Welcome to Tracking the Cats. I'm Bob Saban, co-hosting along with longtime broadcaster for Western Carolina, Steve White who will be on in just a minute. This week we've got a great show. Um. Real pleased to present again, coach Tim Croft of Western Carolina's men's basketball team, head coach. He also has a special guest with him this week to John dsi. He's a, uh, recruit that we've brought in from Southern University and, uh, has played in Canada and France was born and grew up in France. But, uh, one thing that we need to let you all know. We had a technical glitch with the recording of the original, and we were having to use the raw video. So you're gonna see all four people on throughout the broadcast even though we don't get to coach Kraft and Tejan until about five or six minutes into it. But, uh, here we go and enjoy.

My co-host, Steve White, uh, we've got a great show for you today. As always, we're brought to you by Stanbury Insurance with offices in Silva, Waynesville, and Highlands, and they can cover all your insurance needs from commercial through personal umbrellas, car, and everything else. So give a call if you need some, uh, insurance advice and help. Uh, Steve, before we get started, I, I, I saw something, uh, I was looking up about. The Southern Conference, commissioner's Cup and German Cup. The, uh, overall, uh, sports winners, uh, the best. The folks that had the, uh, at best average, uh, scores on all sports across the year 2024 to 2025, and. By golly, uh, I think Western came up with our best score, which we didn't win, but we came in third place behind Sanford and the winner East Tennessee. And as far as I could tell, and I could only see numbers going back to the year 2000, that's our best, uh, score since 2000. We were fourth place in, I think 2008, 2009. Yeah, we go, uh, third place this year for the men. The women weren't quite as, uh, as good, uh, this year as they normally are. Uh, of course women's soccer really did a great job and, and tennis had the real high finishes and track and field. But yeah, the men, uh, the men's program, uh, that's the best finish we've had in a few years, probably going back to the eighties when I think we had a couple of six second. Place finishes in the overall standings. Another thing about that, a lot of people don't realize that we do not sponsor as many sports as about half of the teams in the Southern Conference. So they gang up on us just a little bit. But still, that was a very encouraging to finish. Third in the men's, uh, overall Southern Conference standings this year. Yep. That, that, that looked pretty good. Uh, also with baseball closing out the season, we, um, had a couple of good games up front, but I think they just drained our pitching. But we had what, five different guys on postseason, uh, recommendations or, uh, awards. Yes, we did. Uh, I'll tell you, we've got, uh, it's really bodes well for the future. Uh, we've got a good looking team coming back next year again. Assuming something doesn't happen during the off season, uh, the bidding process and so forth. But, uh, and the draft, uh, we, we will have probably have a couple of guys drafted this year and, uh, definitely one of our pitchers, but, uh, that's really looks good for next year. We, uh. We have a hitting machine now that our, our lineup is really good. Uh, we topped the conference in most of the offensive categories. Unfortunately, the pitching categories, we weren't so good we were at down at the bottom, but that'll be a big emphasis this year is, uh, getting that pitching staff shored up. And, uh, like I said, I think we can hit from anyone, but very, very encouraging season and I'm looking forward to next year in baseball. Uh, pitching got better as the season went on. Now let's just add a couple more, um, mid-game, uh, relievers and, uh, uh, we, we should be in pretty good shape by next year. Maybe another, uh, weekend starter. Yeah, coach, coach Kraft's gonna come outta retirement. I think he's got some eligibility left in baseball. So, speaking of Coach Kraft lefty breaking ball, we're him in. Go ahead. Say that again. Tim got the lefty breaking ball. That's right. Miracle change. Yeah. Yeah. That was like, yeah, that was like when I threw out the first pitch on my birthday, 82nd birthday here a few weeks ago, I told coach, uh, I was gonna throw a sinker, and he says, you can't throw a sinker. I said, watch this. And I threw it at San. Maybe a foot before home plate though, just, but it bounced across the plate for a strike. Oh, okay. But just a little bit short. Uh, yeah, Bob ERT could have called that nicely, just a little bit low. Um, so. That being said, we do have not only Coach Kraft with us today from the basketball team, we also have our new, one of our new guys coming on. Uh, we've got to John, I don't wanna mess up your last name. Uh, DMI Neil dsi. Sorry man. I'll get it right. Uh, so