SEASON 3 PART 1 WITH DWAYNE KILLINGS – UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH – EPISODE 847

Website – https://ualbanysports.com/sports/mens-basketball

Email – killingsdwayne@gmail.com

Twitter – @CoachKillingsDK

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Dwayne Killings is entering his third season as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University at Albany.  This episode will be the first in a series that will chronicle the 2023-2024 season as Killings and the Great Danes compete for an America East Conference Championship. 

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Get ready to take some notes as you listen to this episode with Dwayne Killings, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University at Albany.

What We Discuss with Dwayne Killings

• The challenges and injuries the Great Danes had to fight through in the 22-23 season
• The development of Jonathan Beagle and Marcus Jackson
• “It’s a big year for us moving into the arena and obviously going into year three in a really good league.”
• “I think the capital region has felt our impact in terms of our ability to connect our campus to the community at large.”
• “I think we’ve really defined our culture, really defined how we want to win. And I think we have the right guys to do it.”
• Bringing back KJ Baptiste as an assistant coach after one year away at Florida Gulf Coast
• “I think (assistant coach) Ryan Daly may not always be the most talented guy, but he’s got all the heart in the world. And when you put that on the floor, I think you teach guys how to win.”
• Assistant Coach Dan Madhavapallil and what he means to the program
• Adding former player Matt Cerruti to the staff
• “Some people talk about what they could do, we’re doing it, we’re creating opportunities. We’re supporting our guys beyond their playing days. I think that’s important.”
• Hiring former Buffalo Head Coach Jim Whitesell
• “I think we have a really strong staff we have the ability to really teach, to develop, to inspire kids, to motivate our kids, have fun with our kids. That’s what it’s really about. And I think we’ll be ready for all the situations that come up in a college basketball season.”
• Putting together a recruiting class with a mix of high school and portal players
• The strengths of each of the players on the roster
• Retaining players during this new era of the transfer portal in college basketball
• NIL at Albany
• How the remodeled arena can provide a huge boost for the program
• Having people believe in you as the Head Coach of a program
• The love of basketball that his son is developing
• Thinking of ways to do things differently that can add to the success of the program
• Learning to decide what is important right now when there are so many things that you want to do
• “Sometimes you have to grow in a different way than what you anticipated.”
• Listening to player input and what the players need/want
• “I think coaches need a clear minds, players need clear minds and then go have some fun, man.”
• “I’m not going to boast about my daily habits and routines, but I know what I do and I know what I put into it.”
• “Do you want to be a fountain or do you want to be a drain?”
• “Can we get into their mind space in their world to help control and help them get to the outcomes that we all want? And that’s making better players, better men and better students.”

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THANKS, DWAYNE KILLINGS

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TRANSCRIPT FOR SEASON 3 PART 1 WITH DWAYNE KILLINGS – UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH – EPISODE 847

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads Podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle tonight, but I am pleased to be joined once again, back for more, Dwayne Killings, the head men’s basketball coach at the University at Albany. If you recall, we did a series during Dwayne’s first year and we are back in year three to go through and hopefully do another series of pods with Dwayne as he goes through this season, which as you’re about to hear, he is very optimistic about where the Great Danes basketball program is at the current time. So let’s start there, Dwayne, just give us a quick update of where you’re at heading into year three and what the thought process is and where you are with the program.

[00:00:44] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, well first Mike, it’s great to be back on with you I really enjoyed this experience when we first started it and it was funny over the last probably year and a half running into some people that say they listened to it, they followed it, which was pretty cool. You know, just kind of telling your story and hopefully people find value in it.

In regards to the program obviously I think our first year we did some really good things. We had the Defensive the player of the year, we developed a couple of guys, all the players we kind of battled through a lot of adversity through injuries and things of that nature.

And then as we segued to year two I thought optimism was really high. Our team obviously couldn’t perform at the level that we wanted. But we did some decent things and decent moments, but we couldn’t stay healthy. We lost the returning rookie of the year from our first game, Justin Neely who, tore the ACL our first game of the year which really hurt us and then we lost a couple other guys throughout various points of the season that just…

We couldn’t find our way. But you know, I thought the lucky part of it was that we developed the rookie of the year. Jonathan Beagle was a five man. I thought he had a really good year for a freshman. Marcus Jackson I thought he went from being a walk on to emerging as a leader within our program.

And I think when you step back I thought we grew through adversity and we had a lot of it. But I thought there was a lot of growth within our program. You have to allow yourself to see it. And in the midst of that we’re playing off campus at an off campus arena throughout the season because they’re redoing our building. We have a brand new 12 million project and it’s beautiful as it continues to develop, they’re putting in the seats, they’re finishing the locker room, finishing the film room, finishing the lounge. I mean, it’s going to be a big time opportunity for our community, for recruiting and for our players.

The business is the business so we’re working on trying to help a former player within the program start a collective. We went through the portal and I thought we did really well in recruiting. And I think we’ve done the things to move the program forward.

It’s a big year for us moving into the arena and obviously going into year three in a really good league.  I think the America East people don’t talk about it enough, but there’s really good coaches, really good players. We have two players that went into the portal that had high major opportunities.

We were fortunate to get ours back. There was another one in the league to add that kind of opportunity to command a lot of money, a lot of opportunity. But I think there’s quality coaches, quality programs, really strong relationships within the programs. So luckily both programs are able to get the kids back, but I think the biggest point is really good basketball, really good communities, really good opportunities to chase championships and for kids to chase their dreams. That’s all we’re trying to do here. And probably the other piece that I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention is we’ve done a lot in the community.  I think the capital region has felt our impact in terms of our ability to connect our campus to the community at large and creating programming and getting kids maybe that hadn’t touched the campus onto the campus, getting people engaged with the program, whether it’s from a giving standpoint, or it’s just coming to a game and cheer that have never done it.

So I think those are positive building blocks and a lot of people believe in what we’re trying to do. And now we want to take a big step forward this season.  Guys are working, they’re believing, but I think the biggest thing, they got really good relationships. I think we’ve really defined our culture, really defined how we want to win.

And I think we have the right guys to do it. And now we’ve got to continue to build amidst the journey. It’s a process but we’re in it and we’re excited about it.

