November 2, 2025 âą 27 mins
đ§Â Quentin âCoach Qâ Acree: The Art of Evaluating Character in Recruiting
đ In this weekâs Significant Recruiting Podcast, Matt Rogers sits down with Quentin âCoach Qâ Acree
â Assistant Menâs Basketball Coach at Christopher Newport University
â to talk about what really matters in the recruiting process.
Coach Q, one of the brightest young minds in college basketball, pulls back the curtain on how championship programs evaluate talent, toughness, and fit. He shares why character and IQ often outweigh statistics, what coaches look for during a bad game, and how parents can either help â or hurt â their childâs recruiting journey.
Youâll also hear Coach Q explain why film doesnât lie, why toughness and consistency are non-negotiables, and why recruits must learn to play hard before they ever learn to play âperfect.â He even offers simple, powerful advice to 16-year-olds who dream of playing college basketball: compete relentlessly and know who you are.
đĄ Donât miss this weekâs blog at CoachMattRogers.com
â Matt breaks down what NIL really means and how itâs reshaping families, coaches, and universities at every level.
đ Subscribe for free at CoachMattRogers.com
for exclusive weekly coaching and recruiting tips, early NCAA updates, and first looks at new tools, books, and school connections to guide your recruiting journey.
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Welcome to the SignificantRecruiting Podcast.
I'm Matt Rogers.
Today I'm joined by one of thebright young superstars in
college basketball coachingQuentin, coach Q Acre of
Christopher Newport University.
Coach Q started young andlearned fast.
He brought back a lot ofmemories when I was that age,
getting into the game andlearning from great coaches and
trying to figure out who Iwanted to be as a coach.
(00:33):
So I love his energy and I lovehis passion, During this part
two of our conversation, wefocused on what he's looking for
when he's out recruiting forCNU.
I ask around, we do a lot ofbackground homework, guidance,
counselors, teachers, coaches,old coaches, if they, Trent,
whatever the case may bedifferent family members, we do
(00:54):
a lot when it comes to thatbecause we want.
Great people, like highcharacter individuals at this
program.
We unpack why toughness and IQare his first filters, what body
language in a bad game revealsand how parent messaging can
quietly help or hurt a recruit'schances.
He also breaks down what helooks for at every position on
(01:16):
the basketball court and whyfilm doesn't lie when it comes
to truly competing.
Quick note before we roll.
Check out this week'sblog@coachmattrogers.com.
I'm breaking down what NILreally means and how it's
impacting families, coaches, anduniversities at every level.
(01:36):
If this helps you, pleasefavorite like and leave a
comment and subscribe forfree@coachmattrogers.com for the
weekly newsletter where I'llprovide exclusive coaching and
recruiting tips, early NCAAupdates, and first looks at new
books and school and coachconnections.
Let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withQuentin Coach q Acre.
(02:00):
Coach Quentin Acre.
So glad I've gotten to know you.
It's always exciting for me whenI had an assistant coach who I
just knew, had the tools and.
It made my job easier because Icould step away.
I could walk outta the gym for afew minutes and I knew practice
was gonna run at the same pace,and there was gonna be the same
(02:21):
discipline and the same energy.
And you've got all that.
I'm excited about it.
I wanna talk some recruitingwith you, if you're cool with
that.
Yeah, for sure.
That's my baby right there.
I love that.
What's really cool for you isyou started at what, 20.
Yeah, somewhere around there.
21.
Yeah.
You were already recruitingbefore you graduated.
What are some of the big thingsyou've learned as a recruiter
(02:43):
over these last four or fiveyears?
The biggest the biggest one Ilearned is just how to quote,
unquote, read through the, Idon't want to, it's not bs, but
it's like a.
What kids tell you what theywant.
What you want to know or whatyou want to hear.
That's the biggest thing on justreally understanding okay,
trying to look deeper into theanswers that they gave.
(03:04):
What they're actually talkingabout.
They're, and things like that.
I've gotten really good at okay,I don't really think this kid is
about the right stuff when itcomes to seeing you.
Or, I ask around, we do a lot ofbackground homework, guidance,
counselors, teachers, coaches,old coaches, if they, Trent,
whatever the case may bedifferent family members, we do
a lot when it comes to thatbecause we want.
(03:25):
Great people, like highcharacter individuals at this
program.
And I've done a real good job ofI think that's the biggest thing
that I've learned is okay, Itruly know that he saying, he
just saying he's just talkingright now.
Like you, not really.
Yeah.
So I, I think that is thebiggest one.
Is there a part of that you'relooking for, that you're hoping
that you're gonna feel an hearan energy or hear a confidence
(03:50):
that tells you?
This kid can survive in ourprogram.
Is there anything specific thatyou're like, there's something I
just saw on the floor, there'sjust something I saw.
In an interaction between thatkid and his coach or that kid
and a teammate or even that kidand an official, is there
something that's starting toclick with you?
You're like, God, I love that.
I want more.
(04:10):
Yeah, I, the I can break it downa little bit.
Interact with Coach.
We like to see him through aseason.
Some programs you'll see througha u that coming into your senior
year and offer you immediately.
We don't offer kids like that.
We like to see through a season.
So we wanna come to those badgames'cause Okay.
You got a bad game.
Like how are you moving throughthat?
Are, is it everybody else'sfault or is it, are you able to
(04:32):
All right.
High five, the teammates takecoaching.
Even when you get pulled out incertain situations, you walk to
the end of the bench.
Or am I okay, coach said thisboom.
I still go down and slapeverybody's hand.
Those small, those are bigthings for us because you're
going to get coached here,period.
Yeah.
Everything will not be pretty.
So if you're able to do it inthat scenario, we believe that
(04:55):
okay, like he, he's about theright things.
Like he, he understands what itmeans to just be a good
basketball player and thatyou're gonna have to be coached,
you're gonna have to be tough.
And then, truthfully, parents.
How are those interacting at thebasketball game when they come
and talk to us?
Is it about Oh yeah.
Tommy's so good.
I don't know why coach doesn'tdraw more plays up for him.
(05:17):
He's not just about Tommy.
I'm not gonna lie to you.
I don't that's not a, thegreatest of flags for us because
it could potentially come up.
In our program.
'cause we can only assume thatTommy's not going to be the man
from the jump.
Like he just won't.
We have other good players inthis program, but if that's a
thing that's not only comingfrom the parent, but if you're
(05:37):
feeding that to him, then onceadversity hits, what is he gonna
do?
Yeah.
That's a big thing for us.
I think parents struggle withthe fact that you can see one
game or watch one film and theydon't think that.
You have all the information.
They feel like they have to sellyou.
Yeah.
