SEASON 3 PART 3 WITH DWAYNE KILLINGS – UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH: GUEST MATT CERRUTI, UALBANY VIDEO COORDINATOR – EPISODE 865

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

Email – killingsdwayne@gmail.com

Twitter – @CoachKillingsDK

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Dwayne Killings is in his third season as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University at Albany.  This episode is the third 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 & Matt Cerruti

• The value Matt can bring as a former player that was just recently in the program
• Helping players develop their routines
• “In order to master the hard stuff, you actually have to be top of the easy stuff.”
• Seeing the game at a slower pace as a coach
• Transitioning from player to coach in the same program
• “I think the trust in the relationship that Matt and I have is really, really important.”
• “Whatever I’m doing in that moment, it’s just 100 percent of my mind is going towards that.”
• Expanding your knowledge as a coach through new experiences on the floor and in the film room
• Matt’s role in player development at UAlbany
• Having players work against live humans rather than cones
• “I think they’re learning the process of what it takes to be good, the habits, and ultimately what it takes to win.”
• Why it’s so important to have Matt, as a program alum, on the staff
• “Everything we do is for a reason.There’s nothing that’s just thrown at you just to throw it at you.”
• How player perspective’s change from year to year as they gain experience
• “Every second we are trying to make sure that we’re getting it right for these guys.”
• “First and foremost, Matt’s always worried about how can he help the program.”
• “Rankings, stuff on Twitter, all that, that’s not our deal. We just go out here and work.”

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THANKS, DWAYNE KILLINGS

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TRANSCRIPT FOR SEASON 3 PART 3 WITH DWAYNE KILLINGS – UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH: GUEST MATT CERRUTI, UALBANY VIDEO COORDINATOR – EPISODE 865

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads Podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here this morning without my co-host Jason Sunkle, but I am pleased to welcome in head men’s basketball coach at the University at Albany, Dwayne Killings, and the video coordinator at UAlbany, Matt Cerruti. Matt and Dwayne, welcome.

[00:00:15] Dwayne Killings: What’s going on, man?  It’s great to be on.

[00:00:19] Matt Cerrutti: Absolutely.

[00:00:21] Mike Klinzing: Excited to have you guys…Thought we’d talk a little bit today with Matt, get his perspective, guy who played in the program, now is back in the coaching side of it. Matt, tell me a little bit about just your role day to day, what you do and how things have gone as you jumped into the coaching profession.

[00:00:38] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah. I mean, I think having that point of view of playing under Coach Killings is a little bit unique in my shoes because I can kind of help the guys understand what is expected of them just having done it. And I think being able to do that daily where I can just take guys to the side during practice and share my thoughts or my feelings on maybe what they should be doing or what they haven’t done or what they’re doing well is huge for them. I know as a player having somebody in your ear just kind of feeding you confidence was big for me. So I try to do the same thing for them. And then more on a skill side of things, I try to help the guys figure out their routines.

Because when I was here, coach was big on figuring out a good routine for me. And that I think has carried a long way just in basketball and in my everyday life. So I’ve been trying to help some of the guys figure that out for themselves as well.

[00:01:41] Mike Klinzing: Give me some ideas on routines. What are you talking about exactly?

[00:01:45] Matt Cerrutti: So like, when you get into the gym obviously nowadays with people like Steph Curry, kids want to get in and shoot step back threes right away, but I’m big on breaking down the game and starting with some form shots, then you move to floaters, then you do some quick movement mid range shots.

One dribble mid range shots, then you get to set threes, and then you finish on movement threes. So, I think everything at best, well, has a build up, and in order to master the hard stuff, you actually have to be top of the easy stuff.

[00:02:22] Mike Klinzing: What’s it been like transitioning in the relationship between you two guys?

Where obviously you come in as a grad transfer, you play a year for Coach Killings. Now you’re part of his staff. And so I know that when you think about sort of the relationship that you have with your head coach as a player, and then you get to that relationship as a coach, obviously it changes.

So how have you guys navigated that?

[00:02:47] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s been pretty easy. Really natural and as a player, coach is very open and honest so I know as a player, I could always talk to him and ask him questions and I’d pick his brain on little stuff and just being curious. And I think it’s the same as now.

So all those little things he sees, details and defensive schemes, offensive plays, sets like that. It’s easy to kind of transition.

