NC State head coach Justin Gainey met with the media to discuss his team, how the offseason has gone, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
Opening statement...
Excited about my group, and really excited about how hard they've been working. They have been relentlessly pushing themselves and each other, holding each other accountable. I'm really excited about how quickly they've meshed together. If you didn't know any better, you'd think they'd been together for years, but they all came together. They're connected. They communicate with each other in a way that veteran teams communicate.
From a development standpoint, they're always trying to get better. So I'm excited about this group. We finally have everybody here; Shah and Robert were the last two guys to get here. They're here. They're all still getting acclimated, but those things, along with playing really hard, I'm really excited about. We'll get all the other stuff. We'll get all the details that come with it. We're still building that, but those three characteristics make me really excited about this group.
How much better do you feel about the frontcourt now compared to where we were last time, with Shah and Robert Jurkovic being on the roster now?
I feel a lot better about it, obviously, with two more pieces and more depth. Both of those guys bring something that we didn't have. Shah's athleticism, size, and how he moves is completely different than anybody else. Then Robert brings that veteran, older piece that's versatile. He can play both spots, play inside, and also stretch the floor and shoot outside. Adding those two gives us five guys that we can play with down there, and that makes me feel a lot better than I did.
Of course, there's a limit on the time that you can spend with the guys, but how important is this time over the summer for you to get acclimated to your first team so they can be playing the way that you want them to play by the time the season starts?
It's huge for me. Not only for me, but for my staff and all the guys, just laying the foundations of our identity, right? Who are we going to be? Who are we going to be on a night-to-night basis? You instill that right now in the summer with everything you do every single day. So it's been huge. Defending, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball, those are the three things that we've been harping on all summer. We've got to do those things. The details and the plays will come. We're adding things every day, keeping in mind those three things that identify NC State basketball.
Is this when chemistry really comes together the most during the season, the summertime before kids are back in school?
It begins here. I wouldn't say it's the most, but it begins here. It's a great time for it to begin because there aren't a lot of people around. They have to become more connected, be around each other, and lean on each other because they're all in a new environment. It begins there, and it continues to grow as you go through hard things. We've really challenged them, and they've been pushed in ways I don't think many have been pushed before. That has allowed them to grow as well.
It's a continuing process. You can't just stop those things once the season starts and once people get here. We lay that foundation, and it just keeps growing. We'll continue to do different things to help them grow as a unit. What I love is that they've been doing their own team functions and asking, "Coach, can we go to X, Y, Z as a team?" That shows a lot of growth as well.
Speaking of that, the NCAA did implement a rule where you can actually take international trips every single year. Are you guys planning on taking more of those? And if so, where?
That's something that we haven't really talked much about this summer. We've just been so focused on where we are right now with our guys. Looking forward, if it makes sense to do it, that's something that we would definitely look to take advantage of. We just haven't really started projecting out more on that yet.
Coach, how do you feel you've adjusted so far over the last couple of months as you return to your first head coaching role?
I think it's hard for me to judge, but for me, it's been great. I'm back home. I have so much pride, respect, and honor for this position that I'm in. I understand the history, the tradition, and the legacy that comes with being here at NC State. How do I feel like I've done? I don't know, because I hold this position in such high regard, and I look at myself every night and ask, "Did I do my best?" Did I give my best effort? I think I'm getting better, and I think that's the ultimate compliment you can pay anybody: you're just getting better at it.
I'm relentlessly working to be great. So I'm excited to be back. It's been awesome just being around these guys, the staff, the entire university, and going around town seeing people, shaking hands, seeing a lot of familiar faces, and talking to a lot of folks.
Every coach likes to handle scheduling differently. Can you discuss how you like to go about scheduling for a season in your first year? Maybe discuss VCU and how that got arranged.
From a scheduling standpoint, I want our guys to be challenged. I want us to be pushed in non-conference games. I feel like we're in the process of completing a really challenging schedule for our guys. They're excited about it, and we're excited about it as well. Obviously, the ACC is already tough enough, but we want to be pushed. So we'll be in the Bahamas, and we have a couple of neutral-site games that will challenge and push us. Then we'll have other games where we're able to bring people home.
You talk about laying the foundation, Coach. Talk about your playing career at Greensboro Day with the legendary Freddy Johnson. What are some principles you hope to adopt here at State?