[00:04:35] Mike Klinzing: So this offseason, you add a couple of new guys to the staff, talk a little bit about the strengths that they bring to the program.

Obviously, you got Jim Whitesell, who was former head coach at the University of Buffalo and Loyola Chicago, among other places. And then you bring in your former player, Matt Cerruti, as well. Clearly, anytime you can have, I think, an alum on staff that helps build that connection that you’re talking about with the community, with the players, the program.

So just talk a little bit about what those two guys are going to bring to the program this season.

[00:05:03] Dwayne Killings: Yeah. Last year, Bobby Jordan was on our staff and he’s really close. He’s one of my closest friends in the business and it’s great being with him. I mean, he’s a competitor, a tireless worker. And he gets a phone call, has a chance to go to Temple as an assistant coach. He’s got to do it. So it made me take a step back about, okay, well, what’s the best thing for our program? What’s the best thing for our players? What’s the best thing for me to try to continue to push our program forward.

So I got on the phone with KJ Baptiste and he was with us our first year and went to Florida Gulf Coast. And I want to bring him back because I think he’s an elite level player developer. I mean, that dude has tireless energy. I saw a guy on campus that I met for the first time.

He just started. He met KJ and he was like, I was blown away by the guy, the energy, the way he engages, the way he talks. He’s like he’s talking about the program. He’s talking about the building. You get excited talking to KJ. So I wanted that energy around me. And the one thing I’ve learned in this training, I feed off of people’s energy.

He’s got like this limitless energy. He’s a great teacher. He’s a great motivator. He’s a great player developer. And I think he’s a really good recruiter. You know, I think that’s not necessarily part of his narrative. And I think with KJ as he moves forward, I mean, he’ll ask me all the time, how did you get there?

I said, just work, just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re going to be a high major guy. You’re going to be a head coach. So I was excited to get him back and I think our guys have benefited from it. You could see right away when he hit campus. Guys are calling him right away to get in the gym.

I mean, I think that’s a powerful thing because they believe in him. Obviously Ryan Daly was with us last year. I thought he did a great job in terms of the ability to connect to players he’s a former player. You put them out there on the court. I mean, that dude, he’s got talent, he rumbled, you know what I mean?

He raised the level of practice. I think Ryan may not always be the most talented guy, but he’s got all the heart in the world. And when you put that on the floor, I think you teach guys how to win. I think Ryan has that ability. He did a really good job in the portal and recruiting this offseason.

You know, Dan Madhavapallil this past season was in an assistant coach capacity. He’s still going to stay in that, but he’ll still manage our operations this season. But he’s been great just because he understands the culture. He understands the program. I mean, he’s one of the most positive people you’ll ever meet, a really smart human being.

And he cares about people, cares about the kids and he’s really helped me. Last night we were in the office like 8:30 at night, me and coach Whitesell. So that’s really just talking about offense and things we’re going to do this year. So I think what, what he’s been able to do is like, okay, let me take the things you’re trying to do.

And just kind of continue to keep us on track like the things we want to install and things of that nature, because he gets it. He knows the big picture. He knows me. So I’m excited for him and the season. And then you know, obviously we’ve added Matt Cerrutti, who’s a former player Matt was our first, my first commitment ever as a head coach. And you get a head coaching job, you didn’t even get LeBron James. And you ended up getting a kid that was a really good player, but he came from the division two to Albany and you do it. And I’m like, man let’s see where this goes.

And I remember his high school coach was like he’s got to play a little bit if he comes. And I’m like, yeah we can get him out there, first practice. I’m like, get him out there. He’s going to start, he dove for a loose ball, one of the first possessions ever, and our practices.

And I was like, man, I love this kid. He’s a winner. He loves to play. He’s an everyday guy. He’s in the gym. He’s getting shots up. He’s working. I was like, this is my kind of guy. And he really believed in what I wanted to do. And I had a conversation with his mother this summer and she was like, he learned so much about how to approach life in terms of like engaging with people and follow up and being really consistent. So that, that meant a lot to bring a guy back that you coach and has been in the program meant a lot to me to be able to one, create this opportunity for him and two, he deserved it. And three, now you create a career for him.

So when you get in front of recruits, it’s like, Hey, some people talk about what they could do, we’re doing it, we’re creating opportunities. We’re supporting our guys beyond their playing days. I think that’s important. And then in practices, like he’s a young guy. When I was his age, I mean, I was trying to figure it out.

But his advantage is he knows what we want to do. He knows the drills. He knows the intensity. He knows the defensive coverage. So he’s got this really unique way to help the guys get better. And I love that. I think Matt’s going to be a really good college basketball coach. And then coach Whitesell, you hire a guy you don’t know.

And that’s probably been probably one of the harder things to do in this job, because you don’t know how the guy’s going to be I hired KJ. I didn’t know him one of my close friends Kevin Freeman knew him. And then like KJ becomes like a little brother and a guy that I’m mentoring.

And now he’s working with us. It’s great. Coach Whitesell people that know him, you start making phone calls, Rob Judson who I worked with at Marquette. I told him what I was looking for and he gave me his name and we talked on the phone for like an hour and a half one night and I was like, I like this guy.

And he shows up in a suit and tie and I’m like, you don’t need to do that. You know, me at Albany, he’s like, yes, I do. I love his professionalism. And then you need me? How do you need me to help you get this program where you want? And then you start talking and one night we sit down and we have a glass of wine and we’re just kind of talking through the business.

And then over the last, probably a month or so being around each other. You know, he’s a really good person. He’s got a great basketball mind. He’s seen the game a lot. We’re talking about Rick Majerus, talking about Fran Dunphy, talking about coaching the Big East we’re talking about late game situations, talking about Jonathan Beagle, Sebastian Thomas, and all the other guys we have on our team.

And I’m like, this guy’s perfect and I said to our guys one day we talked about like, Giving your ego up for the team. And I said I’ll give you an example for me.  We’re going to be in a tight game situation. If I let my ego get in the way, I’m going to say, I got the board I got it I know exactly what to do, or I can say, Hey, coach, let me make sure this is right.

