Latest / Coaches Corner / MBB HC Dan Hurley - June 13 2024

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MBB HC Dan Hurley - June 13 2024 · Coaches Corner

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I mean really wild. Uh, you know, just a wild couple of
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weeks. I think when you get to uh, you get to June,
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you have the you have the team on campus. Uh the roster said Alex
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returns and then this dropped. So it was, uh, it was obviously
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tempting, and you know, obviously the you know, the the Lakers organization
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was just an incredible you know, once in a lifetime to be presented with
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an opportunity to lead the one of the most storied franchises in sports, get
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a chance to uh, you know, get to know some amazing people and
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Rob Polenka and Jeanie Buss, so you know, but you know, in
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the end, there was just too many reasons, too many reasons to be
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here and at Yukon where we are in the end, once you're thinking all
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the way through and go through the whole process, I know, the amount
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of cameras in here right now, some of the reasons that you know why
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you wanted to say, yeah, there's so many. I mean, it's
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just when you get it's like think about the two places that you're like in
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your mind trying to choose between, Like you know, you're the head coach
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of the you're back to back champs at Yukon or the LA Lakers. I
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mean, it's not off. There's not many coaches that have had to make
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a decision between those two, you know, options for your career or so.
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But there's so many things that go through your mind. It's like,
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it's your family, it's uh, it's where you're best suited to be as
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a coach. It's it's a it's the business side. It's uh, it's
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your loyalty to to to players or like it like an alex Or or the
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players that came in here that believe in what we do. It's uh,
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it's a relationship you have with people in Connecticut, like the way you've embraced
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me when I got here and treated me so great as we've built this thing,
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and and it's just ah, so many things. It's like too many
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things. Your mind races, r you know, just race the whole time.
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And then you know, just uh, just you make a you know,
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you sit down in the end with your with Andrea and the k and
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and our sons and Danny and Andrew, you you you uh, you think
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as we got to like Sunday night, it was pretty clear and then you
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sleep on it. Get how much at the timing of the whole thing.
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Obviously when summer guys just already started. You know that Alex things before how
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much at the time back then the only the only thing where at the timing
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was uh. I know. Ever, with Alex in particular, that was
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uh. Again, like if Alex didn't return, I'm not sure that that
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would have changed my decision, but it certainly was something I thought about a
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lot. Like But I called him on Sunday and talked to him about the
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situation and really kind of you know where we had to talk about that about
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it, and he gave me his advice that I listened to it. I
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asked him for it, and I just put the phone away for my ear.
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But yeah, at the timing, I don't think would have impacted it
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that much because in the end, it's like what what you know? What?
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What fulfills you? What you know? What is your the combination of
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your your mind and your heart tell you to do, and you know what's
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best for your family, and and you know we're just where where but where
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do you belong? At this point? You know? Where where do you
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belong? And when? When did the Lakers contact you to get contact and
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as soon as the job opened or did did not contract with you. For
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me, it was this week or last week, you know, beginning of
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last week was what it was brought to me. I don't know how long
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they've vetted me out. And then I obviously talked to a lot of these
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general managers because for the last couple of years we've had NBA players. So
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I've gotten a chance to know Rob the last couple of years, and you
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know, g growing to respect him because we've talked basketball and we've talked about
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our players. So you know, I've had conversations with a lot of organizations
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over the last couple of years, So there was some familiarity going into like
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probably Monday of last week. Well, it sounds like talking to your place
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to tell you you're coming back. Usually if you tell players you leave him.
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When was your emotional reaction with me you told me you were coming back?
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Ye, I mean I felt horrible that the Thursday that we weren't like,
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uh, when the news dropped, the timing of it, I didn't
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get a chance to kind of address it to them. Hey, guys,
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this is an opportunity the I've got to look at and really evaluate and consider,
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and so I wanted to make sure that you know that things were very
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quiet until I met with them that day, and obviously you know, the
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players were excited. I didn't make it easy for him. I had like
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a twenty minute meeting with them, and I used it to my advantage as
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a coach in terms of asking them for a heavy commitment. I had made
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my decision before I went in there, but I kind of like demanded a
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commitment of exit from them in there, and they didn't really know what I
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was doing when I went in, so it was almost like, whatever you
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guys say and commit to is going to be the deciding factor, which was
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a lie. I already had decided and I think it and I just no
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one had a phone in there, so no one could see Twitter. So
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that's why I like coaching guys this age. They're dumber then NBA players.
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I wouldn't been able to pull that bunked off, but I got a great
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commitment from the group and I told him what was a guy with you?
