TalkinBlers
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Talkin Men's Basketball with Drew Valentine
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Dave, Bryan, and Tom sit down with Loyola Men's Basketball Head Coach Drew Valentine to talk about the results of last season and the expectations going into next season.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Talk and Blurs. I'm your host, Dave. I'm joined by Brian and Thomas as always. In this episode, we're going to talk about how the roster has been finalized for next year's team. We're going to look at some of the recruiting news for the class of 2027. We're going to look at a little bit of scheduling news, but the big part of our show, we are going to be joined by none other than the head coach of Loyola Chicago basketball, Drew Valentine. We're very excited to bring you this interview. We're going to talk about his views for this coming year and you know just a little bit of a little bit of everything with Rambler basketball in the 30 minutes we got with him. But yeah, let's start the show. Since our last episode, we do have a finalized roster for the men's team. Chris Jeffrey officially signed on, and so did Elias Rapachek uh from Kansas State. We talked about him committing. He was the last one to sign, though. And now the roster sits at 14 with 12 new faces on the Rambler squad. Would love to hear your guys' thoughts on the roster construction uh for next year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think uh I don't know, the biggest thing obviously is it felt like we had all one giant size to fill at AK miles, and we filled it with quite this size. Um you'll hear us later asked through, but uh it's Dave, I think you've pointed out the roster says there we only have one player under 6'3. Um, so again, size seems to be a call-out right away. Um, and again, I've I've been since we've joined the A10, I do think you need some variation of that size, whether it be a long athletic size or just a brute that can take force and be a battle down low. Um, each team has had versions of each, uh ranging from Dayton knowing how to use athletic size to enrichment having just tall bigs that just know how to stand there and take take it to the bucket. So yeah, I think right away that that's my big call out for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no. I mean, I was gonna say basically the same thing. I think that's been the thing that I've noticed most, you know, with all of the new roster editions. Going from two years ago to last year's team, we definitely did take a step down in terms of I mean, in terms of everything, but no way. Um in terms of height in particular, so um, it's nice to see that that's at least a priority. Um, from everything that I've seen at this point, you know, like I feel pretty good about the roster. But I mean I you can pull up the clips. I probably said the exact same thing last year, so we'll see.
SPEAKER_03At least we're not the the show that's like this is our year. No, like every year it's I mean it is. It is our year, but like put yeah, put put on our like our Dallas Cowboys skip Bayless hat and be like, mind Ramblers. Yeah. But um, but yeah, uh the size is definitely something that I like we all noticed, um, especially given what our starting lineup looked like at the end of last season and how um the size and physicality necessitated the use of a zone to to slow down games and like not expose the defense as much. Um I think what they've done, yes, there are some injury questions with this with this roster. You know, you have Donald Hand who came off an injury last year, uh Malik Diallo torn ACL last year. Um so there are quite and Xavier Amos injured throughout last year, so we'll see if he can he can come back and play a full healthy season neck uh this coming season. But I think that they mitigated a lot of those concerns by getting a lot of uh positional versatility. Like you look at a guy like uh Elias that we just who was the last player to sign, and he can play probably three through five. He won't play the three that much, but he can play the four and the five. But you also have Ryan Krieger who can play the five, you have Schofield, he can play the five. So like you have options behind Diallo if the knee starts bothering him early in the season. And for a guy like Donald Hand, you know, if he needs a little bit of time to get started as the year goes on, you have you know Nick still on the roster, you have a guy like Dayton Williams, uh, who can come off the bench, and you know, you do have some of that scoring ability that hand is supposed to bring you with Diane Nessa, who I'm I'm honestly really excited to see how he performs in the A10 after playing his freshman year at GW, then balling out at Cleveland State. I think he's gonna be a fun player to watch in a Rambler uniform next year.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, I think to your that exact point is just the versatility on the kind of shift of a rotation, right? We we've had it before where you go small. Uh I don't really know if there's necessarily small for this setup, but it could be, oh, we have two six foot ten guys out there and the rest are six foot eight, five or higher or taller. So we we could have a tall lineup. Um, but yeah, I do think uh as again, I I would over the last two years, Donald Han has had consistency from like a scoring perspective. So I love seeing that. Then when we hear it was actually injured for a good amount of last year, I'm only hoping for the best. But to that point, like we've seen last year, injuries don't always go in our favor or work in the manner we want. So having someone like uh Nessa be able to slide in or Nick again, if Abel and Drew wants to step up to that level, um again, um I think it would be like an interesting lineup of like Nick and uh maybe like Dayton Williams. Like I again, did they play off each other? So I do see the direction of a starters, but you I you have realized that Drew wanted to talk dev and a hint for later, but um it's it's very obvious that we want to be able to kind of shift guys in and out um based off maybe what we've seen and what we're going up against.
SPEAKER_03Plus, with Chris Jeffrey, you are getting someone who can play the one behind Guillaume. It is Guillaume, by the way. We found that out. Um, it's not Guillaume A. The E is silent at the end. Um, Guillaume Grotzinger, he can Chris Jeffrey can play behind him, but he can also play the two. He is a uh in the amount of time he got to play at Villanova, his points per, like if you expand his scoring to like points per 30, very efficient, very effective scorer. So if you see him get a bigger role with Loyola, which I would expect he would at the one and the two, he could play as he can be the guy who backs up Guillaume, but he can also be the guy who plays alongside him as like a second like rim runner. Like not, I guess slasher would be a better, he's only 6'3, it's not like he's a he's not gonna sit in the dunker spot.