one of our players, we're gonna be talking to him live from Canada, uh, will be with us, but, uh, coach Craft, uh, had a. It tough and challenging, uh, first season. Um, we had a couple upsets during the conference run, which was good, but, um, he had, um, eight wins overall, four in the conference. Um, had mostly a new team and, uh, so we're looking forward to next year because it looks like things have really picked up in the off season here, and that's what we're gonna get to. So Steve. You got a question for Coach? Yeah, just, uh, well, what I'd, I'd like to say is, uh, yesterday at Waynesville Country Club Coach, I think that was a good start to the season. Yeah. Uh, I was, I tell you, I was very impressed with the turnout. Of course, the course was a beautiful day, course conditions, everything really nice. And, um, uh, a lot of the guys were maybe complaining a little bit about the haze, the, from, uh. To John that, uh, Canadian smoke coming down into the United States right now. They say that that was, they couldn't follow their drives because of that, uh, that haze. I said I had no problem at all following my drive in that haze, but that was just a great day yesterday. Good turnout. Uh, a lot of enthusiasm and, uh, I know you were very encouraged and excited about what went on yesterday. Yeah. Thanks Steve. Appreciate you playing too. And Tejan probably doesn't even know this, but we had a, we had a big, uh, golf tournament, uh, yesterday. Jackson Simmons on our staff. Really did a great job working for a while to put that together and, um, was a great kind of fundraising event for us. And, uh, again, like you said, a great turnout. Beautiful weather, um, beautiful golf course there up in Waynesville. If you haven't had a chance to play that course, you know, it's a private course. So this gave, you know, some people that have been wanting to play that course, a chance to get on and play in our tournament. Uh, but again, it was a lot of fun. Uh, just great to be around, uh, some cat mount fans and talk hoops and, um, everybody there was, uh, just, you know, there to support us and we really appreciated it. Yeah, I saw on Twitter or X. Now the, uh, some pictures posted and, uh, the winners were there. I didn't see, I saw a picture of Steve, but he wasn't holding up a certificate of a champion. Uh, no. No. Hey, hey, hey. Drive for show. Put for dough. That's okay. So coach, uh, tell us a little bit about your thoughts on the roster. We have, we've had a fair amount of change, but we kept, uh, some of your, uh, better players on, on board. So give us a, a, a rundown on the roster right now. Thanks, Bob. Yeah, we're really excited about the roster. Um, you know, this time last year, uh, we got the job and, and really, uh, you know, the, the Justin Gray and his staff done a great job building this program, but, um, half the team had was graduating. I. Uh, a few of the other guys going to the portal. So we had to completely rebuild the roster. And, and you know, unfortunately we weren't able to to really bring in any experience last year. Uh, but what we did is we brought in some guys that, uh, really fit, uh, from a character standpoint and, uh, guys we thought that could get better and grow and develop and, um. You know, uh, and, and, and that's what we did last year. You know, we, we did, we got better. And we got better. And, um, you know, the, the, the thing that, uh, as we moved through the season and improved and saw some of the key players really improving and, and, uh, showing that they could become good southern conference players, um, you know, the most important thing that we did was want was to retain, um. You know, the, the guys that we really felt fit the way that we wanna play, uh, fit, uh, our, our program from a, from a culture standpoint and a value standpoint. Um, the guys that we felt like, you know, really I. Wanted to be here at Western. And um, so as we moved through the season, kind of identifying who those guys were and, um, and, and you know, thankfully we were able to, to retain all of those guys that we felt like kind of fit, uh, what we wanted to build here. And, um, and, and that was seven scholarship guys and two walk-ons. And so we got nine returners that have been with us through a year, that have gone through everything with us, uh, for a year and, and last year, you know, going through a, a lot of hard times, right? From, from a athletic standpoint, you know, when you, you lose games, you lose multiple games in a row, you're, you're struggling to find yourself. Uh, man, that's when your character is really built and challenged and, and that adversity really helps, uh, you know, bond you together. Uh, so, you know, that was really important to us. And, and so we were able to do that. And then, and then it was, you know, once we were able to figure out who we were gonna be able to bring back. Because