I learned so much from Coach Johnson. The biggest thing is just the relationship piece, having a real, genuine relationship with your players because you're going to push them. That's your job, and you have to get them out of their comfort zone. They might not always like you, but they have to respect you and know you're coming from a genuine place, that you want to see them succeed and reach levels they didn't know they could reach.
Coach Johnson taught me that relationship. I saw him yesterday at the North Carolina High School Coaches Association clinic and got to spend time with him. We talk probably three times a week. Back when I was a 16- or 17-year-old kid, I never thought that's what a relationship with a coach would look like. As for my guys, I'm able to carry on what I learned from him. I want to have that same relationship with them, regardless of the era of NIL and the transfer portal. I still want them to be able to pick up that phone, call me, and say, "Coach, thank you."
Justin, can you describe your relationship with Paul McNeil Jr., and maybe how it's grown throughout this offseason?
Paul has been amazing this offseason. Obviously, he's a great player, but his leadership and his desire to lead have been impressive. The conversations we have at night when he texts or calls me saying, "Hey Coach, I think the team is feeling this," or "Hey Coach, I think we need to go go-karting and do some things," he's been amazing. The relationship between him and me has just continued to grow.
He wants to be pushed. He wants to be coached hard, and he doesn't want to be treated differently than any of the other guys. We're not going to do that, but it's been fun, and it's continuing to grow. Although we've been through some adversity together in practice, games are different and the season is different, so we're building that foundation.
How is your scheduling coming along? What does the team target look like? Do you want to play in-state teams? How do you fill out your schedule strategy-wise?
We want to bring in teams that will prepare us to play in the NCAA Tournament. We look for teams that bring different styles, maybe some zone, maybe some press, to give us different looks as we prepare for the ACC regular season and the NCAA Tournament.
How's your strength and conditioning coach doing, and what players have made great physical gains already?
Cody Dukquits is amazing. Cody has been a great addition to our staff. We've had multiple guys make big gains: Paul McNeil, Jr. is up about 8 pounds, Darius Adams is up 10 pounds, Zymicah Wilkins has lost about 25 pounds, Eemeli Yalaho is down close to 20 pounds, and Kyle Evans is up 10 pounds. The guys are making those gains, and Cody has been a big part of it.
What I love about him is that a lot of strength coaches don't take the time to develop that relationship. When I talked to him in the hiring process, he was all about relationships because he saw it the way I did: in order to get the best out of guys and push them, you've got to have that relationship. He's a guy who brings them over for dinner and cooks for them to make sure they're eating, but also just to build that relationship. Now on Saturdays or Wednesdays, they're calling him saying, "Hey, I want to get in and get a lift." That bond he's been able to build with them goes far beyond what he does in the weight room. It gets these guys excited to want to get bigger, stronger, and faster. Those are some of the guys who have made significant gains.
You touched on it a little bit earlier, but during your intro press conference, you talked about wanting to have depth in the frontcourt. What impresses you the most about those five guys you've been using?
With all of them, it's something a little different. If you look at Eemeli Yalaho, I knew he could shoot the ball, but I didn't know he had the interior presence that he has, nor the calmness to make plays from the low post at that size. He's every bit of 6'8" without shoes on. He's big, he's physical, he can shoot it, but he can also post.
With Kyle Evans, his size at 6'9" or 6'10" and the way he moves on ball screens requires athleticism. We knew he could block shots, but being able to move and get out there, because at UC Irvine he wasn't required to do that, has been great.
With Zymicah Wilkins, I watched him in high school when I recruited him, so I already had my thoughts on him. When I got here, I told him, "I'm pushing you because I think you've got a chance to be special." He hasn't once flinched or hung his head; he just keeps coming. You can see the physical gains, but mentally, he's growing, too. By no stretch of the imagination is he a finished product, but it's just fun to watch him grow.
Shah Hall is a guy who is still developing. He's raw, but really, really athletic. His physicality and the way he moves- I didn't see that coming. He is further along than I thought he would be coming in.
Even Robert Jurkovic, his feel and his IQ stand out. You can watch a guy on film and talk to people, but until you have them in your system, you don't really have a great feel for it. Seeing how he executes, moves the ball, keeps the offense flowing, and brings that European savvy to his game is beautiful.
