NC State head coach Justin Gainey met with the media today, July 21st, to talk about his team’s summer workouts, what he’s seeing, what’s exciting him and where he feels they need to improve. Here is the full transcript.
Coach Gainey: I’m excited about my group, you know, and really excited about, one, how hard they’ve been working. They have been, like, relentlessly just pushing themselves and pushing each other to hold each other accountable. I’m really excited about how quickly they’ve meshed together. And, you know, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think they’ve been together for multiple years. But they all have come together; they’re connected. They communicate with each other in a way that I’ve seen veteran teams communicate. And then, from a development standpoint, like, they’re always trying to get better. So I’m excited about this group. We finally have everybody here. And, you know, Shah (Hall) and Robert (Jurkovic) were the last two guys to get here. They’re here. They’re all still kind of getting acclimated. But, you know, those things, along with playing really, really hard, I’m really excited about. So 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.
Reporter: How much better do you feel about the front court now at this point compared to where you were last time with Shaw and Robert both being on the roster now?
Coach Gainey: No, I feel a lot better about it, obviously, adding two more pieces, adding depth to it. And both of those guys bring something that we didn’t have. Shah’s athleticism and size and, you know, how he moves is completely different than anybody else. And then Robert just brings you that veteran, older piece that’s versatile, can play both spots, can play inside, can also stretch the floor and shoot it outside. And so adding those two gives us five guys that we can play with down there. And so that makes me feel a lot better than I did before.
Reporter: Of course, there’s a limit on the time that you can spend with the guys, but how important is this time in the summer for you to get acclimated to your first team? And so they can kind of be playing the way that you want them to play by the time the season ends?
Coach Gainey: Yeah, no, it’s huge. It’s huge for me. And not only me, but my staff and all the guys just laying the foundations of the identity, right? Who are we going to be? Who are we going to be on a night-to-night basis? And you instill that right now in the summer with everything you do every single day. And so it’s been huge. It’s been huge. Defending, rebounding, taking care of the basketball. Those are the three things that we’ve just been harping on all summer. We’ve got to do those things. The details, the plays, all of that stuff is going to come. And we’re adding things every day. But keeping in mind those three things that identify Wolfpack basketball.
Reporter: Is this when chemistry is really, I guess, comes together the most during the season? When it’s the summertime before kids are back at school?
Coach Gainey: It begins. I wouldn’t say it’s the most. It begins there. And it’s a great time for it to begin because, you know, it isn’t a lot of people around. They have to become more connected and be around each other and forced to lean on each other, right? Because they’re all in a new environment. But it begins there. It continues to grow as you go through hard things. And we’ve had a really challenging summer. And they’ve been really pushed in ways I don’t think many of them have been pushed before. And so that’s allowed them to grow as well. But it’s a continuing process, right? You can’t just stop those things once the season starts or once people get here, right? We lay that foundation, and it just keeps growing. And we’ll continue to do different things to help them grow as a unit. But what I’m encouraged about is, you know, they’ve been doing their own team functions, right? Hey, coach, can we go to XYZ as a team? And that shows a lot of growth and development.
Reporter: Speaking of that, the NCAA did implement now where you can actually take international trips every single year. Are you guys planning on taking one of those? And if so, where?
Coach Gainey: You know, that’s something that we haven’t really talked much about here this summer. You know, we’ve just been so focused on where we are right now with our guys. But, you know, kind of looking forward, if it makes sense to do it, that’s something that we would definitely look to take advantage of. You know, but, you know, it’s just we haven’t really started projecting out on that yet.
Reporter: Coach, how do you feel you’ve adjusted so far over the last couple of months as you went to your first head coaching gig at the D1 level?
Coach Gainey: Yeah, you know, I think it’s hard for me to judge, right? But for me, it’s been great. Right. I’m back home and, you know, I have so much pride and respect and honor for this position that I’m in. I understand the history, the tradition, the legacy that comes with being here at NC State. Right. And so how do I feel like I’ve done? I don’t know, because I hold this position in such high regard. And, you know, I look at myself every night like, did I do my best? Did I give my best effort? Right. And so I think I’m getting better. And I think that’s the ultimate compliment you can pay anybody. You’re just getting better and getting better at it. But I’m also relentlessly working to be great. And so I’m excited to be back in. It’s been awesome just being around these guys, being around staff, being around the entire university and just going around town. Seeing people shaking hands and getting to see a lot of familiar faces and talk to a lot of familiar folks from back in the day.
