Then, he’s joined by NYU Head Coach Dave Klatsky for the conclusion of their interview where they discuss his decision to take a job on Wall Street after Penn, why he left big bucks to take a job as a Colgate assistant, what he learned under HC Matt Langel, why he left to take the DIII NYU job, adjusting to DIII recruiting, if there’s too much player movement, why he doesn't need a DI job to feel validated, and why the Penn job would be so attractive.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hey to welcome to I'm Doug gotlib this he is
all ball.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
We got David Klass who course as the head coach
at and Why a U Part two coming up, which
includes what made him decide to leave Division one basketball? Actually,
you know he left the private sector to become a coach.
What made him leave a successful run in at Colgate
to be in to be a head coach at the
(00:30):
Division three level. So we'll get to that in a second. First,
a couple of quick thoughts. You know, I was watching
the US women's national team play and they got eliminated
Ian soccer in the World Cup in round of sixteen,
and it was it was making me think of those
those dreary years of the men's side in basketball. Right,
remember when we lost the World Championships on our old soil.
(00:53):
We actually got third place in Argentina won it. And
it's interesting, you know, we got the World Cup coming
up this summer to recap it.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Steve Kerr's coaching it.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
But you know, we've only been able to maintain this
level of dominance for the most part.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
We have a couple of our star players.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You know, the last Olympics was Kevin Durant, who kind
of carried us actually probably last two Olympics. But now
as we start getting further and further down the pecking order,
we can act like we don't care, but even when
we do care, we're not nearly as dominant as we
used to be. And there's some parallels there obviously to
the women's national team in soccer. But I think it's
I think it's gonna be fascinating to see kind of
(01:32):
how we evolve as a national power in basketball as
people have individually caught up to us. And remember FIBA,
if you've played in those roles, it's a different game.
But I'm interested to see, with kind of kind of
some secondary even tertiary level talent for Steve Kerr, what
that looks like in an international setting, because the game
(01:53):
is very different, very physical, a lot more set oriented.
In the past, let's just be honest, we've been able
to win because we have a better player or two. Right,
We play hard, play physical, and then we just jump
up and make make a couple more shots and make
up more atholic plays than anybody.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Else, and that's that's been enough.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
But now once you get to a slightly lesser level
of talent, I don't think you can win that way.
I just don't. It doesn't mean they can't win. I
just don't think they can win the way they've won previously. Right,
all right, let's let's let let's catch up with David Clasky.
Here's here's part two.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You finish up a penn what what was your what
was your thought in terms of your plan? What you
wanted to do?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So again, I worked that internship my junior summer and
I got offered the job right after. So I had
a job coming out of my senior year at marilynch
which was a big time job. So I was excited
about it. I was finally gonna make some money. I
had a good senior year and then never even really
thought about playing. And then I remember I got a
(02:58):
call from a friend of mine who's an Asian, Keith Glass,
and it was like, I can get you a job
in Israel, Like you got citizenship, Do you want to play?
And this was in like April, like when I was done, right,
like I finished, and you you probably you played a
couple of years after, so you were probably still in
play mode. But I was already kind of checked out.
(03:18):
I love basketball, but I was kind of like, oh, man,
I play, Yeah, I do. I do want to play,
but I haven't touched basketball in two weeks, you know,
And I just I regret it now, but I wish
I'd gone and played like a year or two and
got to travel a little bit and competed and see
see how it went. But I just I was so
(03:40):
excited about this job and moving to New York City
and having some money, and so I passed on that
and I just I started working. You know, I think
if we graduated in May, I probably started working middle
of June. So I had a month to myself and
traveled a little bit and then started the job. Yeah,
(04:00):
every day for my first part, I work down on
the floor of the New York Sock Exchange. So yeah,
you would have to wear a shuit down there. It
was more like a shirt and tie. Then you had
a like a special jacket you would just put on
you'd leave there, So yeah, dressed nicely. And then the
next So I do that for two and a half years,
and then five and a half years I was up
on the like a floor at a different company called
(04:23):
Night Capital, and that was Business Capsule, So that was
you know, slacks and a button down.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What is the floor like, you're twenty one years old
on the floor in you Ark stock exchange.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Again, you're at the bottom of the food chain, So
doesn't matter how smart you are, doesn't matter how what
you're going to be. You are at the bottom of
the food chain. So anything that somebody doesn't want to do,
or one of the senior traders, however they want to
treat you, they can treat you. So it was pretty hectic.
And this was before you know, computerization basically took effect,
(04:54):
so there was a little bit of that going on.
But it was I like to describe my jobs in
Wall Street, of ninety percent of the time it was slow,
You're messing around, you're doing fun you know, not fun things,
but just like there's not a whole lot to do.
And then ten percent of the time it is super
intense and you have to be on top of your game.
You gotta be able to handle pressure, you got to
(05:16):
be able to react quickly. And those are the things
that actually liked about the job because of the sports background.
But that's basically what it was like, is you know,
ninety percent of a time you're just down there screwing around,
like trying to keep busy and figure out what to do,
waiting for that when you know a news story came out,
or earnings or something that would cause some craziness.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
What brought you back to basketball?
Speaker 4 (05:41):
So four years into working on Wall Street, and I
was playing men's leagues the whole time. I remember I
was in a men's league and you know, shot gos,
I box a guy to like the foul line, and
ref blows the whistle and he calls a foul of me,
and I lost it. I was like, you know, twenty
(06:01):
five years all the time, still in good shape. I
was like, what are you talking about? That's exactly how
you teach it. And this ref is like, you know,
I don't like I'm making thirty bucks an hour here
like or probably less at that time, Like I don't
want to hear from you. And I was just like
what am I doing arguing with this ref? And something
clicked that I need to get back involved in basketball
at a high level to teach the game, not just
(06:22):
how to box out, which to teach the game that's
I love the game. And so I went home and
I googled local division two and three spots near where
my office was, and a steven Steck popped up, which
is in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Shongely enough, my freshman
basketball coach was working there as a coach. So I
(06:43):
hit him up and I explained him what I want
to do. I was like, look, I got a full
time job. I don't want to like I don't need money,
but I would just want to help. And he's like, yeah,
come on, come meet the head coach, who's Josh Leffler
who's now at Cincinnati as an assistant coach who wasn't
Hopkins for a while. And Josh was like, great, so
you want to help and not get paid. Yeah, yeah,
we'll take you. So so for four years I just
(07:04):
did that. I worked and then I would shoot over
Stevens and I just I really enjoyed it, Like I'd
be at my desk at work calling him. And it
was a different head coach next three years, Bobby Hurley
who's still there at Stevens, and I just found that
this is great and I didn't want to jump in,
like you know, the coaching ranks, you got to jump
in and like grad assistant and climb, climb, climb, So like,
I'm never going to do that, Like I got too
(07:24):
good a job. But then Matt Lango got Colgate, and
I remember hitting him up and be like, who's Dump
going to hire at Temple? And you know, looking back,
that's ludicrous to just be out of the business to
Temple assistant. But I knew I could do a good job,
or I thought I could, and I knew Dump, but
he was like, how about Like what do you think
about Colgate? And I was like, where's Colgate?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
You know?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
But then I thought about it and really was like,
this is this is a great opportunity to come in
as an assistant coach under a guy that I really
respect and trust and and uh, and then just went
for it hard and talked through it and he he
was like, you should check into a mental health institution
getting out of finance coming into coaching, But if you
want to do this, let's do it. And so that
so I kind of got in, not at the level
(08:08):
that you have to get in always at that time,
and then just kept going any regrets, No, No, I
mean I think regrets is not the right word, because
I love, like, I don't feel like I have a
job now. It's great like, you coach basketball, It's it's tremendous.
I would say some misinformation in my own head, right,
(08:30):
Like I just assumed I was in finance. If you
do well in your job, you make more money, right,
That's just how it works, right, And and coaching, I
was just like, Okay, we're gonna kill it. I'm gonna
just I'm gonna be a Division one head coach in
five to ten years. And I think that was flawed.
I think we all know that that's a really hard
(08:51):
thing to do from Colgate with my background. Right, if
you're an NBA player or you have some coaching blood
in your in your background, it might be a little easier.
But we did really well. And I just remember for
years being like, I don't know what my path is
because this is such a hard business. It's it's I
think I'm doing a good job. I think I know
(09:12):
what leads to winning. I know how to recruit, I
know how to coach. But it's not paying dividends. You're
not moving up in the world. So that was that
was the only I wouldn't call her regret. I would
just misinformation in my own head.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Well, I'm what about what about just the idea of like,
you know, your fourth year in finance. I don't know
how many years would have taken you to really kill it, right,
But like you see those guys that work for funds
or have their own fund and they can then do
it literally whatever they want, yeah, right, And I just
(09:45):
was it was it the right time or did you
pull the ripcord early, you know, before you got to
that you know, magic seven figure level where you could
do whatever the hell you wanted.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
I wasn't in a position, I don't think where I
like was on a path to right, Like I wasn't
investment banking to buyside two portfolio manager, which is like
a like a vary for those that don't know, that's
that's like a very prominent path, right. I was a trader,
and I actually was interviewing for a job to be
(10:16):
a trader at a hedge fund that I probably would
still be at. But I never was on the path
to like I didn't see a path right. I mean,
I was making good money and I would have continued
to increase, but I don't know. I just thought that
this was the time to do something you love and
figured out later, Like I figured i'd figure out a
(10:36):
way to make money and live. And obviously Hamilton's the
cost of living is way different than what I'm dealing
with now in the New York City metropolitan area. But yeah,
it just all kind of came together. And I don't know,
I mean, it wasn't like I hated my job. I
loved my job in finance like trading, but this just
seemed like I would you know, the alarm would go
off and I'd still be like, oh, you know, now
(10:59):
that doesn't have anymore. So that's that's the probably the
biggest difference.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Why why has Lango? Why has he been so successful?
