DANIEL SANTIAGO – IMG ACADEMY SKILL DEVELOPMENT COACH – EPISODE 731

Website – https://www.imgacademy.com/people/daniel-santiago

Email – santiago15pr@aol.com

Twitter – @IMGABasketball

Daniel Santiago is a basketball coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. As a player, Daniel spent one year at New Mexico Military Institute, two years at the University of New Mexico where he won a WAC Championship and appeared in the 2^nd round of the NCAA Championships twice, and one year at Saint Vincent College where they won the conference championship and advanced to the NAIA Elite 8. Santiago was a first-team All-American and NAIA Player of the Year.

After college, Santiago continued his basketball career playing professionally for the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, and played for Argentina, Turkey, Belgium, Puerto Rico where he won 4 championships, Italy where he won 1 championship, and Spain where he won 2 championships. Santiago participated in 2 EuroLeague Final Fours, and represented Puerto Rico in 2 Olympic Games and 5 World Championships.

He has been a coach for NBA Basketball Without Borders and several other NBA camps around the world.

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Grab some paper and a pen before you listen to this episode with Daniel Santiago from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

What We Discuss with Daniel Santiago

• Growing up in a farm community in Texas playing all sports with his brother
• Baseball was his favorite sport growing up, his grandfather from Puerto Rico was a professional player
• The story of why he couldn’t try out for the basketball team his freshman year in high school
• How he worked on his game as a high school player
• Going to the New Mexico Military Institute after High School
• Signing with New Mexico after his year in JUCO
• Getting an opportunity to play in a Puerto Rican League while he was still in college and how that led to him playing for the Puerto Rican National Team
• Representing Puerto Rico in the 96 Olympics in Atlanta and what that experience was like
• Playing one season at St. Vincent College, an NAIA School, after the 96 Olympics
• Playing in Italy after not getting drafted in the NBA
• Playing against Tim Duncan and the Spurs in the Goodwill games and how that led to an opportunity with the Suns
• The lack of mentorship he experienced with the Suns
• Going back to Italy before getting another NBA chance with the Bucks
• His craziest European basketball stories
• Beating the US team at 2004 Athens Olympics with Puerto Rico
• Getting his coaching job at IMG
• “I’m just trying to give back and teach them all the things that I experienced and hopefully they’ll use it and put it to put it to good use for their futures and their careers and in basketball and in life.”
• Finding common ground with the players he works with to build trust
• The challenges of helping correct a player’s shooting form
• “We will get everybody the basic skills that they need to be successful at the position that they’re playing at.”
• Using his experiences at all levels of the game to relate to his players
• “I believe just about any sport, you’re going to be able to learn something to incorporate into the working world or the next step in your career.”

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THANKS, DANIEL SANTIAGO

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TRANSCRIPT FOR DANIEL SANTIAGO – IMG ACADEMY SKILL DEVELOPMENT COACH – EPISODE 731

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads Podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here with my co-host Jason Sunkle Tonight. And we are pleased to be joined by Daniel Santiago from IMG Academy, former international basketball player, played with the Puerto Rican national team that beat our United States Olympic team back in 2004, which we’re going to get into and talk about.

But Daniel excited to have you on, looking forward to diving into all the things you’ve been able to do in your basketball career. Welcome.

[00:00:25] Daniel Santiago: Thank you very much. Glad to be here and looking forward to telling my story for sure.

[00:00:32] Mike Klinzing: Let’s start by going back in time to when you were a kid. Tell us a little bit about some of your first experiences with the game of basketball.

[00:00:36] Daniel Santiago: Oh, man. That was like just recently, right?  No, it’s just crazy how time flies. Just grew up in in Texas, in a farming community. Was born in Lubbock, but raised out in a farming community outside called Klondike, Texas and just normal kid. My brother and I, we would just always go out and play.

We played every sport, football, baseball basketball, if there was a goal, and just just hung out and, and played outside, which you don’t see too many kids doing nowadays. And my father one day decided to buy like a basketball goal. There was like a slab of cement and he put that goal and he basically built it using two wooden poles and put and bought, and bought just the Spalding, I think it was one of those Spalding basketball goals.

So it looked really cool and we would just be out there playing and he kind of would just show us what he knew. and you know, we, we just had fun. But you know, baseball was really my first passion. My grandfather was a Puerto Rican baseball player, came over from Puerto Rico and tried to make it to the big leagues.

And ironically they said that he was too small for the major leagues, but he played with some very high profile guys way back in the day. You know, Roberto Alomar, his father, Santo Alomar was a very famous Puerto Rican baseball player, they played together. So a lot of history in sports.

And so my goal was to be a professional baseball player. So that was something I just loved to do every day and just tried to stay at it. And I was always taller than everybody else. So had to work hard on coordination and getting used to having such a big strike zone. Because I was always like a head taller than, than my classmates at, at just about every grade that I can remember.

So but yeah, my, my dad is the one who really introduced me to basketball and played in a couple of little elementary school things. Where did your hike come from? So , my, my grandfather, he married my grandmother who was the daughter of one of the baseball teams that he played for the owner, the owner of the baseball team.

And she was tall. And so when they had my dad, my dad as a Puerto Rican was, is is tall. He is about six six two. And then he met my mother. When they moved when they were living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, because my grandfather had to go there to play for the Albuquerque Dukes, a minor league team for the Dodgers.

And that’s where my dad met my mother in high school. And my mom is, she’s pretty tall, she’s about five nine and her brothers are like 6 4, 6 5. They’re real pretty big guys. So I just got the combination of both sides and, and I am the tallest in the in the family. And that’s kind of the way it’s been for the past couple of decades here,

[00:03:48] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, probably have a pretty good handle on being the tallest going to take, going to take, take quite an outlier to be able to beat you. When did basketball overtake baseball?

At what point in your life did that happen?

[00:04:07] Daniel Santiago: So when we moved my fifth grade year. To from Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico. That, that was a big change. You know, for me Albuquerque is like, wow, this is the big city. Because we were used to living in a farming community, nothing but farms and land and things like that.

And so living out there there were people that played baseball, but you saw in the area that I was at a lot more people playing on the basketball courts of like the elementary schools and that were in the area. So that’s where I started playing because I had a couple of friends that I kind of knew and you know, we started playing a little bit out there on those courts and usually it was against some older kids that were bigger or kind of my size or some adults.

And so just got pushed around a little bit and just always had that competitive nature. Cause you know, I just wanted to get better, learn more about the game. I didn’t like to lose. So I just kept coming back and got a lot of ridicule and things like that.

And but I just stuck with it. and, but I still played baseball. Once I got into my sophomore year of high school actually my freshman year of high school, I did try, I was going to try out for the team. But the coach wouldn’t let me, because I was supposed to get the physical the day of or the day after the tryout.

And he wouldn’t let me try out. Because I, that was the only way I could schedule the physical. And you know, he had actually said that he was going to let me try out, because I was like 6 4, 6 5 right as a freshman. And he was like, no, I never said that. And so I just, well, alright, well forget basketball.

My freshman year played baseball on the freshman team and then the next year I was like we’ll see what happens. That coach got fired and they brought in a new coach and they were very happy to have me on the team.

[00:06:16] Mike Klinzing: We might want to have the 6, 7, 6 8 kid come and play on the team.

[00:06:19] Daniel Santiago: Crazy, crazy how that works. I was about six six at that time. And so they were just like okay, well yeah, we’ll have you on there. And, and you know, it was, it was difficult for me because I was still growing a lot of coordination just still learning the game. It was very fast for me. Even though I did play other sports you know, so the baseball, the hand eye coordination really helped me out a lot.

So that sophomore year I basically played like on the freshman team and a little bit on the jv. Just because they saw some potential and Obviously the height is there and I’ll never forget it, the day we were going to have our basketball banquet you know, like the end of the year celebration.  I had really good year.

