TYSOR ANDERSON – WOFFORD COLLEGE MENS’ BASKETBALL ASSISTANT COACH – EPISODE 1093

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

Email – andersontd@wofford.edu

Twitter/X – @tysoranderson

If you listen to and love the Hoop Heads Podcast, please consider giving us a small tip that will help in our quest to become the #1 basketball coaching podcast.

Tysor Anderson is a men’s basketball assistant coach at Wofford College having joined the staff in June of 2022. Anderson spent the previous three seasons at Jacksonville State University.
  
Prior to Jacksonville State, Tysor was a head coach at the high school level. He served as head coach at Atlanta’s South Gwinnett High School from 2016 to 2018 before taking the head coaching job at Holy Spirit Prep in 2018.  Anderson coached future NBA first-overall pick Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves while at HSP.
 
In the collegiate ranks, Anderson spent two seasons as an assistant coach. His 2011-12 season was spent at South Georgia State College, and he served in the same capacity at the University of North Georgia during the 2015-16 season. In between those stops Anderson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia from 2012 to 2014. 
 
Anderson is a 2010 graduate of Georgia Tech where he received his degree in Social Science, Technology and Culture, and also earned a certificate in Business Management.  As a walk-on for the Yellow Jackets, Anderson lettered three years and served one season as a student assistant under head coach Paul Hewitt.
 
Anderson is the grandson of legendary, Hall of Fame, college basketball coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell, who retired in 2003 after 41 years as a head coach at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State.

On this episode Mike and Tysor discuss Tysor’s coaching experiences from high school to collegiate levels. Throughout the episode, we delve into Anderson’s formative years, marked by his early exposure to the coaching profession through his grandfather, the esteemed Lefty Driesell, and discuss the profound impact of familial legacies on his career aspirations. As we explore his transition from a head coach in high school to an assistant at the collegiate level, we examine the invaluable lessons learned regarding the importance of building relationships within the community and fostering team cohesion. Furthermore, Anderson articulates the challenges posed by the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics, particularly in the realms of recruitment and player development. Ultimately, this episode serves as a compelling examination of the multifaceted nature of coaching, underscoring the vital balance between personal ambition and the collective success of the teams we lead.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @hoopheadspod for the latest updates on episodes, guests, and events from the Hoop Heads Pod.

Make sure you’re subscribed to the Hoop Heads Pod on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and while you’re there please leave us a 5 star rating and review.  Your ratings help your friends and coaching colleagues find the show. If you really love what you’re hearing recommend the Hoop Heads Pod to someone and get them to join you as a part of Hoop Heads Nation.

Grab your notebook and a pen before you listen to this episode with Ty Lawson, Boys’ Basketball Head Coach at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Maryland.

What We Discuss with Tysor Anderson

• Influence from family, especially his grandfather, Lefty Driesell, was pivotal in his career choice
• Coaching requires a deep understanding of both the game and the relationships with players
• How his Peace Corps experience provided valuable life lessons applicable to coaching
• Successful coaching is built on trust and communication
• The evolution of college basketball, especially regarding new rules and player rights, poses significant challenges for coaches looking to adapt and thrive in the current landscape
• Emotional intelligence in athletes, as demonstrated by players like Anthony Edwards, is crucial for creating a positive team environment and fostering collaboration among teammates
• Why effective coaching involves not only managing games but also fostering a supportive community around the program
• The joy of coaching is greatly enhanced by the relationships formed with players and the impact one can have on their development
• Self-awareness is crucial in understanding one’s role in coaching
• Recruiting requires understanding the needs of the institution and the players
• How the competitive nature of coaching basketball drives his passion for the game
• Finding joy in the behind-the-scenes work of coaching is essential

Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

We’re excited to partner with Dr. Dish, the world’s best shooting machine! Mention the Hoop Heads Podcast when you place your order and get $300 off a brand new state of the art Dr. Dish Shooting Machine!

Your first impression is everything when applying for a new coaching job.  A professional coaching portfolio is the tool that highlights your coaching achievements and philosophies and, most of all, helps separate you and your abilities from the other applicants.

The key to landing a new coaching job is to demonstrate to the hiring committee your attention to detail, level of preparedness, and your professionalism.  Not only does a coaching portfolio allow you to exhibit these qualities, it also allows you to present your personal philosophies on coaching, leadership, and program development in an organized manner.

The Coaching Portfolio Guide is an instructional, membership-based website that helps you develop a personalized portfolio.  Each section of the portfolio guide provides detailed instructions on how to organize your portfolio in a professional manner.  The guide also provides sample documents for each section of your portfolio that you can copy, modify, and add to your personal portfolio.

Hey, coach! Want to take your team to the next level this season? Introducing GameChanger, the ultimate game-day assistant with tools to give you a winning advantage. With GameChanger, you can track stats, keep score, and even live stream games, all for free! Get the stats and crucial game video you need to lead your team to victory, all from the palm of your hand. Coach smarter this season with GameChanger. Download GameChanger today on iOS or Android and make this season one to remember. GameChanger. Stream. Score. Connect. Learn more at GC.com/HoopHeads

High school and middle school basketball program directors, listen closely. Coaches are expected to do far more than just coach. You know this. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing the coaching yourself, or you have a full staff of coaches with you. You know very well that coaches handle scheduling, academic issues, parent communication, leadership development, and even mental health concerns for athletes. A lot to deal with, and they haven’t even gone home yet to balance those responsibilities.

No matter the passion for the game, and burning desire to help athletes develop, this level of responsibility can lead to burnout, inefficiency, and less time spent on actual coaching. You know it’s true.

When coaches are stretched too thin, it impacts the development of athletes, team morale, and the overall success of the program. Now here comes the outsiders throwing their two cents in about what’s happening. Then come the parents complaining about how you’re running things, as if they know what they’re talking about. When’s the last time you went to their place of work chiming in from outside their window?

Before you let that fire fizzle out, know that it doesn’t have to be that complicated. There are several ways to prevent you or your coaches from feeling overwhelmed. However, I’ll tell you one of our favorite ways to keep coaches firing on all cylinders, and that’s athlete-driven accountability and organization.

Instead of coaches constantly reminding players about assignments, grades, and practice schedules, our programs at Playmaker Planner puts the responsibility back on the athletes. By tracking their own academics, goals, and commitments, student-athletes become more self-sufficient, which of course allows the coach to put their babysitter hat in the closet, and put their coaching hat back on, allowing them to focus on what they love doing.

Are we offering planners that you can get at the dollar store as a solution? Of course not, but we are starting a conversation with you to see if our programs can be a compliment to what you’re already doing. Let’s find out. To learn more visit https://playmakerplanner.com/stop-is-this-for-you

THANKS, TYSOR ANDERSON

If you enjoyed this episode with Tysor Anderson let him know by clicking on the link below and thanking him via Twitter.

