Speaker 1: And I was like, wow, I mean eight wins in
Speaker 1: this league. And I was like, I don't know if
Speaker 1: we'll get the eight wins again, I don't know if
Speaker 1: we'll get I mean we might not be we might
Speaker 1: not get you know, hard is to get to eight.
Speaker 1: And I would say we should have to get eight
Speaker 1: wins in this league. And then I remember and some
Speaker 1: people saying, well, how could you say? I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I probably shouldn't have said that, but I was. I
Speaker 1: said it because I knew how hard. It was to
Speaker 1: get eight wins and then to go back and and
Speaker 1: and the back to back years here to finish you know,
Speaker 1: uh in the top five in both years, and and
Speaker 1: to have the wins. You know, it was it was
Speaker 1: the first time in over thirty years for Georgia Tech
Speaker 1: to have back to back winning records in a CEC play.
Speaker 1: I mean it's been a long time back. I mean
Speaker 1: this year we set the record for the most consecutive
Speaker 1: a CC home wins UM, first time in the history
Speaker 1: to have back to back double digit a c C
Speaker 1: wins or yeah, over five hundred UM. And so we've
Speaker 1: had We've had a lot, you know, obviously over a decade,
Speaker 1: get back to the tournament over you know, twenty years,
Speaker 1: twenty three years, you know, to win a UM for
Speaker 1: twenty eight years, to win the SEC TUCH Championship. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, there's just there's been a lot of great things,
Speaker 1: and you know, the the challenge can you try to
Speaker 1: sustain that because this is the monster and it's what's
Speaker 1: so what's that that's the next question. Yeah, what's realistic? Right?
Speaker 1: Because you lose, you do not only lose two times
Speaker 1: Deals Leader, Defense Player of the Year, but he's befour
Speaker 1: years starting a point guard and when Georgie Tech has
Speaker 1: been great and this is why I almost went there
Speaker 1: point guard you I mean, unbelievable of point guards. But
Speaker 1: like this is a hard landscape. Now. The good thing
Speaker 1: is coach k last year at Duke right North Carolina
Speaker 1: will see whether there's turn over there, you know, the league.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be some there, some changing, some evolution of
Speaker 1: some of these programs. There's youn me some change, like
Speaker 1: for John's hire, like you think filing John Caliberias at Memphis,
Speaker 1: Like that's to try and following Mike she yees can't do?
Speaker 1: Good luck bud um So okay. With with that in mind,
Speaker 1: what is the plan in terms of sustainability and and
Speaker 1: the realistic kind of plan in terms of sustainability? You know, um, look,
Speaker 1: you want to you want to sustain and keep it
Speaker 1: at the highest of high levels that you can and
Speaker 1: and and and let me just say this, there's multiple
Speaker 1: blue bloods. That's what makes this leak so amazing. Makes
Speaker 1: blue blood you know, I Carolina, Louisville, Syracuse. I consider
Speaker 1: Virginia blue blood. You know when you think about it,
Speaker 1: from what Tony Bennett has done. I mean it's it's
Speaker 1: off the charts. What what what? What Florida State has done?
Speaker 1: What Leonard Hamilton has done? I know they you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean over the last decade, look at
Speaker 1: his success, you know. I mean I could go on on.
Speaker 1: I mean, heck, Mike Gray is the winning is coaching
Speaker 1: his story of Notre Dame, um um. You know, look
Speaker 1: Jim larinege at Miami, I mean, you know, think about it.
Speaker 1: You don't. You don't have to tell me in the league.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what plan now, what's the realistic?
Speaker 1: I could go on about multiple more coaches in this league,
Speaker 1: like you sound like Dick oh a brain and well, no,
Speaker 1: the coaches in this like I get it. The coaches
Speaker 1: in this league are all all coaches. But so with
Speaker 1: all the coaches in this league are amazing and and
Speaker 1: but I will say the reality moving forward of really,
Speaker 1: you know, you're you're you want to compete and challenge
Speaker 1: for the you know, for the a c C regular
Speaker 1: season and tournament championships. That's what you want to do.
Speaker 1: But we're all striving for that. Does it happen? I
Speaker 1: mean that's gonna be the you know that We're we're
Speaker 1: gonna do all we can to try to continue into
Speaker 1: that into that ap new But I know it's not easy.
Speaker 1: I know how hard it is and the challenge it is.