SPEAKER_02But um yeah, no, I think I'm gonna take I really agree with Brian at this point, and you'll and for the listeners, you're gonna hear Drew's mention something, and we'll we'll talk about this later. Um, but as Brian has said, I think we're in a stage where I can't really just be like, I think this guy's gonna do this guy, or I think this guy. I just know that I personally think if one of these guys isn't, Drew has found people that will just fill into the next. Like they have all either been starters somewhere um or have played a key like rotation role um and have those minutes. So I really do think this is not a and maybe that's the benefit of the portal. You're getting guys who have that college basketball level experience, not three freshmen who have never played at that level. So I I'm not gonna have like, oh, here's my prediction. This because I think I said someone that last year was gonna shoot maybe over 40%, um, and they didn't shoot anywhere near it.
SPEAKER_01So I think this year it's just like, hey, the whole team at that point. I know exactly what you're talking about. No, not to your point.
SPEAKER_02The team didn't shoot well. But I think at this point, when I see a roster of very similar builds, again, they all like 6'8. That's how it's like, hey, maybe not your night or you're not having that stretch. We're gonna put in another guy. Um, and again, reminds me of the days where you saw Chris Knight rotation didn't start all the time, but then came in and started later, right? Again, it's we say winning is fun, but sometimes it's like, I don't care how you win, it's it's more important that we get the W and last year we we wanted to see a few more W's, so yeah, and we're talking about all this versatility and all these roster construction pieces, and we've named almost everyone on the roster, so I'd be remiss without naming the other three we haven't talked about yet.
SPEAKER_03You get a guy like Sterling Knox out of JUCO. Um, we'll see he might have been injured at the end of last year uh at Independence Community College, so we'll see what his availability is to start the year. But that's a 6'6 guard that can probably play one through three in some capacity. You also have Ryan Agerwal, who, you know, 6'6 grad transfer from Stanford, who was a four-year player there, started and you know, one won their like beat Slew. Like that's that's a pretty big big deal from last year. And then Eddie Ricks, who, you know, uh played at James Madison for a couple years, he is a very physical player. So you're getting these these uh you're getting a lot of versatility. I know we keep saying it, but versatility with these matchups, and you know, with Aggarwall, you're getting shooting that can complement a guy like or you know, uh, if hand isn't ready, you aren't losing his shooting ability. You still have Agarwall out there. Um so yeah, it's it's nice to see that they really said, okay, what were some of the weaknesses last year? Let's address that with yeah, I guess with you must be this tall to be a rambler, but um just yeah, in front of Genteel Arena, it's just the like Drew with his hand up.
SPEAKER_01Maybe this is just me being worried all the time about everything, but um do you maybe feel like there's potentially with you know having everyone having such versatile play styles that you know maybe we swung too far in the other direction, we don't have the the role players that we sp specifically need compared to you know years prior. Obviously, things needed to change from last year, but I'm just curious what you guys think.
SPEAKER_02I think and again, I I'm not trying to take anything from the who we have later on, but there will be something said that roster management year by is a year by year thing. And I think we've said it before as Drew gathering a team that it's it's something's some seat is warm, maybe. Um I'll I'll hint in that direction. Like, do you have to win now? I think this roster, and I'm a little spoiled because I I looked at this ranking and pretty much every transfer we got was ranked better than all the ones we lost, right? Again, outside of Miles. And I'm like, well, does that really mean anything? And and for me, I think it's that we pretty much have junior and seniors, and that's it. And it's pretty much, hey, we're putting this on pretty much veterans in a way of the college basketball scene. So I think that's the way I'm swinging. Again, I I I think putting the weight of hey, replicate three guys' shooting percentage in one player was tough. So I'm hoping that spreading out multiple player types, oh, instead of just trying to replicate one in one will helpfully do it. Again, maybe I don't know, win by numbers and not by solo player.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I do think there obviously is the concern of like, did we just get a jack of all trades master of none roster? Um but I do think that with what we were able, I think that this roster reflects a lot more of what Rambler basketball, like I think it has a better chance to it's not a bold claim to say that it can improve on last year's defensive performances.
SPEAKER_01Um I I pray that that's the case.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, just like the size alone on the on the perimeter should help with our three-point defense. Just I I think that um that that I have that has to be had to have been a big uh impetus in the roster construction being the way it is. Um but I also think that even if you did just get 14 athletes that you know are are decent at a few things, maybe like really good at one or two, but like are have a higher baseline across the board rather than like specialists, that I I I think is an improvement rather than going after someone who does one thing really well, because if like if that one thing doesn't work, then what's at like what's what's the the roster spot doing? Yeah, so yeah, that's yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Right now, and we'll hear from Drew, but I think roster, I don't know, fill in the gaps here, like almost give a blank sheet and give me your favorite players. Like it's going to be and again, I hate to be like, oh, this team's a wild card. They we don't know what they could do. I think what was addressed was Drew went heavy with uh kind of a little bit more of seniority. I feel like a lot of guys are either going to their senior or junior year and have a handful of them have scored double digits in a college basketball season. So I think that for me feels comfortable. Am I saying they're one of them is a lights out shooter, one of them's gonna block two times every time down a possession? No. I think I I'm done reading one player statutes and just being like, hey, we need a squad, whether it be for injuries or stuff like that. So yeah, we'll see. Again, it's year at this point. I'm accepting year by year. I'm not even gonna think about future more than a year.