Click here to thank Tysor Anderson via Twitter

Click here to let Mike & Jason know about your number one takeaway from this episode!

And if you want us to answer your questions on one of our upcoming weekly NBA episodes, drop us a line at mike@hoopheadspod.com.

TRANSCRIPT FOR TYSOR ANDERSON – WOFFORD COLLEGE MENS’ BASKETBALL ASSISTANT COACH – EPISODE 1093

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: Hello, and welcome to the Hoop Heads Podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle tonight. But I am pleased to be joined by Tysor Anderson, men’s basketball assistant coach at Wofford College. Ty, welcome to the Hoop Heads Pod.

[00:00:19] Tysor Anderson: Hey Mike, thanks for having me, man.

[00:00:21] Mike Klinzing: Excited to have you on.  Looking forward to diving into all of the interesting things that you’ve been able to do in your career. Let’s start by going back in time to when you were a kid. Tell me about some of your first experiences with the Game of Basketball. I know you have a relative that a lot of people probably will know the name as we get into the discussion, but just how’d you get introduced to the game of basketball? What do you remember about it when you were young?

[00:00:43] Tysor Anderson: I’ve been around it my entire life. I mean, I’m one of what, five of, of people in my family who have been. College basketball coaches. And so when most kids, I think were growing up dreaming about playing in the NBA, I was dreaming from an early age about coaching.

And my, one of my earliest memories is I was seven years old and went on a road trip with granddad and one of his one of his James Madison teams. And I stayed with him in the hotel, sat on the end of the bench, cheered my little heart out, and went to pre-game meals and all that.

And it is one of my, honestly, one of my earliest memories, and that’s when I can kind of pinpoint when I decided I wanted to be a coach.

[00:01:43] Mike Klinzing: For those that don’t know. Ty’s grandfather is Lefty Driesell, long time Maryland coach, and as he said also at James Madison and a couple other stops along the way.

But when you think about, and it’s interesting when I heard you tell that story and just thinking about the fact that, hey, a lot of kids dream about going to the NBA and I was dreaming about being a coach. I always find that, and this is something that I learned through the course of doing however many interviews we’ve done here on the Hoop Heads podcast, that usually coaches fall into one of two categories.

You have a guy like yourself who grows up and they’re 6, 7, 8, 9 years old, and they’re drawing plays on a napkin, or they’re coaching their teammates while they’re playing, and they kind of think the game already as a coach. They know that that’s a direction. Maybe they don’t consciously say, Hey, I’m eight years old and I know I want to be a basketball coach, but they kind of have in the back of their mind that coaching is where they want end up.

And then you have guys who. Players, players, players, they’re thinking about playing and then all of a sudden their playing careers over, whether it’s in high school or in college, or if they’re lucky enough to play professionally. And then they look around and they’re like, oh man. Like what the game? The game’s being taken away from me.

Now what do I do? How do I get back and how do I stay in the game? And then they go to coaching that way. So clearly you were somebody from an early age that thought, coaching is where I want to be. Was your grandfather the main influence in that?

Pushing you in that direction, or not necessarily pushing you to be a coach, but just gave you that opportunity.

[00:03:10] Tysor Anderson: Yeah. Listen, if anything, I think they did their best to push me away from it. I No, you’re, you’re right. I, it wasn’t a, coaching was never a consolation prize for me. I, I, I was a, I was a good high school player, but not a great player.

And even when, when it came down to my decision to, for, for college, I chose to go be a walk on at Georgia Tech versus some opportunities that I had to go and play somewhere because with, with that in mind, wanting, wanting to coach, yeah, it was, it was granddad and, and my uncle Chuck, who was his assistant at James Madison when I was little.

And so like our family vacations at at at granddad’s beach house was always with, with them taking recruiting calls and, and then having me and my brother and my cousins out on the beach running sprints and doing pushup contests and yeah man, I, it’s, it’s hard to, it’s, I, it’s hard for me to put into words how, just how big of a figure he was in my life.

I mean, he was like a deity and I just looked up to him so much. I, I wanted more, probably even more so than wanting to be a coach. I just wanted to be him.

[00:04:32] Mike Klinzing: So what was it about the coaching life about what you saw him doing? Was there one or two specific things that when you think back to that time, you’re like, man, the fact that he gets to do that is really cool and someday I want to be able to do that.

Was it games? Was it being around players? Was it just the, the atmosphere? What was it about his aura or just what he got to do every day that got you excited?

[00:04:58] Tysor Anderson: Yeah, I think so. I think, I think a couple things. Like, I think one, watching him on the sidelines I, I felt was like watching,  I just watched the Maestro movie the other day.

It was like watching Leonard Bernstein in front of his his, his orchestra. Like I felt like I was watching something. He had so much passion and it.

I mean, yeah, even thinking about it now, it, it’s hard for me to put it I’m, I, I’m kind of a words guy and it’s hard for me to put it into words. But I just loved watching him in action. And, and then as I got older and spent time going to some of his practices like when I was really little, going to his basketball camps and yeah, it was, it was him in action.

And then, and then I think on that, on that first road trip I went on when I was really little was watching him with his players. And as I’ve gotten older and a, like a really deep appreciation for how he treated his players and how his players really revered him and respected him and, and how important he was, he was to them.

[00:06:11] Mike Klinzing: What do you think it was about his. Personality and who he was as a human being that obviously he had a big impact on you, right? And you wanting to get into the profession and just be around him, be around what he did every day. And I’m guessing that although obviously his players, when you’re talking about 7-year-old, you on a road trip versus his 18, 19, 20-year-old players, there’s still something about him that allows him to build that kind of relationship that draws people in.

Can you put your finger on what it was about him that really drew you in and maybe drew his players in and, and built those kinds of relationships that you’re describing?

[00:06:53] Tysor Anderson: Yeah. I mean, Mike, if you, if you if you’re trying to substitute a couple of decades of therapy here, then, then we can, we can do that because yeah, I mean, as I’ve, as I’ve gotten older and, and, and more self-aware and, and, yeah, there was, I think there was a part of it that wanted to have that relationship that I saw him have with, with his players. And grandad put a ton of time into his, his work and his work was his life and his players were his life. And that was so yeah, I mean, I think there’s, I think there’s probably some part of that that like, I, I wanted, I wanted to, to be, to be that close to him.

And don’t, don’t get me wrong, like, it, it wasn’t, it wasn’t like total neglect of his family, but, but there was definitely, I saw a different dude in how he interacted with his team than, than  exactly what I was getting. And I think, I think part of me wanted that.

[00:07:59] Mike Klinzing: So let me go back to your decision to go to Georgia Tech with the idea that coaching was a direction that you wanted to go versus maybe some opportunities to play at a slightly lower level.

What do you remember about the conversations maybe you had with family members, conversations in your own head about, Hey, what do I want to do? How do I want to go about this? What was the plan? What was your mindset as you made that decision and you enrolled at Georgia Tech?

