August 30, 2024 • 13 mins
The new head coach of the Siena Saints men's basketball program joins Levack and Goz LIVE from Saratoga Race Course What brought Coach to the Capital Region? Why was it so tough to leave Central New York? What are the expectations for the season? Did Goz influence Coach's choice?And much more
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
W Ox Troy WGYFMHD two Olbening W two for Fox
Sports ninety ninety five point nine. Fact It's Love, Ac
and Guz on the Voice of the Capitol Region Sports
fan Fox Sports ninety five nine and nine eighty.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We are live in the Traveling GT Toys Studio. That's
Toys with a Z and maybe the most exciting moment
in the history of young Thomas Kezlowski the Third's life,
as he finally gets to meet in person his hero.
Come on, Coach of the Siena men's basketball team, Jerry McNamara, coach,
(00:37):
Welcome to the.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Show, gentlemen. I appreciate it, appreciate you having me. I
mean you got a tough here. There's a tough setup
you got.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (00:42):
You know. We we we struggle, Yeah, we do. We can.
It's in a nice shaded area.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
With nice and cool fans of BOBBYA Horses.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Bars right around the corner. It's tough. It's our friends
at Sienna and Net Louis Associates and all that. They
take good care of us. Sure, thank you, take good
care of it. How are you doing? Coach?
Speaker 6 (00:58):
Welcome to the Capitol Region Officially pig people to meet
you you're feeling.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I'm feeling the love. It was great.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Uh, you know, this is my second time here. We
came down years ago. We did a trip to the Sagamore,
took a day at the at the track when you
have young kids and it's like one hundred and twenty
five degrees on the on the track.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
After like forty five minutes, his dack, can we go home?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So I didn't get quite the full experience then, But
just to be here to see this place, you know,
I know the beauty of Saratoga, and you know, to
be here today to actually get to I mean, it's
so much more significantly built up too since the last
time I was here. You know, multiple I don't know.
There's a treehouse and the surfside deck and all these
beautiful places.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
You know, the place is beautiful. So just just take
it in.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I'm in all the actual animal to horses, just to
see them go by.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
It's it's all Reallyny guys has lost. It's paid for
all of that a lot. I'm coming back today. Today's
my comeback. I can feel it. What was the mix
of fans you're talking today?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Was it a mix of fifty to fifty Syracuse seventy five.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
The fans that were coming up.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
A little bit of both, which is nice.
Speaker 6 (01:57):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I think that the beauty of you know, the beauty
of my departure to get this job leaving Syracuse was
it was just such on good terms, you know, for
us to kind of take the program over and Adrian
getting hired and you know, to go in that year
to win twenty games and then to have my opportunity
and just kind of walk away clean.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
And you know, I think.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Most people of the Syracuse fan base were just really happy, like, oh,
GMT gets his chance and he gets to do it
at a great spot, you know. So I for me
to lead, I would have lived in Syracuse for the
rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
I love it, you know. But if I was going
to leave that I would have had to.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
It would have been a deal like this, you know,
a place that I feel like, yo, I can go there,
spend a significant amount of time there, raise my family there,
and you know, it has to have the support and
fan base that the Syracuse has, and it does, you know,
so it kind of matched everything I was looking for,
and today was kind of the same thing. So because
of the departure, being so clean and people just being genuinely.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Happy about it. You know, it was a lot of
Syracuse fans.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
But then at the same time, you know how much
support SANA has so just really fifty to fifty and
getting a chance to hear people tell stories of being
in an alumni what year there experience, and you know,
I think I think generally from most conversations, you know,
specifically with the Siena crowd, was you know, we want
to get this thing back to where we're accustomed to
be and where we want to be, you know, for
(03:13):
for this place has so much support. I think I
think this fan base is just itching for for the
right type of run and and you know, hopefully I
can get this thing back going in the right direction.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Let's go back a little bit. Let's go through that process.
There's been so.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Many changes happened in your life with coach Behin retiring
and then coach Audrey taking over and then you coming here.
