Sports -U Basketball

Gregg is a friend and someone who's opinion I truly respect when talking about what the top programs in America are looking for and especially the NBA. I thought this would be critical reading for us all and help everyone to understand what the intrinsic character goals of our program are. This is why a person like Patty Popadics is so essential to our program.


Another round of workouts this morning and then five more interviews this afternoon. Today’s schedule includes Tyreke Evans, James Johnson, Jonny Flynn, Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison.

We had eight consecutive interviews last night and while it quite a long process for us, it has to be a rather stressful situation for these players, sitting in interview after interview, and it’s interesting to see how each of them handles the situation.

What you see is that there is a difference with some of the kids who have come from situations where they have been exposed more publicly and socially. Some guys handle the situation better depending on if they have been through some of this before, or the way they were brought up, or even just the influence of their parents. It doesn't make them a good kid or a bad kid. I think that what we have to do is look at their background, where they came from, their ability to communicate and maybe why they don't communicate well or why one communicates better than another. We are just trying to ascertain what we are dealing with, more than saying that one guy is or isn't a great communicator. Sitting in that room is hard on these kids, particularly the younger ones who have not gone through as many interviews, even through their college career, and just from a maturity standpoint, some are ahead of others based on their background, their temperament and their makeup.

You always learn something, but I think that as much as gathering information via the interview process, you are also looking at body language, facial expressions, mannerisms and how they respond to a question, as much as to what the actual answer to the question is. Overall, you are trying to get a full picture as to what you are dealing with, even thought there is no real stress point. It is stressful, but it’s not like you are in a game and the coach really has to get on you in a huddle and stress a point. Then, you may really see another side of a guy. However, when we ask questions, we try to be pointed in some regard so we can see how a guy responds to it. Does he show poise, does he take a little offense to it, does he feel comfortable or uncomfortable? We are trying to gather information, not just in the answer itself, but in what this guy’s personality make-up is.