[00:08:28] Tysor Anderson: Honestly, it wasn’t much of a, it wasn’t much.

Everybody around me, all my, my family knew what, what my goals were and what I wanted to do. So it wasn’t like it wasn’t, wasn’t anybody trying to talk me out of it. It was when that, when that opportunity arose ’cause I was trying to decide between a couple of division twos and and  some lower level division ones and, but when that opportunity came and it came from a guy who is a good friend of mine to this day, Justin Young who is at BYU now with his brother, which is the coolest thing ever. But he, at the time he was running these rivals camps and I was at one of them as a rising senior and just kind of struck up a conversation with him and, and told him who I was and what I really wanted out of this.

And he had a relationship with somebody on staff pizza Harris, who was on staff at at Georgia Tech at the time, and knew that they were looking for walk-ons. And he called him and said, Hey, I think I have somebody that might be pretty good and fit what you, what you guys are looking for. And from the second that opportunity popped up, it was, it was the right thing.

[00:09:43] Mike Klinzing: But what did that experience look like for you both as. A player player, but then also as kind of getting behind the scenes and, and starting to build, I don’t want to say necessarily a coaching career, but just kind of get into what college coaching looked like more than just watching, watching Lefty coach.

[00:10:04] Tysor Anderson: Yeah, I mean, for one, I would do anything I could, any chance, any chance I got to be around them. I was trying to soak it up. I remember one time, like the, our very first trip my freshman year, my mom loves to tell this story. We were in Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. And I forget exactly how it came about, but I ended up in and I’m I’m a freshman, three months in up in Coach Hewitt’s hotel room watching film of our, our game that, that day against Purdue.

And like, I remember calling my mom and just so excited and she’s expecting to hear some great story about Hawaii, and I’m like, you won’t believe this. Like, I was just watching film with Coach Hewitt, like just me and him. And so like, yeah, I, I think, so I’m on a staff right now, now Coach Murphy, will Murphy was just left to take a, a division two head job.

But this past year, past couple years at Wofford between Coach Perry, coach Murphy and myself, we were all walk-ons at the high major level. And talking about our experiences, they were obviously different, but finding what they all had in common was figuring out a way to bring some value when you knew you weren’t going to play right.

You were going to have limited reps in practice but like figuring out how to, how to bring value. And for me it was having relationships with everybody on the team and I wasn’t going to be in staff meetings, obviously, I wasn’t going to be a part of any game planning or anything like that, but, but I, I took a lot of pride in building relationships with the guys on our team and, and having a pulse of what was going on.

And, and I felt like I could bring value that way and say preaching the right things and echoing the right things from our coaching staff. Now it took some time because as a walk on, you have to build up some respect and for sure some capital. But that was a way that, that I knew right away that I could that I could bring some value.  And that that aspect of coaching has never left me.

[00:12:14] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, I think that speaks to right, what you talked about with Lefty in terms of the, the relationships, right? And building relationships with, starts with, for you as a player, you’re building relationships with your teammates. You’re building relationships with your coaching staff.

And then now that translates, I’m sure into you, and we’ll get into it more as we talk more about your coaching career, but just building relationships with players. And I think as I hear you talk about being able to add value and figuring out, Hey, where can I do that? I, I think that’s something that, and, and I like what you said right off the top when you said, as you’re, as you get older, you become more self-aware.

And I think that usually happens to most of us. Is that over time we sort of come to realize who we are and what we are and what we can do and what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. And then that allows us to, I think, bring more value to whatever environment that we’re in. Yeah, yeah. When, when you’re there and you’re, you’re playing, and I think this is one of the things that I always find to be interesting, and it goes back to that question of when did you decide you wanted to become a coach?

Are you the guy who’s the player? And then you’re playing career and you look around and you’re like, I got a coach. Are you the guy who’s thinking, coaching the whole time while you’re playing? And obviously as you said, as a walkon, your reps in practice are somewhat limited.  you’re probably not going to get an opportunity to play in a game, but how are you thinking about and processing the Xs and Os that the coaches are putting out there, whether it’s.

Specific game planning for a particular opponent for just what you guys are running offensively and defensively, how much of that are you taking back to your dorm room and going, trying to think through it from a coaching perspective in addition to knowing, Hey, I have to be able to run this on the floor if I get an opportunity as a player.

How are you thinking through that? Off the floor as a coach?

[00:14:10] Tysor Anderson: Yeah. You, you mean as a pro, as I was thinking about being a coach, right? You’re talking about as Yeah. Correct. Yeah, absolutely. Yep. I So Xs and Os YI think I was always, I was always like just trying to learn as much as I could, Xs and Os y and I, I never, I never like being like a big time Xs and Os guy is nothing.

I, it is never something I have like taken a lot of pride in. I don’t know if that comes off as, I mean, I, I feel like I am a good exs and those guy I’ve been a. Head coach, and I’ve been the guy on the board. And I, I think that that’s a skill of mine, but it’s not, that was never, that was just never like the most attractive thing about coaching for me.

And so, like, in terms of game planning and what I would take back to the dorms, I was, I was always just trying to echo what was in like our scouting reports or using the same language that,  that, that our staff was trying to use. And  and it was at no specific directive from them.

I just, I just knew that like, that’s a great way to be that helpful and definitely found myself in the dorm room listening to guys lament about their, the different issues that they had and the problem that they had with this and that. And I, I would, I would just try to, to echo the things that if, if, if I was having that conversation with Coach Hewitt in the room would want him to approve of that,  what I mean? And so like, but the, the thing that, the thing that I remember, like especially early on, like freshman, sophomore year trying to take a lot of ownership of was something that Jerry Tarkanian said.

 Jerry Tarkanian and my granddad were, were very close and towards the end of  their, their final four days, both of their wives, my grandmother and and his wife kind of bowed out at going to the Final four. And so they would they would spend a lot of time together at those final fours.

And when I was little in high school and going to a couple of those I got to hear, got to hear them just sit around and talk a lot and, and so I picked up his book Running Rebel when I was like a sophomore, junior in high school. And I remember there there was something in there where he talks about like all I need on my roster is eight guys that can play and three to cheer like hell.

And I was like, so he mentioned this is, this dude is somebody I really look up to and has had clearly a really good coach and he is had really good teams and he mentions two things well. Like I can definitely be one of those motherfuckers that’s cheering like hell. Right? Right. Like, I can be one of those guys.

And so like being that guy on the bench and, and then like what we talked about with being back at the dorm room, those were kind of my early on like a niche that I knew I could, I could dig out and, and excel in.

[00:17:21] Mike Klinzing: So being selfless, obviously that’s what that’s all about, right?