[00:03:20] Mike Klinzing: Did you feel like right away you had a voice as you get in there? Or did it take you a week, two weeks, three weeks to kind of get in there and feel like, hey, I’m no longer a player.

Like I’m actually on the same level here in the coaching staff, with the coaching staff in a meeting. How’d you feel about that part of it?

[00:03:39] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I think it can definitely be a little weird seeing the game from the other perspective, but in terms of having a voice, I mean, I think I’m confident in who I am and what I know about the game of basketball, so I felt like I had a voice right away.

And coach and the rest of the coaches have respect for me, which made that easy as well. And our players are very attentive and they want to learn. And so that made it easy as well. I think the biggest difference is just seeing the game at a different speed, it’s a lot slower watching it than when you’re playing when I played, it felt like it was moving at a hundred miles per hour and now I can kind of see it at a different perspective and speed, which honestly it helps so much because I can break it down a little bit quicker for myself.

[00:04:27] Mike Klinzing: Dwayne, how’d you approach that relationship side of it, bringing Matt back on as a former player? How do you think about just that transition?

[00:04:34] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, when we had the opportunity to add somebody to our staff, and we looked at a couple different people and I took my time with it just to kind of make sure we got it right for me and for the program.

But I also want to give Matt some time to really think about what he’s getting into. I mean it’s just… One, he doesn’t get paid a lot of money. It’s a lot of hours, a big commitment and making sure that two, I think he was really done playing. I think it’s sometimes, he was a really good player and I think that itch kind of still carries with some guys.

And it was pretty clear he wanted to get in. I think he’s trying to figure out, does he want to be in the college or the pro space, but he is where his feet are. And I think he’s been tremendous for me to have here because in all honesty, I think he knows what I want on the floor in the office.

So he’s got this rhythm to the way that he works, which is great to see. I mean, it’s just kind of like, if I ask a question, I know it gets done within minutes. And also he really cares about the place. I think he enjoyed his experience. He had success, honestly he was a Division II basketball player throughout his career, but I think he proved a lot of people wrong and became an All League player here.

And I think he’s appreciative of the opportunity from a relationship standpoint. Did I coach him? Was I his head coach? Yeah, I was. But I looked at it more like a mentorship because when Matt was here, he was a man, I mean, he was older. You know, another year eligibility is kind of like he was a guy that I didn’t have to worry about.

He was always in the gym. He was doing what he’s supposed to do. You could have conversations about maybe things he could do better, what he needed to improve that or what his responsibilities were from a leadership standpoint. And I think there was no gray areas, pretty black and white in the conversation.

So. It’s been a lot of fun.  He’s really, really talented. I mean, I think it was like the first or second week of fall workouts. And he had a couple of things to say and I was like, wow, when I was your age, I wasn’t ready to do that. But I think it was the comfort, one, of being in a place that he played at, a place that he knew.

And two, I think the trust in the relationship that he and I have I think is really, really important. I think that helps them have confidence in just mentoring the guys and helping them. Helping them be the best versions of themselves. I mean, because he’s still is he in the gym? Yes, but he’s also checking classes He’s also trying to help them grow as human beings because one of our philosophies here is if we help them grow as individuals That’s going to help their basketball talent and I think Matt is a guy that is routine based He’s got really elite habits about himself, he’s not a flashy dresser, but he saved a lot of money I mean that says a lot about himself over the last, the habits that he has, he knows it’s really important.

I think he’s very rooted human being. And then I think now he’s developing into a professional. He’s going to be a really good basketball coach, whatever side of the business he decides to be in. We’re lucky to have him here.

[00:07:29] Mike Klinzing: When did coaching get on your radar, Matt? Was that something that you were thinking about while you were in school, while you were in that grad year at Albany?

Was it something that you thought, Hey, I’m going to push this out. I’m going to try to play for as long as I can. Maybe I’ll get into the business world and make some big money right off the bat. Because obviously coaching, when you’re starting out, you’re not making a ton of money. So just give me your thought process on getting into the coaching profession and kind of where that came from.

[00:07:58] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I mean, I think deep down I knew in the back of my mind I would get into coaching. Obviously, I didn’t know exactly when or how that would happen, cause… You know, when I’m doing something, I’m all in, so when I was playing, I’m all in on playing until the moment I stop. Same with coaching. I mean, it could be anything.

