First year University of South Alabama men's basketball head coach Richie Riley sat down with USAJaguars.com and covered all aspects of the upcoming season. Among the topics addressed were his experience at USA so far, how he put his coaching staff together and his recruiting philosophy, in addition to a breakdown of each position.

How would you describe your first six months on the job?
It's the second time as a head coach I've taken over a program. I wouldn't call this a total rebuild because we do have really good pieces coming back that have experience, they just haven't experienced a lot of success. So it's the second time I've done that. Here we have a program that has a rich tradition and it's my job as the new head coach here to restore that, to get back to our tradition of being one of the perennial powers of the Sun Belt. It takes hard work and it's not done overnight. So I've tried to take that approach in the last six months, building our program through recruiting, to gain our culture in a place that we want and also making the guys that we inherited feel like family. We spent a lot of time with them. We want them to feel like they're our guys even though we didn't recruit them, so all of it is a work in progress. There are some growing pains to it but it's been great. My staff and my family all love it here. Everybody's welcomed us with open arms and we're excited about moving this program in the right direction.

What's been your impression of the fans and supporters around the program?
A lot of excitement. I think they're hungry to win and that's a good feeling to have as a new head coach at program. Through our recruiting early on, I think it's generated a lot of excitement. Any time there's change, there is excitement. I think that's normal for a fanbase to get reenergized when there's change, because with change, there's hope. So we've embraced that. We've gone out in the community and I've been able to meet a lot of our supporters and spend some time with them, not only around campus but out in the community. There's been a lot of times where my family will go out to eat and people will come up to us and they compliment us on how well we're recruiting and how excited they are about the season. That means a lot to me. We want Mobile to rally around us. We want to be Mobile's team. To get it there, we've got to show them how hard we're working, how great the product is we're going to put on the court and we've got to win. I think that's the only way to get people back involved in the program.

What were some of the most important items on your agenda when you first got here?
The biggest thing was our current players. I wanted them to understand that we're here for them. It's hard to go through a coaching change. I dealt with that with my guys at Nicholls State. Luckily one of my assistants got the job, so it eases the blow a little bit, but kids come to play for the head coach – it's just part of it. We have a great university here. We have great resources to recruit to, but at the end of the day, they're coming to play for me because of that relationship, and these guys came to play for another coach. Any time there's change, it's difficult. So we wanted to make these guys feel at home and feel comfortable with us. We wanted to make sure we established our culture, because it's different. We wanted to make sure these guys understood the price you have to pay to win. Winning is hard. It's something we say in our program all the time. Winning is hard. No matter who you play, it's hard. It's hard to win at home and it's extremely difficult to win on the road, and we wanted to establish our culture of work and I think we've been able to do that. Then I wanted to do a good job of trying to build some meaningful relationships and some goodwill out in the community here. We've gone above and beyond to get out in the community and build some relationships and show our community who we are and what our program is going to be about. We've got to continue to do that. It's got to be an everyday thing. For us to earn the respect of our fans and people across the university, we've got to do things the right way and I think that's something we've done so far in six months. So those were huge on my agenda. Obviously building our team, because we're in a unique place where we had our five leading scorers returning. We also wanted to build for the future, so we have some guys sitting out – transfers. Having that much production coming back allowed us to do that. Recruiting is the lifeblood of what we do in our profession. You've got to recruit well and you've got to recruit guys that fit what you do and your culture, and I think we're able to do that.

How did you go about learning about our players when you first got here?
When I was contacted by Dr. (Joel) Erdmann and South Alabama, I immediately began doing my research about the current players. I watched a lot of film – every made basket, every missed basket, every turnover, every rebound. I would try to learn the strengths and weaknesses of all of our guys, because when I came in and interviewed for the job, first and foremost, I wanted the administration here to know how important it was to me and how much I wanted to be here, by doing my homework and preparing a scouting report of the team that I would inherit. And then once I got the job, I continued to watch film. I watched every game they played and multiple practices from last year. I wanted them to know that I knew their game, that I had taken time to study their game and I wanted them to know early on in spring workouts the things that I wanted them to get better at, what was important for them to get better and become a better player for our team to be better. So I watched a lot of film, I did my homework and then we got off right away.