Speaker 1: But we're up for the challenge. We'll see if we
Speaker 1: can continue to moving forward. I believe we can. But
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to get it done on the floor,
Speaker 1: you know, Doug, you gotta get a little lucky. You
Speaker 1: gotta you knock on what. You gotta stay healthy. You
Speaker 1: gotta continue to recruit well and continue to develop, and
Speaker 1: and you're gonna have to. You know, it's a it's
Speaker 1: a it's a maker miss game. It's a fine line.
Speaker 1: You gotta put the ball in the basket. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know what I mean. It's it's gonna be. It's
Speaker 1: giving incredible. Um, you win the a SEC. You've done
Speaker 1: this incredible job at Georgia Tech. But it didn't feel
Speaker 1: like you got a shot at Arizona. And like, I'm
Speaker 1: that kind of saw it coming because of the other stuff, right,
Speaker 1: But I mean, that had to be your dream job.
Speaker 1: And it's not like you have im proven yourself, like
Speaker 1: you win thirty games in Memphis, you in the a
Speaker 1: SEC at Georgia Tech. Okay, and again, please please mind
Speaker 1: anybody a Georgie Tech. I wanted to go to jo Detech,
Speaker 1: like we could do a pod on what happened with
Speaker 1: Georgia Tech when I transferred out out of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: So I love and respect your Tech and think it's
Speaker 1: an amazing place. But to win the A c C
Speaker 1: is an amazing accomplishment. Amazing, But to not really get
Speaker 1: deep into the Arizona job, how do you how do
Speaker 1: you process that one emotionally? Well, let me just say this, Um,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I love my time at Arizona You
Speaker 1: kidding me? I mean I was there for thirteen years
Speaker 1: as a player, staff member, assistant coach par a team
Speaker 1: that won the national championship. Some of my best friends
Speaker 1: are my teammates and I and they. I mean I
Speaker 1: loved I love Tucson. I loved everything about it. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know you're I could listen you guys. You don't
Speaker 1: have to go on. Just okay, so so I but
Speaker 1: but no, But I say all that to say that
Speaker 1: I've been I haven't been there in a long time.
Speaker 1: And so we finished. Let me think, So, okay, I understand,
Speaker 1: but but let me just say this, but I draw
Speaker 1: them up. I understand and and and I love Arizona
Speaker 1: and I always have it, you know. But at the
Speaker 1: but I also have a you know there was as
Speaker 1: time as evolved, I just kept it like I recognize, man,
Speaker 1: I'm at Georgia Tech. I'm I'm I'm in a great position.
Speaker 1: I'm in the a c C. Let me let me
Speaker 1: finish your an emotional human being, and truth be told,
Speaker 1: you're a very normal human being, right, you have positivity.
Speaker 1: But when you're like, oh, I gotta do here, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? And it's and and look, I
Speaker 1: I wish nothing but success for tom. Tommy has been
Speaker 1: good to me. But you hired a guy with no
Speaker 1: Arizona ties, never called a time out before, and you
Speaker 1: had a guy who went there, played there one last
Speaker 1: champiship coach there just in the A c C. And
Speaker 1: like that has to on some level like piss y'af
Speaker 1: like disappointed, like you had to there. There has to
Speaker 1: be something other than I haven't been there a long
Speaker 1: time and it's changed a lot. I know. I Look,
Speaker 1: I haven't lived in Oklahoma in twenty years or whatever. Okay,
Speaker 1: and Mike has been incredible to me, incredible. Hey, and
Speaker 1: I interviewed there and they give it to him and
Speaker 1: I was like, dude, that one that hurts, right, it hurts,
Speaker 1: and he's been great, like I have no It was like,
Speaker 1: I think I want my boyten to succeed, just like
Speaker 1: you want Tommy to succeed. Right, Nobody wants to mon
Speaker 1: to be shitty. Nobody. You want your own mother to
Speaker 1: be good. So they go like, hey, you're good. Now. Wait,
Speaker 1: remember back we won the national championship. But how do
Speaker 1: you how do you deal with with that emotionally and
Speaker 1: mentally that you didn't get what anybody would consider a
Speaker 1: fair shape. Well, let me just say this first of all,
Speaker 1: and um one is you look at the Arizona Uh,
Speaker 1: former players like and and and and and I've known
Speaker 1: Tommy Lloyd for a long time. He's at you know,
Speaker 1: he's gonna do a great job at Arizona. He did
Speaker 1: an incredible job with Mark Few Gonzaga. Um Uh, he's
Speaker 1: gonna have tremendous success. Um. You know, Jack Murphy Stick
Speaker 1: is there with him, Jason Terry's with him. He's going
Speaker 1: to be extremely successful there. Um. So you know that's
Speaker 1: just part of the job people. You know, when you
Speaker 1: when presidents and a d S higher, they have someone
Speaker 1: and that's just part of the profession. And Tommy Lloyd's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. But I'd also say take me out
Speaker 1: of it, like I as an Arizona guy, but no,
Speaker 1: it has an Arizona guy. Like I'm just saying that.
