March 2, 2025 • 46 mins
In today's episode, we explore the compelling journey of Scott Knapp, a celebrated high school basketball star who recently earned his place in the Siena Athletic Hall of Fame. Get ready to relive his extraordinary moments on the court and discover how his hard work and dedication propelled him from local talent to a basketball icon. Scott shares heartwarming anecdotes about his father, a formidable coach, and the community that rallied behind him throughout his career.
We’re also joined by Coach John Snyder of the Notre Dame Lady Jugglers, a team that's consistently chasing excellence in New York State basketball. Coach Snyder opens up about navigating the challenges of a shifting team dynamic, the critical roles of youth players, and the essence of maintaining a winning culture. Tune in for insights on the pressures of being a top team and how to adapt amidst competition.
Whether you're a die-hard basketball fan or simply drawn to inspiring stories of resilience and success, this episode invites you into the world of high school basketball like never before. Engage with us as we celebrate both Scott Knapp's legacy and the promise of future basketball teams. Don’t forget to subscribe, share your thoughts, and join the conversation with us!
Thank you for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rocky (00:01):
Today I get the chance to talk to one of the best
shooters in New York State, oneof the best scorers in New York
State.
I'll talk to VVS grad Sienagrad Scott Knapp, who was just
inducted into the SienaBasketball Siena Athletic Hall
of Fame a few weeks ago, andthen at the bottom of the hour
we'll get a chance to talk tothe Lady Jugglers, notre Dame's
(00:22):
head basketball coach, johnSnyder.
John joined us last year.
I'm excited to talk to himagain here this morning as his
team chases yet another Section3 title and a New York State
championship and more here thismorning.
On talk to Scotty Knapp, Iplayed basketball with Scott
(01:01):
Scott's a year older than I am.
He was at DBS and I was at RFA.
We played Fran Allison YouthBasketball together, so I've
known Scott for a long time andI haven't caught up with Scott
in a while.
So I'm excited to talk to himin just a little bit.
He was inducted into the SienaAthletic Hall of Fame just last
week, last week and then we'lltalk to him about his career one
(01:27):
of the best careers, one of thebest shooters, I'll say, in New
York State.
He still ranks all time in alot of categories.
So we'll talk to Scott here,his dad, coach Knapp, one of the
winningest coaches in this area.
They go into Hall of Fametogether, which is pretty cool.
And then I'll talk to CoachSnyder who, if you remember,
last year when I talked to CoachSnyder, I was joking with him
saying I need a spot on thatstaff because he is loaded with
(01:50):
talent, and I looked throughthat roster again this year.
They're all young, they're allback again next year.
So the Notre Dame Lady Jugglersprogram is in really good hands
with Coach Snyder.
I love talking with him.
I wish I could talk to him alittle bit more than a couple
times a year, but we'll talk tohim at the bottom of the hour.
If you got any comments,questions for either guest you
(02:11):
want to say hi to me thismorning, put it in the comment
box.
If you're following me onYouTube, twitter, linkedin,
spotify, wherever you'refollowing me across your social
media platforms, I always putsome comments in there.
Next week on the show, I'll letyou know who the next guest is
on the weekly huddle, but I'mgoing to start to take call-ins,
(02:32):
so some of you that are at homeand maybe want to call in.
Like the radio show at WKAL.
We're doing it over there.
We'll have the opportunity todo that.
So I'll put a call-in number upnext week and probably for all
shows going forward.
So I'm excited for that.
So I'll put a call-in number upnext week and probably for all
shows going forward.
So I'm excited for that.
I was at the UC hockey game lastnight.
The men's, my wife and I, thekids they love going to the
(02:55):
games, we've been at a lot ofthose games and man, they came
out firing on all cylinders lastnight.
We left with about 10 minutesto go in the third period.
It was 7-0 over Chatham andthey left with about 10 minutes
to go in the third period.
It was 7-0 over Chatham andthey ended up winning 9-0, which
will set up the championshipshowdown the following weekend
Right at the odd.
They'll take on Geneseo who.
They beat Geneseo once theylost to Geneseo.
(03:17):
They tied to Geneseo, sodefinitely the two best teams in
that conference and I wouldassume that both teams will
punch their ticket to theDivision III NCAA tournament
here when that gets announced.
It was great hockey last night.
Always a great environment atthe?
O.
When I talk to Coach Ean, Ialways talk about the same thing
, that home ice.
They're really good at home.
(03:38):
The women I saw are in thechampionship as well, so
congratulations to them.
Big week for Rome sports.
Arfe Hockey will be playing forthe Section 3 title on Monday,
as they will be playing at theMemorial in Syracuse against
West Jenny.
That's the one they've got toget over the hump.
(03:58):
They've played them good twiceover the last few years.
Of course the controversy willgo last year and then add it
again this year, so hopefullyRFA will have a good crowd here,
if it's.
You know, monday night at theWar Memorial there is a student
bus, sectional bus goingspectator bus on Monday and then
(04:20):
on Tuesday my buddy co-host ofthe show and then on Tuesday my
buddy co-host of the show, coachMedesis, will be playing in the
semifinals against a reallygood Liverpool team who they
beat earlier in the year.
They beat them the first game ofthe year.
I think it was by 5, 75, 70.
But the atmosphere this pastweek for the Rome-Proctor game
(04:41):
and I told Coach Medesis thisI've watched RFA basketball for
well over 20, 25 years and thatgym at RFA was standing room
only.
You could not get a seat inthat gym.
There were people that couldn'teven get in the doorway to that
gym and of course it wasUtica-Rome, which is always a
(05:01):
big rivalry game.
But he has a really good team.
They're fun to watch.
They're undefeated, playingreally good basketball.
They'll play against theLiverpool team, who I think has
played really good basketballhere down the stretch.
I think the last month of theseason they played really well
and I know Coach would echo thesame thing.
At this point forward you'regoing to have to play.
(05:21):
Liverpool and the winner of thatgame gets a really good CNS
team who many think that it'sour fane, cns.
But you've got to get there.
Cns is going to play BishopLudden, who is another really
good team.
So the four left, they're allgood and you've got to play
really good to beat them You'vegot to go game by game but
hopefully the Romans will travelwell on Monday night and
(05:43):
Tuesday night the boys areplaying at 5 o'clock basketball
on Tuesday night that game is atMVCC, the Jorgensen Center in
Utica.
So let's get out there.
There is a spectator bus thatis going on Tuesday, so
hopefully we can pack that gymin black and orange and cheer
home both black Knights thehockey team to a section three
(06:06):
title, the boys to a section ofthree, final birth.
It would be the first sectionaltitle for Rome in a long time.
So best of luck to to bothteams.
It's hard to believe we're inMarch already.
Bob says thanks for supportingRome sports spectator bus.
You got it.
I'm happy to do it.
I did say and I don't toot myhorn, but Bernie Bus did I did
(06:30):
donate both buses to sportsteams free of charge, on half of
Bernie Bus and myself.
So no problem at all, happy todo it.
Once a Rome Black Knight,always a Black Knight.
So we'll talk to Scotty Knapphere in a little bit.
And I had to go through some ofthe record books and I remember
(06:50):
going to VVS and watching ScottKnapp play and I forget who it
was against and Coach Baldwinsaid it the other night at the
RFA game I was sitting behindhim when they played Ryan Artas
and Coach Knapp always scheduledsome really good games and I
just remember that it was sopacked and it reminded me of
(07:12):
going to watch Coach A and Brianwhen they were at New York
Mills, when it was like the bestshow in town, like it was the
hardest ticket to get into thegym, like the line to get in was
like all the way out the doorto get in, so it was a crazy
environment which wasunbelievable for a high school
basketball game.
(07:33):
And I just remember going towatch Scott play and man, I'll
tell you what I know there's JoeGirard who's the all-time
leading scorer in New York State.
But before Joe Girard there wasScotty Knapp and Scott Knapp
used to pull up from all overthe gym.
He was so fun to watch play.
And I remember at RFI I think Iwas just a ninth grader, 10th
(07:54):
grader and we got a chance toplay against Scott and man.
I'll tell you why.
It was lights out watching himplay Fun to watch.
His dad was a heck of a coachand they were always fun to
watch.
But I just remember trying toget into any of those games was
like so hard.
If you didn't get it there, I'mtelling you, an hour, two hours
(08:14):
before game time you didn't geta seat in that gym either and,
like I said, it was very similarto going to watch coach 80 play
when they were playing at NewYork Mills.
You know the small Beekman gym,if you didn't get there early
early for his games.
You didn't get a seat.
You were standing out in thehallway, not even in the gym,
(08:34):
and just kind of listening andhoping you'd get a score.
Hopefully somebody will leaveso you can go in and watch that
game.
So I'm excited to talk to Scott, catch up a little bit, talk
about some of the old days ofplaying at Frank Allison
Basketball and more seeing whathe's up to nowadays Great honor
to be inducted into the SienaAthletic Hall of Fame.
I'll get his thoughts on thenew man in charge for Siena,
(08:57):
jerry McNamara, who's done afantastic job in year one at
Siena turning around thatprogram, and get his thoughts on
how long he thinks GMAC will bethere.
Some people think that whenCoach Autry at Syracuse, maybe
his time comes to an end, and Ithink people have to be patient
with Coach Autry too.
But we'll talk to Scott aboutthat and much more.
(09:18):
So let me bring Scotty on.
Scott, what's happening, buddy?
Hey, how's it going Rocky?
How are you?
I'm doing fantastic.
How are you this morning?
Scott Knapp (09:28):
Doing great, doing great.
It's a little cold up here inAlbany, but here we have a lot
less snow than you guys got thisyear, so we're just seeing the
last bit melt here in this nicewarm weekend we're experiencing.
Rocky (09:42):
No, that's, I get it.
We have been hammered with snowhere, and one thing that's been
really really crazy for me is Ihad some snow come off the roof
and of course some of my roofkind of busted off.
So it's been a rough winter forthe Corigliano family.
Scott Knapp (10:00):
Well, hopefully the light is at the end of the
tunnel here and we can see it.
Rocky (10:04):
So, scott, listen man, I appreciate you coming on.
I was just telling the audiencehere listening in this morning
that I remember when you were inhigh school playing for your
dad and I said coming to watchyou guys play reminded me of
going to watch Coach 80's gamesat New York Mills, that if you
didn't get there early youdidn't get a seat to come watch
you guys play and you guys werelike the hottest ticket in town.
(10:27):
Here's a Rome guy coming out towatch you guys play at VVS.
But talk to us a little bitabout, of course, the VVS day.
Get a chance to play for Dad.
Scott Knapp (10:36):
I mean it was an amazing experience, one I
probably took for granted at thetime.
But just the support of thecommunity, you know it was
always great to see.
You know we would have HamiltonCollege players coming to the
games and it was really like theplace to be.
Like you said, I remember onegame.
My uncle who lived in Sequoiahe got there a little bit late
(10:57):
and there was no more ticketsavailable, so he actually threw
a 20 up against the door and Ithink one of the workers at the
school opened the door and lethim in, so luckily he was able
to see it.
But playing for my dad, I meanit was a great experience.
He was hard on me, as anyonewho watched the games knew.
