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PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 12, 2014Earl GrantTIM SIMMONS: My name is Tim Simmons. I'm the media operations coordinator for the Puerto Rico Tip‑Off, our eighth annual event here in San Juan. We're playing at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente starting on Thursday a week from tomorrow. Coach Grant, welcome to the Puerto Rico Tip‑Off teleconference. You're tipping it off today, and obviously you're probably the newest coach in the NCAA Division I, so how has it been for about two months of being on the job? EARL GRANT: It's been great. It's been a whirlwind, but you know, really I've enjoyed it. I think a lot of it, my enjoyment, has to do with having quality people to work with and really unbelievable kids in the program that I'm dealing with on a daily basis. It's really been fun, and I've enjoyed it. TIM SIMMONS: Tell us a little bit about your preseason practices. I know you had an exhibition game in there. How have things gone? EARL GRANT: It's gone good. I'm trying to implement a new system, so I have to really be patient with the players, and when I first got the job, the biggest thing for me is I needed to learn what I had, what type of players I had, what were my personnel, what was my strength, what was my weaknesses, and so instead of just trying to put in all these different set plays and implementing the defensive system, I needed to make sure that the guys that I had would fit with what I wanted to do, and if they didn't, then I had to make some adjustments to put them in a situation where they could be successful, so that's been the biggest thing, trying to implement a system and figuring out what's best for the guys I have. TIM SIMMONS: Who are some of the top players, who's stood out for you, coming from Clemson and the ACC, obviously in a good conference coming in, but what players have stood out for you? EARL GRANT: I've got some good players. Adjehi Baru is really physical around the basket, gives us a good post present defensively and offensively, and then I've got three guards, Anthony Stitt, who's a senior, who can play the 1 and the 2, who's really tough defender and good driver, and then Joe Chealey and Canyon Barry are both guys on the wing that can score the ball, make shots and make plays, and then I have a few freshmen, Cameron Johnson and Donovan Gilmore, that both have shown positive signs, as well. TIM SIMMONS: So the freshmen have been the biggest surprises or any other players that surprised you? EARL GRANT: Well, really I guess the surprises would be the freshmen because of how quick they've picked up different things and just their attention to detail, and also physicality, to be so young, just their physicality and adjusting to the speed of the game has been good for a couple of the young guys. But Canyon Barry has been some sort of a surprise. Didn't realize how athletic he was. He's very talented, and so I'm excited about all those guys. TIM SIMMONS: You've got two games and then your first‑round opponent in Puerto Rico is going to be the defending national champions, so what are your thoughts about Connecticut, or have you even thought about them yet? EARL GRANT: You know what, I know Connecticut is a really good team, and obviously I respect what Kevin Ollie has been able to do. But my assistant coaches are looking at UConn. I've been more focused on our first game with Furman. We've got a game against Furman on Friday and turn right back around and got Gardner‑Webb on Monday. I really haven't had a chance to worry about UConn at this point, and just trying to get prepared for these first two games. TIM SIMMONS: I guess I will skip the question about Texas A&M and Dayton that you will play the second round, but do you like the tournament format where you're playing two days, off a day, and then playing the third day? What do you think about the format for the Puerto Rico Tip‑Off? EARL GRANT: I love the format. Any time you're in a tournament it's good to go ahead and play back to back. Obviously in any tournament you won't get a lot of practice time, so I would rather just go ahead and play back to back, and then that day off is always good because usually it's always better when you're coming off at least one or two wins to have that day off, but we've got to keep things in perspective and really make sure we can enjoy that day off with our team, and at the same time prepare for that third day. So I really like playing two days back to back and having a day off to spend time with the players and family and then coming back for a third game. So I'm excited about that format. Q. I'm writing a story for Basketball Times Magazine. It's sort of offbeat. It's about team camaraderie sort of in the smart phone and social media era. I'm wondering in your opinion have those things sort of weakened the bond among your players compared to five or 10 or 20 years ago? In other words, are players on their phones or wearing headphones instead of talking to each other during meals and plane rides? EARL GRANT: You know, with this team, it's kind of unique. I think the overall question in all of college athletics, yes, certainly social media has taken away from the team camaraderie and the team‑building type situations. But I've got a unique situation with my team. I think my team is really close. They spend a lot of time together. They do a lot of stuff together, and so I haven't really actually been on the road with this team in hotels and restaurants to see what their interaction is, and so we'll find out here soon, but I think some of the things that the coach‑‑ when you're on the road, I think you even collect the phones before dinner and you force those guys to spend time with each other, because if you don't, they'll be tweeting and texting instead of talking to each other. Q. So you have done that, you've removed phones before, or you're just thinking about doing it? EARL GRANT: Well, I've never been a head coach, and I've never been around this team on the road, but I think the overall idea of social media has taken away from team building and team camaraderie, but again, with this team, I haven't been on the road with them, and so obviously Friday will be my first time being on the road with these guys. I do think for dinner and things of that nature, you need to take the phones and just leave the phones in the room and don't bring them to the pregame meal and just talk to your teammates. I think that's very important. Q. Talk a little bit if you would about, you mentioned this team has a special camaraderie. Talk a little bit about‑‑ you know you don't need to go into detail clearly on some of the reasons, but this team went through a very unusual experience over the summer where they could have left the program, there was a great deal of unsettling within the program, you weren't hired until September. Talk a little bit about how that's affected them and why it does you think make them such a special group. EARL GRANT: Well, I mean, I just think any adversity, if you hang in there through the adversity, then I think that it makes you stronger, and I always think with adversity, either you break down and quit, or you pull closer together. I think the guys facing adversity instead of running away and scattering and transferring and doing things of that nature, they just decided to get closer to each other. So I think that's been good for our team. Again, I've just got to be patient from an emotional standpoint, all the new things that I put on these guys in terms of defense and offense, and from a strategic standpoint and trying to get the know the guys, I've got to be patient, and early in the year as we try to transition. But I think they've handled it really, really well. TIM SIMMONS: Coach, thank you very much. Do we have one last question for Coach Grant? Q. Coming to a school like college of Charleston where there's great fan support in the area and a lot of basketball knowledge, how much interaction have you had so far with Bobby Cremins and with Coach Kresse? EARL GRANT: I've had a ton of interaction with Coach Kresse. I see him a lot. I talk to him a lot. Obviously I admire him. He was probably the first coach that opened my eyes to college basketball back in 1993 when I was in high school here in Charleston. I've really been close to him. And then obviously Bobby Cremins, I've spoken with him a lot, as well, and he's been around the office, and so these guys are legends of the game, and so I'm very fortunate to have them as a resource when I've got questions and things of that nature. I've been embracing those guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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