I really improved and I was really excited. But I had a game earlier in the. And it was a baseball game. And we were on a team that had probably about 30 kids on the team. The coach really didn’t cut anybody. And so finally I got my chance and I played first base imagine. And one of my teammates threw the ball towards the runner, fractured my arm,

And I spent the whole, the whole, the re the whole rest of the evening getting my bone adjusted and missed out on the, on the dinner. And that was really like the bad taste of my mouth of how things were going for baseball because I wasn’t getting much playing time. Right. And then I finally did broke my arm at first base and I missed the, the banquet.

And so I was just like, you know what? I think I’m just going to stick with basketball . So that’s how I really got serious because I was very serious about baseball. I mean, it was every day like watching the Braves or the Cubs play because we used to have TBS and W G N. Yep. And I used to watch that all the time.

So, but then I was watching basketball a little bit too but not as religiously as baseball, just because I really thought I could make it. And you know who, who knows? But that’s how that went. And I stuck it out in high school basketball and it was every day to the courts, street games.

Back to the high school court. And just learning get better. And I’ve had some of the parents along the way that were big guys that taught me just out of the kindness of their hearts, people from different look different than me you know, different cultures and just out of the kindness of their hearts helping me.

And they saw a lot of potential that I had. And then I just tried to soak it in and be a hard worker. My parents taught me about working hard and I just really worked hard at the game and just tried to learn and learn and watch videos. I watched the N B A superstar videos, the music videos and watched Olajuwon and David Robinson, those guys and how they played and just try to mimic that.

And that was the really, the beginning of that journey to get through to college and then all the way to being an international and professional player.

[00:09:33] Mike Klinzing: When you talked earlier about playing outdoors and you said, Hey, kids don’t really do that very often anymore. And that’s one of the things that when I look back on my time as a player, and I’m 52 years old and so I grew up in an era where I did the same thing that it sounds like you did.

Where I was outside and playing on the courts, and that’s where I tried to really improve my game and get better. When you tell kids today that you’re coaching, that you’re working with, that hey I used to work on my game and go and play outside , what? What’s the kids’ responses? Because there’s so few kids now that that really play the game outdoors just because of the way the system is today.

So when you think back on your experience as a player and playing outdoors, what did that mean to you? And then kind of what did the kids say when you talked to ’em about kind of how you developed as a player?

[00:10:24] Daniel Santiago: I mean, it’s hard because it’s hard for them to relate to that because they’re like especially here in Florida where I’m living, I mean, it is hot.

Yeah. It’s humid and in some cases I understand, like, it, it is almost child abuse, it’s so hot and human. But that didn’t impede me from wanting to go out and compete and just get better and beat the guys that were running the court that day.

Whether it was like you know, during the week or usually the Saturday games from around 11 till. You know, evening, I mean, it was a big deal to be that team that stayed on the court that whole day. And so it really stuck when you lost and had to wait 1, 2, 3 games if some, if there were a lot of people and they already had their teams.

So you wanted to compete. Kids nowadays, I mean, everybody gets a ribbon. Everybody gets a trophy and they play in a lot better conditions. I mean, because you know, most of the la fitnesses or there’s complexes you know, for basketball jams and things like that, and everybody’s got a trainer.  The only cones I saw were the cones that were for the traffic or the men at work sign, you’d see all the cones and things like that. So that was non-existent. You did the same thing over and over. You had five spot shooting and then you just tried to figure out how to defeat your opponent or beat your opponent.

If they knew your left hand was weak, they were going to push you left. So you were like, man, I’m going to have to figure out how to go left.

[00:12:17] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. I think it’s just a difference in terms of how kids grow up, as you said, with the trainer versus the way that you went about it, where you’re kind of out on the court just trying to figure things out for yourself.

How much did you balance as you were a high school player, trying to improve and get better? How much did you balance out playing pickup basketball versus how much time you were putting in? By yourself just working on your game skill development wise?

[00:12:41] Daniel Santiago: Man, that’s a real good question. Because with, with our high school team, our coach did a pretty good job of trying to having the gym open for us if we weren’t in another sport.

I fortunately made friends with a guy who was been my best friend for a very long time was the best man at my wedding. And he was a big guy. He was about six six, but he could handle left, right? He could shoot, he was a very good player, very good for high school.

And I was very fortunate that I had a buddy that either I would drive or he would drive depending on who that had the car or if our parents go find a court or get to our high school court, And just shoot or maybe play each other a little one-on-one that kind of a thing.

So that helped me because he was quicker than me, but he had good size, so kind of just held each other accountable for that. So I was very fortunate to have a good friend like that, that he wanted to get better and he wanted me to get better and vice versa. And we would go  and just play each other, whatever we could with the ball until we just got tired and then we would go play video games or something else, you know what I mean?

It was just, that was on our mind because we really both thought we could get scholarships and that was cause both of our families we didn’t come from wealthy families, so it wasn’t going to be an option. We had to get scholarships if we wanted to go to college or go to that next level.

[00:14:25] Mike Klinzing: What’s your favorite memory from high school basketball? And then we’ll get into talking a little bit about your college experiences.

[00:14:31] Daniel Santiago: I think the cherry on the top for me was being able to play in the north South All-Star game for high school. Because during that time, the big guys that were really good were AJ Bramlet, who had an amazing career playing at Arizona, won a NCAA championship at Arizona with Luke Walton and I think it was Bibi and Miles Simons.

Yeah. Miles Simon. Guys like that. Yep. And we later played against each other in Europe. And so that, but he was like, he was the main big guy. So they had a, a Nike like flight team. And we I didn’t get invited because I wasn’t good enough. And so for me to be able to make it to that high school All-Star game was nice recognition to finish my high school career.

And what was amazing was about that, I’m a born again believer and I mean, God has done some amazing things and put me in some amazing situations to meet some really good people that helped me along the way. And that game the future coaches that I went to junior college with, they were at that game and I hadn’t signed with anybody and they went like crazy in the arena trying to find my parents

And they were both big guys. One was six five and the other guy was like six 10. And the one played in the Harlem Globetrotters, the other played in the C B A back in the day. So I was like, oh, okay, these guys might know something. They could help me out. So that, that, that game helped me get to the next step in my career, which was a year of junior college basketball at a military school.

So what was that year like for you? Oh, man. It was interesting just because, I mean, I’ve always been fascinated with the military and just the, the order and just the way things were run in the military. So it was a good opportunity because after high school you either have to, you go to college get a job or go to the military.

I mean, that was pretty much most of the options back in the day. Right. And so I got a little kind of taste of both except the job part of making money, but I mean, they gave me a, a full scholarship there. You know, got over there, they shaved my head. But what was cool is the coaches prepared us for all the things that we would have to do, all the military stuff shine your belt, your shoes you know how to look presentable.

So we had like a week where we had kind of a leg up on, on everybody else, so it wasn’t as tough for us, and they kind of got us mentally ready for all the craziness that was going to go on. So it was great because it helped me develop a lot of mental toughness, dealing with the military people.

Sometimes they’re not very rational and I mean my brother served and it’s not for everybody, but I’m truly grateful because I did learn a lot. I learned a lot, but I really tried to hide out in the gym and just learn from the coaches when they were there and try to play them one-on-one.

And that really helped me out a lot. And you know, I was just very very grateful. The one thing I do remember when I first got there, I saw the locker rooms and they had a player, his name is Terrence Riner and his brother I’m sorry, Mike Riner, his brother Terrence Riner, played at the University of Texas.

Mike Riner was like six six and he was in his second year at junior college. And he was a very athletic you know, really like a four man, but really was, had some great moves and just super athletic. And I saw his locker and he had all these letters from all these colleges and I was just like, wow. I mean, it was just full of it.