As the head coach here, I did our individual improvement sessions. I didn't have one of my assistants out there because it's important that I know their game and it's important that they see how I coach. Having four hours in the summer now versus two is huge because it allows us to be on the court two extra hours a week with our guys. When you inherit a new team, it's even more important. So we spend a lot of time in there – as much time as NCAA allows us – to work with these guys and not only to teach them what we do as far as our system is concerned, but to continue to evaluate them and continue to push and put them in difficult situations on the court so we see how they react. We've improved leaps and bounds with those areas because we have done that. We spend a lot of time with them. They've grown a lot and we've got to continue to do that all the way throughout the year. But I feel as a staff we did a good job of taking advantage of those extra two hours and it's showing some major growth in our team.

What are you looking for when you put your coaching staff together?
First I brought two guys with me from my staff at Nicholls State. They earned my trust. Amorrow Morgan and Tyler Parker came to Nicholls State for a little bit of nothing – just above volunteer, and to be honest with you, not a lot of money, and they didn't know how well we would do. They didn't know we would get to come to a great place like South Alabama because we would win. But they took a leap of faith in me and in our program there. So I'm extremely indebted to those guys. We wouldn't be here without the job they did.

With Adam Howard, I saw a guy that has seen success at every stop – a veteran presence. I think that's important and he's also a guy that knows the league – he's been at Troy. They won the league one year that he was there and went to the NCAA tournament. I have known Adam for a long time. We're both Kentucky guys; we've known each other for a long time and kind of climbed up the ranks together.

With Nima Omidvar, I saw a recruiter, someone who could recruit in the DMV (Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area where I've always recruited and he spent a lot of time there – he's from Washington D.C. He's got some great connections there. I've always recruited there and have some really good connections too, so I got to know him that way over the years.

A lot of people get so wrapped up in a veteran, older guy or whatever it may be, but the big thing for me is, I always want guys that are hungry. I want guys that want to be head coaches and I want guys that come from a similar background as me. I didn't have a silver spoon in my mouth when I started coaching. I had to volunteer at an NAIA school and I had to fight and scrap for everything. I didn't come from a background of coaches, so I didn't have anything other than hard work and finding a way to climb in this business on my own. My staff is made up like that. All my guys have had to come up from lower levels and earn everything they've gotten. That's a key to me in being successful – having people around you that values similar things and also people that know what's at stake. My staff understands what's at stake because the type of guys that I have in here. They understand if we don't see success and we don't do things the right way, we could just as easily be back to where we started, and I think there's value in that. I think there's an appreciation for South Alabama within my staff because we've had to work to get here. So that's really important when I hire staff; I want guys that are a bit like me.

What are you trying to fill on the roster when you're recruiting?
There is value in having our five leading scorers coming back. I think the fact that having that experience come back, that has seen that type of live game action and been in some battles, allowed us to fill some holes through the transfer market. In this day of recruiting, the transfer market so valuable; there are 600-700 a year and you have to be in tune with what's going on with it and do a good job of utilizing it, in my opinion. I think you've got to recruit on all three levels. You have to get great high school guys that fit what you do. I think you always have to be in tune with the junior college market, especially where we're at geographically. And then the transfer market, I think guys are crazy if you don't utilize it because you get guys with experience that have played at this level, and the proof is in the pudding, as you would say. You can see what they've done at the Division I level already, where the high school and junior college guys you just don't know yet. So we wanted to plug some holes across the board and set ourselves up in year two to be really deep, and I think we did that.

We have four guys sitting out who were all really good players and we also return what will be the bulk of our production this year. We're going to lose Rodrick Sikes, who's an all-league guy, and we'll lose Kory Holden, who's a graduate transfer, and then everybody else is coming back. You add four guys to whatever we do in our signing class in 2019. There's power in depth. We wanted to be deep this year but we're not. We only have 10 active guys, but again, having the five leading returning scorers, as well as guys like John Pettway, Kevin Morris and Jordan Andrews, who have seen valuable minutes, allowed us to do that. When you're talking about filling holes, we play kind of position-less basketball. Guys play multiple spots, so we want to get the right kind of kid, but we also want to get really good players. I don't pigeonhole positions as much. I want really good players and we'll figure it out after that.

