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- [00:00]
A
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B
Time flies.
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A
Does it feel like it's flown by some.
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B
Some days, yes. Some days, no.
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A
Other days, not so much.
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B
Yeah, no, it's been, it's been awesome. Obviously, we've had a lot of success and through the midst of major changes in college athletics. So that's been the unique part to watch this all evolve and change.
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A
You have had a lot of success. The max number of NCAA tournaments you could have made is nine. So far you've made seven. To what do you attribute that consistency?
- [01:30]
B
I think just the culture. And I know that word gets thrown out a lot, but I think, you know, our success over the last 30 years as a program, as you go back through even previous head coaches, was tied to very similar things in terms of, you know, how we do things at Wisconsin, who we recruit, the type of people we recruit to a degree, how we play and understand. We've all understood what it takes to win at Wisconsin. And it's unique. Just like I think every job has its own unique quirks about it. Wisconsin is very much in that mode and we've been able to retain and hold on to that culture even amidst all the changes that are taking place in college basketball.
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A
Obviously you were a part of that culture as an assistant with Beau Ryan, the Naismith Memorial hall of Famer. What did you specifically take from him as you try to replace him, but also just keep going what it is he built and took to a pretty good place, right?
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B
Yeah, I think it's the teaching of the fundamentals. I think obviously Bo is so well known for and I think keeping that, like I said, the anchoring, that's part of the culture, you know, of what we want to be about. And really, I've always thought the game has been, you know, over coached and under taught. And BO did such a great job of teaching the game and not trying to overcoach. And then also at the same time you mentioned how do you walk in your own shoes, so to speak, and evolve. And we've had to evolve and kind of change and grow as the landscape has changed, whether it be portal or nil or just even how we've evolved offensively, how we change, how we played offensively. And it's all been anchored back to the core fundamentals and the principles that, you know, I was with him for 23 years at three different schools, so I got a front row seat to a lot of different things. So it's been good to be able to anchor back to that. But at the same time, understand we got to keep moving forward.
- [03:28]
A
How often do you keep in touch with him now? How's he doing?
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B
He's doing good. His golf game would probably like, he'd like it to be a little better. We all would. I played with him not too long ago in early August and he, he hit it right down the middle. Doesn't go as far as it used to, but that's probably good because that way he doesn't have to worry about which fairway it's in.
- [03:47]
A
I know the feeling sometimes, you know, being 200 in the middle is better than 260 somewhere else. You mentioned, you know, overcoached, under taught. And I read some quotes connected to this year's team where you feel like you've got a group that you're not going to have to call a lot of plays for that. They know how, they know how to play. You said that you don't really need to teach them how to swim. They can swim on their own, I think is the quote. Expand on that. What kind of group do you have right now?
- [04:16]
B
Yeah, very experienced group. Even though, you know, we brought in nine new faces. Five of them are transfers. Four of the five transfers are seniors. So they played a lot of college basketball and the one non senior was the freshman of the year in the West Coast Conference in Austin. Rap. So a lot of experience came in. We were able to retain, obviously Winter, Blackwell and Janicki, which was huge for us, and they've all taken jumps in their game. So in terms of what we've been able to add with those five, like I said, the transfers that have come in, four freshmen, two internationals of the four freshmen and international players are not. Their brains are a little more advanced. In the game than what maybe Americans are in terms of the training and development, the levels that they played at. And they played for their national teams both in Lithuania and in New Zealand. So it's a unique combination of talent, experience, size. We're big across the board. And as I mentioned, you know, to be able to. They understand how to play. And maybe that's even me, too, growing as a coach, not wanting to have. Or needing to have control over everything. And it's part system, you know, of how we've changed and evolved offensively, of let the reins loose a little bit, let them go.
- [05:30]
A
It's an interesting perspective you just touched on about international players, because I think ESPN did a list of the top 100 NBA players, and the top five are not from the United States. I've talked to other coaches about this, and they really do think it. You can trace it all the way back to 6, 7, 8 years old.
- [05:47]
B
Exactly.
- [05:48]
A
That. The kids, and I think my kids probably are falling into this as well. We play too much. We don't practice enough. Is that an issue?
