Podcast - @WalshCavsHoops Head Coach Jeff Young on Kenny & JT Show / @CavsCoachYoung

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Live from the studios of News Talk 1480 WHBC, it's Kinney and JT.

So last night as JT and I are watching all kinds

of different things, including March Madness,

we both had the same thought as we watched Iowa beat Nebraska,

77, 71.

And that was this Ben McCullum, right?

Is that Drake for one year?

Is that Iowa his first year?

They're in the Elite Eight now.

But he wants some national championships at division two.

Wonder if he crossed paths with Walsh's head coach,

Jeff Young at any point in game.

The duty had to.

I mean, that's the reason I texted you.

I'm like, Jeff Young's got to know this guy.

NCAA division two tournaments, 2017, 19, 21, 22.

You had to somehow some way cross pass

with the Walsh University Cavaliers.

I would think so.

So let's bring in the head coach from Walsh,

national championship head coach.

Jeff Young joining us.

How are you today, coach?

Good. How are you guys doing?

We're great, man.

Thanks for making time for us on short notice.

So what can you tell us about Ben McCullum?

Have you gone head to head with him in a game as head coaches,

as former players or anything along those lines?

Well, we didn't play his team since I've been the head coach

at Walsh, but we've had conversations.

And I know his assistant pretty well.

His assistant was at Maryville, and we played

them a couple of times.

And now he's back with Ben at Iowa.

But nonetheless, knowing Ben for, I don't know,

the last seven, eight years, I'm certainly not

surprised at where he's at right now with Iowa.

Why is that coach?

Why did you feel that strongly about him?

Well, I mean, you just kind of ran through the numbers.

What he did at the division two level.

And then, you know, a lot of people always question,

can you make that jump from D2 to D1,

and have the same amount of success?

But obviously, you know, he went right to Drake

and turned that program around, made the tournament.

I think won the league in his first year there.

And I think his dream job has always been Iowa.

And, you know, so after one year at Drake, they hire him.

And I was looking it up a little bit.

I think they lost 12 games this year, which

is the most he's lost since his first and second year

at the division two level.

I think his first two years, he had a losing record.

And then, all of a sudden, they started to click for him.

And obviously, he's won four national championships

at the D2 level, which is incredible.

Coach, how hard is it to get your team to play

as best ball at the right time of year being right before

or during the NCAA tournament?

Well, I mean, you know, you obviously

want to be peaking, going into the tournament.

But I've always thought you got to peek a couple times

during the course of the year, because the season's just too long.

And if you don't do that, if you're not playing well,

especially at that level, then you're probably not

going to have a very good run into the tournament.

But a lot of these teams you see that are still alive,

we're kind of trending up towards the end of the season.

So, you know, I'm not surprised that Ben's

got him in this position.

He's got some close games, but you know,

they went on toughness.

And, you know, he's got some older guys.

His point guard was with him at the D2 level.

He went with him to Drake.

And now he's back with him again at Iowa.

So, they got an experience they know him.

And he knows his players.

And I think he's one of the best coaches in the country.

We always thought the gold standard was 20 wins.

And we had always heard you get the 20 wins.

You probably make it into the NCAA tournament.

Okay, that's great and fine and dandy.

And then the Miami team wins 31 games this season.

And we were still wondering, are they going to make it in?

If that's the gold standard and we've heard all these coaches,

you know, you turn on any game during this tournament,

20 game winner, 20 game winner, 20 game winner.

You've won 20 games and 30 games more times than I can count.

Have you ever been tapped as anybody ever come approaching you

to say, hey, maybe you want to make the move from this kid

from Walsh and move up to the D1 level?

Well, first, you know, 20 wins will get you fired now

at that level.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah, okay.

You saw it at North Carolina and it's kind of unfortunate

because his best player, you know, was hurt.

If he plays, you know, he's got his good chance

of anybody to maybe win the whole thing.

But it doesn't matter.

You know, it's more about getting into the tournament.

And then you better win a couple games.

And if you're at North Carolina and Duke,

you better get in the final four.

Your job could be in jeopardy.

So now, fortunately, for the D2 guys,

they're kind of trending up as they're making these moves.

You just saw Jared Calhoun get made it Cincinnati.

And Jared was my first assistant for three years of Walsh.

And then he went to D2 Fairmont State and then Youngstown State

and then made a nice run at Utah State.

And now here he is back in Cincinnati taking the bear cat

program over that he was at with Bob Huggins

as a student assistant.

So getting back to the question, the D2 guys,

tap dance around that.

I listen carefully here.

So, you know, we always wonder guys like yourself.

And Larry Karrison, that you're a legend there.

At Walsh, has anybody tried to pry you away?

Or are you happy where you're at?

And you don't bother taking any of those calls.

Well, you know, I look at Jared.

You know, when he was my assistant, he was making,

I don't know, 25, 30,000.

And now he's going to make 20 million.

So, you know, that's enticing for sure.

But, you know, he's had to sacrifice a lot.

And then he's done a heck of a job.

And he's paid the price.

And, you know, he's earned the right to coach at that level

and get paid what he's going to get paid.