Anybody who knew me in myyounger days knew he was tough
(11:18):
on me and I think it was becausehe saw a lot of potential in me
and didn't want it to go towaste.
And it was really hard at thetime.
You know, to be yelled at andto be, you know, to feel like I
was being singled out for thingsthat maybe he wasn't singling
out other people on the team orin the program for.
But at the end of the day, wewere always able to go home and
eat dinner together and andleave that on the court and and
(11:39):
still have that father sonrelationship, which I really
appreciated as well.
Rocky (11:46):
Yeah, relationship which I really appreciated as well.
Yeah, and I can really a littlebit of that.
I didn't get a chance to playfor my dad, but my dad coached a
lot of other sports and cominghome at the dinner table I
remember mom had to kind of getin the middle of us a few times
and some heated arguments, butit was always they were good
arguments, I'll say, but I knowit's a special relationship you
have with dad and all that.
So the other thing I wanted totalk to you about I got to go
(12:08):
back a little further to when wewere really younger, getting a
chance to play some Frey Nelsonbasketball and, you know,
getting a chance to play for aman, for Joe Ryan and those guys
back in the day.
Do you remember those days?
I?
Scott Knapp (12:23):
I do.
My first experience was actuallyplaying for steve evans.
Um, my first year steve evanswas my coach, and then it all
came full circle when he was anassistant coach at sienna
recruiting me and it wasactually a big reason why I
ended up going to sienna wasbecause of that relationship
that not only my father had withwith his father, obviously
another great coach in the area.
But, uh, but steve was just ayoung, young kid at that time,
(12:45):
probably the first team he hadever coached and uh, you know,
and getting to play in that romeprogram was always special for
me, coming from a much smallerplace at the time I lived in
brookfield where I had 13 kidsin my entire grade um, so to get
to play in a program like, likethe one that rome had built
under, uh, you know, mr Ryan andall the others, it was really
(13:05):
special.
And then it came full circleagain Johnny Mestrangelo, who's,
I think, a classmate of yours.
He was one of my roommates atcollege at Siena as well.
So a very tangled web betweenmyself and that Rome community
as well.
Rocky (13:20):
So, scott, take us through the recruiting process
for you and you know in highschool, like I said, in my eyes
still one of the best shootersand scorers to come out of New
York State, and we'll get in.
You still got some of therecords.
You're still up there in a lot,of, a lot of categories.
I was just talking about JoeGirard.
I said before Joe Girard therewas Scott Knapp.
So let's talk about therecruiting process for you.
(13:41):
How did Sienna come into play?
Scott Knapp (13:43):
talk about the recruiting process for you.
How did Siena come into play?
Yeah, I mean, for me it was.
It all happened very quickly.
I didn't have any Division Ioffers my junior year of high
school.
Le Moyne was the only school tooffer me a full scholarship.
That year I took a visit myjunior year right at the end of
the season and you know I reallyliked it.
You know my goal was to nothave to pay for college.
If I could play somewhere andget to pay for college through
(14:06):
my athletic abilities, that wasreally the goal.
At that point I felt reallygood that I had accomplished my
goal.
Then I went to five-star campthat summer and ended up getting
the MVP of the camp.
I had 15 offers on my answeringmachine when I got home, which
was, you know, very exciting fora kid like me.
You know, all I wanted to dowas play ball and I wanted to,
(14:29):
you know, do the best I couldand you know, to get recognized
in that way was awesome.
But then the hard work reallycame, because now I had to, like
, figure out, well, which schoolis it going to be, you know,
and I looked at all of them.
I had good enough grades and Ihad a pretty strong SAT score.
So the IB schools were aconsideration.
I did visit Yale and Cornell.
(14:49):
West Point was an optionpotentially, but it really
whittled down to Davidson, siena, iona, canisius, so really a
lot of those schools in theNortheast.
But I had a relationship withsome of the folks at Davidson so
so that was a school that wasin the mix as well.
Also a very good academic goingto a school like Siena where
(15:15):
they had really really goodamount of success in those few
years before I got there.
But they had the pieces inplace.
They had guys who eventually Ithink that class in front of me
had two 1,300 point scorers andthen Marcus Faison who had well
over 1,500 when it was all saidand done.
So we had this core that I knewwe would win.
(15:35):
I wasn't going to be a goodloser.
I couldn't be the one to go toa weak team and try to put up a
ton of stats.
I wanted to be on a winning teamwhere I had a chance to go to
the NCAA tournament, and I feltSiena gave me that and also it
gave me a place where I feltvery comfortable personally,
socially.
I got along well with the guyswhen I was on my visits.
The assistant coaches weregreat.
As I mentioned, steve Evans wason the staff, but it also
(15:59):
allowed my dad to be very close.
He came to pretty much everyhome game.
Joel Walpole was his assistantcoach.
They'd have practice rightafter school and then Joe would
drive down the highway to get mydad there on time.
It was a special thing.
Also, most people don't know mygrandparents actually lived in
Little.
Falls, so I was very fortunateto get to see my grandparents
(16:19):
every week while in school aswell, which was the experience
like playing for Paul Hewitt,and he had so much success in
his entire coaching career um,what was it like to play for him
(16:43):
and then get a chance to playfor Louis, or?
yeah, I mean two very differentcoaches, two very different
styles.
Both, uh, I thought, were very,very um, you know, they both
worked.
At the end of the day we won alot of games under both systems.
But Paul had to come in andreally he had to change the
culture of the program.
Like I said, they hadn't had awhole lot of winning years and
(17:04):
he kind of came in to change thestatus quo.
You know, he had to take acouple of guys that were on the
team and say look like, I don'tthink it's good for you to come
back, you to come back.
You know, and that's a toughconversation to have with with
some guys, but you know, he knew, I think, what.
What I knew was that we had thisgood core, um, and you know,
and he, he gave us enough rainto go out and do what we did.
You know, he didn't try toharness and try to force his
(17:27):
system on us.
He, he saw that we had a lot ofability to press.
You know, we had a lot ofathletic ability.
Outside of myself, I wasn't thebest athlete, but you know he
gave me the green light and youknow, and that came with
responsibility andaccountability to make sure that
I was putting in the work to be, you know, worthy of that green
light.
So, you know, I think, paul, youknow, I think the way he played
(17:49):
and allowed us to play, youknow, was really conducive to
the style of the talent that wehad on the team Lewis.
You know what was reallyconducive to the style of the
talent that we had on the teamLewis.
You know, when he came in, youknow it was a little bit
different situation.
Right, paul had just left on ahigh note getting the Georgia
Tech job, had a lot of goodplayers still in the program and
, and Louis had to just come inand really just keep things
going the way they were, eventhough we were picked seventh
(18:11):
preseason in the MAAC.
We all were shaking our headsat that, but we ended up
finishing tied for first at theend of the regular season.
So Louie came in and did whathe needed to do.
We got to the 20-win thresholdunder Louie and just a real
gentleman both of them.
Really I couldn't say nicerthings about either one of them.
Rocky (18:30):
And I feel like when you look at the coaches, fran
McCaffrey, another big namethat's come out of there, has
had a lot of success.
There was John Griffin.
That was, I think, the late 80sat Siena.
Now in comes G-Mac fromSyracuse, with all the
expectations coming in.
He's done a great job in yearone.
Do you think he'll be aroundlong, scott, or is this a
(18:52):
stepping stone for him to maybe?
I don't want to say a lot ofSyracuse fans are saying you
know, coach Autry hasn't had theyear that he's had and we don't
know how long.
You know what the universitywill do with him, but how long
is he going to be in Siena?
Because some don't think toolong.
Scott Knapp (19:09):
Well, the history would show that he won't be here
long.
Just based on the way Siena andthe way things go at Siena,
really, I mean it's either afeast or famine situation.
At least, if you're looking atthe history, I don't think we've
had a coach there for longerthan five years since Mike Dean.
So you know, I don't know if,if that's a precursor to
(19:31):
anything, hopefully it'll end uppositively.
I think Jerry, like you said,is doing a great job to anything
.
Hopefully it'll end uppositively.
I think Jerry, like you said,is doing a great job.
But you know, I think in themid-major environment, you know,
if you do really well in thatenvironment, the schools are
going to come calling.
And a guy like Jerry, with hisname and his reputation as a
player and now as a coach, youknow, I think he has nothing but
a bright future in front of himas a coach.
(19:52):
I've watched many of the games.
I pretty much watch every gameof him as a coach.
I've watched many of the games.
I pretty much watch every gameeither on TV or in my season
tickets and I think he's built anice team, considering the
situation he walked into, whereessentially I think they only
have like two or three guys thatare back from last year's team,
one of them that's playingmeaningful minutes right now.
So he pretty much brought in awhole new roster, and a very
(20:15):
talented one.
You look at, a kid like GavinDoty out of Fulton, I mean he's
probably going to be the rookieof the year in the MAAC and he
was 17, I think, until Decemberof last year, so he's a very
young freshman as well, and whatJerry's been able to do to get
him to the point where you knowhe's delivering big minutes for
them.
They've dealt with a lot ofinjuries this year and I think
(20:39):
they're going to be a team thatnobody's going to face in the
MAAC tournament once it comes,because they're starting to get
healthy and they're starting toreally gel as a team, which is
tough when you have that manypeople coming in for the first
time, having never played witheach other before this season.
Rocky (20:51):
So, Scott, talk to us about the year you guys go to
the NCAA tournament.
I think you guys were in as a13th seed and you ran into a
really good Arkansas team andCoach Richardson.
In the 40 minutes of hell youguys played them well.
I think it was like 94-80 or94-82 high-scoring game.
What was it like first to playin the NCAA tournament and then,
(21:13):
let alone get into the NCAAtournament and play against a
coach like Nolan Richardson?
Scott Knapp (21:20):
Yeah, the 40 minutes of hell is real.
I can tell you from firsthandexperience it's not an easy
thing to play against.
I think we had a couple ofthings working against us in
that environment.
We were still very young I wasa sophomore, you know most of
our best players were juniorsstill and and Dick Vitale and
(21:42):
some of these other folks pickedus to win, like on these shows,
and that was like the worstthing that could have happened
for us because we really neededto sneak up on somebody.
And when Nolan Richardson heardthat you know we had been
picked by some of these peoplethat that he probably respects
very highly, I heard a quotewhere he said I don't even need
to do a scouting report thisgame.
My team's so fired up thatthey're going to come out and be
ready to play.
(22:03):
And I was the sixth man thatyear.
I did start 15 games due to aninjury earlier in the year, but
I was really the sixth man and Ithink we were down 15 or 12
when I got in the game.
Like they came out and theyjumped on us really quick.
We did get it down to nine inthe second half and started to
make some headway, but you knowthat was just a really tough
(22:26):
game for us.
I actually got injured in thatgame, had surgery about a month
later.
Derek Hood and I we actuallybanged knees who was their
starting center and, like I said, I had surgery about a month
later and he didn't play in thegame against Iowa in the next
round and they ended up gettingbeat.
So we actually, you know, notonly lost the game but also hurt
(22:46):
Arkansas, which didn't make mefeel good because you know I
wanted to see Arkansas win thechampionship.
If they beat us like I want tosee them go and do well.