Because there’s a lot of guys who are in that position, whether they’re a walk on and they have. An idea that, Hey, I I’m going to get this opportunity, I’m going to I, I’m, maybe I’m better than somebody who’s on scholarship. We all have been in those situations, right? Where you see guys that are not selfless, they’re more focused on themselves or their issues.

What, what, what can they get out of the team instead of what can they put into the team? So in your role as, and, and you’ve been, and we’re going to go through your different stops along the way, but have you used the story of yourself? And again, I obviously as a coach, you don’t, you can only go to back in my day so often with your, with your, with your players, shallow.

Well, exactly. But are you able to kind of incorporate your experience as a player and then relate that to maybe a situation that you’ve had with guys on your team and just how do you go about doing that and sort of, without being the old guy, get off my lawn type of conversation?

[00:18:25] Tysor Anderson: Yes. Yeah, definitely. Everything, I mean, whether we want to or not. And I guess this goes to the self-awareness piece. The only perspective that we’re able to, to talk to people through is, is our own. And I try to be empathic with, with our best players, but I, I just wasn’t that at the college level. And so I do think that what has what has helped me with with relating to guys is all of the, the phenomenal players that I’ve been around and the phenomenal players that I’ve that I’ve had great relationships with.

And that is a player or a coach. And so. I think there’s credibility in that. And now, I mean, Jesus, I, I was, I was talking with recruiting some of our players at dinner last night. I, it’s like you snap your fingers and all of a sudden you’re old enough to where I don’t even have to really refer back to my playing days anymore.

Like now I’ve, I’ve, I’ve been doing it long enough to where they don’t even know some of those guys. So so yeah, I, I think, I think that the experience I had as a walk on at Georgia Tech at Georgia Tech was invaluable. And for a lot of, for a lot of reasons. But relating to our players  that has, that is a, a, a, a skill that has been honed for a long time.

And now, now, not just from my playing days, but from from coaching.

[00:20:07] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. All right. Tell me about the job search. When you graduate, what’s the first step that you take? Are you thinking college coaching for sure? Is the direction that you want to go? Because we’ll get into your experiences at the high school level, but what was the thought, the thought process as you graduated?

[00:20:23] Tysor Anderson: Yeah, so as I graduated, I thought at, at first I thought I had I was going to get on with my uncle Chuck. He had just become the head coach at the Citadel. And and then there they had a small, they still have a small staff, but they had a, a really small staff at the time. And there was some hangups with when I was going to graduate from college and when I could start.

And so it didn’t, didn’t, didn’t line up like, like we wanted it to. And so then I started, I started looking for stuff and I wasn’t, I wasn’t. Honestly, I was not tied to it being in college or at a certain level. I, I ended up I ended up getting on with Corey Baldwin at what was Waycross College now South Georgia State who he’s, he is, you’ve talked with Corey, right?

And, and he, yep. Yeah, absolutely. Yep. Great guy. And, and yeah, so I was not, I was not at all like hung up on where to, where to go, like level to go to another final four run in with granddad was, was with Buzz Williams one time. And my cousin Michael, who is now out of the business, but was a coach for a long time he gave us the advice.

He said, don’t pay attention to the logo on the shirt. He was like, when you’re looking for jobs early, look for jobs that are going to allow you to do the most work. And Yep. And so we, I definitely. Thought about that and took that to heart and going and working for CB was a great decision. I mean, I went down there and was able to coach, was able to recruit, learn a ton from a really good coach and also helped do the laundry and drive the van.

[00:22:11] Mike Klinzing: What was the, what was the thing that you’re like, man, this is, this is one of the most fun aspects of coaching that I didn’t necessarily realize when I was still a, a player. Was there something that stuck out to you that you were like, man, I didn’t realize that this part of the game or this part of the, of the job was going to be so much fun?

[00:22:33] Tysor Anderson: So

[00:22:33] Mike Klinzing: much fun. Yeah. I mean, honestly,

[00:22:35] Tysor Anderson: that shit had to get done. That was like the be because you, as a, even as a, as a player, things just sort of happen and you, you’re not privy to how it happens or  exactly who’s the one that’s making it happen, and. Like I got, I got down there and it was like, if, if you don’t do this, then it’s not going to happen.

And I remember one time, one of our first games, our our camera broke before the game. And Corey’s like, I mean, you can either figure out how to get this thing working or like, we’re not going to, we’re not going to be recording this game. And so, I mean, this is like, this is like 45 minutes before the game now.

And and I jump in my car and I run down to the pawn shop up the street and I trade the broken camera for a camera that works. And like $200 worth of advertising in our gym. I think it was called Risky Business Pawn. And like, I just, I just remember after, after that game and watching the film and being like, man, like we’re going to show this to our players.

They have no idea how this happened, but like somebody had to get the shit done.

[00:23:52] Mike Klinzing: That’s a good, that’s a good story. I, I like that one. It’s again, sometimes, right, the necessity is the mother of invention. So you have to figure out what, what needs to happen and how it needs to happen. So that year, and you talked about the learning process, right? And getting an opportunity to do lots of things.

And it’s funny because I’ve talked to so many coaches and a lot of times, honestly, guys that have started at the division three level, this is a story I often hear from them, right? Is that I was the only assistant coach, so therefore me and the head coach one, we were talking all the time. So I was learning from my head coach.

And then two, just as you said, you get to dip your hands into every single aspect of the program. ’cause it’s not like you’re on a D one staff where, all right, we got this guy to do this and this guy to do that, and this guy to do that. It’s like when you’re at that level where maybe you’re the only assistant coach, all the sudden you get to do.

Every single thing that any coach is going to ever have to do. So when you think back to that first year, what’s an area that you feel like you really improved upon? Maybe not even in just that first year, but an area that maybe you came into the coaching profession where, eh, I’m not sure how good I am at this, or I’m not sure that my knowledge is where it should be, and and you really saw some growth and some opportunity to be able to grow in those areas.

I think,

[00:25:20] Tysor Anderson: I think so. Recruiting, I felt like recruiting was going to be kind of in my blood. Right. And people told me that granddad was always most famous for being a great recruiter.  to his own chagrin, sometimes he, he, right. He liked to remind people that he could also coach. But, I kind of thought that that would the ins and outs of that I, in my mind, recruiting was taking a phone call at the beach house, like I said, and, and being charismatic and, and, and so I thought it would come easy to me and it, and it didn’t. And part of it was the learning curve of trying to cast a wide net, the things that you’re, the things that you’re looking for, looking through the lens of the school, where you’re at the coach who you’re working for what your needs are.

And, and so like, I, I think being able to do that right off the bat was what I think really, really important for my own personal growth. And the thing that I thought, honestly, that I thought would be, would be, would take me a little more time. And obviously I wasn’t, I wasn’t great off the bat, but the Onlo stuff came a lot easier to me than I thought it might.

