CHARLOTTE- Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire spoke to the media and gave some additional time to local media at the ACC Tipoff on Wednesday to share his thoughts on the state of men's basketball, his Yellow Jackets and college sports in general.
Damon talked about recruiting and he said that people are not focused on the right things and relationships with the kids are part of the development process not just hoops, he would rather lose a kid for being honest with him (which happened) and he had one who left after last season that he invested heavily in that frustrated him (I believe this is Tafara Gapare) and that kid let outside sources change what he thought and he stuck with him through struggles to help develop him for the future so that is frustrating.
He told a story about Daniss Jenkins who was a star player at St. John's for Rick Pitino last year. He said that he went to Dallas and scouted the kid and offered him when he was at Pacific after watching him play after just five minutes of action. He told Jenkins that every other school in the area was going to offer him but to stick with him because he believed in him and people were just going to offer because he offered and they didn't want to be outsmarted in their backyard by Damon. Damon said he won 23 games with him as a freshman and then had him go to a JUCO when he left for the NBA because it was what the kid needed.
Damon then told the media he can take chances on kids like Nait George, but at Duke or UNC it is a lot harder because so many people care and they care about stars and all of that, it is hard to take it on the chin if you miss on a lower recruited guy at Duke or UNC and you'd have to have a thick skin to do that. He said his track record is pretty good on finding these kids and even someone like Baye Ndongo wasn't a sure bet because Baye was coming off the bench behind a McDonalds All-American and was a bit of an after thought, he became one of 16 freshmen in ACC history to average 12 and 8 and the other 15 all made the NBA.
On Atlanta being a hotbed for recruiting, he said it is definitely not Baylor and what Coach Drew had to do there plugging away on 50 to 150 kids. He said there are a lot of stereotypes they battle because it is a hard academic school but every kid has to go to class and everything comes through Atlanta and they are going win some and lose some and there are some Atlanta kids who want to leave the ATL, but there a lot that are pure Atlanta kids that just want to be there because Georgia Tech is Atlanta. He said that kids tell him that Atlanta is killer and why would they go anywhere else and there are some kids who are good enough to go anywhere they want to and you have to respect that, but he is trying to build Tech up to be one of those places those kids want to go to as well. It won't ever been easy and you can't be complacent.
On how close GT is to turning the corner, Stoudamire said the ACC needs Tech to be successful, it is the biggest market in the league and everything goes through Atlanta. When Tech has been successful it has been good for the league and made the league better. You always got Duke and Carolina on the main stage, but when Tech is really good they usually make a run or two and they were like that in a consistent window for 8 to 10 years where you could pencil them in as a tournament team that could make a run and he doesn't believe they are far from that.
Damon said he screwed up the scheduling last year with the long Christmas break after Hawaii and that cost them out of the gate in ACC play at FSU. He said that he wanted to be home for 12 of the first 15 games and then get a game in during Christmas break before they start ACC play. He thinks you can create some momentum that way. He thought he killed their momentum coming off the trip to Hawaii last year where they played for the title in the Diamond Head and were rolling.
Damon was asked about former players coming back to Tech to be around the program or give money and Damon said he wants all the former players to come back and he doesn't think it is appropriate to ask a man for his money, but he is happy to ask them for some time to give back to the kids and share their experiences so that is what he tries to do. He said that Derrick Favors has been coming back around and has been exploring coaching with Paul Hewitt in the G-League and Favors is one of his favorite former GT guys and he took him to dinner and said Derrick you are an Atlanta guy and he left so young chasing that NBA dream he needs to share that experience with his younger players and he has been doing that along with Dennis Scott and some former walk-ons as well. He tries to leave the gym open for former players (there are always guys around playing hoops in there). Damon said he remembers when GT and Arizona were the spots to go to for a young point guard and he is trying to bring that back.
I asked him about his scheduling and why they opted for all the home buy games and he said that with the 20 ACC games and the other games they had locked, UGA, Cincy and the Northwestern game in Milwaukee and an SEC game that was likely to be on the road he wanted to not overschedule. He had a feeling they would end up with a tough ACC schedule and they got at UNC and Duke in the first couple of league games. He said Cincy is supposed to be good and Georgia you never know they could be good and Northwestern and at Oklahoma so that was pretty good scheduling and they've got to handle their business.
On what he is changing from year one to two in the ACC coaching, Stoudamire said he is going to be less tolerant of things. He said a few times last year he let some things slide and by the end of the year he was down to play the guys who were still giving it their all and were invested and he was investing in them and three of them decided to come back, he said he isn't going to tolerate the lack of attention to detail, he said they aren't skipping things and they have to create good habits and at times they looked lost last year from bad habits.