But you know, arkansas, thatpressure was incredible.
Them go and do well, um, butyou know, arkansas, that
pressure was incredible.
Kareem reed, one of the fastestplayers I've ever played
against pat bradley he's doingnow a lot of tv but he was a
great shooter on that team andthey had like three or four guys
that were freshmen that I thinktwo or three of them were
(23:06):
lottery picks in the nba thatnobody knew of really at the
time, but they ended up turninginto really great players and,
uh, and you know, I think my Ithink is not being able to go
back to the tournament thefollowing year, when you know,
when that class that I mentioned, with those three really good
players, they were all seniors.
I was a junior, I was stillrecovering from that knee
surgery and it didn't reallycome back immediately.
(23:28):
I actually took five gamesearly in that season where I was
contemplating a red shirt.
So I was actually just sittingon the sidelines being able to
probably play.
But if I played in one moregame I wouldn't have been able
to red shirt.
So after those five games I diddecide to come back and we
ended up losing to Iona in thechampionship game that year,
unfortunately.
But I think that was really theyear where we could have gone
(23:49):
and beaten somebody because wehad had that experience.
We weren't going to letsomebody jump out to a 15 to 3
start or whatever it was.
Rocky (23:56):
And, um, you know, and I think we we could have put a
scare into somebody that yearwith that team so, scott, talk
to us a little bit about you geta chance last weekend and I saw
the the pictures with with thefamily.
I thought was awesome to seeyou guys all together, but uh,
you get inducted into the sienaathletic hall of fame and you
went in there with a great class.
Talk to us about what thatmeant to you and what that meant
(24:17):
to the family.
Scott Knapp (24:19):
Oh, it meant a lot, I mean for me.
You know not many people havehad my path with Siena.
I was not only a player there,but I actually worked there for
three or four years.
You mentioned Fran McCaffrey.
When he was signing hiscontract I was actually driving
his wife Margaret around lookingat neighborhoods in the
Loudonville area.
So we definitely have atight-knit relationship.
(24:40):
My wife and I.
We actually are sponsoring ascholarship at the school, so
that will be something thatlives on forever and long past
our lives and my kids have goneto summer camps there and
there's just so much about Sienathat means a lot to not only
myself but my family and youknow, and just to go into the
Hall of Fame, I mean as anathlete, I don't know if there's
(25:02):
any higher accomplishment youcan hope for, really.
And you know, I'm kind of gladthat it took a little while
because, you know, there wasobviously some players that came
after me that are well moredeserving than me, and I knew my
time.
My time may come, but, um, youknow, at the same time I'm I'm
more appreciative, I think nowof it having my kids now in high
school, um, having my dad nowcome up and uh and get to see,
(25:26):
uh, you know that that what Idid at Siena still means
something and still important toa lot of people and Scott, 2018
, I think, was the year that youwent into the greater Utica
Sports Hall of Fame, I thinkwith dad um and it's you was the
year that you went into theGreater Utica Sports Hall of
Fame, I think with Dad.
Rocky (25:39):
You went in before me, it's pretty special to be at a
Hall of Fame.
I mean, my sister and my dadare in the Rome Sports Hall of
Fame and hopefully someday I'llbe in there with them so I can
sit them in there with Dad andsister.
But how special is that to bein that Hall of Fame with Dad.
Scott Knapp (26:01):
And I got a feeling you guys may be going into
another one together here atsome point, but uh, I won't get
into that one.
But how special is it?
It's very special.
I mean I don't think you canmention my career without his
you know leadership and hisguidance.
Um, you know, it's funny likewhen we're back in central new
york.
He's the, he's the celebrity andyou know, and I'm just the guy
who played for him for fouryears, I mean because his tenure
and what he did over thedecades, I mean that's more of
(26:21):
an impact than I could ever hopefor.
And when I run into people thatplayed for my dad, they always
say like I don't know if I likedit at the time, but I'm so glad
I got to do it.
He taught me lessons that arereally valuable now in my
business career or as a parentor in any real capacity where
hard work is required and it'srewarded.
(26:44):
And in teamwork he was theultimate team coach.
He may have tailored his stylebased on the team he had, but
there's no way that I could haveput up the points and all those
statistics without a great teamaround me, and a team that was,
you know, not only talented,but a team that you know was
playing in this as a team, and Ithink that's what he taught us.
(27:06):
And you know, and really, atthe end of the day, just your
hard work is going to berewarded and it's worth the time
and effort to do so.
Rocky (27:13):
Scott, I got one more bone to pick with.
I think it was 1999, my FordhamRams.
When I was there you guysplayed them in MSG.
I think we got you in 1999-91.
But you might remember therewas a kid by the name of Bavon
Robin that played at Fordham.
That was probably one of thebetter players and I think we
had Bob Hill.
The former Spurs guy was thehead coach, but I was at the
(27:37):
game.
I wasn't courtside to watch you, but I was cheering for you.
Scott Knapp (27:39):
But I did have my fordham colors on.
No, I, I appreciate that rockand uh, yeah, getting to play
fordham we, I think we beat themup at our place maybe the year
before and uh, they had a reallygood recruit that that we we
were recruiting as well, and Iforget his name, tall, tall guy,
but he, he actually heard us inthat game.
Uh, but, yeah, getting to playat Madison Square Garden.
I think I played three or fourgames there.
(28:00):
I never shot well, never reallyplayed well.
You know, we played Rutgersthere as well.
I think that the night before weplayed Fordham and it was it
was just a tough environment,you know, cause there's only two
, 2000, 3000 people in a 20something thousand seat arena.
It's very bright on the courtand it's dark kind of behind it
when you're on the court.
So it was a very tough shootingenvironment for me.
(28:22):
But Fordham a great school andcertainly one that we always,
anytime we're playing an 8-10school we always felt like, all
right, well, this is our chanceto prove ourselves on a bigger
stage.
Rocky (28:42):
And unfortunately we didn't get the better of the
mckinney really tall, 6, 10, 6,10 kid.
But um, boredom had some goodteams.
I, they had some good teamswhen I was there and then, uh,
when they were in the patriotleague.
It was a lot different now thanbeing in a really tough, I
think a 10 conference.
But um, I remember I rememberwatching play at the guard man
it was.
There was probably about 2,500people there and it looked like
there was nobody in the gymbecause it was such a big arena.
But it was still fun to comewatch you.
Scott Knapp (29:04):
I appreciate the support.
Yeah, like I said, it was agreat experience.
I mean, I think one game we gotto play and we were actually a
doubleheader with the Knicks,there was two separate tickets.
It wasn't like it was able tobuy one, get one.
But, um, as we're coming offthe court, uh, you know alan
houston standing in the hallway,you know, ready to go out in in
(29:24):
his pre-game warm-up.
So you know, we got to do somereally cool things.
You know, I I appreciated paulhewitt and lewis or, you know,
really allowing us to, you know,not only be athletes and all
that.
But, um, you know, dr jackRamsey spoke to us once in
Philadelphia when we wereplaying in a hotel room.
You know, we got to meet MagicJohnson when we were in LA.
You know, there was just a lotof opportunities to broaden our
(29:46):
perspective and, you know, giveus experiences that we would
never have gotten, you know, hadthey not had some of those
connections and abilities toallow us to see those people and
to ask them questions.
I mean to be in a hotel roomwith Dr Jack Ramsey and you know
, and just be able to ask us.
You know, ask him questions andget, get us.
The answers that you know wereon our minds at the time.
(30:07):
Um, you know, just incredibleexperiences that we were able to
, uh to have.
Rocky (30:11):
Well, listen, man, I appreciate you jumping on.
It's been great to follow yourcareer, happy that you had the
success that you had and, like Isaid, it was fun to follow your
entire career and say Iactually got a chance to play
against you and see you grow up,man, so we're proud of you this
way.
Congratulations.
I'll make sure I say hi to Dadwhen I see him up at the casino
on one Saturday night or Friday.
(30:32):
But congrats, man, thanks forcoming on.
Scott Knapp (30:35):
No, thank you, Rocky, and great job with the
show.
I think it's great that youhave this in central New York
and really talking the Yuccahigh school sports scene.
I think it's something that'sundervalued and something that I
think made me tough.
It made me a better player andI love that you're celebrating
it with some of these coachescoming on and getting their
perspective.
Rocky (30:55):
Well, I appreciate that you're celebrating it, with some
of these coaches coming on andgetting their perspective.
Well, I appreciate that man,have a good rest of the day and
keep in touch.
Scott Knapp (30:59):
Sounds good, man.
All right man you got it.
Rocky (31:03):
So that was a VVS grad, Siena grad, Scotty Knapp, and I
was going to go into some of hisnumbers, but I do remember
watching him play at the gardenwhen Fordham beat him 99-91.
And Scott was always one of thebest shooters.
And if you look up in New YorkState and at the end of the show
I'll run through his numbershe's still in the top half for
most threes, made most points.
(31:25):
Like I said before Joe Girard,there was Scott Knapp at my eyes
.
So congrats, Scott, and Iappreciate you coming on this
morning with me.
So, without further ado, Idon't want to leave Coach Snyder
hanging.
He's been sitting in the greenroom here Hopefully I don't have
any audio problems, because Ilove talking to Coach Always a
fun time of the year when it'sbasketball season and his team's
(31:46):
on another chase for asectional title and another New
York State title.
So let's bring on Coach Snydernow.
Coach, how are you?
Coach John Snyder (31:55):
I'm doing well.
Good morning, thanks for havingme.
Rocky (31:57):
No problem.
Hopefully I don't go dark hereFirst time in probably 15 years.
All of a sudden I'm talking andnobody's listening, which
happens sometimes.
But it's good to have you backon.
Coach John Snyder (32:09):
Yeah, I really appreciate it.
It's great to be here and I'mglad we were able to get a
first-round win, so we're stillgoing here when I get to talk to
you.
Rocky (32:17):
No, not a problem.
And, coach, let's talk a littlebit.
I don't want to spend too muchtime on last season.
We all know the great run youguys went on last season and you
know last year's team.
Every year is different, everyteam is completely different.
But you lose Maggie last year,you lose Vita last year, some
seniors, and here you are againright back in a familiar spot
(32:37):
with again.
I remember saying this to youlast year If you had any spots
on that coaching staff.
I wanted a spot on the coachingstaff because this team is just
loaded with talent.
Then I looked this year and I'mlike wait a minute.
He's got freshmen, he's gotjuniors, they're all back again.
But that's a credit to you inthe program.
But from losing what you lostlast year to the team that
(32:57):
you're bringing back this year,what's the big difference
between the two teams?
Coach John Snyder (33:01):
Yeah, just such a great team.
I mean people overlooked someof our seniors at times.
You know, certainly Maggie wasat the forefront.
We had four seniors who wereincredibly important to us.
Maggie got a conferencechampionship yesterday as a
starter for Mount St Mary'sCollege.
They won the SkylineChampionship.
She's a key starter for themand had some big points they won
in overtime.
(33:22):
So she's performing at thecollege level and shows how much
we missed her at the highschool level.
But we're a completely differentteam, as you said.
You know I'm so proud of theway the girls have stepped up A
lot of people in different roles.