What they don't realize is youprobably learned 90% of what you
(06:01):
needed to know in about threeminutes.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And then everything else is,it's about your character.
It's about your fit.
It's about, can we have arelationship with you?
But whether or not you can play.
That, that happens before youeven know I'm in the gym.
That's the super easy.
That's the fun.
It's we know that if you canplay college basketball, that's
(06:22):
the easiest part of it allright?
But we already know that youhave zero, responsibility to
sell us on that.
We care more about who you guysare, is people.
When it comes to representingChristopher Newport.
This is where coaches are justbad at it.
'cause we know it's instinctual.
We've been doing it long enough,we played long enough, we've
recruited long enough, we'vemade enough mistakes.
(06:44):
We know what we're looking forin recruit, but what we're bad
at is articulating what exactlythat is.
It's easy to say you're not bigenough, you're not strong
enough.
Your hand your handles aren'tgood enough.
You don't have a consistent workethic.
But there's so many parts tothat.
You can be a really good ballplayer.
You could be the captain of yourhigh school team and a 4.0 GPA
(07:05):
and a great leader, but youmight not have the killer
instinct that we want and needat your position that we want
you to play.
Yes.
Wonderful.
Yes.
You're averaging 17 and nine.
Yes.
But you're doing it against guysthat are gonna be a light snack
in our conference.
Yes.
A hundred yes.
Yes.
When a parent were to ask you,what does my son need?
(07:31):
How often are you saying thingslike the toughness and the
effort and the consistency?
Where do those things come in?
Toughness is one, but even whenwe are looking at a person,
toughness is the number one.
Yeah.
Toughness in iq.
And I think it goes to the pointthat you were saying like.
It's not their fault that theycould be in a situation where
(07:51):
the talent isn't that great orthe level of athleticism they're
playing against isn't thatgreat?
It's not their fault.
But when it comes to recruitingfor a program that is about
winning games at the end of theday, yeah.
The biggest thing that we try tocommunicate with the parents,
it's you can have 19 points, buthow are you scoring those 19
points are very important to us.
(08:12):
In what ways is he getting, isit 19 points on 28 shots?
That's right.
Is it 19 points?
But you guys pressed the entiregame, so I don't really see you
in a half court setting.
That's right.
'Cause that's different.
Everybody's not gonna be able topress you're not gonna press
anybody in college.
Yeah.
You don't score off of that.
We're not just taking the ballfrom people.
Yeah.
'cause there are other goodplayers.
So there's different ways tohave that 19 where there's
(08:35):
different ways to be like, yeah.
He is a pretty good player, buthe doesn't rebound it like a,
you gotta be, you gotta have adifferent edge to you when it
comes to rebound.
Especially for us when we'regot, when we're recruiting our
forwards and stuff and have adifferent edge to you when it
comes to rebounding.
Yes, he has a lot.
But like they're the ones thatcome to him.
Yeah.
Does he go out his way torebound?
That's a different skillsetthan, than a regular.
(08:59):
Yeah.
Numbers, I would say a lot ofcoaches are going to no
positions.
Positionless basketball, and Iknow you guys are like me, it's
still pretty much, you have aone through five and sometimes
you'll have three fours on thefloor.
Sometimes you might have threetwos on the floor.
Yeah, let's do a littlebreakdown, and this doesn't have
to be your CNU breakdown.
(09:20):
This can be just Coach Q and howyou think.
Okay, bet.
Let's talk about each position.
Gimme one thing that you loveseeing and wanna see when you go
watch a point guard.
Iq.
Iq, iq.
It has to be break that down.
What does IQ mean to you?
What it means to me is do youhave the understanding of when
to take shots, when to getpeople involved and when to
(09:44):
control the game.
Can you do that?
And what I mean by controllingthe game, it's not necessarily
the tempo or anything like that,but are you so unfathomable at
your position that no matter thedefense they throw at you?
No matter if they throw twobodies trapping or whatever.
Do you have the poise and thecontrol to know what to do next?
You don't have to always havethe assist.
(10:07):
I'm not saying that you don'thave to always be the one to
finish the shot.
Definitely not saying that, butcan you get outta that trap, get
it off of it quickly because youknow the next pass is going to
lead to something else?
Yeah.
Like those little things for me.
Can you get it?
Fast break.
Why are you dribbling all theway to the pain and then you
have to make the play?
Can you get it?
(10:27):
Boom, you see somebody ahead,get off, get the ball outta your
hands, get that outta your handsquickly in order to maintain
that advantage and transitionthose little things for me as a
point guard, like I'm like,okay.
Like he can really translate it.
'cause now, at our level Dthree, the point guards are not
the highest scores.
No, I know in division one alittle bit, point guards are
definitely scores right now.
But like at D three level, likewe still more traditional a
(10:50):
little bit when it comes to thepoint guards.
So you gotta be able to havethat, those little things.
And we have an elite point guardright now that's so good at the
little things.
Yeah.
Yep.
I love it.
I love watching a point guardthat just knows, okay, my big
man, they can't handle it.
I gotta get him a touch.
My shooting guard, he just madetwo in a row.
I gotta keep finding right?
(11:12):
It's just understanding what'shappening on the floor,
understanding the room you're inand what's happening and how do
I take advantage of it, lovethat stuff.
There was this one point, sorryabout that.
There was this one guard that Isaw I'm not gonna name any
names, but what just drew meinto him is like you just
mentioned the shooting guardhitting two threes.
Yeah.
There was a play, there was downguy hit two threes, and
transition whatever.
(11:33):
They come back down next play,they gotta stop.
And he pointed at his to go pinaway for the guy that just hit
two threes just to get him intouch.
He didn't score that third time.
Yeah.
But two people came to him.
It opened up the screener and Iwas like, yep.
Like that there at the highschool.
If you have that, you are a goodpoint guard in my opinion.
(11:54):
Absolutely.
Forget everything else.
Like for you to tell yourteammate to get out the way to
go pin down.
For a guy that just hit to thatis an elite level.
IQ that not many people have.
Now we're playing chess, a setof checkers.
'cause that kid understands wemight not get him a shot, but he
just hit two threes and I'mpointing at him.
There's a good chance we'regonna have two, maybe three
(12:15):
defenders go with him, go withthem, but we're gonna get
something easy, whether he getsattached or shot or not.
I love that.
All right, let's talk about yourshooting guards.
Let's talk about your tubes.
What are you looking for thatgets you giddy?
Obviously they gotta be able toshoot it.
Yeah, for sure.
That's a premium right now inthis sport.
Absolutely.
And then for me specifically,like my twos and threes are the
(12:35):
same player, like they're justwings.
I just call'em wings by wingplayer.
They have to be able toobviously shoot, but what I
think makes them very good isthe ability to make plays when
they run you off the line.