everybody on the roster has a choice. You know, they can all decide to leave. Um, so when we felt Fi figured out who we were gonna be able, number one, who we wanted to bring back, number two, who was gonna agree to come back, um, and, and we saw, you know, where we were at from that standpoint, it's now figuring out, okay, what do we need? To make this, uh, the roster that can compete in this league and where do we need to, to, um, you know, try to try to bring in some experience, uh, from the transfer portal and, uh, where maybe that we can afford to bring in some high school guys that don't have as much experience. And so, um, you know, that's where things started for us and we're really happy with, with the way that it, uh, turned out and, um. You know, we got, uh, the guys that were back, you know, seven players back and really all seven, seven of them started some games for us. Um, you know, some more than others, but all, all of them, uh, Jamar, Livingston, you know, he didn't play a lot'cause he ended, ended up, uh, having a, a medical situation. Um, where hopefully he will get a medical red shirt. But, um, the other six, you know, just played a lot of minutes for us, played in a, in a lot of close games and, um, and so, you know, that's important and, you know, we felt like we did need to bring in some, some more experience and more proven production to go with that group. Um, and we were able to do that with four transfers. You know, te John's on with us now, and you'll talk to him more. But, um, you know, we wanted a, a, a playmaking guard, uh, that that can really upgrade. Um, our roster from a passing situation, uh, felt like that was an area we really needed to improve, um, you know, playmaking and passing, um, ability to make others better with the, with the pass and, um. And, uh, and then a guy that can be really versatile defensively and, uh, Tejan really brings those things. Um, you know, he's 6 4, 200 pounds, can guard probably four positions on the floor. Um, he's tough, he's really competitive. Um, and, um, you know, has the ability offensively to do a lot of different things and, and, um, particularly that passing, you know, we average about five. Assist a game, um, at his previous school and, and he's got a lot of experience, um, you know, playing a couple years of junior college, uh, a year and a half, uh, at Southern in the Swac where they had a really good program there program that won a regular season conference title. Um, so, you know, he brings that, uh, we felt like, um, you know, we needed to, to bring in a, a, a a five man with some experience, a post player with some experience. And we've got a guy by the name of Abdullah Kaba, uh, who, who will be a sophomore for us, who was a freshman at Denver. Um, he's seven foot, uh, he's about, uh, 235, 240 pounds. Uh, really like an elite, uh, mid-major, uh, defender. Um, and, and again, one of the areas as we looked at our roster, that, that we figured that fig, that that was, we looked at the players returning and, and going through the year with them last year, uh, uh, defensively we really need to improve and we wanted to do that from a, from a recruiting standpoint. Is to bring in some guys that we felt like can really help us on the defensive end. Te Jean does that. Abdule Kava, uh, seven foot shot blocker. He led the summit conference as a freshman in block percentage and um, I. You know, was able to start, uh, he, he was injured for the first half of the year, but then, uh, started like the last 16 games of the season as a freshman, um, at Denver. Um, then we brought in a, a, another guard named Julian Samara, who's just another guy with a lot of experience. He played for me at Gardner Webb. Julian did, played three years for us. Went to East Carolina last year. Um, had had a medical situation where he was able to get the year back, so now we get him here as a grad transfer, uh, where he's, uh, you know, again, been through a lot of stuff, averaged about 13 points a game for us at Gardner Webb. Again, you know, proven division one production, uh, with Julian, uh, understands our system and how we play. Played in it for three years. It brings a lot of leadership and a lot of competitive grit, uh, to the roster. And then, um, uh, the, the fourth transfer is a guy by the name of Justin Johnson, who was a, a really versatile. A wing player. Um, you know, he, he's really a guard at six eight, but can guard four positions on the floor. Very athletic, a lot of length. Played at Arkansas State last year where they won a conference championship in the Sunbelt. Um, so again, those four guys add to the experience that we bring back and return. And then we, we also bring in two, two freshmen, uh, Tay Smith out of, uh, he's kind of in that Raleigh Garner. Uh, areas where he grew up, but he played high school basketball at Combine Academy, most, most recently in