“THE TRIPLE DOUBLE” #21 WITH ROB BROST, BOLINGBROOK (IL) HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL HEAD COACH – EPISODE 1150

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The 21st edition of “The Triple Double” with Rob Brost, Bolingbrook (IL) High School Boys’ Basketball Head Coach. Rob, Mike, & Jason hit on three basketball topics in each episode of “The Triple Double”.

1. Rob’s son Trey’s recruitment and signing with D2 Michigan Tech
2. Locker Room design, tech, and comfort
3. Tips for planning an out of state trip for your high school team. Bolingbrook is headed to Hawaii this winter.

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Be sure to have your notebook handy as you listen to “The Triple Double” with Rob Brost, Bolingbrook (IL) High School Boys’ Basketball Head Coach.

What We Discuss with Rob Brost

• Rob’s son Trey’s recruitment and signing with D2 Michigan Tech
• Locker Room design, tech, and comfort
• Tips for planning an out of state trip for your high school team. Bolingbrook is headed to Hawaii this winter.
  

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THANKS, ROB BROST

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TRANSCRIPT FOR “THE TRIPLE DOUBLE” #21 WITH ROB BROST, BOLINGBROOK (IL) HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL HEAD COACH – EPISODE 1150

[00:00:00] Narrator: The Hoop Heads Podcast is brought to you by Head Start Basketball

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[00:01:07] Narrator: Hi, this is Luke Krasinsky Prep national assistant basketball coach and postgraduate director of recruiting, and you’re listening to the Hoop Heads Podcast

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Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle tonight, who is, by the way, Rob, getting his PhD and taking classes tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern time. So that is why Jason is not with us. Plus he got a crown today dental work. So I don’t know what his condition is going to be, but he’s sitting in a class right now.

Mm-hmm. So he, well, he’d much rather be with us.

[00:02:21] Rob Brost: I was going to say, well, at least one of the three of us is getting smarter. It’s probably him. That’s right. So  he can, he can have that, and he can have the crown too. So I’m glad I’m doing neither of the things that he did today or is doing.

I’m glad I’m with you and I’m glad we’re back for the pod

[00:02:39] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. No PhD for me. I’ll pass on that opportunity. That’s right. As exciting as that may be. So we’re pleased to welcome back Rob Brost, head boys basketball coach at Bolingbrook High School in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Triple double number 21, Rob. And we’ve been off for crazy month or so just with my vacation and scheduling and everything else. But in the meantime, since we last spoke, and we’ve talked about this topic before, but we sort of had, I don’t know if it’s a culmination, but the decision for your son.

So Rob’s son, Trey, for anyone who listens to the podcast, I’m sure has heard us talk about him and his experience as a player. But Trey was fortunate enough to sign to become a college basketball player at Michigan Tech. And we’re going to talk to Rob a little bit about the decision and talk about it from a perspective of a parent, from the perspective of a coach, from the perspective of just what processes Trey had to go through to make that decision.

So let’s start with, I guess, just. When was the moment when he knew, and how did he let you guys know? Was it a collaborative decision in terms of you guys sitting down and talking about it? Did he just one day come to you and say, dad, hey, here’s what I’m going to do, or what, what did it look like?

[00:03:58] Rob Brost: I think it he, he had a little jump on the recruiting thing just because his dad’s a high school coach and I’ve been around it and I know a lot of college coaches, so he had a little head start I would say from the normal kid of his ability and his profile and all of those things.

So we, we took several visits to schools, both that had offered him and some that had not  starting his sophomore year and then kind of got a little more serious with the visits his junior year. And then obviously I.  the things started to narrow themselves out a little bit. And  it’s, it’s, it’s like I tell a lot of people several of our guys have had 10, 12, 15 offers.

They didn’t have that many. But  even our guys that have that many, usually it comes down to two or three that really are serious offers that are serious about recruiting the player and that are really interested, so to speak. Even though all of those offers came, it, it, it always gets down to one or two that have mutual interests and all of those things.

And that’s kind of what happened with him as well. So that  helped the process and it also helped that I’m around the recruiting landscape all of the time and so obviously he is privy to information maybe that the normal quote unquote kid even, that’s my player. Might not have.

And so I think it was important for him to understand the portal universe and that it’s a lot different than it was five years ago. I think five years ago, we probably wouldn’t be making a decision like this at the level that he decided to go to. We would probably waited a little bit longer, had everything like before COVID say and it was that landscape but it’s not that landscape.

So we have to make decisions accordingly. So  that being said, we, I didn’t ever push him to make a decision or I didn’t tell him, Hey, you should make a decision by such and such a date. But I think he understood that there’s a lot of factors at play here, and the longer it goes.

The more people are in the recruiting database, if you want to use that term. And I think some people think like, well, no, I’ll give myself an extra year and reclassify, well, that sometimes is not the best thing because now there’s more kids to pick from, not less kids. And so you have to take all of those things into account and then obviously you want to go to a place that wants you there.

And I think ultimately when he got close to the end, I said, you don’t have to make a decision, but how would you feel if, in this case, if Michigan Tech took another point guard tomorrow, another kid committed to Michigan Tech and then they didn’t need a point guard. And he was like, well, I would be crushed and upset about the whole thing if they took another point guard right now.

And so that being said, and we took a second trip up there. He, we had been up there. In July, like July 1st ish on an unofficial visit. And then we took an official visit I think it was two or three weeks ago, right before he committed. And so we were up there and it was much better on the official visit because school was in session.