Because he’s been through this a lot. He’s been a head coach. Had two really good programs, had a lot of success. We’ve been doing it for 42 years. That’s huge for me. And he’s been a great sounding board. You know, he’s been a great you know, mentor, coach, developer for the players. And he’s also challenged me some.

So he’s helped me grow. So I really appreciate him for taking this opportunity come being a part of a program. He’s just a good dude. We got really good guys in that office. People on campus, they like coming around. There’s a lot of energy, got good people. And then at the same time we try to say, okay, how can we think different?

Is there a way we can do something a little bit quicker in terms of getting the outcomes that we want on campus, whether it’s with basketball or the other things you try to do our college basketball program. So it’s been a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this group. And I think we got a really strong staff we got the ability to really teach, to develop to inspire kids, to motivate our kids, have fun with our kids.

That’s what it’s really about. And I think we’ll be ready for all the situations that come up in a college basketball season.

[00:12:37] Mike Klinzing: All right. That’s the staff side of it, player side of it. How has the portal versus recruiting out of high school versus trying to get the right guys into the program.

Obviously, when you take over, you inherit a roster of players. And as you approach year 3, 4, 5, you’re starting to get where it’s no longer players from the previous regime. Players that you brought in. So what’s the recruiting process look like and how have you negotiated the portal? You talked a little bit about it off the top, but just tell me a little bit about where you are as far as the process of recruiting and what you’re selling there at UAlbany.

[00:13:17] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I think the process of recruiting, you have to be really honest with yourself,  a couple of guys didn’t work out and that’s okay. I think in college basketball today, when I say that, it’s really about the fit for our program and also for that individual where can he be really successful where can he be really happy maybe they’re looking for a bigger role maybe they think they can find success somewhere else.

That’s okay. You know, and I think that was a little harder to come to terms with earlier on, but I get that for us, I think we’ve been really lucky. I mean, we’ve been able to identify talent. I mean, you talk about getting a kid from Miami that’s working the year and get a kid locally that you have to rumble for to get them.

I mean really good programs that program locally. Recruiting him an A-10 program, an ACC program, we’re able to get him. And then he goes in the portal, we’re able to get him back. I mean, I think that says a lot about him most importantly and what’s important to him, but I think that’s also his belief in what we’re trying to do.

Great. Let’s continue to do it. It’s kind of our mentality here is like, how do we continue to get that caliber of talent, like a rookie of the year, meaning like the best freshman in our league year in and year out. This past year, we kind of took a different approach with our class.

We’re going to bring in a couple of guys that we really believe in, but maybe that they filled their roles over 4 years and they kind of expanded from year 1, 2, 3, and 4. We did have another kid committed to our program unfortunately. Didn’t work out. I think the kids are going to be really good college basketball player in another place.

So we still believe in high school recruiting. I think that’s a place where we can still get talent that can impact our league and help us win at a high level. But obviously it would be foolish not to get into the portal. So we kind of talk about having hybrid classes, both college, I’m sorry, college portal kids.

And then I think it’s about, okay, you can get players, but you got to get the right guys who are the right guys going to help us win the way we want to play. We want to get up and down in transition. That means you got to have good defensive basketball players.

1st and foremost, you can get defensive stops and get out and run. We want guys that can make shots from the perimeter, are really versatile that come from winning programs. And Tyler Bertram, I mean, he’s done it in our league he’s a really good high school basketball player.

Had a really good reputation, he’s had a good college career, and he gets a chance to come home and play for us. We’re really excited to get him. We needed another playmaker a guy that made us better, a guy that understood that to break us down could read the defense could play with pace.

And that’s one of the things we want to be able to do. Stylistically that’s why we recruited Sebastian Thomas. You know, that was hard for us to get him kid from, went to Rhode Island is from Providence. You know, we had to compete against other teams in our league. He believed in what we were trying to do.

He’s here. He’s great. And I think the thing for him is watching him improve we talked about, okay, like you got to attack the weight room he’s put 10 pounds of weight on for guys kind of slight by size, great we talk about him using his voice and the way he carries himself is really important, just as important on the court as off.

And I thought anything he’s bought into and he’s doing some things that he didn’t do as a person that to help him as a player, so I think that speaks to the development piece because if we can get the right guys, and even if we have to continue to develop and think about what they can be as you go from month 1, 2, 3, 4, and you get to the back end of the season, we want a dynamic scorer.

And we identified a Amar’e Marshall kid, had 21 against Purdue he got, I think, 3 rookies of the week in the CAA. Jersey kid, got him here really good game. It’s funny. Like a lot of people, I didn’t realize how people knew who he was even guys at the high major level, cause as a young kid, he was projecting to be a really impactful score.

I think he will be with us. You know, we needed to get him just to. An athlete, tough guy. So we were fortunate to have Muneer Newton, who’s from Philadelphia. He played at NAIA level, but I think he’s a star at his role. Seth Green rebounds plays tough, energy plays. Really excited, you know about him.

Our two freshmen, Zane Adnon and Jack Margoupis, Jack is an elite shooter. He’s have to develop a little, but he can really shoot the ball. And I think he’s just learning the grind of the college season. And Zane Adnon, I think he’s a winner. You know, he’s a guy that sometimes what he does doesn’t show up.

But he guards, hustle plays, tough kid, and he’s got better, he’s got a college ready body. And ironically, he’s really glued to Marcus Jackson, who is really our culture guy so I’m excited for the development of him. And then we have 2 walk ons that are interesting stories.

Marcus Filien his father was an assistant here. Died a couple of years back from cancer. So it was really important to him to play his last year here. He’s at Cornell. And he’s got one year eligibility, so he’s a walk on, but he’s going to have an opportunity he stretches the floor. I think he’s really pushing himself.

You can see his body growing. Really excited for him. And then we have another kid, Zach Matula, and Zach has really helped our program because of the way he works. I mean, he, he goes into the weight room and he works until exhaustion. In the summer after practice, he would run 2 miles.

I mean, he’s a kid that’s got this motor and what some days you kind of tell guys chase that try to catch him. And I think he’s got this ability. To really help our program because of the way he works. I mean, he’s so consistent with his approach. One day he said what do I need to do to help our team?

