The annual ACC Spring Meetings are underway in Amelia Island, Florida, where athletic directors, coaches, administrators, and conference officials gather for strategy sessions and offseason planning.
New NC State men’s basketball head coach Justin Gainey sat down with WRAL’s Pat Welter and Brian Murphy for an extensive one-on-one interview covering roster construction, recruiting philosophy, expectations at NC State, and the future of college basketball.
You can watch the interview above and read the full transcript below.
Transcript
Question: Justin, you’ve just come out of these meetings. You’re the new guy, right? So what’s it like walking around? Are you sizing people up behind your eyes? Are they sizing you up? Because you’re going to be competing against these guys here in a few months.
Gainey: No, I mean, I don’t think so. The meetings were great. Very informative. I felt like all the coaches were welcoming and there’s a few of us new guys that were first timers in those meetings. But, it was good. It was productive. There was a lot of good ideas brought to the table and all the other all the coaches were really receptive.
Question: Your program’s coming together here. You’re building your roster. You’re building your staff. What are you most proud of that you’ve accomplished here in the first couple months?
Gainey: I think we did a really good job of finding our kind of guys, and when we set to put this roster together, I was very intentional. I want to build a program. I don’t want to just field a team every year. I want to build a program. Starting out was character, right? I wanted guys of high character. Guys that wanted to be at NC State, that respected the program, respected the brand, right? So high-character young men. I wanted to find guys that come from winning situations, that understand what winning is all about, right? That understand it’s just not showing up on the day of the game and being like ‘Man, I hope we win,” but all the work that goes into it. That starts in the summertime, right? Because winning, it feels different. It sounds different. That was huge for me.
So, I’m proud of what we’ve been able to put together, and we’re still continuing to build and fill out that roster. Being diligent on all parts of the recruiting from the Intel, from the evaluations, just being really intentional, making sure we get the right guys.
Question: Obviously, the biggest name is getting Paul McNeil back. What was that process like? Were there times where you thought you might not get him back? And how do you see him fitting into what you’re trying to do in year one?
Gainey: Excited to have Paul back. He was a guy that for me, you know, he was a must get back. I had to have him back not just the basketball piece, but in my first in my press conference, I talked about the importance of keeping the best players home, right? Keeping the in-state, the North Carolina kids in-state, and that was my first kind of test, right? So, I understood where he was coming from, wanting to go through the process. I respected that, and we just recruited him like I would anybody else, pointing out why staying home made a lot of sense. And at the end of the day, he was our guy, right? He’s an NC State guy, so it was a must get back and we’re excited to have him back.
As far as fitting into what we do, one of the few skills that translates regardless of where you are is shooting. So, I don’t care what kind of offense you’re running. I don’t care whatever you’re doing, shooting translates. The ball going in the hole translates, and he does it as good as anybody in the country. So just excited to get to work with him.
Question: It looks like in attacking some of these transfers, you mentioned character, but you also looked for shooting. A lot of these guys that you brought in shot in the high 30s, maybe even low 40s.
Gainey:When you look at them across the board, 40% three-point shooters, and we’ll have the ability to put four of them out there at times. So that that’s exciting from a spacing standpoint. When you have guys like that, it makes offense a little easier to run.
Question: You’ve been known for your recruiting. You’ve been known for your defense. What is it about both those traits that have become your calling cards and how?
Gainey: I think in both of those, you have to show a level of toughness. You have to show a level of resilience and just show up every single day, and to my core, that’s who I am. That’s what I am. When I think about back when I played, I wasn’t the tallest guy. I wasn’t the fastest, wasn’t the quickest. But I had to be tough. I had to show up every single day and get the work done. So, when you look at recruiting, and when you look at the defensive end, that’s what it’s all about.
Question: You talked to Boo Corrigan when the job was open last year before they obviously hired Will Wade. What do you think made you more prepared to be a head coach this year? And if you didn’t get the NC State job, if it didn’t come open, do you think you were prepared to be a head coach at another school?
Gainey: Yeah, I mean, I felt like I’ve been prepared. I’ve been preparing for this moment my entire coaching career. I feel like, I’d say the last three years. I feel like I’ve been prepared, right? Because so many changes have been happening in college sports with the NIL, the portal and all those things, and I’d become even more involved in that, as well as still recruiting, right? So within that, you’re learning how to run a program essentially. I would also say, through my process of the different interviews that I’d been on, I started looking at things different, right? I started looking at, whether it’s questions that coach Barnes would ask me, or different situations, I started looking at them as “Okay, how would I respond to that if I was a head coach, right?” So, going through those processes kind of changed my entire mindset to help me start preparing for this moment, when April 1st happens, the press conference is over, and the real work begins. You’ve got to meet with your players. You’ve got to put a staff together. You’ve got to start preparing for the transfer portal.
So, those thoughts had prepared me for that moment, and when that moment hit, I felt like I was I was ready to go, and ready to hit the ground running.
Question: You don’t strike me as somebody that’s going to make any excuses. Talk about your time as a player and your toughness. Now you’re talking about how you’re putting together this roster. Meanwhile, your predecessor, Will Wade, just left in part because he said that there’s more resources at LSU. There might be better alignment at LSU. Why do you feel like there’s enough here at NC State to win at a high level, and maybe the coach before you didn’t think so.
Gainey: Yeah, I mean, I will speak on the the previous. What I’ll say, is me being from High Point, North Carolina, I’ve always held NC State in the highest regard. I was a huge fan of NC State growing up. I understood what Tobacco Road was all about. Going to play at NC State, you learn it even more. It becomes ingrained in you. Look, NC State’s one of the best jobs in the country, right? It’s one of the best resourced jobs in the country, but more importantly, it has some of the best people in the country, and that’s what makes a place special. When I came back and I saw so many familiar faces still there, that speaks volume of what NC State is all about. Boo has done a great job. Under his leadership, you’ve seen this program just continue to grow, the entire athletics program continue to grow. Chancellor Howell, under his leadership again, the university just keeps expanding, keeps growing. So, it’s a special place. It’s a special place, and it always has been in my eyes. They say that beauty is in the hands of the beholder. It’s an amazing place. If you asked the NC State fan base, and people in ACC to understand the history and tradition… the Norm Sloan’s, the David Thompson’s, the Dereck Whittenburg’s, Sidney Lowe’s. Tommy Burleson. You can go on and on of the history and tradition here, you know. Coach Kay Yow. Jimmy V. It’s just endless. So, this is an amazing, amazing place, and I’m fortunate to be the head coach here.
Question: I know Wolfpack fans want to get to the NCAA tournament, and get there consistently. The NCAA tournament expanding to 76, how does that impact the way you put together schedules, the way you put together a team? What’s your postseason goals are?
Gainey: Yeah, it impacts everything, right? It does. These meetings have been great, because you’re meeting with the Joe Lunardi’s, and those folks that talk about the importance of scheduling ,and how to go about it. So, with the tournament expanding, it’s an exciting time in college basketball, and it has an impact on everything you do.
Question: Well, we appreciate your time, Justin. Looking forward to covering your team here at NC State the next couple years, and let you get back to it, because I’m sure you’ve got a bunch of phone calls, more recruits to call and get that staff together.
Gainey: Absolutely. Thank you. Next couple years? Man, it’s gonna be a lot longer than a couple of years. I appreciate you.
NC State Baseball4 days ago