Not many people can, they canshoot, they can do whatever, but
once teams run'em off the line.
Not many people are making thecorrect play, and that does not
(12:58):
necessarily mean they have toshoot, but can you get ran off
the line, draw a big man up,make the right play, whether the
dude cracks back on a big, Ihave to spray it out to the
three, or I dumped down to thebig, whatever the case may be.
But can I hit the paint?
And make a proper play.
I don't think a lot of peoplehave that.
I guess that goes back a littlebit to IQ as well, but you have
(13:19):
to have that athletic ability toeven put it on the ground at an
elite level in order to make aplay.
It's real simple.
It's, if I have to create yourshots for you, you're gonna have
a hard time playing in myprogram.
Yeah.
Like we can't run play, like wedon't do it here at, we have no.
Double stagger coming.
(13:40):
We don't, I don't know what wecan't do that.
You're not gonna get a shot.
I don't know what that is.
If you need somebody to create ashot for you, this is the wrong
place.
Yeah.
You have to be able to makeplays like, yeah.
Everybody can just catch andshoot and stand there all day.
Yeah.
The teams are not gonna let youdo that and create shots.
Probably the wrong phrase,create space if you can't create
space on your own.
Fair.
(14:00):
Yeah.
Off of pump fakes, off ofpivots, off of dribble, whatever
that may be.
Learning how to get into yourman and create space to get a
shot off or to get that space, Ilove that that, that's right on.
And it's such a big, and that'sa huge failure on the high
school coach side.
And not all of'em, I don't wannathrow on every bus, but there's
so few kids that are comingoutta high school that know how
(14:20):
to create their own spacebecause everybody's a is, we
live in a cone generation rightnow.
Everybody's just dribblingthrough cones, so it's very easy
To gray space on a cone.
Yeah, you gotta get some live.
I think people just need to geta lot more live reps, a lot more
playing like they did back inthe day.
I know I'm not that old, but Iwas between the generation of
(14:41):
the old school and then now thenew generation of what it is.
So I knew what it was.
I grew up on old school, weplayed.
Yeah.
So you wanna know how to createspace, how to get a good pump,
fake a jet.
You go play against olderplayers Yep.
That are better than you and youfigure it out.
You do not get a cone in achair.
That's right.
Yeah.
And great players don't need todribble away from a defender.
(15:03):
Great players can pump fake andjab step and pivot and reverse
pivot and front pivot to createthat space.
Yep.
Maybe the dribble comes afterit, but it's hard to find those
kids.
It's really hard to find thosekids.
Alright, let's talk about yourfours.
Give us some direction on, doyou like a multiverse four.
Do you like a four that canshoot it?
(15:23):
Do you like a four that's gotthat toughness you've been
talking about that's gonnabring, that I can guard a post,
I can play in the post, I canplay back to basket, gimme some
of that.
Yeah.
So in a Coach Q's ideal world,my for man is very versatile.
Can step out.
And that's not the only thingthey can do.
But as are able to stretch thefloor enough.
'cause I'm big on spacing, we'rebig on spacing here in general.
(15:46):
So are they able to be enough ofa threat on the perimeter where
the floor can be just more spaceon the floor?
And then I think they still haveto have the same qualities as
your wings especially now.
So if you can find a six sixwith a little bit of what they
can do, I mean with a little bitof the same skillset as a wing.
And can knock down a randomcatch and shoot three, the D
(16:08):
three level.
Are you kidding me?
And I think, I mean you're,yeah, like that's a premium at
where we are.
Absolutely.
But when it just comes to thefours in general, I do think
they need to be multi-faceted.
Like I think they need to be aguy that you can throw to in a
pinch post or something likethat.
It can make a play.
Or can be in a short role oranything like that, can make a
play, can step out and shoot athree.
I just think they have to be themost versatile player, in my
(16:29):
opinion, on the floor.
They don't have to be great.
One specific thing, but if theycan be very versatile and be
plug and play into certainsituations, I do think you have
a really good four man in thatsense.
All right, I'll give you one.
You can only pick one.
Draymond Greener Al Horford.
Who do you take?
Draymond.
Yeah, I got to, even with a lackof jumper.
(16:51):
Yeah, because he makes up forthe rest of it.
Like you have a player inDraymond who can guard one
through five consistently.
It's not a, some people say youcan guard one through five, he
can guard one through five.
He's an elite playmaker out ofthe short role as in primary
ball handler.
And then you have a guy whounderstands the off ball
movements that we mentioned alittle bit earlier, when to go
(17:12):
set a screen.
How to go point at people to gofind Steph Curry.
Yeah.
How to then make the secondpass, because I can read that
two people workout like that initself.
That's why they're so good.
Like he is very inval.
Like he is invaluable to thatorganization.
It's crazy.
How good is Gold State gonna bethis year with Al Horford,
Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler,three guys that do all those
(17:33):
things?
If they stay healthy.
If they stay healthy, I thinkthey can make some noise.
I think they can make somenoise.
That's scary, man.
That's a scary, that's, they canmake some noise.
That's three of the highest IQsof the game.
Yes, and they're all versatile.
You got Jimmy Butler that canguard multiple.
Yeah they switch ability on aperimeter.
They're not the greatest ofshooters.
They can make one Alford'sprobably the best shooter out of
(17:54):
them.
Yeah.
They can give you honest outthere that's right.
You got everything you need.
And then obviously you got thegreatest.
I ever touch a basketball.
So that, that always helps.
It's nice.
That's a nice little addition.
Nice little pocket to have.
Yeah.
Let's talk about centers.
What are you looking for in acenter?
Looking for Oh, you gotta be,you gotta be a rebounder.
Okay.
If there's one thing that youcannot teach, in my opinion, is
(18:15):
your motor and your hands.
It's hard to teach.
A big to catch.
Okay.
I don't know how specificallythe high school level teaches
that unless you just keepthrowing balls at'em or
whatever.
But if a big man, a center hasan elite motor, I don't think
that can be taught and can catchthe basketball dump offs,
(18:37):
whatever, LOBs.
Yep.
Even rebound, just be able tocatch the ball.
Rip it.
Like you gotta, you got a bigthat you can work with.
You can teach'em a post hook,you can teach'em a go to move.
But those two things right therein a, like you gotta have a
motor, you gotta have a goodhands.
Let's break that down a littlebit.
'cause we got some parentslistening and going, my kid
averages nine rebounds a game.
(18:59):
And really, they're a badrebounder.
What's the difference betweengetting nine rebounds a game and
being a great rebounder?
What does that mean if therebounds coming to you?
Or can you rebound outta yourspace?
Is what we like to say.
If you can go get rebounds andcreate possessions, because even
nine rebounds is cool, youaverage nine rebounds.