Whatever I’m doing in that moment, it’s just 100 percent of my mind is going towards that. But I knew deep down I would get into coaching. Obviously I loved the game of basketball too much. I didn’t want to not be around it at all, so that transition from playing to coaching in a couple months was fairly easy just because in those couple months being away from basketball my life felt like it came to a stop.

So just getting back into it has been easy. The routine of being in the gym and being around the guys is also what makes it awesome and extremely enjoyable.

[00:08:55] Mike Klinzing: What’s been the learning curve as far as the video side of it? How familiar were you with sort of the back end workings of what it would take to be a video coordinator and kind of learning just the ins and outs of how to utilize the various systems, whether it’s Synergy or whatever, in terms of putting all that together.

What’s that learning curve been like?

[00:09:16] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, as a player I use Synergy on a very low level in terms of just watching film or highlights of certain players even going on YouTube and checking out certain guys highlights. And since I got here, I’ve learned how to cut up stuff on Synergy Editor.

Our GA, John, has been great. Kind of just teaching me the ropes. He’s really good with Synergy Editor, really good with iMovie. So I’ve been learning the ins and outs on how to cut up certain stuff, find exact clips during a practice or an old game or an old scrimmage. And it’s a learning curve for sure, but I’m learning as I go and I’m getting there.

[00:10:00] Mike Klinzing: What are some things that you picked up? As you’ve been watching, obviously, a ton of film on the players, on your team, looking at that kind of stuff, what are some things that maybe you’ve picked up that you feel like your knowledge has grown in a particular area compared to when you were a player?

When I think of watching film as a player, as you described a minute ago, you’re kind of looking at things sort of from, I don’t want to say necessarily a selfish perspective, but you’re kind of looking at things of what can I do to be better? And how do I fit into the team? You’re kind of looking at stuff that applies to you as a player.

So now that you’ve been looking at it more holistically from the team, are there things that you feel like you’ve really gained a tremendous amount of knowledge in just by watching the team?

[00:10:47] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I think the biggest thing, I was actually thinking about this a little bit the other day. You know, when we break down and practice and do guards and bigs, I’ve been doing the big man workouts lately and my whole life, whenever I’ve done workouts, it’s always been guard stuff. I could probably run a guard workout for any guard anywhere just because I have so many drills and with a big it’s kind of new to learn because I wasn’t a big so I never really went through any of the stuff they did and so seeing that every day and then watching them on film has been really eye opening because obviously as a player you have bigs on your team but like you said you’re not necessarily focusing on what they’re doing or how their footwork is or How they move in the post when there’s a dribble drive coming at them.

So I think seeing that side of the game has been really cool because I never really had to pay attention to it as much as I do now. And I think obviously as I learn more, I’ll be able to help them as well. Just having a different point of view.

[00:11:51] Mike Klinzing: How do you guys approach the player development side of it?

Matt, kind of how do you fit into working with guys? Obviously you’ve had the off season, the summer, the preseason here in the fall. And now you guys are a couple of weeks away from playing that first game. So as you think about player development and kind of how video and your role, Matt, fits in, how do you guys look at continuing to obviously work on the team things that you need to work on, but you’re also trying to continue to help guys get better individually throughout the season.

So how do you approach that and how does the film work fit into it?

[00:12:25] Dwayne Killings: I’ll jump in for a second.  I think for me, I should say in regards to the opportunity for Matt, it’s twofold.

When he’s talking about going down with the bigs, he’s watching and learning from Coach Whitesell.  He’s been in the business so long. So now he’s growing as a coach, which helps our program. So sometimes it’s kind of dual served. You know, for the player development piece, I think where Matt is really, really valuable.

And he’s a lot like one of our assistants, KJ Baptiste. They, they love the individual part of developing players. And like you’ll hear them in practice, like we wrecked this that’s what we wrecked today. That’s what we were working on. That’s the move whatever it is. And I think it really helps build the kid’s confidence.

So he’s in the gym with guys pre practice. He’s in the gym with the guys maybe on an off day or extra hours that we have. And then the last few practices, we’ve been kind of extending the clock for 10 to 12 minutes when we’re done with live competition. And now it’s on the kids.

Okay. You have a chance to either watch film, roll out or get on the court and do individual work. And then. I think that’s where it gets really, really good where Matt steps in and he’s trying to help them develop. And he’s a younger guy. I mean he can move laterally a lot better than us.