There was students there, the guys were there, there was workouts going on. We went to a football game. The campus was vibrant and they have 8,000 students ish. So that the campus had a much different field than when we went in the middle of the summer and nobody was there. And so  I think his getting to see and hang out with and be around their players was the thing that really sealed the deal for him.

And to understand what their players are like. I. And  what type of people they are. All of those things that the coaches say are really important. That became really important. And so  it’s six hours plus away from our house. So I think that he had a little trepidation going into the official visit that it was too far or something like that.

But once he met the guys and then they talked to each other, a couple of the guys went to dinner with us and then he got to hang out with the players. He worked out with those guys and spent several hours with them outside of us. And so that kind of sealed the deal for the whole thing.

And so he actually told the coaches before we left out in Michigan that he was committing to that. Michigan Tech, but we didn’t put it, put it out there and tell the public for about a week after that, because we wanted to contact all the coaches, obviously make all the calls, and we didn’t want to leave any voicemail that whole thing.

So we gave ourselves a little bit of time for that, for us to handle that the correct way. And  once that was done, then he put the announcement out and put it on social media and all of those things.

[00:09:30] Mike Klinzing: Did you yourself have any prior relationship with the staff at Michigan Tech? Was that at all?

Yeah. A piece of it?

[00:09:38] Rob Brost: Well, I think that was actually an advantage for Michigan Tech, that I didn’t know them prior. So it actually worked the exact opposites and then I think it, it would, so I knew of those guys and I knew them very little. They came and evaluated Trey. They started recruiting him, then of course I got to know them.

They knew who I was, but I didn’t, we didn’t know each other right. I’ll just put it like that. And so that, I think was, ended up being an advantage for them rather than the other schools, when it got right down to it, I had known those coaches for 20 years each. And  I don’t know if it played a role in Trey’s decision making or not, but I think it actually helped push it because they evaluated him and it, it was their, they’re completely, their decision.

And obviously there’s some benefit to your dad knowing having relationships with hundreds of college coaches. There’s also a point where. If another school comes in and they’re, they don’t have a relationship with me, that also became an advantage, I think, and I don’t think Trey thought of it like that, but I think it ended up being a lot of that, to be honest with you.

[00:11:05] Mike Klinzing: So you talked a little bit about just making the decision early, right? Maybe earlier than you would have several years ago. Just talk about for maybe people who aren’t as familiar with how the recruiting process has changed. Obviously in your program. You’ve had a ton of guys recruited over the many years of your career, so you’ve seen the recruiting landscape for high school players.

Yeah, change. And obviously with each one of your guys, it’s a personal journey for them, but also for you, right? As their coach. Yes. Now you’re taking it with your son one step further. Not only are you as coach, but you’re his father. Yeah. And so just walk us through the differences of maybe if this had been five years ago or 10 years ago, why it might have been more advantageous to wait versus now why you want to grab that spot?

You kind of touched on it a little bit, but Yeah. Maybe expound on that a little bit more. I

[00:11:57] Rob Brost: think the thing that you have to get players, and in this case my son to understand, is that everybody’s journey is different and no is exactly the same and no one has a straight line to their college that they choose.

Everyone has kind of ebbs and flows and ups and downs of, of, of it.  in our case, and I won’t even mention the school, but there was a clear leader kind of from the get go that offered him very early one, another top division two school. And I kind of thought like that was kind of the default that he was just going to go there.

And then Michigan Tech came in and did a really good job of evaluating and those types of things. But to your point and to the question it’s just a different time than it was five years ago and especially like 10 years ago.  Trey has a unique skillset. But some of it, I would say. A coach to appreciate some of those things.

And so he is not a, a five star kid that can put his chin on the rim and score at will and all of those things. And so  his skillset’s a little unique and he although we were ranked number one for a large part of the season last year, the fact of the matter is he is a, he is a five 11, we list him at six foot, but he is a five 11 point guard that averaged seven points a game last year.

And so  that’s, if you just look at the numbers, you might not appreciate what he can do. But if you watch us play, then you would certainly understand his value. And the schools that recruited him certainly understand his value. And so  he had several division one schools that were interested but hadn’t offered and that were kind of.

 not leading him on, that’s not the word I would use, but like, hey, if you wait this out, we might have a spot for you in March or April of your senior year of 2026 coming up. But also what that does is if you wait for that, then everybody in the portal becomes available. And now Trey is not the same type of commodity as he is right now.

And so if the portal wasn’t like it was and all of those things, and recruiting is going to get a little even crazier if they pass the five year rule. Now all of those kids are going to get an extra year and it sounds like that’s going to pass as well. So then he would be even further behind then.

because all of those scholarships that you think are going to come available are not going to be available. And so we played all of those factors into the decision, but ultimately it was up to him. And if he would’ve came to me and said, dad, I really want to wait this out and bet on myself and do this, and I think I’m a division one player I would’ve given him what I thought was the other side of that and some of the consequences of that.

But ultimately it’s, it’s his decision. I tried not to push him to a school, number one, and I certainly tried to not push him into making a decision. But let’s just say that my opinion was pretty clear on, I think we should have a decision before the basketball season starts. And then several kids from our area and several kids from his AU team committed to schools as well.

And kids were starting to. Take scholarships and div top division two scholarships were starting to get, starting to disappear. And some of them that even he was offered started to disappear. And so  I think that was part of it as well. That being said, I think Michigan Tech is a perfect fit for him all the way around the way they play, how they give their guards freedom, but at the same token, they give him parameters in which to play.

He’s just a tough hardnosed point guard. He’s just what you would, you would think a coach as kid would be, and that’s how he plays. And so  all of those things played into a part of making the decision early so to speak. And if he was this same exact player 10 years ago I certainly probably would’ve told him, Hey, we can probably wait until November 1st ish.