Speaker 4 (11:10):
He's the best coach in the country that no one
knows about is the is the best way to put it.
He's extremely thoughtful and everything he does so he's really smart,
he knows the game really well, and he is the
most genuine guy you'll ever meet. So those three things
will lead to win him. Right now. He is not
(11:32):
a guy that's on social media or in interviews that
you know out there self promoting, I guess, and so
I have no problem with self promoting, but he's not
that guy. So I think in his circles everyone knows
how special he is and if you follow the Patriot
League at all or you've you know, you've seen it
because what he what he's done and what we did
(11:53):
there is it's impressive. Like Colgate is a really hard
place to recruit and key players, yet he's done that.
We did that for many years now. So I think
he's just he thinks about everything, and he cares, and
it's obvious that he cares, and he's really smart. He
knows the game, which I think a lot of coaches do,
(12:15):
but he the way he presents it and how he
can recruit to what he's doing is it's top level.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
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Speaker 2 (12:34):
What about the old getting guys to play at that
magic level? What's his secret to get getting in place?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Had?
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I think honesty is a big part of his thing.
Is like he'll be direct with you, like you can
do better, right, and he has. He's very good with
when you're not doing that, pulling you aside, having a
meeting with you, talking through things. He calls himself like
a shrink because you know, there's so many instances where
(13:04):
these kids just need mentorship and that will help them.
But I think because he believes in people so much,
they want to do well for him. And again you'll
never hear him say anything like demeaning, but he drives
you to be your best. And now a little bit
of is the culture that was created there. You know,
(13:26):
you come in as a freshman and guys you're just
in the gym working, and then practices, guys are competing.
So it's like if I don't do that, I'm sticking
out and that takes time. But that's where Colgate is
at right now, is you go to go practice. It's
just like again that it's gonna be the fourth year
or they're old. But think about that. How does that work?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Right?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
It means you're keeping players and you have one or
two in each class that are leaders that are dictating
how the best of the program is working. Because that's
what happened when they are freshman sophomorees. So it's just
it's been a great cycle. And you know, like you
said before, sometimes you have three good years and then
you have the rebuilding year. Well it's been five. I
(14:06):
think they made the championships six straight years now, So
that's two cycles of recruiting.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Classes, right, plus when he got there, when you guys
first got there, and Bucknell was domin the Teama League, right,
great town, the Austin Arena, good tradition, right, And their
fall has coincided with the rise of Colgate, and Colgate
is and I've never been to Hamilton, but it's it's
(14:32):
not it's not Bucknell. Where is it Lewiston, Louisbourg, It's
not Louisbourg. And the facility, you know again, it's like
a high school gym at Colgate, right, whereas Louis Bucknell's
is really nice, beautiful. It's just interesting to be able
to do it from the bottom to the top. And
you know, while there are other teams with maybe better
(14:54):
resources and better history, that's that's even even more impressive.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
What was it like to lead?
Speaker 4 (15:05):
It was difficult but rewarding, right, Like I'd been there
eleven years and I knew this was gonna be the case.
But it recruited a lot of the players on the team,
but I needed I needed more, Like Matt now is
in a really good spot and he might I don't
know what he's going to do, but he might be
there for twenty years, right, and I just had bigger
(15:25):
I said this all the time, even on recruiting visits
when parents would ask me, like, what's your plan, and
be like, look like, I love it here. I'm not
leaving for just any job, but I have ambition. I
want to be a head coach, and if the right
opportunity ever presents itself, then yeah, I would have to
take it, but like it's going to take a lot,
because we had a real good thing going here, Matt.
It's a great boss. Like I said, we had it going,
(15:49):
but it was tough. I remember talking to the players
and I'm not like the most emotional guy, but it
was hard just to let them know, guys, I'm out
of here. And and even in the back of my head,
I know, like life will go on. You know, they'll
still be good and everyone's thinks they're more important than
they are, and they'll still probably win the next couple
of years. But it's just, you know, you feel like
(16:10):
you're leaving a little bit of who you are because
I've been there eleven years. But on the flip side,
I was so excited to finally be able to have
my own flavor and control of a program right and NYU.
It was the type of job that I thought was
a really great opportunity that made sense leaving. And part
(16:33):
of it was my fam. I grew up in New Jersey,
so I was coming back to the Tri state area
and and you know, there's you haven't been to Hamilton,
but there's not a whole lot out there. You're you're
the town is beautiful. You're isolated, though, and just getting
back into civilization was exciting for me and my family.
So it all kind of kind of made sense. So
(16:53):
very difficult to leave. We've made a lot of close
relationships and had some friends that we had to leave,
but we were excited and ready for the new challenge.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
So what's the challenge like to build it at your level?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
It's different, It's different in a lot of different ways.
So Number one, when I would recruit at Colgate, the
first call, unless you were Northeast and kind of understood
what was going on, nobody knew what Colgate was, right,
tremendous product, but you have to explain that. So there's
people in the Midwest and West they don't even know
(17:28):
what Colgate is, right, Maybe they've seen us on the bracket,
but they have no idea where we are, no idea
what academics that are. But then they look it up
and they see and oh, yeah, this is actually really good.
NYU is the exact opposite. Everyone knows the NYU brand,
everyone is familiar with New York City, so that right
off the bat was a completely different situation. I'm getting
(17:48):
calls from guys, I mean, like yourself, you know, like
you got a friend that, oh, he really loves NYU.
We never got that at Colgate. No one. No one
is their sophomore junior year saying I want to go
to Colgate. That my dream school, whereas we've had multiple
players like NYU is my dream school. I really want
to go to NYU and they're good players. So that's
(18:08):
one of the biggest differences just in terms of scope
of school. No one's Division three. One's Division one. And
I'm talking on a relative basis here, like we're not
out Colgate, but on a relative basis. It's been different
in that regard now similar to what we had at Colgate.
When we took over at Colgate, it was a team
that had been struggling, but there were some promising pieces,
(18:31):
and I thought the same thing about this NYU that
had been struggling. But I was looking at the roster
and saying, okay, if I can recruit one or two guys,
which I ended up getting two tremendous grad transfers, which
is part of the reason why we were good last year.
But I thought that it would take some time. But again,
I just wanted to build it and start with the
(18:52):
culture and try and get it to what it was
at Colgate, where guys were competing and playing hard and
in the gym all the time and playing for each other.
But that takes time. And luckily we had a group
that really bought into just they all wanted to get better,
so we were able to do it a little quicker
than I thought. But it's not easy. It's not easy,
and we're still working on. Like I'm terrified about this
(19:14):
year because we did have a little bit of success
last year, and we all know how small the margins
are in college basketball. That if our guys come in
thinking they're too good or better than they are, we're
gonna get knocked off, which is what we were doing
last year, and nobody thought that was possible.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
What about you mentioned your two grad transfers.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
What was that experience like for you, because I don't
know for a fact, but I'm guessing at Colgate, you
guys didn't have transfers.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
So Colgate actually when we first got there and transfers
again weren't the thing that was our route. We got transfers,
and for about four years, four or five years, every
transfer we got was all leave. And then everybody got
onto it. And now it's a little bit harder to
get the good transfers at Colgate, but at NYU, because
(20:01):
we have grad school, it's kind of a game changer.
So we were able to get you know, Spencer Friedman
from Harvard as a grad transfer, and then Michael Savarrino
coached Szchewski's grandson from Duke as a grad transfer, and
both those guys ended up. You know, Spencer was I
think I'm biased, but he's the best point guarding the
country at this level, and sav Reno was a starter
(20:21):
for us. So two guys that were able to come
in and want to be in New York City and
have great attitudes and just you know, they had some
struggles at their other school and then it's like boom,
here we go. Now I'm a leader of a team
I'm playing, so they were just ready to lead. And
again we have two more grad transfers coming in. It's
(20:41):
a route that I'll continue to look at. In addition
to whatever everyone's bigging, I'll probably be zagging. But at
n YU you can out recruit some guys, so we'll
continue just trying to get the best available.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
What's that? What was it like to coach your first
game as a head coach?
Speaker 4 (21:00):
The first game I'm playing against Farmingdale State and one
of my closest friends, Brendan Toomey, who I worked with
at Stevens. So I got the job and you don't
know what the schedule is like when you get the
job and he hits me up, he's like, yes, you're
your first game is against It's like, no way, that's impossible.
So so god it was. It was a weird experience
(21:20):
because I'm rooting for him as well. You obviously moved
for your friends and they're good, like they they made
the NCA tournament this year. So I was just like,
I can't believe my first game, I'm going to lose
at home to my friend. It was like, you know,
I'm happy for him, but I'm nervous that this is
what it's going to look like, NYU losing a Farmingdell state.
(21:40):
But we ended up playing out of our minds and
I just remember him looking down. We must have shot
sixty percent from three and him just looking down at
me and be like, T class, what is going on here?
Because who shoots sixty percent? And I was like, I
have no idea, this is ridiculous. But it was a
precursor for for things to come, because we ended up
did shoot shooting really well this year, probably shot close
(22:03):
to forty percent as a team, and that was kind
of what we did. We fired threes.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
How has and I obviously it hasn't been a long
time for you at the D three level, but knowing
how recruiting at the D one level has changed, right
where guys, you know, outside of the top one hundred,
a lot of dudes are just waiting for an offer.