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Which she was angry. Anger turned to tears and and she wasn't happy about
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it because she we all love it here when you love it and you're so
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happy, you don't want that type of disruption, especially one that's special like
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the Lakers. So if it was like a lesser opportunity, she wouldn't have
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reacted so emotionally. And then she, you know, she then we handle
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it like adults. You know, she re considered it and waited and took
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the trip and factor it in all the things that mattered to us. And
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then as we got to Sunday and we had just some time to talk about
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it, are able to follow your heart which is here and your brain which
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was here, and you get free wings for life. I saw that and
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I think pizza, pizza really where the hot dogs from? Oh? Really?
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All right? Oh man, that's uh, that's a hard question play.
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How much of a factor was that? I just think for for fulfillment
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for me. And you know, the thought of of coaching Lebron James is
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incredibly exciting. You hear all types of I mean, this thing was all
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over the media for a couple of days, so you you, you,
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you, you, you get some exposure to everything that was being said,
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and you know, one of the positives about the Lakers was the chance to
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coach Lebron James, because great players and all time great players, they're like
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some of that is incredibly like works their absolute butt off, has great levels
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of expertise as a coach, and its a authentic like great players are going
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to respect that. And so yeah, but with that the chance that Lebron
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made it incredible coach Lebron made it incredibly appealing. But then for me,
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I just think this is this is such a high level of sports, especially
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where we're competing at and I got a chance to coach eighteen, nineteen twenty
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year old kids that you could really help change their lives. I mean,
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you could compete for big things and win big things, but like the impact
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that you have on Jordan Hawkins and his family and Donovan and his family,
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and you know that that so you get the top sports competition, but then
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you also get the fulfillment too, which goes through your mind a lot.
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Did you meet with Lebron out there? I did not. I did not,
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I do not. We have some communication and over the weekend, and
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it was it was awesome to see that from him, to hear that the
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you know, from him, it was amazing. How does you feel now
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that you've kind of got the decision behind you and you can kind of just
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kind of focus on what you need to focus. Yeah, I coached bad
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last week and Monday I had a bad practice. Uh, I was distracted,
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but I was gone. I was on point today. And the guys
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I think got a real good sense of what it's like to play here now,
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the new guys, because I was on like probably like a six today
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on a ten scale, six maybe six point five. So it's just really
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it's a lot of relief and a lot and you feel a lot lighter.
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And it was great to get out and recruit and and see the see the
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twenty fives, and to get in here and just to get back to work
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and and and focus on what we're doing. What works been like since they've
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come back, and it have you noticed the difference since my day the the
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well today was the first day back. And again, like Alex wasn't around
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for the first couple of practices, so you know, we were a whole
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and then and then I dropped or the news dropped on them, and then
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we had practice and then you know, and then Monday, obviously it was
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you know, it was an emotional day for everybody so today was like back
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to business making recruiting calls, you know, pre practice planning. Today was
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like the first day that's felt real normal, full team here. And is
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there any upgrade on a con talk situation in close facial Yeah, I mean
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that that whole thing, I know, that became a thing, and like
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the whole finances of that is as was was worked out between Dave and and
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and my agent probably two weeks ago. Where I was where I got like
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like the finalized what that looks like? Really the only parts of that that
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that you know potentially could change or some some of the other things staff wise,
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you know again like I don't know, like the nil thing has just
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hit. So you know, you know, just like language things, you
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know, negotiating the buyouts and different things like that. And if you mean
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those things are just as important as the sun you assistance, Yeah, the
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buyouts or those things are just as important. Yeah. Yeah, they are
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to me and they always have been. And you know, I I don't
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it was you know, the my leverage again and this was not this was
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something that you know, when the Lakers come calling, and you know,
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and you're the type of person that you know it's competitive and and looking for
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challenges and wants to be the best the way I am. I mean it
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was something that you know, I really had to consider. You know,
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for me, this was not get a leverage situation. I've won you know,
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back to backs and and and I've had plenty of le leverage in the
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off season, but I I do you know, I hopefully we're able to
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finalize something that way soon and get the whole contract done. But I'm flattered
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by what what Dave's put in front of me. I think it's very fair.
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How much does what sharing change your I mean, that's a factor.
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I mean there's a lot of factors right now that that's there's a lot that
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was going through your mind, and and you know the the TV deals with
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conferences and you know what that twenty one you know, where's that going to
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come from? And what is that going to look like? And well we
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be at a competitive disadvantage. I mean, there's a lot that was going
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through your mind that you have to you know, consider. So it just
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wasn't simple. Yeah, most of us you never know what it's like.