But you mentioned it a lot's changed in your life
from entering Syracuse as a teenager as a freshman to
where you are now as a husband and a father.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
What was that conversation like with.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Your family and said, we're potentially gonna move our family
now to the east and take a new opportunity for
your career.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
The hardest part, I mean that was that was really
the most difficult thing of all. This was my twelve
year old especially, and you know, it's it was the
emotional time for us of of leaving a place where
for our all four kids were born, they were raised
there in our school district, Jamesville Witt was incredible.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
We really loved the.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
District and my wife is really involved. She was the
treasurer for years, and you know, there was an event
it seemed like every week at the school. So that
was the hardest part was the emotional detachment from it,
and then the fear of you know, as a parent,
you're more fearful of like you just want your kid
to experience what they just experienced.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I just want them to have it.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I was thinking unselfishly in that regard, like I would
stay there as an assistant coach and sacrifice my own professional,
you know, ambitions to make sure they were happy. That
one hundred percent crossed my mind. But I just don't
think I ever would have been satisfied had I tested
myself and gave myself this chance, and that was the
biggest thing with this whole move was just making sure
the kids were okay with it.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
And it was hard.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
It was difficult, especially for the older ones. You know,
we have a thirteen year old now and a ten
year old and that was the most difficult part. But
you know, I think when they saw their dad is
you know, when a suit with a green tie is
the head coach, I think they got over it quick.
And once they met Blue, our mascot, the dog, like.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Oh god, this place is awesome. So that that kind
of Blue sealed to deal for us.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
So we got Jerry McNamara with us right now on
Fox Sports Radio ninety five, nine eighty. This has been
pretty amazing for the Capitol region. Like I know, like guys,
obviously he's a huge fan of yours from Syracuse Days
and everything else. But he didn't want to believe you
were going to take the job because he didn't want
to be disappointed.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
He pretended it was.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
All Jerry's comfortable and listen, like, now that you're hearing,
you see it and you're and you you're a part
of it. What's going to be the biggest challenge taking
over the see in the program.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Well, there's a few, you know, and and mine, you know,
might not unique.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
You know, I'm not. I'm not unique in that regard.
I think a lot of people at our level are
facing the same thing. We're dealing with the NIL era.
And you know, I think this.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
I still got five foules. If you got the money, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Need I need someone to go in there and you know,
be the bruiser. But you know, everybody's dealing with the
same thing. I think the scary thing for our level
is now that you have these institutions are going to
be allowed to pay the athlete, and you know, I think,
to me, that's just the rich get richer situation.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
I believe that.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I think I think trending toward the nil was the
right thing to do. I think these kids should be
able to monetize themselves. But you know, the amount of
money that is being thrown around, or supposedly being thrown around,
and I think there's a lot of false narratives out
there of what these kids are being offered. I don't
think a lot of it's true, but it's just so appealing.
It's difficult for me to not sympathize with the kid
that has an opportunity to make you know, six six figures,
(06:32):
you know, I mean that's a lot, that's a ton of.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Money, you know.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So there's there's a lot of things. You know.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
We lost one recruit for for that, and you know,
I had the conversation with it.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I say, I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
You know, good luck. You ever need me down the road,
just give me a shout. This isn't going to change
how I feel about you. But I understand you need
to make decisions in your own life. So I think
that just navigating that. But you know, in this first
five months or whatever, it's been six months. I don't
even know. It was cold when I got out here.
It's from ninety degrees for the last three months. You know, Yeah,
I'm not so, you know, just navigating the right character
(07:06):
that that was a really really big factor in how
I recruited. And uh, you know, all the kids that
sat in my office, we we had those conversations about
what we anticipated as far as what I expected in
terms of the respect and the maturity of how I
want to run my program. And I just feel like
we got the right guys, and we got the right
guys to move this thing in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Hearing you talk about nil, I wonder two thousand and six,
Jerry mcnamert seen all those overrated tea shirts, so it
would have liked a nice cut of the.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Hall would matter of fact, I met him. I met
him like our kids played sports together. So I met
him and it was he was like, hey, you know,
I'm the one that did that.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
And I'm like, oh really, I'm like, where's my cut?