Speaker 1: I know that. You know, Look, you had Steve Kerr,
Speaker 1: who's you know, gonna be in the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: for coaching. You got Luke Walton, one of the you
Speaker 1: know best coaches, Damon Stodomeyer, you know who's you know.
Speaker 1: So I wasn't thinking me during that time. Yes, I know,
Speaker 1: I've had some success both at Memphis and Georgia Tech
Speaker 1: Um and so I again keeping things in in perspective, Doug,
Speaker 1: I mean so so I I always I felt all
Speaker 1: along that um that it was probably gonna be a
Speaker 1: guy like Damon or Luke Walton. And I obviously Luke
Speaker 1: and Steve kerb probably didn't want to come back to college.
Speaker 1: But obviously what Damon's done at Pacific. But that's just
Speaker 1: part of the that's part of college athletics. A president
Speaker 1: and an athletic director, you know, they're gonna you know,
Speaker 1: they might feel comfortable so and they might have a
Speaker 1: vision with someone else. That's just part of it. That's
Speaker 1: how things work. Listen. I could say the same thing
Speaker 1: about when I got the job at Memphis, or even
Speaker 1: got the job at Georgia Tech. People could be saying
Speaker 1: those are part of it. I get it, um and
Speaker 1: um and and and and so. In that whole time,
Speaker 1: I understand what you're saying. But I also had a
Speaker 1: perspective that I'm in the A c. C. And that
Speaker 1: Georgia Tech. I love atlant I'm in a great spot.
Speaker 1: And the whole time I was really thinking, you know, again,
Speaker 1: like I said, whether they hired Tommy Lawyer, and I
Speaker 1: was thinking, maybe, you know, Damon Stole to Myron Man,
Speaker 1: he's been so good at Pacific, or obviously Steve Kurrent,
Speaker 1: Luke Walton probably weren't gonna leave the NBA. But David
Speaker 1: Stottmeyer has done a great job. But but Tommy Lloyd
Speaker 1: is gonna do a great job. I mean, I've known
Speaker 1: tom he's been I mean, look at Gonzagua. You can't
Speaker 1: you can't deny their success. They've been extremely successful and
Speaker 1: and and part of that reason they've been that successful
Speaker 1: because of Tommy Lloyd. Okay, two more and I gotta go,
Speaker 1: I gotta go to okay um first one is recruiting
Speaker 1: the super elite guys right the now. It's one of
Speaker 1: the things Jay Wright used to talk about this all
Speaker 1: the time, back when the first time I went to
Speaker 1: the phone four they had the number one recruiting class
Speaker 1: and then they were bad, and then he said, they
Speaker 1: come up with this. Okay, G's right, are kind of guys.
Speaker 1: You gotta recruit your kind of guys. Now, you've had
Speaker 1: success at Georgia Tech and you're in Atlanta where there's dudes. Plus,
Speaker 1: George Teck is always recruited New York City. Well, Jose
Speaker 1: is from New York City. You have connections everywhere. How
Speaker 1: do you manage that? With success, you can get into
Speaker 1: homes that you couldn't get into previously. Yet you might
Speaker 1: recruit you might not like Josh is the kind of
Speaker 1: guy that Georgia Tech has to get in order to
Speaker 1: be sustained success. Right, a little under the radar, academic
Speaker 1: minded and comes in and just becomes a great player. Right.
Speaker 1: Doesn't mean that you can't take a higher level, But
Speaker 1: how do you balance out the do I go after
Speaker 1: the top fifty, top kids that have to play right away,
Speaker 1: and it's harder to win with them right away versus
Speaker 1: the guys that are more your kind of guys that
Speaker 1: you've been successful with at Georgia Tech. Well, look, Doug,
Speaker 1: I think it's part of it is UM. You know. I,
Speaker 1: as we talked about previously, a lot of it's evaluation.