You know, my situation's a little different.

And I always thought that it'd be tough for me

to be happy at that level and still, you know,

kind of raise a family.

I've got four kids.

And you're either sacrificing family

or sacrificing your team.

And, you know, I just think this is a better fit for me.

Yeah, and I totally understand that.

And help me with the first name, the Alabama coach.

Is it oats?

What's the first name?

Yep.

Yep.

Oh, come on.

So, anyways, coach oats, right from Alabama.

You know, they were talking to him

about his contract situation.

And he brought it up.

He said, look, nobody cared about me

when I was making $4,200 or whatever it was.

You know, coach in high school basketball, right?

But now everybody wants to know, am I

going to sign a contract extension?

And because I'm making millions and millions of dollars,

you know, it kind of, you know, you put the work in then

to try and get maybe paid on the back end, right?

And, you know, like you said,

with your assistant going to Cincinnati and that,

that's where all of that work comes to fruition.

And if you're a single guy and you don't have ties

like you with a family, that's when you got a strike

when the iron's hot, right?

No doubt.

And if you don't, you know, in a year or two,

it could flip on you and you might be lucky

to even have a job, especially at that level.

And, you know, NATO is his first name.

And, you know, he was a buffalo in the back

and he made a nice run and he's been training

up words ever since.

So, you know, like you said,

you better strike where you're hot.

And because in today's environment,

you know, it used to be three or four years,

they give you, but now it's really, you know, two,

maybe three if you're not doing well

and they're under the next guy.

No doubt.

So, Coach, you told me we were texting last night

with Coach McCollum at Iowa.

You use some of his conditioning drills

or some practice drills in that?

What exactly is that?

Well, I can tell you this, our guys didn't like it,

but what I told you, you know,

our guys don't know who Ben McCollum is,

for the most.

I mean, they might have kind of, you know,

watched a little bit of Drake last year,

but he's always been one of my favorites.

And I always say, you know, watch the way,

if you're going to watch a team,

watch the way Iowa plays, you know,

you're just placed so hard and tough.

And I said, watch the, they'll make a run

by the end of the year and sure enough they have.

But he puts them through, I mean, it's not easy.

And it's not necessarily a physical thing.

It's more mental to see who can survive it.

And, you know, be tough enough and be in those situations

when, you know, you're playing games like last night,

it comes down to the last possession.

And, you know, those are the things

that kind of carry over into those games

like you saw last night.

newest member of the Kenny and JT show

is head coach of the Walsh Cavaliers.

Jeff Young coach, it's a fraternity.

You guys that are coaching, I don't care what level you're on.

But first question is this,

do you have a favorite team at the D1 level

that's playing in the NCAA tournament

or already been ousted from said tournament?

Well, I mean, I've been rooting for Iowa the whole way.

Now, I pick Michigan to win it.

Okay.

You know, they've got all the pieces,

lengths, athletes, they played a tough schedule.

I'm not saying they will.

Obviously Arizona looks pretty good right now.

But, you know, if I could pick a team that,

you know, I'd want to win it and certainly be Iowa,

just because he's a division two guy.

You know, he's kind of proving himself.

And I think right now, like in his career,

he's 180% of his games or maybe 81%.

And I think he's just behind Mark Fu at Gonzaga.

Mark's I think about 82%.

And that's unbelievable when you're winning

eight out of 10 games on a yearly basis.

So, you know, I like guys that have come to the division

two ranks and kind of proving themselves and it gives us

or maybe myself or some other two guys

that chance maybe coach at that level.

Okay, so analytically, you like that guy,

but growing up a kid in Akron,

did you have a favorite team NCAA division one?

Well, you know, I was talking to Jared the other day

and shoot, I remember, you know,

just kind of fall on Bob Huggins.

I mean, I go to Akron games and they're playing Cleveland state

and sitting on the floor because you couldn't get a seat.

He was packed for some of those games

and then traveling down to Cincinnati,

the watching down there and I was a big fan

of what they were doing.

But prior to that, I was a dookie.

Okay.

Now we're getting somewhere.

I know.

See, now we're getting somewhere

because my real question is this,

who gets that Hubert Davis job in North Carolina?

Well, I'm here in Sean Miller.

Who knows?

Yeah, Texas.

Yeah.

And he's bounced around and you know,

people are talking like, well,

I don't know, like, who else is there?

I mean, there's not many guys

out there that are available for a job like that.

Jeff Young's available.

Go take that North Carolina job.

Well, I would take that one.

I would take that one.

Well, I would take that one.

Being North Carolina and being paid five million a year,

I would take that.

Yeah, they got good schools out there, Coach, you know,

with the kids and everything like that.

That's right.

But the other name I'm hearing,

if he wants out of the NBA is Billy Dottavan,

who was, you know, Uber successful at the collegiate level.

I'm just curious, Coach,

once you get to the NBA level, right?

When you compare the two jobs,

what's harder to do?

Coach in the NBA or in NCAA division one?

Well, that's a good question, Kenny.

I don't see these guys coming back

because they don't want to deal with NIL,

portal, you know, grades recruiting on the road.