So I joked with him, you know, I was.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I was halfway serious for about five seconds before I
smiled and let him off the hook. But yeah, I mean,
that's that's the way it goes. I think from the
time that we won a national championship as a freshman
to three more years after that, I probably would have
done okay.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Just fu.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Also, the rosters had a lot of changes, but your
coaching staff. You've added some familiar names to your coaching
staff that people will cross upstate New York know about.
Take us through some of those coaches that you've had.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Yeah, I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled to who I have.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know, Ben Lee was kind of like my right
hand man through the process, behind the scenes before anything happened.
He and I were kind of prepared to work together
if I did end up going down the road that
you hoped I didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Which is or turned it down and got the job.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
So we were prepared, and we had done our homework
in terms of recruiting of who we would try to
target first, and uh, you know then Ryan Blackwell and
I were on the other end doing the same thing,
and Erenza as well. And when I solidified the job,
I solidified those two guys, and I just couldn't be happier.
You know, at the end of the day, when you
when you take a job, really in any environment you
(08:48):
work in, you want to be around people you can trust,
that you believe in that hopefully you motivate them and
they motivate you. And you know ben Is, you know,
he's a nose to the ground, just relentless. Ryan Blackwell's
just such got a great demeanor about him. He was
a head coach. He had a lot of high high
school success. He coached professionally in Japan. Arenzi had proved
that he wanted to get in. He was two years
(09:08):
in the G League. He coached at Kenzaga High School,
which is one of the premier high school programs. So
I just had guys that I know, I trust, that
I know want it. They want to hit the ground,
run in. And then I was able to get Ryan Burry,
who was our video guy at you know, Syracuse, who
had worked for me. I trained him from the time
that he was a student manager to our head manager, to.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Our GA to our video guys.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
So I just have seven eight years of relationship with him,
and you know, to be able to grab Ryan Burry
just almost by mistake.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
I mean, he got a local coach at Saint Rose.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
If Saint Rose doesn't close down, I don't have the
opportunity to get him. But you know, it's it's our gain,
it really is. You know, I had a relationship with
Brian for years. I played against his teams and had
a relationship as a coach with them.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
So really in the first week.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
It just became public in the last month, but in
the first week we had those conversations, so I kind
of knew he was coming on board. So you know,
I'm just really really thrilled to the people that I
have surrounded. You know, they want to in the gym,
kids want to be around them, they want to get better,
and a lot of these guys have proven they could
do it at this level as they played and now
they're coaching it. So I just got a really good
thing going, a good vibe and practice.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
I just and you're obviously a brave man, you know.
We Goz has been trying to sniff you. No, that's
not true for some months now. I don't know if
he was gonna like sniffed right look at it nervously.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Is it's listen.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
Gozz is one of those like fun loving sports guys
who just you are a legend to him, and the
fact that you're here has met the most him. And
that's the fact that you're joining the show. I really
appreciate it. But I can't let him off the hook.
You know, he's he's been dying to me, like dying,
and he's so aware that I'm gonna make this go
wrong that he made you guys.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
You're making it. Look at this. He made you take
a picture of them before the show. Quote just in case,
Just in case.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I just have one question for coach back Tomic, because
you and I both had our formative years in Syracuse.
I grew up in Syracuse, grew up in salve there
four years at Syracuse. I moved out to the Capitol
Region in twenty fifteen. You took the job in twenty
twenty four. How much did my move to the Capitol
region nine years ago play a factor?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
And you take in the sand, I mean it not
significantly influenced it. It was one of the deciding factors.
I knew that we you know, I did the tours
of the academic schools around here, and I wanted to
make sure that my kids had really good academic situations.
But it was really your situation of you feeling so
comfortable here now that I figured, you know what, I
think this makes sense for my family.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Just say it a little louder Gouz had a big play.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Guys, was the deciding factor and what this ended up being.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
I'll send that to Mike Waters don Adotota.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
They'll run that on SI dot com called the Daily Orange.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Well that was my joke.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
By the way, I had in the hole stare for
the last six months. So that's the worst even that
record he most press release.