What's your overall recruiting philosophy?
I think you win with really good players; that's part of it. I think you win with really good people too. I think you've got to do a good job of recruiting to your personality. I think head coaches, a lot of times, get in trouble when they just recruit, you know, just go get guys. There could be a really talented player somewhere that we're recruiting and he's not going to be able to play for me. That doesn't make him a bad player; it doesn't make me a bad coach. It's just not a good marriage. The guys on our staff are really starting to understand the type of guy that I like. We have a philosophy. We want hungry, competitive kids that want to be coached. Obviously those guys are high level in talent and they possess those characteristics and they have a chance to be really good players. So that's something we look for in recruiting. We want guys that are competitive people that want to be coached. That means they want to get better and it means winning is important to them. And then we want to recruit at a high level, and at South Alabama I don't see any reason why we can't do that. I don't see why you can't recruit top-100 to top-150 high school kids. I don't see why you can't recruit the best junior college kids in the country. I don't see why you can't recruit high-level transfers that are being recruited by Power 5 schools. We have the resources to do that and we have the connections on the staff and we really work at it. We're tireless in recruiting so I don't see why we can't do that. I said that when I interviewed for the job. I think we've shown that since we've been here. We've competed against some of the best in the country and won some of those battles. You're not going to win all of them. We're not undefeated in recruiting but you got to be able to win your fair share and go beat some people that you shouldn't beat. And we've shown that we can do that. We've got to continue to do that if we want to return this program to where it should be.

What was the main focus of your workouts during the offseason?
Details and building up a tolerance for work. I've used that line a lot lately – a tolerance for work. There's something to be said for that, because kids don't naturally have that tolerance. When things get tough, they naturally, just like human nature – not only kids, but adults – they cave and give in. So it's our job to build a tolerance for that, to make sure that they understand where you're at right now and when we got you, is not where you're going to be when we get to November. I've had our guys tell me that a lot and that all started when we got the job – that was a focus. We're very detailed in how we execute, both offensively and defensively. So we really coach the details; I think that's how you win. There's been a lot of hitting the whistle, stopping and redoing things, making sure things are done the right way and how we want them done.

With all that being said, I give our kids a lot of credit. They've kept fighting every single day. They show up with the right attitude, they're trying to get better and they're trying to do things the right way. They're trying to pay attention to those details. They've built up a tolerance of work, which is maybe the thing that I'm most proud of. They built up a tolerance of work and they've also built up a tolerance of being coached. We coach our guys hard with the details and we hold them very accountable in everything they do, and for these guys it's hard. It's an uncommon thing. I talk about that all the time with our guys. The normal student here, if they miss class, there's no nobody to say anything to them – maybe their parents if they can find out about it. But our guys are held accountable for every single thing they do, so they live a different life. We push them every single day to a level that's uncommon. Again, a normal student if they go run two miles, and they get tired after a mile, they can stop. We don't let our guys stop. We push them. They've done a good job of buying into getting better and pushing themselves and that's probably the thing that I'm most proud of.

What are your goals for the season?
Our goal is always to be the best team that we can be, the best version of ourselves by the time we get to each checkpoint. We wanted to be in the best shape we could be in and as far ahead of the curve when we started official practice. I think we executed that portion of it. I think that we did a good job of getting ourselves in very good shape through our strength program and I also think we did enough in our four hours per week to put ourselves a little bit ahead going into official practice. The goal after official practice is to be the best possible version of us by the time we tip it up for a real game. We're not there yet, but I like the progress we're making. Then our next checkpoint is to be the best version of ourselves by the time we get to conference play. In a one-bid league, which the Sun Belt is right now, that's a separate season. You play your non-conference games and then you get to conference and that's a separate season. Then the last checkpoint is to be playing our best basketball heading into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and putting ourselves in a position where we can compete to go to the NCAA Tournament. So that's the goal: to be the best that we can. I don't ever put a goal on number of wins or statistical things. We have goals as far as what defensive field-goal percentage we want to hold teams to, how many turnovers we want to force and how many turnovers we want to limit ourselves on offense. But as a team, I want to be the best we can possibly be. I feel like when you recruit the right way and you do a good job, you usually put yourself in a pretty good position if you handle things like that.