Sometimes they'll tell you take a D two, take a
D three, you know, have a good have a good
(22:29):
year or two, and then transfer up. And some of
that was more COVID, but still post COVID is still
still happening with the transfer portal. How has that changed
who you can go after when you go into a
gym to recruit.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
So it's completely changed right now, especially at NYU and
knowing how successful grand transfers are being, well, of course
I'm going to look at that again. So part of
some of our best recruiting this fall is going to
be calling my buddies, the ivy's and patriots, and who
are your seniors that can't transfer up, can't transfer latterly
(23:05):
but can want to continue to play and are pretty
good And there's our guys on our radar right It's
it's changed, and I am a little bit nervous, and
I'm curious to see how it's going to play out.
If there's going to be the trickle up effect at
our level right like it's happened at the low majors
(23:25):
now and there's this few holdouts that like Colgate where
the guys aren't leaving, but pretty much across the board,
if you have a good first two years, you're going up. Right.
Is that going to trickle down to our level where
we're high level D three? Are those guys going to
go low level D one? I don't know, you know
after two years? I hope because of our academics that
(23:48):
you're giving up that NYU degree, that maybe it won't
hit us as hard. But I am waiting patiently, hopefully
for that not to happen. But it is something that
I think about and again, like it's past the point
where loyalty. And I'm not saying I wouldn't do the
(24:08):
same thing, but you just have to understand that there's
a chance that may happen. If a guy as a
monster freshman sophomore year, you may have a sit down
with him and him say I gotta go, especially with
the money involved. Now, I gotta go, try and go
a little bit higher, and I'll be upset and I'll
talk through it and try and give the best advice possible.
But sometimes that advice is wait, they're gonna pay you what? Yeah,
(24:32):
you know, and it's still pretty good school. All right.
It sucks for us, but I get it.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
What is D three like from a coaching perspective, because
you would you have one assistant.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
I have two full time assistants in a part time
so a little bit than most D three.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Is right, So what is like, this is all you do?
But do you guys chase them the class?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
You know?
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Are you Are you in on a workout? Do you
guys have summer workout programs? Like what is what is
the job like at your level compared to other levels?
Speaker 4 (25:09):
So D three there's no off season workouts, right, so
summer they just added a rule. Actually this year we
get eight out of season time days with our players,
so that does change the game a little bit, but
it's different like the summer, the fall and postseason. There's
(25:30):
just not that much you can do with the guys, right,
Like it's not the full time job. It is out
of season that it is in D one, right, you're
still doing workouts and left and then you have back
for the summer a little bit. Whereas our guys it's
you know, summer, we're checking in with them weekly, trying
to get on the phone with them. What are you doing?
What are you doing? Basketballall is trying to help them
(25:50):
find workouts, find pickup games. But it's it's a lot different,
which is good. Like, I mean, I enjoy the summers
in the fall so far, but I feel like I
have a million other things to do, meaning, okay, let's
run a camp, let's let's get on the road a
little bit more. Let's let's start to think about team
activities that we can do all those things. You just
(26:11):
have a little bit more time to think about. But
once you're in season, it's pretty much exactly the same.
Right then then because we can do individual workouts and
things like that. We'll have practice, then they'll get with
the assistant coaches and get some extra work in or
come later and either by themselves or with a coach.
Sometimes in the morning they'll come in for film. So
(26:33):
it's pretty similar during the year, but outside it's completely different.
I just you feel like you're involved in everything at
D one as a coach, and D three it's there's
just not as much as that. And again you asked
about like walking to class. We were fortunate enough at
Colgate not to have to worry about that as much.
(26:54):
There were a couple guys like I would say, you know,
one guy every two years that you really were worried
about on the academic side. But for the most part,
these guys take care of themselves, and especially at NYU,
where they there's no you know, you're not getting in
the guy down here on the academic totem pole, right
These guys are getting in on own for the most part,
(27:15):
So they're so driven that they are they're motivating themselves
to do what they need to do in the classroom.
So I came in like, yeah, we're gonna do study hall,
this and that, we're gonna meet And I talked to a
lot of the other coaches like, you don't really need
all that. You're not gonna need all that. They're they're
gonna take care of themselves. And we still try and
(27:35):
monitor it because they're eighteen to twenty two year olds
and they screw up. But for the most part, these
guys are on their own and they are self motivated
to do the best they can in the classroom.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
What's the goal, right, Like you said you want to
be a coach. Now you're a coach, I'm sure you
want to try and win a Division three national championship.
But it's interesting, right, Like Matt's a perfect example. Maybe
those guys have it figured out, right that like like
just go somewhere that you can build a team and
have the same guys back instead of you know what
(28:09):
is it more money, more problems? Right, and that high
level stuff. One A lot of times you got to
go to a place that you don't really know anybody right,
and it becomes kind of insulurt. So it's like you
can bring your friends, but still it's it's a weird.
But two, you're just you know, especially now as you
(28:29):
mentioned with the nil, like I don't know. I mean
you're literally making a new team every year and as
as you know, and you can tell me if I'm wrong,
Like I just I think the magic to college athletics
is watching a kid like you come in as a
freshman as one thing, and then by a seat right
like and then all the things you do together. And
(28:51):
obviously I transferred, and I may have transferred and I
got in trouble note name, but I'm like, I remember
we're playing in the sweet sixteen Seaton Hall, Tommy and
Christine and uh we had a play we had stolen
from Tim Floyd called Cyclone and we ran the ship
out of it our sophomore year and some of our
junior year and we never put it in our senior
(29:14):
year ever.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
And uh, they were guarding us, weird.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
They were not gardener us with two dudes, and it
was like a instead of a tryang one too, it
is like a guard three and an eye, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Cut a formation. So we came up with the idea
of hey, let's let's run cyclone. Everybody know it.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, like hadn't practiced it, hadn't talked about it, Coaches
didn't say anything. We're just like started running like a
and then we come over to the sideline and Sean
was like John Suttons.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
It was like he's basically offensive coordinator, Like y'all know
the cyclone. It's like, yeah, that was a good idea.
It's like, you know shit. And then we had an.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Inbound play we ran and we like all saw it
and I mean just a little you know, like diagonal
screen or whatever and uh screen the screen reaction.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
But we didn't have it in the package. And you know,
in the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Games, you got a week to go through all the film,
so they go through every game that you didn't they
didn't go through last year.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
But the idea that you.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Can actually run stuff and talk about reference things from
prese here. I was at Oklahoma State watching them work
out this summer. They got nine new guys. Nine not
a player that one player in their program. H and
he's one player program who started his career as that's
(30:37):
still that's that's a sophomore. Beyond right, they have like
six freshmen. But like it's crazy crazy, So I guess
that's the question to you. Right, you're in New York,
it's very early on, right, it's not like you've been
there for ten years. What's the thoughts of the climb
as opposed to be happy where you are?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I'm gonna I'm going to touch on two different thing
here because you brought up something I think is really important.
And you know, in this day and age, freedom of
choice is so important and I feel strongly about that,
Like kids and coaches should have choice. Right, So that's
why this transfer thing has blown up, because we were
restricting their ability to have choice. The unintended consequences of
(31:22):
that is you lose what you just talked about and
was what my best experience of college was, right the
roller coaster and being with those same guys over four
years and going to the locker room and making fun
of Dom for or you know, imitating his voices. You know,
like those things are so fun. And now you look
at what college basketball is at the higher levels and
(31:43):
there's none of that. Like you're you're basically friends for
a year. You may stay in touch, but like, are
six those or you know, I think I had six
or seven guys at my wedding on my team, right,
and they're some of these guys are my best friends.
I don't know if you get that anymore, which is
what college sports to me and you and everybody in
our generation was kind of about. And now it's like, okay,
(32:04):
well at least they have choice, but their experience isn't
as good. So it's like, I don't know what the rung.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I don't think it was the I know it's become
like unintended consequences, but I mean, I hate to say it,
but I would telling people this shit was coming a
long time ago.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I remember when I was.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Coming out, when I was going into college sporting we
used to get the Sporting News and they had there
was a poll there where sixty eight percent of college
basketball players would transfer if they didn't have to sit
out a year.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I was like sixty eight percent.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
So I mean, obviously like ten percent of the best players,
I think all the shots they ain't going anywhere. You know,
probably another ten percent of like, you know, I'm gonna
be the best player, so and then it's like everybody
else's but it's a I mean, look, basketball can be
a sea of unhappiness. You know, there's one basketball, there's
twelve guys, is only one guy gets to shoot. That
(33:03):
doesn't always work out great for everybody. But yeah, I
just I don't know how he put the genie back
in the bottle. But it's like all of the things
that made the sport great, with the exception of the
NCAA tournament, it's like the only thing that remains the
same are gone, you know, are gone. And I'd like
(33:32):
to think that people had their best intentions at heart
in evolving it. You know that they just wanted to,
like you said, give kids a choice, and now it's
you know, put some money in kids pockets. But we
had a pendulum has swung to a level that it's
not in a super healthy place from people who like
(33:54):
love it. That's the other part to it. Is like
most guys and you can tell me if I'm wrong.
Those guys like they love it, like this is not
a financial win, you know, you're not like, hey man,
when I get sixty three, I'm shutting it down and
I'm going to live on an island. And I got
a boat and I got into their house, Like, that's
(34:15):
not how it works for most people, right, So I
just I do wonder how you fix it. But I
do think that like a division two and Division three
is they can be a little bit of the beneficiary
of all the mess that's Division one.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
I completely agree. And when you ask about so now
I'll come back to the original question of just goals. Yeah,
I don't want to be at that level. And it's
hard to say that because they throw so much money
at you that it's like, all right, well, can I
put up with that for four million a year? Probably,
But it's not why I got into coaching. It's not
what I enjoy about coaching. So for me, like when
(34:50):
I took this job, I took this full well knowing
that this was a good spot to be and if
I'm there for twenty years, that's great. Now, I do
think that the Ivs and the Patriots to a degree,
and some of the other high academic schools have a
little bit of what we have at the lower levels
of building. And so again, like if if they came calling,
(35:13):
sure I'd entertain it. But to me, this is where
I want to be, this is where I want to grow.