Charlotte. Um, he's a big, kind of young, uh, Bernard, ot like, uh, player, you know, six, seven, uh, freshman. He's 225, 230 pounds as a freshman, he's a. Big kid, um, you know, four man, and, and then we brought in a five man named by the name of Samuel Dadda, a high school kid, uh, at a link year academy. Uh, got a lot of talent, a lot of upside. So we're excited about those six guys. And, um, I can tell you, I can promise you this, you know, last year when we went into the season. We were ranked 355th outta 300 and, you know, 62 or whatever teams, uh, in division one, in, in in division one experience. Um, and this year we will, we will be ranked way higher, you know, from the seven guys we brought back to the four that we're bringing in our experience level, our, our level of proven production is at a completely different level than it was, uh, last season. Cool. Good to know. I tell you, uh, Tejan, I've read, uh, read a lot of good things about you. I've, I've watched some videos on you and very impressed in what Coach says. I think it's really the playmaking part. I. Really impressed with the way you distribute the ball and get it to the scores. I know you like to score too, but uh, that just, I was very impressed with your play banking abilities and so forth. What I'd like to do is go back a little bit. Uh, we haven't had many guys from, uh, Paris, France on our team, and over the years we've had some guys go over there and play basketball. Uh, exactly. But, uh. Uh, how, talk about growing up in France. Uh, what was basketball like there? I know it's probably not like a major sport. I would think that maybe soccer and, and tennis are huge sports there. But, uh, tell about growing up and playing basketball in in France. I mean, to be honest, growing up friends, I didn't really play much basketball. I was simply because my dad played and my older brother played, but I was a soccer fan. I was like 15, but I just, soccer, old basketball wasn't as popular as now with Victor and all them guys that are making more popular right now. But at first, I. Soccer. So yeah, I was a big basketball guy at first. Yeah. I understand. Well, how, how exactly did you get to America? What. What was the attraction there? Uh, what brought you here? I'm not really just, you know, my, my dad kind of got big name France and I wanted to like, make a way for myself and, uh, when I fell in love with basketball, you know, all I see in basketball is the us, the NBN. So I was like, let me go over there and see what, what's a like, and that's when I. Yeah. Yeah. You've got, uh, quite a bloodline there. We were talking about this earlier. I remember watching your dad play in the 2000 Olympics. Uh, the American team, uh, uh, defeated France for the gold medal, France, getting the silver medal. But, uh, your, your dad was a big name and, uh. Uh, French basketball over there. And, uh, I, I remember, uh, his name. Now this, you gotta remember now. I, I go, that was, uh, 25 years ago. But, uh, I remember watching these things. That's when you get old like me, you're like an old horse. You remember everything that happens to you, but I remember that. So you've got a blood light. How much, uh, encouragement did he point you toward basketball from like day one, uh, pushing you or just. Uh, just getting you involved in basketball. I mean, at first he kinda let me, let me do my own thing, but he support me soccer, but he always try to like put me in camps and play against my brother and play against him, which I wasn't winning much to be honest, but I. He just never forced me to play basketball. Well, um, when we get together, uh, when I get up there to Colory and we get, get some time with, uh, the team, I'd love to talk to you about soccer'cause I'm a huge soccer fan. Um, and so, uh, we'll, we'll chat a little bit about that. But, uh, at Southern, um, you were known as a guy who was going to handle assists and, and play off to the other, the other guys. Do you. Being in that role of passing or do you like to get some shots off occasionally as well? I mean, yeah. You know who doesn't like scoring, but me as a player, what most important to me is winning. And I know I do get on the court is playing dance and play making and making my guys better. So yeah, I like scoring if it comes down to it, but I like to see how easy I can make the job for my teammate for them to score. That's what I like most after playing defense. I'm a big, I'm pretty big on defense. That's great. We'd, I'd love to see, uh, the turnover ratio kind of flip this year and, uh, us causing more turnovers and, and getting, uh, uh, a few less. And I'm sure with the roster build and the experience that's, that'll be, uh, uh, probably happening. Oh, coach. Uh, how many players are you going to have in Kie this summer? I know the summer school sessions are just now starting. Uh, are you gonna get most of your team here