And I was just like, wow. And, and so the, the head coach, he was like if you work really hard, I guarantee you know your locker is going to be like that. And sure enough, I worked really hard that year, had a great year. And when I, when I came back thinking possibly of going back another year, I looked at my locker and he was like, you remember last year when you saw Mike’s locker?

And I was like, yeah. And he is like, look at yours. And I had all these letters from all these different colleges colleges I’d never even heard of. And so that was just like a really cool memory that I had in junior college.

[00:19:19] Mike Klinzing: How big was your growth as a player during that year?

Like how much do you feel like you improved? When was the explosion where you went from, ok. I think I can be a college player to, I think I can maybe play professionally. When did that transition take, take place? And in junior college, did you start to see that? Did it happen the following year when you got to New Mexico?

Just tell me a little bit about when you feel like you really got better.

[00:19:41] Daniel Santiago: Man, I think it was that year just because I was like, man, I’m playing against this guy who’s a grown man that played in the CBA he did professional and in the league at that time in it was New Mexico and Texas, and we played some teams in Colorado.

And then there was some tough like Midland Odessa, yep. Howard Frank Phillips, like that, that those group of colleges had some really tough competition. And there was, at that time, there was some big guys too at least six, nine there was even one of Manute Bol’s, like distant, distant cousins.

It was like seven three or something like that. And I had, I mean, I had really good games against those teams and just put up really good numbers. And, and our team we did well. We were winning. And it was starting to get more consistent. I gained a lot of respect from a lot of people and got invited to like some juco like showcases and so a lot of D one coaches saw me and after that, the next step was  I signed with the University of New Mexico on a full scholarship.

And, and that was kind of like a dream come too, because I used to watch the Lobos, the New Mexico Lobos play, and that was the hometown as well. And I figured like, man people, some people know me here and it’d be a great fit and you know, it kind of did and didn’t work out for me those two years at the University of New Mexico.

[00:21:26] Mike Klinzing: Talk about the did and the didn’t part of it. You got to play in the Pit.

[00:21:28] Daniel Santiago: Man. That was awesome. I bet that was awesome. Cause you know, we would see that on TV all the time For sure. And just the atmosphere, the people love it. The fans were great. So yeah, I was in there. We’re playing or practicing against other guys that are top level guys and I’m in there banging with those guys.

We had Kenny Thomas came in as a freshman. He played a couple years in the league for like Sacramento the 76ers. And Houston, I want to say, so he was about six, nine. I mean, probably one of the best players that University of New Mexico. And so I was behind him, but like way down at the other end of the bench, the coach, he liked playing seven, maybe eight players.

And if you weren’t that guy, I mean, you weren’t getting in. And we would have to be up by like 20 for me to get in and, I mean, the crowd would even like chant my name and things like that. Because I would get in and I’d be so amped up that I was just trying to dunk everything, block everything, just be physical you know what I mean?

Because I mean, I’m sitting on the bench like, man, I think I could help. I, right. You know, I’ve  been practicing with these guys I think I can help. I think I can help, whatever. And I used to the days I didn’t play, like I’d come home or like my stomach would be in a knot. Like, I was just so anxious.

And with that hope that I was maybe going to get some minutes and it wouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen. And then finally they’d let me in there and then I’d go in and do all these things and thinking maybe I’ll get a chance, but it never really came to be. And in my sophomore year I’m sorry.

At kind of towards the end of yes my sophomore year there was a lot of teams from Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican league. They were looking at me because this one guy that recruited me from Adam State College, he knew some people in the Puerto Rican League and he asked, how was that last name?

Is that Puerto Rican? And he’s like, yeah. I was like, yeah. And he’s like, well they got a league down there. And I’m thinking, yeah, baseball, right? Because I knew my grandfather played over there. And he’s like, no, man, they love basketball there. And I’m like, oh, okay. And he’s like, if I is all, if I tell people your name and, and this and that, and I was like, oh, all right.

Whatever. I had no idea. And so next thing I know it, I’m getting all these calls from owners of teams, mayors of the towns of the teams you know, these businessmen coming over that own these teams. And, and it was like the recruiting process all over again and it was really cool.

And then we decided, we were like, all right, let’s go, let’s go check it out. Because we weren’t sure if that was going to be a rules violation at that time. But at that time, thank God the NCAA hadn’t recognized the Puerto Rican League as a league for younger college players could go as long as they didn’t get paid.

Like they could get their expenses paid, you know a car and an apartment and some food money. But they could not get paid because they wanted us to keep our amateur status. Right. Interesting. So that was back in the day when two guards, two Puerto Rican guards played for the University of Massachusetts named Carmela, trave and Illa.

They played for John Calapari And also played with Marcus Camby. And they had, that was back in the day when UMass was like undefeated in the tournament. And those guard, those guards were just, they were all over the place. And so I saw them and I knew they were in the league, so I was like, everybody knows those guys.

Like, I’m going to go. And so one of the coaches tried to stop my mother and I when we were getting ready to leave, to go to Puerto Rico to visit one of the teams that we felt comfortable going over with. And he was at the airport at like five in the morning. Saying, we don’t know if it’s going to be a rules violation don’t go.

And my mom’s just like, eh, we’re going to go. So she helped me in that aspect and we went over, we had a good time. They showed us everything about the island. Met some really great people that would be you know, influential in my life in Puerto Rico. And was like, all right, I’m going to sign with the team.

The team I signed there was BA Vaqueros, which is the Bayamon Cowboys, and they had like a, a pretty good history of basketball and just some really good players who I met, and they kind of took me under my wing. And that’s, that’s what led me to start playing in the Puerto Rican League against grown men.

Cause I mean, that’s what I needed. And these guys had so much experience. And also I started playing for the under 21 team for Puerto Rico. And I did really well and the men’s national team brought me along and I was able to represent Puerto Rico in the 96 Olympics in Atlanta.

[00:26:50] Mike Klinzing: So what’s that Olympic experience like?  I mean, obviously you get to go in and just beyond the experience from a basketball standpoint, what’s it like being in the Olympic Village with all these other great athletes from all the world, different sports? What’s that experience like?

[00:27:06] Daniel Santiago: So for me it was like a dream come true because I used to always watch the Summer Olympics when they would come on I think it was like ABC or CBS.

Or one of those channels. And it was just so fascinating to see these athletes represent their countries and how passionate they were, what, regardless of the sport. And I was just like, I mean, it was like awesome. So I as a kid living in the States, I dream of representing United States, right? and then next thing you know, I get this opportunity, God opens up this door for me to start playing for Puerto Rico. Like, I mean, it’s like in a blink of an eye and they’re like, alright, you Carmelo Traviso and Eric Padilla are going to be they were like you guys are.

The future for Puerto Rico for basketball in Puerto Rico. And we’re going to bring you guys along on the trip to get the, get the experience for the next generation coming in. And it was, I mean, it was awesome. We land in Atlanta. First time I’ve been to, well, I’ve been to Atlanta before, but it was too much.

And it was, I mean, this is big time. The Georgia Tech dorms that were brand new. I mean, you’re meeting people from different countries and things you’ve only seen in the movies or, or read about in books. And like everybody is muscular. Everybody’s like, you’re high. Like I just, I remember seeing like some of the volleyball girls from other countries.

Like, I was like, I didn’t know they came in those sizes. Like these girls were like, that’s hilarious. 6, 8, 6, 7 volleyball players, basketball players. That Dawn Staley you know, Cheryl Swoops. Cause they were all that dream team, the Women’s Dream team met them in the arena Lisa Leslie and you know, and she’s very tall too.

And I’ll never forget, I met Vlade Divac while we were waiting on the bus to go to practice. And I took a picture with him on one of those disposable Kodak camera. You remember those?

[00:29:28] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, I remember those.

[00:29:31] Daniel Santiago: And I had that picture, and I was just like I ended up later playing against him in one of the biggest games of my international career in Indianapolis in 2002.

