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BIG TEN CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYSOctober 2, 2019Greg GardHilton Rosemont - Rosemont, Ill. GREG GARD: I thought I was going to toe the line with pinstripes, but I see obviously -- anyway, it's great to be back. Obviously, it seems like this gets earlier and earlier every year. We're four days into practice, so if my voice gives out a little bit, that's why. But for us, obviously it's been an unchartered territory the last three, four months as our program has walked through obviously a personal tragedy with one of my assistants Howard Moore and his family. But our players have done a really good job of handling all this with a mature approach. And like I said, I had a really good summer, a really good fall, and now into practice and off and running. Really good group. I'm looking forward to how they continue to develop and mature as we work through the next few weeks before we start playing, and excited for what obviously, as always, will be an extremely tough Big Ten schedule from top to bottom. Terrific league. We get a chance to obviously have been in it for a long time, long time as an assistant, and then obviously into my fourth or fifth year here as the head coach. Like I said, I like my group. We've got a lot of exciting pieces that will have different roles as this group builds and grows through the year, and I know they're excited about their opportunities and what's going to happen and how this year unfolds. With that, I'll take any questions. Q. Coach, it doesn't seem like you put a lot of stock into your 2019-20 season for recruiting but focused more on your 2020-21 season. Is that true, and if so, what was your strategy behind it? GREG GARD: We just try to continue to find the best players we can that want to be at the University of Wisconsin. Obviously, I can't talk specifically about the future because of NCAA rules, but recruiting is cyclical. There�s years you're going to have multiple scholarships open. There's going to be years that you don't have as many. It's an ever-changing barometer in terms of who we target, where we target, those type of things. I would say none of it was intentional. It's just how it kind of -- it organically works itself out. Q. Your team has been through a lot about Howard Moore, the tragic situation there. A lot of young guys on that team (indiscernible). GREG GARD: Yeah, the question was about Coach Moore and how we've handled that situation, how our team has handled it. You know, I think as I mentioned in my opening statement, it's unchartered territory. There's not a manual for how do you handle those things. And as I've gone through my career, I've been advised on many things and have gotten great mentorship from a lot of different people, but that is an area that I haven't experienced that there's not a roadmap for that. I think the one thing we've tried to do, obviously we've always had a very tight-knit family or group with our program, and I think it's in these times that you really lean on each other. We've tried to keep our players up to date on a day-to-day basis or week-to-week basis in terms of the progress of Coach Moore. And then anything that obviously was much more consistent back in late May, June, as the details of that accident all unfolded and in the following weeks. But I think you never know what's coming around the corner. I think that's one thing we've learned. You obviously appreciate every day, don't take anything for granted. I think, like I said, it's always been a tight group and a feeling of togetherness. This is probably because of its -- you always talk about those things in terms of athletics or the sport arena. And now you have a real-life experience that everybody is having to walk through that puts a whole different light and takes it to a whole different level. But we've had great support. My coaching staff, Alando Tucker stepping in in the interim role and the job Joe Krabbenhoft and Dean Oliver has done has been exceptional. And then it works its way down from there, from our support staff and obviously how our players have handled it and stuck together and helped each other through. I'm proud of all of them and everybody that's helped walk through this with all of us, and even the support from the Big Ten community and nationally has been exceptional. We just continue to keep Coach Moore and his family in our thoughts as we walk forward. Q. Obviously we're here for basketball media day, but football right now on the campus is phenomenal. What's it like for your players, you're coming in, practicing, seeing the energy on the campus and them getting ready for basketball season? GREG GARD: Well, I think that's one of the things that makes Wisconsin special, is that we've got really good sports in a lot of different areas, and obviously football Saturdays are unique and special, and our guys are good friends with a lot of the players, so they enjoy to share in those experiences. A lot of our guys played football before they went to college, so they understand the game and enjoy that part of it. I think you just -- it adds an extra level of -- or an extra dynamic to campus and to the athletic department when you have successful teams, whether it's football, volleyball, track, basketball, hockey. When you have that type of energy and that type of positivity flowing around campus specifically with your student-athletes, it's healthy all the way around. Q. Like you mentioned, you've been in this league for a long time. How do you think the new three-point distance is going to impact Big Ten play specifically the first year it's implemented? GREG GARD: Yeah, it's a good question. I think as I've watched it with our team through the summer and then now this fall, I really -- players adapt really quickly. It'll be interesting to see what the percentages do. I think they may dip a little bit. You just watch what the small sample size was in the NIT last year, teams dropped just a hair. But our players have seemed to adapt to it really easily, and I don't think it's going to be maybe as big of an adjustment as what it's perceived to be. We'll see. Numbers will bear it out. Duration of the season will bear it out. Does it change defensive concepts, does it bring more zone into play, do teams squeeze the floor and pack it in even more? I don't think so too much, just because I've watched our team adjust and shoot it in our drills and in our workouts relatively the same as what it was in a little closer. Q. How do you think the California Fair Pay to Play Act will impact the college landscape, and what are your thoughts in general on it? GREG GARD: Well, I think the one thing is it's so new, and that's such an unexplored world that there's so much we don't know of where it's going to go, what it's going to lead to. I'm always in favor of trying to enhance the student-athletes' experience, and I think what the NCAA and specifically what we've done at Wisconsin over the last several years has made their experiences better, whether it's been cost of attendance, meals, those type of things. I think it's just such an unchartered territory, and the implications and domino effect that something like that can have are completely unknown. Like I said, right now there's not probably enough knowledge and information out about that to understand exactly where that all leads to. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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