How many other ones do youcreate for somebody else?
(19:21):
For somebody else?
How many do you keep alive?
How many are you going from?
Oh, I said a screen on a wing.
He shot it off.
The pick and roll.
Did you just stand there?
Or did you go create a tip back?
Or did you go and find outtayour space?
Like I think those are qualitiesthat are way more valuable
versus how many you just gotYeah.
(19:41):
As a person.
And what, that's really what welook a lot for that in our post
players.
It's just that, and I think thatgoes back to the motor.
Yeah, you can have nine becauseyou're the tallest player on the
court.
Not many high schools have six,seven, like you're just doing.
That's cool.
We got it.
That, that's very important.
But the other qualities I justmentioned I think are value way
more valuable?
(20:02):
Can you eliminate our opponentfrom getting extra possessions
and can you create extrapossessions extra for us?
Yep.
A hundred percent.
And can you lay the wood and gettheir best rebounder outta the
way, and then can you go get it?
And then can you eliminate themgetting that second shot on the
back end.
It's two, two big parts of that.
Thank you.
So I love that coach.
(20:23):
I've taken up a ton of your timetoday.
Give a piece of advice toparents that are going through
the recruiting process.
Their son wants to play at ACNU.
They wanna play, give'em a pieceof advice to help'em.
My biggest thing was just doyour research.
A lot of parents, a lot of kidsthey want to go, they wanna play
for the best schools.
I get that.
What I think is even moreimportant than just trying to
(20:43):
play at the best schools isplaying where you fit and
playing where you will have themost success.
Wherever you can bring the mostsuccess to a program.
For example, what I mean bythat, to break it down a little
bit more, is you go to a programthat has five centers that are
juniors.
You're six, seven, you're goodyou average 12 and nine.
Do you have any value to thatprogram?
(21:04):
It's not necessarily that youare not good enough to play
there.
Probably good enough to bethere.
You're recruited, you're arecruitable athlete for sure.
But in that class, they don'tneed a post player.
So you reaching out and beingupset, I get it a little bit,
but like you also have to doyour research when it comes to
those.
Are you, is your son a playerthat is a super fast point
(21:25):
guard?
Get out and transition, likes toget people involved, whatever
the case may be.
But you're trying to getrecruited by Tony Ben's UVA
team.
Yeah.
That just doesn't make's theball.
Yeah.
They'll walk the ball up tocourt and run sets.
That just doesn't make anysense.
Necessarily and it's nodisrespect to the individual or
the athlete.
Yes, you're good enough to playthere, but you have to
(21:46):
understand where you're tryingto go, who you're reaching out
to.
I think it's just as importantto understand that aspect of it
as it is for us coaches to.
Yeah.
That give the time to talk toyour kid, and I'm sure that goes
hand in hand with culture,community.
Weather, academics.
Do your research, especially theacademic part, especially D
three, academically, you gottaunderstand where that stands.
(22:07):
Like seeing you is not easy.
Yeah.
Like at all.
So like we don't even openemails that's below a three one.
'cause you have to understandthe academic of three, one.
We come in here a semester.
What's the average?
The average student comes in a4.0 by their first semester.
It drops down to a two six.
Yeah.
So even the quote unquote goodstudents in high school struggle
(22:31):
to make that transition.
So if you're a kid is at a threeone and you're looking at these
high UAA schools or CNU orwhatever.
It just doesn't make that muchsense.
Not saying that your kid isincapable of doing that's not
the what we're trying to do, butwe as a staff, as a co we have
to understand that it's safe toassume that we cannot, put you
(22:52):
in a position that you'll beineligible and don't have that
experience.
It's not safe for us to do that,so we won't waste our time.
Yeah.
You don't wanna set anybody upfor failure.
Correct.
All right.
Now give a piece of advice tothat 16-year-old that wants to
play college ball.
What should they be working onright now to get a coach's
attention that they have askillset and an IQ and an EQ to
(23:17):
be able to play at the nextlevel.
What's the biggest thing youwanna see more of and more
development of when kids walk inthe door?
The biggest thing is I feel likejust playing hard, especially
now.
I think that's the biggestthing.
A lot of people have the skill,A lot of people have the fancy
trainers, whatever the case maybe.
But when it comes down toplaying the game and playing it
(23:37):
at a elite level, like I thinkthat's what's going to separate
a lot of players, especially forus.
We have two good players, A andB, but who has the motor, who
has the intensity to compete?
That's what I'm, like I saidthat earlier.
To compete is totally differentfrom just playing hard.
Who just has that will to notlose the game regardless of
(23:58):
what's going on.
So if you're that 16-year-oldkid, you're good at basketball.
You can do a lot of good thingsif you want to truly separate
yourself, in my opinion.
Film shows that.
Competing film shows it in a lotof different areas.
Film don't lie.
Film does not lie.
Film don't lie.
It shows in a lot of differentareas.
So if you're that 16-year-oldgoing into your, what's that
junior year or sophomore year,whatever the case may be, like,
(24:19):
you have to turn that switch onsomehow some way, and that's
going to separate you from otherguys that are pretty good as
well.
Yeah, and it goes back to ourconversation in the first
segment.
I was always, I talked aboutthat 18 months, if it's January,
February and I'm still trying tofigure out how to motivate you
to work hard.
Guess what?
My friend, I'm alreadyrecruiting your replacement.
(24:40):
Yep.
We can't teach that if we haveto spend time to teach you how
to play hard and to teach you togo all out and give your best
effort.
Yeah.
What are we spending, what arewe spending time doing?
We're just wasting both of ourtime.
So yeah.
Your competition is no longerthat junior ahead of you.
It's the freshman I'm about tobring in.
And he ready to go.
(25:01):
I can tell you that.
Coach Q, you are a joy, myfriend.
If I could ever do anything foryou, you call and don't think
twice, and if you ever want totalk hoops.
You call, don't think twice, buttruly appreciate that.
So impressed with you.
You're gonna do great things,man.
Appreciate that.
We'll talk soon.
Thank you man.
What a great conversation withCoach Quentin Acry, one of the
(25:24):
bright young superstars incollege basketball coaching.
You can hear the wisdom beyondhis years and the clarity that
comes from doing recruiting theright way, always with honesty,
curiosity, and care.
What stood out most to me is howCoach Q looks past the stat
sheets and the sales pitches.
He's watching how athletesrespond to adversity, how they
(25:45):
interact with teammates, and howtheir parents carry themselves
in the stands.
He's reminding all of uscoaches, parents and athletes
alike, that recruiting isn'tabout finding the best players,
it's about building the rightpeople and building great
programs.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, do me a favor,
favorite, like, and leave acomment wherever you're
listening.