- [05:56]
B
Yeah, there's no doubt. I think the developmental model, and we've talked about that nationally as coaches, whether it's in our specific league in the Big Ten, or even on a national scope, that our development programs and system have to be better. You know, we've fallen behind in terms of what maybe Europe has done, and even Australia and New Zealand have. They've really grown the sport, and it really goes back to how they develop in the club teams and how they advance. You really have. You don't get moved up just because your mom or dad paid a lot of money. You have to. You have to prove that you can play at the next level. And then there may. In some cases, you don't get advance. So I think just the international players we've coached, and now we'll have four on the team this year and five, I guess, next year. We've seen the development and how they see the game, how they've been trained. It's definitely at an advanced level. Like I said, our freshmen that are coming in internationally don't play like freshmen. Their minds and vision and feel for the game is definitely advanced.
- [06:56]
A
You mentioned Austin Rapp. He's the West Coast Conference freshman of the year. I was talking to Dusty May earlier, and he said that because of the transfer portal and immediate eligibility, he finds himself watching more basketball, paying attention more when he's even playing somebody. He said, you know, we played UAB and I had a good grasp for yaxel. Lindenberg. After that, do you find your approach changing, given where we're at with the transfer portal and immediate eligibility, watching more basketball, scouting more?
- [07:26]
B
Yeah, and it's become a. I wouldn't say a department in our. On our staff, but it's. It's added to the list of. For my director of recruiting and scouting. Like, we have a ongoing list of potentials. And, you know, we had eyes on Nick Boyd last year at San Diego State before he ever went in the portal, knowing we were going to need a point guard, who were the better point guards in the country. And he was. He was right near the top of the list. So I think the other thing the portal does, it allows you to, you know, at Wisconsin, part of that culture has always been get old, stay old. Right? We'd come out with, we could redshirt a kid or they wouldn't play until they were a junior or play very much, and they jump on the scene, everybody go, where'd he come from? Well, he was incubating down by the water cooler. Like, Frank Kaminsky is a great example for a couple years, and then he's developed. Now you're able to add that experience and that stay old component through the portal. You bring the experience in that's had experience in college basketball, played in arenas, understands college, you know, and I think that maturity that they bring, regardless of where they've been, is definitely beneficial to help maintain that experience and that maturity level on your roster.
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A
With Nick, he has played at two different programs that have recently been in the Final Four, and I believe won 81 games the past three years. Does that matter to you?
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B
Absolutely, yeah. I mean, he's a winner. And he. Not only in how he plays, but how he leads. I mean, his voice, his energy, his command of the floor, he knows what success looks like. And I think that's a perfect combination to pair with, you know, like I said, our returners and then other people around him. But he's been. He's jumped right on board from the time he got here and got to Madison in June and has done a terrific job of fitting in, but understanding, pushing the bar and holding guys accountable. And you can only do that after you gain the trust of your teammates. Right. And he's been able to do that with how he plays and how he works. And like I said, the leadership ability is very evident with him.
- [09:25]
A
I saw an article where you were talking about pulling from everywhere now, and you mentioned Twitter specifically, that you'll just see plays and different things. I think now More than ever, it's easier for quite literally anybody to just be exposed to as much basketball stuff as you want to be exposed to. And I thought that was interesting that you really do just. You'll pull from the Internet and you'll implement it into a basketball game.
- [09:53]
B
Yeah, I mean, I think you. I look probably and I pass on a lot more than I ever dig into. But you know, there's so much out there now on social media and obviously whoever's creating those, kudos to you. And you have a lot of time on your hands to go through that much film and pull things. But I'll kind of survey and like I said, I'll brush over things and maybe you get overexposed, so to speak, and you spend too much time looking for the magic wand, so to speak. But if you find something that fits, and I always look for something that fits, I don't want to go way out of the box and way out in the left field to just because something looks cool on Twitter or X. But if I find fits and how it can fit into what we're doing and maybe elevate, elevate us another step. I've, you know, got a, you know, a pocket full of new surprises ready to go.
- [10:40]
A
I think perhaps the biggest thing people noticed about your basketball team last season was that you played faster, right? I think got into the top 150 in tempo@kenpalm.com is that the way Wisconsin plays basketball now or was that a one year thing?