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You have for a seventeen million, you have to do a job that you
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love, me try to put that into words out, So it's kind of
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away from from a number like that. Yeah, I think fifty. Yeah,
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I mean fifteen years ago, I was a high school coach, and
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I fifteen years ago, I was want me to move, I'll want me
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to move. I can move, you move alright, s witch, Wayne,
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who's bullying me? Fifteen fifteen years ago, I was a high school
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coach. So you you you, you know, you have a lot of
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self belief that you're gonna have a great career in coaching as even as a
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h uh as a high school point high school coach at that point. But
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you just can't imagine that you'd be in a position to again make those choices
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and and talk about those type of financial numbers and stuff go from high school
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to Wagner to Roady and to here, and just uh, I got a
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lot of pride and in the journey and how I've had to take steps in
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my career to get here. And yeah, it's hard to wrap your mind
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around is your personality better suited for the college game. You just you can
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push the kids a little further or eager. I could coach anywhere, I
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could coach great anywhere. That's you know, I had to adapt. I've
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had to adapt from high school to to to low Division one, from low
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Division one the mid from from mid to the best program in the country.
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You've had to adapt to the portal. You've had to adapt to coaching players
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that go from getting nothing to nil. You know, tactics, player development,
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building great relationships, building a great culture, being able to evaluate talent,
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all those things translate. So yeah, I mean this for me,
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this was a great exercise too, to develop in your mind too, to
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have a greater appreciation for where you are and the opportunity that you have here.
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This was a great test and a great exercise for me for how I
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feel about Yukon and how I feel about being a college coach and all the
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things that I value. I think situations like this come up for you to
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test your your value system and that things are important to you. And so
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in a way, this was a great opportunity for self reflection about the things
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I think are most important in coaching in my career. Where'd you think you
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learned about yourself and Darren's process. Then, in the end, it wasn't
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like my ego that mattered the most. It was it was family, and
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it was it was the people here at Yukon. It was the players here
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at Yukon. Chance to repeat that there was There were definitely, uh,
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you know, the competitive things about trying to continue to do things that either
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haven't been done or haven't been done here at a long uh or in college
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mesketball in a long time. But it was you know, just uh,
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the the relationships, the impact that you have on young people. Those are
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things that I love right now. You mentioned with Fronk Goo and Alex can
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talk with any other players think and say messages. It was just Alex really
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and you talked to Luke and Kamani a a ton. We talked to dB,
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but mostly the people that I was talking to were, uh, you
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know, like my family and some MBA people who I have a lot of
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respect for. And then like Seth Greenberg, who is like one of my
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best counselor you know, counselor or advisors or mentors or what have you.
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But the other people that I always talked to about basketball decisions or stuff that's
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going on during the season. You know, Billy Donovan, you know Tom
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is a Brad Stevens, you know Quinn Snyder, like people that I have
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a ton of respect for as as basketball people. What my mom, dad,
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brother, you know what what what kind of advice did you get stuff
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from that I got? Yeah, my dad loves his Big East Torland tickets,
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so he didn't want to risk them. So he Yeah, everyone was
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good. Just I think, uh, you don't let my parents or my
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dad is a is uh and mom or older and and I'm sure their preference
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was to uh it was to stay at Yukon, but they didn't make that
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uh uh uh uh ah. You get a lot of biases from people when
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you when you ask her his advice, because everyone would prefer you to be
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one place or another. But I I just my family is is is so
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great that they didn't Uh. My brother was just down the middle, like
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real unemotional, like here's the situation, you know, this is how you
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gotta look at it. And my parents had the same day, but they
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they didn't you know, they wanted the Yukon's Uh, they did not want
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me to even probably go out there on the plane. We've got to go
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wn the NBA draft see players being drafted. What what will you feel like
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now that you've kind of gotten a introduction to a different side of the league.
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Yeah, I don't. It'll just be great to share that day with
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uh, you know, with with at least two of our guys and hope
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that maybe a third guy slips into day one. And I think the thing
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that you look forward to, you know, most is just the emotion the
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guys are gonna experience for that night and then you know, just you know,
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just hope we get four guys drafted in good in great spots for them.