I think I can have a really good life, you know,
forget about winning, which I also think I can do,
but I think I can enjoy life with my family
at this spot. I think it's I think it's again
on biased. I think it's the best Division three job
in the country. I think we can win, and I
(35:35):
think I can have a good work life balance. But again,
like I don't want to say nothing would entertain me,
because I do like there is a there is a
difference between D one and D three A And the
example I use is when we wanted Colgate and got
to the nca tournament, I must have had five hundred
techs right from friends, from people in the business, just
(35:57):
everybody cares. Right, it's the NCAA torment. It's just the
magnitude is so big in Division three. I haven't done
this yet. But if you win the national championship, nobody
knows except for the Division three circles. Right, Like there's
there's people that are Division one coaches that if you
like who won the Division three championship, they may not know, right,
(36:18):
And that's no one would would feel that like and
even like my friends that aren't in basketball that I
live next to, like they don't know how I'm doing,
so that, but they would know if Colgate won a
game in the nca TORN or made the twin. So
the scope is just so much bigger. And I'm not
saying I need that. I'm just saying that is what
the difference.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
No, but you want your everybody wants their work to
be rerecorded. Yes, that's yes, that's that's that's very normal.
Is PEN The dream job.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
Pen is a A I don't know if I have
a dream job. I feel I'm always like, I just
like where I am usually right, So I don't want
to say dream job. PEN is obviously a tremendous job
that if I ever got the opportunity, that would be
a really special opportunity, you know, going back to your
alma mater and doing what you love and hoping to
(37:08):
take them the new levels. But yeah, it's one of
the schools that fits in that bucket that I just
talked about where I think you can still have the
experience of coaching and building and not just you know,
talent acquisition, which is essentially what high level basketball is
right now. But I think because of the PEN degree,
(37:28):
you can build and people don't want to just leave,
like there's other reasons keeping them there, which is a
Pen degree or a Wharton degree, whatever school you're in
at Pen, So it would take a lot to leave
Pen if you're a player. But you know they just
lost their best player because he's about to get paid
right to Saint John's. So it does happen. And like
I said before, you have to be okay with that
(37:51):
situation arising, or at this point you can't be in
this business.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
How do you do the work life balance thing.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
It's challenging. It's challenging. I think every coach will will
say the same. And again, I have three kids under
seven right now, so there's a lot. It's my wife
is a saint and she is supportive and you need that.
I think it helps tremendously. But I just try and
try and do the best. You can read everything right,
So can I schedule a practice where I can make
(38:22):
my kids game at nine am? Which is great to
the head coach because you can do some of those
things now. And then just being president when you can
be president with the family and trying to just juggle
as many things as possible, but also giving your all
to the team and the players in the school. But
it's challenging. There's times where you have to be away
(38:42):
from the family and that's tough. That's tough. But there's
times now that you can't do much in the summer
where I get a little bit extra time with the family.
So I think it's possible. I think it's changed a
lot over the years too that maybe fifteen twenty years
ago it was like if you're not in the office
eight and leaving at eight, you're not doing a good job.
(39:02):
But like we're having this conversation on a computer right now, right,
So there's a lot that you can do from home.
Like I get my best work done from you know,
nine o'clock to eleven o'clock when my kids are in
bed right That I don't know if you could have
done fifteen to twenty years ago, or even when I
started eleven years ago. So there is a lot you
can do if you're efficient from a computer from a phone,
(39:24):
which makes it a little bit easier to manage your
work life balance.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Hardest trip, But what's what's the most difficult environment to
play in in Division three that you've competed in yet?
Speaker 4 (39:41):
We played at Chicago and they had it pumping a
little bit it was a nice again at a University
of Chicago. University of Chicago. I would say that was
probably our best atmosphere this year. Trying to think who
else we played, but that was They seed about probably
fifteen hundred to two thousand. There's probably about a thousand
people there, but it gets loud. It's one of those
gyms that gets loud even however many people are there.
(40:05):
The court comes like there's it's very similar to what
our gym is gonna look like now and to what
colgates look like when it's set up. So it's pretty fun.
I mean, this year we play at Yeshiva, which they
are known for packing them in. It's a smaller gym,
but it's gonna be rocking because they're gonna be really good.
We're gonna be pretty good, and that's gonna be an
extremely tough road game, and that atmosphere will be pretty special.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Do do your guys like, how does it work when
they're around playing pickup ball in the summer? Just do
they like do they cross pawn eate with the Yeshiva
guys at all?
Speaker 4 (40:37):
No, Yeshiva is so far away, like I'm not so
far away, but relatively speaking, in New York City. It's
it's probably a forty five minute ride. And I don't
know again Division one, Division three is different, Like we
only have seven eight guys around. Most of them are
in internships right so I think they joined the Summer
league this year. But we have a couple guys. Everybody
(41:00):
hits me up in the summers. Coaches, Hey, my guys
can be in New York City. Can you play with
you guys? So that will be something that happens. Our
gym just opened, so we're still organizing these type of things.
Well I can't organize them, but I've told coaches like, yeah,
I'll get you, like they can put them in touch
with my players and whenever they're playing, they're more than
welcome to.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (41:20):
You know, there's a there's a small fee membership that
you can do. So if you do have players in
New York City, hit me up. And I think going forward,
now that we have the gym available, we'll have some
pretty good pickup games for our guys going forward this
year and in future years.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
What separates your style as a coach.
Speaker 4 (41:39):
I think just the the detail that I try and
coach with and just again taking this from coach Lango,
Matt Langle and Frandophia is just being honest and being genuine, right,
I think I think information is what these kids want
in this day and age. Like it's not like what
(42:00):
we were talking about is like don't let them go
around you, right, Like that's like or don't do this,
do this because I said so, it just doesn't work
with this generation. So you have to explain the why.
And I watched a lot of film, I read a
lot of a lot of articles. I'm a big stack guy,
so I have numbers to back up things, but I
usually can explain like this is why we're doing this,
(42:23):
and it's it's it's valuable. So I think just being
honest and helping these guys understand the why, Like all
of my decisions have thought in them, so you're gonna
have to trust me a little bit. But we can
talk about it also because it's not just like I'm
saying like, okay, we're doing that, right, Like I've thought
about it, We've talked about as a staff, We've talked
about it probably amongst the team, and I think it's
(42:46):
really valuable for me in the way I coach is
to be honest and be genuine and help them get
to be the best versions of themselves they can be.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
When you're on the sideline, who are you most like?
Matt Dump? High school coach?
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Who do you like?
Speaker 3 (43:07):
If somebody was, Oh, that's who he's who are you
most like?
Speaker 4 (43:11):
I'd like to think on my own person. But I
have taken bits and pieces from all of them. I think,
I think what I'll go through a couple of things
I've taken from each of them, right, I think my
high school coach, I've taken the ability to be demanding
without being demeaning from Dump. I've taken the intensity of
(43:33):
being ultra competitive at all times, like it's just who
I am, it's why we got along, it's probably why
you recruited me. And from that, I've taken the level headedness. Right. So,
I'd like to try and combine all those But I'm
just way different. My personality is just so different than
all three of those guys that I can't say I'm
(43:55):
most like one of them because I'm just so different
individually than each of those guys.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Last thing, who outside of the guys we've talked about,
who do you marvel at as a coach? You're like, man,
that guy's really good to me any level.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
You know, I was a big fan of Brad Stevens.
I don't know if that's a cop out because he's
not a coach anymore, but I just thought his ability
to communicate and use numbers to back up his decisions
but not ultimately decide his decisions is somebody that I
always like, had to respect for and was rooting for
(44:32):
because again, he is a guy when you watch him coach.
I never saw a practice, but I've heard about his
practices that he just he's very level headed, but he
is an expert in basketball. So again, when you're teaching
and it makes sense, yeah, guys are gonna do it.
And for me, that was always a guy that I
really respected and looked up to. Just from Afar.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Hey, man, listen, you've been awesome with your time and
you now have a fan I can't.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
I will.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
I will search out and find out when you win
the Division three national championship, and then I'll tweet it,
and then all your friends will know I will.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
We'll do it. We'll do that.
Speaker 3 (45:08):
We'll do the tweet chain.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
But in the meantime, enjoy what remains of your summer,
and the three little kids, and don't be afraid to
close up that laptop at nine nine pm. Uh and
and and take care of mama because three hundred seven
is a lot, Yes, a lot.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
And I appreciate you joining me.
Speaker 4 (45:30):
I appreciate it. It was just fun. Glad you had
me on. And when you're in New York, hit me up,
come to a game.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Gets I got some dudes.
Speaker 4 (45:39):
Everybody's got dudes.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
A man talk soon.
Speaker 4 (45:42):
I'll talk to you, all right.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Thanks to David Klassky.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
That was awesome and a guy in a program you
want to keep an eye on, not just in New
York but nationally with Division three level and let's see
what happens when jobs open. But it is a that's
a high level D three job with high level players,
and I can't wait to see what they do this year. Hey,
thanks so much for listening to mind me. The Doug
(46:07):
Gotlieb Show is daily three to five Eastern. Of course,
we have the end the Bonus podcast, which is kind
of a no holds barred daily sports pod. And then
you tell your friends about all ball and if you
have any suggestions people you want to have on or
start cranking them out with more regularity. Hit me up
on Twitter at Gottlieb Show. Also on Instagram at Gottlieb Show.