Reporter: Every coach likes to handle scheduling differently. Can you discuss how you like to go about scheduling your first season and your first year as head coach? Maybe discuss the VCU and getting to how that got changed.
Coach Gainey: Yeah. From a scheduling standpoint, you know, I want our guys to be challenged. I want to be pushed in the non-conference games. And, you know, I feel like we’re in the process of completing the schedule, completing a really challenging schedule for our guys. And they’re excited about it. We’re excited about it as well. Actually, ACC is already tough enough, but we want to be pushing. So we’ll be in the Bahamas. We have a couple of mutual site games that will challenge and push us. And then we’ll have other, you know, games where we’re able to bring people home.
Reporter: Let’s talk about laying the foundation, Coach. Talk about your playing career at Greensboro Day for legendary Freddie Johnson. What are some principles you hope to adopt here at State?
Coach Gainey: I learned so much from Coach J. But I’d say the biggest thing is just the relationship piece, like having a real, genuine relationship with your players. You know, because you’re going to push them, right? And that’s your job. And you got to get them out of their comfort zone. And they might not always like you, but they got to respect you. And they got to know you coming from a genuine place. And you want to see them succeed and see them get to levels that you have no idea that you can reach. Right. And so Coach J taught me that our relationship is, man, I saw him yesterday. I was up at the North Carolina High School Coaches Clinic, and I got to see him and spend time with him. And we talked probably three times a week. And, you know, back when I was a 16-, 17-year-old kid, I never thought, like, that’s what a relationship with a coach would look like. And so as for my guys, you know, I’m able to carry that on what I learned from him. And I want to have that same relationship with them, regardless of the era of the, you know, NIL and transfer portal. I still want them to be able to pick up that phone and call me and say, Coach, thank you.
Reporter: Justin, can you describe your relationship with Paul McNeil and maybe how it’s grown throughout this offseason?
Coach Gainey: Yeah. You know, Paul has been amazing. Like, he has been amazing this offseason, you know. Obviously, you know, a good player, a great player. But just his leadership, him wanting to lead, the conversations that we have at night when he texts me or he calls, hey, Coach, I think the team is feeling this. Hey, Coach, I think we need to, you know, go go-karting and do some things. Like, he’s been amazing. And so that relationship between him and me has just continued to grow. And he wants to be pushed. He wants to be coached hard. And he doesn’t want to be treated differently than any of the guys. And we’re not going to do that. But it’s been fun, but it’s still continuing to grow because, you know, although we have been through some adversity together, right, practice and stuff, games are different. Right? The season is different. And so we’re building that foundation.
Reporter: How is your scheduling? You know, what does the teams kind of look like? Do you want to play teams in the state? Like, how do you kind of fill out your schedule of teams? What does that kind of look like on the strategy on that?
Coach Gainey: Yeah. You know, what we want to do is we want to bring in some teams that will prepare us to play in NCAA format. Right? And so teams that bring different styles, teams that, you know, maybe some, you know, fresh, like to give us different looks as we prepare for the ACC regular season and also for the NCAA.
Reporter: How is your S&C coach, and what players have kind of made great gains already?
Coach Gainey: Oh, strength and conditioning. Yeah. Oh, Cody. Cody is amazing. Cody’s been great. He’s been a great addition to our staff. And, you know, like we’ve had multiple guys have big gains. You know, Paul’s up like eight pounds. Darius Adams is up 10 pounds. So Mikey Wilkins has lost about 25 pounds. EY is down close to 20 pounds. So Kyle’s up 10 pounds. So guys are making those gains, and Cody has been a big part of it. And, you know, the thing about him that I love is, you know, a lot of strength coaches, you know, they don’t take the time to develop that relationship. And when I talked to him in the hiring process, he was all about relationships, right, because he saw it the way I did. Like, in order to get the best out of guys to push them, you’ve got to have that relationship. And so he’s the guy that brings them over for dinner. He cooks dinner for them, right, and wants to make sure they’re eating, right, eating what they need to eat, but also, you know, just to have that relationship. So now on Saturdays they’re calling him, hey, I want to get him to get a lift, or on Wednesdays, right, and so that relationship that he’s been able to build within that bond, it’s been great. And it goes far beyond what he does in the weight room, and it’s getting these guys excited to want to get bigger, want to get stronger, want to get faster. So those are some of the guys that have made some significant gains.