And when we beat Yugoslavia and he was on that team, I had like 30 and 10 against them. And that was one of my best games as playing for Puerto Rico or one of, among some of the best games that I had. And it is really cool to remember those moments and, and see that little picture and realize like how, how fast things can go and how quick God can move.

And but it was amazing. The food was amazing. There was food from all different countries. You know, the, just so many people, there were celebrities that would come and visit. You know, we, it was, yeah, you had you, I mean, I saw what LL Cool J had like a little concert Nice. On one of the, in the, one of the, the little makeshift rooms that they made.

I mean, it was almost like a, it was like almost like a house party. And, and there was other celebrities like singing on these like little stages just throughout the village, and you’re just like, where, you know what in the world is going on here? I mean, it was just like a whole nother world inside that village.  It was amazing.

[00:30:56] Mike Klinzing: Did you have an opportunity to attend any other sporting events?

[00:31:00] Daniel Santiago: Man, we, I was just so focused on doing well and representing our country. I think we did see like other teams play basketball, right? Yeah. And that’s when I met the women’s Dream team.

But other than that, like, I think some of the venues were just a little bit. Kind of out of the way to get to. Yeah, because it wasn’t all in the basketball arena. I mean, there was other venues and other arenas andwe had our own floor where we were paired up with China and I don’t think there was any other countries with us.

So it was just like Puerto Rico and China on one of the buildings. And it was hilarious because all the Chinese would be gathered around watching the TV because they had like the living room area, right? You know how they have in the college dorm and they were watching all their countrymen on the tv.

And then we, there was a phone that you had back then, you had to use the little phone card and dial the number. And people, it was always a Puerto Rican on the phone calling somebody in Puerto Rico. And then you come back 20 minutes later, it’d be a different Puerto Rican and the same Chinese people watching their countrymen.

And it was just funny. But you had free food everywhere. There was always promotions. There was a gym that you could go to with like the brand new equipment. So it was crazy. It was like a crazy marketing ground too, because everybody had these new products to help you, your body and recovery and things like that, it was awesome.

[00:32:44] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. That’s very cool. I mean, just the experience of being able to be there and be in the Olympic Village and just experience everything that goes along with that.

[00:32:51] Daniel Santiago: I’m seeing Muhammad Ali. Yeah. Iconic moment. Yeah. Like the torch. When he lit the torch. Yeah. And I’m, I’m there in the arena.

I think I had that another disposable camera. Trying to get a picture of him. I don’t think that turned out too well. But I mean you’re, you’re among some of the, the, the, the best athletes in the world at their sport, at their craft, representing their country. And it was amazing to be even a, a part of that.

[00:33:24] Mike Klinzing: Well, let’s put it this way. If we said that kids were going to look at you funny, when you talk about playing basketball outside, they’re going to look at you really funny. You start talking about the disposable cameras and not knowing whether or not you got the picture.

Kids were like, what? What are these old guys talking about? It’s crazy just how, how the times, how the times change. So obviously at this point you’re, you’re looking at, Hey, I think I’m going to be able to maybe make a living doing this and at some point here you get an opportunity to go and play in Italy.  Talk a little bit about that.

[00:33:59] Daniel Santiago: So after the Olympics, that was in 96, 98. I finished my senior year at a small NAIA school in Latrobe, Pennsylvania called St. Vincent College because I just knew that I wasn’t going to get any more playing time. And I just want to go and play. And so one of my teammates from Puerto Rico was playing at that school and he told his coach and I went over there and had a great, great time and he had a lot of connections.

So I was able to get to you know, to some of the NBA draft camps. Did well, just didn’t get drafted and obviously not well enough to, to get drafted. I thought the Spurs or the Knicks were going to pick me up, but they picked up some other big guys. And so fortunately we had to go to the World Cup the world Championships for basketball in Athens.

And I did pretty well there. And the Italian team saw me. I had to go to Venezuela for another Puerto Rican like a tournament, another basketball tournament in Pan American games. And this team from Italy called me up and I flew from Venezuela to all the way to Europe. I mean, it was just a crazy, crazy, it was the longest one of the, one of the longer flights I’ve been on, I’ve been in Australia.

That’s a long flight. But this was a long run. A lot of connections to make it to, to Milan. The owner’s son picks me up in his, in his Porsche. So I’m like scrunched up in his Porsche . That was one of the loudest vehicles I’ve ever been in. And he drove me all the way up into the mountains where they were training, getting their preseason you know, going so straight from that to two a days.

Didn’t know any Italian. I’m learning Spanish because I you know, didn’t speak Spanish as well. So I’m learning Spanish, I’m learning to, trying to get Italian down too. And. And then learning the European game, like it’s totally different, very physical. I mean guys are just hitting you all over the place and that’s a big you have to be strong, you have to be able to take those punches.

So but you know, the owner the coach did not, he didn’t want me because he wanted a veteran American a reinforcement player, which you know, thinking about it now, like, okay, I get it. The owners like me because I was cheap . So, but I wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t what the coach had in mind.

So that kind of ruffled that relationship.  I’m still learning the adjustment of how to play over there. And it gets to be like the third or fourth game. And I’m starting to hear a little bit of the boo birds coming out or they like to whistle over there when they boo.

So I’m starting to hear a couple of those. But things started to click and I had a really good point guard named John Marco Pacheco, who’s actually the head coach for the Italian national team right now. And he was very good at handling the ball and one of his favorite things was the pick and roll.

So, which was great for me because the coach, he told me like, I’m not going to we’re not going to give the ball to you. You’re just there for defense and rebound the block shots. That’s it. If you get the ball and score, you know it’s going to be by accident, basically . So I’m like, whatever. All right. This is the job.

You know, I was very frustrated, but okay, this is just what God put in my hands. So let me do what I can. So starting to get the flow of it and this little point guard man, he would really good, he’d penetrate and he was a very good pastor. So it was funny because he would try to look for his, but then he would give me that pass back if he had nowhere else to go.

So I just kind of figured out, look and I’m taking my frustration and anger out on that rim every time. That was my goal. I’m going to dunk on everybody. And I started, I started like dunking on everybody. I started blocking shots catching the rhythm and figuring it out. And then he started some of the fans started getting excited because I was playing above the rim, which they didn’t see too, too often there in that, in that league.

And so then people started really cheered me on and, and they were like, man we were winning. And it was, it was a tough league. So, We ended up winning the league that year and that really gained, I gained a lot of obviously a lot of exposure, but a lot of confidence and a lot of prestige from, from other coaches and scouts.

And so that, that year we won the championship and then we were able to represent Italy in the Goodwill, McDonald’s Goodwill games, and they would invite all the teams that won championships and the Spurs won the championship in that shortened lockdown season. And so I had already had the good game against Tim Duncan when he played for USA Select, and we played in Puerto Rico against each other.

So scouts were already kind of, I was on their radar. And in this game we played the Spurs. They had David Robinson, you know Tim Duncan Avery Johnson guys like that, Mario Ellie, they just come off that championship. And I had we as a group, we played with a weaker team, then we had the year before for that Italian team.

And we were beating the Spurs the whole time and I had a really good game. I dunked on Tim Duncan. Nice. And that dunk everybody saw that and it was worldwide and everything. So that really raised my stock. And the Phoenix Sun ended up giving me a look, and that’s how I got into the Phoenix Sun Sea Scott Scholars like me and got on that team just from the success that I had for the Italian team.

[00:40:15] Mike Klinzing: All right. So talk about that experience with the Suns. What’s it like going from. European League and with Italy and then going and playing in the NBA, just what was obviously level of play, much higher. Just talk about your experiences,

[00:40:32] Daniel Santiago: Man. You know, first of all you sign and it’s just like, wow, I made it because that was one of my goals.

Right. And just being around Jason Kidd you know, Tom Gugiotta, the Matrix was just starting his career. Mario Elliot ended up being on the Phoenix Suns team. Clifford Robinson from the trailblazers, Rodney Rogers. I mean, we had a really good team and we were in the west, so we ended up winning like 55 games and still come out eighth place in the Western conference.