SPEAKER_03And I also think that um with what we have with this roster, the fact that there is so much versatility and that like people like these players can do a bunch of different things, it creates a really good atmosphere for competing for like the starting positions and for minutes in general. And I like that we don't like there isn't maybe one or two players have like you know, this is this is what I'm going to be doing here, but that that has to create a really good environment for practices where everyone is like, you know, it's iron sharpens iron, and the best player is going to get the most minutes, like you know. So that's what I'm most excited about with this is that with 12 new faces, there is no preconceived notion of who's who's playing what on this team because of how they played last year, because only two players played on this team last year, and you know, you win nine games, nothing's nothing's guaranteed. Um, so yeah. Let's switch over to recruiting news. Um, not a long segment for this, just because I'm not gonna do 12 player profiles. Um, but not yet though. I know, I know. Once we get some commitments, we'll we'll start doing some profiles on them. But for recruiting news, the staff has been really hard at work uh ever since they finalized the roster for this year on the class of 2027, as they have put out 12 offers so far, um, emphasizing guards. You have six point guards, 12 uh two shooting guards, one small forward, and three power forwards. And the height variation is is kind of crazy where you're going. It's there's a foot difference across our uh recruits. There's a couple six ten, uh not there's a couple five ten point guards and one six ten power forward. So um, yeah, really casting a wide net for this uh class of 2027, it's always you always have to extend a bunch of offers just to see what comes back. Um, but very I'm it's been I've been trying to figure out a pattern for 2027 compared to what we just did for the portal, and I can't find it. I gotta be honest. It seems like it's uh uh it seems like the watching some of the tape of these players, uh they they tend to go hard to the basket, but besides that, it's it's been I guess they're just trying to figure out with the new coaching staff who they like what they want to build for well, I guess potentially build for year after year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean the the sport is in such a weird position now, just given how many changes are happening year in and year out, that like I'm interested to know like how much of a priority freshmen even are. Because it seems like for most teams they're not. Um, so we'll see how that pans out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I do feel like it's difficult to talk about high school recruiting anymore, like what you said, because year year in, year out, it's it's a different landscape. And you know, maybe we'll get some more stability with the five and five rule um that got implemented, but we're already seeing lawsuits for that. So who knows?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think the other thing is like I know it was it, Patino came out strong. He's like, I'm not really recruiting seniors at a high school, I'd rather get, I don't know, a freshman on the college team. I think the other thing too is like I wonder now if teams are like, I need the high school kids to wait longer because I don't know what's gonna be available in the portal versus also I don't know what I'm gonna lose. So before it used to be like, oh, I have two guys graduating. I need to fill those two roles. I don't know if teams are gonna be looking for guys who can play multiple positions, right? Like I would tell a high school kid, like, be comfortable in almost any position related to like your size or your skill set, right? Um, because if I go lose my my power forward and my my big, I I'm I need to recruit to fill that. Um, and it's in a weird way, we have no clue until coming in the year. And again, I don't know if NCA is even allowing mid-year conversations of, hey, are you here? Like, do we have to readjust NIL? Like, what does that look like? I don't know. I can I can play college football NCAA all I want, but I'm never gonna really understand what Drew and the crew are going through when it comes to managing a roster in the Sen Isle State.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, and I will say that I know that every year it's fluid, but I will say there are five players on Loyola's roster for next year that will be out of eligibility in 27-28. So there we go. There's at least five spots that will need to be filled next year. Um, yeah. So we'll see how that all plays out. And it makes sense, you know, put out 12 offers, see if you get two or three commits. Um so yeah. And then, you know, continue to build through the portal.
SPEAKER_02As the NCAA gods had made it when they created college basketball.
SPEAKER_03As was intended, yes. As was intended, yes, exactly. Yeah, I can't wait for a Teddy Roosevelt style situation where you just bring all the coaches in and say, like, how do we fix this?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03How do we save American football?
SPEAKER_02Just J Wright and uh Coach K just coming back.
SPEAKER_03Rick Patino plans the event. No, but um, yeah. And before we get to the interview, one last thing with scheduling news. We have an official date for the DePaul uh exhibition. It will be October 18th at Gentil Arena. So I don't know if tickets are live yet for that, but be on the lookout for when those get announced. Uh, we also have a game scheduled at home against West Georgia. I believe that was announced through West Georgia's schedule. Um so we know that we're hosting them as a buy game. And then our MTE, we previously reported that it was a three-game set. It is a two-game set in Frisco, Texas between December 18th and 21st. Um, we don't have dates for these games yet, but we also know that we have a home game against Wichita State and we have an away game at Colorado State. Um, hopefully we'll be getting more news um as the offseason moves on. But yeah, right now it's been business as usual for a loyal schedule where it just usually takes uh a good bit of time to get that finalized and announced. But I guess it's nice that we uh we might have a home opener with West Georgia, but November 5th might be a little late. Maybe the first game will be on like November 2nd. Without further ado, let's get to our interview with none other than head coach Drew Valentine. Coach Drew, thank you so much for joining us on the show. We're so happy to have you. How are you doing so far this offseason?
