Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Barry Hinson press conference transcript
08/25/2016 | 1:05:00 | Men's Basketball
Coach how did you get those Power Five conference games, and how many did you have before the Austin tournament kind of fell apart?Â
The only game that we had which we refer to the Power Five conferences, we had made the decision to play Louisville back in the spring. We knew we were going to play that game. I think it leaked out a little bit last week. I've visited with Coach Pitino on the road, out of respect for the Power Five conferences, I know they like to release their schedules and they don't like to have someone beat them out on that. We had eluded to the fact that we would wait, and when it leaked out last week, obviously we knew we could go with it. The other games came to fruition because of the Lone Star Classic. In all honesty, it wasn't as sexy as Arkansas or Minnesota. In all honesty, it was probably more competitive because of the teams that were involved in that classic. They needed a team to drop out to go to the four-team round robin type format. They invited all of the teams to partake in it. We were the first one that they called, according to them we were. The first couple of options, we didn't really agree to. Then they came up with this last option and we felt like "You know what? This is available". Some other options needed really major travel, which was not conducive for us financially, but with Arkansas and Minnesota, those are where we can get in and out. Specifically, when you play four games in one week we wanted to make sure we were playing games close to our home base, and they allowed us that opportunity. They also allowed us the opportunity to add two more games to our season-ticket package and that was at no cost to us, but a bonus to our season ticket holders because they will get to see what Tom Weber reported to be the most home games, most non-conference home games in the history of our program and I think that's a valuable asset for our fans.Â
How did the players react?
We didn't unveil it to them like we did today with the press conference. One of the things that we did, I just told the guys in our team meeting on Sunday. When we went through all of the have-to's, the compliance meeting, the academics meeting, the rules, the regulations, the introduction of everybody. They were really excited. And it was a genuine team, whole family excitement and that really made me excited as well.
Have you ever coached eight non-conference games at home before?
No, I've never done that. Creighton, Wichita State, Illinois State, and Bradley has because they have always bid the opportunity to buy all these games. We get to be like the big boys now and have a lot of home games. This will be interesting. Obviously, when we go on the road, all the games will be extremely challenging for us but it's nice to know we can come home and play in front of our fans.
Do you know what the guarantee will be for these games?
No, it's just a part of the tournament. The only guarantee game we are playing is Louisville. This is part of the tournament and the guarantee part of it is we are able to have two (home) games.Â
This tournament is the new tournament or the normal tournament rearranged?
No, it's a new tournament. It's a completely new tournament. I'd love to tell you what the name of it is but it's so new that I don't even know the name of the tournament.Â
And Arkansas and Minnesota will be in, too?
Yes, but they have separate brackets and they're all playing different teams.
It's like a round-robin kind of thing?
I don't know what to tell you. I know who our opponents are but I don't even know what they are going to call it. I don't care what they call it. They can call it "Barry Hinson's Barbecue Sauce Tournament." It would be a great sponsorship.Â
How do you feel about this group with the younger guys coming in and how they will handle this type of non-conference schedule?
Now when you say young guys, we have young guys, we have new guys, and also junior college players. I tell you what, my first swimming lesson, my dad just threw me into the pool. You either have two options — you have to swim or you drown. This is a big swimming lesson for these guys. I would not have scheduled this. I would not have done this to the program nor would I have done this to the individuals on this team if I didn't feel like we were mature enough and ready to handle this. There's no prediction here. I think this program after winning 22 games last year is finally ready to start playing a tougher schedule. We made that decision. When I say, "we", it was mainly my decision but it was certainly met with great enthusiasm from our athletic director. I ran all of this through Tommy and what his thoughts were and he was excited about it. We didn't run it through the players because we wanted it to be a surprise to them. I don't think there's any other surprise package we could have given them that is better than this.
What do you think this does to your team to motivate them knowing that they are going to be playing with the "big boys"?
I don't know about you but I'm not sleeping a lot right now as a basketball coach and I'm ready to work. Renewed energy, renewed spirit. We also know that we have to work hard. These conferences that we are playing have McDonald's All-Americans while we have kids who have eaten at McDonald's. There's a big difference in that. We don't have any McDonald's All-Americans, so this is a great opportunity for our kids to play at a level they don't often get a chance to do. When you go into Arkansas, I've coached there twice, they are sold out. It's unbelievable! When Arkansas calls time out, they run the Arkansas state flag out there to mid court and they call the hogs, you look like you're lip syncing out there because no one can hear you. Our kids are going to be excited playing in these places, there are going to be nerves but that's okay. Nervous is good.
Is this the next step for the program?
I think so. That's why we did it. We felt like that now is the time. I don't think I'm wrong, I am confident in those young men that we have in our program. We have 12 kids on there with a scholarship that I am fully, 100 percent invested in and confident in those guys. It's not coach speak, it's not media speak, I really am excited. We just had an unbelievable summer. Last night, at 11:45, in this facility our guys were in here working out on their own. That's just really nice. We had the cops called on us this summer because the guys were in the gym playing at 2:30 in the morning. The officer came and said, "Well, that's a good thing!" SIU basketball is making a huge turn here.
Can you elaborate on the progress the team has made this summer?
The biggest thing for us is we have several new people coming in and we wanted to get a feel for every body. We did something this summer that we have never done before, we had no position players. Everybody was a guard. Everybody worked on perimeter skills. Nobody played with their back to the basket. Every drill that was done was done by every player. It wasn't determined on what position we thought you would play. That' something we have never done before so I'm excited about it.Â
How does that help players like Rudy or Thik?
Rudy was not with us this summer, he was with the (Latvia Junior) national team. But players like Thik or Austin, those guys had to learn guard skills. I think the game is changing, it's changing right in front of our eyes. If you can't pass, dribble and shoot then you're not going to be a part of the game. College ball and pro ball is small-ball and we are transitioning back into the game.Â
Some teams in the Valley are playing two scrimmages, how long did you think about doing that?
-We don't want to play two scrimmages. We could have played two scrimmages this year had we known what was going to happen with those two games, we probably would have done that. I love the scrimmage format. I think it gives us a closed environment where we can work on certain things and situations. I announced a while ago that we will scrimmage Middle Tennessee in a closed scrimmage. It's important to run out of that tunnel on a practice game, have your name called, and get those jitters out before you play an opening game.
Will the scrimmage be before or after the first exhibition game?Â
It will take place before our first exhibition.Â