It was tough. I mean, I’m playing against Shaq. Playing against Duncan and Robinson and then you had Sabonis in Portland, like, I mean these guys, you see ’em on TV and you’re like, man, I’m here playing against Olajuwon, the latter part of his career. And I mean it was just amazing. It was amazing.

You know, like most guys will say they remember the popcorn smell when you first play your first NBA game, because that’s all that fills the building. And it was, it was just a great moment. And I’m out there guarding Shaq, I’m out there guarding these guys that you, that I used to watch when I was in high school, in college.

And so it was very surreal. Surreal. And it wasn’t easy. But I found a way to make it happen and did well. I held my own.

[00:42:15] Mike Klinzing: Did you feel like. Once you got there that you were going to be able to stick for a long time or did you feel like it was kind of precarious that, man, I’m right here on the bubble of I’m going to make it or may or maybe not make it.

What was your mindset at that point?

[00:42:33] Daniel Santiago: Well, I mean, I was just still learning the game and I was like, man, I mean, like I said, I was starting and we were having success. I also saw some of the politics on the other side of that because they had drafted another big guy cause everybody’s trying to stop Shaq.

So they had drafted a big Jake and so I’m starting and Jake’s coming off on the bench and that kind of didn’t look good that a minimum wage guy was out there starting in your future draft your lottery pick there sitting on the bench. So I had to lsit the bench for a while.

Like I couldn’t even dress nobody’s going to outwork me or you’re not going to say that, oh well he never comes in on time or he don’t think about me because you know, I took it serious. So, but at the end of the day we just didn’t work out. I had an injury also at the end plantar fasciitis that I dealt with and so they ended up releasing me and I kind of had to start over in a sense.

Went back to Italy and try to make the most of that situation. But I was, one thing I will say I was a little disappointed when I got to the league because I really didn’t feel like I had too many people to. Kind of take me under their wing and you know, help me. Like I had a couple of veterans do when I played in Puerto Rico and in Italy just to kind of show me the ropes.

Everybody was just doing their own thing. I mean Jason Kidd, he was cool, but everybody had, once we left the court, everybody was doing their own thing so it was for me disappointing. I thought I was going to get like the big man book of the Bible of big man moves and stuff like that.

[00:44:42] Mike Klinzing: Do you think that was the culture of that team or do you think that’s typical of what was going on in the league at that.

[00:44:51] Daniel Santiago: I think, I think it was typical what’s going on in the league, and I think it still happens. And but there are teams that are not like that, that the culture is a little bit different.

Again, we had a lot of veterans on the team, so that could have played a, a part of it, of guys that were just like, eh , I mean, they were all good dudes, but nobody really took that extra step you know, to hey, hey young fella. You know, I mean there, there were, there were certain things that they did, but it felt like that I had really learned a lot from the coach that I had at New Mexico as far as like footwork and body positioning that I.

I was one of the best post-up players that they had. So I just wasn’t getting any, any of the calls because I was the rookie and I mean, I remember seeing some of the videos of guys just like high fiving my wrist and, and I can’t even get my shot off. And the, and the referees just looking at me like, yeah, welcome to the league, rook.

So that may have pa played a part in it, but I mean, it was what it was and like I said, I did the best that I could do and it just didn’t work out. I did get back into the league after playing in Rome and played for the Milwaukee Bucks. Got to play with Toni Kukoc Michael Redd and guys like Desmond Mason, Tim Thomas, Keith Van Horn, Joe Smith.

You know, and TJ Ford. So and same thing there. I mean, I started, came off the bench and had an injury the second year, had a really bad eye injury. And then after that I went to went to Europe and played in in Malaga, Spain for three years. Won a championship there and played in Barcelona Championship there, Turkey, Belgium, and then Argentina.

And, and I always played in Puerto Rico in the summertime and for the national team and went to another Olympics in 2004.

[00:47:09] Mike Klinzing: What was your favorite country you played in?

[00:47:10] Daniel Santiago: Oh, man, that’s tough because each one has its own thing. I mean, Italy was awesome.  I mean some of the best food.

That Italian food was just, it was just so different than what you get here. It was just so fresh and like, I could eat the simple plates all day, every day. And then, and what was cool is we had like a, a favorite restaurant we used to go to and my wife became really good friends with the daughter of the owner.

And it wasn’t cheap. And we would go up there to pay and, and the father would be like, no, no, no. You know, it’s good business that you’re here. And I was like, all, well, we’ll see you tomorrow.  We’ll be back. Yeah. And let’s get this to go and Nice, nice. So, but you know, it was a different atmosphere.

Very family oriented and I started learning the language. I think a lot of people respected me for that. And to do the interviews in Italian and You know, because you know, the, the languages are very similar. So they helped me learn Spanish and Italian and so yeah, it was awesome.

Spain was, was great. I mean, we were in the, the southern coast they call it the Coast de Soul, which is the Sun Coast and, and Malaga. And that was, that was beautiful. And Barcelona is just an amazing city as well. Each, each one has its own history and way of living and culture. It’s amazing.

[00:48:44] Mike Klinzing: What’s the craziest European basketball story you can tell us? That’s pg.

[00:48:50] Daniel Santiago: Oh man. Yeah. PG 13.

[00:48:54] Mike Klinzing: How about that?

[00:48:56] Daniel Santiago: Yeah, I mean, it was just insane to me sometimes watching the. The things that would happen in the games, and you were just like wow, the referee did not make the call. And you’re like, that’s have to be one of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen.

And then, then, and then two nights later you’d be like, no, no. That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. And you know, it just seemed like it would top itself every other week. You know, just, just the official calls and then things that would happen. Fans would throw things. You know, as it was a big rivalry game, like, I remember a fan was running around, like trying to kick the players and we all had to go in the locker room.

The riot police had to go out there, calm everybody down. Then we played the game, and then we were up and they didn’t like the call that the ref made and somebody threw stuff. And then the ref was like, that’s it. Game’s over. And then all the stuff got thrown out on the court. They were throwing the coins, the screws of the chairs.

You know, they’re throwing rocks at the bus, we’re trying to get out there like alive and you’re just like, man, it’s just a basketball game, you know? I mean one of the craziest places was partisan in Belgrade in Serbian. And there was a big game that we had and all the fans knew that if their team would win, they would get into the Euro League top 16.

But we were also trying to fight for good position in the Euro, Euro League top 16 as well. So it goes into like overtime. They thought they won, they had people run out there. Didn’t they get news that one of the teams in the Euro league lost so automatically Were both in, so they’re like crazy excited.

And I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Before the game even starts, like people were stabbing each other to get tickets. like their own fans were stabbing each other to get tickets. Wow. So like that shows how the atmosphere was and, and like, okay. So we go through, we do the overtime. We ended up winning in overtime, but they kind of like, were so distracted that they had won that they were in that they didn’t play the win because we played the win.

We ended up getting into a better group. They went into the group of death. Yeah. So that was all they got was okay, they made it to the top 16. But then after that they had to play all these tough teams because of the position that they were in. So it was just, it was just crazy.

There’s just always atmospheres like that. And, and that was one of the things I really enjoyed most was going and beating somebody at, in their, their home gym. Especially in Europe. Cause it was tough to do

[00:51:39] Mike Klinzing: As long as you escape on the bus without getting pummeled with foreign objects right?

[00:51:43] Daniel Santiago: Yeah, yeah.

You know, that’s, that’s a plus too. Argentina, we had a playoff game. They threw a rock and my son and my wife, they were on the bus with us and the rock hit one of my teammates. I mean, it was, I mean, it wasn’t rock, it was like a stone. So yeah, stuff like that happens, people spit on the players.  It can get very volatile.