At the earliest, and then maybe even wait until see how you start playing during the season and let that play out. But we’re not in that timeframe and we’re not in that era, I guess. And it is what it is. And it’s going to get, like I said, it’s going to get even worse for high school kids if the five year rule goes in.

And that I think is going to be across the board, it’s division two is voting on it, I think in a month or two. And if that goes, there’s going to be even less scholarships available. And so  level I don’t think mattered so much to him. I think in his mind he thinks he’s a division one player, but that’s how he should think.

And so  the division two thing doesn’t bother him, I don’t believe, but in his mind he thinks he’s a division one player and that’s what schools like Michigan Tech need to win at a high level. And they won 26 games or whatever it was last year. They need players that believe they’re better than what they are or what they’re perceived to be to win.

And so I think it’s a great fit for him personally. I think the coaches did a great job. The coaches are very no nonsense. The coaches are very  it’s a different place up in Michigan in the up. It’s going to snow triple what it snows here. You have to just get over that and you can’t be afraid of eight hour road trips and things like that.

So it’s going to be a little bit different than some of the other college experiences that he may have chosen. But there was a lot of factors at play for sure.

[00:18:00] Mike Klinzing: How much of it do you think was the feel like you talked about, Hey, we’re on the visit, he gets to hang out with the guys. It just feels right versus you’re going through the empirical data of.

Well, this is what the roster looks like, or, well, this is what majors they have available or, well, this is, how much was it? Facts versus feel, if that question makes sense.

[00:18:24] Rob Brost: Yeah, it, it does make sense. And I think feel played a big part in it because when it got right down to it, we were only considering schools that had those other things, right.

They had to have a business major, they had to have finance, they had to have those things that he’s interested in to study first. And Michigan Tech’s academic prowess speaks for itself. It’s one of the top academic schools in the country known for its engineering. But there other facets of the school are, are top notch as well.

So, I think from his perspective, most of it came down to feel, he’s a, he’s a very good student, but that’s not his he, he’s not one of those, and I don’t want to scare off the Michigan tech coach, but he’s not one of those that loves school and can’t wait to go every day and all of those things.

Now he has a 3.9 GPA and all of that stuff. So, I mean, he gets done what he needs to get done, but that’s he loves the basketball piece and  obviously the academics, he’s going to concentrate and do what he needs to do there as well. So, to your point, the feel thing, I think once we got there, it had a different feel than some of the other schools that we had been to.

And we had been to all of the other schools that we were considering. And some we stayed for two days two and a half days, depending on how far it was. And so  it was our second trip up there and like I said, it. School wasn’t in session the first time we went up there.

And so school being in session and to have a football game and all of those things. They have hockey up there, they have a, a nice hockey arena, so that gives you a different feel as well. They’re division one and hockey, so it, it’s just, I think the feel thing played a huge role in it for him personally.

And that’s what I want it to do because at the end of the day, he’s going to be the one that’s sitting there, not me. He is going to be the one that has to get to practice and then practice for two hours and then go to study table and then lift, and then go to class and then do it all again the next day. And that’s going to be a grind no matter what campus you’re on, no matter what level you go to.

That’s going to happen wherever he goes. And so he’s going to be the one that’s going to be there. And so he has to be ultimately comfortable with the decision, but he understands he’s going to be homesick. He’s going to get thrown around a little bit as a freshman. He’s going to get guys roughing him up a little bit at practice because they don’t want him to take their spot.

Like he, he knows that all of that’s coming. But even though  it’s all coming, you’re never really prepared for it until you do it. And  that from your college days. And that happens no matter where you go, no matter what level you go to. Those things are going to happen and he is going to want to come home and he is going to want to be like, well man, this is so far away.

All of those things are happening. And so they’re going to happen and you just try to get as prepared as you can for them. But ultimately he’s have to be one to go through that.

[00:21:33] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, really well said. I think ultimately it’s funny when your kids are small, right? And you try to do as much as you can for them to lay the path and lay the groundwork for them to have success.

And part of that is instilling some of the things that you’ve talked about tonight with Trey, right? In terms of just understanding what’s coming, understanding what’s necessary, making him into a proverbial coach’s kid, right? Somebody who’s going to do all those things that you just talked about. And the younger they are, the more we tend to guide them and and help them through that process.

And then as they get older, they start to take that on themselves. And then when they go to school and you’re not around every day, suddenly. You’re probably not even necessarily talking to ’em every day. So the messaging that you could give them at home all the time, and for you even more so, because you’re giving ’em that messaging during practice, not only as his father but as his coach.

That daily messaging is no longer there. But what is there is the residual of all that talking and all that time that you’ve put in. And then ultimately you hope that you’ve equipped them with the ability to go to this new environment and to do all the things that you just described, to fight through that adversity that we know is coming into rise up to the challenge of playing at a higher level with guys who are older and bigger and have been around for a little bit longer time and more experienced as college basketball players.

And ultimately when you get thrown in that fire, if you’re competitive and you have those characteristics like you described with Trey, then you figure it out and. What’s great about it is that they figure it out not completely without you, because you’re still a phone call or a text away, but in so many ways you’re not there for ’em in the same, to the same level.

Yeah. Because they’re away at their campus and they’re doing their things and it’s, that was honestly as my son went up through high school and then went on to college, it became a situation where it was so nice just to see him take on all those things that I used to have to guide him or hold his hand to get him to places.