Reporter: You touched on it a little bit earlier, but when you had your press conference, you talked about, you know, wanting to have depth in the front court. You know, what has impressed you the most about those five guys that you can use in some of the practice rooms?
Coach Gainey: I think with all of them, something a little different. You know, if you look at EY, I knew he could shoot the ball, but I didn’t know he had the interior presence that he has, you know, and the calmness to make plays from the low post at that size. And he’s every bit of 6’8 without shoes on, right, and so he’s big, he’s physical. He can shoot it, but, you know, he can also post. I’d say with Kyle, his size is 6’9″, 6’10”, and the way he moves, you know, and is able to do different things on the ball screen, which, you know, requires athleticism. We knew he could block shots, but just being able to move and get out there, because at Irvine, he wasn’t required to do that. And with Zymicah, man, I tell you, I watched him in high school. I actually recruited him and, you know, already had my thoughts on him. And so when I got here, you know, he was a guy that I told him, like, I’m pushing you because I think you’ve got a chance to be special. And he hasn’t once flinched. He hasn’t once hung his head. He just keeps coming. And the gains that he’s made physically, man, you’ll see it, but also from a mental standpoint. By no stretch of the imagination, he’s not a finished product, but it’s just fun to watch him grow. Shah is a guy that’s still developing. He’s raw, but really, really athletic. And, you know, his physicality and the way he moves, I didn’t see that, right? I didn’t see that coming. And, you know, he is further along than I thought he would be coming in. So, and those guys, I mean, Robert, you know, just his feel, his IQ. You know, you can watch him on film. You can talk to those guys over there. But until you have them and you’ve got them in your system, then you can, you know, you won’t really have a great feel for it. But being able to see him and how he executes and how he moves the ball and keeps the darkness flowing and just have that European savvy about his existence.
Reporter: Your guys obviously can really shoot. How do they complement each other?
Coach Gainey: Yeah. You know, it’s, I’d say with all of them, you know, they’re so unselfish that, you know, they’re turning down shots sometimes and I’m on them about it. You’ve got to take it. Because, you know, they’re surrounded by other guys that can really shoot the basketball, right? And so they are turning down good shots for great shots. And as a coach, that’s what you love, right? But I think when you look at Preston with his size, his speed, his tenacity on the ball, it complements what Paul, what Christian, and what Darius bring to the table with their size and their length. We’re trying to get those guys up to his speed on being able to guard, right? Trying to get those guys to guard the way he does. And then with him just continuing to make guys better. He’s been great with that because he’s a guy that can score the ball, right? He scored a lot of points at Hofstra. And so the next stage for him is making guys better. Who are you going to help? Who are you going to make better? And so, you know, that’s been great and fun to watch. And those guys just, they love playing off each other.
Reporter: Is it too early to talk about what roles those guys will specifically play? If the offense is centered to get one guy more shots than others or how the offense might look? Anything you can explain?
Coach Gainey: It’s a little early for that right now. And right now, we’ve been pretty much focusing on our defense. We 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 our spacing. And I think I’ve always felt like teams that have multiple guys that can score the ball, that can stretch the floor, become really hard to guard. And so it’s easy when there’s a play run for one guy every single time. That’s easy to scout. And so we want to make ourselves tough to scout. And with the offensive ability of those guys, it will not restrict us from being able to run a play for anybody. But within our flow, the spacing, the ball is going to find that open end. The ball can’t stay there.