You know two freshmen startingfor us.
We have no seniors at all andyou know that's a great problem
to have.
People don't like to listen tomy complaints because you know I
(33:48):
have a pretty good place tostart from.
But you know we really had toplug in a lot of new pieces and
we've done a great job.
And to be the number one seedin Tri-Valley League champions
is just something I'm incrediblyproud of the way the girls
adapted and stepped into newroles.
Rocky (33:56):
And Coach.
I talk to a lot of high schoolcoaches and one of the key
things I always talk about thatI look at with them is the
schedule.
But I look at thenon-conference schedule and you
know, when I look at yournon-conference schedule, aquinas
always really good, Shakeralways really good, greenwich
always really good.
So those are the three lossesthat you have this year and I
think it's always good to betested in that non-conference
(34:18):
for anybody.
But talk to us about thenon-conference schedule.
You played some three reallygood teams.
Coach John Snyder (34:24):
Yeah, we try to do that.
It's a goal of ours every year.
You know three really goodteams.
Yeah, we try to do that.
It's a goal of ours every year.
I joke with some people that wewere able to win a state
championship.
I still never won the JugglerClassic as a coach here at Notre
Dame, because we usually bringin some pretty good teams and
Aquinas was there this year andwe had a really good game with
them.
They're number five in thestate in class AA, I think, and
we had a battle with them butthey ended up getting us at the
(34:45):
end.
And Shaker, I think, is a top10 team in AAA.
And you know Greenwich is asmaller school, they're actually
a Class C school, but I'll tellyou, the game they played
against us that day was one ofthe best games anybody's played
against us.
You know they may not be thebest team, but boy did they put
it all together and fantastic.
They're undefeated at thispoint, number one in the state
in class C.
(35:06):
We need challenges.
We try to get challenges.
We have big goals To get towhere we want to be.
We want to find anybody thatwill play us.
We got beat up a couple times,but I think it made us better.
Rocky (35:19):
Coach, talk to us about the roster this year and some of
the girls that have stepped uphere.
I know there's Ella and Erin,of course, that get the
headlines for you, but you gotthree freshmen on this team.
You got some juniors on thisteam.
Talk to us about some of thegirls that have stepped up for
you.
Coach John Snyder (35:33):
Sure, yeah, obviously everything starts with
Ella and Aaron and you knowthey're tremendous players and
had great experience.
But you know somebody who isand you know I don't want to
overlook any of our juniors.
We have two juniors that youknow have sacrificed a little
bit.
They're coming off the benchbehind two freshmen Jenna Heron
and Tessa Arcuri are keycontributors to us, play quality
minutes for us, hit some bigshots for us.
(35:53):
But you know, lily Johnson is afreshman.
Her sister, emma, is a junior.
They both are starting and Lilyin particular.
I think you know those games inDecember where we got beat up a
little bit.
Shaker, in particular, just hassome strong physical players
and some really good guards.
Greenwich has a tremendouspoint guard that gave a freshman
point guard some eye-openingmoments on the court.
(36:16):
That again, I think, made herbetter.
And a few weeks later afterthat we played Aquinas and
although we got beat, we playedat a different level when we
played Aquinas than when we gotbeat up a little bit when we
went to Amsterdam with thoseother two teams.
So you know, jules Otis isanother freshman who's starting
for us and just giving us reallyquality minutes, you know.
So it's just everybody.
(36:36):
It really is a team effort.
We, you know Ella is a star andeverything starts with her and
a lot of people on theirscouting reports are trying to
shut her down.
What I've always been proud ofyou know, last year, this year
is I think we are a team and youknow, you take one thing away
and something else usually stepsin, and it's not always the
same person.
It can be somebody different onany given night and uh, you
(36:58):
know again.
That's something that we kind ofpride ourselves on playing
together and playing as a team,and it's worked out for us well,
that was gonna be my to be mynext question Coach was going to
be.
Rocky (37:07):
You know every team.
Everywhere you find differentways to win games, maybe
different than how you wouldhave won games last year.
How was this team this year wongames differently than maybe
last year's team?
Coach John Snyder (37:18):
Yeah.
So we certainly have had ourmoments where we've needed to,
needed to play some betterdefense and you know the scoring
doesn't come quite as easily,especially, you know, at times.
You know we've seen people puttwo people on Ella at times, you
know, and three on the rest ofthe team just to try and take
her away.
So we've had to be ready toadjust to whatever people throw
(37:40):
at us.
And you know again, especiallywith the youth that we have,
we've done a pretty good job ofthat and you know we've won some
games in the 40s, we've wonsome games in the 70s and we're
adaptable.
We can play multiple styles, weplay multiple defenses and you
know it's worked out for us.
It's been a good run.
Rocky (38:02):
So you guys just you beat Oneida this past week, you
guys will get Indian River andthen the winner of your game
will get the winner of CVA inJamesville-DeWitt.
Who CVA?
You guys had a close game backin early January with.
So what does this team need todo to get back and play for a
sectional title and beyond?
Coach John Snyder (38:21):
Yeah.
So I mean we just need to keepdoing the things that we're
doing, play with effort.
You know I talk a lot aboutcontrolling the controllables.
You know that effort, thatintensity Shots don't always go
in.
When they do, we look reallygood.
Sometimes they don't and wehave to find ways on those days.
You know, certainly Indian Riverjust a tremendous program,
(38:42):
two-time sectional champs,well-coached.
They've got a few starters backfrom the team that won those
two straight sectionalchampionships in Class A.
So they're going to be achallenge and if we are
fortunate enough to get by them,one of the things of moving to
Class A that I don't like isjust playing Oneida the other
night for the third time theyplay so hard.
We were very fortunate to getout in front early and kind of
(39:06):
hang on with them.
And you know if we got to asectional title.
You know James Will DeWitt's atremendous program.
But Central Valley could bethere as well and, as you
mentioned, they've kind ofalways been a thorn in our side.
We know how talented they are.
We've been fortunate to get bythem.
You know the last couple ofyears when we've played them.
But it's always a battle.
(39:28):
And you know the last coupleyears when we've played them,
but it's always a battle and, uh, you know.
Rocky (39:30):
So that possibility is out there for another matchup
with them too, if we, if we, cankeep playing a while and get
lucky enough to meet them coach,is there any, any extra
pressure on on you guys, knowingthat you guys had the run last
year and you know the team youbring back is another great team
and any extra pressure becausealways, as a coach, when you're,
you're the team thateverybody's chasing and wants,
you know you're going to gettheir best shot day in and day
(39:50):
out any extra pressure for youguys.
Coach John Snyder (39:55):
I don't think it's extra pressure.
I mean it's something that wehave to embrace.
Exactly what you just said.
We talk about it all the time.
We are the target oneverybody's schedule.
Uh, you know, at this point,because of what we've done, you
know that's what success brings.
We're lucky to have that.
You know that's a problem Ithink anyone would want to have.
It's not easy to deal with.
You have to keep that again.
Those things that we cancontrol, that focus, that energy
(40:18):
, that attitude, we have tobring those things every day
because we're going to take thatbest shot.
We know it's coming and webetter be prepared for it.
And you know, again, I don'tthink it's pressure, it's
something that you, you knowwe've seen pressure at the
highest levels.
I guess that's the good news.
Even our freshmen, you know.
(40:38):
Unfortunately, last year we hada senior, imani Jedwick, tear
her ACL in the state semifinalgame and Lily, you know, hadn't
played really any minutes for usand she played about 10 minutes
as an eighth grader in thestate championship game.
So even our youngest playershave seen pressure at the
highest level.
So I don't think it'll bepressure that gets us.
But basketball is a crazy game,you know.
You know shots don't always goin and how do you adapt in those
(41:00):
moments?
How do you adapt when somebodyelse comes out and hits three or
four threes in a row?
You know things happen andwe'll be as prepared as we can
be.
Hopefully we'll adjust to thosethings and we've seen different
things that are prepare us forthat.
But we'll lay it all on theline and we'll we'll live with
the results because I think ourpreparation has been good and I
(41:21):
think we're in the right place.
You know mentally as well, butit's it's still not an easy
process.
You've got to be very fortunate.
We know that we were luckymultiple times last year to get
to where we did.
Rocky (41:31):
Well, coach, hopefully we'll be able to do this again
here soon and get you back onone game at a time, but your
teams have been fun to watch andI've enjoyed getting a chance
to talk to you over the lastcouple years and I definitely
want to do it again.
You're fun to talk to and I Ican't thank you enough for uh,
when I reach out to you forjumping on no matter what time I
ask you to come on.
Coach John Snyder (41:51):
You've been great and uh hopefully, at least
, I wasn't on the bus this yearright, but it was pretty cool
that.
Rocky (41:56):
That was good.
That was good podcast man.
When I got you right on the buswith the girls, that was, uh,
I'm hoping I get a chance tocome watch you guys play.
I'm going to get a chance to gowatch the boys' RFA on Tuesday
night, so hopefully I can get achance to follow you guys in
another chase for a Section 3title.
So we'll do it again soon.
Coach John Snyder (42:18):
Thank you, I appreciate it very much, all
right.
Rocky (42:19):
Coach, best of luck to you and the girls.
Coach John Snyder (42:22):
Thank you, take care, have a good day.
Rocky (42:24):
That was Coach John Snyder and he brought up.
The good point is I got him onthe bus last year, which was, I
always say, it's really cool todo that.
I think that's what makes fun.
Podcasting is when you get toget a coach or player you know
team.
I've had Gary Heenan when he's,when he's coming out of the
locker room.
I had I still remember coach 80and Brian 80 getting off the
(42:46):
bus to play a state championshipgame, which was really cool.
But Coach Snyder's done afantastic job with the girls.
They got a great team.
Best of luck to them in theirgame against Indian River and
the winner of that game I said,will play the winner of CVA and
Jamesville DeWitt.
So I just want to go back realfast before I wrap the show up,
(43:07):
because I did have ScottyKnapp's numbers and I just want
to go through these real fast.
So he's the career leader inthrees at Siena with 293.
He's the career leader in freethrow percentage at 89%.
He was the 1998 MAAC Rookie ofthe Year, second team All-League
in 2001, over 1,300 points.
(43:28):
And he's ninth in programhistory with 393 assists.
And then the New York Staterecords.
As I said before Joe Girard,there was Scotty Knapp.
To me he's got the schoolrecord at VVS for 1,897 points.
He's got 288 three-pointersmade, which is eighth in the
(43:49):
state and that's when he played.
He was from 1994 to 1997.
So again I want to make sure Icongratulate Scott.
Thanks Scott for coming on thismorning.
It was great to catch up withhim and go through some old
times with him.
Great career, great guy.
And it was great to see thepictures of him and the family
last weekend.
And I want to thank Coach JohnSnyder for coming on with me
(44:12):
this morning.
As I said, I've got a chance tomeet Coach last year and he's
always been great to me whenI've reached out to get him on
this show to talk about theNotre Dame Lady Jugglers, which
is a team I think can make adeep run here in the state
tournament but one game at atime, as us coaches will say.
But I want to thank him and Iwant to thank all the listeners,
(44:32):
all the followers.
Go to wwwtherockpileromecom.