I no longer had to drive him to the gym. He just drove to the gym and did his workout himself.  now I’ll talk to him, Hey, what was your day like? And just like you described, Hey, we had a 6:00 AM lift and I went to class, left class, went to the gym and got my shots up, came back had to study and do.

So it’s just all those things that then again, it’s what you hope for as a parent, as a coach, that they get to that point where they’re. Responsible for it. And then if they do all the things that they’re supposed to do, then you let the chips fall, or they may, in terms of how their career turns out and what they end up doing, all those kinds of things.

Ultimately, you just have to continue to work and have goals and trust that the work that you’re putting in is going to get you where, where you want to go. And it’s, I mean, I don’t have to tell you that, and you’ve seen it with a lot of your players over the years of you’ve, you’ve instilled the foundation for ’em, and then they take it and they build the rest of the house wherever they go with the rest of their career.

And as not only as basketball players, but as people. And that ultimately, it doesn’t get any

[00:24:51] Rob Brost: better than that. There’s, there’s no doubt about that. And like the parenting. Coaching a team are very, very similar, right? Like, how much rope do I give them? If I give them too much rope, then they’re going to not do it right?

If I don’t give ’em enough rope, they’re going to rebel against what we’re doing. And so it’s like when we go into a game, I have concerns about how we’re going to play. What happens if this happens, happens just like when Trey leaves here, I have concerns. How is he going to handle this? How is he going to do that?

But it’s, it’s just like our team, right? Most of the time we do pretty well with because we’re prepared and we’re ready and, but then always something crazy happens at a game or whatever, or somebody files out or whatever, and then you just have to improvise and figure it out. Same thing with Tre in this case I have concerns is be in 10 know.

15 foot dorm room with another guy for a year before he gets to move in with the basketball guys at their house because all freshmen have to live in the dorm.  all of those things like, is he going to eat enough because he’s on those things concern me, but at the end of the day, he’s have to, he’s have to be able to do that and he will do it because he, he’s capable of doing it.

That’s just kind of what I do as a parent and as a coach. You are concerned about all of these things, most of which never happen. Right. And so  I’m looking forward to it in all angles, but obviously first things first, we got a season to, to go and play out here and I’m really excited about that piece of it too.

[00:26:28] Mike Klinzing: Alright, so last question related to both of those topics, right? The recruitment and then the upcoming season for you as a coach and a father to be able to have the decision in the rear view mirror and not. I don’t want to say hanging over because it’s not a, it’s not a negative thing hanging over the season.

If you hadn’t doubt made this decision, but just the idea that we’ve already made that decision, now we can kind of put that over on the side and we can focus on what we need to do to have, for him a great senior year for year for you, another outstanding season for your team. How, I don’t know if nice is the right word, but just how does it feel to make sure that, to to know that, hey, that decision is done, and now we can just kind of focus at the bus on the, on the business at hand that’s right in front of us as opposed to.

Trying to focus on the business, but also having this other thing. Yeah. That’s over here on the side that you had to concern

[00:27:26] Rob Brost: yourself with. It’s refreshing, right? Because  like tomorrow night when we have open gym, there’ll be four or five division one coaches there, and in the back of my mind I’ll be, I would’ve been thinking like, man, I hope he plays well enough so at the very least he can talk to his buddies at the bid majors and then we could get something going and all of those things.

Right?  I’m not concerned at that in the, in the slightest, like shrews from Notre Dame was at our last open gym and I jokingly said, Hey, don’t try to, don’t try to steal Trey. He’s, he’s 100% committed to Michigan Tech. So so it adds a little comedy to, to our whole thing too. And then everything is more comfortable, I guess you, you can say.

And  ultimately that’s what you want for your players is for things to be comfortable to the point where that they can just worry about playing. Right. I don’t mean comfortable playing. And we’ve talked about this before, like the best thing is to be uncomfortable doing what you’re doing and all that.

And I disagree with that to a point. We’ve talked about that on other episodes, but like, I want him to be comfortable with everything so he can just play. And then that’s where he gets uncomfortable is when stuff happens in games and practices and those types of things. So  it, it’s just a load off of everybody’s back really.

Because stuff changes so fast now in this recruiting landscape that they could have taken another point guard. All the schools could have taken a point guard within the last week, and then we’re starting from square one. And we had already told some of the other schools that were not interested in them.

And so they went a different direction. And so things change so fast in the landscape now, especially with recruiting. And so to have it really done is great. And then then it will be like when he has a great game that he can be like, see Dad, I should have waited, like jokingly.

That would be a joke of course. But those types of things will be said instead of like, Hey, do you think so and so saw this game? Do you think and so it just, it just lets everybody be a little bit more relaxed where that goes so that we can just do the work that’s that’s in front of us.

And so that part is certainly refreshing. And the longer it goes, I think sometimes the more tension the recruiting thing gets, especially with parents and and then when parents get tense, then the players get tense. And so  I’m just glad to have it not out of the way isn’t the right word, but just to, to be done and to be comfortable with where he is going.

I think he’s comfortable with it and the recruiting thing is great, but like I told him, now that you’ve committed, now the real hard work begins because some guys are thinking like, dude, I can’t believe that he’s got a scholarship. And I don’t. And then just, and then he’s thinking like, well man, I think I could have gone to a division one, which like Michigan Tech beat two division ones last year.

So like the level is not so much my concern. It it was more the fit. But my point is that every now the real hard work begins, and then when our season gets done, he’s have to get prepared for all of the things that are going to be thrown at him when he gets there. And so that’s going to be a whole nother level of, of.

Challenge, I guess you would say.