You know, they don't deal with any of that stuff in the NBA.

They're basically just coaching basketball.

And I guess there's been a few guys that have come back,

but, and I did hear Billy Dottavan's name,

but I'd be shocked if one of those guys would step,

now it is North Carolina.

All right.

So that might be enticing to a few guys.

Well, you were interested in it, Coach, right?

Is there more pressure coaching?

The bulls are coaching North Carolina Tarheals.

I would say North Carolina.

Right.

Yeah.

I mean, with Thurallon and I base,

and, you know, those jobs are pressure packed.

There's no doubt about it.

You know, in the NBA, there's so many games.

And I heard you're talking about the calves,

and I'm a huge calves fan,

but I'm a little concerned.

I don't know if they guard well,

enough and rebound well enough

once you get into playoff,

because this is a whole different animal.

So, yeah, I don't know.

I can't see Billy Dottavan making that move,

but who knows?

Okay.

All right.

Yeah, you never know if they throw the, you know,

a brink's truck at him,

make him a $10 million a year guy or something like that, you know?

Well, the money, yeah, the money will definitely factor.

So we'll see.

Yeah, no doubt about it.

Happy to have with us talking March,

man, this Jeff Young, the outstanding,

and very happy head coach at Walsh University,

coming off an outstanding season.

They made it to the sweet 16, their deepest run

since going to division two,

but coach, I saw in the paper the other day.

Looks like you're going to lose at least one guy

off your team to the portal.

What else can you tell us?

Is it just one or are you waiting for other players

possibly, you know, to jump ship and head somewhere else?

Well, Quinn Barnett or sophomore guard, he's definitely gone.

I've been feeling calls for the last three days,

probably about five or six calls from other division one,

coaches, I think he's on a visit today somewhere.

Okay.

So it's not stop and then braiding gross

did jump in the portal and he's kind of just feeling an out.

And if he gets the right fit or the right situation,

he probably won't be back next year,

but if it's not what exactly what he's looking for,

then he will be back.

And honestly, I think it would benefit him

another year of growth.

He's only a freshman.

I really believe he needs to kind of expand his game

a little bit on the perimeter.

He didn't shoot many trees.

And at that level, he's a little undersized at six six,

but he's got such great feel, especially around the rim.

And he's such a good kid that he's going to have opportunity,

whether it's this year or next.

So it's going to work out for him either way.

How do you handle that coach knowing if you recruit a kid,

that's really good coming out of high school, right?

And he cuts in and has.

Fits right in, Getty.

He's the newest member of our show for a reason.

Yeah, that's a good one.

Yeah, you know, you may only,

you know, we hear about one in Duns for the NBA.

You're not one in Duns for the NBA,

but your kids might be one in Duns for the portal.

So have you just come to accept that you may only get it

a year out of a kid,

if he's going to be that good and you realize that.

And I guess you don't handle it well,

but how do you handle it at all?

Well, you know, I don't think I'll ever handle it great.

It has changed for me a little bit over the last five years.

I mean, I'm trying to help these kids.

Sure.

I'm actually trying to,

I'm trying to help them make more money, to be honest with you.

As they're looking to make some decisions,

but you know, we look at it so differently

from the coaching side of things

than the players do.

I mean, we almost look at it like a divorce.

You know, you've spent all this time with this kid

and the family and, you know, and then all of a sudden,

they're looking to make a move.

And they're eyes, they're just trying to better themselves

and look for a better opportunity,

but we kind of look at it like, you know,

you're hurting our program and it's not always better,

or greener on the other side, so to speak.

So they'll kind of never understand it.

From our viewpoint, we certainly understand it from theirs,

but it's just, you know, every college coach I talk to

goes to the same thing, none of them are happy about it.

All these guys that have been recruiting my guys

in the last two or three days,

and they're going through the same thing.

Their rosters are depleted.

So it's just guys jumping all around and, you know,

it's, you know,

it's every coach for himself, isn't it?

It pretty much is.

I mean, it's just, you know, I've heard the term

the wild, wild, less, and that's basically what it is.

It's got a suck and you've got alumni to think about

and all the money and everything else.

Last question, coach, we'll let you go.

Men's basketball portal, is it like football?

Is it only one time a year?

And is it the first week in April for about 15 days?

Well, here's what's so important about these D2 guys.

The D1 portal is not open.

The only basketball guys in the D1 portal right now

are guys that are grad transfers, transfers

or their coach left.

So right now these D2 kids, they're scrambling.

There's over a thousand of them in the portal

looking for a home.

D1 portal opens April 7th in about a week.

So if our guy tell him to find something,

you know, those D1 guys are just going to take over.

So it's a little bit different than football,

but that's kind of the way it works

on the basketball side of things.

Great stuff, coach.

We really appreciate you joining us today.

We need to do more of this.

We'll get you in studio at some point as well.

And yeah, like JT said, in the off season,

if you're looking for some work, okay?

If they're not paying you enough at wall,

you can come work with us at the right.

All right, hey, I'm taking up on that.

Some of the great time and job.

There he is.

Love that guy joining us.

Once again, Jeff Young from Walls University.