I said, just we’re not a great communicating team right now. So we don’t talk really loud, be really loud. When you talk to him, he screams in practice. So he wants to help the team and he doesn’t care about anybody else but the team, you want guys like that around you. So I’m really excited for him too.

And he’s developed them along the way. I think going back to your original question about like, what’s our philosophy? We want good players, more versatile guys on both sides of the ball, need toughness. We have to become here ready to compete. You know we’re at a place that we have a really hard schedule.

We’re going to play at UMass to open up the year, you’re going to play Temple, going to play at Seton Hall, going to play Harvard, Columbia. These are hard games. You got to compete. You got to want it. You got to be tough. You got to be okay going in and really, really working for it. I mean, we spent the last year practicing what used to be a pool that doesn’t have a baseline.

So you got to have some humility too as we go through this. But there was some reward and we’re going to play in a brand new arena. We’re going to play the Barclay Center this year, and we got opportunity, now you have to do something with it.

[00:20:22] Mike Klinzing: Is it challenging to put together the roster with the portal with guys being grad students, where as you’re coming up in the game, there’s less of the movement of players and so you tend to build more over the long term, whereas now it feels like.

There’s more sort of short term, Hey, we got to kind of figure this out year to year because guys are coming out of the portal and they don’t necessarily when they get to you, they don’t necessarily have 4 years of eligibility. So just how have you thought about that? I know that you’ve pretty much coached as the head coach in this era, but obviously, as an assistant, you went through it.

When it was a little bit different. So just how have you thought about that process of team building and building the chemistry between your guys when you don’t maybe have quite as long a runway as you might’ve had in the past?

[00:21:18] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I think for us in recruiting for high school kids, can we get the rookie of the year in the league?

That’s something we talked about in this 2024 class the kids are recruiting is like are the kids we’ve identified They’re really focusing on can they be rookie of the year in the league? Okay the guys push back We watch we evaluate. Okay, we feel good about that. I’m all in You know when you talk about The portal guys, I love Tyler Bertram, what I’m going to hate is losing them at the end of the year.

Right. Your eligibility. Yeah. But our other guys, they have Muneer Newton, Sebastian Thomas, Amar’e Marshall, they have either one or two years of eligibility. Amar’e has three. That’s a big time get for our program because he’s got time to be here. You’re investing so much in these guys and when they leave right after one year.

That’s tough because you got to start it back over you go out and practice and next year you yell Laker drill and when nine guys know it versus nine guys not know it, that’s very difficult, right? So that’s important to us. And that was one of the things we talked about.

And then when you go through you know, the rest of it, I think it’s like, what’s your, what’s your realistic needs? And like, I, I’ve kind of challenged back to our staff and our deputy AD. Vic Cicles, he’s awesome. I mean, he’s all in and the dude just works. So my thing is like, how do we retain our talent?

So cool. We can get back to back rookies of the year. I believe they’re going to go in, they’re going to have great years. How do we keep them in Albany? You know, like, let’s not let teams come in and say, Hey, we’re going to take care of this kid and he’s out. Let’s make it tough for him to say, to leave by.

Putting more resources in the program where we have a former player. Chris Wyatt has been awesome. It’s going to help us get a nutritionist and a new training tables. Great. Step one can we be better in social media? That helps with our guys. It’s something we have to do a better job of.

You know, can we find ways to play really unique games so they feel really excited about it? Awesome. And then obviously you have to address the NIL piece for the retention part of it. I think at the institutional level presidents will talk a lot about retention, retention. How do we retain our students?

You don’t want them to transfer. I think now college athletics we used to be in really strong and retention because the athletics, you kept them around kids that they wanted to transfer. They sit out because they want to do that. Now they can just kind of leave. Now we have to address retention in a much different way.

So. Yeah. You know, what can we do? And for me, in the back of my mind, it’s like, Hey, I believe that our initial freshmen and sophomore classes I’m sorry, our sophomore and junior classes right now, really good. We’re going to have a couple of guys, we’re going to have some hard conversations with what can we do to support them and keep them in Albany.

And that’s like an issue in the city, the city here. People talk about how do we keep the talent and there’s all these programs and new businesses and new ideas in the town that are geared towards keeping really talented professionals in town. And I’m trying to tap into them and say, Hey, I want to do the same thing for our basketball program.

So we’re working at it we’re talking about it, but I think the biggest thing is like, how do you find the right fit, the right guys for our program. They can help us win. But most importantly, if I’ve learned one thing you have to find high character kids. You can find talent.

They have to be high character guys that really love basketball. I mean, our guys when I watch our staff, I mean, they’re I watch KJ and Ryan. They’re in the gym all day. They’re checking up with the guys. They are tireless workers, you have to want to be in that environment and got to go to class.

I mean we’ve, we’ve had a couple just hiccups here and there that I’m like we’ve got guys that really want to go to class and get their degree. That’s important. This is a really good place, really good school. It’s great integrity with the degree here. It creates a great opportunity.

Guys have to want that just as much as they want to win. And now you’re being blessed with a brand new arena. You’re going to have to honor that take care of that building. You got to take care of the locker room. Got to feel like this is really important when guys like Jamar Wilson and Chris Wyatt and Dan Neary and all these guys that were former players that have come around, you represent them, you got to represent them the right way.

And that’s something that we’ve talked about a bunch. To make sure we just continue to just kind of keep improving, keep getting better. Keep taking steps to get an America East championship.

[00:26:08] Mike Klinzing: What does NIL look like for you? Where are you guys at in terms of getting a handle on it, getting your guys opportunities, reaching out to the community like you talked about in terms of the business professionals and that type of thing?

Where are you at NIL wise?

[00:26:22] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I think it’s so… hot topic and here in town, obviously there’s another program in town, they’ve done a good job of getting their stuff established. We’re working on it. I feel very confident that we’ll be able to announce our intentions and plans here you know, during the season.

But we have to be present, I look at this and I’ve said this to our staff today. You know, everything we do, we compete, right, in our business of college athletics. So when you look at the gear that you have, well, you’re competing with other programs because if your kids look over and say they have the cooler gear or recruits look at that, they evaluate that.