[00:30:50] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. Well, again, congratulations to you. Congratulations to him and it’s exciting stuff. No doubt. No doubt. The opportunity to be able to play college basketball at any level, and especially to do it at a scholarship level, as you said for mom and dad, it’s always a plus.

You get school paid for, no doubt and no doubt he will appreciate that even more at some point in his life when he talks to his buddies who have student loans and everything else that goes in. So, so when you’re graduating without all that stuff, it’s  that’s a positive and then. Clearly the basketball piece of it I’m sure he is going to have a great experience and you and I both know how valuable that that piece of it is not just for the next four years, but for the for the remainder of his life.

He’s going to get he is the teammates and the relationships and everything that you build as a result of getting opportunity to play at the college level. There’s, there’s nothing like it. You can’t replace, you can’t replace with being part of a team, what it does, what it does for you as a, as a human being.

So, again, there’s no, again, congratulations to all you guys. Congratulations. Thank you so much for Sure. Topic number two. So the genesis of this topic, and I was telling Rob before this, I sent him the topics earlier today, but last night I had a meeting with, we have a new varsity head coach here in my hometown of Strongsville.

And we were just talking about part of the travel board and we were trying to figure out, we had some. Money that was left over from the camp that they ran this summer and just some of the funds that we have. And so we were asking him, Hey, what are some things that you might want for the program?

And he, he threw two things out at, at us and one was, he said, our, our locker room. He goes, it’s so weird. We don’t have, we don’t have a permanent whiteboard on the, on the walls anywhere. And so he said at his previous school where he was a JV coach, they had a a whiteboard on the locker room that was big and had had a court already pre-drawn on it.

Yeah. So he is like, can we get that? I’m like, oh yeah, that’d be great.  get one with the pre-drawn court and you don’t have to spend the time drawing the key and all that stuff, whatever. And then the other thing that he said that he wanted is he wanted a clock that was connected to. The scoreboard clock out in the gym so that when his guys were back in the locker room, they could see like what score much was in the gym.

Yep. Yeah. How much time is left? What the score of the JV game was, just to kind of keep ’em sort of on track for what was going on in the, in the  in the, in the game before them so they could get themselves prepared. So it just kind of got me thinking of, hey, what does a, what’s a cool locker room look like?

Or what are some things that coaches might want in their locker room that would make the experience better for their team and for themselves as they go about the daily business, whether it’s practice, whether it’s games, whatever. What are some things in a locker room that make the locker room better or well designed?

So, just wanted to get your thoughts on how you think about utilizing your locker room space.

[00:33:52] Rob Brost: Yep. Well, here’s what we, we have kind of a unique setup, and I’m not. Not complaining about our setup in the slightest. We just use what we use. So for games, we use a classroom kind of right off the gym as our locker room.

 we put curtains up and all of those things. But the classroom affords us a lot of things that aren’t available in a normal locker room. For example, video board that we can connect right to our computer. And so I can show them clips right before games, halftime, whatever I want. And then it has huge amounts of wall space, whiteboard space, because the whole wall is a whiteboard because it’s a classroom.

And so we can, my assistant that’s in charge of the scout, so a third of that board is used for the scout, for example, and he just goes over matchups and then their top three sets that they run right before we go out on the floor. So. Having that whiteboard space is critical for us.

But we use kind of a classroom as our locker room on game days, and so but we also use that very same room when we watch film, when we break down things and all of those things. And it’s close to the la or excuse me, it’s close to the gym. Obviously we have a locker room and our guys have lockers in there, but that’s basically, we just change in there for practice and that’s it.

So that’s kind of all we use it for because it doesn’t have the bells and whistles that I would like in a locker room, so that’s why we use the classroom. And so  I think a lot of those things, especially now with technology like it is are super, super important. And  we just got a brand new video board in our gym.

Literally the volleyball team used it for the first time yesterday. For their game. But now we’re going to be able to watch film on that video board in the gym so that I can have something. Now, this is not a locker room, but this is how we’re going to use this thing. At least for me, I’m not as concerned about game operations and all of those little videos and all the stuff that goes up there during that time.

I can, we can watch film right on the floor and then do it right from there. So there’s no lag time between film and floor, like when we’re in the classroom. Classroom and then we have to walk out, then we stretch and then we do all this. So I can have one of my assistants have the clips exactly where I want ’em and shut it down.

And then when we’re at that point of practice, we turn it on and then show it and then go. So that’s not a locker room thing, but that’s a facility thing. And so we’re going to use the classroom a little bit less this upcoming season because of that video board now that we have in our main gym.

And so it’s things like that really help the process of, of coaching and using all the technology that’s available. But I think I’m very, very careful not to over stimulate our guys with stuff. I’m not one of those guys that sends stuff out to our guys on phone, on their phones every day and says, look at this, do this, do this.

I don’t do that. Now I might say to a kid, Hey, if you want to check the game tape at such and such time you did this, this, and this. Or I’ll call them in to watch the tape with them, but I don’t like mass send out film to our guys and all those things and try to have them watch it on their phone before I don’t do that.

I just think they’re so saturated with information overload that sometimes I try to pull back on some of those things.

[00:37:40] Mike Klinzing: Is there something that, whether it’s a technology, whether it’s just a scenario, whether it’s a, you could have all the things that you described in the classroom in the actual locker room.

Is there something that, if you could design the dream locker room, what’s something that you’d want to have or a design that you’d want to have that you don’t have right now?

[00:38:03] Rob Brost: Yeah, I would love, I would love for our, and this is going to sound so simple to, most of some schools probably already have this, and so, but I would like all of our guys to have their own, like cubby locker, not like the mesh locker that closes and opens.