And part of that I, I ran a basketball camp and would do lessons and stuff from the time I was a junior in high school. And so I had some experience being out on the floor and, and instructing, right. But  I, I, I’ve got a I’ve got a big presence and a big voice and I learned early that, that I was going to be pretty good on the floor.

And and recruiting was, was something that was definitely going to be a skill that I needed to hone. And I thought if you had asked me going in, I thought that those two things would’ve been reversed.

[00:27:18] Mike Klinzing: So from the recruiting standpoint, I think what you talked about there in terms of knowing your institution.

Knowing the type of player that your head coach wants and the type of player that can be successful playing for your head coach. Also, again, knowing the area right, that you can recruit from because schools have different geographic areas where it makes sense to recruit from and where it may not make sense to recruit from.

So in your various stops at the college level, how long does it take you to get a really good feel for what the type of player is that you want to bring in that’s going to fit the institution, that’s going to fit the culture of the team, that’s going to fit the head coach? What’s that process like for you?

[00:28:01] Tysor Anderson: I actually liken it to when I was done with Corey, I, I did the only thing I’ve ever done in my life that was outside of pointing towards coaching and I was going into the Peace Corps and I lived in in Cambodia for a little over two years and there’s a thing in the Peace Corps.

They just like all government entities, they, they use a bunch of acronyms, right? And they, they when you first get to where you’re going to live, there’s this thing that they encourage you to do. They call it IR being, and IRB stands for intentional relationship. And basically for two weeks, they, they tell you to, to go out, one, practice your language skills because you’re, you’re speaking a different language and, and you’re just learning it, and you sound like an idiot.

And and to ask people, ask the people, the school teachers ask, the, the people who  work in the market ask the the, the, the local politicians ask people what, what it is that they’re. Community and get to know those people. And then that is kind of where you build what projects you think are important to the community and what’s feasible.

And, and I, I think that is so similar to getting to a new job and it’s not all that similar because you are speaking a different language most of the time. You get somewhere in different pipelines and different ways that that, that schools do things. And but like spending some time to actually get to know some people at an institution in the beginning is extremely beneficial.

And because that, that tells you what’s your,  who the, the place that you’re recruiting towards. And you, you, you meet people that have been there for 30 years and why they’ve been there 30 years. And you learn things about the town and about the school. And so I think doing that and, and actually taking time to do that is, is something that I learned in the Peace Corps and I absolutely take time to, to do it at, at every place that I’ve been in coaching.

[00:30:20] Mike Klinzing: Makes sense. It’s a great lesson that you took from that experience. Why that experience in the Peace Corps, how’d that come to you? What was the decision making process there? To go to join a Peace Corps? Yes.

[00:30:34] Tysor Anderson: Well, it was, I, I mean, it wasn’t one thing I, I, I call it a.  it’s kind of hedonistic altruism.

I, I, I wanted to help people and I, I was  it’s, it’s a, my, my kind might be diminishing in college coaching, but I’m a bleeding heart liberal. And so I did want, I did want to do that. But there was a selfish element to it. I wanted to travel, I wanted to see the world and and so I got to, I got to do both.

And it was hands down the best decision I ever made.

[00:31:16] Mike Klinzing: You came back from that experience. How were you, how were you different?

[00:31:23] Tysor Anderson: Well, I had a beard down to the middle of my chest and down my shoulders, so I different there. I don’t know exactly, man, how I was different. I think, I think I, I certainly, I wasn’t sure I was coming back to the states.

I certainly wasn’t sure I was coming back to coach. But I did, I did really miss basketball and I think being away from it I was, I learned, I, I learned parts about what I missed about it that were separate from just growing up, being intoxicated with it from my family. And so I was, I, I really, really missed basketball.

[00:32:09] Mike Klinzing: Was it the relationships with players? Was it the competitiveness? It was the competitive. What was it about the, it was the

[00:32:15] Tysor Anderson: competi. It was the, the job, . Volunteerism is amazing. And it’s, and it’s, it’s an, I think I’m a huge advocate for the Peace Corps and the mission. It’s not, it did not scratch a competitive itch that that I clearly have.

[00:32:39] Mike Klinzing: What’s interesting is that when you think about different things that we do, we all do in our lives, there are very, very few things that are like sports where you’re instantaneously measured on a scoreboard, and obviously that’s not the only measurement of winning and losing and success and failure.

And we could talk about that for days and days and days, but, but clearly there’s, there’s immediate feedback in sports and in the game of basketball that there isn’t in. The Peace Corps, right? You, the Peace Corps, you’re making tremendous impacts on people’s lives, but at the end of the day, you don’t look up at the scoreboard and see, okay, today I won and my opponent lost, or vice versa.

[00:33:24] Tysor Anderson: Yeah,

[00:33:25] Mike Klinzing: it’s a much more of a slow burn, and I think anybody who grows up around sports, I think that that’s something, when you don’t have that in their life, I think most people miss it. Some people miss it more than others, which tends to push ’em into coaching or other kind of some type of competitive outlet, and then other people are able to kind of put that aside.

But yeah, I think the competitive side of it is one thing that it’s hard to, it’s really, really hard to walk away from him. I still, I still miss it to this day, and I guess I probably lean. I’d probably lean more towards the player side of it. Like, I think about, I think about the game more from a, from a player perspective, and I’m 55 years old and I still I’ll, I’ll have a dream and I’m, I’m dreaming about, I’m dreaming about when I was playing.

And but yet at the same time, it, it feels the same way when you’re standing on the sideline and you’re, you’re competing and mad at that. Just that there’s nothing, there’s nothing that replaces that in life.

[00:34:21] Tysor Anderson: There’s not, but it, it’s also, it’s also, so my mom is a, was a Presbyterian minister and she, I remember in one of her sermons, she, I mean she talked about growing up as a coach’s daughter a lot, but the absurdity that the mood in the house.

Totally dependent on whether or not the ball went in the basket or not. And I do, I do think that some of the perspective that I gained being away from it and being away from it in the nature that I was, I, I gained some perspective on that absurdity, but also like some respect for it, because it is absurd and it is important that we as coaches know that we ain’t curing cancer And to, to take it easy sometimes.

And, and I think not, not get that, that inflated sense of self-importance that coaches have, but the, there’s nothing wrong with having some absurdity in your life. And if, and if that absurdity is,  a game of basketball and, and that type of competitiveness, then I think that’s, I think that’s healthy.

[00:35:36] Mike Klinzing: That’s really well said, Ty. And I think that goes back to what you said. Earlier when you’re, when you’re talking about just again, I mean, you have to only see things right through your own perspective. That’s where you’re coming from. And when you’re talking to somebody, you can only talk about the life that you’ve led and see that from, from your perspective.

And that’s how we all come at things. And when I think about coaching and, and I think about what you just talked about there, it’s like, yeah, it is a little bit absurd that the mood sleep and I. Coaching my daughter’s third or fourth grade travel basketball team and not being able to sleep after games.