We’re recruiting in NIL people are doing a better job there. And we have to figure it out because we have to beat the competition in NIL to get the players we want to win our league. We had to compete in recruiting. We had to compete in the weight room we had to compete in all our spaces.

So that way, when the competition really comes, we’re ready to win. So I think that’s, that’s something that we’re very mindful of. But I’m really excited about the potential of what we could do because this is a really strong community, a really strong business community that people pay attention.

They’re aware. They ask, what are our plans? You know, what do we have going on? Because I do think they want to help. And then obviously we have Zach Matula, Marcus Filienn, Marcus Jackson, and Jonathan Beagle, who are locally rooted kids. So, at the very least, they want to root for their own, want to help their own up.

[00:28:06] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. How does the arena redo, obviously, just for me doing a little bit of research and reading, sounds like a lot of that money was raised from the community to be able to do that renovation. So as you look at what that’s going to do for your program facility wise, hit me with some bullet points of why this project and you guys obviously getting back on campus.

[00:28:36] Dwayne Killings: Yeah. It means

a lot. I mean, it means a lot for our athletic director. I mean, I think for Mark Benson, I mean, a guy that is so good with people. He’s a great fundraiser. He’s a great leader. He’s got a really good vision, but to have a brick and mortar project for him under his leadership is huge.

Right. And I think the next thing that they can, I talked about today. Was okay. What new traditions you want to start? I mean, you run out there for the first time, you do whatever you want to do, but what do you want that to be? You get a chance to create this brand new legacy. It’s awesome for our community.

It’s huge. All right. Like, can we have concerts in there? I had the district officer for the state playoffs here and for the district regionals here. Can we get that on campus? Can we have concerts in the arena? That would be huge for this community. Yeah. And for this part of town can we make this one of the hardest ones to play in our league?

It’s hard to do, but we have the opportunity. We have a brand new film room, locker room and lounge. Great for our kids. Let’s leverage that for get better players. Let’s recruit them. It’s getting excited about the things that we’re doing, but I think the biggest thing is you got a brand new thing to sell and a brand new opportunity for business people to engage our building for fans to come in and feel like great sight lines.

I think the place is going to, when you come to the building finally this year, Mike, I think it’s going to be loud. I mean, when you go in there, it’s just, you can tell by the way it is built noise is going to carry. So it’s a great college basketball arena. And I mean, if you’re honest about college athletics today, I mean, because you can watch a game on your phone like, the days of, like, filling the old Greensboro Coliseum every night’s hard to do.

Right? So, but for a building of our size, we can do that. We got to put out a winning product, but. You know what, we also got to get out and we got to engage people and get them excited to come in and watch it for the first time. Then we got to keep them can they have a really good experience walking from the parking lot into the building when they get in the building?

You know, can it be a really easy opportunity to get to the seats? They get to the seats can they get really excited during warmups with the music with the jumbotron with our guys. Flying around, dunking the ball with the pregame video can all those things that we have the ability to create in there, can we carry the noise with the DJ and the in game hosts, and then can the in between timeouts can.

The entertainment be really good because I think the part that we forget in our businesses, we need to win. But for a lot of people, we’re a form of entertainment. And then what we need them the most is in a two possession game with two minutes left, we’re going to go crazy in there.

And I truly believe the student body the community at large and the people that support our program are going to do that for us. And then we got to go out there and perform. But I’m really excited about it. I mean, you get a chance to. Like I said to our team how crazy it is that you get a chance to walk into a brand new arena for the very first time and we could do some really crazy things if it means enough to us, and I think it means a lot to our guys I think they’re really excited I think they’re going to honor it.

I think they’re going to value it and we get a chance to go to work in there in November.

[00:31:52] Mike Klinzing: Now, you guys didn’t get to stay and practice in there like I did when I was a senior at Kent State here, redoing our gym. We practiced through the dust, DK. They had a curtain up at the one, they had a curtain up at the one end of the gym that you go into practice, like wiping the dust away.

So I’m glad you guys didn’t have to, didn’t have to experience that, but you’re, you’re so right about the game presentation, man. I just think that when you start talking about. Building an arena that’s the right size so that you can have a great atmosphere. To me, when I think about games, whether it’s as a coach, as a player, as a fan, like you want to be somewhere where there’s an atmosphere and you can put 4,000 people in a 12,000 seat arena and the atmosphere can be terrible.

And you can put 4,000 people in another arena that’s built for the right size. And man, you can have. One of the best atmospheres to play that you could ever imagine. And I just again, looking at the renderings of what this thing is going to look like when it’s done. I mean, it just looks like it’s going to be awesome with basically your fans can be right on top of the floor.

And that’s just such a fun experience for your players and for you and your staff to be able to coach and like you said, to be able to get started with that. And just, Hey, what are we going to do? How are we going to do it? What’s it going to look like? I got to imagine that you guys are obviously excited that, but I’m guessing the athletic department’s really excited about kind of the game ops and what they’re going to do and how they’re going to put that all together.

[00:33:22] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I think there’s just so much creativity that you can use and create with this. I think Vic’s got tons of ideas. Mark’s got tons of ideas I think people throw out all of this stuff. I think it’s really exciting. And then I think there’s a lot of people that are curious to come in and see the arena and see what’s going on.

So yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun and obviously everybody’s kind of watching Deion Sanders right now, through his deal and whatnot and you’re kind of combing back through and Grand Canyon and all these places. I mean, they’ve done some really cool things.

I think it’s like, okay, what can we do here? To make our place really, really unique.

[00:34:11] Mike Klinzing: If you hit on it right, you got a chance to really do something special as far as what that game day experience can be all about. When you look back and you think about day one, and you and I talked pretty close to the time when you first got the job and I just remember going through the conversation and talking about what kind of anticipating what’s it going to be like to be a head coach.

So let’s kind of look in retrospect now. When you think about what you’ve been able to do to this point, what’s been the best or the most fun part of being a head coach? Obviously, you’ve come up in the game as an assistant. You sat next to a lot of great head coaches, always thinking about the moment when you were going to get that opportunity.

What’s been the best part of it?