You have to put the path, like you have like a cubby and then we would have something like, Hey, these are all the guys before you that were in this one. Because we’re at a point now in our program where some pretty. Successful guys have been in there. But in our case, we don’t really have that. And so it seems simple, but it, it’s, it would really add to, I think, our whole thing.

But then you get into if we get one, then the girls have to get the exact same thing. And I’m not, I’m not opposed to any of that. I just, those are just some of the issues that we deal with. If we would spend $50,000, for example, on our locker room, which we’ve contemplated doing, well, then they have to spend 50,000 and vice versa is also true.

They do it for the girls, then they have to do it for us. So  I think simple things like that would be great. I would also like, like like an automatic  screen that kind of comes down in front of the whiteboard. So you just push a button and then there it comes. And then like an entertainment, not an entertainment center, but like a, where the coach would sit, where all the stuff is at his disposal, ?

Right. Yeah. Push and play and this, and play and so it’s all like, connect, it seems like and I’m at a high school, so these things are never going to, we’re at a regular, we are at a public high school, so none of these things are going to happen. So I’m not complaining in any way, but if I had a dream scenario  we would have it like like Illinois has their film room or even like Michigan Tech has their film room so like you can.

 comfortable chairs and all of those things that play into it. And I would have several coolers and there would be chocolate milk and protein shakes, and even like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in there for our guys after school before we go to practice. Just little things like that that make a big difference on making our guys comfortable.

And we do versions of all of that stuff so our guys aren’t hungry and all of that. But to have it in one centralized location would be a dream for me personally. It’s never going to happen, but it’s, it’s fine. Because we’re, we’re going to do the best with what we have and we have a lot of things. So I don’t want this to sound like I’m, I’m the guy here complaining.

[00:40:43] Mike Klinzing: Well, it’s funny because you think about right from a high school standpoint, like, I love the idea of the legacy thing. Mm-hmm. Where yeah, you’ve got the cubicle and you can honor the past, but also then be able to talk to your guys and clearly with. The way that your program has been built and the number of years that you’ve been there to be able to connect your alumni to your current guys.

No doubt. Which I know you do in lots of different ways already. Yes. But it’s just one more way visually to be able to connect that. I think it’s, I think it’s very cool and yet at the same time, completely understand the idea of we’re at a public high school versus we’re comparing some of the things when we go, when we walk into a college locker room and we see, Hey, we got this, we got this, we got this.

Yeah. Well that’s all well and good, but it’s probably not going to happen. Right? Yes. Like you said, at a public high school, as much as, as much as you might wish it, it would. And it’s funny because, so when I’ve gone back and now it’s been a couple years since I went back to Tennessee. Yeah. Play like in an alumni game and be in their locker room, and I think about the locker room that.

We had when I was playing. So again, I’m there from 88 to 92 and we did have cubicles. Now they didn’t have past players on them, but we did have our own, we did have our own cubicle and our locker room was carpeted, but we would walk out of our carpeted locker room. And again, this is when players took showers both after practice and after games, which obviously doesn’t have, obviously doesn’t happen.

Doesn’t happen anymore. Yeah. But you would walk down onto this concrete just, I mean, yeah, and the gym was, was built in like the forties and so it’s these showers and whatever, and so you’re there and it again, at the time, totally fine. And then, yep. Now having gone back to the locker room in the last 3, 4, 5 years.

You go in there and like you mentioned, they have a dedicated film room. They have

[00:42:29] Rob Brost: Yes.

[00:42:30] Mike Klinzing: Photos and pictures of guys who are all league and all academic. Yeah. And the league championship photos and all that kind of stuff. Then they have the food station, you’ve got the ping pong table. You’ve got, they have a barber chair in there, so if you want to go in and guys want to cut hair or whatever, it’s just totally different.

And to your point, it’s all things that, are they a hundred percent necessary for you to function as a program? Probably not. But do those creature comforts, do those things make the experience better? For no doubt the players for the coaching staff, and then are they a selling point for the program? A little different for you, again, at a public high school where you’re not recruiting kids and bringing them in to show ’em and tours of the locker room.

But again, for Trey, who’s going on visits to be able to see and look like. Part of what’s cool is to go and see, hey, what’s this locker room look like compared to this locker room? And what kind of things does this school have versus that school have in terms of facilities and just how those things operate.

And so it is kind of fun to think about and look at how important those things have become in a way, again, compared to this is the old man, get off my lawn talking. But yes, back in the day, there wasn’t the same level of concern for the comfort of no doubt, the players or even the coaching staff. Let’s put it, ?

Yeah. Let’s put it that way. So it’s, it’s, it’s just interesting again, the evolution of everything when it comes to, and obviously the tech piece of it is of no comparison. I always laugh whenever I talk to coaches. I just remember sitting, I remember sitting in our locker room on our little stool. So, which, where’s my stool?

I have it right here.

This is my one. Nice. This is my, this is my, this is my one thing that, that probably I got from, from the program. So sat, sat on that stool and just watching film Yep. And coaches with the clicker of the VCR and saying, all right, we’re going to go, we’re going to watch, we’re going to watch this play again.

And pressing that button and trying to go back like 12 seconds and going back like two minutes. Right. And then you have to watch that two minutes over Yes. And over again. And so you get to that, it was just, you’re thinking this could be the most inefficient Yeah. Process that there ever was. And then we think about, again, the video boards and the all the things doubt that we have access to today.