Speaker 6 (11:49):
That's a fact not to undersell is His wife text
me the other day and said, Thomas said he wants
to wear something special for for Jerry.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
I think he might be wearing lingerie that so I
didn't get a haircut. Thank you serious. We're so thrilled
to have you here.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
And and just I hope that you didn't get offended
enough that you're not gonna come back on.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
This show because we can see what you're doing.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
It looks like we've got a very very solid season
of seeing a basketball.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
Out of us.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Yeah, I'm hoping.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
You know, there's never It's it's such an inexact science.
I thing most coaches, if you ask them, they always
feel like they should be better, they should be getting better.
And yeah, that's where my focus is. And people, you know,
you know a lot of guys like you have asked
me the question like what do you you know?
Speaker 4 (12:37):
What's your goal for this season?
Speaker 6 (12:38):
I didn't want to do that to you.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You know, It's it's so cliche and easy to say it,
but the reality of it is I was around one
of the best in Jim Beaheim, and what I took
from him above anything else was just be consistent, be there,
present every day, and never get too high and never
get too low. Stay in your process. That's what we've
talked about the most as our group is just staying
in our process, never getting outside of it. Don't let
outside determining factors influence us. And you know, if we
(13:03):
can stay in our process and put our head down
and just focus on the work, I really really like
the maturity of my group and hopefully in that process
we continue to evolve and get better.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
All right, you've got to get out of here because
you're headed to the winner circle for the Saranac Stakes race.
It's gonna be so for everybody who's who's watching on
you know, Fox or NYRA Beats.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
Coach g mack is gonna be out there as well. Listen,
thank you so much, Thank you guys. I mean, guys,
got stood up by Donald mcnabbs. So now one of
his cues studgeons has not let him down. There you are.
You're a true many story. There it is.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
This is awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Don't make this the final time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
I appreciate you, guys, Thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Appreciate you so much. Best of luck than be here
rooting for you and whatever you need. Please let us
know we'll be.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Here for you.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
There he is Coach Jerry mc namara And now to
the winner circle right now
W Ox Troy WGYFMHD two Olbening W two for Fox
Sports ninety ninety five point nine. Fact It's Love, Ac
and Guz on the Voice of the Capitol Region Sports
fan Fox Sports ninety five nine and nine eighty.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We are live in the Traveling GT Toys Studio. That's
Toys with a Z and maybe the most exciting moment
in the history of young Thomas Kezlowski the Third's life,
as he finally gets to meet in person his hero.
Come on, Coach of the Siena men's basketball team, Jerry McNamara, coach,
(00:37):
Welcome to the.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Show, gentlemen. I appreciate it, appreciate you having me. I
mean you got a tough here. There's a tough setup
you got.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (00:42):
You know. We we we struggle, Yeah, we do. We can.
It's in a nice shaded area.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
With nice and cool fans of BOBBYA Horses.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Bars right around the corner. It's tough. It's our friends
at Sienna and Net Louis Associates and all that. They
take good care of us. Sure, thank you, take good
care of it. How are you doing? Coach?
Speaker 6 (00:58):
Welcome to the Capitol Region Officially pig people to meet
you you're feeling.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I'm feeling the love. It was great.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Uh, you know, this is my second time here. We
came down years ago. We did a trip to the Sagamore,
took a day at the at the track when you
have young kids and it's like one hundred and twenty
five degrees on the on the track.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
After like forty five minutes, his dack, can we go home?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So I didn't get quite the full experience then, But
just to be here to see this place, you know,
I know the beauty of Saratoga, and you know, to
be here today to actually get to I mean, it's
so much more significantly built up too since the last
time I was here. You know, multiple I don't know.
There's a treehouse and the surfside deck and all these
beautiful places.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
You know, the place is beautiful. So just just take
it in.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I'm in all the actual animal to horses, just to
see them go by.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
It's it's all Reallyny guys has lost. It's paid for
all of that a lot. I'm coming back today. Today's
my comeback. I can feel it. What was the mix
of fans you're talking today?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Was it a mix of fifty to fifty Syracuse seventy five.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
The fans that were coming up.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
A little bit of both, which is nice.