[00:52:10] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, there’s no doubt. I mean, I’ve heard lots of stories just of different situations similar to ones that, that you described that are kind of crazy.

[00:52:18] Daniel Santiago: Maybe you think about soccer, I mean, yeah. Right. Yep. That’s just a microcosm of it.

[00:52:23] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, for sure. No doubt about that.

All right. Tell us a little bit about the 2004 Olympics and beating the US.

[00:52:29] Daniel Santiago: Man. Another incredible experience. Again, get blessed to, to go back to the Olympics in Athens of all places like the start of the Olympics. So a lot of unique and cool history to go back to Greece and Athens. I mean, I always joke around.

I say I could probably be a Greek citizen cause of the so many tournaments that I played in Athens. So we get to go there. We qualified. And we had a really good team. We had a good mix of big guys and wings and our guards were really quick, you know Carlos Arroyo was really starting to come into his own, and that was one of his big breakout games that that he had.

We played the, the US kind of like almost like a triangle. And two, just had one guy bothering Tim Duncan, and then the other two bigs, which were me and big Jose Ortiz. We just dared the wings to shoot threes and everybody else locked up on the little guards like Iverson and Marbury.

And they couldn’t shoot, they didn’t shoot very well from the outside and we really relied on that. And then we just tried to get the rebound and run our break. And we were able to do that and, and hit big shots throughout the, throughout the whole, the whole game. And it was like, it was the first game.

So it was a big statement that we made. And obviously as you see the Netflix you know, movie about the redeem team, that was kind of like the, the straw that broke the camel’s back on that because they couldn’t just bring guys two, three weeks before and just bring them in and play.

Cause Argentina beat them in the world championships and they had guys that were very good players, but just been playing together for a very long time. So the same thing with us. We had guys that had been playing together for a couple of years and that that was, that was a big key factor, so that’s why they had to start changing things.

So but it was really cool to be a part of that. It was on a. International stage you know, it’s on, on the internet, so it’s still relevant . Yep, yep. So, but I mean, I get a lot of people Puerto Ricans people from Europe even Americans that will remember and they’re like, yeah, we watched that game, and you guys kicked our butt.

And, and so it was a part of basketball history that I’m very proud to say that I one of the many games that I’ve been a part of making basketball history and God blessed me with that opportunity and bless our team.

[00:55:19] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, I think you said it really well, obviously, just for you personally to be able to be a part of that and experience it, but then also.

What it did to or for I guess u s a basketball, to be able to sort of jumpstart the change in looking at it and saying, Hey, we have to do things differently. And then obviously anybody who’s watched the your team video, you get a chance to, to see kind of what the mindset was of USA basketball to, to make a change.

And obviously that game against you guys was part of that whole process that kind of kickstarted it. So being able to be in two Olympic games and, and be able to, to do it in your home country in Atlanta, and then to be able to go and experience it in Athens, I’m sure was just, yeah, I can’t even imagine Just the, the, the opportunity to, again, to be a part of that Olympic village and just to go through and opening ceremonies in both of those places and then just be a part of that, I’m sure was, was super special.

At any point during your coaching career. Were you thinking about coaching? Was that something that was on your mind while you were playing that, Hey, someday maybe I’m going to, I’m going to get into coaching? Or was it more a case of, well now my playing career’s over and I kind of want to stay involved in the game.

How do you get to that point with coaching?

[00:56:40] Daniel Santiago: Well yeah, I mean, it was something that I always I mean, I thought about in the back of my mind you know, retirement kind of came up quick for me. It wasn’t an injury or anything like that, it was just my, my kids were in high school.

And when you’re playing overseas sometimes you don’t know what city you’re going to be in, what country it’s going to be. Is it going to be safe? Are there the schools that your kids would be able to do, do well in as far as like the academics there’s a lot of. Like things that I think some people don’t really think about they think it’s just, ah, you just get to play and you just make money.

But you know, you have a family and so…

[00:57:30] Mike Klinzing: That might be true when you’re 22 or 23. Right. It changes as you get older,

[00:57:34] Daniel Santiago: For sure. Right, right, right. So that was a factor in me going into retirement. But I always kind of had that in the back of my mind what to do.

I feel like I probably could have planned some things out a little bit better because like when it happens, it’s like, okay, now what? Yep. You know, and, and you know, so fortunately I’ve kind of kept up with networking and talking to people. And I used to train at IMG a couple of years in when I was still playing as a pro and I thought, man, it’d be kind of cool to be a coach at IMG.

And so that door kind of opened up. One of the directors at the time, he, they were trying to get this big Indian kid Satna Singh, who’s now in the a e w wrestling. He, he was from India. He was trying to become the first Indian born n b A player drafted in the nba. And so that was an opportunity for me to kind of like, work him out and just show him how to be successful and worked him real hard and.

That was kind of like the door that opened for me to kind of start getting into coaching and just get my foot in the door. And he did well and got drafted. He played about two or three years for the, the, the G League legends. And then later on I think went to some other places to play.

And now he’s like a new figure in the a e w wrestling. And he came back and visited and I mean, he’s big. He’s seven three, he’s over 300 pounds. I mean, he looks like one of those statues, those Greek god statues. I mean, he’s huge. Great guy. Lovable guy man. So was blessed to have that opportunity.

So that kind of got my door got my foot in the door and a new director came aboard and I applied and a guy that I knew by the name of Billy Clapper he knew me, I played on his TBT team when it was starting up for sideline cancer. Okay. And so he told me there was a coaching opportunity and then I applied and just got in that way.

So I’ve been doing it for about seven years. Been able to. To work out some, some pros and guys that were going from college to get drafted. I’ve worked with Jarett Allen Luke Cornett and Ja Morant. The name a few and just really enjoyed that aspect of it. And then I do the same work out the high school and post-grad kids that we have at IMG.

We have like 18 teams now, so from middle jv, high school varsity to post-grad and, and also boys and girls. So I get to work with a lot of interesting kids from different countries. And it’s a blessing. I’m just trying to give back and teach them all the things that I experienced and hopefully they’ll use it and put it to put it to good use for their futures and their careers and in basketball and in life.

[01:00:55] Mike Klinzing: What’s your process like when you start working with a new player, whether it be a pro, whether it be one of the high school kids at IMG when you’re sitting down and you’re going to work with the player and go through their first workout with them, what do you do to prep yourself to be able to, to provide them with the most value that you can?

[01:01:13] Daniel Santiago: Well you, you first, you just kind of want to relate to them in some way. Like if the person’s from another country there’s a possibility I might know some of their language or something. And so I think that’s something that’s beneficial. You just try to find a common ground and, and at the end of the day, look man, I’m here for you and to get you better and I’m going to try to teach you all the things that gave me success.

Cause you know, I’ve been. Almost every level you’re can think of. I mean, from freshman team to jv, to varsity, to junior college, D one, NAIA International, Olympic NBA, you know I mean, I pretty much can cover just about every level go to, so for sure, at the end of the day, I’m trying to make you look good.

And these are the little tricks that I learned along the way. I think it’ll benefit you but at the same time, the player has to believe in it  and trust it. So like I said, nowadays kids can look you up on the internet and they’re like, oh, you’re on the internet.

So  you must know what you’re talking about. And so sometimes it goes like that, but yeah, just trying to find a common ground with them and try to relate to them and, and at the end of the day it might just be like, Hey man, you’re, you’re messing with your money right now.

Let’s get focused. And sometimes that’ll be the, the thing that they need to hear.

[01:02:53] Mike Klinzing: How much film do you watch with players? Or how much film do you watch when you’re prepping, kind of putting it together, whether it’s with a pro or if you’re working with one of your guys at IMG when you’re working with one of the kids, are you looking at game film of them or with them so you can kind of get an idea of what they do, what they need to work on?