It’s just, it’s incredible what a locker room. Looks like from a tech standpoint, but also just from a creature comfort standpoint compared to what

[00:44:59] Rob Brost: it used to. There’s no doubt. There’s no doubt. It’s, it’s crazy how things have evolved and just little things like I got an LED light for my dry, so instead of using a dry erase board, now I just use this pointer thing and put it on there, and then I hit a button and the play goes away.

It’s erased. So there’s no marker, there’s no like erasing and it’s the, I think it’s the greatest thing, like it’s ever been invented and it costs like $40, right? But there’s, I don’t have to ask, where’s my marker? Where’s, where’s the towel? because we always lose the eraser that’s supposed to be attached to it.

And then we don’t have markers and all of that. Like, that is all now with this LED whiteboard thing. I’m not trying to do a plug for them, but it’s like the greatest thing ever. And  the worst thing that can happen is you run out of battery, but we have three extra batteries in our bag to make sure that, that it works.

So anyways, the, it’s just evolving all the way around.

[00:46:01] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. Very cool. And it’ll be interesting to see how it continues to evolve, and we’ll have holographic players running through plays in a couple years. Yes. And we’ll, we’ll all, we’ll, all we’ll all get there eventually, so. That’s exactly right. All right.

The locker room of the future. Topic number three. So last topic, you’re going to Hawaii this year? Yeah. And I know that my son’s team went to Florida. My daughter’s team went to Florida. And the planning that goes into that and just fundraising and all the pieces, parts to it. So just kind of walk us through what the experience has been like planning the trip.

Obviously you haven’t taken it yet, so you haven’t Yeah. Seen the fruits of the labor, but what’s the labor been like? Planning a trip and clearly you’re going. Pretty far to, to fly. Yeah. Fly across the ocean. Get to get to Hawaii. So just talk about the process. This, I

[00:46:54] Rob Brost: mean, this isn’t like our normal tripling we play in a couple shootouts in St.

Louis and we, we’ve played, we’ve played in Florida before, but we’ve played in bus rides that are 6, 7, 8 hours away, whatever it may be. This is a whole different animal with the Hawaii and it’s even different than Florida, right? Because the logistics are just immense, really. One thing I will say, the Iani Classic does a great job of being organized and has those guys have helped the organizational piece of it be much easier.

But  when you’re traveling an entire basketball team and you have to get on a plane and then you have to fly nine hours. To get there that the logistics of that are really, really different than getting on a charter bus and going four hours away and playing and then coming back. And so  people think like it’s just, oh, well it’s just the airfare, ?

No, the ground transportation is the most difficult piece of that. And then it becomes even more difficult when you’re in Honolulu and you don’t know what Honolulu is like because you’ve never been there before. You’ve never played in that tournament before. So the ground transportation is another whole level of beast.

And then, then you throw on things like meals for our entire team. Then you throw on stuff like. The rooms and the accommodations and all of the things that go with having a team. Be prepared, being prepared, practicing. We’re going to get there a day early. Early. So we, we want, we need to practice that day.

So we need a gym and we need to get to that gym. And then we need the gym to be available. Then we need basketballs there. We need the hoops to be down. We need all of the things that you might not think of that are really, really important so that our guys only have to show up and play.

Right. Or show up and eat, show up and be polite and be a nice person. And then then they can play. And so  and then getting all the things set up. Like we need a, a place to watch film. We need a place to meet as a team. We need all of those things. Plan for ahead of time.

And so I think for the average person thinking like, oh, that, that must be fun and it is going to be fun and it’s going to be a great experience, but the logistics of the whole thing are really overwhelming unless you’ve been doing this for a long time and then have trips similar to this, I guess helps.

But this one is a whole different  level of prepare preparedness, I guess you would say.

[00:49:47] Mike Klinzing: When did you start communicating the idea of the trip to your players? Yeah. And their families so that everybody could kind of get out ahead of not just the planning for you and all the things that you described, but families obviously have to plan if they want to go on the trip and go and watch the team play.

What was the communication? Well, we had, what has that been like?  this

[00:50:10] Rob Brost: all started like last March with, Hey, do you guys want to come? Here’s an official in. Make sure that it was okay with our school district and our higher ups and our board and our everything that goes along with that. Because like, I, like you said in the previous segment, we’re a public school so there’s no money earmarked to send boys basketball to Hawaii and we’re not using any district money or school district money for this trip.

So that was made clear to us from the get go. And then, so that started way back in May and all those things, and we didn’t even put it out there to the public even though we had a contract until probably July I would say, because we needed to make sure that everything was in place before we went public.

So and then I started to communicate with our parents a little bit about what was coming. We had a meeting probably three weeks ago, right when we started school about logistics of, Hey, this is when the team is leaving and when the team is coming back, you are separate from the team and you can do whatever you want.

This is the team hotel, this is where we’re staying. You don’t have to stay there, but you can. Here’s the rates and here’s the things, and here’s the person you could call. So we had that meeting about three weeks ago with our parents. And so, but we got our plane tickets, at least for the team  several months ago.

And the plane tickets have since skyrocketed since we bought ours. Because it’s not, it’s not, it’s not a cheap, it’s not a cheap ticket by any means. So  it’s. Takes a level of patience, I guess, and a level of  just, we’ll get through this no matter what it takes type of deal.

And I’m pretty anal with all of that kind of thing. because I want it to be a certain way and I want to make sure that our guys have a experience that’s not a negative one as far as the travel piece and all of that. Now, if we go out there and we lose four, that’s, that’s that could easily happen.

But  once I, we get all these logistics done, then it will be time to switch from that to, hey, we’re here for a reason and the reason is to play basketball. And so we have to keep that in mind.  when we look out our hotel room and we see the beach right there and we’re staying at a nice hotel that’s right on the beach.