It helps us reach more families,coaches, and athletes who wanna
(26:07):
do this the right way.
And don't forget to subscribefor free@coachmattrogers.com.
You'll get the weeklynewsletter, exclusive coaching
and recruiting tips, earlyupdates on NCAA rules and
changes.
And first looks at my new booksand the school connections that
I make to help you stay ahead inyour journey.
(26:28):
Also, make sure to read thisweek's blog where I break down
what NIL name, image, andlikeness really means, and how
it's impacting families,coaches, and universities at
every level.
Until next time, stay focused onwhat you could control.
Stay humble and keep chasingsignificance.
Welcome to the SignificantRecruiting Podcast.
I'm Matt Rogers.
Today I'm joined by one of thebright young superstars in
college basketball coachingQuentin, coach Q Acre of
Christopher Newport University.
Coach Q started young andlearned fast.
He brought back a lot ofmemories when I was that age,
getting into the game andlearning from great coaches and
trying to figure out who Iwanted to be as a coach.
(00:33):
So I love his energy and I lovehis passion, During this part
two of our conversation, wefocused on what he's looking for
when he's out recruiting forCNU.
I ask around, we do a lot ofbackground homework, guidance,
counselors, teachers, coaches,old coaches, if they, Trent,
whatever the case may bedifferent family members, we do
(00:54):
a lot when it comes to thatbecause we want.
Great people, like highcharacter individuals at this
program.
We unpack why toughness and IQare his first filters, what body
language in a bad game revealsand how parent messaging can
quietly help or hurt a recruit'schances.
He also breaks down what helooks for at every position on
(01:16):
the basketball court and whyfilm doesn't lie when it comes
to truly competing.
Quick note before we roll.
Check out this week'sblog@coachmattrogers.com.
I'm breaking down what NILreally means and how it's
impacting families, coaches, anduniversities at every level.
(01:36):
If this helps you, pleasefavorite like and leave a
comment and subscribe forfree@coachmattrogers.com for the
weekly newsletter where I'llprovide exclusive coaching and
recruiting tips, early NCAAupdates, and first looks at new
books and school and coachconnections.
Let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withQuentin Coach q Acre.
(02:00):
Coach Quentin Acre.
So glad I've gotten to know you.
It's always exciting for me whenI had an assistant coach who I
just knew, had the tools and.
It made my job easier because Icould step away.
I could walk outta the gym for afew minutes and I knew practice
was gonna run at the same pace,and there was gonna be the same
(02:21):
discipline and the same energy.
And you've got all that.
I'm excited about it.
I wanna talk some recruitingwith you, if you're cool with
that.
Yeah, for sure.
That's my baby right there.
I love that.
What's really cool for you isyou started at what, 20.
Yeah, somewhere around there.
21.
Yeah.
You were already recruitingbefore you graduated.
What are some of the big thingsyou've learned as a recruiter
(02:43):
over these last four or fiveyears?
The biggest the biggest one Ilearned is just how to quote,
unquote, read through the, Idon't want to, it's not bs, but
it's like a.
What kids tell you what theywant.
What you want to know or whatyou want to hear.
That's the biggest thing on justreally understanding okay,
trying to look deeper into theanswers that they gave.
(03:04):
What they're actually talkingabout.
They're, and things like that.
I've gotten really good at okay,I don't really think this kid is
about the right stuff when itcomes to seeing you.
Or, I ask around, we do a lot ofbackground homework, guidance,
counselors, teachers, coaches,old coaches, if they, Trent,
whatever the case may bedifferent family members, we do
a lot when it comes to thatbecause we want.
(03:25):
Great people, like highcharacter individuals at this
program.
And I've done a real good job ofI think that's the biggest thing
that I've learned is okay, Itruly know that he saying, he
just saying he's just talkingright now.
Like you, not really.
Yeah.
So I, I think that is thebiggest one.
Is there a part of that you'relooking for, that you're hoping
that you're gonna feel an hearan energy or hear a confidence
(03:50):
that tells you?
This kid can survive in ourprogram.
Is there anything specific thatyou're like, there's something I
just saw on the floor, there'sjust something I saw.
In an interaction between thatkid and his coach or that kid
and a teammate or even that kidand an official, is there
something that's starting toclick with you?
You're like, God, I love that.
I want more.
(04:10):
Yeah, I, the I can break it downa little bit.
Interact with Coach.
We like to see him through aseason.
Some programs you'll see througha u that coming into your senior
year and offer you immediately.
We don't offer kids like that.
We like to see through a season.
So we wanna come to those badgames'cause Okay.
You got a bad game.
Like how are you moving throughthat?
Are, is it everybody else'sfault or is it, are you able to
(04:32):
All right.
High five, the teammates takecoaching.
Even when you get pulled out incertain situations, you walk to
the end of the bench.
Or am I okay, coach said thisboom.
I still go down and slapeverybody's hand.
Those small, those are bigthings for us because you're
going to get coached here,period.
Yeah.
Everything will not be pretty.
So if you're able to do it inthat scenario, we believe that
(04:55):
okay, like he, he's about theright things.
Like he, he understands what itmeans to just be a good
basketball player and thatyou're gonna have to be coached,
you're gonna have to be tough.
And then, truthfully, parents.
How are those interacting at thebasketball game when they come
and talk to us?
Is it about Oh yeah.
Tommy's so good.
I don't know why coach doesn'tdraw more plays up for him.
(05:17):
He's not just about Tommy.
I'm not gonna lie to you.
I don't that's not a, thegreatest of flags for us because
it could potentially come up.
In our program.
'cause we can only assume thatTommy's not going to be the man
from the jump.
Like he just won't.
We have other good players inthis program, but if that's a
thing that's not only comingfrom the parent, but if you're
(05:37):
feeding that to him, then onceadversity hits, what is he gonna
do?
Yeah.
That's a big thing for us.
I think parents struggle withthe fact that you can see one
game or watch one film and theydon't think that.
You have all the information.
They feel like they have to sellyou.
Yeah.
What they don't realize is youprobably learned 90% of what you
(06:01):
needed to know in about threeminutes.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And then everything else is,it's about your character.
It's about your fit.
It's about, can we have arelationship with you?
But whether or not you can play.
That, that happens before youeven know I'm in the gym.
That's the super easy.
That's the fun.
It's we know that if you canplay college basketball, that's
(06:22):
the easiest part of it allright?
But we already know that youhave zero, responsibility to
sell us on that.
We care more about who you guysare, is people.
When it comes to representingChristopher Newport.
This is where coaches are justbad at it.
'cause we know it's instinctual.
We've been doing it long enough,we played long enough, we've
recruited long enough, we'vemade enough mistakes.