Like, what could I have done differently? And then now my kids are older and I look back at that age of kid playing basketball. I’m like, how could I ever have even remotely taken this seriously or think that anything that I was doing as a coach, other than maybe what I was doing in practice to help him get better, but certainly no game time decisions.

Were making a big impact on wins and losses. And so it’s just, I mean, you, you do have to really keep it in perspective. And yet at the same time it’s, it’s super important to each and every one of us as coaches, our teams and our players. And, and just the way that we interact with those teams is, is just, is so important.

It’s so important. Basketball coaching for those of us who love the game, the ability to use that game to have an impact on. Players on people using something that we love. To me, that’s always the most powerful part when I think about what I love about coaching. Yeah, there’s a lot of little intimate different details and things, but ultimately for me it comes down to is that I get to use a game that I love to be able to have an impact on people.

And I think that’s a powerful way to look at coaching. And at the same time, like you said, you have to be able to sort of not take yourself quite as seriously as we sometimes do.

[00:37:39] Tysor Anderson: Yeah, absolutely. Man, perspective is everything.

[00:37:43] Mike Klinzing: Yep. No doubt. Alright, tell me about coming back from the Peace Corps, you get in at the University of North Georgia, so your second experience at the college level, what’s that like?

How do you get that opportunity?

[00:37:55] Tysor Anderson: Yeah. I actually, my, my first coaching gig coming back from the Peace Corps was coaching helping an AAU program in Atlanta and, and then from there to North Georgia and we. I, I went there and had known their their staff for a while. Chris Faulkner and Josh Travis, my two of my cousins played for ’em.

One of my best friends from college played, played there. And so I had a relationship with those guys and, and it was, it was great. It was another opportunity where, where I was able to do a lot of stuff and  coach and recruit and and I, we, we weren’t, we weren’t wins and losses. We were not very good that year.

We lost a ton of closed games and but I, I loved that opportunity and that opportunity was like the perfect thing for me personally, getting back into it with a group of guys that were. That I was familiar with and knew and, and was able to do a lot of stuff.

[00:39:04] Mike Klinzing: After that season, you jumped to the high school ranks.

How does that happen? What, what were you thinking at the time? Was it just an opportunity that you couldn’t pass up? What was what were you thinking in that moment? At the time,

[00:39:17] Tysor Anderson: my, my dad was, had been a, a high school football coach at South Gwinnett High School, and the athletic director, who I knew through him called me.

And I, I had honestly hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t thought about coaching high school, hadn’t thought about trying to be a head coach in high school. And, and he called me and I told him that. I said, I never thought, I never thought about it. And he said, well, think about it. And I did. And yeah, my, it was, it was great.

My, when I first got back from the Peace Corps, my brother and I got a house together in Atlanta. And my brother’s my best friend. He is like my consigliere and so the opportunity to stay in Atlanta, get some head coaching experience at the highest level of high school basketball. And, and I, I thought I was going to be able to, to live with him.

And I was like, this, this is, this sounds great. And so I, I did that and it was a great experience being able to get that, that head coaching experience and, and do it at that level. And loved every second of that.

[00:40:30] Mike Klinzing: What about being a head coach? Did you learn that maybe was different from when you were an assistant coach?

What, what were some lessons that you picked up from being a head coach that maybe you hadn’t picked up when you were an assistant?

[00:40:46] Tysor Anderson: The just management. I think  managing people is, is a skill and being managing staff and we, we were a huge school and so I had plenty of plenty of assistance that, that wanted to be involved.

And managing a a staff managing an administration and then, and then managing players  from that chair is different no matter what level you’re at. It is different to be, to be the, the, the guy who makes the final call on things. Things is different. And I learned through mistakes.

There was plenty of mistakes that I made early on and, and that I think made me better at it. But I do think that, that is, that is an experience that you can, you can get some of it as a, as an assistant but not, not quite at the same degree. And it, it, it definitely until you, until you’re in it, until you experience it.

And not that you can’t be good at it right away. There’s plenty of assistants that are, that are ready to roll and, and good with that, with the management aspect right away. But, but it’s certainly, it’s certainly different than, than, than being an assistant in that aspect.

[00:42:05] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, I definitely think that there’s an adjustment period, right, to be able to go from, Hey, I’m making suggestions.

It’s always the point, right? I, I can make a suggestion as an assistant coach and as a head coach. I ultimately have to make the decision. So I know that then you took another high school job after South Gwinnett. So where are you on the, the, the track of, Hey, do I want to stay in high school? Do I want to get back to, to college coaching?

Eventually I know the opportunity when you’re at Holy Spirit, you got a, you got a chance to coach Anthony Edwards, which obviously helps for sure. So I want you to talk a little about that experience, but just tell me where you were at mindset wise.

[00:42:45] Tysor Anderson: Yeah, mindset wise, I wasn’t really trying to I know this is, this is terrible advice, but I, I wasn’t really trying to think three or four steps ahead career wise.

I was happy doing what I was doing and living where I was living. And I liked the high school level. I, I was, I was very comfortable. I. And comfortable in the sense of my, my living situation professionally, I felt challenged and I felt  that there, there, there were things that I needed to get better at, and there were areas for me to improve.

And but I also felt that I was good at it. And and so like, I, I, I wasn’t really trying, I wasn’t thinking about moving on, moving up. I did have, I had a hell of a player in, in Ant at Holy Spirit. And that that can make you look like a good coach at times, and probably a little better than you actually are.

But yeah, I, at that time, I wasn’t, I wasn’t trying to, I certainly was not thinking about getting back into college. I was, I really enjoyed being a high school head coach.

[00:43:54] Mike Klinzing: Tell me about what he was like as a high school kid. What did you see for him in his future? Obviously the athleticism and, and the skill and just, there’s a mindset that sets guys about like him apart, but what do you remember about him as a high school player?

What made him so special beyond just the, the athleticism and, and the basketball skill?

[00:44:17] Tysor Anderson: I mean, Mike, we could do a whole podcast where I could wax poetic about Anthony Edwards. He, he was, you could tell, you could tell early on that he was special. Now I think anybody who tells you that they predict that anybody can reach the level that he’s at right now is, is probably telling you some, some exaggerated story because so much goes into that, to, to getting to the, the stardom that he’s at.

But you could certainly tell that, that he had the tools and, but like the things that stood out most to me were, were a hundred percent his charisma and his emotional intelligence. He, he was, he had as high of an EQ of, of any person I’ve ever been around, and even at that age and, and just his awareness of, of his effect on people around him, his awareness of his effect on his teammates was, was years beyond his age.

And so I, I think that, that, that stood out to me as much as his, his basketball talent and his athleticism.

[00:45:31] Mike Klinzing: What’s an example of that EQ that you could maybe point to something specific that, Hey, here’s a situation where maybe another high school kid, even a super talented kid, might have been in this particular spot and reacting in a different way.

