Building Winning College Basketball Programs: Key Insights

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00:00It's interesting because I look at your career and everywhere you've gone, you've won.

00:05But you've had to build programs.

00:08I know Iowa, Dr. Tom Daves, what he did, obviously a legendary coach.

00:12But talk to me in two parts.

00:14Number one, when you don't have a blue blood program, right?

00:19The Kentuckys, the Dukes, where it's just plug and play.

00:23What's the key to winning, that winning culture that you have in developing talent?

00:28But on the talent side, you haven't had the four-star, the five-star recruit.

00:34You took Luka Garza.

00:35You took the Murray Twins.

00:37And let's be honest, recruiting in Iowa is not like recruiting in New York City.

00:43Talk to me about developing talent, which I think is still so important in today's game.

00:49You know, James, you said it earlier.

00:53What's the key to it all?

00:55The key is culture.

00:57How do you build culture?

00:59And that's what we've done everywhere I've been.

01:01You know, it's easy to talk about, okay, I coached three teams that went to the NCAA

01:09Tournament and won big leagues.

01:11Nobody else has ever done that.

01:13One of the few coaches that have coached four teams that have gone to the NCAA Tournament.

01:17Each one was a different challenge.

01:20So how do you convince young people to come play for you?

01:24And how do you continue to help them develop?

01:28It starts with character.

01:29You know, I'm often asked, James, okay, what do you look for in recruiting?

01:34Well, you know, you and I can walk into any gym in America and say, okay, that kid can

01:38play.

01:39You know, he can run and jump.

01:42He's got a great handle.

01:43He can shoot the ball.

01:44He's big and strong.

01:46All right, that's easy.

01:48All right.

01:50Is he unselfish?

01:53Does he prioritize winning?

01:56Is he a great teammate?

01:57How will he respond when things aren't going so well?

02:02How does he respond in today's climate where I'm talking to him one minute and his agent's

02:08talking to him the next?

02:10These are different times.

02:13You stay true to who you are and you prioritize character first.

02:18You mentioned three players and we could talk about many more, but I'll talk about the three

02:22that you mentioned.

02:23Luca Garza, National Player of the Year.

02:28Hardest worker every day in practice.

02:32When your hardest worker is your best player, or I should say your best player is your hardest

02:38worker, what better example is that for me coming into the gym every day?

02:45I tell people, young people that I'm recruiting now, everybody knows Keegan Murray.

02:51He broke Steph's record as made the most threes of any rookie in the NBA history.

02:56So I talk about Keegan, I talk about Chris.

02:59Oh, of course, those guys are amazing.

03:01Keegan's the fourth pick in the draft.

03:04Chris is the 21st pick in the draft.

03:07You know what their high school rankings were?

03:10347 and 348.

03:14So let's not be concerned with what our high school ranking is.

03:19Let's try to see where we can get your draft position to be.

03:22And that's what those guys did.

03:24They worked, they listened, they were coachable.

03:29Every day, positive attitude in the locker room, on the road, in the dog days, and just

03:39delightful people to be around and come to practice.

03:43I have been blessed, James.

03:45Every team I've had, whether we were winning big, we were winning okay, or we weren't winning

03:51enough, I want to know that when I come to practice every day, I love the group that

03:57I'm working with.

03:59And I want them, you know, you're sitting in your two o'clock class, and when class

04:03is over, you're making your way over to the gym, we have practice at 3.30.

04:07I want them to love the idea, like, I'm going to go, I'm going to go get better today.

04:10I'm going to be with my best friends.

04:12And we're on a journey together that no one else experiences, unless you're playing college

04:18basketball.

04:19And I'm thankful to be here, and I'm thankful to play for the coaches that I have.

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