But sometimes he’s just guarding guys and I think giving them a lot of looks. Because I think the world we’re in right now is the cones are great, but you need live bodies and one of the things, I spent some time at the Celtics earlier this year and JB Bickerstaff’s a close friend and I talked to him a lot.

They put live bodies on guys a lot. Now the pace might be different, but it’s a live human being guarding them when they’re working on stuff, whether it’s stepping behind the screen, shooting a three. Or just a guy guarding you to get the guys at the feel and the rhythm of what you’re trying to do.

And I think Matt understands that and he’s been really good at it. And then we might watch clips pre practice of our Mentality Club, whoever won it, or clips from a game. And now he’s kind of taking what we’ll talk about on our coaching staff and then applying it to the individual basis.

And then we’ll take individual player edits and I’ll try to hit all the guys at least once a week individually. So it might be one minute before practice grabbing guys. And then these guys are on the court working on the sweat equity part of the game. Like really breaking it down so they can understand it.

And I think this last week I can see what we’ve been trying to build for this team this year. It’s coming alive because you got Amar’e Marshall running sprints as we talked about getting better physically. Jonathan Beagle took all the frontcourt players and they played one on one after practice.

And you look at another corner, KJ’s got guys just making corner threes and running and sprinting to the corner for our spacing and shooting. It’s all coming together and it takes time. You know, for our team, I think we have a really good team. We’re not that old. So the habits that Matt had, he built that over a four year career and he had a fifth year eligibility.

We don’t have that many guys that are at that point in their life, so I think they’re learning the process of what it takes to be good, the habits, and ultimately what it takes to win. And it takes a little bit of time to build it, but we’re lucky to have a player that’s done it. And he’s done it here.

And then his habits helped him have individual success, which helped us have team success. And I think one of the advantages we have in recruiting is everybody goes into a living room, right? Brings a kid on campus and says, Hey, you know what? We’re going to take care of you for life.

We’ll always be there with you and all these other things. And it’s probably true, but we can have a real life example. We gave a guy a chance to start his career, you know? And I think that’s one of the reasons why we really wanted to help Matt because we said it to him we’ll help you find a job.

And we helped him find an agent when he needed one. He was becoming a professional. But now we gave him an opportunity to start his basketball career. And I think he’s helping us more than we’re helping him. But I think this is a huge opportunity for our program. I don’t know. We should celebrate a lot because I think it’s a big deal.

[00:16:36] Mike Klinzing: Matt, how do you get prepared? Not only are you coaching, but then if you’re stepping out on the floor against guys who are going at it for two and a half, three hours every day and all the other things that they’re putting in and you’re on the coaching staff and you’re going to be sitting in coaches meetings and you’re not getting the same level of work, I’m sure that…

[00:17:01] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I mean, I still like to stay pretty active. I lift and run a lot just so I can give them the best look defensively that will be realistic to like an in game situation. But I mean, I just know too, for when I was a player, if someone came onto the court and played defense and it was bad defense, I would get really worked up in my workouts because I would feel like they’re wasting my time.

So I don’t want to do that to them. I want to give them the best look possible to help them get better. And I know that’s my job to do and that I can definitely do it because I’m only a couple months out of playing professionally, so I’m still in decent shape and I think I can go out there and I wasn’t the best defender, but I’ll give them some live looks.

[00:17:49] Mike Klinzing: How much do you appreciate the opportunity to be able to be on the court?

[00:17:56] Matt Cerrutti: Oh yeah, I mean, it means the world. I’m a hoops junkie. Basketball junkie. I play all the time whenever I can. If I’m home, I’ll go play pickup at the rec center or the YMCA. I think that’s something that I’ll never leave me just because my love for the game. So being out there with the guys and you playing defense and talking and all that stuff.  It’s just really great to do.

[00:18:22] Mike Klinzing: All right. So what’s a question you talked about a little bit earlier, how the fact that you went through the program with Dwayne as your head coach, and now you have guys who are in the same position that a couple of years ago you were in as a player. So what are some things that maybe a player comes to you with that you feel like there are areas that you can help them or maybe they have a question for you. I don’t know if you want to throw out a specific question somebody’s asked you or just maybe in general, what are some of the areas where you try to help guys walk through and maybe help them to see a better perspective of kind of what the coaching staff wants out of them?