Speaker 1: You gotta do a great job evaluating UM, and then
Speaker 1: you gotta do at Georgia Tech. You gotta do a
Speaker 1: great job of player development. UM. That's important to us.
Speaker 1: We spend a lot of time on that and and
Speaker 1: guys better because they're probably not going to get the
Speaker 1: guy that's instantly ready to to go right to the NBA.
Speaker 1: So I think you've got to do it. You've got
Speaker 1: to really And I've heard coaches speak about this when
Speaker 1: they've had success, they may be tried to go in
Speaker 1: a different direction than what's got them successful and it's
Speaker 1: ended up backfiring on them. So I think we've got
Speaker 1: to stay to who we are, and we understand who
Speaker 1: we are at Georgia Tech. UM, I you know, with
Speaker 1: what makes us as as our athletic director likes to
Speaker 1: say kind of the secret sauce of of what makes
Speaker 1: us UM, what makes Georgia Tech special. And we've got
Speaker 1: to continue staying in that UM, in that realm and
Speaker 1: UM and we've got to continue doing that and uh
Speaker 1: and so keeping keeping discipline, keeping focus. Look, we all
Speaker 1: want to get the best players we can get. Who
Speaker 1: doesn't UM, But it's finding the right fit. And I
Speaker 1: think just because you're having success, yes, more doors open
Speaker 1: for you for for student athletes, but that doesn't mean
Speaker 1: it's the right fit for the program or were the
Speaker 1: right fit for them, vice versa. So I think staying disciplined.
Speaker 1: And you've heard many programs when they've had great success,
Speaker 1: they've gone away from what's made them successful and it's
Speaker 1: end up backfiring on them. So I think us staying
Speaker 1: the course on who we are and what we're about
Speaker 1: and what's important to me and us as a staff
Speaker 1: in a program, we gotta stay in that, in that
Speaker 1: in that, in that direction. The face mask, who who's
Speaker 1: who is your wife? Who gave you the face mask? Well,
Speaker 1: the face shield. What happened was was I was struggling
Speaker 1: coaching with the face with the with the mask, because
Speaker 1: you just took it on and off all the time,
Speaker 1: and I felt like when I was yelling, you know,
Speaker 1: I was yelling at the guys through the face mask
Speaker 1: when they understanding, they couldn't understand me. They couldn't see
Speaker 1: my facial expressions. And then three, I felt like I
Speaker 1: was suffocating, you know. And so it was just so
Speaker 1: I said, I can't it's hard for me to coach
Speaker 1: and this, so I had to use the face shield.
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like I was, you know, and you
Speaker 1: didn't feel like you're a suffocating because they're you know, two,
Speaker 1: they could see your facial expres missions. And three, um um,
Speaker 1: it was just you know, I wasn't touching it. How
Speaker 1: many times would you see coaches with the mask touching
Speaker 1: your face all the time, on and off, on and
Speaker 1: off with the face shield. Yeah, I lifted up a
Speaker 1: few times, but the majority of time I kept it
Speaker 1: down and it and it was just became one of
Speaker 1: those things. You know, people are calling me the welder
Speaker 1: because I looked and I told people, please don't call
Speaker 1: me the welder. It's it's totally disrespectful to the to
Speaker 1: that profession. I can't even change a lightbulb for crying
Speaker 1: out loud. So I felt awful for anyone that's a
Speaker 1: true welder. People are calling me a dentist, you know,
Speaker 1: because the dentist. Whereas that I says, please don't. I say,
Speaker 1: these dentists go to school for eight years to become
Speaker 1: a dentist. You know. I said, that's not fair to
Speaker 1: the dentist. I said, you know, I said, I feel
Speaker 1: awful for the dentists that they're they're comparing me to
Speaker 1: a dentist. So I was being called all kinds of
Speaker 1: different names. But I like the face shield. It was
Speaker 1: it was simple, it was easy and um and if
Speaker 1: we have to wear mask again next year, I'll wear
Speaker 1: the face shield again. I don't foresee us having to
Speaker 1: do that, but if we were, if we were mandated
Speaker 1: to do so, I'd be wearing the face shield again.
Speaker 1: And you've gotten a haircut between part one and part two,
Speaker 1: by the way, I did I have gotten during the season.