Your guards, obviously, can really shoot. How do they complement each other?
With all of them, they're so unselfish that they're turning down shots sometimes. I'm on them about taking those shots because they're surrounded by other guys who can really shoot the basketball, so they're turning down good shots for great shots. As a coach, that's what you love.
When you look at Preston Edmead, his speed, size, and tenacity on the ball complement what Paul, Christian Hammond, and Darius bring to the table with their size and length. We're trying to get those guys up to his speed to guard, to guard the way he does, and to keep making guys better. He's been great with that. He's a guy who can score the ball. He scored a lot of points at Hofstra, so the next stage for him is making guys better. They love playing off each other.
Is it too early to talk about what roles those guys will specifically play, whether the offense is centered to get one guy more shots than others, or how the offense might look?
It's a little early for that right now. Right now, we've been pretty much focusing on our defense. We've spent a lot of time laying the foundations of our defense and what that's going to look like. Offensively, we've talked about our flow and spacing. I've always felt that teams with multiple guys who can score and stretch the floor become really hard to guard. It's easy to scout when there's a play run for one guy every single time. We want to make ourselves tough to scout. With the offensive ability of those guys, it won't restrict us from running a play for anybody, but within our flow and spacing, the ball is going to find the open man.
Justin, can you expand on your defensive philosophy? Because it’s funny, Ishua (Benjamin) and Jeremy (Hyatt) were just trying to get in. The teams you played on and the coach you played for had a clear identity: they defended, and there was maximum effort. What is your defensive philosophy, and how will this team look more like those NC State teams that fans appreciate?
Ishua was probably the best defender I've ever seen. He was unbelievable- his athleticism, how he guarded, his toughness, and durability. Our slogan that we talk about all the time in practice is: protect the paint at all costs. That's where it starts. We're going to pressure the ball and be up on the ball. We'll show different coverages. It may be a full-court pickup, it may be three-quarter court. Preston Edmead is a junkyard dog and as tough as they come, so he's going to apply pressure, and those other guys have got to have his back. We'll be in gaps, making it really tough to get paint access.
We don't believe in giving up rhythm threes, so closeouts and contests are going to be critical. If there's a situation where a guy gets beat, and a play needs to be made, we've got to fix it mentally. You've got to be able to help your teammate out by fixing that play, whether that's switching, a block at the rim, or taking a charge and going vertical. Having that "fix-it" mentality is going to be a team identity. It won't be just one guy who is the defender. We're going to have a team full of defenders, a team full of guys whose mindset is to get stops.
I think we're skilled enough offensively where we're going to make shots and get open looks. Our offensive scheme is really good, which will allow us to take advantage of our strengths. But having that mentality where defense travels no matter the game, where you're playing, or who you're playing against, if you defend, rebound, and take care of the ball, you give yourself a chance.
What defines success?
Good question. The guys are getting better every single day. We won't judge the process strictly off wins and losses. We get better every single day if you give your best effort every single day. If we can sit back at the end of the season and say that we've had a great season, be proud of what we accomplished, and know that we fulfilled our promise to these guys to help them develop into the best they can be, that's success. On our jerseys, you'll see: Connect, Develop, Compete. Those are our core values. That's what we live on, and we talk about that every day in practice and film sessions.
As the season starts, are you looking to have a seven-man, eight-man, or ten-man rotation? What's ideal for you in your first year as you figure out how to deploy your resources?
I don't want to limit it right now. The best teams are usually the deepest teams because we're going to play really hard. I don't want guys out there trying to conserve energy because I'm only playing seven or eight guys. If we can get to where we're playing ten, that's what I want to do. I haven't set a rotation in stone. All these guys have been working their butts off this summer. It wouldn't be fair to them for me to say right now that I'm only playing seven guys. If they keep working and developing, I'd love to play eleven. I'd love to play everybody. I know that may not be realistic, but that's how these guys have to work, and we'll figure that out when we get there.
You have 13 guys right now. Do you expect to stay at 13, or are you still looking to potentially add another piece?
You're always looking and keeping your eyes open, especially with everything going on in the landscape of college basketball right now with potential eligibility changes. You always keep your eyes on it, but I love the 13 I have right now. If this is the roster we're going into the season with, I'm ecstatic. Leaving a couple of spots open was intentional. I always like to leave a couple of spots open.