I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is All ball
Hey to welcome to I'm Doug gotlib this he is
all ball.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
We got David Klass who course as the head coach
at and Why a U Part two coming up, which
includes what made him decide to leave Division one basketball? Actually,
you know he left the private sector to become a coach.
What made him leave a successful run in at Colgate
to be in to be a head coach at the
(00:30):
Division three level. So we'll get to that in a second. First,
a couple of quick thoughts. You know, I was watching
the US women's national team play and they got eliminated
Ian soccer in the World Cup in round of sixteen,
and it was it was making me think of those
those dreary years of the men's side in basketball. Right,
remember when we lost the World Championships on our old soil.
(00:53):
We actually got third place in Argentina won it. And
it's interesting, you know, we got the World Cup coming
up this summer to recap it.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Steve Kerr's coaching it.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
But you know, we've only been able to maintain this
level of dominance for the most part.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
We have a couple of our star players.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You know, the last Olympics was Kevin Durant, who kind
of carried us actually probably last two Olympics. But now
as we start getting further and further down the pecking order,
we can act like we don't care, but even when
we do care, we're not nearly as dominant as we
used to be. And there's some parallels there obviously to
the women's national team in soccer. But I think it's
I think it's gonna be fascinating to see kind of
(01:32):
how we evolve as a national power in basketball as
people have individually caught up to us. And remember FIBA,
if you've played in those roles, it's a different game.
But I'm interested to see, with kind of kind of
some secondary even tertiary level talent for Steve Kerr, what
that looks like in an international setting, because the game
(01:53):
is very different, very physical, a lot more set oriented.
In the past, let's just be honest, we've been able
to win because we have a better player or two. Right,
We play hard, play physical, and then we just jump
up and make make a couple more shots and make
up more atholic plays than anybody.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Else, and that's that's been enough.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
But now once you get to a slightly lesser level
of talent, I don't think you can win that way.
I just don't. It doesn't mean they can't win. I
just don't think they can win the way they've won previously. Right,
all right, let's let's let let's catch up with David Clasky.
Here's here's part two.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You finish up a penn what what was your what
was your thought in terms of your plan? What you
wanted to do?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So again, I worked that internship my junior summer and
I got offered the job right after. So I had
a job coming out of my senior year at marilynch
which was a big time job. So I was excited
about it. I was finally gonna make some money. I
had a good senior year and then never even really
thought about playing. And then I remember I got a
(02:58):
call from a friend of mine who's an Asian, Keith Glass,
and it was like, I can get you a job
in Israel, Like you got citizenship, Do you want to play?
And this was in like April, like when I was done, right,
like I finished, and you you probably you played a
couple of years after, so you were probably still in
play mode. But I was already kind of checked out.
(03:18):
I love basketball, but I was kind of like, oh, man,
I play, Yeah, I do. I do want to play,
but I haven't touched basketball in two weeks, you know,
And I just I regret it now, but I wish
I'd gone and played like a year or two and
got to travel a little bit and competed and see
see how it went. But I just I was so
(03:40):
excited about this job and moving to New York City
and having some money, and so I passed on that
and I just I started working. You know, I think
if we graduated in May, I probably started working middle
of June. So I had a month to myself and
traveled a little bit and then started the job. Yeah,
(04:00):
every day for my first part, I work down on
the floor of the New York Sock Exchange. So yeah,
you would have to wear a shuit down there. It
was more like a shirt and tie. Then you had
a like a special jacket you would just put on
you'd leave there, So yeah, dressed nicely. And then the
next So I do that for two and a half years,
and then five and a half years I was up
on the like a floor at a different company called
(04:23):
Night Capital, and that was Business Capsule, So that was
you know, slacks and a button down.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What is the floor like, you're twenty one years old
on the floor in you Ark stock exchange.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Again, you're at the bottom of the food chain, So
doesn't matter how smart you are, doesn't matter how what
you're going to be. You are at the bottom of
the food chain. So anything that somebody doesn't want to do,
or one of the senior traders, however they want to
treat you, they can treat you. So it was pretty hectic.
And this was before you know, computerization basically took effect,
(04:54):
so there was a little bit of that going on.
But it was I like to describe my jobs in
Wall Street, of ninety percent of the time it was slow,
You're messing around, you're doing fun you know, not fun things,
but just like there's not a whole lot to do.
And then ten percent of the time it is super
intense and you have to be on top of your game.
You gotta be able to handle pressure, you got to
(05:16):
be able to react quickly. And those are the things
that actually liked about the job because of the sports background.
But that's basically what it was like, is you know,
ninety percent of a time you're just down there screwing around,
like trying to keep busy and figure out what to do,
waiting for that when you know a news story came out,
or earnings or something that would cause some craziness.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
What brought you back to basketball?
Speaker 4 (05:41):
So four years into working on Wall Street, and I
was playing men's leagues the whole time. I remember I
was in a men's league and you know, shot gos,
I box a guy to like the foul line, and
ref blows the whistle and he calls a foul of me,
and I lost it. I was like, you know, twenty
(06:01):
five years all the time, still in good shape. I
was like, what are you talking about? That's exactly how
you teach it. And this ref is like, you know,
I don't like I'm making thirty bucks an hour here
like or probably less at that time, Like I don't
want to hear from you. And I was just like
what am I doing arguing with this ref? And something
clicked that I need to get back involved in basketball
at a high level to teach the game, not just
(06:22):
how to box out, which to teach the game that's
I love the game. And so I went home and
I googled local division two and three spots near where
my office was, and a steven Steck popped up, which
is in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Shongely enough, my freshman
basketball coach was working there as a coach. So I
(06:43):
hit him up and I explained him what I want
to do. I was like, look, I got a full
time job. I don't want to like I don't need money,
but I would just want to help. And he's like, yeah,
come on, come meet the head coach, who's Josh Leffler
who's now at Cincinnati as an assistant coach who wasn't
Hopkins for a while. And Josh was like, great, so
you want to help and not get paid. Yeah, yeah,
we'll take you. So so for four years I just
(07:04):
did that. I worked and then I would shoot over
Stevens and I just I really enjoyed it, Like I'd
be at my desk at work calling him. And it
was a different head coach next three years, Bobby Hurley
who's still there at Stevens, and I just found that
this is great and I didn't want to jump in,
like you know, the coaching ranks, you got to jump
in and like grad assistant and climb, climb, climb, So like,
I'm never going to do that, Like I got too
(07:24):
good a job. But then Matt Lango got Colgate, and
I remember hitting him up and be like, who's Dump
going to hire at Temple? And you know, looking back,
that's ludicrous to just be out of the business to
Temple assistant. But I knew I could do a good job,
or I thought I could, and I knew Dump, but
he was like, how about Like what do you think
about Colgate? And I was like, where's Colgate?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
You know?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
But then I thought about it and really was like,
this is this is a great opportunity to come in
as an assistant coach under a guy that I really
respect and trust and and uh, and then just went
for it hard and talked through it and he he
was like, you should check into a mental health institution
getting out of finance coming into coaching, But if you
want to do this, let's do it. And so that
so I kind of got in, not at the level
(08:08):
that you have to get in always at that time,
and then just kept going any regrets, No, No, I
mean I think regrets is not the right word, because
I love, like, I don't feel like I have a
job now. It's great like, you coach basketball, It's it's tremendous.
I would say some misinformation in my own head, right,
(08:30):
Like I just assumed I was in finance. If you
do well in your job, you make more money, right,
That's just how it works, right, And and coaching, I
was just like, Okay, we're gonna kill it. I'm gonna
just I'm gonna be a Division one head coach in
five to ten years. And I think that was flawed.
I think we all know that that's a really hard
(08:51):
thing to do from Colgate with my background. Right, if
you're an NBA player or you have some coaching blood
in your in your background, it might be a little easier.
But we did really well. And I just remember for
years being like, I don't know what my path is
because this is such a hard business. It's it's I
think I'm doing a good job. I think I know
(09:12):
what leads to winning. I know how to recruit, I
know how to coach. But it's not paying dividends. You're
not moving up in the world. So that was that
was the only I wouldn't call her regret. I would
just misinformation in my own head.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Well, I'm what about what about just the idea of like,
you know, your fourth year in finance. I don't know
how many years would have taken you to really kill it, right,
But like you see those guys that work for funds
or have their own fund and they can then do
it literally whatever they want, yeah, right, And I just
(09:45):
was it was it the right time or did you
pull the ripcord early, you know, before you got to
that you know, magic seven figure level where you could
do whatever the hell you wanted.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
I wasn't in a position, I don't think where I
like was on a path to right, Like I wasn't
investment banking to buyside two portfolio manager, which is like
a like a vary for those that don't know, that's
that's like a very prominent path, right. I was a trader,
and I actually was interviewing for a job to be
(10:16):
a trader at a hedge fund that I probably would
still be at. But I never was on the path
to like I didn't see a path right. I mean,
I was making good money and I would have continued
to increase, but I don't know. I just thought that
this was the time to do something you love and
figured out later, Like I figured i'd figure out a
(10:36):
way to make money and live. And obviously Hamilton's the
cost of living is way different than what I'm dealing
with now in the New York City metropolitan area. But yeah,
it just all kind of came together. And I don't know,
I mean, it wasn't like I hated my job. I
loved my job in finance like trading, but this just
seemed like I would you know, the alarm would go
off and I'd still be like, oh, you know, now
(10:59):
that doesn't have anymore. So that's that's the probably the
biggest difference.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Why why has Lango? Why has he been so successful?