Speaker 1: I've gotten zero haircut because I was just trying to
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to have any issue where
Speaker 1: it could have got possibly contracted COVID, so I really,
Speaker 1: you know. And then and then after seeing I got
Speaker 1: a haircut which was in March and I just got
Speaker 1: a haircut just recently, so it's been about a three
Speaker 1: month window, three to four months I can go and
Speaker 1: I didn't get a little while, but I had to
Speaker 1: get a haircut. It was you had that you had
Speaker 1: the jufro going like, yeah, it was, it was, it was,
Speaker 1: it was, it was. It was Jonah Jonah Hill level.
Speaker 1: It was getting wild. There was no doubt about it. Um. Okay,
Speaker 1: So this was actually the last question. One thing that
Speaker 1: you had to do or you did during the pandemic
Speaker 1: did during COVID with all these protocols, are you like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I think I'm gonna do this even
Speaker 1: when the world opens back up, the restrictions are going away,
Speaker 1: God willing will be out of it. But there are
Speaker 1: some like working at work from home a bunch these
Speaker 1: things for you. One thing that you you did during
Speaker 1: COVID that you're going to try and continue to do that. Um,
Speaker 1: what is the what was the expression? It's necessity is
Speaker 1: the mother of all invention. That necessity became the invention.
Speaker 1: I can just you know, there's three things just top
Speaker 1: off my head. Number one is, you know I used
Speaker 1: to be a big meeting guy to to make sure
Speaker 1: that we met as a staff to be organized. So
Speaker 1: we need to all be in the office to meet.
Speaker 1: What time did you used to always meet? I mean
Speaker 1: weally met, right, you know, maybe be about like noon
Speaker 1: or you know, like a let's gave us time in
Speaker 1: the morning to watch the previous day's practice or the
Speaker 1: you know, to kind of get our thoughts together and
Speaker 1: do it. So we're about eleven thirty noon, we would
Speaker 1: meet and then and just to kind of be organized
Speaker 1: going into the day of practice. You know. But but
Speaker 1: you know from this we've met a lot through Zoom
Speaker 1: or Microsoft team, like we don't have with meetings now,
Speaker 1: like hey, let's just get on a team's call, Like
Speaker 1: we don't have to all be in the office to
Speaker 1: meet so we can get accomplished. That's one. Two. We
Speaker 1: don't need to be in the film room, um, to
Speaker 1: all close together to watch film. We did film all
Speaker 1: year long on our in the in the gym and
Speaker 1: are and sitting in the stands, spread out with a bit.
Speaker 1: We just rolled in a big TV and we just
Speaker 1: had space to me. I think we'll just continue to
Speaker 1: do that. I like that better, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: instead of being all you know, uh, right next to
Speaker 1: each other in a smaller film room. And three. Um,
Speaker 1: I hope we continue this. I don't see and nothing
Speaker 1: against sportsmanship because I think sportsmanship is so important. But
Speaker 1: you know, I think we should keep fist bumping or
Speaker 1: elbow bumping before the games. Um, and even after the games?
Speaker 1: Is there necessary to continue to shake hand? You know,
Speaker 1: I know that we're going against each other, tell me,
Speaker 1: tell me why? But because I yes, we all talked
Speaker 1: about COVID, but let's talk about colds and flues and
Speaker 1: strep through oats and sore throats and you know all
Speaker 1: kinds of other stuff that not that, not that you're
Speaker 1: not the some guys are anti handshake because you know
Speaker 1: the idea of fight happening or no, not that I
Speaker 1: know nothing with that. I was thinking more more germ wise. No,
Speaker 1: it's smart. I mean, like, look, nobody got the flue
Speaker 1: this year. Like no, I mean, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking more health and safety. And people said
Speaker 1: Willis Wilson. Willis Wilson comes back, and Willis Wilson, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's the difference. They're saying, Well, what's the difference of
Speaker 1: you know, you're banging against each other. Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 1: But sometimes when you're going, you know, your hand, everyone's
Speaker 1: shaking the hands after and then all of the stud
Speaker 1: hugg touching the face, you know, and then you touch
Speaker 1: the face and that and you and what we've all
Speaker 1: learned that's very true. That's how a lot of things
Speaker 1: get transmitted. Of Again, we're not not just COVID, but
Speaker 1: colds and flues and and that can maybe how to
Speaker 1: eliminate some of those things, and so that that those
Speaker 1: are some things. So I'm more cautious about that, Like
Speaker 1: I've looked about that, Like, um, you know, even on
Speaker 1: the road, we need to have everyone certain, you know,
Speaker 1: in a in a when we have a buffet. I
Speaker 1: like the fact that year we had one server wearing gloves.