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Then you notice end up taking the guys a couple of set after the
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other. Any man the announcement, then what you did should commitment to them
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and now they have to eat them more. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
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yeah. I mean when you dom asked me about the the or somebody asked
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about the things you're considering. Maybe it was Gavin just I didn't like the
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looks when I when I talked to them on Thursday after to tell them I
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was going to consider it and go out there and and and and and you
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know, take on the process. I didn't love the faces that looked at
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me. There's images of things that will always be embedded in your mind,
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and you know, just sharing that initial news, you know, like,
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I didn't like the way they looked at me when I told them I was
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going to consider it, and and I've enjoyed their faces since Monday. Better
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is your entire roster for next year here? What was it like to not
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be able to consult with them necessarily when you do care so much about seeing
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their reaction to that? But you have to kind of keep it in the
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family too. Yeah, when they went through the recruiting process to come here
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h and decide amongst several schools, they weren't taking advice from me, So
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I kind of justified it, I guess for myself in that fashion. Plus,
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you know, alex Is alex Is uh, you know, he's a
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very mature guy. He's a smart guy. He just went through the draft
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process, so he's a very you know, he's somebody that I felt like
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could give me some good advice. Is your entire roster for next year on
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campus? Now? We're considering, you know, maybe using a thirteenth scholarship,
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but it's not a priority. We would only do it for you know,
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a developmental player, somebody that would be obviously like a red shirt type
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situation because or one through twelve right now, looks pretty competitive. Could you
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give a report card on the new guys, including the transfers what you see?
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Yeah, I mean, it's just just talented. It's funny. I
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was at the dinner, Uh was I? Where was I? Where was
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I? I had when I was at the I was somewhere with Gino or
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or I was somewhere with Gino and I just complained to him about how bad
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we stink and how bad it looks in the summer first week or two,
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and he just said, like, you're in good shape. That you told
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me this the exact same day last year. So yeah, I mean,
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I think they're all as advertised. The new guys we've brought in. The
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older guys look better than they were. And yeah, I'll say, like,
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you know, Tyrs Taris is Is is a serious, physically gifted human
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being. And if if you know, he's we're very pleased about what what
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it looks like at center for us. Again, that's been a big for
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us. So it's just his talent has stood out. Liam is his I
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don't know that there's gonna be that many freshmen that are as ready as him
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to play well in college, you know, Aiden and uh, you know,
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Aiden has the you know, the skills that we hope for, like
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a potentially a blend between like some cam stuff and some Tristan stuff. And
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then uh, you know, Isaiah and Ahmad are like really really talented freshmen
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that the competition to get into court this year, just like to get into
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court is gonna be really intense. Guys should be drafted in this way,
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the four guys. I think it's, uh, you don't get caught up
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as much. And now that you've been you've been through this, you're looking
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more for really great organizations, organizations that do a great job developing players and
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can simulate something somewhat of what we do here at Yukon, so that you
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don't you know, have play in the situation that that James book and I
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finds himself in. So I think you're looking more for organizations rather than you
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know, do they go first, do they go third, did they go
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seventh? That they go thirty? Fifth? They when? And how did
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you let the Lakers know when you're staying at your gun and if you'd be
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wanting to share anything about how that conversation went, how they've countered with what
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they said to you. Yeah, when we got to the facility. I
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just for the way that the news initially dropped. I I wanted to make
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sure that the players, you know, whether I stayed or or go or
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went, they heard it from me, uh in that locker room. So
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I right before that team meeting, Uh, as I was, you know,
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my wife came to the facility. We we we sent each other a
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text, uh that Sunday night. Uh. It was literally right before went
23:56
to bed. We said, uh, one two three, send the t
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next message to each other go stay and uh one two three send it and
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we both got it and it was stay. I said, let's do the
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same thing in the morning. And then it was the same one two three,
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and we both said that it sounds bizarre, right Uh. And then
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and then I and then on the way out the door to come over here,
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UH just kind of looked at each other, like you feel good about
24:26
this? And uh we said, uh, We're like okay. So then
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she just wanted to come to the facility and hug the guys and see and
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see the boys once we told them that we were staying. So I told
24:40
them basically right before that team meeting, I called dB and but I think
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I mean he had to have a sense of it. But uh, yeah,
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we we let everybody know right as I was walking in there. And
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at one point you had to let the Lakers know that you were no longer
24:56
interested. How how did you deliver that into them? And how a big
25:00
response to you? Yeah, well, you know, Brett, Uh,
25:02
you know, my agent communicated in the initially and then I was able to
25:07
reach out after Damn No, let's ever get a question the loyalty above to
25:11
just picked it as a situation for yourself, you realize how much you actually
25:15
loved or you can mother more than you thought. Yeah, it was a
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great exercise for me in a sense that it was. Uh, you're so
25:23
flattered because of you know, it's it's one of the biggest sports franchises,
25:29
organizations in the world, world world renowned history and brand and and then the
25:36
people there, you know, Genie Buss and Rob Polenka, like incredible people
25:40
to meet spend time with. And but yeah, the exercise that way in
25:45
terms of self reflection of what's important to you and and you know, where
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where where, where where do you best fit uh as a as a coach
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and a leader, and like when you're when you're when you're really couldn't be
26:00
happier. Why would you disrupt that? Like when you love where you live,
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and you love where you work, and you love the people you're around,
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and you're close to the people you love family wise in the end,
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and you love Yukon, you know, you just love Yukon. Do you
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think there was a dollar amount that you couldn't you would you have turned down?