What do you like about your team?
I love what type of kids they are. I love that you see growth in our team every day. That's not always the case. I've coached for a long time and sometimes you just have teams that don't grow, like you get stuck in the mud. You go out and practice five days in a row and you're the same on day five as you were on day one. That's frustrating as a coach. One thing I can say that I love about this team is they've continued to grow. They continue to meet every challenge that we've thrown at them and they've continued to grow. It speaks volumes about what type of kids they are. They want to be good. That's half the battle when you get a team. You want guys that want to be good, that are hungry to win and they want that. Now, they don't all know how to do that yet and our job as a staff is to help them learn how to win and know the things that go into winning. They're doing their job as far as showing up every day, being able to be coached and fighting to get this program in the right direction. That's the most important thing they can do. We've got to do a good job of continuing to make sure that we grow. I've had a chance to put in more stuff with this team than I would've ever imagined because they're showing up with the right approach every day. So they've got to continue to do that and we've got to continue to do a good job as a staff of keeping them going in that direction.

What are some of your concerns about the team?
Depth is certainly a concern when you have 10 active guys on your roster. I think that's always a concern. We pride ourselves on being the hardest-working team in the country. That's what we want to be every single year and we really push our guys hard. It's a challenge every single day for them. But there's that fine line of making sure that we're fresh enough come game time because of our depth. Next year it won't be a problem; we'll have a full roster but this year we've got 10 guys. Our guys are going to have to be tough and be smart. We'll have to play in an intelligent way to stay out of foul trouble and to manage the game the right way. So I think that's the biggest concern. Another concern is these guys have never tasted a winning season. It was like that at Nicholls when we inherited that program. I tell everybody that winning is contagious. When you start winning, you don't know any better. I've had teams where they start winning and they don't know any better. So when you get in those close games, and there will be six or seven at home, especially in league play, where it's decided in the final minute, and those teams that are used to winning, that's all they know. Losing doesn't creep in their mind but when you've lost a lot of close games like our kids have, we've got to get to where they expect to win those. To me, the only way to do this is through preparation and hard work. Something we talk about all the time is, I want you to work so hard and we're going prepare so much as a staff that we always expect to win and we deserved to win. The only way you deserve to win is if you outwork whoever you're playing against; you've invested more time. So we preach that a lot and hopefully it's going to pay off when we do get to game time.

How does having so many returning players help you particularly in the early part of the season?
It helps me because I know that they've been through some battles. It helps that they're older and played a lot of basketball so they're more mature. They can retain more knowledge, because they're older, they're mature and they've played a lot of basketball, where a freshmen coming in has never played college basketball. There are a lot of things that you have to teach them. They're not used to the daily grind of what college basketball is, especially at this level. So that's a huge bonus that these guys are older and more mature. I think it allows us to work a little faster than if we had a young team. I don't think we would be able to move at the pace that we're moving right now.

What can the team improve upon the most from last year this year?
Ball security will probably be number one. For our two leading scorers last year, the assist/turnover ratios were tough and I talk to our team about all the time. Any time the two guys taking the most shots don't have a positive assist/turnover ratio, it puts you in a tough spot. Going back and watching their games last year, there were key turnovers in key moments that hindered them from winning. Ball security is huge. Probably 60 percent of the time when you turn the ball over – maybe 70 percent – it's going to lead to a basket on the other end. We've got to improve offensively; our offensive numbers have to go up. Defensively, their numbers were pretty good last year from a percentage standpoint. We play more possessions so there will be more opportunities for the other team to score. We've got to continue to work defensively to get better because we have to defend more possessions than they did last year. I would say ball security can make a huge difference in our team. If we could have our guys with the ball in their hands the most have a positive assist/turnover ratio, I think it can go a long way in helping our team.