On beating UNC and Duke in his first season, he said it meant a lot to him but not for the reason people think, he grew up on the ACC even though he was a West Coast kid and wanted to play in the ACC and admired the conference and Duke and Carolina were rolling back then with some many great players so it was more nostalgic for him and about the past than just say beating Carolina or Duke. He said the Carolina game in particular because Baye Ndongo was out with a concussion missing like 37 minutes of that game. He said he thought the best win of the season came at Wake Forest because they lost to them at home and the circumstances around that loss and they had to put on their big boy pants to beat them up there and Wake was playing to get into the NCAA Tournament and needed that game desperately. He said winning at Clemson was the other one that stood out to him. Those were tough places to win and huge wins for the team.
I asked him about Duncan Powell and he said that Duncan is called the "Shag Man" and he isn't going to say he is rough around the edges, but he is different and you need guys like that. he has been a good addition and at his core he plays basketball with a chip on his shoulder and a big one. He is from North Carolina and he has a big chip on his shoulder and he is very coachable. He had heard all these things about him before he came and he hasn't seen any of that, he has been great and a good guy to be around and he also has two years left which is why they brought him in as well. He said if you want to understand Duncan you have to go to his IG page. He said he has carried a chip on his shoulder for a long time and he doesn't forget anything.
On Dyllan Thompson, Damon said he is in fact a walk-on and he can really shoot the ball and he wants to carve out his own niche. He is in a tough spot being compared to his mom Tina Thompson who is a half of fame player. Damon thinks he will eventually be able to help the program.
On Ryan Mutombo, Damon said he is just dealing with it as best he can.
On Doryan Onwuchekwa, Damon said that he has a chance to be special and has a little something about him, his competitive spirit and he just plays hard and works hard and isn't perfect but that is what he loves about him, he does his best to be perfect. He can shoot the ball, he can stretch it and he can rebound and he will be a really good player.
I asked him about Kowacie Reeves' spiritual journey, he said that he always felt like he had more than basketball going on and that is not normal at his age, the way he talks about stuff and what he talks about it s impressive. He went to Spain this summer with his class and lived there and he has always been a different kid, he said he doesn't put his view on other people and everyone else is respected and that is great. Reeves has written a book and is working on a second one.
I asked about this eclectic group he has put together and he said it wasn't intentional it just happened they have a cast of characters and you got Shag Man (Powell) on one end and then Wacie over there and guys like Baye are starting to show their personality too and DO (Doryan) is starting to show his personality now too, it is a team full of characters.
Damon talked about recruiting and he said that people are not focused on the right things and relationships with the kids are part of the development process not just hoops, he would rather lose a kid for being honest with him (which happened) and he had one who left after last season that he invested heavily in that frustrated him (I believe this is Tafara Gapare) and that kid let outside sources change what he thought and he stuck with him through struggles to help develop him for the future so that is frustrating.
He told a story about Daniss Jenkins who was a star player at St. John's for Rick Pitino last year. He said that he went to Dallas and scouted the kid and offered him when he was at Pacific after watching him play after just five minutes of action. He told Jenkins that every other school in the area was going to offer him but to stick with him because he believed in him and people were just going to offer because he offered and they didn't want to be outsmarted in their backyard by Damon. Damon said he won 23 games with him as a freshman and then had him go to a JUCO when he left for the NBA because it was what the kid needed.
Damon then told the media he can take chances on kids like Nait George, but at Duke or UNC it is a lot harder because so many people care and they care about stars and all of that, it is hard to take it on the chin if you miss on a lower recruited guy at Duke or UNC and you'd have to have a thick skin to do that. He said his track record is pretty good on finding these kids and even someone like Baye Ndongo wasn't a sure bet because Baye was coming off the bench behind a McDonalds All-American and was a bit of an after thought, he became one of 16 freshmen in ACC history to average 12 and 8 and the other 15 all made the NBA.
On Atlanta being a hotbed for recruiting, he said it is definitely not Baylor and what Coach Drew had to do there plugging away on 50 to 150 kids. He said there are a lot of stereotypes they battle because it is a hard academic school but every kid has to go to class and everything comes through Atlanta and they are going win some and lose some and there are some Atlanta kids who want to leave the ATL, but there a lot that are pure Atlanta kids that just want to be there because Georgia Tech is Atlanta. He said that kids tell him that Atlanta is killer and why would they go anywhere else and there are some kids who are good enough to go anywhere they want to and you have to respect that, but he is trying to build Tech up to be one of those places those kids want to go to as well. It won't ever been easy and you can't be complacent.