Speaker 4 (11:10):
He's the best coach in the country that no one
knows about is the is the best way to put it.
He's extremely thoughtful and everything he does so he's really smart,
he knows the game really well, and he is the
most genuine guy you'll ever meet. So those three things
will lead to win him. Right now. He is not
(11:32):
a guy that's on social media or in interviews that
you know out there self promoting, I guess, and so
I have no problem with self promoting, but he's not
that guy. So I think in his circles everyone knows
how special he is and if you follow the Patriot
League at all or you've you know, you've seen it
because what he what he's done and what we did
(11:53):
there is it's impressive. Like Colgate is a really hard
place to recruit and key players, yet he's done that.
We did that for many years now. So I think
he's just he thinks about everything, and he cares, and
it's obvious that he cares, and he's really smart. He
knows the game, which I think a lot of coaches do,
(12:15):
but he the way he presents it and how he
can recruit to what he's doing is it's top level.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
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Speaker 2 (12:34):
What about the old getting guys to play at that
magic level? What's his secret to get getting in place?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Had?
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I think honesty is a big part of his thing.
Is like he'll be direct with you, like you can
do better, right, and he has. He's very good with
when you're not doing that, pulling you aside, having a
meeting with you, talking through things. He calls himself like
a shrink because you know, there's so many instances where
(13:04):
these kids just need mentorship and that will help them.
But I think because he believes in people so much,
they want to do well for him. And again you'll
never hear him say anything like demeaning, but he drives
you to be your best. And now a little bit
of is the culture that was created there. You know,
(13:26):
you come in as a freshman and guys you're just
in the gym working, and then practices, guys are competing.
So it's like if I don't do that, I'm sticking
out and that takes time. But that's where Colgate is
at right now, is you go to go practice. It's
just like again that it's gonna be the fourth year
or they're old. But think about that. How does that work?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Right?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
It means you're keeping players and you have one or
two in each class that are leaders that are dictating
how the best of the program is working. Because that's
what happened when they are freshman sophomorees. So it's just
it's been a great cycle. And you know, like you
said before, sometimes you have three good years and then
you have the rebuilding year. Well it's been five. I
(14:06):
think they made the championships six straight years now, So
that's two cycles of recruiting.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Classes, right, plus when he got there, when you guys
first got there, and Bucknell was domin the Teama League, right,
great town, the Austin Arena, good tradition, right, And their
fall has coincided with the rise of Colgate, and Colgate
is and I've never been to Hamilton, but it's it's
(14:32):
not it's not Bucknell. Where is it Lewiston, Louisbourg, It's
not Louisbourg. And the facility, you know again, it's like
a high school gym at Colgate, right, whereas Louis Bucknell's
is really nice, beautiful. It's just interesting to be able
to do it from the bottom to the top. And
you know, while there are other teams with maybe better
(14:54):
resources and better history, that's that's even even more impressive.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
What was it like to lead?
Speaker 4 (15:05):
It was difficult but rewarding, right, Like I'd been there
eleven years and I knew this was gonna be the case.
But it recruited a lot of the players on the team,
but I needed I needed more, Like Matt now is
in a really good spot and he might I don't
know what he's going to do, but he might be
there for twenty years, right, and I just had bigger
(15:25):
I said this all the time, even on recruiting visits
when parents would ask me, like, what's your plan, and
be like, look like, I love it here. I'm not
leaving for just any job, but I have ambition. I
want to be a head coach, and if the right
opportunity ever presents itself, then yeah, I would have to
take it, but like it's going to take a lot,
because we had a real good thing going here, Matt.
It's a great boss. Like I said, we had it going,
(15:49):
but it was tough. I remember talking to the players
and I'm not like the most emotional guy, but it
was hard just to let them know, guys, I'm out
of here. And and even in the back of my head,
I know, like life will go on. You know, they'll
still be good and everyone's thinks they're more important than
they are, and they'll still probably win the next couple
of years. But it's just, you know, you feel like
(16:10):
you're leaving a little bit of who you are because
I've been there eleven years. But on the flip side,
I was so excited to finally be able to have
my own flavor and control of a program right and NYU.
It was the type of job that I thought was
a really great opportunity that made sense leaving. And part
(16:33):
of it was my fam. I grew up in New Jersey,
so I was coming back to the Tri state area
and and you know, there's you haven't been to Hamilton,
but there's not a whole lot out there. You're you're
the town is beautiful. You're isolated, though, and just getting
back into civilization was exciting for me and my family.
So it all kind of kind of made sense. So
(16:53):
very difficult to leave. We've made a lot of close
relationships and had some friends that we had to leave,
but we were excited and ready for the new challenge.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
So what's the challenge like to build it at your level?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
It's different, It's different in a lot of different ways.
So Number one, when I would recruit at Colgate, the
first call, unless you were Northeast and kind of understood
what was going on, nobody knew what Colgate was, right,
tremendous product, but you have to explain that. So there's
people in the Midwest and West they don't even know
(17:28):
what Colgate is, right, Maybe they've seen us on the bracket,
but they have no idea where we are, no idea
what academics that are. But then they look it up
and they see and oh, yeah, this is actually really good.
NYU is the exact opposite. Everyone knows the NYU brand,
everyone is familiar with New York City, so that right
off the bat was a completely different situation. I'm getting
(17:48):
calls from guys, I mean, like yourself, you know, like
you got a friend that, oh, he really loves NYU.
We never got that at Colgate. No one. No one
is their sophomore junior year saying I want to go
to Colgate. That my dream school, whereas we've had multiple
players like NYU is my dream school. I really want
to go to NYU and they're good players. So that's
(18:08):
one of the biggest differences just in terms of scope
of school. No one's Division three. One's Division one. And
I'm talking on a relative basis here, like we're not
out Colgate, but on a relative basis. It's been different
in that regard now similar to what we had at Colgate.
When we took over at Colgate, it was a team
that had been struggling, but there were some promising pieces,
(18:31):
and I thought the same thing about this NYU that
had been struggling. But I was looking at the roster
and saying, okay, if I can recruit one or two guys,
which I ended up getting two tremendous grad transfers, which
is part of the reason why we were good last year.
But I thought that it would take some time. But again,
I just wanted to build it and start with the
(18:52):
culture and try and get it to what it was
at Colgate, where guys were competing and playing hard and
in the gym all the time and playing for each other.
But that takes time. And luckily we had a group
that really bought into just they all wanted to get better,
so we were able to do it a little quicker
than I thought. But it's not easy. It's not easy,
and we're still working on. Like I'm terrified about this
(19:14):
year because we did have a little bit of success
last year, and we all know how small the margins
are in college basketball. That if our guys come in
thinking they're too good or better than they are, we're
gonna get knocked off, which is what we were doing
last year, and nobody thought that was possible.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
What about you mentioned your two grad transfers.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
What was that experience like for you, because I don't
know for a fact, but I'm guessing at Colgate, you
guys didn't have transfers.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
So Colgate actually when we first got there and transfers
again weren't the thing that was our route. We got transfers,
and for about four years, four or five years, every
transfer we got was all leave. And then everybody got
onto it. And now it's a little bit harder to
get the good transfers at Colgate, but at NYU, because
(20:01):
we have grad school, it's kind of a game changer.
So we were able to get you know, Spencer Friedman
from Harvard as a grad transfer, and then Michael Savarrino
coached Szchewski's grandson from Duke as a grad transfer, and
both those guys ended up. You know, Spencer was I
think I'm biased, but he's the best point guarding the
country at this level, and sav Reno was a starter
(20:21):
for us. So two guys that were able to come
in and want to be in New York City and
have great attitudes and just you know, they had some
struggles at their other school and then it's like boom,
here we go. Now I'm a leader of a team
I'm playing, so they were just ready to lead. And
again we have two more grad transfers coming in. It's
(20:41):
a route that I'll continue to look at. In addition
to whatever everyone's bigging, I'll probably be zagging. But at
n YU you can out recruit some guys, so we'll
continue just trying to get the best available.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
What's that? What was it like to coach your first
game as a head coach?
Speaker 4 (21:00):
The first game I'm playing against Farmingdale State and one
of my closest friends, Brendan Toomey, who I worked with
at Stevens. So I got the job and you don't
know what the schedule is like when you get the
job and he hits me up, he's like, yes, you're
your first game is against It's like, no way, that's impossible.
So so god it was. It was a weird experience
(21:20):
because I'm rooting for him as well. You obviously moved
for your friends and they're good, like they they made
the NCA tournament this year. So I was just like,
I can't believe my first game, I'm going to lose
at home to my friend. It was like, you know,
I'm happy for him, but I'm nervous that this is
what it's going to look like, NYU losing a Farmingdell state.
(21:40):
But we ended up playing out of our minds and
I just remember him looking down. We must have shot
sixty percent from three and him just looking down at
me and be like, T class, what is going on here?
Because who shoots sixty percent? And I was like, I
have no idea, this is ridiculous. But it was a
precursor for for things to come, because we ended up
did shoot shooting really well this year, probably shot close
(22:03):
to forty percent as a team, and that was kind
of what we did. We fired threes.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
How has and I obviously it hasn't been a long
time for you at the D three level, but knowing
how recruiting at the D one level has changed, right
where guys, you know, outside of the top one hundred,
a lot of dudes are just waiting for an offer.