SPEAKER_00Good, good. It's been a great uh great offseason. I'm uh I'm fired up. We've had the guys here for about three weeks now. And uh yeah, it's been uh it's been really, really refreshing, really fun, and and I'm really excited about what I've seen so far at this group.
SPEAKER_03Before we start the interview, we want to congratulate you on the growing Valentine family. We saw on Instagram that your wife announced that you're expecting your third kid. So congratulations. That's uh yeah, it's really awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, we're excited about it. Uh excited to have some, you know, we had uh growing up, you know, two two Valentine boys and And um, you know, we're we're hoping to uh hopefully maybe recreate some of the the twin tower action that that me and my brother had uh growing up here with us. So um, but yeah, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's awesome. But yeah, in this, we wanted to sit down with you just uh talk a little bit about last year, and then we wanted to look ahead to, you know, new year, new team, bit of a new coaching staff. But starting off, obviously last year struggle for everyone. What were one or two of the most important things you learned from last year that um you're looking to address for uh for this next year?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think the tangible one is just the the the the the size and physicality. Um, you know, I think in our profession now it's a year by year roster building GM type of thing, as much as it is the basketball strategy. And I think um for me, I I feel like one of the things for me that uh makes me a uh good coach, I I think it is that I'm pretty flexible. Um, I don't have like a regimented, I guess, um kind of like all right, this person plays like this person, this like year after year, you know, like our rosters. So there'll be some things that are that are different, but like let's take our bigs, for example, right? Like I I wasn't the head coach here, but Cam Crutwig was different than Chris Knight, and Chris Knight was different than Miles Rubin, and Miles Rubin is different than Damon Delican. Like our, you know, we want to try to get talent and skill and and high level athletic, you know, we want to get good players, but but um, you know, I think in our our 24-25 year, um, you can see that that racing helmet right there is pretty cool from when we got one from when uh we went to the IT Final Four. Um, you know, in that year, I think there was times like just offensively, our shooting um and the way that we were forced to play a lot of time. I had to um really use uh you know those guys that we had, whether it was Dez, Sheldon, and Jaden. Um, and then I knew that we were losing those guys. So I thought um kind of sacrifice some size and physicality for the thought of what shooting would be in the roster. Obviously, it didn't work out that way, but um, you know, I think uh I do better when our I know it's just probably not fun for the listeners to hear, but I'd rather win in the 50s than win in the 80s. Um, and that's what has made this play special. Um, even before I was the head coach, um and and you know, having the number two defense in the country or just you know, one of the stats that we that we talk about all the time with our newcoming players is you know, we've been four of the four of the last nine years, we've been in the top 25 of defensive efficiency in the country. And and so like that's that's what makes me happy, and that's what makes the program great. And I know it's sometimes not as fun, but um, you know, I just wanted to get back to that. And then I would say just the the non-tangible, um, I took a lot of time, um, spent a lot of time obviously with with with working on the staff and and put what I um wanted to do together there, and then spent a lot of time with with Chad Brown, who runs the company profile. Um I know um, you know, it came out during the final four about brand Brad Underwood and how much time he spent with Chad with working with the personality profiles and assessments, um, and just go like under the hood and really getting to know people, um, and then also just evaluating how we vet people. And, you know, um, our athletic trainer was way more involved. Our um strength and conditioning coach Nick Michael was more involved, even our AD, Steve Watson, was way more involved in the vetting and getting to know people process. And so I think we were able to really find people that that fit this place culturally um better. And so I would say just you know, tangibly, you look at our roster, the heights of our players and and and kind of some of their skill sets, you can really see. And then what you can't see is kind of their character. And so those are the two things I think that we really learned and really tried to find solutions for moving forward with with building a roster out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and focusing on the non-tangibles that you spoke of, um, and especially working on the staff, um, you bring back Will Bailey, uh, who helped us go from that uh, you know, the rough first year in the A-10 to being that regular season champion, but then you also bring in uh David Metzendorf, who, you know, associate head coach from the Mountain West, even though it is Air Force, still an associate head coach. How important was it to get these two people in particular to the staff and how do they help you address some of the like you know, even though you know you have the non-tangibles, but how do they help you address some of the tangible things that you are looking to address for next year?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think the first thing is with Will, um, you know, one of my biggest things that any coach will talk about and um you know, say with that that they're looking for is just the the sense of loyalty and the sense of like uh you know, you knowing them and you knowing um try being able to trust on both ends. Um and and I think will um I trust his loyalty, his commitment, his um understanding of me, his understanding of what it takes to win in the league, you know, just with him being so so experienced in the Atlantic tenants itself. Um, and then like you said, we we won a championship with with with each other and and helped build out really good rosters, even you know, he helped us for the 24-25 year with those guys. He signed Justin Moore and Jalen Deloach um in that class. And I just I I trust Will's evaluation skills, I trust his player development skills, I trust his motivational skills with the guys, I trust his relationships that he builds. And I think Will can um and has continued, you know. I mean, he jumped right in and helped us get Malik Diallo, um, you know, for example. And um, like I really, really trust Will's eye, and he can really, you know, get talent and knows how to develop them and cultivate those relationships. Um, and