And so that part is going to be part of it. But the reason we’re there is because. We were invited there to perform and they don’t just invite anybody. So there’s a reason why we’re here and we need to keep that reason in mind. That doesn’t mean we have to win X amount of games or we just need to be prepared.

And our coaches will be prepared for sure, which means our players will be prepared and then we’ll let the chips fall where they may once, once we get there. But the level of preparedness from all the auxiliary things is really at times 20 when you take a trip like this.

[00:53:26] Mike Klinzing: How about from a fundraising standpoint?

[00:53:29] Rob Brost: Yeah, I mean, we, we fundraise every year, so we had some money built up in the coffers, but we’re doing a fair amount of fundraising right now. Just from donations and other things and things that we kind of normally do every year. So we were not ready in total to take the entire trip, but like we were more prepared than people would think to, to take a trip like this.

And so,  I don’t know if in the back of my mind I thought, oh, I’ll Trey, senior year we’re going to do something like this. So we kind of had our fundraising efforts going in years past and kind of had saved some of that. And so that also plays a part into sitting where I sit, right?

Because if you ask the board or the superintendent, Hey, can we go? And then you tell ’em it’s going to cost us $30,000 to do it. There’s no way we’re going. But if you ask them, can we go and we’re not going to use any district money. Okay, now we’re, now we’re talking now. Now we want to make sure that the experience is good for our kids and and it will be, but we also our district currently, and I probably shouldn’t talk about this, we’re, we have a strike date for next week and there’s all kinds of back and forth between the teachers and the board and all that.

So this trip isn’t going over so great with some of the board members and some of the, but we’re not using any district money for any of it. So my point is that we have to have all of those things in place before we agree to do something like this. And then to even get permission to do something like this takes us having all those things kind of lined up before we, we even ask permission.

[00:55:22] Mike Klinzing: Was it your goal? And have you reached the goal of. Having the players have no out-of-pocket costs to be able to participate in the trip, because I know sometimes Yeah. Schools will fundraise and they’ll cover whatever, a portion, whatever a portion might be, and then there’s a portion that the players, the families, are expected to cover.

So what was your thought process going into this? Yeah,

[00:55:46] Rob Brost: I’ll put it like this. I don’t want our players to have to pay for anything. And that’s always my goal. And that will remain my goal and I will just kind of leave it at this. Like, if that, if I didn’t think that was going to happen, I probably wouldn’t agree to do it.

Because everybody’s got something that they’re, they could spend money on that doesn’t include sending the Raiders to Hawaii. Right. And so, and that includes me because my son is playing too. So, For selfish reasons, I don’t want the players to have to pay anything as well. So like I said, we, I do a pretty good job and I’m not trying to toot my own horn of making sure that we have what we need and we have the monies that we need to get whatever we need.

Now, this is a different beast as far as the amount of money that we need for it. But we’ve been kind of moving in that direction, so to speak, with our fundraising anyway. So I would be shocked. I’m not going to say our players aren’t going to have to pay anything because I don’t know if they’ll hear this a month from now or whatever it is.

And I don’t know what position will be in, but I my goal is, and always will be that they won’t, they won’t have to pay for anything.

[00:57:03] Mike Klinzing: Understood. Do  who you’re playing already? Is your schedule set or have you not found out yet?

[00:57:08] Rob Brost: We don’t know the schedule yet. But I did, I’m in constant communication with those guys and like I said, those.

In Hawaii have been great because I’m a, I’m a question guy, especially at first like, what’s this? What’s this? Where are we staying? What’s the deal? And some of those can get a little overwhelming from their standpoint because they do this every year. So it’s like, you come on, man, stop. Ask me all these questions.

So I commend those guys. because guys I’ve been really, especially at the beginning  tedious with them as far as the questions. And so we don’t have the schedule to answer your question. We don’t have the schedule yet. We’re going to play four games. It’s typically been set up that there’s eight teams from the Hawaii mainland and the other islands, and then eight teams from the continental United States.

So we’re one of those eight teams that are going out there and there’ll be eight teams from Hawaii there as well.

[00:58:04] Mike Klinzing: How many days is the trip? Are you going to play back to back, to back to back or how does it work?

[00:58:08] Rob Brost: Yeah, so we are going to fly out on a Sunday. Our first game is on Tuesday, so we’ll have Monday to practice and then our last game will be Saturday.

So you get four games in five days. And so it could be a combination of any of those depending on how the schedule goes. And so we’re going to be gone a Sunday to a Sunday, we fly out on a Sunday, and then we are, the possibilities of playing a game Saturday are pretty high for most of the teams, so.

And then we’re going to come back on that the next Sunday. So we’re going to be gone for a week. Obviously we want to do some fun stuff while we’re there, but we’ll probably get into some of those plants in in our next episode.

[00:58:51] Mike Klinzing: There we go. Yeah, I’m selling it. I’m selling it. I like it. I like it. Well, listen, a lot of good stuff happening.

Obviously Trey making his decision, exciting stuff, and your season coming up, and I know you’re looking forward to it and I know you got a good year ahead of you with, with the guys that you’re bringing back to your program and clearly just what you’ve been able to build there over the years.

Wouldn’t expect anything less and then throw in the Hawaii trip as a part of it and the fancy, the fancy classroom, locker room and video board and all this stuff. Yes, sure. And you just know you’re live, living, living the highlight over there. Right? So Rob, again, a lot of fun tonight. I really appreciate it.

And to everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode. Thanks.

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[01:00:28] Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Hoop Heads Podcast presented by Head Start Basketball.