[00:34:58] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I mean, the best part, so I’d say a couple of things, right? You get people to believe in you, I mean, I think that’s awesome. I think. Like having a really good practice day is a lot of fun like watching guys get better from week one with a drill or practice, whatever it may be to week four.

I mean, there’s nothing like it you know, having opportunities to impact people. I mean, you don’t realize like, I have a friend Bobby Joseph. He’s a clothing designer. He said this thing to you know, be mindful of your wake. And obviously a wake is skip a rock and kind of the water kind of flows out.

That’s your wake. And it’s like, you spread so many places and somebody comes up to you and then I met a kid on the road and I don’t know him. And he’s like I’ve listened to the podcast and this and this, like, what’s it like being a head coach? I want to be one. And I think you, you have to get lost in what you do every day.

You forget people are watching and, or you meet somebody in the community and just say, they’re rooting for you or you get a kid like Marcus Jackson, who we have in our program, you give him an opportunity and you watch him grow and he’s a walk on anytime you give him a scholarship.

It’s pretty cool you can do that for somebody that really deserves it. You have people on campus that just believe in what you’re doing and how you’re trying to do it. I think that’s. That’s just, it’s really cool stuff. One of the funnest things for me, honestly, through this process is like my son has fallen in love with basketball.

We played Binghamton this past year and I brought my kids with me, they just came with me and kind of like, we just hang out in the buildings during the game. But when I watched the film, I mean, you could see their emotion going up and down with the flow of the game.

It’s been pretty cool. And like I said to a lot of people throughout this process I’m getting here. So, like, this has been my dream. I get a chance to live it out, right? Like, it’s a statement to people. It’s very possible that you got to work. You need some luck and all those things, but it’s been awesome.

And then I think the coolest thing is like guys that I’m friends with in the business, JB Bickerstaff, Kamani Young, Kyle Neptune, Ashley Howard, all these different guys. I mean, you’re talking all the time about the game. You know, Chris Clark, Bobby Drew, Adam Fisher was our GA. No, I’m sorry.

He was our ops guy at BU when I first started. He’s now the head coach at Temple. We’re going to play each other. We’re talking about the business is fun. It’s a lot. It’s really cool. It’s like talking through the challenges in this business, Tommy Amaker has been like a mentor to me. He invites me to this event.

The other day, the mayor of Boston, the governor of Massachusetts, and Doc Rivers are there talking to get a chance to spend time with the round ball. I mean, I think the round ball creates a lot for all of us. I think I’ve been very, very blessed and just trying to pay it forward with people like Hiram Masurudi trying to help people as much as I can.

Trying to put a championship banner inside the gym. And then I think one of the other things I think some guys get really focused on just winning. You know, I’m also like, how do we develop our program? Can we fundraise more? Can we enhance the way we operate as an athletic program?

Our approach to academic support. I think those things are really important because your perspective, I mean, I’ve been blessed to be at some really cool places, got a pretty good perspective. Now. Can you take that perspective and kind of like just, Hey, can we think about things a little bit different?

Maybe this helps us operate a little bit better. That’s why you’re here. I think that’s why I think sometimes people with these experiences get brought in Jim Whitesell. He brought up an idea the other day, like, why aren’t we doing this? Okay, cool. Let’s do it, because that only helps our place operate better.

Now it’s hard change is hard asking people to do things a little bit different is hard, but when it gets done and there’s success, there’s no better feeling because I think there’s two things that happen from it. Your players mature, they have an opportunity to win, they have a degree.

[00:39:30] Mike Klinzing: Well said. Well said. You start talking about the impact that the basketball can have on a person’s life and obviously you’re living that. I feel like I’ve lived that through my life and there’s tons of people that are out there in our audience that I’m sure feel the same way that the ball has magic in it and to be able to To have the kind of impacts and the things that you’re talking about.

And I know one of the things that, when I think back to our previous series from your first year, I know one of the things that was always important to you was, and you mentioned it tonight, is just having an impact in the community and making it about more than just basketball, that you’re not only impacting your kids and trying to get them to put a winning product out on the floor, make them better student athletes, but then you’re also trying to improve.

the Albany community through your program and through your players efforts and your staff’s efforts. And I think that’s really what basketball does so well, is it just provides those opportunities. And for you, as you talked about the things that you feel like have been such a good experience for you, what’s something that you feel like sitting here today If we went back two years ago, what’s something that you’re better at today that you’ve gotten a better handle on over those two years from when you started?

What are you better at right now?

[00:40:50] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, like what’s most important? I think you get the job and you walk in, you want to do everything. I mean, there’s just all of these different opportunities. Challenge we’d say challenges are really just opportunities. And I say I had a bunch of our staff.

Okay, cool. You got all these opportunities and you’re trying to do everything. You know, you want to fix everything and you meet people and you want to engage with them all. And there’s some really good people in this community and you want to have lunch and coffee and dinner and you’re trying to.

Connect the dots and figure it out and grow the program and get people excited and get new supporters and season ticket holders. And you’re out recruiting and you want to connect to all these kids and whatnot. Well, what’s really important right now in the moment? How do you decide what’s most important right now?

You know, practice your players. Recruiting, fundraising campus the campus community and the campus engagement. There’s all these opportunities, but what’s most important? I think I’ve really been able to get better at having clarity with that for myself. And then I think what’s most important in practice.

I mean you. Any of us that have had the opportunities, I mean, you get a chance to work at BU, work at the NBA, work at Temple, work at Marquette, work at UConn, you got all the drills and ideas in the world. You can’t do everything and what’s most important for you. And there’s so much excitement, right?

You’re just excited. I love walking out to practice, I love going to work every day. You know, again, what’s most important for that day. What’s most important on Friday? Tomorrow, Paul Newman, a former player for us that we helped get a job with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is coming in, he’s going to talk to our guys, he’s going to help us out on the court.

I think that’s really important for our program, for our players to hear from Paul and hear his message. Now, what’s most important on Saturday? Our guys are a little banged up. I would love to practice and go through our install calendar and say, we’re going to, you know install punch reverse, which is one of our plays, but maybe just shooting is more important because we’ve got to get shots up.