he's a Chicago native, um, which really which really really helps us um just with our presence locally um and uh you know with especially in the portal era with bringing guys back home and and just there's just so many different layers to to what Will um does for us and and can do for us. And then with Mets, um, you know, I've just known them forever. Like I've when we were assistants, um when I was an assistant at Oakland, um, and obviously recruiting Michigan, you know, recruiting was obviously so it's crazy, it was 10 years ago, it was totally different. Um, but we were he's you know from Ann Arbor, and I'm you know from Lansing, but we were recruiting Michigan, had really, really good high school basketball talent. And he was at Cornell at the time, and all these kids were just taking visits to Cornell. And I'm like, why the heck are all these kids visiting like Cornell and like driving and like and Mets was just it'd be like, and this is you know, it'd be crazy, but it'd be like we'd be at like a 15U game, it'd be me, Met M Mets, and Sean Dwyer. Sean Dwyer's assistant at Northern Kentucky, like it'd just be like like and then I'd go to like an open gym in late September, and I'd be like, Oh, I'm gonna be the only and I would just like see those two there, and I'm just like, what the and then so we just built a relationship and um you know we're just talking and and obviously we're from the same high school class. Um, and just we've always kept up with each other. Um, Mets is a guy from a schematic standpoint, um, that that I think will really help us offensively. Um, and he's really detailed, kind of very similar, like I mentioned Sean Dwyer, um, kind of like what Sean did for us in in the two years um before in the A10, where we were good. He's very, very similar to like what Sean does and and very detailed. And like I've even done Zoom calls with Mets um in the past, you know, when I was an assistant and head coach where um he was working on defense and he just wanted to get some defensive drills or defensive scheme ideas, or had watched us on synergy and just wanted some ideas. And me and him hop on Zoom, I share the screen and we're breaking down stuff and going through that. So I think just uh schematics-wise, he'll do that recruiting evaluation-wise. Um, Air Force is the toughest job in the country. Um, and and the players that they've been able to help and elevate, and guys that have transferred up and moved on, and and they've been competitive. And then you talk about Mets' character, both of those guys' character, both Mets and Will as human beings, like the highest of high quality people. So um I think those are I kind of was looking for those two specific things, somebody that could really, really help us, um, recruiting and and and with people, and then another person that could help us with offense. And and I think those two people are are going to be great for our staff and for our players.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know you touched a little bit earlier on how each year you get an entirely new set of circumstances, set of rules that you have to work with. But in terms of like maintaining that consistency, how important was it for you to retain Xavier and Nick Anderson in particular?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think one thing that just from a that gets so lost, and it's and it's so crazy because like I think we have been pretty consistent. Obviously, you know, you you put last year and you and you and you feel differently, but we've in this day and age been able to maintain and be pretty consistent. Um and and for me, I never am an excuse maker. That's not that's not what I do. But the reality is, is like my job has been different every single year that I've been the head coach. Like I get the job and we go to the A10 and immediate eligibility, and my first year as head coach was the first year's the of the fifth year thing. And like you think about us retaining Keith and Lucas and Ahir and Tate now, it's like now that would never happen. And I know it was different, but like you know, and then we go to the A10, and then NIL starts to, and then NIL shifts from collectives to Rev share, and now it's shifted from now you got five for five, and now you got guys, and it's just now you got all the international players. Like, there's just it's been there's been so many different layers of what's changed, but um I'd say the the retention of of X and Nick was incredibly important for us. Um, you know, Nick's upside is is through the roof. His summer has been like pretty pretty dang good. Um, and and the thing with Nick is um, I mean, you guys can kind of see his personality and his magnetism, but he he really does have that. And Nick, I talked, I spoke about this a couple years ago when we had Phil and Braden coming back, but like those guys were on every single recruiting visit, and those guys were helping us vet, and they were kind of like signing off and being like, Yeah, I like this kid and hanging out with him. And like Nick, as you know, an 18-year-old was the guy that was on every single visit. Like he was damn near an assistant coach and and somebody that I really leaned on, you know. Like, you know, we'd go to dinner downtown, and and you know, it'd be me, Nick, and my wife in the car, you know, even a dinner with such and such his family, and you know, we'd all three of us would be talking and and Nick would be giving his feedback. And um, so I've really like been impressed with his leadership and his play. Like he's he's really, really grown. We we were connects on technology in um and practice every day in our first three weeks of summer. Nick's been our hardest worker, like by far. And and with this group, and you guys will get to know the this is a hard playing group. And and so saying a lot about Nick, and then with X, I think for him, you know, last year was the first time that he had an offensive role, kind of like he played. Um, you know, and I think having consistency was important for him as it was as important for for us, right? Like it would have been, if he would have left, it would have been his fourth school in five years, and and he's home, he gets to see his family all the time. He's comfortable with us as coaches. Um, we we really allow him to to to you know do a lot of versatile things offensively. Um, but he needed to grow. He he missed, you know, up until you know pretty much all a non-con and uh missed some games in conference play. And so I think just that that consistency that that that he needs as a human being, I thought he really looked, take a took a look in the mirror. And he had, you know, he had off-season uh ankle reconstruction surgery as well to to solve um you know the issues that that were going on with his foot that happened in in January. So um, you know, the combination of all those things has been great, and and we're lucky to have those two guys back.