Speaker 6 (01:57):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I think that the beauty of you know, the beauty
of my departure to get this job leaving Syracuse was
it was just such on good terms, you know, for
us to kind of take the program over and Adrian
getting hired and you know, to go in that year
to win twenty games and then to have my opportunity
and just kind of walk away clean.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
And you know, I think.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Most people of the Syracuse fan base were just really happy, like, oh,
GMT gets his chance and he gets to do it
at a great spot, you know. So I for me
to lead, I would have lived in Syracuse for the
rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
I love it, you know. But if I was going
to leave that I would have had to.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
It would have been a deal like this, you know,
a place that I feel like, yo, I can go there,
spend a significant amount of time there, raise my family there,
and you know, it has to have the support and
fan base that the Syracuse has, and it does, you know,
so it kind of matched everything I was looking for,
and today was kind of the same thing. So because
of the departure, being so clean and people just being genuinely.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Happy about it. You know, it was a lot of
Syracuse fans.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
But then at the same time, you know how much
support SANA has so just really fifty to fifty and
getting a chance to hear people tell stories of being
in an alumni what year there experience, and you know,
I think I think generally from most conversations, you know,
specifically with the Siena crowd, was you know, we want
to get this thing back to where we're accustomed to
be and where we want to be, you know, for
(03:13):
for this place has so much support. I think I
think this fan base is just itching for for the
right type of run and and you know, hopefully I
can get this thing back going in the right direction.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Let's go back a little bit. Let's go through that process.
There's been so.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Many changes happened in your life with coach Behin retiring
and then coach Audrey taking over and then you coming here.
But you mentioned it a lot's changed in your life
from entering Syracuse as a teenager as a freshman to
where you are now as a husband and a father.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
What was that conversation like with.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Your family and said, we're potentially gonna move our family
now to the east and take a new opportunity for
your career.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
The hardest part, I mean that was that was really
the most difficult thing of all. This was my twelve
year old especially, and you know, it's it was the
emotional time for us of of leaving a place where
for our all four kids were born, they were raised
there in our school district, Jamesville Witt was incredible.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
We really loved the.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
District and my wife is really involved. She was the
treasurer for years, and you know, there was an event
it seemed like every week at the school. So that
was the hardest part was the emotional detachment from it,
and then the fear of you know, as a parent,
you're more fearful of like you just want your kid
to experience what they just experienced.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I just want them to have it.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I was thinking unselfishly in that regard, like I would
stay there as an assistant coach and sacrifice my own professional,
you know, ambitions to make sure they were happy. That
one hundred percent crossed my mind. But I just don't
think I ever would have been satisfied had I tested
myself and gave myself this chance, and that was the
biggest thing with this whole move was just making sure
the kids were okay with it.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
And it was hard.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
It was difficult, especially for the older ones. You know,
we have a thirteen year old now and a ten
year old and that was the most difficult part. But
you know, I think when they saw their dad is
you know, when a suit with a green tie is
the head coach, I think they got over it quick.
And once they met Blue, our mascot, the dog, like.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Oh god, this place is awesome. So that that kind
of Blue sealed to deal for us.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
So we got Jerry McNamara with us right now on
Fox Sports Radio ninety five, nine eighty. This has been
pretty amazing for the Capitol region. Like I know, like guys,
obviously he's a huge fan of yours from Syracuse Days
and everything else. But he didn't want to believe you
were going to take the job because he didn't want
to be disappointed.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
He pretended it was.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
All Jerry's comfortable and listen, like, now that you're hearing,
you see it and you're and you you're a part
of it. What's going to be the biggest challenge taking
over the see in the program.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Well, there's a few, you know, and and mine, you know,
might not unique.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
You know, I'm not. I'm not unique in that regard.
I think a lot of people at our level are
facing the same thing. We're dealing with the NIL era.