You can check out all thepodcasts on the site.
You can follow me on all thesocial media platforms.
I apologize, today I had thefirst time in 15 years.
All of a sudden I'm talking andeverything just went black.
And as anybody even computersyou never want to see that black
(44:52):
screen.
Everything just went black,everything went off.
But I got it back up andrunning.
Hopefully you enjoyed today'sshow.
So on behalf of myself, coachPaggs, coach Medesis and the
stat man in the rock pile herethis morning, I want to thank
everybody for tuning in.
I appreciate it.
Have a good weekend everybody.
Today I get the chance to talk to one of the best
shooters in New York State, oneof the best scorers in New York
State.
I'll talk to VVS grad Sienagrad Scott Knapp, who was just
inducted into the SienaBasketball Siena Athletic Hall
of Fame a few weeks ago, andthen at the bottom of the hour
we'll get a chance to talk tothe Lady Jugglers, notre Dame's
(00:22):
head basketball coach, johnSnyder.
John joined us last year.
I'm excited to talk to himagain here this morning as his
team chases yet another Section3 title and a New York State
championship and more here thismorning.
On talk to Scotty Knapp, Iplayed basketball with Scott
(01:01):
Scott's a year older than I am.
He was at DBS and I was at RFA.
We played Fran Allison YouthBasketball together, so I've
known Scott for a long time andI haven't caught up with Scott
in a while.
So I'm excited to talk to himin just a little bit.
He was inducted into the SienaAthletic Hall of Fame just last
week, last week and then we'lltalk to him about his career one
(01:27):
of the best careers, one of thebest shooters, I'll say, in New
York State.
He still ranks all time in alot of categories.
So we'll talk to Scott here,his dad, coach Knapp, one of the
winningest coaches in this area.
They go into Hall of Fametogether, which is pretty cool.
And then I'll talk to CoachSnyder who, if you remember,
last year when I talked to CoachSnyder, I was joking with him
saying I need a spot on thatstaff because he is loaded with
(01:50):
talent, and I looked throughthat roster again this year.
They're all young, they're allback again next year.
So the Notre Dame Lady Jugglersprogram is in really good hands
with Coach Snyder.
I love talking with him.
I wish I could talk to him alittle bit more than a couple
times a year, but we'll talk tohim at the bottom of the hour.
If you got any comments,questions for either guest you
(02:11):
want to say hi to me thismorning, put it in the comment
box.
If you're following me onYouTube, twitter, linkedin,
spotify, wherever you'refollowing me across your social
media platforms, I always putsome comments in there.
Next week on the show, I'll letyou know who the next guest is
on the weekly huddle, but I'mgoing to start to take call-ins,
(02:32):
so some of you that are at homeand maybe want to call in.
Like the radio show at WKAL.
We're doing it over there.
We'll have the opportunity todo that.
So I'll put a call-in number upnext week and probably for all
shows going forward.
So I'm excited for that.
So I'll put a call-in number upnext week and probably for all
shows going forward.
So I'm excited for that.
I was at the UC hockey game lastnight.
The men's, my wife and I, thekids they love going to the
(02:55):
games, we've been at a lot ofthose games and man, they came
out firing on all cylinders lastnight.
We left with about 10 minutesto go in the third period.
It was 7-0 over Chatham andthey left with about 10 minutes
to go in the third period.
It was 7-0 over Chatham andthey ended up winning 9-0, which
will set up the championshipshowdown the following weekend
Right at the odd.
They'll take on Geneseo who.
They beat Geneseo once theylost to Geneseo.
(03:17):
They tied to Geneseo, sodefinitely the two best teams in
that conference and I wouldassume that both teams will
punch their ticket to theDivision III NCAA tournament
here when that gets announced.
It was great hockey last night.
Always a great environment atthe?
O.
When I talk to Coach Ean, Ialways talk about the same thing
, that home ice.
They're really good at home.
(03:38):
The women I saw are in thechampionship as well, so
congratulations to them.
Big week for Rome sports.
Arfe Hockey will be playing forthe Section 3 title on Monday,
as they will be playing at theMemorial in Syracuse against
West Jenny.
That's the one they've got toget over the hump.
(03:58):
They've played them good twiceover the last few years.
Of course the controversy willgo last year and then add it
again this year, so hopefullyRFA will have a good crowd here,
if it's.
You know, monday night at theWar Memorial there is a student
bus, sectional bus goingspectator bus on Monday and then
(04:20):
on Tuesday my buddy co-host ofthe show and then on Tuesday my
buddy co-host of the show, coachMedesis, will be playing in the
semifinals against a reallygood Liverpool team who they
beat earlier in the year.
They beat them the first game ofthe year.
I think it was by 5, 75, 70.
But the atmosphere this pastweek for the Rome-Proctor game
(04:41):
and I told Coach Medesis thisI've watched RFA basketball for
well over 20, 25 years and thatgym at RFA was standing room
only.
You could not get a seat inthat gym.
There were people that couldn'teven get in the doorway to that
gym and of course it wasUtica-Rome, which is always a
(05:01):
big rivalry game.
But he has a really good team.
They're fun to watch.
They're undefeated, playingreally good basketball.
They'll play against theLiverpool team, who I think has
played really good basketballhere down the stretch.
I think the last month of theseason they played really well
and I know Coach would echo thesame thing.
At this point forward you'regoing to have to play.
(05:21):
Liverpool and the winner of thatgame gets a really good CNS
team who many think that it'sour fane, cns.
But you've got to get there.
Cns is going to play BishopLudden, who is another really
good team.
So the four left, they're allgood and you've got to play
really good to beat them You'vegot to go game by game but
hopefully the Romans will travelwell on Monday night and
(05:43):
Tuesday night the boys areplaying at 5 o'clock basketball
on Tuesday night that game is atMVCC, the Jorgensen Center in
Utica.
So let's get out there.
There is a spectator bus thatis going on Tuesday, so
hopefully we can pack that gymin black and orange and cheer
home both black Knights thehockey team to a section three
(06:06):
title, the boys to a section ofthree, final birth.
It would be the first sectionaltitle for Rome in a long time.
So best of luck to to bothteams.
It's hard to believe we're inMarch already.
Bob says thanks for supportingRome sports spectator bus.
You got it.
I'm happy to do it.
I did say and I don't toot myhorn, but Bernie Bus did I did
(06:30):
donate both buses to sportsteams free of charge, on half of
Bernie Bus and myself.
So no problem at all, happy todo it.
Once a Rome Black Knight,always a Black Knight.
So we'll talk to Scotty Knapphere in a little bit.
And I had to go through some ofthe record books and I remember
(06:50):
going to VVS and watching ScottKnapp play and I forget who it
was against and Coach Baldwinsaid it the other night at the
RFA game I was sitting behindhim when they played Ryan Artas
and Coach Knapp always scheduledsome really good games and I
just remember that it was sopacked and it reminded me of
(07:12):
going to watch Coach A and Brianwhen they were at New York
Mills, when it was like the bestshow in town, like it was the
hardest ticket to get into thegym, like the line to get in was
like all the way out the doorto get in, so it was a crazy
environment which wasunbelievable for a high school
basketball game.
(07:33):
And I just remember going towatch Scott play and man, I'll
tell you what I know there's JoeGirard who's the all-time
leading scorer in New York State.
But before Joe Girard there wasScotty Knapp and Scott Knapp
used to pull up from all overthe gym.
He was so fun to watch play.
And I remember at RFI I think Iwas just a ninth grader, 10th
(07:54):
grader and we got a chance toplay against Scott and man.
I'll tell you why.
It was lights out watching himplay Fun to watch.
His dad was a heck of a coachand they were always fun to
watch.
But I just remember trying toget into any of those games was
like so hard.
If you didn't get it there, I'mtelling you, an hour, two hours
(08:14):
before game time you didn't geta seat in that gym either and,
like I said, it was very similarto going to watch coach 80 play
when they were playing at NewYork Mills.
You know the small Beekman gym,if you didn't get there early
early for his games.
You didn't get a seat.
You were standing out in thehallway, not even in the gym,
(08:34):
and just kind of listening andhoping you'd get a score.
Hopefully somebody will leaveso you can go in and watch that
game.
So I'm excited to talk to Scott, catch up a little bit, talk
about some of the old days ofplaying at Frank Allison
Basketball and more seeing whathe's up to nowadays Great honor
to be inducted into the SienaAthletic Hall of Fame.
I'll get his thoughts on thenew man in charge for Siena,
(08:57):
jerry McNamara, who's done afantastic job in year one at
Siena turning around thatprogram, and get his thoughts on
how long he thinks GMAC will bethere.
Some people think that whenCoach Autry at Syracuse, maybe
his time comes to an end, and Ithink people have to be patient
with Coach Autry too.
But we'll talk to Scott aboutthat and much more.
(09:18):
So let me bring Scotty on.
Scott, what's happening, buddy?
Hey, how's it going Rocky?
How are you?
I'm doing fantastic.
How are you this morning?
Scott Knapp (09:28):
Doing great, doing great.
It's a little cold up here inAlbany, but here we have a lot
less snow than you guys got thisyear, so we're just seeing the
last bit melt here in this nicewarm weekend we're experiencing.
Rocky (09:42):
No, that's, I get it.
We have been hammered with snowhere, and one thing that's been
really really crazy for me is Ihad some snow come off the roof
and of course some of my roofkind of busted off.
So it's been a rough winter forthe Corigliano family.
Scott Knapp (10:00):
Well, hopefully the light is at the end of the
tunnel here and we can see it.
Rocky (10:04):
So, scott, listen man, I appreciate you coming on.
I was just telling the audiencehere listening in this morning
that I remember when you were inhigh school playing for your
dad and I said coming to watchyou guys play reminded me of
going to watch Coach 80's gamesat New York Mills, that if you
didn't get there early youdidn't get a seat to come watch
you guys play and you guys werelike the hottest ticket in town.
(10:27):
Here's a Rome guy coming out towatch you guys play at VVS.
But talk to us a little bitabout, of course, the VVS day.
Get a chance to play for Dad.
Scott Knapp (10:36):
I mean it was an amazing experience, one I
probably took for granted at thetime.
But just the support of thecommunity, you know it was
always great to see.
You know we would have HamiltonCollege players coming to the
games and it was really like theplace to be.
Like you said, I remember onegame.
My uncle who lived in Sequoiahe got there a little bit late
(10:57):
and there was no more ticketsavailable, so he actually threw
a 20 up against the door and Ithink one of the workers at the
school opened the door and lethim in, so luckily he was able
to see it.
But playing for my dad, I meanit was a great experience.
He was hard on me, as anyonewho watched the games knew.
Anybody who knew me in myyounger days knew he was tough
(11:18):
on me and I think it was becausehe saw a lot of potential in me
and didn't want it to go towaste.
And it was really hard at thetime.
You know, to be yelled at andto be, you know, to feel like I
was being singled out for thingsthat maybe he wasn't singling
out other people on the team orin the program for.
But at the end of the day, wewere always able to go home and
eat dinner together and andleave that on the court and and
(11:39):
still have that father sonrelationship, which I really
appreciated as well.
Rocky (11:46):
Yeah, relationship which I really appreciated as well.