(06:44):
We know what we're looking forin recruit, but what we're bad
at is articulating what exactlythat is.
It's easy to say you're not bigenough, you're not strong
enough.
Your hand your handles aren'tgood enough.
You don't have a consistent workethic.
But there's so many parts tothat.
You can be a really good ballplayer.
You could be the captain of yourhigh school team and a 4.0 GPA
(07:05):
and a great leader, but youmight not have the killer
instinct that we want and needat your position that we want
you to play.
Yes.
Wonderful.
Yes.
You're averaging 17 and nine.
Yes.
But you're doing it against guysthat are gonna be a light snack
in our conference.
Yes.
A hundred yes.
Yes.
When a parent were to ask you,what does my son need?
(07:31):
How often are you saying thingslike the toughness and the
effort and the consistency?
Where do those things come in?
Toughness is one, but even whenwe are looking at a person,
toughness is the number one.
Yeah.
Toughness in iq.
And I think it goes to the pointthat you were saying like.
It's not their fault that theycould be in a situation where
(07:51):
the talent isn't that great orthe level of athleticism they're
playing against isn't thatgreat?
It's not their fault.
But when it comes to recruitingfor a program that is about
winning games at the end of theday, yeah.
The biggest thing that we try tocommunicate with the parents,
it's you can have 19 points, buthow are you scoring those 19
points are very important to us.
(08:12):
In what ways is he getting, isit 19 points on 28 shots?
That's right.
Is it 19 points?
But you guys pressed the entiregame, so I don't really see you
in a half court setting.
That's right.
'Cause that's different.
Everybody's not gonna be able topress you're not gonna press
anybody in college.
Yeah.
You don't score off of that.
We're not just taking the ballfrom people.
Yeah.
'cause there are other goodplayers.
So there's different ways tohave that 19 where there's
(08:35):
different ways to be like, yeah.
He is a pretty good player, buthe doesn't rebound it like a,
you gotta be, you gotta have adifferent edge to you when it
comes to rebound.
Especially for us when we'regot, when we're recruiting our
forwards and stuff and have adifferent edge to you when it
comes to rebounding.
Yes, he has a lot.
But like they're the ones thatcome to him.
Yeah.
Does he go out his way torebound?
That's a different skillsetthan, than a regular.
(08:59):
Yeah.
Numbers, I would say a lot ofcoaches are going to no
positions.
Positionless basketball, and Iknow you guys are like me, it's
still pretty much, you have aone through five and sometimes
you'll have three fours on thefloor.
Sometimes you might have threetwos on the floor.
Yeah, let's do a littlebreakdown, and this doesn't have
to be your CNU breakdown.
(09:20):
This can be just Coach Q and howyou think.
Okay, bet.
Let's talk about each position.
Gimme one thing that you loveseeing and wanna see when you go
watch a point guard.
Iq.
Iq, iq.
It has to be break that down.
What does IQ mean to you?
What it means to me is do youhave the understanding of when
to take shots, when to getpeople involved and when to
(09:44):
control the game.
Can you do that?
And what I mean by controllingthe game, it's not necessarily
the tempo or anything like that,but are you so unfathomable at
your position that no matter thedefense they throw at you?
No matter if they throw twobodies trapping or whatever.
Do you have the poise and thecontrol to know what to do next?
You don't have to always havethe assist.
(10:07):
I'm not saying that you don'thave to always be the one to
finish the shot.
Definitely not saying that, butcan you get outta that trap, get
it off of it quickly because youknow the next pass is going to
lead to something else?
Yeah.
Like those little things for me.
Can you get it?
Fast break.
Why are you dribbling all theway to the pain and then you
have to make the play?
Can you get it?
(10:27):
Boom, you see somebody ahead,get off, get the ball outta your
hands, get that outta your handsquickly in order to maintain
that advantage and transitionthose little things for me as a
point guard, like I'm like,okay.
Like he can really translate it.
'cause now, at our level Dthree, the point guards are not
the highest scores.
No, I know in division one alittle bit, point guards are
definitely scores right now.
But like at D three level, likewe still more traditional a
(10:50):
little bit when it comes to thepoint guards.
So you gotta be able to havethat, those little things.
And we have an elite point guardright now that's so good at the
little things.
Yeah.
Yep.
I love it.
I love watching a point guardthat just knows, okay, my big
man, they can't handle it.
I gotta get him a touch.
My shooting guard, he just madetwo in a row.
I gotta keep finding right?
(11:12):
It's just understanding what'shappening on the floor,
understanding the room you're inand what's happening and how do
I take advantage of it, lovethat stuff.
There was this one point, sorryabout that.
There was this one guard that Isaw I'm not gonna name any
names, but what just drew meinto him is like you just
mentioned the shooting guardhitting two threes.
Yeah.
There was a play, there was downguy hit two threes, and
transition whatever.
(11:33):
They come back down next play,they gotta stop.
And he pointed at his to go pinaway for the guy that just hit
two threes just to get him intouch.
He didn't score that third time.
Yeah.
But two people came to him.
It opened up the screener and Iwas like, yep.
Like that there at the highschool.
If you have that, you are a goodpoint guard in my opinion.
(11:54):
Absolutely.
Forget everything else.
Like for you to tell yourteammate to get out the way to
go pin down.
For a guy that just hit to thatis an elite level.
IQ that not many people have.
Now we're playing chess, a setof checkers.
'cause that kid understands wemight not get him a shot, but he
just hit two threes and I'mpointing at him.
There's a good chance we'regonna have two, maybe three
(12:15):
defenders go with him, go withthem, but we're gonna get
something easy, whether he getsattached or shot or not.
I love that.
All right, let's talk about yourshooting guards.
Let's talk about your tubes.
What are you looking for thatgets you giddy?
Obviously they gotta be able toshoot it.
Yeah, for sure.
That's a premium right now inthis sport.
Absolutely.
And then for me specifically,like my twos and threes are the
(12:35):
same player, like they're justwings.
I just call'em wings by wingplayer.
They have to be able toobviously shoot, but what I
think makes them very good isthe ability to make plays when
they run you off the line.
Not many people can, they canshoot, they can do whatever, but
once teams run'em off the line.
Not many people are making thecorrect play, and that does not
(12:58):
necessarily mean they have toshoot, but can you get ran off
the line, draw a big man up,make the right play, whether the
dude cracks back on a big, Ihave to spray it out to the
three, or I dumped down to thebig, whatever the case may be.
But can I hit the paint?
And make a proper play.
I don't think a lot of peoplehave that.
I guess that goes back a littlebit to IQ as well, but you have
(13:19):
to have that athletic ability toeven put it on the ground at an
elite level in order to make aplay.
It's real simple.