SPEAKER_03In an earlier episode of the show, we talked about how this was the first year that Loyal really felt the the portal get after the roster. Um, as this year we have 12 new faces. Um and I guess looking at the positive of that, what are you most excited about with this new roster? We talked you talked a little bit about how you're emphasizing uh size and physicality with this new roster, and that's pretty evident because only one player is under 6'3, um, and that's Gilmeg Gratzinger, who watching this tape is really exciting. Um, but what are you most excited about with this roster? How can that excitement feed into like new offensive strategies, maybe like bearing back down on that defense that you want like the goal of being a top 25 defensive efficiency team? Yeah, what gets you excited about the roster construction for this year?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just like the the day-to-day, just like who these guys are as people. Um, you know, like last year I really felt, you know, like this was a new era of human being that was playing college basketball, and it was from the summer, you know, pretty much immediately, you know, it'd be um, you know, I was having to try to reframe or try to wonder if I was messed up for thinking differently. But like the reality is is like this group that I've had, and I know it's only been three weeks, but it's been like such a refreshing reminder of there are people in college basketball, young men that um that are here for the right reasons. And so um I think that that this group's motor, this group's selflessness, um, and then like size and physicality, and like what what I think this group can do defensively, I think that's what I'm most excited about. Um, we've really spent the first three weeks. We've played some offense, but it's been a lot of defense um and defensive uh teaching and scheme, and we're we're we've made some changes. I don't want to say exactly what they all are. I don't know who's all listening, but but like I feel I feel really good about just our size, our length, our physicality. Like Cam Krutwig, we have the kind of the same thing that we've had last summer. Um, and I know you guys probably see on social media, but we got you know, Cam Krutwig, Lucas, Sheldon, Phil, and Dame. They're with us every day. And so like those guys are are pretty fired up about they're not fired up in the moment because we're locking them up, but like they're they're fired up about what this group looks like, and they're fired up about what these people are or who the guys are in the locker room. So um, yeah, we might have got quote unquote burned by the portal, but the reality is is you know, a lot of change needed to happen. And uh the people that that wanted to be here and wanted to be here for the right reasons are here, and um, you know, last year's season didn't stop the people that the newcomers that we had from from their belief in in this program and how great we can be. So I think that just speaks to a really high character group and and um uh a really hardworking, tough, connected, physical um human beings. That's what I'm really, really excited about. And part of the reason why we haven't done offense is because Guillaume isn't here yet, Kratzinger. Um, you know how the Visa stuff works over the you know, trying to get here, and um it's not an eligibility thing, it's just a visa thing, and and he'll be here by the end of the month. Nice.
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah, well, again, Drew, you kind of said that they've stacked it up against you the last few years. Um, each year kind of changing something new. I do want to talk about with this roster kind of formation, was there a like thought around depth, around versatility? Again, last year, uh nothing I love more than seeing a guy who've gone from walk-on to scholarship to getting consistent play minutes, but due to unfortunate events of injuries, especially in the backcourt, do you was that something you had to consider, especially with like ammo's not able to start the first few games, right? Or um guys like maybe Hand coming back from an injury or getting stuff work done. Does that play again another lever you have to pull and worry about?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think um, like I said, uh um you know, guys like uh Donald Hand or guys like Malik Diallo, like our athletic trainer and our strength coach, um, and our athletic like we had so many different layers. So even the guys that we were like Malik Diallo, for example, he's ready to go right now. Like he's in all full non-contact and practice right now. I just don't let him play right now, like full up and down live. So, like Donald Hayden, the exact same thing where like, you know, even like it's gotten so far with our depth or with our um research on on certain guys where you know the surgeons, you know, our doctor has talked to you know, wherever's doctor, if the hippos, you know, the the obviously sign off on it. So it's like you know, those guys that are coming back from injury, um, you know, we had a full workup and and they had to kind of get signed off by our doctors first um before. And so we just I think we just did a a better job. And uh yeah, I feel I feel really good about our depth. I feel really good about um, you know, like it would it's you know it's great to have Miles Rubin here, but you know, if we can split what Miles would have had between four different guys between Elias Repeak and Malik Diallo and Ryan Krieger and Jason Schofield, like let's let's depth it up. Let's let's our big room is gonna look a lot like you know it looked our you know the year we won the the A10 and my first year as head coach, you know, where we had Tom, Chris Knight, and and HUDD, you know, or when we had Dame Tom and Miles as a freshman. So um I feel like we've been really good when when our team has been that way and had depth. Now it's just uh we just gotta make sure we're doing everything we can to keep them you know staying healthy.
SPEAKER_03Seems like with the roster construction, you get a lot of players who can play multiple positions, like uh like Rapique, you you mentioned he has like his skill set looks like he can play three through five. So that must be pretty fun to like put up on a whiteboard.
