Miami Hurricanes head basketball coach spoke with the media after the team’s first preseason practice. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On what he saw from Shelton Henderson’s perimeter jumper: Just getting more comfortable and being okay with shooting it and having the confidence to shoot it. I think it's just a year of growing up and a year of development that he's starting to see, and he's done a good job this summer and this fall of making more shots and just being comfortable with taking them, honestly.
On Dante Allen development: That was one thing that I think is the next step of his development. It's just his ability to play more of a point guard and a combo guard. It’s also how we kind of built the roster. We brought in a Acaden, who is more of a traditional point guard, and then having Dante and Shelton kind of be secondary ball handlers and being people when the out the game that can play the position as good as well.
On Caleb Gaskins: He’s had a really good summer and a really good fall. I think he will be ready to go, but he's still a freshman, and he's a young freshman. He just turned 18. So, you know, it's also something that I know will be a learning curve for him, but he's done a great job, and his mindset has been the best thing about him.
On Miami starting over in year two with a new roster: It’s twelve new players. We have Dante, we have Shelton back, and so everybody else is new. And it's completely new players, completely different skill sets. So it's starting completely over. It’s like year one all over again. So we changed up how we did the summer, how we did the fall, just to kind of help with that. But it's no comfortability.
On having no advantage from year one heading into year two: I would say yes normally, but I have to say no, because you have different personalities, different people, different places they've been. So everything has been completely new, which is different. But also it's exciting because you go through it all again and you get to start from the ground level and build something back up like we have before.
On how he built Miami’s roster: Well, the one, just to kind of piggyback off his question, there's some things that we always want to be staples of our program. We always want to be big. We always want to be physical. We want to be able to win the free throw line and win the rebounding. So we're built that way, where we have great size. I think we have more size on the wing than we did last year, but also having the bodies to be able to create the contact and win the physicality battle. So some of the things that were kind of staples for us will still be staples, and then we just kind of try to really enhance some of the shortcomings with adding some more shooting with guys like Brent [Bland] and Nick [Dorn] and DeShawn [Goode], and so kind of having some of the same similarities and finding a formula that kind of worked, but also having to restart and do it our own way.
On how he matches the successful season last season: Well, you know, for us, last season was last season. Like I said the whole time, it's a completely different thing. So there's nothing that is the same. And what they did was great, but it's in the past. So I don't know what this team is, and eventually we'll get there, what we can be, but I like who we have in the building.
On what’s impressed him off the court: They do spend a lot of time off the court, and that's the one thing you always worry about. In here it's kind of manufactured. They have to come to practice. They have to lift weights. They have to do that stuff together. But you worry about when they leave. How much time do they spend together? And they are a team that it just kind of happened naturally and organically. And I always felt when I played and when I was a player, we did most of our team bonding away from the gym. So that is a good thing that they do, hang out a lot outside of here.
On what transfer has impressed him: I think they have all had their bright spots. You know, for me, Brent and Nick have really impressed me just with their shot-making and their ability. And then our big guys, Rob [Robert Miller] and Somto [Cyril], just with how much more they can be and how much better they can get. I think it's one of the most impressive things, too, is that they're not anywhere near what they can be.
On preparing for Florida: We still have a lot to work on and a lot to get ready for before we get to November 2nd. But also starting the game with such a big test is exciting because it gives you an early gauge of where you are and what you need to fix. It’s the first game of the year. If we win, it's not a championship. If we lose, it's not the end of the world. But having the opportunity to play somebody so good is what was exciting for me.
On the loaded non-conference schedule: Yeah, it was. And then, also with the tournament expanding and kind of some of the new stuff going on, I felt like the seeding is going to come down to strength of schedule a lot. And so putting us in some, I guess some more prime time games will help when it comes to that. But also going into conference, it gives us a better chance with the conference schedule we have because we got a lot of big road games. It just gives us more information and more kind of experience to get ready for that.
On signing the extension: No, it was great, this place has been amazing for me, and especially somewhere, being a first-time head coach, all the support and trust that they had in me. This is everything I wanted out of a job. So when that opportunity came, it was just the opportunity to be able to stay here and continue to build with great people and a great fan base, to be honest, and everything that's going on in football and even soccer, their weekend they had. We're building something here, and I'm just excited to be a part of it.
On how a successful season will help recruiting: It helps. Football is the flagship of athletics here, and so when they're good, we're good. It gives us a better opportunity to recruit. They put the brand out there on a great stage. Coach Cristobal does a great job. We have great football players, and so it trickles down to us, and I have to do my job of making us as appealing as they are. And with the football and the team being on TV as much, it just helps.
On the Malik Reneau situation: It’s just day-by-day, Malik is going day-by-day and we're just trying to figure out what's next. If he will be able to play or if he will be in shape to go somewhere else and continue his professional career. We're just taking it. We really don't have any answers. I don't have any answers. I don't think anybody does. But he's here and he's been practicing and participating. He's in school. So we're just working towards that.