Because I think sometimes there’s a perception among players that Oh man, the coach doesn’t necessarily understand what I’m going through, but obviously from your perspective two years ago you were in the exact same spot that these guys were in. So what are some of the things or conversations that you have with guys about maybe the expectations that coaches have that they’re maybe struggling with in terms of what coaches are looking for?

[00:19:19] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I think a big thing would the lift part of it for the guys. Because I know obviously it’s hard when you’re practicing all week and then you got to get in the weight room and lift and the lifts are never easy. And I remember as a player, like early on in my career, I had to figure out why I was in the weight room.

And I was one of those kids that always was curious. Like, why am I doing this? Why are we doing that? Like, is this going to help me? What’s the point of this? What’s the point of that? So I think being through it, I can help them understand why they’re doing things. That everything we do is for a reason.

There’s nothing that’s just thrown at you just to throw it at you. Kids can be curious. They want to know like what this specific lift is going to benefit them on a basketball court. So I think being able to just explain to them that I’ve done it and been through it and there’s a reason behind it helps them just mentally, understand like, alright, I’m getting better today.

Even if I don’t feel like this is benefiting me on the court it really is, so I think helping them out with that can be a big factor for the guys.

[00:20:34] Mike Klinzing: Dwayne, how important is that, I think, when I think about a guy who is on the staff, who’s an alum, especially someone who’s as recent as what Matt’s experienced, I think that that particular insight that they can bring about, hey, kind of the why behind it, and to help be able to explain that to players.

Because let’s face it, when… When players are in the locker room, there’s lots of times like, Hey man, why are we doing this? Or, Oh this is this is kind of tough. I’m not sure that I’m getting what I’m supposed to be getting out of it. So how valuable is it to have somebody that recently who played for you to be able to have to have that kind of insight on, on your coaching staff?

[00:21:10] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, I think perspective is always key in this whole thing. You know, if I looked at Marcus Jackson and Jonathan Beagle are two freshmen from last year. They’re more prepared for what they’re ahead for in their year two, because they just have perspective. And I think that makes them better players, just because they’ve been through the season.

They’ve walked into different arenas, they’ve seen different defenses. I think it’s freshman year, overwhelmed sometimes. Now you go into transfers, okay, what’s this going to be like? It’s a new experience. Hey, the last coach told me this. Now you’re telling me to do something completely different.

Matt’s been through it, and he’s had success. So it’s almost like… Sometimes he gives them a little bit more comfort and trust in what’s going on because the game of basketball now used to be like when I was in college, I mean, you just kind of played and then you heard about guys and you showed up in the gym, you played against them, you see into everybody’s world now through social media and conversation.

So I think sometimes the kids are like, Hey, why aren’t we doing that? Hey, we should try this. I think sometimes it gives you a false narrative too, because you only see what the camera allows you to see I, the other day, somebody sent me this video, it was Deion Sanders, and he’s getting on his guys pretty good about, it looked like somebody may have missed class and they were complaining about working.

You don’t hear that story. You hear the other stories more. And I think for us, a lot of times where we, when we need to redirect our team I think Matt presents like a kind of a calming voice of, Hey, this is how it’s supposed to be. Hey, this is the outcome we’re going to have. Because they don’t know.

You know, they don’t know. They’re going through it. And we don’t have necessarily older voices that have been through it for a few years. I mean, Aaron Reddish is the oldest voice that we have that has played the most games. You know, we do have two other guys that joined the program with him, but Justin Neely tore his ACL last year. So his journey has been a little bit different. Namir Little’s been injured both of his years. You know, last year, I’m going to play four games for. sitting out the rest of the season. So we don’t have that perspective with us. So I think that presents a lot of that.

[00:23:19] Mike Klinzing: It’s interesting, again, when you think about the landscape of college basketball, like you said, Dwayne, the social media has obviously changed a ton of it because everybody can see and people are cherry picking. Hey, we’re Showing the best stuff, whether that’s from a player or team perspective, we’re getting to see, we don’t get to see the downside.

We get to see the upside. So obviously everybody’s comparing that. And then I think the other part of it that you talked about is just, I think players today, they really do want to know why they’re doing things back. Long, long time ago, man, when I played, like I never even thought about the question why.

I mean, I thought about it in my own head, but I never brought the question why to a member of my coaching staff. Because it just was a different era where. what somebody said, that’s what you did. And I think now being able to answer that why question and obviously to have somebody who is so recently in the program is really valuable.