SPEAKER_00I've been, I mean, there's so many like every year it's like you know, guys get here in the summer, and you're like you know, obviously people grow and get better, and and sometimes people like level out or the pressure gets to them, or they get whatever. I don't know what it is, but like every single guy has been better than I thought they were gonna be, which like it rarely happens. And I I gotta give my staff credit. I think one of the most underrated parts of my staff is just like like Chris Huey, his growth, like he's he's a monster. Like he's um, I mean, he went over and saw Guillaume play him, like he's Chris Huey's a stud. And and him being a part of our staff, it it anybody in our athletic department, anybody within our staff, anybody that comes to practice, any of the people that are within our organization or in our locker room know how much of a beast he is. And um he's really stepped up to the to the to the plate in the bar, and he really, you know, has taken that that top assistant role and and really is has um you know helped us put together a really good team this year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then when you're thinking forward about the season, and I know we sort of talked about like things that you can predict with injuries and things that you can't predict. Um what do you see as being like the biggest challenges for Loyola this year specifically to returning to that like top of the league form?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think we'll always, you know, be a team that I think you know, even when we've been at our best, like guys average like 13 a game. Or, you know, I mean we win the 8-10 and Des makes second team all league, which is crazy. You know, you should probably have a guy on first team. But like who is our you know, who are three to five guys that are gonna be our double figure scorers? I think um I think that's still a work in progress. I think some of it is because we don't have Guillaume here. I think some of it's because Donald Hann isn't fully healthy yet. Um but I think that just trying to figure out that and how to put those guys in the positions to be um at best success. I think is just um Mets has obviously been working. Um, we're gonna like you know, blend some of the five out stuff that he did at Air Force, mixed with some of the stuff that we've done in the past, mixed with, you know, I've watched a ton of schools like Alabama. Um obviously I taught to Shirts a ton this offseason. Um, you know, like just blending in, you know, a lot of different stuff and kind of making making it our own. So but but I would say that just who are going to be our three to five guys that are our double figure ish scores.
SPEAKER_01And speaking of, you know, other competition in the A10 in particular, how do you feel like we stack up against the rosters that you've seen or you know what you can expect from specific teams?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that there's you know there's a known bucket and then there's an unknown bucket, right? Where like, you know, there's two teams in the league that are have great resources and um and um you know are capable of um you know keeping their guys and um have done a really good job and I've really liked those two coaches, you know, um St. Louis and And VCU, you know, Coach Martelli and shirts. I really like those. They're great dudes. Um, and I and they return a lot. And I think that those teams are are should be, you know, borderline top 25 teams, if not within the top 25 of the country, with what they did, you know, both winning an NCAA tournament game. And um, so like those those two teams, but then I think after that, it's kind of a crapshoot in some way, you know. I mean, you can say that Fordham returns people, but then they also lost Dayday Reeves, who was we watched it first first hand, you know, um, how important he was for their team, you know. And so I think George Mason's got a decent amount back. O'Connor was out last year. People forget about that. Tony Skin does a great job, um, mixed with some of the returners that they have, even though I know they lost a couple guys. Um, but I think we're I think we're in the mix, you know. Like, I don't think we should be one or two coming into the you know league. Um, but you know, St. Joe's got has Glover and Kafiq back and Austin Willeford back, but Justice was and Haskins, like them two dudes were you know big parts of that defense. And when you play St. Joe's, like you you feel like you couldn't drive at the basket. Justice put a lid on the rim. So Derek Simpson was their was their offensive engine. And so like I think everybody there's a bucket of the two knowns that that are top 25 level teams, and then I think there's a bucket of of competitors and challengers, and I think that we're in that bucket.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I definitely think that Slew and VCU, it's always it always seems like they're at the top. Like Dayton, at least Dayton fans will tell you they're always at the top as well. I think I speak for all three of us that we're we're pretty excited about how this season looks, like coming off, even coming off last year. I know that uh it's tough for you know some fans to to see that, but I think that um yeah, it's there's a lot to be excited about.
SPEAKER_00Um it's and it's understandable, and like I've said repeatedly, I know the standard for the for the program, and um I've shown that I'm pretty committed to this place. Um, you know, um, you know, repeatedly, me being here for 10 years now and having the you guys see the trophies behind, and um whether that was as an assistant coach and and helping to um you know keep the program in a really good level after um you know Brian Mullins and and and those guys left, and um, and then as a head coach, what what we've been able to do here and changing leagues and getting to the eighth ten and doing what we've done, I feel great about it, and I've shown my commitment to this place, and I'm just as invested as as every every each and every one of you guys are going into my 10th year part of the program.
SPEAKER_03Shifting away from the current roster and next year, the standard making the NBA this year. What was that like seeing Lucas Williamson suit up for the Grizzlies?