What are your offensive and defensive philosophies?
Offensively we're predicated on space. We really want to space you and cut you. I like to have five guys out there that can all handle and pass. It's an added bonus if all five can shoot, but our offensive philosophy is unique. I think if you ask other coaches, we're probably unique in how we play. We play one of the fastest tempos in the country. We did it at Nicholls; we push in transition and play fast. We love transition 3s if they're good ones, but we play fast in a disciplined way. If we don't like what we have in transition, then we're going to run an action and we'll make you guard us. My teams value the ball and they value the details of our offense. We want to play inside out. I think this team with Josh Ajayi and Kevin Morris inside, and think we can get some inside touches. It's valuable for our team. Obviously with this team we have some guys that can shoot the ball like Rodrick Sikes, who made 38 percent on 88 3s, I think. Herb McGee showed he can make shots. Jordan Andrews and Kory Holden can make shots and Trhae Mitchell is becoming a better shooter. So we want to space you and attack inside out and that's both inside with post touches and inside off drives. We want to drive that ball and be willing to spray for 3s, be willing to get in the paint, play off two feet and get fouled. We're very detailed offensively and unique in a lot of the actions that we run, but we also have an up-tempo style where we want to get the possessions ramped up.

Defensively, we come after you for 40 minutes. We pressure you in a way in the full court where I don't believe in giving up layups. With some teams that press, it's either feast or famine – it's either a turnover or layup on the other end and we don't believe in that. We believe in wearing you down. There will be certain pressure points throughout the game where we'll be more aggressive in our press. There will be points where we just want to pressure you, make you work, take some seconds off the shot clock and do a good job of guarding in the half court. We were in the top 20 in the country in forcing turnovers at Nicholls. We want to be that here. I think there's tremendous value in turning people over and getting easy baskets like that. We really take a lot of pride in wearing you down on the defensive end. We want to continue to come after people and make them uncomfortable.

What are your thoughts on the schedule?
I love that we have nine non-conference home games. I want to play, especially this first year, in front of our home crowd as much as possible, so they can see what our team is about and we can get people out here. I think it's important when you're starting with a new staff. We're inheriting this program and it's important for people to see us play. We do have some really good games here too. We have Tulane here and we have Richmond here. We have a multi-team event here where you can watch us play three times in four days. Those are valuable. Richmond and Tulane are both going to be good, and the teams in our MTE are going to be good. The other part I love about our schedule is three of our road games are within driving distance, so our fans can go watch us play on the road. We play Auburn, Southern Miss – a rival that we play every year – and then we play at New Orleans where the Sun Belt Tournament is, so this is an opportunity to play on that court. Then we've got another SEC opponent in Texas A&M. I really like our schedule. It's definitely a breath of fresh air because at Nicholls State we didn't play a lot of home games, especially in the non-conference. I like for this team to be able to play at home and I think it's a quality schedule for our fans.

Any games you're looking forward to more than most?
No I wouldn't say that; all are the same to me. I worry and stress out about every single one. People laugh, but until you become a head coach, you don't understand because those wins and losses go on my record; they don't go on anybody else's. All of our games are equally important to me. I think all of them are challenging. In this day and age of college basketball, or college sports period, there's not a night you can take off. There's a lot of parity throughout college basketball, where if you come in and you think there's a game that's going to be an automatic win on your schedule, there's a good chance you will walk away with an 'L.' So you've got to have great respect for everybody you're playing. We certainly do. We've got a very challenging schedule in the non-conference and I know how good the Sun Belt is. There's not a night you can take off in that league.
 
Who do you think are the biggest contenders in the Sun Belt?
On paper you've got to look at Georgia State. They have a guy coming back that'll be the preseason Player of the year, I'm sure. They won it last year and they return the bulk of their team. There are a lot of teams that can compete for it, to be honest. I mean this league is vastly underappreciated as far as talent and coaching in this league. There are a lot of really good coaches that are innovative and their teams play the right way. I think there's a lot of talent. If we have somebody drafted this year, I think it will be five of the last seven years someone's been drafted out of the Sun Belt, and that's really good for one-bid league. Right now, where we're at, we're a one-bid league, so what we've been able to do as far as getting guys to the NBA is extremely impressive. I think there's a lot of really good teams; there's parity. I think the teams that finished towards the bottom have improved, whether it's through recruiting or whether it's through guys coming back that have produced. I think it's going to be a heck of a Sun Belt year. I think there's going to be a lot of close games and there are going to be a lot of teams that may be projected low in the preseason polls that surprise people.