early? Uh, and I know that's the whole goal. I know football loves to do that and so forth. So what's your situation there? Yeah. Yeah, good question. Um, Bob, and before I answer that question, I would say I, I hope to see that reverse too. The flip too, the turnover, uh, turnover. Uh, uh. Turnover's, uh, forced, uh, being more and, uh, turnover's committed being a lot less, um, yeah, from what I saw from Tejan, that's gonna be a tremendous improvement. He no doubt, doubt. I think that's gonna be a big asset. Yes, for sure. That's good. For sure. Good for sure. Um, and, and I think really like with, you know, just with, with, with the, the experience returning and those guys, you know, going. Going through it that are, that are back and, and then two veteran guards coming in right with to John, uh, going into, to, to, you know, year five and really in college basketball and, and Julian Samma doing the same, uh, will be his fifth year in, in college basketball. So those guys, you know, will, will, will help that as well. Well, um, this summer, yeah, our plan is Steve to have. Uh, the whole team here this summer. Um, that's the plan. Um, guys are really making plans to move back to Colory, uh, over the weekend to early next week. And, um, and, and so, you know, by the time we get to to, to Wednesday, we're hoping to have kind of, uh, you know, uh, us getting really ready to roll and, uh, ready to, to get on the court and get going. Um. We have 1, 1, 1 of our players that's transferring is on the quarter system, so he's still in school right now and, uh, he'll be joining us just a week or so later. Um, but um, the plan is to have, um, really the whole roster, uh, here for about eight weeks, uh, together, and, and it'll be a really important time for us. So what does summer workouts and drills look like? I don't, that's something that we know goes on, but they're also, it's also limited by the NCAA. What are you allowed to do and, and how do these guys, uh, do that once they're on campus and you're practicing in the, uh, summer and early fall? Well, I think one of the important things about the summer, number one is just getting the, the team together. And getting them get to get to know each other on and off the court. Um, you know, building relationships with one another. Um, learning about the values that are important to, to us in our program. Um, you know, our, our returners, uh, getting refreshed and reminded about, um, you know, who we want to be as a program, our newcomers being introduced to that. And, um, you know, that's a big part of what we do, um, off the court. Yeah, but you are limited. You're right, Bob. It's a, it's, you're in kind of the eight hour week rule, um, which is whenever you're not in the season, when you're in the season, you got 20 hours, um, to, to, to be with your team, uh, doing basketball stuff. Um, when you're, when you're in the summer or the fall or the spring and you're outta season, it's eight hours. So it's, um, you're limited to four hours on the court per week and four hours. The other four hours, um, you know, will be with your strength coach in the weight room or doing strength and conditioning, no basketball. Um, so eight hours total, uh, four on the court. Uh, and then the other four at our strength coach John Williams. Um. And so, you know, it, it's, it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's, it's enough to, to really get, um, things introduced to our team. Um, you know, I really like from, from our stand, from, from the way I like to do it is really like to kind of build our offense. In the summer, I. And, um, you know, put the, the, the basic parts of our half court offense, our flow, and then our, our transition game in, in the summer. Introduce'em a little bit to the defensive part. Um, but we spend a lot more time on the offensive part. Again, you're limited, uh, with your time, so you, you can't cover everything. Uh, but, but it's, it, it really gives you a great, uh, headstart and, um, you know, then the players will have some time. You know, for skill development. And, uh, some of that will be, um, you know, mandatory time with our position coaches, uh, and our assistants working on, uh, them developing, uh, things in their game that they need to improve on in the off season. Uh, and then other times will be just, you know, voluntary work that they're getting into the gym on their own with each other, um, to get extra shots up and, and, and get a lot of work up and. Or a lot of work in, in terms of skill development. Excellent. Excellent. Alright, coach. Uh, any changes in the basketball rules coming up for the nc? You know, I don't know if they've come up with a four point basket or not or anything like this, but maybe, maybe dejan, maybe they'll start giving a point for an assist too. You get a point along with your points that you score. I don't know, nothing, any major changes, anything significant. Steve, if there are, I don't even know about, I don't know about'em. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and you know, every year sometimes there's a, you know, there's certainly a, a different difference of points of emphasis, you know, right. In terms of how the rules are called and officiated. And then, um, I. You know, there's certain years where it's like a rule change year. Yeah. I don't know if this year is or not, to be honest with you. Um, I just haven't spent any time looking at it and we've, we, we, we, we get some emails sometimes from the NCAA on some of the rules thing changes in, in the off season. And, um, I just haven't, I haven't paid attention to, I hadn't had time to. To look at that, um, so far. So if there are, I don't know what they are yet, but I'll figure those out by the time we start playing. So, um, by the time you start playing, we're gonna start out, uh, at a conference and we've announced, uh, a few, uh, money games. Um, but, uh, you know, if we, we look at the past with. When we've had decent teams, we played money games fairly well. I mean, we didn't get embarrassed at Wake Forest last year. Um, and we've got three good ones coming up, Virginia Tech, Georgia, and, uh. Team from Durham. Team From Durham, yeah. Yeah. So, um, tell us a little bit about the, the, uh, outer conference games. Yeah. Well, you know, I think those, I think those, uh, road, uh, guarantee games are really important for our program in terms of, uh, giving our players the opportunity to play against some of the best players in the country. I think they all wanna do that. They all want to test themselves at that level. Um, we want to give our program a chance to compete at that level. Um. And yeah, I think it, it, it prepares you, you know, as a team to, to get into tough environments and tough situations. And again, I, I really am a big believer that the adversity, um, you know, creates, uh, you know, the, the grit, you know, that you need to become a good team. And so, you know, being able to throw yourself into the fire early in the year, I think it's really important in terms of, you know, being able to be a good team when it gets into league play. Um. You know, my, in my time at, at Gardner Webb, we won six, uh, six of those games, you know, against, uh, power four opponents. And, um, you know, those, we, we want to be able to do that here. Um, and, and you never know when that's gonna happen, but we're gonna, uh, respect all and fear none and, uh, you know, go in, uh. To those games, uh, excited to compete. Um, so, you know, those are three and, and we're, we're close to finalizing our schedule. Very close. Um, I don't really want to, you know, publicly say, uh, some of those games that aren't contracted yet. I. Um, but that are, are, are gonna be, you know, locked in. Um, so there's a, there's a couple others like that. Um, you know, we're, we're continuing our home and home series with UNC Asheville. Of course, they'll come to our place. Um, I believe the date on that is like November 19th, I think. Um, we'll, we'll travel to, uh, South Carolina upstate. Um, and, and return that game. Uh, we have, uh, the AUN Southern Conference Challenge. Uh, which again, I don't know if that's been publicly announced yet, um, but, um, you know, we've got, you know, two opponents there, one home and one one on the road, uh, for, for the, for the SoCon challenge. So it, it, it's gonna be a really difficult schedules, can be really challenging schedule. Uh, but one that, uh, again, I think the key is to prepare us for, for league play and give our players and, and our, our university. An opportunity to, um, you know, see ourselves compete against some of the, the, the, the best in the power conferences as well. Are we looking at, uh, any holiday tournaments, Thanksgiving or Christmas? Uh, no. Is an okay answer. No, we're not, not this year. No, that's, that's fine. That's fine. Not this year. Steve, anything else, sir? Well, I, I just wanna tell Dejan that I have actually gone from Montreal to Calle and didn't get lost. So be careful. You make sure you know your way down here. Looking forward to catching you here, sir. I should get done this weekend. Okay, now stay connected guys. Stay connected here. We don't want to, we had a, oh yeah, we gotta, we gotta make sure Bob's got us in before we can click off. So do not disconnect. Right. Well, we got you. That about does it for, uh, this version of tracking the cats. Uh, glad to have y'all. This is. Been a fun one. Uh, looking forward to next time. Looking forward to the fall and seeing you, uh, preseason there, coach and thank you. And maybe another, uh, one of your players guest with us. But, uh, as always, track of the Cats is brought to you by Stanbury Insurance with offices in Silva, Waynesville and Highlands. We will see you all again in a couple of weeks