And when I think about building a coaching staff, to me, I always feel like if you can have at least one person who’s an alum and has that. connection and has gone through the experience. And again, obviously Matt’s situation is even better because it’s so recent, but I think having an alum on the staff from a recruiting, from just being able to talk to players and explain to them and just say, Hey, I was in your shoes and being able to go through that.

I think that part of it has got to be invaluable without question. Matt, when you think about. Your coaching career, you think about where you are, just kind of getting started and you look ahead in another year or two. What’s an area that you feel like you really want to grow in and become better at as a coach over the next year or two?

What’s an area that you want to see growth in?

[00:25:03] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I mean, I think pretty much almost every area I would like to see growth in. I’m so new to it and there’s so many things that I’m learning and trying to piece together. Obviously, the film side of it, there’s a lot for me to learn and grow into and then I think on the court, something specific would be like play calling, just having a better feel for when certain plays will work and when they won’t work and how to switch defenses. So I mean, it’s been cool to see when we do like breakdown drills and what play is being called at what time against what defense or how to switch defenses in the correct way.

So I think the little, like, nuances of the game, just learning a feel for when to use that stuff is going to be cool to learn because as a player, obviously, you’re just doing what you’re told. You’re calling what’s being told to you, switch sides of it to a coach, you kind of get control of what you want to call and what you think will work.

So it’s a lot of pressure, obviously, to make the correct call, but I think interesting to see how coach can decipher which plays to use.

[00:26:13] Mike Klinzing: What’s been the most surprising thing transitioning from player to coach? Something that you didn’t know about Dwayne when you were a player because maybe you didn’t get to see that side of him or you just weren’t in those conversations.

What’s something that was maybe not what you thought or something surprising that you learned about him that you didn’t know when you were a player?

[00:26:34] Matt Cerrutti: I don’t know if it would be something I didn’t know, but I would say the just the total investment in the guys. Every second we are trying to make sure that we’re getting it right for these guys.

And I think even as a player, sometimes you don’t truly grasp that, that all the coaches, all they’re trying to do is make sure that you get better as players and better as young men. And I think that can go unnoticed as a player. So as a coach, seeing it, it just gives you a little bit more perspective and I mean, there’s no other staff that you would rather play for or work for because of that.

[00:27:20] Mike Klinzing: Dwayne, what’s something that when you thought about Matt as a player and what made him successful there, what characteristic or characteristics that you saw in him as a player made you think that, hey, I know this guy is going to be successful as a coach?

[00:27:35] Dwayne Killings: I think just his consistency. We have a kind of thing that we say here, everyday guy.

I mean, he’s that you know, everyday. He’s on time. He always gets his lifts in. He runs two or three miles on the treadmill. You know, typically he’s one of the last guys to leave. I don’t necessarily acknowledge that as much as I probably should, but there’s a consistency about who he is.

He never says he’s tired. He doesn’t bring the outside world in. I mean, we all have stuff going on in our lives, and I’m always targeting some of that, but I mean, first and foremost, he’s always worried about how can he help the program. And I think when I was looking back at my career, I mean, somebody just told me, just go to work early and leave late.

And always remember, you have a job to do. And if you can focus on those things and make things better for the coaches and the other people that you serve, the players and the program you’ll be fine in the business. And I’ve always kept that in mind. Matt has that naturally as a human being.

The way his family is rooted and his mom actually just up here and she’s super proud of him. I mean, they’re really tight knit. They take care of each other. His two brothers came up here a couple weeks ago. I think it’s who he is as a person that I really value. That’s been a lot of fun to have him here.

It’s a little weird probably maybe when we go after a game, maybe get a beer together.

[00:29:00] Mike Klinzing: See, that’s the kind of honesty I’m looking for. Like I always ask that question about. What’s that transition like? And everybody’s always like, Oh, it’s great. You know, we get along and this and that. I’m always like, I don’t know if I could sit in a coaching staff  in a meeting with the guy that I played for and just all of a sudden be like yucking it up and having a beer.

I’m not sure I could have done that at 23, 24 years old very well.

[00:29:25] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, that part of it was probably harder for me you know, that part of it his girlfriend bailed on us the other night, babysitting so I kind of screwed up that with my wife, but we don’t take that out on him.

So treat him with much and all that stuff, but no,he’s been terrific. I think he’s got a bright future in this business. I know all his guys are rooting for him to be successful and he’s going to represent them well and represent us well here. You know, we’re lucky to have him. We try to hold on to him for as long as we can, but most importantly, he makes the guys better. And I’m really excited for him.