It's, if I have to create yourshots for you, you're gonna have
a hard time playing in myprogram.
Yeah.
Like we can't run play, like wedon't do it here at, we have no.
Double stagger coming.
(13:40):
We don't, I don't know what wecan't do that.
You're not gonna get a shot.
I don't know what that is.
If you need somebody to create ashot for you, this is the wrong
place.
Yeah.
You have to be able to makeplays like, yeah.
Everybody can just catch andshoot and stand there all day.
Yeah.
The teams are not gonna let youdo that and create shots.
Probably the wrong phrase,create space if you can't create
space on your own.
Fair.
(14:00):
Yeah.
Off of pump fakes, off ofpivots, off of dribble, whatever
that may be.
Learning how to get into yourman and create space to get a
shot off or to get that space, Ilove that that, that's right on.
And it's such a big, and that'sa huge failure on the high
school coach side.
And not all of'em, I don't wannathrow on every bus, but there's
so few kids that are comingoutta high school that know how
(14:20):
to create their own spacebecause everybody's a is, we
live in a cone generation rightnow.
Everybody's just dribblingthrough cones, so it's very easy
To gray space on a cone.
Yeah, you gotta get some live.
I think people just need to geta lot more live reps, a lot more
playing like they did back inthe day.
I know I'm not that old, but Iwas between the generation of
(14:41):
the old school and then now thenew generation of what it is.
So I knew what it was.
I grew up on old school, weplayed.
Yeah.
So you wanna know how to createspace, how to get a good pump,
fake a jet.
You go play against olderplayers Yep.
That are better than you and youfigure it out.
You do not get a cone in achair.
That's right.
Yeah.
And great players don't need todribble away from a defender.
(15:03):
Great players can pump fake andjab step and pivot and reverse
pivot and front pivot to createthat space.
Yep.
Maybe the dribble comes afterit, but it's hard to find those
kids.
It's really hard to find thosekids.
Alright, let's talk about yourfours.
Give us some direction on, doyou like a multiverse four.
Do you like a four that canshoot it?
(15:23):
Do you like a four that's gotthat toughness you've been
talking about that's gonnabring, that I can guard a post,
I can play in the post, I canplay back to basket, gimme some
of that.
Yeah.
So in a Coach Q's ideal world,my for man is very versatile.
Can step out.
And that's not the only thingthey can do.
But as are able to stretch thefloor enough.
'cause I'm big on spacing, we'rebig on spacing here in general.
(15:46):
So are they able to be enough ofa threat on the perimeter where
the floor can be just more spaceon the floor?
And then I think they still haveto have the same qualities as
your wings especially now.
So if you can find a six sixwith a little bit of what they
can do, I mean with a little bitof the same skillset as a wing.
And can knock down a randomcatch and shoot three, the D
(16:08):
three level.
Are you kidding me?
And I think, I mean you're,yeah, like that's a premium at
where we are.
Absolutely.
But when it just comes to thefours in general, I do think
they need to be multi-faceted.
Like I think they need to be aguy that you can throw to in a
pinch post or something likethat.
It can make a play.
Or can be in a short role oranything like that, can make a
play, can step out and shoot athree.
I just think they have to be themost versatile player, in my
(16:29):
opinion, on the floor.
They don't have to be great.
One specific thing, but if theycan be very versatile and be
plug and play into certainsituations, I do think you have
a really good four man in thatsense.
All right, I'll give you one.
You can only pick one.
Draymond Greener Al Horford.
Who do you take?
Draymond.
Yeah, I got to, even with a lackof jumper.
(16:51):
Yeah, because he makes up forthe rest of it.
Like you have a player inDraymond who can guard one
through five consistently.
It's not a, some people say youcan guard one through five, he
can guard one through five.
He's an elite playmaker out ofthe short role as in primary
ball handler.
And then you have a guy whounderstands the off ball
movements that we mentioned alittle bit earlier, when to go
(17:12):
set a screen.
How to go point at people to gofind Steph Curry.
Yeah.
How to then make the secondpass, because I can read that
two people workout like that initself.
That's why they're so good.
Like he is very inval.
Like he is invaluable to thatorganization.
It's crazy.
How good is Gold State gonna bethis year with Al Horford,
Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler,three guys that do all those
(17:33):
things?
If they stay healthy.
If they stay healthy, I thinkthey can make some noise.
I think they can make somenoise.
That's scary, man.
That's a scary, that's, they canmake some noise.
That's three of the highest IQsof the game.
Yes, and they're all versatile.
You got Jimmy Butler that canguard multiple.
Yeah they switch ability on aperimeter.
They're not the greatest ofshooters.
They can make one Alford'sprobably the best shooter out of
(17:54):
them.
Yeah.
They can give you honest outthere that's right.
You got everything you need.
And then obviously you got thegreatest.
I ever touch a basketball.
So that, that always helps.
It's nice.
That's a nice little addition.
Nice little pocket to have.
Yeah.
Let's talk about centers.
What are you looking for in acenter?
Looking for Oh, you gotta be,you gotta be a rebounder.
Okay.
If there's one thing that youcannot teach, in my opinion, is
(18:15):
your motor and your hands.
It's hard to teach.
A big to catch.
Okay.
I don't know how specificallythe high school level teaches
that unless you just keepthrowing balls at'em or
whatever.
But if a big man, a center hasan elite motor, I don't think
that can be taught and can catchthe basketball dump offs,
(18:37):
whatever, LOBs.
Yep.
Even rebound, just be able tocatch the ball.
Rip it.
Like you gotta, you got a bigthat you can work with.
You can teach'em a post hook,you can teach'em a go to move.
But those two things right therein a, like you gotta have a
motor, you gotta have a goodhands.
Let's break that down a littlebit.
'cause we got some parentslistening and going, my kid
averages nine rebounds a game.
(18:59):
And really, they're a badrebounder.
What's the difference betweengetting nine rebounds a game and
being a great rebounder?
What does that mean if therebounds coming to you?
Or can you rebound outta yourspace?
Is what we like to say.
If you can go get rebounds andcreate possessions, because even
nine rebounds is cool, youaverage nine rebounds.
How many other ones do youcreate for somebody else?
(19:21):
For somebody else?
How many do you keep alive?
How many are you going from?
Oh, I said a screen on a wing.
He shot it off.
The pick and roll.
Did you just stand there?
Or did you go create a tip back?
Or did you go and find outtayour space?
Like I think those are qualitiesthat are way more valuable
versus how many you just gotYeah.
(19:41):
As a person.
And what, that's really what welook a lot for that in our post
players.
It's just that, and I think thatgoes back to the motor.
Yeah, you can have nine becauseyou're the tallest player on the
court.