Yeah, and I can really a littlebit of that.
I didn't get a chance to playfor my dad, but my dad coached a
lot of other sports and cominghome at the dinner table I
remember mom had to kind of getin the middle of us a few times
and some heated arguments, butit was always they were good
arguments, I'll say, but I knowit's a special relationship you
have with dad and all that.
So the other thing I wanted totalk to you about I got to go
(12:08):
back a little further to when wewere really younger, getting a
chance to play some Frey Nelsonbasketball and, you know,
getting a chance to play for aman, for Joe Ryan and those guys
back in the day.
Do you remember those days?
I?
Scott Knapp (12:23):
I do.
My first experience was actuallyplaying for steve evans.
Um, my first year steve evanswas my coach, and then it all
came full circle when he was anassistant coach at sienna
recruiting me and it wasactually a big reason why I
ended up going to sienna wasbecause of that relationship
that not only my father had withwith his father, obviously
another great coach in the area.
But, uh, but steve was just ayoung, young kid at that time,
(12:45):
probably the first team he hadever coached and uh, you know,
and getting to play in that romeprogram was always special for
me, coming from a much smallerplace at the time I lived in
brookfield where I had 13 kidsin my entire grade um, so to get
to play in a program like, likethe one that rome had built
under, uh, you know, mr Ryan andall the others, it was really
(13:05):
special.
And then it came full circleagain Johnny Mestrangelo, who's,
I think, a classmate of yours.
He was one of my roommates atcollege at Siena as well.
So a very tangled web betweenmyself and that Rome community
as well.
Rocky (13:20):
So, scott, take us through the recruiting process
for you and you know in highschool, like I said, in my eyes
still one of the best shootersand scorers to come out of New
York State, and we'll get in.
You still got some of therecords.
You're still up there in a lot,of, a lot of categories.
I was just talking about JoeGirard.
I said before Joe Girard therewas Scott Knapp.
So let's talk about therecruiting process for you.
(13:41):
How did Sienna come into play?
Scott Knapp (13:43):
talk about the recruiting process for you.
How did Siena come into play?
Yeah, I mean, for me it was.
It all happened very quickly.
I didn't have any Division Ioffers my junior year of high
school.
Le Moyne was the only school tooffer me a full scholarship.
That year I took a visit myjunior year right at the end of
the season and you know I reallyliked it.
You know my goal was to nothave to pay for college.
If I could play somewhere andget to pay for college through
(14:06):
my athletic abilities, that wasreally the goal.
At that point I felt reallygood that I had accomplished my
goal.
Then I went to five-star campthat summer and ended up getting
the MVP of the camp.
I had 15 offers on my answeringmachine when I got home, which
was, you know, very exciting fora kid like me.
You know, all I wanted to dowas play ball and I wanted to,
(14:29):
you know, do the best I couldand you know, to get recognized
in that way was awesome.
But then the hard work reallycame, because now I had to, like
, figure out, well, which schoolis it going to be, you know,
and I looked at all of them.
I had good enough grades and Ihad a pretty strong SAT score.
So the IB schools were aconsideration.
I did visit Yale and Cornell.
(14:49):
West Point was an optionpotentially, but it really
whittled down to Davidson, siena, iona, canisius, so really a
lot of those schools in theNortheast.
But I had a relationship withsome of the folks at Davidson so
so that was a school that wasin the mix as well.
Also a very good academic goingto a school like Siena where
(15:15):
they had really really goodamount of success in those few
years before I got there.
But they had the pieces inplace.
They had guys who eventually Ithink that class in front of me
had two 1,300 point scorers andthen Marcus Faison who had well
over 1,500 when it was all saidand done.
So we had this core that I knewwe would win.
(15:35):
I wasn't going to be a goodloser.
I couldn't be the one to go toa weak team and try to put up a
ton of stats.
I wanted to be on a winning teamwhere I had a chance to go to
the NCAA tournament, and I feltSiena gave me that and also it
gave me a place where I feltvery comfortable personally,
socially.
I got along well with the guyswhen I was on my visits.
The assistant coaches weregreat.
As I mentioned, steve Evans wason the staff, but it also
(15:59):
allowed my dad to be very close.
He came to pretty much everyhome game.
Joel Walpole was his assistantcoach.
They'd have practice rightafter school and then Joe would
drive down the highway to get mydad there on time.
It was a special thing.
Also, most people don't know mygrandparents actually lived in
Little.
Falls, so I was very fortunateto get to see my grandparents
(16:19):
every week while in school aswell, which was the experience
like playing for Paul Hewitt,and he had so much success in
his entire coaching career um,what was it like to play for him
(16:43):
and then get a chance to playfor Louis, or?
yeah, I mean two very differentcoaches, two very different
styles.
Both, uh, I thought, were very,very um, you know, they both
worked.
At the end of the day we won alot of games under both systems.
But Paul had to come in andreally he had to change the
culture of the program.
Like I said, they hadn't had awhole lot of winning years and
(17:04):
he kind of came in to change thestatus quo.
You know, he had to take acouple of guys that were on the
team and say look like, I don'tthink it's good for you to come
back, you to come back.
You know, and that's a toughconversation to have with with
some guys, but you know, he knew, I think, what.
What I knew was that we had thisgood core, um, and you know,
and he, he gave us enough rainto go out and do what we did.
You know, he didn't try toharness and try to force his
(17:27):
system on us.
He, he saw that we had a lot ofability to press.
You know, we had a lot ofathletic ability.
Outside of myself, I wasn't thebest athlete, but you know he
gave me the green light and youknow, and that came with
responsibility andaccountability to make sure that
I was putting in the work to be, you know, worthy of that green
light.
So, you know, I think, paul, youknow, I think the way he played
(17:49):
and allowed us to play, youknow, was really conducive to
the style of the talent that wehad on the team Lewis.
You know what was reallyconducive to the style of the
talent that we had on the teamLewis.
You know, when he came in, youknow it was a little bit
different situation.
Right, paul had just left on ahigh note getting the Georgia
Tech job, had a lot of goodplayers still in the program and
, and Louis had to just come inand really just keep things
going the way they were, eventhough we were picked seventh
(18:11):
preseason in the MAAC.
We all were shaking our headsat that, but we ended up
finishing tied for first at theend of the regular season.
So Louie came in and did whathe needed to do.
We got to the 20-win thresholdunder Louie and just a real
gentleman both of them.
Really I couldn't say nicerthings about either one of them.
Rocky (18:30):
And I feel like when you look at the coaches, fran
McCaffrey, another big namethat's come out of there, has
had a lot of success.
There was John Griffin.
That was, I think, the late 80sat Siena.
Now in comes G-Mac fromSyracuse, with all the
expectations coming in.
He's done a great job in yearone.
Do you think he'll be aroundlong, scott, or is this a
(18:52):
stepping stone for him to maybe?
I don't want to say a lot ofSyracuse fans are saying you
know, coach Autry hasn't had theyear that he's had and we don't
know how long.
You know what the universitywill do with him, but how long
is he going to be in Siena?
Because some don't think toolong.
Scott Knapp (19:09):
Well, the history would show that he won't be here
long.
Just based on the way Siena andthe way things go at Siena,
really, I mean it's either afeast or famine situation.
At least, if you're looking atthe history, I don't think we've
had a coach there for longerthan five years since Mike Dean.
So you know, I don't know if,if that's a precursor to
(19:31):
anything, hopefully it'll end uppositively.
I think Jerry, like you said,is doing a great job to anything
.
Hopefully it'll end uppositively.
I think Jerry, like you said,is doing a great job.
But you know, I think in themid-major environment, you know,
if you do really well in thatenvironment, the schools are
going to come calling.
And a guy like Jerry, with hisname and his reputation as a
player and now as a coach, youknow, I think he has nothing but
a bright future in front of himas a coach.
(19:52):
I've watched many of the games.
I pretty much watch every gameof him as a coach.
I've watched many of the games.
I pretty much watch every gameeither on TV or in my season
tickets and I think he's built anice team, considering the
situation he walked into, whereessentially I think they only
have like two or three guys thatare back from last year's team,
one of them that's playingmeaningful minutes right now.
So he pretty much brought in awhole new roster, and a very
(20:15):
talented one.
You look at, a kid like GavinDoty out of Fulton, I mean he's
probably going to be the rookieof the year in the MAAC and he
was 17, I think, until Decemberof last year, so he's a very
young freshman as well, and whatJerry's been able to do to get
him to the point where you knowhe's delivering big minutes for
them.
They've dealt with a lot ofinjuries this year and I think
(20:39):
they're going to be a team thatnobody's going to face in the
MAAC tournament once it comes,because they're starting to get
healthy and they're starting toreally gel as a team, which is
tough when you have that manypeople coming in for the first
time, having never played witheach other before this season.
Rocky (20:51):
So, Scott, talk to us about the year you guys go to
the NCAA tournament.
I think you guys were in as a13th seed and you ran into a
really good Arkansas team andCoach Richardson.
In the 40 minutes of hell youguys played them well.
I think it was like 94-80 or94-82 high-scoring game.
What was it like first to playin the NCAA tournament and then,
(21:13):
let alone get into the NCAAtournament and play against a
coach like Nolan Richardson?
Scott Knapp (21:20):
Yeah, the 40 minutes of hell is real.
I can tell you from firsthandexperience it's not an easy
thing to play against.
I think we had a couple ofthings working against us in
that environment.
We were still very young I wasa sophomore, you know most of
our best players were juniorsstill and and Dick Vitale and
(21:42):
some of these other folks pickedus to win, like on these shows,
and that was like the worstthing that could have happened
for us because we really neededto sneak up on somebody.
And when Nolan Richardson heardthat you know we had been
picked by some of these peoplethat that he probably respects
very highly, I heard a quotewhere he said I don't even need
to do a scouting report thisgame.
My team's so fired up thatthey're going to come out and be
ready to play.
(22:03):
And I was the sixth man thatyear.
I did start 15 games due to aninjury earlier in the year, but
I was really the sixth man and Ithink we were down 15 or 12
when I got in the game.
Like they came out and theyjumped on us really quick.
We did get it down to nine inthe second half and started to
make some headway, but you knowthat was just a really tough
(22:26):
game for us.
I actually got injured in thatgame, had surgery about a month
later.
Derek Hood and I we actuallybanged knees who was their
starting center and, like I said, I had surgery about a month
later and he didn't play in thegame against Iowa in the next
round and they ended up gettingbeat.
So we actually, you know, notonly lost the game but also hurt
(22:46):
Arkansas, which didn't make mefeel good because you know I
wanted to see Arkansas win thechampionship.
If they beat us like I want tosee them go and do well.
But you know, arkansas, thatpressure was incredible.
Them go and do well, um, butyou know, arkansas, that
pressure was incredible.
Kareem reed, one of the fastestplayers I've ever played
against pat bradley he's doingnow a lot of tv but he was a
great shooter on that team andthey had like three or four guys
that were freshmen that I thinktwo or three of them were
(23:06):
lottery picks in the nba thatnobody knew of really at the
time, but they ended up turninginto really great players and,
uh, and you know, I think my Ithink is not being able to go
back to the tournament thefollowing year, when you know,
when that class that I mentioned, with those three really good
players, they were all seniors.
