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00:00In this new age of NIL and agents and the portal,
00:04how do you go about building a roster now
00:07where you see some teams get it right
00:10and some teams get it incredibly wrong?
00:15It's very complicated,
00:17and I think that's why you asked the question, James.
00:21It's new for all of us.
00:23We never dealt with agents before
00:26to recruit your rosters.
00:27You built relationships.
00:28You started early.
00:29You identify a kid as a freshman or a sophomore,
00:32and maybe you invite him up for an unofficial visit,
00:35and you get to know his mom and dad,
00:36and you call him,
00:37and you have conversations
00:38after June 15th of his sophomore year,
00:41develop relationships.
00:42Okay, that's how we did it.
00:45Well, now we're getting phone calls from agents
00:50while the season's going on.
00:51So-and-so is gonna go into the portal.
00:54Would you be interested?
00:55I'm like, I'm trying to coach my team right now.
00:58I don't wanna think about who might be in the portal.
01:01So that's changed,
01:04and I think the concept and the way we phrase it
01:08is it becomes, when the portal opens,
01:11it becomes speed dating.
01:13So you're trying to develop those relationships
01:16that used to take two years,
01:17now it takes two weeks.
01:19And if you come in with the right number,
01:22it can take two minutes.
01:25But do you really know the young man?
01:27Do you know what his perspective is
01:31on fitting with a team?
01:33Is he only trying to put numbers up for one year
01:36and go then to the NBA?
01:39Or is he just trying to maximize his income
01:41for the next two years,
01:41since he has two years of eligibility?
01:46You pointed out, it doesn't work out all the time.
01:49We've had a couple situations in our league
01:52where it's worked out well.
01:54You look at, Michigan got some guys,
01:58Maryland, and those guys played together.
02:02Illinois, same thing.
02:05Tom hasn't had a lot of that at Michigan State.
02:10We didn't have a lot, we had two.
02:11And those guys, Seydou Triore and Drew Thelwell,
02:17a blessing to have those two young men
02:18on my basketball team.
02:20I think it's hard,
02:21and I think the point you were making a minute ago,
02:24what if you have to sign eight?
02:27So you have eight guys coming in,
02:29all listening to a different agent,
02:31and how do you get them to play together
02:33and prioritize winning?
02:35So that's the biggest challenge.
02:37You can improve your roster,
02:38and you can improve it with veteran guys.
02:43You can have a team, we'll play a team,
02:46they'll all be 24, everybody.
02:49Used to be, okay, well that kid's a freshman,
02:51they have two freshmen to play,
02:52a couple sophomores, it's not like that anymore.
02:55And it's interesting to see how high school kids
02:58are being recruited now.
03:01You have some high school kids that are really good
03:03that are being way overlooked.
03:05You have junior college kids that are being way overlooked.
03:08Because everybody just waits for the portal.
03:10There's 2,000 names.
03:13So you have to be diligent in analyzing,
03:18not only talent, but health of the athlete,
03:24and then do the best you can
03:26to have the right conversations with them
03:30and the people that have been around them,
03:32whether it be their parents, or their high school coach,
03:35or the coach where they came from.
03:39I mean, I will tell you,
03:40we signed Seydou Triori from Manhattan College.
03:42John Gallagher is a coach at Manhattan,
03:44he's one of my best friends.
03:46John, when can you tell me about Seydou Triori?
03:49Beautiful human being.
03:52That's all I need to hear.
03:55We'll figure out if he can play.
03:56Well, he can play, I know.
03:58I watched him.
03:59But he is a beautiful human being.
04:02And he came into our locker room, and everybody loves him.
04:05And he hoops every day, and he cares about his teammates,
04:08and he cares about winning.
04:10And then we enjoy the journey.