Riley's thoughts on…
Point guard
We have multiple guys that can play at that spot and I'll start with Herb McGee. Herb has improved a lot since we've taken over the job. His body has improved and he's gotten himself in better shape. The thing I love about Herb is he's very similar to me and my personality, and values execution. He's a fierce competitor and I love that about him; he hates to lose. That's how you win. There are a lot of great things that we do from an Xs and Os standpoint, but at the end of the day, if you're a group of people that despise losing, then they prepare at a level where they're scared to death to lose. That's how I prepare every single day because I'm scared to death of losing. He's kind of like that. His IQ is great. He understands what we're doing. He's a true quarterback out there. He understands what we're doing offensively.

Kory Holden can play the '1' or the '2.' Herb can do that too. We're capable of playing two point guards at once. Kory's a guy that can really score; he can score in bunches. He has a very good pace of play, especially how we play offensively. His pace fits what we do. He's another guy with a really good offensive IQ. He understands how to play. He's got a toughness level defensively that I love. Part of that's probably because he transferred from South Carolina. They really guard under Coach (Frank) Martin in that program. He took a lot from his two years defensively, so I love the energy he gives us defensively. He's playing his way into shape right now because he wasn't with us in the summer; he was finishing his degree. Last year he had an injury so he was off the latter half of the season. He's playing his way into shape, so his best basketball is coming. I'm excited about that.

John Pettway can play multiple positions and can slide into that '1' spot or he can play off the ball. He's one of our most consistent guys right now as far as making winning plays. He takes charges and is usually the first one on the floor. It's the first one to put his nose in there for a loose ball. He goes multiple practices with no turnovers, which is impressive because we practice a long time with a lot of live situations and he'll go a whole practice and won't turn the ball over, which is extremely impressive. Ball security is the number one thing that we've got to improve on and he doesn't turn it over very much, so there's value in that. His athleticism allows him to be an elite defender. We've got to get him to continue to embrace that, continue to embrace changing in the game with his strength and athleticism; the guy looks like an SEC running back. All three of those guys kind of play by committee and we pride ourselves on being positionless, so all three of those guys could be on the court at the same time even though they're all listed in the point guard slot.

Shooting guard
Rodrick's progression has been tremendous. I give him as much credit as anybody on our team because some of the things who I am as a coach, he is not. His personality is more laid back. He's just laid back, smiling all the time; this is who he is. I love that about him. He's a fun kid to be around. But since we've had him, we've taken him a little more in that direction where he's a little bit tougher. He's developed an edge and it's changed his game. He's always been a guy that can run around, make tough shots and score. He's an elite-level scorer. He's always been that, but he's really gotten to where he's developed an edge and a hunger for competing. He actually dove for a loose ball this summer and made a hole in the wall in Striplin. I don't know if he would have ever done that before, especially when we got him in the spring. So I give him a lot of credit for being dedicated enough and caring enough to buy into what we're doing because it's uncomfortable for him. For him to talk a lot out on the court, for him to be a little bit meaner on the court, is not comfortable for him because he's such a great kid. Obviously from a basketball standpoint, I love how he can make shots. He's one of the best tough-shot makers I've ever coached. He'll take a shot and as a coach, you're like, 'What is he doing?' and then it goes in. So I have to have a leash with him a little bit. It needs to be a little longer because he's capable of making those tough ones. So we've done that; his leash is probably the longest on the team. We let him take some tough ones because he can make those. Our tempo is great for him because it allows him to use his speed in transition. He's a very good cutter because of his speed. So I think offensively he really is a weapon and how we play, he can be extremely valuable in that regard.