Sometimes they'll tell you take a D two, take a
D three, you know, have a good have a good
(22:29):
year or two, and then transfer up. And some of
that was more COVID, but still post COVID is still
still happening with the transfer portal. How has that changed
who you can go after when you go into a
gym to recruit.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
So it's completely changed right now, especially at NYU and
knowing how successful grand transfers are being, well, of course
I'm going to look at that again. So part of
some of our best recruiting this fall is going to
be calling my buddies, the ivy's and patriots, and who
are your seniors that can't transfer up, can't transfer latterly
(23:05):
but can want to continue to play and are pretty
good And there's our guys on our radar right It's
it's changed, and I am a little bit nervous, and
I'm curious to see how it's going to play out.
If there's going to be the trickle up effect at
our level right like it's happened at the low majors
(23:25):
now and there's this few holdouts that like Colgate where
the guys aren't leaving, but pretty much across the board,
if you have a good first two years, you're going up. Right.
Is that going to trickle down to our level where
we're high level D three? Are those guys going to
go low level D one? I don't know, you know
after two years? I hope because of our academics that
(23:48):
you're giving up that NYU degree, that maybe it won't
hit us as hard. But I am waiting patiently, hopefully
for that not to happen. But it is something that
I think about and again, like it's past the point
where loyalty. And I'm not saying I wouldn't do the
(24:08):
same thing, but you just have to understand that there's
a chance that may happen. If a guy as a
monster freshman sophomore year, you may have a sit down
with him and him say I gotta go, especially with
the money involved. Now, I gotta go, try and go
a little bit higher, and I'll be upset and I'll
talk through it and try and give the best advice possible.
But sometimes that advice is wait, they're gonna pay you what? Yeah,
(24:32):
you know, and it's still pretty good school. All right.
It sucks for us, but I get it.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
What is D three like from a coaching perspective, because
you would you have one assistant.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
I have two full time assistants in a part time
so a little bit than most D three.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Is right, So what is like, this is all you do?
But do you guys chase them the class?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
You know?
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Are you Are you in on a workout? Do you
guys have summer workout programs? Like what is what is
the job like at your level compared to other levels?
Speaker 4 (25:09):
So D three there's no off season workouts, right, so
summer they just added a rule. Actually this year we
get eight out of season time days with our players,
so that does change the game a little bit, but
it's different like the summer, the fall and postseason. There's
(25:30):
just not that much you can do with the guys, right,
Like it's not the full time job. It is out
of season that it is in D one, right, you're
still doing workouts and left and then you have back
for the summer a little bit. Whereas our guys it's
you know, summer, we're checking in with them weekly, trying
to get on the phone with them. What are you doing?
What are you doing? Basketballall is trying to help them
(25:50):
find workouts, find pickup games. But it's it's a lot different,
which is good. Like, I mean, I enjoy the summers
in the fall so far, but I feel like I
have a million other things to do, meaning, okay, let's
run a camp, let's let's get on the road a
little bit more. Let's let's start to think about team
activities that we can do all those things. You just
(26:11):
have a little bit more time to think about. But
once you're in season, it's pretty much exactly the same.
Right then then because we can do individual workouts and
things like that. We'll have practice, then they'll get with
the assistant coaches and get some extra work in or
come later and either by themselves or with a coach.
Sometimes in the morning they'll come in for film. So
(26:33):
it's pretty similar during the year, but outside it's completely different.
I just you feel like you're involved in everything at
D one as a coach, and D three it's there's
just not as much as that. And again you asked
about like walking to class. We were fortunate enough at
Colgate not to have to worry about that as much.
(26:54):
There were a couple guys like I would say, you know,
one guy every two years that you really were worried
about on the academic side. But for the most part,
these guys take care of themselves, and especially at NYU,
where they there's no you know, you're not getting in
the guy down here on the academic totem pole, right
These guys are getting in on own for the most part,
(27:15):
So they're so driven that they are they're motivating themselves
to do what they need to do in the classroom.
So I came in like, yeah, we're gonna do study hall,
this and that, we're gonna meet And I talked to a
lot of the other coaches like, you don't really need
all that. You're not gonna need all that. They're they're
gonna take care of themselves. And we still try and
(27:35):
monitor it because they're eighteen to twenty two year olds
and they screw up. But for the most part, these
guys are on their own and they are self motivated
to do the best they can in the classroom.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
What's the goal, right, Like you said you want to
be a coach. Now you're a coach, I'm sure you
want to try and win a Division three national championship.
But it's interesting, right, Like Matt's a perfect example. Maybe
those guys have it figured out, right that like like
just go somewhere that you can build a team and
have the same guys back instead of you know what
(28:09):
is it more money, more problems? Right, and that high
level stuff. One A lot of times you got to
go to a place that you don't really know anybody right,
and it becomes kind of insulurt. So it's like you
can bring your friends, but still it's it's a weird.
But two, you're just you know, especially now as you
(28:29):
mentioned with the nil, like I don't know. I mean
you're literally making a new team every year and as
as you know, and you can tell me if I'm wrong,
Like I just I think the magic to college athletics
is watching a kid like you come in as a
freshman as one thing, and then by a seat right
like and then all the things you do together. And
(28:51):
obviously I transferred, and I may have transferred and I
got in trouble note name, but I'm like, I remember
we're playing in the sweet sixteen Seaton Hall, Tommy and
Christine and uh we had a play we had stolen
from Tim Floyd called Cyclone and we ran the ship
out of it our sophomore year and some of our
junior year and we never put it in our senior
(29:14):
year ever.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
And uh, they were guarding us, weird.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
They were not gardener us with two dudes, and it
was like a instead of a tryang one too, it
is like a guard three and an eye, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Cut a formation. So we came up with the idea
of hey, let's let's run cyclone. Everybody know it.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, like hadn't practiced it, hadn't talked about it, Coaches
didn't say anything. We're just like started running like a
and then we come over to the sideline and Sean
was like John Suttons.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
It was like he's basically offensive coordinator, Like y'all know
the cyclone. It's like, yeah, that was a good idea.
It's like, you know shit. And then we had an.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Inbound play we ran and we like all saw it
and I mean just a little you know, like diagonal
screen or whatever and uh screen the screen reaction.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
But we didn't have it in the package. And you know,
in the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Games, you got a week to go through all the film,
so they go through every game that you didn't they
didn't go through last year.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
But the idea that you.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Can actually run stuff and talk about reference things from
prese here. I was at Oklahoma State watching them work
out this summer. They got nine new guys. Nine not
a player that one player in their program. H and
he's one player program who started his career as that's
(30:37):
still that's that's a sophomore. Beyond right, they have like
six freshmen. But like it's crazy crazy, So I guess
that's the question to you. Right, you're in New York,
it's very early on, right, it's not like you've been
there for ten years. What's the thoughts of the climb
as opposed to be happy where you are?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I'm gonna I'm going to touch on two different thing
here because you brought up something I think is really important.
And you know, in this day and age, freedom of
choice is so important and I feel strongly about that,
Like kids and coaches should have choice. Right, So that's
why this transfer thing has blown up, because we were
restricting their ability to have choice. The unintended consequences of
(31:22):
that is you lose what you just talked about and
was what my best experience of college was, right the
roller coaster and being with those same guys over four
years and going to the locker room and making fun
of Dom for or you know, imitating his voices. You know,
like those things are so fun. And now you look
at what college basketball is at the higher levels and
(31:43):
there's none of that. Like you're you're basically friends for
a year. You may stay in touch, but like, are
six those or you know, I think I had six
or seven guys at my wedding on my team, right,
and they're some of these guys are my best friends.
I don't know if you get that anymore, which is
what college sports to me and you and everybody in
our generation was kind of about. And now it's like, okay,
(32:04):
well at least they have choice, but their experience isn't
as good. So it's like, I don't know what the rung.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I don't think it was the I know it's become
like unintended consequences, but I mean, I hate to say it,
but I would telling people this shit was coming a
long time ago.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I remember when I was.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Coming out, when I was going into college sporting we
used to get the Sporting News and they had there
was a poll there where sixty eight percent of college
basketball players would transfer if they didn't have to sit
out a year.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I was like sixty eight percent.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
So I mean, obviously like ten percent of the best players,
I think all the shots they ain't going anywhere. You know,
probably another ten percent of like, you know, I'm gonna
be the best player, so and then it's like everybody
else's but it's a I mean, look, basketball can be
a sea of unhappiness. You know, there's one basketball, there's
twelve guys, is only one guy gets to shoot. That
(33:03):
doesn't always work out great for everybody. But yeah, I
just I don't know how he put the genie back
in the bottle. But it's like all of the things
that made the sport great, with the exception of the
NCAA tournament, it's like the only thing that remains the
same are gone, you know, are gone. And I'd like
(33:32):
to think that people had their best intentions at heart
in evolving it. You know that they just wanted to,
like you said, give kids a choice, and now it's
you know, put some money in kids pockets. But we
had a pendulum has swung to a level that it's
not in a super healthy place from people who like
(33:54):
love it. That's the other part to it. Is like
most guys and you can tell me if I'm wrong.
Those guys like they love it, like this is not
a financial win, you know, you're not like, hey man,
when I get sixty three, I'm shutting it down and
I'm going to live on an island. And I got
a boat and I got into their house, Like, that's
(34:15):
not how it works for most people, right, So I
just I do wonder how you fix it. But I
do think that like a division two and Division three
is they can be a little bit of the beneficiary
of all the mess that's Division one.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
I completely agree. And when you ask about so now
I'll come back to the original question of just goals. Yeah,
I don't want to be at that level. And it's
hard to say that because they throw so much money
at you that it's like, all right, well, can I
put up with that for four million a year? Probably,
But it's not why I got into coaching. It's not
what I enjoy about coaching. So for me, like when
(34:50):
I took this job, I took this full well knowing
that this was a good spot to be and if
I'm there for twenty years, that's great. Now, I do
think that the Ivs and the Patriots to a degree,
and some of the other high academic schools have a
little bit of what we have at the lower levels
of building. And so again, like if if they came calling,
(35:13):
sure I'd entertain it. But to me, this is where
I want to be, this is where I want to grow.