What’s an example of him demonstrating that, that eq?

[00:45:54] Tysor Anderson: Well, like, I think I mean that, that year, man, it was a who’s who, especially the second half of the year he, in December, he reclassed up and he, he went from, I had him as a, as a, what was his junior year, and he reclassed into the, the class above them.

And so it became, it became a who’s who of hall of Fame college coaches coming through our practices and, and, and he, I think every, we had some, we had some other players on that team that were division two players. We had one another low, low major division one player, but, but there was nobody that was close to him.

And but these guys, these guys were trying to get recruited too. And and he, he, he really understood the weight that, that those guys felt being in his orbit. And and one of the things that he would always do is when coaches would come in, it would penny Hardaway, bill Self, and  John Calper, you name it, they’re all coming through and at the end of a workout or a practice, ant made it a point to introduce those guys to his entire team, all of his teammates.

And and I think, I think. I think that was a, a great example of his self-awareness and, and  just bringing, bringing, trying to bring guys along along for the ride with him versus trying to stand out on an island by himself.

[00:47:27] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. And we can obviously see plenty of examples of it going the other way, right?

Where a kid at the star, the attention gets to him, goes to his head, and all of a sudden everybody’s beneath him. And it sounds like that was the exact opposite. And I think you, you get the opportunity to, to be around a guy like that and, and you look at the players who eventually make it to the level that he’s made it to, or even guys that make it to the league.

And one of the question ask.

What, what makes this guy, what makes him special? Because clearly, look, there are athletic gifts that you have to have in order to be able to play in the NBA, whether that’s size or speed or jumping ability or what, whatever it is there. There’s some, there’s some physical tools that there not everybody has that prevent some people from having an opportunity to be able to play, but it’s always the what are the things that separate, what are the intangibles that make a guy who, when everybody’s kind of on the same level athletically or skill development wise, or whatever it may be, what are the things that that separate those guys?

And I think you talking about just his emotional intelligence and maybe being able to navigate situations and figure out how to work with teammates and how to pick people up and make people around you better. And those are all skills, again, that some guys that have all the talent in the world never.

They never figure that out. And for him to be able to figure that out at such an early age, obviously is something that’s propelled him forward. And he, he, as we all know, he’s a kid that came out and when he went to Georgia, certainly wasn’t considered that, Hey, this kid’s going to turn around and be the first pick in the NBA draft draft a year after he gets to after he gets to Georgia.

And just, it, it speaks to, again, his, his ability to, to be able to navigate situations and obviously the success that he’s completely had here in, in, in, in the NBA to this point. So I’m sure it was a great opportunity to be able to coach him, just be around a guy of that of that caliber.

[00:49:41] Tysor Anderson: Yeah. It, it, it really was. It was, it came, it came with, with a lot of challenges for sure. But it was a great, it was a really great experience and, and you, I was lucky to, to, to be a part of it, man, to be along for the ride.

[00:49:59] Mike Klinzing: Tell me about getting the opportunity to go back to college at Jacksonville State.

So I was up in

[00:50:05] Tysor Anderson: Maine. Things didn’t work out at at Holy Spirit. After that year, we had a lot of national attention, a small private Catholic school in Atlanta. And I think they, they were trying to pivot away from a, a model of, of having competitive basketball and which wasn’t what I signed up for.

So, so I, I I got out of there without a job. I, I left there without, without a job. And and I went up to, I was up in Maine and, with with some of my family and I had responded to, I was going to go work, I was going to go work at a a, I was going to take like a basketball training job in China. And I mean what year was this?

I guess this was 2000, like the beginning. This was 2019, 18. 19 and 19. And so like a year right before Covid and I had, I had my, I had my Chinese visa. I had done, I had, I had decided that I was, that I was going to China and taking this job. And my cousin was friends with a guy who was on staff at Jacksonville State and we were sitting on the porch and he was like, Hey, this guy just called me and said they’re looking for somebody like Ray Harper’s an unbelievable coach.

Would you be interested? I was like, I was literally two weeks from leaving. And, and I, and I and I called, I called and talked with the guy who was friends with my cousin and he was like telling me about the job. And I was researching Coach Harper and, and and talked to some people that knew him.

And ultimately I decided, yeah, nah, I, I want to, let’s, let’s give this a try and another chance to, to learn from, from a guy who’s been really, really good at it. And so yeah, I ended up at Jacksonville State.

[00:52:07] Mike Klinzing: What’s the biggest thing that you picked up during your time there that that helped you improve as a coach?

[00:52:14] Tysor Anderson: That, so Ray Harper is the best in game coach I’ve ever been around. And like, and, and part of it is just, part of it is, I mean, honestly I think part of it might be innate, like just how he happens to see the game and digest different things. But he’s, he’s just, he’s able to make end-game adjustments and make calls on the fly.

That, I mean part of it’s the way he sees the game, but another part of it’s just having just big balls when he’s coaches. And, and so like, I, I, I, I learned a lot from him in terms of like what, what to do within those 40 minutes between the lines and, and how to, how to handle different situations.

He, he is absolutely elite at that.

[00:53:12] Mike Klinzing: How much do you think, and again, this goes back to your experience, right? As a head coach at the high school level, I think it’s always. Interesting when you start to think about your time as an assistant. So you have a lot of long time assistant coaches who maybe get a head job after having been an assistant for 10, 12, 15 years and then all of a sudden you have to make all those in-game decisions.

And I’ve had so many people tie tell me that, hey, you need to get as many reps as you can as a head coach. Whether you think about being a young guy you mentioned earlier about coaching AAU and you could say, oh, that’s only a a u basketball, but you’re still getting reps as a head coach. So when you think about your experience at the high school level and just being able to make those decisions as a head coach, how valuable will that be when eventually you get an opportunity to maybe be a head coach at the college level?

How do you look at those reps?

[00:54:08] Tysor Anderson: Yeah, I, so I think that those reps, I love that you call ’em reps because they are reps. They are, it’s. It’s something that you just can’t simulate. And yeah, I mean, I, I, I hope this doesn’t come across as, as arrogant, but I’m really confident that when I get an opportunity, I’ll be a really good college head coach.

And a lot of that confidence comes from my experience as a, as a head coach at the high school level, and having been around really good head coaches my entire life I know what it looks like, know what it feels like. But now having that, that experience certainly,  gives me, gives me that, that, that confidence and that self-assuredness when you go from being a head coach to then being an assistant coach, it’s unbelievable the lens through which you can observe the guy in that, in that spot.

And being able to do that for me, going from being a really young head coach to then observing a guy like Ray Harper who had been doing it for so long at such a high level was, was like really, really valuable to me. And the things that he was willing to do and the, the things that he was willing and, and sometimes the things that he was willing to overlook and not do, especially during those 40 minutes was something that almost immediately I could look at and point to and be like, I could have done that significantly better.