Reporter: Justin, can you expand on your defensive philosophy? Because it’s funny, Osh (Benjamin) and Jeremy (Hyatt) just tried to get in. Since the teams that you played on and the coach that you played for, they have an identity that they defended, and there was maximum effort, right? There have been four coaches since then who haven’t exactly emphasized that, including last year where a guy thought a good defensive strategy was leaving people open. So what is your defensive philosophy and how will this team look maybe more like those teams that so many NC State fans appreciate that you played on?
Coach Gainey: Yeah, no. And Osh (Benjamin) is probably the best defender I’ve ever seen. He was unbelievable. His athleticism, how he guarded, the toughness, durability. But I guess our slogan or what we talk about all the time in practice is protect the paint at all costs. That’s where it starts, is protecting the paint. So we’re going to pressure the ball. We’ll be up on the ball. We’re going to show different coverage. It may be a four-court pickup. It may be three-court. I think Preston, he’s a junkyard dog, man. He is as tough as they come. And so he’s going to apply pressure. And then those other guys have got to have his back, right? He’s got to have his back, and we’ll be in gaps and making it really tough to get paint access for teams. And so that’s where it all starts. You know, we don’t believe in giving rhythm threes up. So closeouts and contests are going to be critical. And then if there is a situation where a guy gets beat, and a play needs to be made, we’ve got to ‘fix it’ mentally, right? And so you’ve got to be able to help your teammate out by fixing that play. That may be switching. That may be a block at the rim. That may be, you know, and they don’t do it a lot now, but taking the charge, right, going vertical. But having that ‘fix-it’ mentality. And so it’s going to be a team identity. It won’t be just one guy that’s out there, hey, he’s the defender. We’re going to have a team full of defenders, a team full of guys whose mindset is to get stops, right? I think we’re skilled enough offensively where we’re going to make shots. We’re going to get open looks. I think our offensive scheme is really good. And so that’s going to lead to us being able to take advantage of our strengths. But, you know, having that mentality where defense travels no matter what game, where you’re playing, who you’re playing against, where it’s at, if you defend, if you rebound, you take care of the ball, you’re going to give yourself a chance.
Reporter: What defines success for this period of your life?
Coach Gainey: Good question. The guys are getting better. The guys are getting better every single day. And, you know, the process for us, we won’t judge it off wins and losses. We’re strictly process-driven. And are we getting better every single day? Did you give your best effort every single day? And if we can sit back at the end of the season and say that, one, we’ve had a hell of a season. And then, two, we can be proud of what we’ve done and what we accomplished. That we fulfilled our promise to these guys that we’re going to help you develop and help you become the best you can be. Because you’ll see like on our jerseys, right, connect, develop, compete. Connect, develop, compete. Those are our core values. Those are what we live on. And we talk about that every day, every practice, every film session. Connect, develop, compete.
Reporter: As the season starts, are you looking to have seven-man rotation, eight-man rotation, ten-man rotation? What’s ideal for you in your first year as you’re kind of figuring out how to deploy your different resources?
Coach Gainey: Yeah, I don’t want to limit it right now. I think the best teams are usually the deepest teams, right, because we’re going to play really hard. And so I don’t want you out there trying to conserve energy because I’m only playing seven guys or eight guys. We can get to where we’re playing ten, and that’s what I want to do. But I haven’t set it in stone like I just have this type of rotation. I think all these guys here, man, they’ve been working their butt off this summer. Wouldn’t be fair to me right now. Wouldn’t be fair to them right now for me to say, hey, I’m only playing seven of you guys, right? So these guys are working. If they keep working the way they’re going and they keep developing, I’d love to play ten. I’d love to play 11. You know what I mean? I’d love to play everybody, right? And I know that may not be realistic, but that’s how these guys have got to work, and then we’ll figure that out when we get there.
Reporter: Do you expect to stay at 13, or are you still looking maybe to have another call?
Coach Gainey: Oh, you’re always looking, right? You always have your eyes open. And, you know, with everything that’s going on within, you know, the whole landscape of college basketball right now, right? Potentially some guys will come ineligible or whatever. You always got your eyes on it. But the 13 I have right now, I love him. I love him to death. And I think this is the roster we’re going through the season with. I’m excited.
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