- [10:55]
B
No, it's how we've evolved. I think it's a combination of a lot of things. Knowing that just looking at the landscape, if you want to play and get to a final four level team, you're gonna have to score, you know, you're gonna have to be in that top 10 to 15 offensively. And I think we ended up 12th offensively, 24th defensively. So we were still really good, third in the Big Ten. Defensively, we gotta, we gotta raise that bar to be a final four team. And we were really close last year, I thought just numbers and analytics wise. But how the game has transcended and changed and we've changed and evolved. What we're doing offensively, we're more, as you mentioned, the higher pace, the spacing, more ball screen centric, more international flavor to what we're doing in terms of what we've brought from different places and looking at how players are grown and trained and what they're comfortable with. And the ball screen is obviously right now the thing to do. In college basketball because it's trickled down from various other levels. But that pace and the spacing has been the biggest thing that we've tried to emphasize.
- [11:58]
A
John Blackwell, you bring him back. Player retention is obviously important. He averaged 15.8 points per game last season. Started every game for you coming out of high school, he was considered by most to be a mid major recruit. You saw something that other people didn't see.
- [12:14]
B
What is it? I think number one thing just was how what type of person he was and is. And obviously that's a credit to his parents and people that raised him. But that's the first thing that jumped off the page When I first met him as a sophomore in high school and actually got tipped off in an airplane airport in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was walking through recruiting and somebody grabbed me and said, hey, you're coach guard from Wisconsin, right? And I said, yeah, there's a young man I need you to. You should take a look at. He's son of a friend of mine. And you know, that happened when John was 15 years old. So just. And then watching him that summer, you could just see, you know, the body wasn't where it needed to be yet, but you could tell how hard he played and his instincts were good. And then you get a chance to meet him. And we always do really well with good people. You know, we seem to always hit the lottery when we have really good people in our locker room, which we've had a ton of them. But John just embodied and understood and saw things in a very mature way and I think appreciated the fact that we were there early and consistent and really he understood that we could really develop him. And I think that was a big thing that he will, he will really skyrocket in our program in terms of how he's improved. And he has done a phenomenal job. I mean, he's, he's gonna be one of the better players in college basketball this year. And it's credit to him because he's put a lot of work into his game and really improved it.
- [13:34]
A
Does the person from the Myrtle beach airport know he helped change Wisconsin basketball?
- [13:39]
B
Well, if he helped change it. But you know, you're always. Look, every, every recruiting story has its own little quirk, right? Own little unique story, but that's one that kind of fell out of the sky, so to speak, and you got tipped off early on somebody that was going to be, you know, had a chance to be pretty good. But you know, the credit goes to John really, because he, he works He's a, he's a gym rat. He loves the game, and he came in from day one as a very, with a very mature approach. He played for me as a freshman, which is hard to do in college basketball to make an impact. But now he's evolved and grown where he's a leader on this team and going to be force to be reckoned with.
- [14:17]
A
I mentioned you've made seven of the past nine NCAA tournaments. You're in the top 30 of some computers heading into this season. I've got you in the top 25 and 1@cbssports.com what does success look like to you this season?
- [14:29]
B
Well, I think, you know, we're trying to chase the mailman that apparently is delivering the trophy already to West Lafayette. So we're trying to interrupt his route, intercept his route. And I, I would expect us to contend. I think we're good enough. We're talented enough. Things got to go right, right? You can't get the wrong guys hurt at the wrong time. You've got to be able to make shots at key times in big games. But we have a really, really good group. It's deep, it's big. We got experience. I really like this group. It'll be a little different than last year. You know, last year we had the emergence of John Tanje, and this year, I think just with the point guard play of Nick Boyd and you combine him with Blackwell in the backcourt and then how our front line has evolved and grown and how we play now, I think it's, you know, we're going to come at people and this group is fearless. I get asked a lot, what in one word can you describe this group? And I would say bold, fearless. They know they're really good. And now you got to go prove it. You got to play the games. All the preseason stuff is to be going great, but you got to go prove it on the court, and this group is ready to do that.
- [15:38]
A
Greg, I appreciate your time. Thanks for being here.
- [15:39]
B
Thanks, Gary. Paramount Podcasts.
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A
What'S up, everyone? It's Sia Najad from Fantasy Football Today dfs, a weekly NFL daily fantasy show that's a part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network. If you're looking for NFL game by game previews, which players stock is up or down, and DFS strategies and advice, Mike McClure, Meg Shoup, and I have you covered every single week. Download and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found. Make sure to turn on those notifications so you don't miss a single pick all season long. Good luck.