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BIG TEN CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 13, 2016

Greg Gard

Washington, D.C.

GREG GARD: Obviously for me, it sounds like I have a pretty good team coming back. That's what they're telling me, with a lot of experience. But for me to be here for my first Media Day, I've had a lot of introductions or re-introductions to staff members around the league and throughout the media, and it's been very enjoyable for me. I'm kind of the new kid on the block as we go through this.

Obviously, only about eight or nine days into practice. I think we've gotten off to a good start, and obviously having this much experience back helps to help educate our younger players, have our older guys show them the way of how we do things, reestablish some of the things that have made our program so good over the years and understanding what our core principles have been. Just really brushing up on those things and understanding how important the fundamentals have been to us on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively. Then continue to develop individually. I think we've gotten better over the off-season physically. Our skill level has improved with some players that needed to take steps forward. Now it's a matter of putting that all together in terms of obviously in small groups. We've done very little five-on-five so far, but excited for what the season's going to bring. The anticipation level and excitement in Madison is extremely high, and we're looking forward to the challenges that will lie ahead.

Q. I know it's very early. If you could kind of maybe assess the way you think the Big Ten would be, the challenges that's going to present from an overall team, competitive standpoint?
GREG GARD: Yeah, our staff was talking about that the other day in the coaches' locker room. We were going team by team. In fact, I had to have our managers go to the local bookstore to buy me all those pre-season magazines because I had to read up on the other teams. I had totally blocked that out in terms of who was coming back, who they had added, those type of things. So I was reading that on the airplane out here.

But the one thing, our three assistants were talking about this team, that team, and I said, guys, this sounds like the last 15 years. It's going to be a fistfight all the way through it. It doesn't matter who you play, where you play them, when you play them, you're going to have your hands full. I think that's what's made this league so good for so long, way back to when I watched it growing up as a kid in Wisconsin, the battles night-in and night-out across the league. Obviously it's only grown from there with the expansion and how teams and programs have grown over the years.

So I don't know if you single out any one team and say this or that. Obviously there are some traditional powers that have been there for a long time. There are some emerging ones. Also understanding, having gone through it for 15 years, you better lace them tight when it comes to league play. Because if you half step, no matter where, no matter when, you're going to end up on the short end of the stick, so to speak. That's the unique thing about this league, night-in and night-out, the fan bases, the arenas you play in, how competitive it is, how good the coaching is, how good the players are, there is not a single -- I use the term, there are no get-well games. There is not a game you can show up and work on some things. You better bring your A-game all the time.

Q. Can you talk about the difference in dealing with expectations coming in this year as the head coach? Obviously Wisconsin has always had those kind of expectations, but is it different for you and for somebody like Nigel Hayes as Pre-Season Player of the Year?
GREG GARD: Well, I think the nice thing about having expectations is that it's a great reflection other the tradition of the program. And as you mentioned, Wisconsin has always had high expectations for quite a while now, and our players are used to that. They're used to that culture and what the expectations are. The expectations on the outside will never surpass what's on the inside and what those guys have in that locker room and what they expect and what they want to accomplish. So from that standpoint, you know the most important piece of trying to embrace or attack these expectations are your 17 players in the locker room and what they understand and what they want and what their goals are. So for me, it hasn't changed anything because it won't change our process. It won't change how we practice, what we need to work on, what we need to improve upon. We embrace the expectations. Like I said, it's a great mark not only on our current players that are returning, but also the reputation that our program has developed within the league and nationally.

So you embrace those things and understand it's going to be a long process. It's going to be a journey through it, and we're going to have to play extremely well and continue to improve along the way. That's what we've talked about. Are we going to make sure we're better today than we were yesterday and so forth down the road. But understanding it's going to be a process. Just like we got out of the 1-4, 9-9 hole last year. It was about trusting the process and making the most of every single opportunity. We have to make sure we don't waste any days this year. I've talked a lot about check every box, make sure we did everything the right way in September. We were in the process of trying to do everything the right way every day in October, and that will be a building process as we go through the season.