And you know, I think this.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
I still got five foules. If you got the money, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Need I need someone to go in there and you know,
be the bruiser. But you know, everybody's dealing with the
same thing. I think the scary thing for our level
is now that you have these institutions are going to
be allowed to pay the athlete, and you know, I think,
to me, that's just the rich get richer situation.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
I believe that.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I think I think trending toward the nil was the
right thing to do. I think these kids should be
able to monetize themselves. But you know, the amount of
money that is being thrown around, or supposedly being thrown around,
and I think there's a lot of false narratives out
there of what these kids are being offered. I don't
think a lot of it's true, but it's just so appealing.
It's difficult for me to not sympathize with the kid
that has an opportunity to make you know, six six figures,
(06:32):
you know, I mean that's a lot, that's a ton of.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Money, you know.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So there's there's a lot of things. You know.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
We lost one recruit for for that, and you know,
I had the conversation with it.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I say, I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
You know, good luck. You ever need me down the road,
just give me a shout. This isn't going to change
how I feel about you. But I understand you need
to make decisions in your own life. So I think
that just navigating that. But you know, in this first
five months or whatever, it's been six months. I don't
even know. It was cold when I got out here.
It's from ninety degrees for the last three months. You know, Yeah,
I'm not so, you know, just navigating the right character
(07:06):
that that was a really really big factor in how
I recruited. And uh, you know, all the kids that
sat in my office, we we had those conversations about
what we anticipated as far as what I expected in
terms of the respect and the maturity of how I
want to run my program. And I just feel like
we got the right guys, and we got the right
guys to move this thing in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Hearing you talk about nil, I wonder two thousand and six,
Jerry mcnamert seen all those overrated tea shirts, so it
would have liked a nice cut of the.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Hall would matter of fact, I met him. I met
him like our kids played sports together. So I met
him and it was he was like, hey, you know,
I'm the one that did that.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
And I'm like, oh really, I'm like, where's my cut?
So I joked with him, you know, I was.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I was halfway serious for about five seconds before I
smiled and let him off the hook. But yeah, I mean,
that's that's the way it goes. I think from the
time that we won a national championship as a freshman
to three more years after that, I probably would have
done okay.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Just fu.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Also, the rosters had a lot of changes, but your
coaching staff. You've added some familiar names to your coaching
staff that people will cross upstate New York know about.
Take us through some of those coaches that you've had.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Yeah, I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled to who I have.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know, Ben Lee was kind of like my right
hand man through the process, behind the scenes before anything happened.
He and I were kind of prepared to work together
if I did end up going down the road that
you hoped I didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Which is or turned it down and got the job.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
So we were prepared, and we had done our homework
in terms of recruiting of who we would try to
target first, and uh, you know then Ryan Blackwell and
I were on the other end doing the same thing,
and Erenza as well. And when I solidified the job,
I solidified those two guys, and I just couldn't be happier.
You know, at the end of the day, when you
when you take a job, really in any environment you
(08:48):
work in, you want to be around people you can trust,
that you believe in that hopefully you motivate them and
they motivate you. And you know ben Is, you know,
he's a nose to the ground, just relentless. Ryan Blackwell's
just such got a great demeanor about him. He was
a head coach. He had a lot of high high
school success. He coached professionally in Japan. Arenzi had proved
that he wanted to get in. He was two years
(09:08):
in the G League. He coached at Kenzaga High School,
which is one of the premier high school programs. So
I just had guys that I know, I trust, that
I know want it. They want to hit the ground,
run in. And then I was able to get Ryan Burry,
who was our video guy at you know, Syracuse, who
had worked for me. I trained him from the time
that he was a student manager to our head manager, to.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Our GA to our video guys.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
So I just have seven eight years of relationship with him,
and you know, to be able to grab Ryan Burry
just almost by mistake.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
I mean, he got a local coach at Saint Rose.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
If Saint Rose doesn't close down, I don't have the
opportunity to get him. But you know, it's it's our gain,
it really is. You know, I had a relationship with
Brian for years. I played against his teams and had
a relationship as a coach with them.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
So really in the first week.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
It just became public in the last month, but in
the first week we had those conversations, so I kind
of knew he was coming on board. So you know,
I'm just really really thrilled to the people that I
have surrounded. You know, they want to in the gym,
kids want to be around them, they want to get better,
and a lot of these guys have proven they could
do it at this level as they played and now
they're coaching it. So I just got a really good
thing going, a good vibe and practice.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
I just and you're obviously a brave man, you know.