[01:03:11] Daniel Santiago: Well as far as like the pros or the guys that are trying to get drafted you kind of already have an idea. You know, they’re, they’re pretty much almost Set in the ways you know, that they shoot, because you, unless it’s just something that’s really drastic and something that they are going to sit down and change, like I try to be careful not to change too much with somebody’s shooting technique.

Maybe a detail a ball positioning or something like that. But I believe that’s something that’s, if you’re going to overhaul somebody’s shot, for example, like, they have to be, they have to be like mentally Committed to do it. Yep. No doubt. You know, cause I’ve tried to help one kid and they would bring the ball from the, they were right-handed, they would bring the ball to the left side of their body and shoot.

And it was just very, very inconsistent, and the kid was about, 18, 17, 18, but it just already kind of set in their ways. And I would just say, Hey, all right, this is something you have to do. It’s a habit that you have to break. If you say you want to do it, then this is what you have to do.

And this kid was always resorting back to the old way of doing things, and I was just like, all right. You know, I, I feel like I’m going to cause more harm than good by just beating them over the head on it. I mean, there’s some kids that will take it and they’ll figure it out.

But there are some that are just they just keep going back to the old way, whether it’s just a confidence or they’re so comfortable doing it that way. They don’t want to change. There could be fear and there’s that mental side of things because you want them to trust you. But sometimes you just have to.

Step back and kind of let them fall on their own, and then maybe they’ll come back too and hey, maybe not, and maybe somebody else will change it down the road. But if I have the chance to watch film with, especially the younger kids, just so they can see the game the way that a pro sees the game I definitelydo that.

And at IMG we have we try to record all the kids’ games. So that is something that’s a possibility and that we do. And, and I’m able to, I mean, we have so many games, I can’t watch all of them, but Right, exactly. 18, you’re not watching every game. Oh my gosh, , no, man, I can’t, I can’t do you know, so, but you know, especially teams that got big players on that, I’ve been like working with a little more individually.

Then I’ll be like, all right, hey this was really good. Now just watch out for this and just help ’em along the way. But the video is just very valuable. That helped me a lot throughout my career. And so I’ll even tell them of my mistakes I’m like, man, it’s good that you have somebody that’s in senior year.

Because there was a point in my career where I started shooting my free throw a different way where I’d bring it back behind my head and my shot would hit the front of the rim a lot because it was almost a line drive. And I go, for whatever reason, I don’t know why I made that change. And nobody told me I mean, now I shoot it the proper way, especially when I teach it.

But I was just like I could have been a better shooter at the free throw line if I had somebody alongside to say, Hey, why are you shooting it like that? And so that’s kind of what I, that’s the example I used for the kids and, and tried to tell them, Hey why do you hold the ball in this position?

You know, you’re just, it’s too much movement or you know, whatever it is.

[01:07:01] Mike Klinzing: Right. So tell me a little bit about your day-to-day at IMG. So what, I don’t know if you have a typical day, but just kind of walk us through what it looks like. Like what are you doing on a daily basis in terms of your coaching responsibilities?

[01:07:15] Daniel Santiago: Well, it just depends on the time of the year the time of the season. I mean, we have kind of like the summertime we have a lot of camps, so most of the kids are home in their countries playing for their, their teams and aau AAU teams. And we’re doing camp.

So that camp we have like two sessions. It can be from eight to 10, and then from one to three. And that will be throughout the, the whole week for I don’t know how many months. It just seems like forever, sometimes , but you know, that, that is a real grind. That’s the summertime and that’s where we get a lot of kids that come here for the camp.

And then they, they’re like, man, they like it so much. And then they want to improve their game and they’ll decide to come here and, and Then we’ll have, when school starts, we’ll have like a preseason where because I’m right now I’m like a skills and development coach. So there’s two other guys, two, three other guys.

And we will, we will get everybody the basic skills that they need to be successful at the position that they’re playing at. And so the kids are exposed to post ups pin downs pick and roll everything that you could possibly think of. We try to give it to ’em and then and that way once the season starts and they start getting with their teams, they should be able to kind of hit the ground running, so to speak.

And so when a coach says, all right, we’re going to do a ball screen on the side, the kid knows what to do, how to do. And at least the fundamental part of it. And so yeah, then we’ll do that. That’ll be like the preseason. And then once the teams are assigned, then us as skills coaches, we might be with one or two different teams throughout the day, depending on the needs of the coaches, be like, Hey my big guys, they need to work on the picking roles or their post ups.

You know, if you could just work with this guy and then we’ll set up a time and, and try to do that. And at the same time, I’m also assistant coach for one of the varsity teams, so I have to be with those guys as well. So we kind of, our jacks of different trades here and everybody helps everybody out.

And I mean, we got an awesome staff, a lot of people with a lot of experience, ex pros high level coaches. So you’re, and you’re always learning, like you’re learning, like whenever I walk by somebody else’s practice, like I’ll see something, I’ll just record it and like, man, I like that. You know, I like the way they do that on defense, or whatever it is.

So there’s like a wealth of knowledge here with the 18 teams we have. So it’s pretty cool. So, I mean, I could get home by four or four 30 or I could be there till eight. It just depends on what is needed on that day. So scheduling is very important.

[01:10:26] Mike Klinzing: Have you been, have you been in the same role during the entire time that you’ve been there?

[01:10:32] Daniel Santiago: Yes and no. Because like I said, I’m always trying to help out the post players and the bigger kids. But I’ve been assistant coaches assistant coach for the girls postgrad for the girls varsity. I’ve been a head coach for one of the of varsity teams we had one year because they had so many kids on the team and we had to split ’em up to make sure they all are getting, you know looked at getting film right.

And so, like, it just, it just depends on what, what, what is needed at the time. And, and sometimes you just have to answer that call and do that. So, but it’s fun. You know, it’s not easy because there’s a lot that goes on. And like we always say at IMG there’s a lot of moving parts,

Cause you have different departments the academic side and you know, making sure the kids are getting the food if they’re. Bringing the food over and things like that. So it’s a lot that goes on. It’s a pretty amazing place.

[01:11:37] Mike Klinzing: What’s your favorite part about being in that type of atmosphere as opposed to, let’s say, when you think about a coaching career as opposed to maybe being a coaching at the college level or even at the high school level, what, what do you love about being at IMG?

And I know you maybe can’t necessarily compare it directly because you haven’t been in those positions, but just when you think about what your day-to-day is like at IMG, what do you love about it?

[01:11:58] Daniel Santiago: I mean, you’re just around basketball all the time and you’re around some pretty amazing kids. Like I said, just kids from different places and the one thing I really enjoy is seeing when you’ve worked with a kid or maybe even just talked with them and that, that moment where they do it and you’re just like, that’s it right there.

And then they’re like, okay and they get it. Now you just try to do it again and Right. Yeah. So those are the moments I really enjoy is just seeing that, seeing the kid that’s maybe been there for two, three years to see where they’ve come from and then where they are now, that kind of a thing.

So those are just real rewarding moments because like, these kids don’t understand like the resources that are available to them. Like, like I said, we didn’t have cones. I mean, we have a plethora of cones and chairs and all these props to help them and, you know what I mean? So, yeah. some really take it in and are appreciative.

And then others not so much. And I mean, we get all different ends of the spectrum. So it’s just kind of cool to try to. Figure out those puzzles and those locks and the kids that come with maybe damage from other teams or you, you just try to help ’em, whether it’s basketball or just some good life advice you know, to help them.

So those are some of the things I really enjoy.

[01:13:42] Mike Klinzing: So when you are looking at, again, working across 18 teams, so you’re talking about what, 200 players or so

[01:13:51] Daniel Santiago: 140

[01:13:54] Mike Klinzing: Okay. So you’re not necessarily getting to spend a ton of time with. Each and every kid, but there’s clearly some that you’re going to spend more time with either because they’re, again, they’re a big guy that can use your specific expertise.