And so, yeah, I think, I think going from being in the head coaching position to then being an assistant working for guys who are really good, it, it’s a it’s a, it’s part of that journey that, that I know is, has prepared me.

[00:56:01] Mike Klinzing: Are you a note taker when you start thinking about. Putting together what you want your program to look like.

How are you collecting all of your material material, your thoughts, your, your plans, your, your portfolio, for lack of a better way of saying it, what’s, what’s your methodology for putting that all together into a, a cohesive bundle that you could eventually maybe share in a head coaching interview?

[00:56:27] Tysor Anderson: Yeah.

I am a note taker. I’m a journaler. I and, and a lot of times, like I save, I don’t know, maybe just makes me a hoarder, but I, I save these, these mole skin journals with me all the time and I’m, I’m constantly just jotting stuff down and so yeah, I, I am, I, I do do that. But I, I also, I also take time to organize that when I feel like it’s, it’s necessary and, so, yeah.  starting to get together what, what my coaching philosophy is and, and  what that management style and that philosophy is in terms of your staff and your players and building a program and, and I’m, I’m, I’m certainly always cognizant of, of that.

[00:57:20] Mike Klinzing: Let me ask you the same question about Wofford that I asked you about Jacksonville State.

What’s something that you’ve taken away from your time thus far at Wofford that you feel like has a, made you a better assistant coach, maybe also has prepared you as you look down the road at the potential for becoming a head coach at some point?

[00:57:40] Tysor Anderson: I think the relationship with your, the community, the relationship that your program has with the community and the relationship that that your.

Institution has with the community writ large. I mean, like our wofford is, is, is a, a really, really special place. And the city of Spartanburg fully embraces Wofford College and, and wofford basketball. And, and they do. And that, that embrace is reciprocated. And I think that those, that intertwining of the, the community that you’re a part of, and understanding where your institution fits into that community and how it fits in, and then how your basketball program  sort of fits into both of those.

And understanding that your, your program is only a part of both of those things and not larger than either of those things. I think is a, is something really. That Wofford really has figured out. And something that, that I would, a model that, that it’s not a one size fits all but, but there’s elements of that that no matter where you go that you can, you can try to implement.

[00:58:59] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. I mean, I think that sort of hits with the theme of our conversation, right? That you want to be a part of that greater community, but yet not want to feel like, hey, we’re, we’re overwhelming that, that we’re more important than the, the larger, again, municipality that we’re located in and also the institution.

That we’re a part of. And I think when you get that, all those things working together and you have the support of the community, you have the support of the staff and the students, and then, and then you’re giving that you’re giving that back to them. I, I think there’s a tremendous amount of value in that.

And that’s when you really have a program that, that captures the community and, and it creates a situation where the culture and, and what you’re trying to do brings everyone together. And it sounds like that’s what you guys have been able to, to build at Wofford. I want to ask you, before we wrap up, Ty, I want to ask you a final two part question.

So part one of the question, when you look ahead over the next year or two, what do you see as being your biggest challenge? And then part two, when you think about what you get to do every day, what brings you the most joy? So your biggest challenge and then your biggest joy.

[01:00:12] Tysor Anderson: My, the biggest challenge I think is, is just keeping up.

I mean, things are changing so fast, and I think there’s a lot whether this is true or not is not really the point, but people feel as if they don’t really know what’s going on, and whether that is transfer rules or eligibility rules or NIL versus revenue share. And again, regardless if the, if there’s really concrete information and directives out there from governing bodies, feels like people don’t know what’s going on.

And so I think the biggest challenge is, is trying to stay up and, and, and stay current with those things and. That takes, that takes time. That takes relationships and, and that, that, that’s, that’s a true, that’s a real challenge right now.

[01:01:18] Mike Klinzing: None of us could have foreseen five years ago the, the way that the college basketball landscape looks today.

None of us would’ve seen this coming five years ago, let’s put it that way.

[01:01:28] Tysor Anderson: Yeah. We wouldn’t have seen it coming. And, and I mean, look, we started this thing. I was telling you my romantic idea about college coaching that I fell in love with at seven years old. Well, that, that, that’s kind of, that doesn’t, that job doesn’t really exist anymore.

And. So I think staying current, but also like hanging on to the things that make our, our sport. And I, by sport, I mean college basketball, and I think what makes our sport really special and trying to hang on and protect and preserve those things while also, while also changing. And, and I’m an advocate for a lot of these, these changes, especially with, with players being able to, to advocate for themselves and, and to, to get a slice of his pie.

And so I’m, I’m certainly an advocate but keeping up with it is, is, is a challenge right now. Absolutely. All right. Gimme your biggest joy. I mean, I got married last summer. My biggest joy right now hands down is, is coming home to, to my wife and stepdaughter and and those girls. And I think, that’s, that’s been, we just we’re trying to buy a house right now. And that’s hands down the, the, the biggest joy in my life I, in, in terms of basketball and biggest joy that I have is meeting all of our new players and them meeting each other. And we’re going to have a lot of new guys this year, a lot of new faces.

And I am, I am really excited about this group that we have and then watching them, their relationships blossom and, and putting those.

It’s, it’s a lot of fun from, from two years ago to this past year, we brought back a lot of guys, which was awesome. Huge reason why we were able to win, win the SoCon Championship and get to the NCAA tournament is, is some continuity. And we graduated a lot of guys and so now I’m, I’m, I have a lot of joy in, in looking forward to like restarting that and, and, and building with what we got.

[01:03:44] Mike Klinzing: Good stuff. I mean, talk about the, what we discussed earlier in terms of right relationships and building some new relationships with the guys that you’re bringing into the program and being able to have an impact on them. Before we wrap up, I want to give you a chance to share how can people reach out to you, connect with you, whether you want to share email, social media, website, whatever you feel comfortable with.

And then after you’ll jump back in and wrap things up.

[01:04:10] Tysor Anderson: Oh man, this is, Hey Mike, this is where, this is where maybe you can point me in the right direction. I think I’m really good at this job, but I’m not very good at getting a job.  I’m not very engaging on social media, but I’m on Twitter and Instagram both @tysoranderson I think they’re the same.

[01:04:37] Mike Klinzing: We’ll find it, man. We’ll get it in the show notes

[01:04:41] Tysor Anderson: I just don’t spend a ton of time. Engaging. I inevitably am on there trying to get information, especially with recruiting and stuff, for sure. I’m not a very social media people would get on me for how disengaged I am.

[01:04:59] Mike Klinzing: Completely understood. It is a mystery no matter how much you’re on there. I can honestly say that I’ve been doing this with the podcast especially, and most of the time I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just trying to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what’ll stick because it’s a mystery no matter how much you use it.  So I’m right there with you, Ty. All right. Again, Ty, I want to thank you and to everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode. Thanks.