I think I can have a really good life, you know,
forget about winning, which I also think I can do,
but I think I can enjoy life with my family
at this spot. I think it's I think it's again
on biased. I think it's the best Division three job
in the country. I think we can win, and I
(35:35):
think I can have a good work life balance. But again,
like I don't want to say nothing would entertain me,
because I do like there is a there is a
difference between D one and D three A And the
example I use is when we wanted Colgate and got
to the nca tournament, I must have had five hundred
techs right from friends, from people in the business, just
(35:57):
everybody cares. Right, it's the NCAA torment. It's just the
magnitude is so big in Division three. I haven't done
this yet. But if you win the national championship, nobody
knows except for the Division three circles. Right, Like there's
there's people that are Division one coaches that if you
like who won the Division three championship, they may not know, right,
(36:18):
And that's no one would would feel that like and
even like my friends that aren't in basketball that I
live next to, like they don't know how I'm doing,
so that, but they would know if Colgate won a
game in the nca TORN or made the twin. So
the scope is just so much bigger. And I'm not
saying I need that. I'm just saying that is what
the difference.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
No, but you want your everybody wants their work to
be rerecorded. Yes, that's yes, that's that's that's very normal.
Is PEN The dream job.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
Pen is a A I don't know if I have
a dream job. I feel I'm always like, I just
like where I am usually right, So I don't want
to say dream job. PEN is obviously a tremendous job
that if I ever got the opportunity, that would be
a really special opportunity, you know, going back to your
alma mater and doing what you love and hoping to
(37:08):
take them the new levels. But yeah, it's one of
the schools that fits in that bucket that I just
talked about where I think you can still have the
experience of coaching and building and not just you know,
talent acquisition, which is essentially what high level basketball is
right now. But I think because of the PEN degree,
(37:28):
you can build and people don't want to just leave,
like there's other reasons keeping them there, which is a
Pen degree or a Wharton degree, whatever school you're in
at Pen, So it would take a lot to leave
Pen if you're a player. But you know they just
lost their best player because he's about to get paid
right to Saint John's. So it does happen. And like
I said before, you have to be okay with that
(37:51):
situation arising, or at this point you can't be in
this business.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
How do you do the work life balance thing.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
It's challenging. It's challenging. I think every coach will will
say the same. And again, I have three kids under
seven right now, so there's a lot. It's my wife
is a saint and she is supportive and you need that.
I think it helps tremendously. But I just try and
try and do the best. You can read everything right,
So can I schedule a practice where I can make
(38:22):
my kids game at nine am? Which is great to
the head coach because you can do some of those
things now. And then just being president when you can
be president with the family and trying to just juggle
as many things as possible, but also giving your all
to the team and the players in the school. But
it's challenging. There's times where you have to be away
(38:42):
from the family and that's tough. That's tough. But there's
times now that you can't do much in the summer
where I get a little bit extra time with the family.
So I think it's possible. I think it's changed a
lot over the years too that maybe fifteen twenty years
ago it was like if you're not in the office
eight and leaving at eight, you're not doing a good job.
(39:02):
But like we're having this conversation on a computer right now, right,
So there's a lot that you can do from home.
Like I get my best work done from you know,
nine o'clock to eleven o'clock when my kids are in
bed right That I don't know if you could have
done fifteen to twenty years ago, or even when I
started eleven years ago. So there is a lot you
can do if you're efficient from a computer from a phone,
(39:24):
which makes it a little bit easier to manage your
work life balance.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Hardest trip, But what's what's the most difficult environment to
play in in Division three that you've competed in yet?
Speaker 4 (39:41):
We played at Chicago and they had it pumping a
little bit it was a nice again at a University
of Chicago. University of Chicago. I would say that was
probably our best atmosphere this year. Trying to think who
else we played, but that was They seed about probably
fifteen hundred to two thousand. There's probably about a thousand
people there, but it gets loud. It's one of those
gyms that gets loud even however many people are there.
(40:05):
The court comes like there's it's very similar to what
our gym is gonna look like now and to what
colgates look like when it's set up. So it's pretty fun.
I mean, this year we play at Yeshiva, which they
are known for packing them in. It's a smaller gym,
but it's gonna be rocking because they're gonna be really good.
We're gonna be pretty good, and that's gonna be an
extremely tough road game, and that atmosphere will be pretty special.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Do do your guys like, how does it work when
they're around playing pickup ball in the summer? Just do
they like do they cross pawn eate with the Yeshiva
guys at all?
Speaker 4 (40:37):
No, Yeshiva is so far away, like I'm not so
far away, but relatively speaking, in New York City. It's
it's probably a forty five minute ride. And I don't
know again Division one, Division three is different, Like we
only have seven eight guys around. Most of them are
in internships right so I think they joined the Summer
league this year. But we have a couple guys. Everybody
(41:00):
hits me up in the summers. Coaches, Hey, my guys
can be in New York City. Can you play with
you guys? So that will be something that happens. Our
gym just opened, so we're still organizing these type of things.
Well I can't organize them, but I've told coaches like, yeah,
I'll get you, like they can put them in touch
with my players and whenever they're playing, they're more than
welcome to.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (41:20):
You know, there's a there's a small fee membership that
you can do. So if you do have players in
New York City, hit me up. And I think going forward,
now that we have the gym available, we'll have some
pretty good pickup games for our guys going forward this
year and in future years.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
What separates your style as a coach.
Speaker 4 (41:39):
I think just the the detail that I try and
coach with and just again taking this from coach Lango,
Matt Langle and Frandophia is just being honest and being genuine, right,
I think I think information is what these kids want
in this day and age. Like it's not like what
(42:00):
we were talking about is like don't let them go
around you, right, Like that's like or don't do this,
do this because I said so, it just doesn't work
with this generation. So you have to explain the why.
And I watched a lot of film, I read a
lot of a lot of articles. I'm a big stack guy,
so I have numbers to back up things, but I
usually can explain like this is why we're doing this,
(42:23):
and it's it's it's valuable. So I think just being
honest and helping these guys understand the why, Like all
of my decisions have thought in them, so you're gonna
have to trust me a little bit. But we can
talk about it also because it's not just like I'm
saying like, okay, we're doing that, right, Like I've thought
about it, We've talked about as a staff, We've talked
about it probably amongst the team, and I think it's
(42:46):
really valuable for me in the way I coach is
to be honest and be genuine and help them get
to be the best versions of themselves they can be.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
When you're on the sideline, who are you most like?
Matt Dump? High school coach?
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Who do you like?
Speaker 3 (43:07):
If somebody was, Oh, that's who he's who are you
most like?
Speaker 4 (43:11):
I'd like to think on my own person. But I
have taken bits and pieces from all of them. I think,
I think what I'll go through a couple of things
I've taken from each of them, right, I think my
high school coach, I've taken the ability to be demanding
without being demeaning from Dump. I've taken the intensity of
(43:33):
being ultra competitive at all times, like it's just who
I am, it's why we got along, it's probably why
you recruited me. And from that, I've taken the level headedness. Right. So,
I'd like to try and combine all those But I'm
just way different. My personality is just so different than
all three of those guys that I can't say I'm
(43:55):
most like one of them because I'm just so different
individually than each of those guys.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Last thing, who outside of the guys we've talked about,
who do you marvel at as a coach? You're like, man,
that guy's really good to me any level.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
You know, I was a big fan of Brad Stevens.
I don't know if that's a cop out because he's
not a coach anymore, but I just thought his ability
to communicate and use numbers to back up his decisions
but not ultimately decide his decisions is somebody that I
always like, had to respect for and was rooting for
(44:32):
because again, he is a guy when you watch him coach.
I never saw a practice, but I've heard about his
practices that he just he's very level headed, but he
is an expert in basketball. So again, when you're teaching
and it makes sense, yeah, guys are gonna do it.
And for me, that was always a guy that I
really respected and looked up to. Just from Afar.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Hey, man, listen, you've been awesome with your time and
you now have a fan I can't.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
I will.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
I will search out and find out when you win
the Division three national championship, and then I'll tweet it,
and then all your friends will know I will.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
We'll do it. We'll do that.
Speaker 3 (45:08):
We'll do the tweet chain.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
But in the meantime, enjoy what remains of your summer,
and the three little kids, and don't be afraid to
close up that laptop at nine nine pm. Uh and
and and take care of mama because three hundred seven
is a lot, Yes, a lot.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
And I appreciate you joining me.
Speaker 4 (45:30):
I appreciate it. It was just fun. Glad you had
me on. And when you're in New York, hit me up,
come to a game.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Gets I got some dudes.
Speaker 4 (45:39):
Everybody's got dudes.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
A man talk soon.
Speaker 4 (45:42):
I'll talk to you, all right.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Thanks to David Klassky.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
That was awesome and a guy in a program you
want to keep an eye on, not just in New
York but nationally with Division three level and let's see
what happens when jobs open. But it is a that's
a high level D three job with high level players,
and I can't wait to see what they do this year. Hey,
thanks so much for listening to mind me. The Doug
(46:07):
Gotlieb Show is daily three to five Eastern. Of course,
we have the end the Bonus podcast, which is kind
of a no holds barred daily sports pod. And then
you tell your friends about all ball and if you
have any suggestions people you want to have on or
start cranking them out with more regularity. Hit me up
on Twitter at Gottlieb Show. Also on Instagram at Gottlieb Show.
I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is All ball
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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