Speaker 1: None of our players could touch the things the person
Speaker 1: served the food to them because that way we all
Speaker 1: weren't touching the handles. Um I I thought that was smart.
Speaker 1: I mean, how about there's a lot of things that
Speaker 1: I think we could learn from this to maybe continue
Speaker 1: to keep us healthier moving forward, to avoid little things
Speaker 1: that you know, because look, COVID is a big thing,
Speaker 1: but little things of like nobody likes to get a
Speaker 1: cold or sore throat or signus headache or things or that,
Speaker 1: because but it's it's also it goes hand in hand
Speaker 1: with the meetings, right, Like you're you're being smarter about
Speaker 1: your time, being smart about your health, like like really
Speaker 1: smart people look back at things and you're like, look, overall,
Speaker 1: it sucked, right, sucked, but you know early on you've
Speaker 1: got more time with your kids than you ever had before. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's it's little things, really, right, Like that's it's
Speaker 1: those little things and it's not any It's not different
Speaker 1: from learning from bad seasons or learning from good seasons,
Speaker 1: learning from jobs that didn't work out, being being really
Speaker 1: really smart about it. Um okay, this this officially becomes
Speaker 1: the last one. Where do you see yourself in five years? Well, Doug,
Speaker 1: I love my job. And I'm not just saying that.
Speaker 1: I mean if you as I love what I do.
Speaker 1: I have tremendous enthusiasm, excitement, um, passion, um. I love
Speaker 1: being around people. UM. I love Georgia Tech. I I
Speaker 1: love the people I work for and to work with
Speaker 1: and and everyone in the athletic department. I love Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I'm also a realist. I know you you know there's
Speaker 1: you know can you ever stay somewhere so long. I mean,
Speaker 1: I get all that, but for five for me, I
Speaker 1: hope I can continue to be a head coach as
Speaker 1: long as the Good Lord allows and the athletic directors
Speaker 1: of schools allowed me to continue to be a head coach.
Speaker 1: I I love, I love being I love doing what
Speaker 1: I do, and so I hope in five years i'm
Speaker 1: whether it's Georgia Tech, I hope this Georgia Tech. I
Speaker 1: really do that means we've had some good success or
Speaker 1: elsewhere that I'm still I want to continue to be
Speaker 1: a head coach as long as I can UM because
Speaker 1: I love my I hope I can be a head
Speaker 1: coach when I'm seventy five and I and I don't
Speaker 1: want to be a guy that's can. I hope I'm
Speaker 1: how long that is. I hope that means you've been
Speaker 1: a head coach in thirty one, like you be behind character,
Speaker 1: and I hope that's the case. I would like that
Speaker 1: to be the case, and I really I can. I
Speaker 1: love what I do and I'm forty three now, if
Speaker 1: I could get another thirty years as a head coach,
Speaker 1: or go to seventy five, go another thirty two years.
Speaker 1: It would be It would be really cool. I would
Speaker 1: have no I I really enjoy what I do. Now,
Speaker 1: you want to beat Coach K. Last time you playing
Speaker 1: Coach K. That would be very cool. That would be
Speaker 1: cool too. That would be cool. I hope that. I
Speaker 1: hope we can get a lot of wins this upcoming
Speaker 1: season or in year five. We've had a lot of
Speaker 1: wins going five years and now we've had a lot
Speaker 1: of wins and some more ACC championships too. That would
Speaker 1: you also would be cool too. You've been more than
Speaker 1: generous with your time. I really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll
Speaker 1: see it Peach Jam. In the meantime, have a great time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us. Thanks Doug, all right, my thanks
Speaker 1: to Josh Pastor. I thought that was as deep and
Speaker 1: thorough as anybody can be on the entirety of their careers.
Speaker 1: Pretty awesome stuff. Remember the Doug got Leap shows daily
Speaker 1: three to six Eastern time, twelve to three Pacific, Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio, I Heart Radio app or in Sirius XM
Speaker 1: to seventeen or two oh three. In the meantime, continue listening,
Speaker 1: Tell a friend, download, subscribe, rate, write a review. I'm
Speaker 1: Doug gotlick. This is all ball.