Not many high schools have six,seven, like you're just doing.
That's cool.
We got it.
That, that's very important.
But the other qualities I justmentioned I think are value way
more valuable?
(20:02):
Can you eliminate our opponentfrom getting extra possessions
and can you create extrapossessions extra for us?
Yep.
A hundred percent.
And can you lay the wood and gettheir best rebounder outta the
way, and then can you go get it?
And then can you eliminate themgetting that second shot on the
back end.
It's two, two big parts of that.
Thank you.
So I love that coach.
(20:23):
I've taken up a ton of your timetoday.
Give a piece of advice toparents that are going through
the recruiting process.
Their son wants to play at ACNU.
They wanna play, give'em a pieceof advice to help'em.
My biggest thing was just doyour research.
A lot of parents, a lot of kidsthey want to go, they wanna play
for the best schools.
I get that.
What I think is even moreimportant than just trying to
(20:43):
play at the best schools isplaying where you fit and
playing where you will have themost success.
Wherever you can bring the mostsuccess to a program.
For example, what I mean bythat, to break it down a little
bit more, is you go to a programthat has five centers that are
juniors.
You're six, seven, you're goodyou average 12 and nine.
Do you have any value to thatprogram?
(21:04):
It's not necessarily that youare not good enough to play
there.
Probably good enough to bethere.
You're recruited, you're arecruitable athlete for sure.
But in that class, they don'tneed a post player.
So you reaching out and beingupset, I get it a little bit,
but like you also have to doyour research when it comes to
those.
Are you, is your son a playerthat is a super fast point
(21:25):
guard?
Get out and transition, likes toget people involved, whatever
the case may be.
But you're trying to getrecruited by Tony Ben's UVA
team.
Yeah.
That just doesn't make's theball.
Yeah.
They'll walk the ball up tocourt and run sets.
That just doesn't make anysense.
Necessarily and it's nodisrespect to the individual or
the athlete.
Yes, you're good enough to playthere, but you have to
(21:46):
understand where you're tryingto go, who you're reaching out
to.
I think it's just as importantto understand that aspect of it
as it is for us coaches to.
Yeah.
That give the time to talk toyour kid, and I'm sure that goes
hand in hand with culture,community.
Weather, academics.
Do your research, especially theacademic part, especially D
three, academically, you gottaunderstand where that stands.
(22:07):
Like seeing you is not easy.
Yeah.
Like at all.
So like we don't even openemails that's below a three one.
'cause you have to understandthe academic of three, one.
We come in here a semester.
What's the average?
The average student comes in a4.0 by their first semester.
It drops down to a two six.
Yeah.
So even the quote unquote goodstudents in high school struggle
(22:31):
to make that transition.
So if you're a kid is at a threeone and you're looking at these
high UAA schools or CNU orwhatever.
It just doesn't make that muchsense.
Not saying that your kid isincapable of doing that's not
the what we're trying to do, butwe as a staff, as a co we have
to understand that it's safe toassume that we cannot, put you
(22:52):
in a position that you'll beineligible and don't have that
experience.
It's not safe for us to do that,so we won't waste our time.
Yeah.
You don't wanna set anybody upfor failure.
Correct.
All right.
Now give a piece of advice tothat 16-year-old that wants to
play college ball.
What should they be working onright now to get a coach's
attention that they have askillset and an IQ and an EQ to
(23:17):
be able to play at the nextlevel.
What's the biggest thing youwanna see more of and more
development of when kids walk inthe door?
The biggest thing is I feel likejust playing hard, especially
now.
I think that's the biggestthing.
A lot of people have the skill,A lot of people have the fancy
trainers, whatever the case maybe.
But when it comes down toplaying the game and playing it
(23:37):
at a elite level, like I thinkthat's what's going to separate
a lot of players, especially forus.
We have two good players, A andB, but who has the motor, who
has the intensity to compete?
That's what I'm, like I saidthat earlier.
To compete is totally differentfrom just playing hard.
Who just has that will to notlose the game regardless of
(23:58):
what's going on.
So if you're that 16-year-oldkid, you're good at basketball.
You can do a lot of good thingsif you want to truly separate
yourself, in my opinion.
Film shows that.
Competing film shows it in a lotof different areas.
Film don't lie.
Film does not lie.
Film don't lie.
It shows in a lot of differentareas.
So if you're that 16-year-oldgoing into your, what's that
junior year or sophomore year,whatever the case may be, like,
(24:19):
you have to turn that switch onsomehow some way, and that's
going to separate you from otherguys that are pretty good as
well.
Yeah, and it goes back to ourconversation in the first
segment.
I was always, I talked aboutthat 18 months, if it's January,
February and I'm still trying tofigure out how to motivate you
to work hard.
Guess what?
My friend, I'm alreadyrecruiting your replacement.
(24:40):
Yep.
We can't teach that if we haveto spend time to teach you how
to play hard and to teach you togo all out and give your best
effort.
Yeah.
What are we spending, what arewe spending time doing?
We're just wasting both of ourtime.
So yeah.
Your competition is no longerthat junior ahead of you.
It's the freshman I'm about tobring in.
And he ready to go.
(25:01):
I can tell you that.
Coach Q, you are a joy, myfriend.
If I could ever do anything foryou, you call and don't think
twice, and if you ever want totalk hoops.
You call, don't think twice, buttruly appreciate that.
So impressed with you.
You're gonna do great things,man.
Appreciate that.
We'll talk soon.
Thank you man.
What a great conversation withCoach Quentin Acry, one of the
(25:24):
bright young superstars incollege basketball coaching.
You can hear the wisdom beyondhis years and the clarity that
comes from doing recruiting theright way, always with honesty,
curiosity, and care.
What stood out most to me is howCoach Q looks past the stat
sheets and the sales pitches.
He's watching how athletesrespond to adversity, how they
(25:45):
interact with teammates, and howtheir parents carry themselves
in the stands.
He's reminding all of uscoaches, parents and athletes
alike, that recruiting isn'tabout finding the best players,
it's about building the rightpeople and building great
programs.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, do me a favor,
favorite, like, and leave acomment wherever you're
listening.
It helps us reach more families,coaches, and athletes who wanna
(26:07):
do this the right way.
And don't forget to subscribefor free@coachmattrogers.com.
You'll get the weeklynewsletter, exclusive coaching
and recruiting tips, earlyupdates on NCAA rules and
changes.
And first looks at my new booksand the school connections that
I make to help you stay ahead inyour journey.
(26:28):
Also, make sure to read thisweek's blog where I break down
what NIL name, image, andlikeness really means, and how
it's impacting families,coaches, and universities at
every level.
Until next time, stay focused onwhat you could control.
Stay humble and keep chasingsignificance.
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