I was a junior, I was stillrecovering from that knee
surgery and it didn't reallycome back immediately.
(23:28):
I actually took five gamesearly in that season where I was
contemplating a red shirt.
So I was actually just sittingon the sidelines being able to
probably play.
But if I played in one moregame I wouldn't have been able
to red shirt.
So after those five games I diddecide to come back and we
ended up losing to Iona in thechampionship game that year,
unfortunately.
But I think that was really theyear where we could have gone
(23:49):
and beaten somebody because wehad had that experience.
We weren't going to letsomebody jump out to a 15 to 3
start or whatever it was.
Rocky (23:56):
And, um, you know, and I think we we could have put a
scare into somebody that yearwith that team so, scott, talk
to us a little bit about you geta chance last weekend and I saw
the the pictures with with thefamily.
I thought was awesome to seeyou guys all together, but uh,
you get inducted into the sienaathletic hall of fame and you
went in there with a great class.
Talk to us about what thatmeant to you and what that meant
(24:17):
to the family.
Scott Knapp (24:19):
Oh, it meant a lot, I mean for me.
You know not many people havehad my path with Siena.
I was not only a player there,but I actually worked there for
three or four years.
You mentioned Fran McCaffrey.
When he was signing hiscontract I was actually driving
his wife Margaret around lookingat neighborhoods in the
Loudonville area.
So we definitely have atight-knit relationship.
(24:40):
My wife and I.
We actually are sponsoring ascholarship at the school, so
that will be something thatlives on forever and long past
our lives and my kids have goneto summer camps there and
there's just so much about Sienathat means a lot to not only
myself but my family and youknow, and just to go into the
Hall of Fame, I mean as anathlete, I don't know if there's
(25:02):
any higher accomplishment youcan hope for, really.
And you know, I'm kind of gladthat it took a little while
because, you know, there wasobviously some players that came
after me that are well moredeserving than me, and I knew my
time.
My time may come, but, um, youknow, at the same time I'm I'm
more appreciative, I think nowof it having my kids now in high
school, um, having my dad nowcome up and uh and get to see,
(25:26):
uh, you know that that what Idid at Siena still means
something and still important toa lot of people and Scott, 2018
, I think, was the year that youwent into the greater Utica
Sports Hall of Fame, I thinkwith dad um and it's you was the
year that you went into theGreater Utica Sports Hall of
Fame, I think with Dad.
Rocky (25:39):
You went in before me, it's pretty special to be at a
Hall of Fame.
I mean, my sister and my dadare in the Rome Sports Hall of
Fame and hopefully someday I'llbe in there with them so I can
sit them in there with Dad andsister.
But how special is that to bein that Hall of Fame with Dad.
Scott Knapp (26:01):
And I got a feeling you guys may be going into
another one together here atsome point, but uh, I won't get
into that one.
But how special is it?
It's very special.
I mean I don't think you canmention my career without his
you know leadership and hisguidance.
Um, you know, it's funny likewhen we're back in central new
york.
He's the, he's the celebrity andyou know, and I'm just the guy
who played for him for fouryears, I mean because his tenure
and what he did over thedecades, I mean that's more of
(26:21):
an impact than I could ever hopefor.
And when I run into people thatplayed for my dad, they always
say like I don't know if I likedit at the time, but I'm so glad
I got to do it.
He taught me lessons that arereally valuable now in my
business career or as a parentor in any real capacity where
hard work is required and it'srewarded.
(26:44):
And in teamwork he was theultimate team coach.
He may have tailored his stylebased on the team he had, but
there's no way that I could haveput up the points and all those
statistics without a great teamaround me, and a team that was,
you know, not only talented,but a team that you know was
playing in this as a team, and Ithink that's what he taught us.
(27:06):
And you know, and really, atthe end of the day, just your
hard work is going to berewarded and it's worth the time
and effort to do so.
Rocky (27:13):
Scott, I got one more bone to pick with.
I think it was 1999, my FordhamRams.
When I was there you guysplayed them in MSG.
I think we got you in 1999-91.
But you might remember therewas a kid by the name of Bavon
Robin that played at Fordham.
That was probably one of thebetter players and I think we
had Bob Hill.
The former Spurs guy was thehead coach, but I was at the
(27:37):
game.
I wasn't courtside to watch you, but I was cheering for you.
Scott Knapp (27:39):
But I did have my fordham colors on.
No, I, I appreciate that rockand uh, yeah, getting to play
fordham we, I think we beat themup at our place maybe the year
before and uh, they had a reallygood recruit that that we we
were recruiting as well, and Iforget his name, tall, tall guy,
but he, he actually heard us inthat game.
Uh, but, yeah, getting to playat Madison Square Garden.
I think I played three or fourgames there.
(28:00):
I never shot well, never reallyplayed well.
You know, we played Rutgersthere as well.
I think that the night before weplayed Fordham and it was it
was just a tough environment,you know, cause there's only two
, 2000, 3000 people in a 20something thousand seat arena.
It's very bright on the courtand it's dark kind of behind it
when you're on the court.
So it was a very tough shootingenvironment for me.
(28:22):
But Fordham a great school andcertainly one that we always,
anytime we're playing an 8-10school we always felt like, all
right, well, this is our chanceto prove ourselves on a bigger
stage.
Rocky (28:42):
And unfortunately we didn't get the better of the
mckinney really tall, 6, 10, 6,10 kid.
But um, boredom had some goodteams.
I, they had some good teamswhen I was there and then, uh,
when they were in the patriotleague.
It was a lot different now thanbeing in a really tough, I
think a 10 conference.
But um, I remember I rememberwatching play at the guard man
it was.
There was probably about 2,500people there and it looked like
there was nobody in the gymbecause it was such a big arena.
But it was still fun to comewatch you.
Scott Knapp (29:04):
I appreciate the support.
Yeah, like I said, it was agreat experience.
I mean, I think one game we gotto play and we were actually a
doubleheader with the Knicks,there was two separate tickets.
It wasn't like it was able tobuy one, get one.
But, um, as we're coming offthe court, uh, you know alan
houston standing in the hallway,you know, ready to go out in in
(29:24):
his pre-game warm-up.
So you know, we got to do somereally cool things.
You know, I I appreciated paulhewitt and lewis or, you know,
really allowing us to, you know,not only be athletes and all
that.
But, um, you know, dr jackRamsey spoke to us once in
Philadelphia when we wereplaying in a hotel room.
You know, we got to meet MagicJohnson when we were in LA.
You know, there was just a lotof opportunities to broaden our
(29:46):
perspective and, you know, giveus experiences that we would
never have gotten, you know, hadthey not had some of those
connections and abilities toallow us to see those people and
to ask them questions.
I mean to be in a hotel roomwith Dr Jack Ramsey and you know
, and just be able to ask us.
You know, ask him questions andget, get us.
The answers that you know wereon our minds at the time.
(30:07):
Um, you know, just incredibleexperiences that we were able to
, uh to have.
Rocky (30:11):
Well, listen, man, I appreciate you jumping on.
It's been great to follow yourcareer, happy that you had the
success that you had and, like Isaid, it was fun to follow your
entire career and say Iactually got a chance to play
against you and see you grow up,man, so we're proud of you this
way.
Congratulations.
I'll make sure I say hi to Dadwhen I see him up at the casino
on one Saturday night or Friday.
(30:32):
But congrats, man, thanks forcoming on.
Scott Knapp (30:35):
No, thank you, Rocky, and great job with the
show.
I think it's great that youhave this in central New York
and really talking the Yuccahigh school sports scene.
I think it's something that'sundervalued and something that I
think made me tough.
It made me a better player andI love that you're celebrating
it with some of these coachescoming on and getting their
perspective.
Rocky (30:55):
Well, I appreciate that you're celebrating it, with some
of these coaches coming on andgetting their perspective.
Well, I appreciate that man,have a good rest of the day and
keep in touch.
Scott Knapp (30:59):
Sounds good, man.
All right man you got it.
Rocky (31:03):
So that was a VVS grad, Siena grad, Scotty Knapp, and I
was going to go into some of hisnumbers, but I do remember
watching him play at the gardenwhen Fordham beat him 99-91.
And Scott was always one of thebest shooters.
And if you look up in New YorkState and at the end of the show
I'll run through his numbershe's still in the top half for
most threes, made most points.
(31:25):
Like I said before Joe Girard,there was Scott Knapp at my eyes
.
So congrats, Scott, and Iappreciate you coming on this
morning with me.
So, without further ado, Idon't want to leave Coach Snyder
hanging.
He's been sitting in the greenroom here Hopefully I don't have
any audio problems, because Ilove talking to Coach Always a
fun time of the year when it'sbasketball season and his team's
(31:46):
on another chase for asectional title and another New
York State title.
So let's bring on Coach Snydernow.
Coach, how are you?
Coach John Snyder (31:55):
I'm doing well.
Good morning, thanks for havingme.
Rocky (31:57):
No problem.
Hopefully I don't go dark hereFirst time in probably 15 years.
All of a sudden I'm talking andnobody's listening, which
happens sometimes.
But it's good to have you backon.
Coach John Snyder (32:09):
Yeah, I really appreciate it.
It's great to be here and I'mglad we were able to get a
first-round win, so we're stillgoing here when I get to talk to
you.
Rocky (32:17):
No, not a problem.
And, coach, let's talk a littlebit.
I don't want to spend too muchtime on last season.
We all know the great run youguys went on last season and you
know last year's team.
Every year is different, everyteam is completely different.
But you lose Maggie last year,you lose Vita last year, some
seniors, and here you are againright back in a familiar spot
(32:37):
with again.
I remember saying this to youlast year If you had any spots
on that coaching staff.
I wanted a spot on the coachingstaff because this team is just
loaded with talent.
Then I looked this year and I'mlike wait a minute.
He's got freshmen, he's gotjuniors, they're all back again.
But that's a credit to you inthe program.
But from losing what you lostlast year to the team that
(32:57):
you're bringing back this year,what's the big difference
between the two teams?
Coach John Snyder (33:01):
Yeah, just such a great team.
I mean people overlooked someof our seniors at times.
You know, certainly Maggie wasat the forefront.
We had four seniors who wereincredibly important to us.
Maggie got a conferencechampionship yesterday as a
starter for Mount St Mary'sCollege.
They won the SkylineChampionship.
She's a key starter for themand had some big points they won
in overtime.
(33:22):
So she's performing at thecollege level and shows how much
we missed her at the highschool level.
But we're a completely differentteam, as you said.
You know I'm so proud of theway the girls have stepped up A
lot of people in different roles.
You know two freshmen startingfor us.
We have no seniors at all andyou know that's a great problem
to have.
People don't like to listen tomy complaints because you know I
(33:48):
have a pretty good place tostart from.
But you know we really had toplug in a lot of new pieces and
we've done a great job.
And to be the number one seedin Tri-Valley League champions
is just something I'm incrediblyproud of the way the girls
adapted and stepped into newroles.
Rocky (33:56):
And Coach.
I talk to a lot of high schoolcoaches and one of the key
things I always talk about thatI look at with them is the
schedule.