On how close GT is to turning the corner, Stoudamire said the ACC needs Tech to be successful, it is the biggest market in the league and everything goes through Atlanta. When Tech has been successful it has been good for the league and made the league better. You always got Duke and Carolina on the main stage, but when Tech is really good they usually make a run or two and they were like that in a consistent window for 8 to 10 years where you could pencil them in as a tournament team that could make a run and he doesn't believe they are far from that.
Damon said he screwed up the scheduling last year with the long Christmas break after Hawaii and that cost them out of the gate in ACC play at FSU. He said that he wanted to be home for 12 of the first 15 games and then get a game in during Christmas break before they start ACC play. He thinks you can create some momentum that way. He thought he killed their momentum coming off the trip to Hawaii last year where they played for the title in the Diamond Head and were rolling.
Damon was asked about former players coming back to Tech to be around the program or give money and Damon said he wants all the former players to come back and he doesn't think it is appropriate to ask a man for his money, but he is happy to ask them for some time to give back to the kids and share their experiences so that is what he tries to do. He said that Derrick Favors has been coming back around and has been exploring coaching with Paul Hewitt in the G-League and Favors is one of his favorite former GT guys and he took him to dinner and said Derrick you are an Atlanta guy and he left so young chasing that NBA dream he needs to share that experience with his younger players and he has been doing that along with Dennis Scott and some former walk-ons as well. He tries to leave the gym open for former players (there are always guys around playing hoops in there). Damon said he remembers when GT and Arizona were the spots to go to for a young point guard and he is trying to bring that back.
I asked him about his scheduling and why they opted for all the home buy games and he said that with the 20 ACC games and the other games they had locked, UGA, Cincy and the Northwestern game in Milwaukee and an SEC game that was likely to be on the road he wanted to not overschedule. He had a feeling they would end up with a tough ACC schedule and they got at UNC and Duke in the first couple of league games. He said Cincy is supposed to be good and Georgia you never know they could be good and Northwestern and at Oklahoma so that was pretty good scheduling and they've got to handle their business.
On what he is changing from year one to two in the ACC coaching, Stoudamire said he is going to be less tolerant of things. He said a few times last year he let some things slide and by the end of the year he was down to play the guys who were still giving it their all and were invested and he was investing in them and three of them decided to come back, he said he isn't going to tolerate the lack of attention to detail, he said they aren't skipping things and they have to create good habits and at times they looked lost last year from bad habits.
On beating UNC and Duke in his first season, he said it meant a lot to him but not for the reason people think, he grew up on the ACC even though he was a West Coast kid and wanted to play in the ACC and admired the conference and Duke and Carolina were rolling back then with some many great players so it was more nostalgic for him and about the past than just say beating Carolina or Duke. He said the Carolina game in particular because Baye Ndongo was out with a concussion missing like 37 minutes of that game. He said he thought the best win of the season came at Wake Forest because they lost to them at home and the circumstances around that loss and they had to put on their big boy pants to beat them up there and Wake was playing to get into the NCAA Tournament and needed that game desperately. He said winning at Clemson was the other one that stood out to him. Those were tough places to win and huge wins for the team.
I asked him about Duncan Powell and he said that Duncan is called the "Shag Man" and he isn't going to say he is rough around the edges, but he is different and you need guys like that. he has been a good addition and at his core he plays basketball with a chip on his shoulder and a big one. He is from North Carolina and he has a big chip on his shoulder and he is very coachable. He had heard all these things about him before he came and he hasn't seen any of that, he has been great and a good guy to be around and he also has two years left which is why they brought him in as well. He said if you want to understand Duncan you have to go to his IG page. He said he has carried a chip on his shoulder for a long time and he doesn't forget anything.
On Dyllan Thompson, Damon said he is in fact a walk-on and he can really shoot the ball and he wants to carve out his own niche. He is in a tough spot being compared to his mom Tina Thompson who is a half of fame player. Damon thinks he will eventually be able to help the program.
On Ryan Mutombo, Damon said he is just dealing with it as best he can.
On Doryan Onwuchekwa, Damon said that he has a chance to be special and has a little something about him, his competitive spirit and he just plays hard and works hard and isn't perfect but that is what he loves about him, he does his best to be perfect. He can shoot the ball, he can stretch it and he can rebound and he will be a really good player.
I asked him about Kowacie Reeves' spiritual journey, he said that he always felt like he had more than basketball going on and that is not normal at his age, the way he talks about stuff and what he talks about it s impressive. He went to Spain this summer with his class and lived there and he has always been a different kid, he said he doesn't put his view on other people and everyone else is respected and that is great. Reeves has written a book and is working on a second one.
I asked about this eclectic group he has put together and he said it wasn't intentional it just happened they have a cast of characters and you got Shag Man (Powell) on one end and then Wacie over there and guys like Baye are starting to show their personality too and DO (Doryan) is starting to show his personality now too, it is a team full of characters.