But like, let’s just say that there’s a kid who you’re spending a lot of time with. What is that? What’s the amount of time that you’re spending with a kid during a season? Obviously you’re helping out with a, with a team, but when you’re working with an individual player, like how much time are we talking about that they’re seeing you on a one-on-one or a small group basis over the course of a week or a month?

[01:14:30] Daniel Santiago: Yeah, it is really hard to say. It just depends. If I am like assigned to a team, like I’m an assistant coach with the team with our varsity blue right now, I mean, I’ll definitely see those guys and they’ll hear my voice almost, almost as much as they’ll hear the, the head coach’s voice.

Because we’ve, we’ve been there, we’ve done that, and the coach has that confidence in us that we’re, we’re on the same page. And also just to point things out, like why, why would you stand there? You know, or why did you know? Right. I know. You know, sometimes it’s stuff that’s, that’s obvious.

Yep. And, and it’s good to have an extra set of eyes. To be able to help it out. Cause you know, the head coaches have so many things they have to they want to get through and take care of. And sometimes maybe the kids don’t understand. Even if it might be a kid that speaks more Spanish than, than English and or Italian.

And I can just tell ’em, Hey and I’ll tell ’em in their language and, and it’ll just kind of help them out a little bit. So yeah, it could be a full, a full hour together. It could be a full two hours of the practice time. It just really varies on the time what the schedule is and things like that.

But I mean, we see these kids we’re always hey guys always trying to have a positive atmosphere where everybody is saying hello to each other and acknowledging each other and especially for some of these kids, you know. That, that, that’s a big thing, you know? Cause some of them are away from home.

They’re in a boarding school and they their parents aren’t around and they need that encouragement. Like, Hey man you’re doing all right today. You know? And alright man we can, we can talk or you know, Hey,  I’ll see he had a great game the other night, man, keep it up.

You know, just words of encouragement. These kids needed so much. There’s so much negativity out there.

[01:16:33] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. I think that ability And when we talked to Jeremy Schiller, who you’re working with, obviously with your I M G Blue team. Yeah. When we, when we spoke with Jeremy, he talked a lot about how important he felt it was to be able to, to build that culture.

Like once the teams are put together, that he really focuses a lot on trying to make sure that, that those kids come together as a group and come together as a team. And as you said that they’re getting some of that encouragement and, and because they are. In many cases, a long way from home, and they don’t have family, obviously, they’re with them.

And, and you guys as coaches kind of become their their defacto family, right? So to be able to, to sort of build that culture. So when you think about that piece of it and, and, and building a culture with kids who are coming from all over the world and they’re put together and in a couple weeks they kind of have to put it all together and form a cohesive team.

How, what does that look like? How do you think about that process for you in your position?

[01:17:33] Daniel Santiago: I mean, I just remember when I played like, I mean one day you’re playing with guys that you know, and the next thing you know it, you’re flying to another country where they speak a whole different language and they do things really different.

And you have to figure it out really quick or else you’ll lose your job. I mean, it, they’re not, the kids are not losing their job because most of ’em are not paid to be there. But it’s good to have that voice of sympathy and compassion and that we could say, Hey man, I remember when I was in Italy and this happened that happened it’s kind of like, you know how it’s going here I’m sure you’re missing that food or whatever.

And, and then I’ll just talk to him about, oh yeah, I remember that one dish that the Italians always made. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I like that. You know, and. Get their mind off of some of those things and just kind of help them to refocus because I mean, I had to do that. I remember that being alone, not able to speak the language and, and you know, your teammates were like, ah, we don’t know about this guy.

And, and so I’m just like I’ll just, I’ll just try to tell ’em like, you, you be the one that sets the temperature to the room. Like if somebody’s going to be mean to you, then you know what? That’s the way they are. And you don’t let that affect your day. You know, if things aren’t going well everybody has their days.

Take a deep breath, take a step back, all right. And that’s getting back into it. Because if this is what you want to do, you want to play basketball, you have to be able to do that and make those adjustments. And it’s going to have to be like, really quick in the game because we need you out there that kind of a thing.

So, yeah. And culture, each coach has a different way of setting standard and having culture. So that, that’s also a challenge too, because if the kid is on one team one year, now they moved him up to varsity, it’s a different culture, a lot more accountability, and sometimes the kid hasn’t matured yet to be able to handle that.

So there’s a lot of dynamics, but like I said, we got a great group of people. We have mental coaches nutrition leadership coaches to really try to help those kids and you know, so it’s really cool.

[01:19:54] Mike Klinzing: I love the idea that you can use, as you said earlier, your experiences at all different levels of the game.

There’s really nothing that you haven’t experienced in some way. And to be able to have you as a resource to, to share with those kids and pour into ’em and give ’em an opportunity to learn from somebody who’s had your extensive experience all over the world and the game of basketball, I’m sure is something that is extremely valuable.

Before we wrap up here, Daniel, I want to ask you one final two part question. Sure. Part one is, when you look ahead over the next year or two, what do you see as being the biggest challenge that you have in front of you? And then the second part is when you think about what you get to do every single day, what brings you the most joy about coaching at IMG?

So your biggest challenge and then your biggest joy.

[01:20:39] Daniel Santiago: You know, I think right now the biggest challenge just being honest with you, is just being able to be valued. Getting paid what you’re worth and that’s really hard to find nowadays. A lot of people that have some very high quality experience are not in positions where they can be very effective just because of the pay or whatever it is.

So I think that’s the challenge for me because I feel like I do bring a lot of valuable things to, to IMG and again just very blessed to be a part of it. But we just always want to strive to do better, get better. And you would like to be rewarded for some of those things.

So, I mean, I think that’s within a job you want to feel valued and you want to be in a place where they like yes we value you and we feel like you’re an integral part of what we do here. So I think tthat for me, is a challenge. And then like I said before, I mean, I just really enjoy helping these kids kind of find their way in this world.

You know? Whether it is through basketball or not through basketball or whatever sport it is, I mean, it’s not for everybody. You know, the game of basketball, the game of baseball, football, it is not for everybody. And so hopefully these kids will be able to learn some things. Maybe it is for them, but then maybe they’ll take some of the things that they learn because I believe just about any sport, you’re going to be able to learn something to incorporate into the working world or the next step in your career. So yeah, just knowing your value and just being able to help people make that next step in their, in their career or in their journey in life. So those are, those are the challenges and, and also the things that I enjoy.

[01:22:49] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, absolutely. That’s well said. I think talking about, again, not just making an impact on the basketball court, but making an impact on your players’ lives off the court. And I think that’s what everybody, as a coach, there’s obviously wins and losses that are a big part of how we all get evaluated, but at the same time, every coach would say that being able to impact the players in more ways than just teaching ’em how to be a better shooter or have better footwork if you can really impact them off the floor. That’s really what it’s all about. Before we wrap up, I want to give you a chance to share how people can find out more about you, whether you want to share social media, email, how could people reach out to you, find out more about what you’re doing, and then I’ll jump back in and wrap things.

[01:23:32] Daniel Santiago: Yeah, I mean, I’m on LinkedIn, you know just my name, Daniel Santiago. And then Instagram, I try to put up some, some cool photos or whatever, like throwback days or whatever. And that’s Daniel Santiago 1525. So yeah, I mean, really don’t have too much else going on other than just always open and available.

And one thing cool about Instagram, I’ve been able to connect with some old teammates and good friends and you know, friends of the family over the past couple of years. You know, my daughter got me into the Instagram thing, so , it’s like a blessing and a curse. Yep. And sometimes you’re just like, man, how long I’ve been scroll.

So, you know but yeah, so that’s, that’s where they can find me and you. I mean, you can find me at the IMG website and shoot me a email on my work and I’ll try to get back to you.

[01:24:29] Mike Klinzing: Awesome. Daniel, can I thank you enough for taking the time out of your schedule tonight? Really appreciate it, and everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode.  Thanks.