But I look at thenon-conference schedule and you
know, when I look at yournon-conference schedule, aquinas
always really good, Shakeralways really good, greenwich
always really good.
So those are the three lossesthat you have this year and I
think it's always good to betested in that non-conference
(34:18):
for anybody.
But talk to us about thenon-conference schedule.
You played some three reallygood teams.
Coach John Snyder (34:24):
Yeah, we try to do that.
It's a goal of ours every year.
You know three really goodteams.
Yeah, we try to do that.
It's a goal of ours every year.
I joke with some people that wewere able to win a state
championship.
I still never won the JugglerClassic as a coach here at Notre
Dame, because we usually bringin some pretty good teams and
Aquinas was there this year andwe had a really good game with
them.
They're number five in thestate in class AA, I think, and
we had a battle with them butthey ended up getting us at the
(34:45):
end.
And Shaker, I think, is a top10 team in AAA.
And you know Greenwich is asmaller school, they're actually
a Class C school, but I'll tellyou, the game they played
against us that day was one ofthe best games anybody's played
against us.
You know they may not be thebest team, but boy did they put
it all together and fantastic.
They're undefeated at thispoint, number one in the state
in class C.
(35:06):
We need challenges.
We try to get challenges.
We have big goals To get towhere we want to be.
We want to find anybody thatwill play us.
We got beat up a couple times,but I think it made us better.
Rocky (35:19):
Coach, talk to us about the roster this year and some of
the girls that have stepped uphere.
I know there's Ella and Erin,of course, that get the
headlines for you, but you gotthree freshmen on this team.
You got some juniors on thisteam.
Talk to us about some of thegirls that have stepped up for
you.
Coach John Snyder (35:33):
Sure, yeah, obviously everything starts with
Ella and Aaron and you knowthey're tremendous players and
had great experience.
But you know somebody who isand you know I don't want to
overlook any of our juniors.
We have two juniors that youknow have sacrificed a little
bit.
They're coming off the benchbehind two freshmen Jenna Heron
and Tessa Arcuri are keycontributors to us, play quality
minutes for us, hit some bigshots for us.
(35:53):
But you know, lily Johnson is afreshman.
Her sister, emma, is a junior.
They both are starting and Lilyin particular.
I think you know those games inDecember where we got beat up a
little bit.
Shaker, in particular, just hassome strong physical players
and some really good guards.
Greenwich has a tremendouspoint guard that gave a freshman
point guard some eye-openingmoments on the court.
(36:16):
That again, I think, made herbetter.
And a few weeks later afterthat we played Aquinas and
although we got beat, we playedat a different level when we
played Aquinas than when we gotbeat up a little bit when we
went to Amsterdam with thoseother two teams.
So you know, jules Otis isanother freshman who's starting
for us and just giving us reallyquality minutes, you know.
So it's just everybody.
(36:36):
It really is a team effort.
We, you know Ella is a star andeverything starts with her and
a lot of people on theirscouting reports are trying to
shut her down.
What I've always been proud ofyou know, last year, this year
is I think we are a team and youknow, you take one thing away
and something else usually stepsin, and it's not always the
same person.
It can be somebody different onany given night and uh, you
(36:58):
know again.
That's something that we kind ofpride ourselves on playing
together and playing as a team,and it's worked out for us well,
that was gonna be my to be mynext question Coach was going to
be.
Rocky (37:07):
You know every team.
Everywhere you find differentways to win games, maybe
different than how you wouldhave won games last year.
How was this team this year wongames differently than maybe
last year's team?
Coach John Snyder (37:18):
Yeah.
So we certainly have had ourmoments where we've needed to,
needed to play some betterdefense and you know the scoring
doesn't come quite as easily,especially, you know, at times.
You know we've seen people puttwo people on Ella at times, you
know, and three on the rest ofthe team just to try and take
her away.
So we've had to be ready toadjust to whatever people throw
(37:40):
at us.
And you know again, especiallywith the youth that we have,
we've done a pretty good job ofthat and you know we've won some
games in the 40s, we've wonsome games in the 70s and we're
adaptable.
We can play multiple styles, weplay multiple defenses and you
know it's worked out for us.
It's been a good run.
Rocky (38:02):
So you guys just you beat Oneida this past week, you
guys will get Indian River andthen the winner of your game
will get the winner of CVA inJamesville-DeWitt.
Who CVA?
You guys had a close game backin early January with.
So what does this team need todo to get back and play for a
sectional title and beyond?
Coach John Snyder (38:21):
Yeah.
So I mean we just need to keepdoing the things that we're
doing, play with effort.
You know I talk a lot aboutcontrolling the controllables.
You know that effort, thatintensity Shots don't always go
in.
When they do, we look reallygood.
Sometimes they don't and wehave to find ways on those days.
You know, certainly Indian Riverjust a tremendous program,
(38:42):
two-time sectional champs,well-coached.
They've got a few starters backfrom the team that won those
two straight sectionalchampionships in Class A.
So they're going to be achallenge and if we are
fortunate enough to get by them,one of the things of moving to
Class A that I don't like isjust playing Oneida the other
night for the third time theyplay so hard.
We were very fortunate to getout in front early and kind of
(39:06):
hang on with them.
And you know if we got to asectional title.
You know James Will DeWitt's atremendous program.
But Central Valley could bethere as well and, as you
mentioned, they've kind ofalways been a thorn in our side.
We know how talented they are.
We've been fortunate to get bythem.
You know the last couple ofyears when we've played them.
But it's always a battle.
(39:28):
And you know the last coupleyears when we've played them,
but it's always a battle and, uh, you know.
Rocky (39:30):
So that possibility is out there for another matchup
with them too, if we, if we, cankeep playing a while and get
lucky enough to meet them coach,is there any, any extra
pressure on on you guys, knowingthat you guys had the run last
year and you know the team youbring back is another great team
and any extra pressure becausealways, as a coach, when you're,
you're the team thateverybody's chasing and wants,
you know you're going to gettheir best shot day in and day
(39:50):
out any extra pressure for youguys.
Coach John Snyder (39:55):
I don't think it's extra pressure.
I mean it's something that wehave to embrace.
Exactly what you just said.
We talk about it all the time.
We are the target oneverybody's schedule.
Uh, you know, at this point,because of what we've done, you
know that's what success brings.
We're lucky to have that.
You know that's a problem Ithink anyone would want to have.
It's not easy to deal with.
You have to keep that again.
Those things that we cancontrol, that focus, that energy
(40:18):
, that attitude, we have tobring those things every day
because we're going to take thatbest shot.
We know it's coming and webetter be prepared for it.
And you know, again, I don'tthink it's pressure, it's
something that you, you knowwe've seen pressure at the
highest levels.
I guess that's the good news.
Even our freshmen, you know.
(40:38):
Unfortunately, last year we hada senior, imani Jedwick, tear
her ACL in the state semifinalgame and Lily, you know, hadn't
played really any minutes for usand she played about 10 minutes
as an eighth grader in thestate championship game.
So even our youngest playershave seen pressure at the
highest level.
So I don't think it'll bepressure that gets us.
But basketball is a crazy game,you know.
You know shots don't always goin and how do you adapt in those
(41:00):
moments?
How do you adapt when somebodyelse comes out and hits three or
four threes in a row?
You know things happen andwe'll be as prepared as we can
be.
Hopefully we'll adjust to thosethings and we've seen different
things that are prepare us forthat.
But we'll lay it all on theline and we'll we'll live with
the results because I think ourpreparation has been good and I
(41:21):
think we're in the right place.
You know mentally as well, butit's it's still not an easy
process.
You've got to be very fortunate.
We know that we were luckymultiple times last year to get
to where we did.
Rocky (41:31):
Well, coach, hopefully we'll be able to do this again
here soon and get you back onone game at a time, but your
teams have been fun to watch andI've enjoyed getting a chance
to talk to you over the lastcouple years and I definitely
want to do it again.
You're fun to talk to and I Ican't thank you enough for uh,
when I reach out to you forjumping on no matter what time I
ask you to come on.
Coach John Snyder (41:51):
You've been great and uh hopefully, at least
, I wasn't on the bus this yearright, but it was pretty cool
that.
Rocky (41:56):
That was good.
That was good podcast man.
When I got you right on the buswith the girls, that was, uh,
I'm hoping I get a chance tocome watch you guys play.
I'm going to get a chance to gowatch the boys' RFA on Tuesday
night, so hopefully I can get achance to follow you guys in
another chase for a Section 3title.
So we'll do it again soon.
Coach John Snyder (42:18):
Thank you, I appreciate it very much, all
right.
Rocky (42:19):
Coach, best of luck to you and the girls.
Coach John Snyder (42:22):
Thank you, take care, have a good day.
Rocky (42:24):
That was Coach John Snyder and he brought up.
The good point is I got him onthe bus last year, which was, I
always say, it's really cool todo that.
I think that's what makes fun.
Podcasting is when you get toget a coach or player you know
team.
I've had Gary Heenan when he's,when he's coming out of the
locker room.
I had I still remember coach 80and Brian 80 getting off the
(42:46):
bus to play a state championshipgame, which was really cool.
But Coach Snyder's done afantastic job with the girls.
They got a great team.
Best of luck to them in theirgame against Indian River and
the winner of that game I said,will play the winner of CVA and
Jamesville DeWitt.
So I just want to go back realfast before I wrap the show up,
(43:07):
because I did have ScottyKnapp's numbers and I just want
to go through these real fast.
So he's the career leader inthrees at Siena with 293.
He's the career leader in freethrow percentage at 89%.
He was the 1998 MAAC Rookie ofthe Year, second team All-League
in 2001, over 1,300 points.
(43:28):
And he's ninth in programhistory with 393 assists.
And then the New York Staterecords.
As I said before Joe Girard,there was Scotty Knapp.
To me he's got the schoolrecord at VVS for 1,897 points.
He's got 288 three-pointersmade, which is eighth in the
(43:49):
state and that's when he played.
He was from 1994 to 1997.
So again I want to make sure Icongratulate Scott.
Thanks Scott for coming on thismorning.
It was great to catch up withhim and go through some old
times with him.
Great career, great guy.
And it was great to see thepictures of him and the family
last weekend.
And I want to thank Coach JohnSnyder for coming on with me
(44:12):
this morning.
As I said, I've got a chance tomeet Coach last year and he's
always been great to me whenI've reached out to get him on
this show to talk about theNotre Dame Lady Jugglers, which
is a team I think can make adeep run here in the state
tournament but one game at atime, as us coaches will say.
But I want to thank him and Iwant to thank all the listeners,
(44:32):
all the followers.
Go to wwwtherockpileromecom.
You can check out all thepodcasts on the site.
You can follow me on all thesocial media platforms.
I apologize, today I had thefirst time in 15 years.
All of a sudden I'm talking andeverything just went black.
And as anybody even computersyou never want to see that black
(44:52):
screen.
Everything just went black,everything went off.
But I got it back up andrunning.
Hopefully you enjoyed today'sshow.
So on behalf of myself, coachPaggs, coach Medesis and the
stat man in the rock pile herethis morning, I want to thank
everybody for tuning in.
I appreciate it.
Have a good weekend everybody.
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