[00:30:07] Mike Klinzing: I think it’s cool that, again, you guys are talking about investing in your players as basketball players, obviously making them better, but also just to continue.

I know, Dwayne, this has been a theme, kind of what you and I have talked about over the years of just not only improving them as players on the court, but also trying to make them better off the floor and make them better people. And when you do that, I think ultimately that affects your program, that affects your team and it makes you better in every way, shape and form.

And then obviously you’re talking about after kids graduate, Matt’s a great example of that where you’re looking out for them, not just during the two years or three years or four years or five years that they’re with you, but for the duration of their life that you’re building those relationships. And to me, I think that’s one of the things that clearly is most valuable.

So Matt, when you think about that and building those relationships, I know it’s amazing. We’ve talked to so many guys on the podcast about how they got their start in coaching. And so many of them think back to their, their first year and they say, yeah, I still, even those, those guys might’ve been, that might’ve been 20 years ago or 25 years ago.

There’s still tons of guys that I still talk to, even though it’s 20 years ago, but they were my first team. And so for you kind of thinking about this first team and building relationships, how do you perceive that idea of building a relationship? What does that look like for you? So you’re building the relationship, not just on the court, but off the court with the players that you’re interacting with.

[00:31:30] Matt Cerrutti: Yeah, I mean, I think I’m a big believer in a lot of relationships have to be natural. You know, when relationship is forced, it kind of feels funky or off or trust isn’t really there. So I kind of wanted to naturally build with the guys as we work on the court. And as we grow together, I think we’ve gotten more comfortable with each other.

And I think some of the guys appreciate that as well. Just being able to have somebody they can ask questions to or that they trust, but that side of it I don’t think can be forced. I think it has to be naturally built between And I think also as the season goes, you learn a lot about each other and tight games, close games, whatever, hard practices.

So I think that aspect of the relationship piece is really big and obviously we’re here to help all of these kids and as they grow, we want them to be able to look back and you know, remember their time here and really appreciate it because I know that’s what I always say, the year I was here was probably the best year of my life, so to be able to recreate that for them. I want to be as helpful as I can.

[00:32:42] Mike Klinzing: Where are you guys at in terms of prep for game one against UMass? Where are you staying right now, Dwayne?

[00:32:47] Dwayne Killings: Yeah, we had a few bodies down in our last scrimmage and I thought we did some really good things.  I thought we as a program, we were very confident and I think the other head coach of the other program had a lot of really good things to say about what we’re trying to do.

Now with that we have to make some adjustments as we get some guys healthy. It’s crazy as you think it’s less than two weeks away now. You play your first game of the year. I wish we had a lot more time. I think we’re where we’re supposed to be. We got some work to do.

I mean, there’s still some things that we wanted to kind of get going but, October is a hard month in college basketball. I mean, guys just start going down. I think just the excitement of the year kind of wears off. And you’re in that weird window where you’re trying to grind through practice after practice after practice.

And guys get banged up. But hopefully we get back on the floor healthy here. It’s been one of our challenges, but we’re going for it. We believe in this group. We got some talented guys that have a chip on their shoulder. Got stuff they want to prove. We’re really excited about what we’re capable of doing, but our head’s down and just working.

Rankings, stuff on Twitter, all that, that’s not our deal. We just go out here and work and we’re going to take advantage of the first opportunity we have to compete coming up soon.

[00:33:56] Mike Klinzing: Dwayne, Matt. Can’t thank you guys enough for taking the time this morning to jump on. Really appreciate it.

And very, very soon we’ll be able to talk some actual basketball, getting out on the floor and, and getting some games under your belt, which I know you guys are excited about. I know your players are excited about, as you said, you’re kind of grinding away against each other. And it’s once you get into the rhythm of the season and it becomes, I don’t want to say easier, because that’s probably not the right way to say it, but you got that carrot dangling in front of you, of the next game coming.

And so I know everybody’s excited to get on the floor and see what you guys look like against an opponent and obviously opening up with UMass. So good luck in that one. We may or may not talk before then. Who knows? We’ll have to see. I think we’re planning to try to maybe get one, try to maybe get one more in, but if not, we will talk after that.

And again, Matt, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate you being a part of it today and to everyone out there thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode. Thanks.