We Goz has been trying to sniff you. No, that's
not true for some months now. I don't know if
he was gonna like sniffed right look at it nervously.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Is it's listen.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
Gozz is one of those like fun loving sports guys
who just you are a legend to him, and the
fact that you're here has met the most him. And
that's the fact that you're joining the show. I really
appreciate it. But I can't let him off the hook.
You know, he's he's been dying to me, like dying,
and he's so aware that I'm gonna make this go
wrong that he made you guys.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
You're making it. Look at this. He made you take
a picture of them before the show. Quote just in case,
Just in case.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I just have one question for coach back Tomic, because
you and I both had our formative years in Syracuse.
I grew up in Syracuse, grew up in salve there
four years at Syracuse. I moved out to the Capitol
Region in twenty fifteen. You took the job in twenty
twenty four. How much did my move to the Capitol
region nine years ago play a factor?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
And you take in the sand, I mean it not
significantly influenced it. It was one of the deciding factors.
I knew that we you know, I did the tours
of the academic schools around here, and I wanted to
make sure that my kids had really good academic situations.
But it was really your situation of you feeling so
comfortable here now that I figured, you know what, I
think this makes sense for my family.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Just say it a little louder Gouz had a big play.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Guys, was the deciding factor and what this ended up being.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
I'll send that to Mike Waters don Adotota.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
They'll run that on SI dot com called the Daily Orange.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Well that was my joke.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
By the way, I had in the hole stare for
the last six months. So that's the worst even that
record he most press release.
Speaker 6 (11:49):
That's a fact not to undersell is His wife text
me the other day and said, Thomas said he wants
to wear something special for for Jerry.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
I think he might be wearing lingerie that so I
didn't get a haircut. Thank you serious. We're so thrilled
to have you here.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
And and just I hope that you didn't get offended
enough that you're not gonna come back on.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
This show because we can see what you're doing.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
It looks like we've got a very very solid season
of seeing a basketball.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
Out of us.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Yeah, I'm hoping.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
You know, there's never It's it's such an inexact science.
I thing most coaches, if you ask them, they always
feel like they should be better, they should be getting better.
And yeah, that's where my focus is. And people, you know,
you know a lot of guys like you have asked
me the question like what do you you know?
Speaker 4 (12:37):
What's your goal for this season?
Speaker 6 (12:38):
I didn't want to do that to you.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You know, It's it's so cliche and easy to say it,
but the reality of it is I was around one
of the best in Jim Beaheim, and what I took
from him above anything else was just be consistent, be there,
present every day, and never get too high and never
get too low. Stay in your process. That's what we've
talked about the most as our group is just staying
in our process, never getting outside of it. Don't let
outside determining factors influence us. And you know, if we
(13:03):
can stay in our process and put our head down
and just focus on the work, I really really like
the maturity of my group and hopefully in that process
we continue to evolve and get better.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
All right, you've got to get out of here because
you're headed to the winner circle for the Saranac Stakes race.
It's gonna be so for everybody who's who's watching on
you know, Fox or NYRA Beats.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
Coach g mack is gonna be out there as well. Listen,
thank you so much, Thank you guys. I mean, guys,
got stood up by Donald mcnabbs. So now one of
his cues studgeons has not let him down. There you are.
You're a true many story. There it is.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
This is awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Don't make this the final time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
I appreciate you, guys, Thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Appreciate you so much. Best of luck than be here
rooting for you and whatever you need. Please let us
know we'll be.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Here for you.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
There he is Coach Jerry mc namara And now to
the winner circle right now
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