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I think everybody has a dollar or what is that? I mean,
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it's like, I don't know what that looks like. I couldn't imagine what
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the number was, but I'm sure every human being has a number that they
26:30
wouldn't But that was a big number, uh, considering places that I've coached
26:37
for I've coached a lot less for a lot less than that throughout my career
26:42
and and so but that, I mean, I think everybody probably does,
26:48
but it wa you know, but I it would have been a bigger than
26:55
what John was report. So you know that you had a couple of days
26:59
like ruminated and your dis like are you feeling good and confident out here?
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I feel great? I feel great. It was the bad again, Like
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the part that that sucked was that I wish it would have been a worse
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opportunity, right, like you know it was the Lakers, man, you
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know, it's like you just wish it wasn't that unbelievable of an opportunity,
27:21
because that's the only type of thing it would have taken, you know,
27:26
for me to have any consideration of leaving a place like this, you know,
27:30
so that you know that the only regret was that it was such a
27:34
unbelievable like once in a lifetime franchise comes your way and for most coaches,
27:40
you'll never get a second chance to coach a franchise like that. It's almost
27:45
like at Rody, if I would have not come to Yukon, how many
27:48
chances in your life will you ever get to coach at Yukon? Not many?
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It's the same thing there. Are you at Yukon for life now?
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Or there'd be uh an opportunity three or four years after you've accomplished more here
28:03
where you feel okay, the NBA would be cool now. Yeah, I
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mean it's hard to project all the way out that far, but it's tough
28:14
to uh uh if you're going to pass on that to stay here. Yeah,
28:21
how much you lack it as a high school coach much four hour if
28:23
you calculate how much an hour, well father Ed got a lot out of
28:26
me there. You know, I taught two block history courses World two,
28:33
you know, from the Dark Ages to the Reformation, and they were block
28:40
block periods, so they were they were double uh, there were double class
28:45
periods. And then I coached my ass off, So I think I went
28:48
in there, you know, probably making forty five or fifty. And then
28:52
you hustle high school coach. You hustle, You run summer camps, you
28:55
do workouts. So last season you described you described to come on Luke and
29:00
Tom as being as good as any coaching staff in the country. What do
29:03
you think it says about the state of the program when you and you guys
29:06
are ready to run it back and go for the three pet Yeah, I
29:08
mean I got the you know, just there are awesome staff and and I
29:14
think with Luke and and Camani in particular, it's, uh, we're in
29:17
such a special place together and and you know, the university commits to to
29:22
those guys as well and Tom, and where they're not they're in a position
29:27
where they don't ever need to leave here unless they're leaving for a high major
29:33
job or or a truly elite opportunity. So that's lucky to have these guys
29:41
around me and and uh, you know, we're really cohesive and and we
29:45
work like a machine together. Could the Billy Joel concert help take your mind?
29:52
Yeah? The songs were crazy because the lyrics were messing with my head
29:56
too, and it's like I am again, and you know, shout out
30:00
to Cooper and Kelly and the whole Flag family because they made me, you
30:06
know, they made me miss the Fenway Billy Joel last September. I think
30:08
it was Fenway Billy Joel last September, so he could only visit that certain
30:14
weekend. So we had great seats and we had to cancel the Billy Joel
30:18
and it was worth it to have a shot at the Flag family. But
30:22
that's just you know, Wayne, we couldn't we couldn't miss a second concert
30:30
because of basketball issues, you know, like my wife, plus Luke had
30:34
secured great seats. Maybe we could have thought through. Luke could have thought
30:41
through posted that video better. What's the most important thing you want to get
30:48
done in this session as it continues, and just the team building right now,
30:52
it's like we've lost so much the last two years. So we've lost
30:55
so many great people in that locker room. So team building set the standard
31:02
and get the new people up to speed as to as to how we do
31:06
things. Yah. Yeah