SPEAKER_00I got it up right there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, nice. Uh yeah, 10 years in the making. Yeah, frame jersey in the offices.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right away. Right away. Um, I mean, you guys know I don't know if you guys you guys can probably tell and know my just my relationship with Lucas, and it's um that's like my family, you know, it's like my little brother. Like there's there it's different with with me and my brother, my actual brother, but like, you know, just a long time coming. I've you know, I just remember Lucas's like first week on campus, and it was just my beginning, and he wanted somebody to get in the gym with him at 6 a.m. every day, and I was crazy enough to do it. And um, the off seasons, and you know, talking about what he's gotta do to you know make it and talking with his mom, and you know, shout out to Tim Anderson, um, like you know, the guy that helped him, you know, from the time he was young with his with his foundation and coach slaughter, Winnie Young, like just talking to all those people just along the way, along his journey. Uh Keith Kreter, his agent. Um, I'm just so proud of him. Like, there's not anybody else that thought he was going to be there when he was 18, 19, 20, whatever years old than him. And I think I'm more proud of the way that he's continued to be the same person. Um, he hasn't let any of the success he had here, or the success he's had professionally, or just one way or the other, because there's been a lot of adversity. The two injuries that he's had, the foot and the shoulder both, like that could have stopped him along the way. And you know, he just kept staying with it and kept believing in himself. And um, I'm just I'm so proud of him. And uh I actually saw him like watching him coaching the means tree 16 you now and seeing him out there coaching. It's it's uh it's his full circle um in so many different ways. So proud of Lucas, and um, he's just such a great representative of our program and our university.
SPEAKER_03It was also really fun to see him go up against AJ Green again. Um yeah, when he played in Milwaukee. Um that gave me flashbacks uh yeah, to what he should have been player of the year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a different story. We don't need to dive into that part.
SPEAKER_00But you guys you guys know the story of us at that uh at that how we how in the valley they have the the The Breakfast or whatever. Yeah, that I do we have you guys heard that? No. We're sitting there, obviously, like you guys know how messed up that last game was. The the the one on the what was that? Was it double or or just regular overtime name? Regular overtime, yeah. Yeah, so that messed up game. Um and even like Steve Watson, our AD after that game was like that's crazy. Like, and he Steve is so laid back and you know, very even keel. Um, so we're sitting there, me and Lucas, because you know they make your you know your best player and the and the head coach go to the the banquet, and AJ goes up there and gets player of the year, and me and Lucas just like literally, we don't even say a word, we just look at each other, and we just sit back in our chairs and we're just sitting at the banquet, like just shaking our head. And then Ben Jacobson goes up there, and then we look at each other because we know what that one should have been too, and we just put and then we and then we like I hope we play them, and then we played him in the semifinal, and I think you knew how our team felt about uh about that. But that was uh that was uh he should have been player of the year, obviously.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, some called it the worst ever, Arch Madness, but you know, I think it was such a great farewell tour. No doubt. Great farewell tour. Um, but yeah, the last question we have. Obviously, everyone knows how big of a Drake fan you are, and dropping three albums always requires this question. What's your favorite song on each album?
SPEAKER_00Uh you know, Iceman's my favorite one, but that is that's ever changing. Um let me look right now. I'd probably say maybe either all the like you know, my favorite Drake is like the the make them series. So like the make them cry, make them pay, make them remember, make them know. I probably like all of those. I love Burning Bridges too. Like you guys saw that one with the Knicks, like them kind of where's she at? I love I love that one. Um and then uh on let me see on Maid of Honor. I probably say Road Trips, probably Road Trips on that one, and then Habib T. I like this one a lot. Like this is probably this is my second favorite one. I'd probably either say WMBA or high fives.
SPEAKER_03It was a really uh interesting drop to see him drop three albums at once, and yeah. I I really have been listening to uh Iceman a lot and make him pay has been a go-to.
SPEAKER_00We need him to go on tour here soon. I need I need him to go on tour. I need him back here. I actually went to the when the time last time we went on tour, we were we went to the uh to the first, it was the first one he started here in Chicago. So we need him to go back.
SPEAKER_01We need another picture of him in Loyola March is more important. Yes, we do. Yeah, uh yeah.
SPEAKER_03We saw the we saw the social media team do the Chablur. Uh and I was like, oh man, that's that's that's too good. So that's a Kyle Boom. Uh well Drew, thank you so much for joining us on the show. Um, we really look forward to uh hearing more about the schedule this uh this offseason, and we cannot wait to see the exhibition game against the Paul.
SPEAKER_00For sure, yeah. No, we're excited about it. And yeah, I appreciate your guys' support. Thanks for having me on. Go Ramblers as always, looking forward to a great year.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much to head coach Drew Valentine for joining the show. Uh, we really appreciated his time, and yeah, we really look forward. He he got me excited at least for for next year. I don't know about you guys, but um you can speak on my behalf for that one. I'm very excited. The the hopium is high.
SPEAKER_02It definitely it definitely put uh uh it was a blank canvas going in, and then he has painted a little bit more of the frame and everything, so or he has started the puzzle because this game this season will be a puzzle.
SPEAKER_01Maybe then my imagination is just running away with it, you know.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, me with a little French beret and a baguette, and that's that's that's what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, painting. Is that a Guillaume reference? No, the one French player we have on the team.
SPEAKER_02That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03But anyway, that's our show for this offseason installment of Talk and Blurs. I don't know when we'll do our next episode, maybe when we get an official uh non conference schedule, but be on the lookout for our next one. And as always, onward L U.