I think if you embrace that and you attack it that way, then you don't have any regrets and you don't play would have, could have, should have in your mind as you look back in February and March. Just embrace the journey and understand there are going to be some ups. There might be some downs. But approach it that way, and when you get to the end, you can look back and say I left it all on the table, and we'll live with what happens.

Q. You've had Nigel and Bronson who have been outspoken on some social issues, and I know you've had conversations with them. I just wonder what those conversations are like with players, how you advise them on what you'd like to see, and what sort of actions you'd like to see them take going forward.
GREG GARD: I think first thing as you sit down both individually and as a team, and we've talked about it as a team a few times as well, why are you taking the stance that you are? What is your knowledge base behind it? Why is it important to you? Anybody can make a statement. Anybody can take a position. But to have the knowledge and watch the knowledge and those two individuals grow and develop. And as I met with both of them, the depth and broadness of their understanding of issues is mind-blowing at times. I'm extremely proud of them from the standpoint of they've used their college experience to go way beyond just being an athlete. They've used that to expand their knowledge base, to use the platform to try to help others, and that's the one thing as we've gone through, and, for example, Bronson sat down and talked about going to North Dakota, okay, understand what are the ramifications? What is the cause and effect? Same thing with Nigel. What could happen in 12 hours, 12 days, 12 months? Let's think all this through. We support you no matter what you want to do, we'll support you, and I applaud them for taking their stances and what they've done, because they've been a very educated decision behind it. But also at the same time, as I mentioned, everybody can take a stand, but are you going to put some action behind it? Everybody can point out what the problem is, what can we do to make this be a part of the solution? And in both those individuals cases, Bronson obviously went to North Dakota and spent a weekend out there and drove out 12 hours and spent time with people sitting in at the pipeline and protesting there. And Nigel has been very involved now in the Boys & Girls Club and going to speak to youth groups in Madison.

So both have obviously made a statement with words, but also are putting actions into place to help make a difference and try to help those that are coming behind. That's what we always talked about. Can you make it better for those coming behind you and make it better for them than what you had it, and they've both used personal actions behind their statements to make things better. That's what you're proud of. They've really embraced the whole student-athlete experience and gone well beyond just wearing that uniform.

Q. Did you have any time to reflect, I guess, on what a whirlwind last year was like for you, and how much are you looking forward to now, obviously your first full year as head coach, and the big changes now this year around?
GREG GARD: Right. I think there have been moments of reflection. I think as you prepare for this year you look back, whether it's game film, whether it's things in your notes that you come across that I made throughout the season, and you try to reflect and put your plan together for this year, whether it's through the summer or into fall, of how I want to plan practices and where I think the team needs to grow and expand. You look back at some things that were happening, and it was such a whirlwind. That's a word that's appropriately used in describing the last 12 or 18 months for me. So you're very appreciative of all those people that have stepped up to help you and offer you support along the way. And sometimes, like I said, you're flying through it so fast and you have so much support around you that you kind of maybe not forget to acknowledge, but you maybe are a little blinded sometimes when you're so locked in on the season of what's going on, the perimeter around you, and you look back a little bit and you can see a little more clearly what was actually happening during that time. The support I've had through this whole transition, from our administration, to our coaching staff, to our team, to my immediate family and people around us has been nothing short of exceptional. So that's what you look back, I think, as you see some of those moments and remember some of those moments where you maybe see a huddle with somebody standing by you. You see a shot from a game with somebody standing in the background. That, I think, allows you to reflect and recall some of those moments that maybe you were flying by so fast and you were so laser focused on the season at hand that you maybe were a little -- you had a little blurry vision in terms of what was in the periphery around you. Sometimes that happens as a coach, you get so locked in on what's going on. But obviously it was a special time.

I've said many times it's been the best year and the worst year of your life rolled together with everything that went on personally with our dad -- with my dad passing away. But you ride the roller coaster and you try to make the best of it. You're very thankful and appreciative of those people that help you through those times.

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