Jordan Andrews is a guy who was a little up and down last year. He had some good games where he made five 3s. He wants more and I like that. He wants to be on the court more and he wants to be more consistent. So that's something he's working on. I like his basketball IQ; I think his IQ is good. His dad was a coach. He has an understanding of how to play and that's important. With how we play, you've got to have some IQ and some feel, and he does have that. He's another guy that I want to play with a chip on his shoulder and play with more of an edge. He's making strides in that area. How he shoots the ball and how consistently he makes shots is going be very important for our team's success.

Small forward
Trhae Mitchell's athleticism and motor are off the charts. We talk a lot about consistency with him. I want him to be the guy that consistently imposes his will in games. I've talked to him a lot about this – his whole career he's been a guy that has been a great piece and a role guy. In high school he played with Jared Harper, who's at Auburn now and one of the best guards in the country. He played with two other guys, one went to Clemson and one went to Georgia. He was a great role guy that impacted winning that way. I want him to take the next step and he's capable of doing that. He's too talented and athletic to not take that next step. He's a guy who loves to come out and compete. His attitude and personality are contagious, and I tell him that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Everybody wants to be around you because you're fun to be around, so you have to do the right things out on the court. You have to come to work every day because there are guys looking at you and how you're going to act. I love coaching him. He's a guy you love to coach because he competes and he's got that motor just to play hard. I really expect and we need him to take the next step to be a huge impact guy.

Abdul Dial is a guy that walked on to our team and we're very thankful to have him. His approach since he's been here has been very good. He's a hard-nosed kid. Plays in straight lines, gets to the rim and can catch and shoot. He's an appreciative kid; that's what I really love about him the most. Sometimes people look at walk-ons and think they're going to be at the end of the bench, but he's going to play. He's earning minutes every single day and that's a challenge I have for him. He's really like having another scholarship guy, to be honest. He's a pretty good player and he goes with the team that we have – he's an older guy and been around the block a bit so he understands how to work. He's come in here and he's gotten better every single day and he's going to be a crucial part of our team.

Posts
We have a lot of versatility in our front court. R.J. Kelly sat out last year from Savannah State. He's drastically improved his body. I think he's put on 25 pounds since he got on campus last year and it's showing on the court. He's playing with a lot more physicality. He's a guy that is really a face-up guy. He can face you from 12 feet and drive you. He's capable of making shots from '3,' which I like. That adds to our versatility. A lot of guys on this team can throw in some 3s when they're open. The thing that he gives us the most is his energy. His motor is really good. He's a great offensive rebounder which is going to be huge for our team. He's one of the younger guys on the team; he's a redshirt sophomore. He's gotten a lot better since we got him. He had some good games Savannah State. He had 20-plus points against Oregon State on the road in a win. He's also a guy that spends a lot of time in the gym working on his craft, which is important when you want to become a better player individually to help your team win.

Josh Ajayi has potential to be one of the top players in this league. Consistency is key with him, being that guy every single day because when he's that guy, he's really special. He's also a versatile guy. He's getting to where he can shoot some 3s and drive guys from the perimeter, and obviously he can really score inside. From an offensive rebounding standpoint, he's upgraded that. My challenge for him is to average two to three offensive rebounds a game. That would go a long way in helping our team's success. We need him to continue to keep going in a positive direction to find that consistency, where he is one of the best players in this league, night in and night out.

Kevin Morris' energy is also contagious. He's constantly talking and never shuts up. Even when I want him to be quiet, he doesn't, and I love that because our team needs that. We have a group of quiet guys for the most part, and K-Mo is not. He talks all the time and it's in a positive way. He's always encouraging his teammates. Sometimes he's encouraging himself to keep going when he gets tired. He's developing into an exceptional passer. He's seeing a lot of skips and cutters. He understands the game. His IQ gets underrated sometimes because with post players, they don't talk about their great IQ, it's just basketball in general. He's got a very good IQ offensively. He's improved his ability to score in the low block. He's improved his conditioning; I think he's lost 20-plus pounds and he's continued to keep the weight off, which is something he's struggled with in his career. That shows dedication from him. He's dedicated to helping his team be as good as it can be and turned himself into the best player he can be. I'm proud of him for that. He really has made major strides and continues to do that. Through the first week of practice, he's probably shown the most consistency out of anybody we've had as far as what we get from him day in and day out.

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