I think the first year you’re just like, Hey, we got to get this done because it’s what I got on the calendar. But, but honestly, I think through the journey, you get perspective and you can’t have the like, I talked to Ryan Daly the other day about a couple of things in recruiting and he’s a guy that didn’t have that perspective.

He shouldn’t have it because he’s only been doing this for a year like it takes time that’s what this is all about. And watching him, for example who he is as a coach, as an assistant coach right now, like, I can see his growth the minute he walks on the court from year one.

It’s just time, perspective, confidence it just grows with you. I mean, I’ll go back our first year. I thought we had a chance to win the league and then we lose Dre Perry. You know, that was tough for us. Cause I thought he was the piece that we needed to get over the top, but you go through some adversity, you lose a guy.

Have to change practice plans. You have to change how your plan, that was huge growth for me. And you know what, sometimes you have to grow in a different way than what you anticipated.

[00:44:04] Mike Klinzing: So all that stuff is tangible and real. Do you have a. Superstition. Are you a superstitious guy? Do you have any routine that you would consider to be like a game day superstition?

[00:44:20] Dwayne Killings: Great question. You know, I am one of the guys, like, if we won, I’ll do it. If we didn’t, I’m not doing it again.  I’m definitely like, no, I’ll tell you, I will.

[00:44:30] Mike Klinzing: You ride a streak you’re riding a streak.

[00:44:32] Dwayne Killings: Yeah. I will tell you one thing I said to. Dan’s doing all of our trips and I said, you know what?

We’re not staying any of the hotels we stayed last year. Screw it. Ironically, two of our players said that to me, like, yeah, we can’t we went, we’ve stayed two times at a hotel in Providence and we can’t stay at that hotel. And I do think that it was like, I’ve listened to our kids a lot and I think.

Like there’s so much that goes into like their mental approach like just giving them confidence and feeling good and just like We have a couple of guys that in between a lot of guys after shooting out, they come back and they sleep. Well, we have a few guys, they can’t sleep they’re just jittery.

So they like to like, go for walks. So I said to Dan, you know what when we go through these hotels, let’s find places like where… At least they can go on a decent walk not like places where there’s nowhere to go, you’re on a highway, because, and I think you got to think through that stuff at that level now with kids today, because I think they’re just different they’re way more mature, they’re doing things that I didn’t do, and I wasn’t going for a walk in college.

You know what, if that helps them play better, let’s help them out. So. I think listening to your players is so important and like hearing, okay, what’s part of your routine? I know what we want, but like, maybe that’s different and that’s okay. So that’s some of the stuff that the perspective that you have now.

[00:46:03] Mike Klinzing: What do you think about game day? What’s, what makes you feel, what puts you in a good headspace going into a game?

[00:46:11] Dwayne Killings: I want them locked in, but I want them feeling good. And I want them a little, not I don’t want them tight. I don’t want them super loose, but I want to feel like they’re ready. You know, I want them confident and I love walking in with the guys when they’re like you can feel it.

Like they they’re confident. They know the scout. They know what to do. You know, we’re rolling in. Coach has got a good nap. Everybody’s ready to go. You know, you, I always call it the bus last. I mean when somebody’s kind of dragging through the day and that stuff, because now I’m like what’s going on with them?

How can I help? Because I want everybody’s mind clear. You get 31 opportunities to play college basketball. Before postseason play. So you have to maximize those opportunities. And also I think the part that I’ve tried to help our guys understand, leave the outside world, especially on game day, like leave it alone, focus on what’s in front of you.

And I want guys locked in ready for war, but confident a little chip on their shoulder, but like just ready to go and believe in each other. It’s kind of my thing, you know. Yeah, like I like to have a decent meal, but still feel a little hungry because you got to go out there and ready to work.

I get like a little nervous, but a little anxious, but like when many walk out there, there’s no better feeling to me, you’re going into battle and you know, when you got guys that are really ready to go, I mean, you just feel, I remember a couple of times my first year last year, like, you could just feel like, man, we got this one.

Our guys are focused. They’re ready. It’s alive, you know. How can you create that feeling more often than not is the question. And I think I’ve learned it. I’ve heard coaches say it all forever. You go out and you have a horrible shoot around, you play great, you have a great shoot around, you play bad.

I mean, there’s no perfect science to it. But I think a big part of it is just the mental space and I think now, like I try not to go on social media from shoot around to the game because you know, there’s so much flying at you on there and it distracts you. It’s just so much like random stuff, like a quote, a play something happened in the world.

I remember one day talking to a coach and he was like, man, I was on social media and I saw this like really cool play. And I tried to like draw it up in the game and I forgot and I’m like, yeah, I’m not messing with that cause you need a clear mind. You just got to have it clear cause there’s a lot flying at you.

So I think coaches need a clear minds, players need clear minds and then go have some fun, man. You know, this is, you, you do all this stuff with lifting the summer, going to foreign tour you do a diet and you get your shots up all this to go compete, like go have fun on game day. I mean, it’s, it’s.

It’s time to get loose. So that’s kind of my thought towards it. And that’s why we talk about mentality. Like what’s our mentality. We play UMass. We need one. We play Columbia. We need a different one. We play CNO. We need a whole different mentality. So I think that’s all a big part of it. Just the mindset.

[00:49:27] Mike Klinzing: Do you know right away when the guys are locked in? Like when you walk in you can feel the locker room,

[00:49:31] Dwayne Killings: You can feel it. And I think when you have a really good leader, like the leaders will give you a tell You see in their eyes, they’re ready to go. No, I think sometimes you might not be, but you get a good stop, you get a good play a guy dunks a ball, makes a three, good execution, it gets them going.

But I think sometimes you got it. you know you got it and you have to ride it.

[00:49:58] Mike Klinzing: All right. As you look ahead to the season, and I know you guys just put out your schedule. You talked a little bit about some of your non conference opponents and what you have going on there. And obviously you’re moving back into the newly refurbished arena.

When you look ahead to the end of the season and you’re looking back at it. What do you hope, and I’m not asking you to give me one lost record, but what do you hope the season looks like when you look back at it in retrospect come next April?

[00:50:28] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I could say to you that we played our best and we’re the best team we could be at the end of the year.