On what he saw from Shelton Henderson’s perimeter jumper: Just getting more comfortable and being okay with shooting it and having the confidence to shoot it. I think it's just a year of growing up and a year of development that he's starting to see, and he's done a good job this summer and this fall of making more shots and just being comfortable with taking them, honestly.
On Dante Allen development: That was one thing that I think is the next step of his development. It's just his ability to play more of a point guard and a combo guard. It’s also how we kind of built the roster. We brought in a Acaden, who is more of a traditional point guard, and then having Dante and Shelton kind of be secondary ball handlers and being people when the out the game that can play the position as good as well.
On Caleb Gaskins: He’s had a really good summer and a really good fall. I think he will be ready to go, but he's still a freshman, and he's a young freshman. He just turned 18. So, you know, it's also something that I know will be a learning curve for him, but he's done a great job, and his mindset has been the best thing about him.
On Miami starting over in year two with a new roster: It’s twelve new players. We have Dante, we have Shelton back, and so everybody else is new. And it's completely new players, completely different skill sets. So it's starting completely over. It’s like year one all over again. So we changed up how we did the summer, how we did the fall, just to kind of help with that. But it's no comfortability.
On having no advantage from year one heading into year two: I would say yes normally, but I have to say no, because you have different personalities, different people, different places they've been. So everything has been completely new, which is different. But also it's exciting because you go through it all again and you get to start from the ground level and build something back up like we have before.
On how he built Miami’s roster: Well, the one, just to kind of piggyback off his question, there's some things that we always want to be staples of our program. We always want to be big. We always want to be physical. We want to be able to win the free throw line and win the rebounding. So we're built that way, where we have great size. I think we have more size on the wing than we did last year, but also having the bodies to be able to create the contact and win the physicality battle. So some of the things that were kind of staples for us will still be staples, and then we just kind of try to really enhance some of the shortcomings with adding some more shooting with guys like Brent [Bland] and Nick [Dorn] and DeShawn [Goode], and so kind of having some of the same similarities and finding a formula that kind of worked, but also having to restart and do it our own way.
On how he matches the successful season last season: Well, you know, for us, last season was last season. Like I said the whole time, it's a completely different thing. So there's nothing that is the same. And what they did was great, but it's in the past. So I don't know what this team is, and eventually we'll get there, what we can be, but I like who we have in the building.
On what’s impressed him off the court: They do spend a lot of time off the court, and that's the one thing you always worry about. In here it's kind of manufactured. They have to come to practice. They have to lift weights. They have to do that stuff together. But you worry about when they leave. How much time do they spend together? And they are a team that it just kind of happened naturally and organically. And I always felt when I played and when I was a player, we did most of our team bonding away from the gym. So that is a good thing that they do, hang out a lot outside of here.
On what transfer has impressed him: I think they have all had their bright spots. You know, for me, Brent and Nick have really impressed me just with their shot-making and their ability. And then our big guys, Rob [Robert Miller] and Somto [Cyril], just with how much more they can be and how much better they can get. I think it's one of the most impressive things, too, is that they're not anywhere near what they can be.
On preparing for Florida: We still have a lot to work on and a lot to get ready for before we get to November 2nd. But also starting the game with such a big test is exciting because it gives you an early gauge of where you are and what you need to fix. It’s the first game of the year. If we win, it's not a championship. If we lose, it's not the end of the world. But having the opportunity to play somebody so good is what was exciting for me.
On the loaded non-conference schedule: Yeah, it was. And then, also with the tournament expanding and kind of some of the new stuff going on, I felt like the seeding is going to come down to strength of schedule a lot. And so putting us in some, I guess some more prime time games will help when it comes to that. But also going into conference, it gives us a better chance with the conference schedule we have because we got a lot of big road games. It just gives us more information and more kind of experience to get ready for that.
On signing the extension: No, it was great, this place has been amazing for me, and especially somewhere, being a first-time head coach, all the support and trust that they had in me. This is everything I wanted out of a job. So when that opportunity came, it was just the opportunity to be able to stay here and continue to build with great people and a great fan base, to be honest, and everything that's going on in football and even soccer, their weekend they had. We're building something here, and I'm just excited to be a part of it.
On how a successful season will help recruiting: It helps. Football is the flagship of athletics here, and so when they're good, we're good. It gives us a better opportunity to recruit. They put the brand out there on a great stage. Coach Cristobal does a great job. We have great football players, and so it trickles down to us, and I have to do my job of making us as appealing as they are. And with the football and the team being on TV as much, it just helps.
On the Malik Reneau situation: It’s just day-by-day, Malik is going day-by-day and we're just trying to figure out what's next. If he will be able to play or if he will be in shape to go somewhere else and continue his professional career. We're just taking it. We really don't have any answers. I don't have any answers. I don't think anybody does. But he's here and he's been practicing and participating. He's in school. So we're just working towards that.