I mean, I give you the coach speak. But I think, like, Jonathan Beagle is a really good five man. I think Justin Neely is a really good versatile four. I think Tyler Bertram really shoots it. I think Aaron Reddish, his best basketball is out of Sebastian Thomas. It’s a really good point guard.

I think Marcus Jackson, one of the toughest guards in our league. I can go down the line. You know, Marcus Filien is a walk on, but I think he’s got an ability to impact a college basketball game. I like our freshman Muneer Newton, I think people are going to be surprised when he makes a couple of plays cause he’s a tough kid.

You know, Amar’e Marshall got, he’s got game, I can tell you that. So can we put it all together? And I think when you sit down at the year, do we maximize who we are and what we’re about? You know, this week I thought we had one day we didn’t, I thought we had bad three days that we did can we have more days where we maximize who we are and what we’re about?

And you know, I said to our guys today, I’m going to work my tail off and I know what I do every day. I’m not a guy, I’m not going to boast about my daily habits and routines, but I know what I do and I know what I put into it. So now the question is can, can we beat the opposition?

Every single night we’re going to try and my goal is to win America East championship. I think we have the right guys to do it. Now we got to learn how hard it’s going to be. And if we can teach them that lesson, you got a chance. So I’m giving you a little coach speak, but can we play the last game of the season in the America East tournament?

That’s the goal. I mean, like, it would be foolish not to have that goal and that’s the focus. And then, can we set the standard and can we get the guys to beat the standard? And if they don’t, why? And then you have to have some hard conversations with yourself. You know, is it what we’re doing? Is it who they are?

You know, it’s all those things together, but that’s the goal. And I think one of the things for us this year is can we keep the noise out? It’s a lot of noise out here. You know, a lot for these kids. Can we keep it out so we can focus on what’s most important and that’s winning college basketball games and graduating kids.

[00:52:57] Mike Klinzing: It’s really hard in today’s

world to keep them focused on what’s going on internally. Because as you said, as a coach how much is coming at you. And I can’t even imagine what’s coming at. Your kids from a social media standpoint.

[00:53:11] Dwayne Killings: I think one of the hardest things for these kids is like we do it too.

Everybody that puts something on social media, it’s like the perfect day, you know? Right. Like the ball goes in the basket every time they swing it that the, the stakes look great at their pregame meal. I mean, that’s, that’s the deal. But like, nobody shows the bad days. You know, like I think all these things.

So, but I think it screws kids up because it’s. Bright and sunny days everywhere. So, but like, that’s not real. And I think that’s a hard thing for a college athlete that’s trying to figure the world out to just kind of decipher. I mean, that’s the part that’s really tough. So can we keep that out? You know, we have a, we call them mentality meetings the culture meetings.

But next week we’re going to go over a bunch of stuff. There’s an NIL opportunity for our kids that we’re going to talk about our culture. You know? Chris Clark gave me something at Temple. He gave me a saying, I love it. And when we talked to our kids about it, it’s called, do you want to be a fountain or do you want to be a drain?

You know, we need fountains. We don’t need drains and I’m going to ask them who’s being a fountain, who’s being a drain, because if they’re being a drain, we got to teach them so that way they’re aware of it so they can change their habits so they can be fountains, but then also I’m going to try to, I’m going to try to give them five to seven Instagram accounts to follow just so that way the things that they’re consuming in their feeds are positive sometimes like our guys have showed me what they follow. I’m like, this is crazy but their mind is absorbing that. So I think we all try to do the big stuff, but what about the little stuff, like financial literacy things that like they can catch that maybe they stop and scroll once a month.

That’s a win, positive quotes and positive affirmation. That’s a win, Instagram account that puts up a basketball player of the day and makes you think about basketball. You know, can we get into their mind space in their world to help control and help them get to the outcomes that we all want?

And that’s making better players, better men and better students.

[00:55:16] Mike Klinzing: Something that you never thought you’d be doing when you first started in this career. I can tell you that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s crazy from that standpoint. All right, Dwayne, before we get out. I want to go back and give you another chance to share how people can connect with you, find out more about your program, and then obviously what we’re going to do moving forward here, you and I are going to figure out what kind of our schedule is going to be, but the plan will be for everyone out there listening that we’re going to kind of chronicle this season for Dwayne and the Great Danes and be able to kind of go through the season with them. So you’re going to want to keep an eye out in the feed for those episodes, but share how people can connect with you, Dwayne.

[00:55:59] Dwayne Killings: Yeah. You know, pretty easy. You know, obviously through social media on Instagram you know, I try to.

I post both a little bit of myself, our program, my family. My Instagram account is DKillings. And then my Twitter account, I actually have to make sure I got this right, because I would tell you the wrong thing. That would be kind of crazy. Phone. It’s I should have it memorized, man. Yeah, it’s @CoachKillingsDK.

And I’ll put stuff up. And obviously our UAlbany Instagram account is a good space to kind of go at and you email me dkillings@albany.edu You’re in the area. Love to have your practice. Love to catch up with anybody I’m an open book. We love to share our story.

You know, what we’re going through in the season. Share ideas. I don’t have all the answers, but I will say I’ve had a really, really fun journey in this business and love to try to help people. My AD says something to me one day, he goes you love to help people.

And I think it’s such an endearing quality. He’s like, you got to make sure it doesn’t hurt yourself. And I really appreciate him for that. Cause I thought it gave me great perspective. You know, just a couple of things we were kind of working through at the time, but yeah, I mean, anything we can do, and I think it’s going to be a great season for us, great building, great opportunity.

So anybody wants to take part, tickets, whatever it is, please reach out.

[00:57:25] Mike Klinzing: Well, I’m excited that we’re going to go along on the journey with you and I know we’ve been talking about trying to get me to Albany to come see a game and I looked at the schedule today and now I’ve got to just cross reference all the games going on at my house with my kids and figure out how we can make that happen.

But regardless, I’m looking forward to restarting this series with you tonight and kind of following again through the 2023 2024 season with UAlbany men’s basketball and you Dwayne. And so to everyone out there, we really appreciate you coming along with us on this journey and we hope you’ll stick with the series and again, to everyone out there tonight, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode.

Thanks.