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Kevin Ollie has quickly become one of the marquee coaches in college basketball. The former NBA point guard took UConn to amazing heights in his second season as coach, winning the NCAA Tournament as a seven seed. CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com's Jon Rothstein sat down with Ollie to discuss that title run, Rodney Purvis, and what needs to happen for the Huskies to again be playing their best basketball in March.
Jon Rothstein, CBSSports.com: What's the biggest way your life has changed since winning the national title last April?
Kevin Ollie: It hasn't been a big change. There's a lot of events and different things like that but we've been pursuing new recruits and focusing on getting the players in our program better. Other than that, this is business as usual. We're trying to get better and focus on our team and hope that they come out and play the right way and compete and also complete each other this season.
CBSSports.com: When you win a championship, there's so many celebratory things that come after the process. At what point, were you able to look ahead on focus on team you're about to coach and not think about the team that cut down the nets?
Ollie: I was always doing that. Once the celebration was over with, I was thinking about whether or not Ryan Boatright was coming back to school. I was thinking about whether or not DeAndre Daniels was going to come back to school. I was thinking about how our recruits and how our freshmen were going to fit in with our team for this year. As a coach, you never stop thinking about that. You always want to make sure you have a contingency plan for everything and anything that happens in this game. Guys leave -- DeAndre had an awesome six-game stretch and it allowed him to be taken by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the NBA Draft (37th overall). Now you've got to go to Plan B. I had a good situation where everybody was buying in into one system. And they're not getting drunk off success. They're not reading any press clippings. We've got a lot of guys that are stepping up in different roles which is good.
CBSSports.com: Your name was linked to several NBA head coaching jobs during the off-season. What was it like to deal with all the rumors and how did you handle it?
Ollie: Some of it was false, some of it was true -- I just never got wrapped up in it. I wanted to be here at UConn. Of course, we were negotiating my new deal, and I knew that was going to happen -- it was just a matter of me and (UConn athletic director) Warde Manuel sitting down -- but to be honest, we went straight to the Spring recruiting period when we got back from the Final Four. We finished playing April 6th or 7th and the next week we were out recruiting again. There wasn't a lot of time for me to think about NBA jobs. I was thinking about what recruits could come to UConn and get us to the next level where we're going to continually be in a position to win a national championship. I kept my options open of course because you have to do that but at the same time I wanted to be here. I think I've got the best job in America. I love the University of Connecticut. I love my players. They believed in me when a lot of people didn't, so of course I'm going to stay with them and try to see if we can continue to win and not only maintain this program but also strengthen this program. I think that's what we did last year.
CBSSports.com: How does the pressure of replacing Jim Calhoun compare to the pressure of being the head coach of the defending national champions?
Ollie: It's the same thing in the sense that we're not motivated by fear or anything like that. I'm motivated by desire. I'm not defending the national championship because nobody can come in and take it away. We had a championship season last year and I'm going to try and go win another one. There's no pressure in that, I just want to go win another one. I know it's a long road and it's a process. Guys have to buy in and things like that. But defending a championship? That's not what it is. Who is going to take it? We're the champions and nobody can take that away from us. I've tried to let our guys know that there's no extra pressure. Let's go out there and try to win another one.
CBSSports.com: When your team hit its stride last year during the NCAA Tournament, you regularly exploited mismatches on the offensive end of the floor. Does the personnel you have on this team give you those same capabilities?
Ollie: Yeah, definitely. We're versatile and we've got a lot of different pieces that can be moved around. That team last year was a veteran-laden team. We had Niels (Giffey) who was a four-year senior, Shabazz (Napier) was a four-year senior, Tyler (Olander) was a four-year senior -- so there's a little more teaching involved in this, in terms of understanding the level that we need to play at. It's not hard but it's a transition because all of these guys don't know how to play UConn basketball just yet and that's what we're teaching. But they're learning and they're coachable and that's what I like about our guys. They're getting better and you can see that in practice.
CBSSports.com: You lose a great perimeter player in Shabazz (Napier) but you add a few, and most notably Rodney Purvis -- a transfer from NC State. From what you've seen initially, does he have the chops to join the conversation among the great guards that have played here?
Ollie: He's got to work for that. You can't just say that. Potential is a bad word and he does have potential to be one of the more explosive players in our history here, but the guys that are in that conversation now -- they just worked and worked and kept getting better. Daniel Hamilton is the exact same way. He's got great potential, but at the end of the day, God-given talent has to change into skills, hard work and toughness -- especially mental toughness. All of those great players were mentally tough. When we got in do or die situations, they always made the right plays and hopefully the new guys that are here have that same makeup.
CBSSports.com: Amida Brimah had moments of brilliance last year as a freshman. What do you anticipate from him as a sophomore?
Ollie: The same thing, but I don't expect to see just flashes. I expect him to be a consistent player for us. People really didn't see his offense, but he's gotten so much better in that area of his game. He's got jump hooks now that he can go to over his right or left shoulder. He's doing that a lot more effectively and now we just want him to rebound. That's what I'm pushing him towards -- I want him to be a monster. He's still going to be able to block shots, but I want him to be the total package as a player and he's certainly capable of doing that.
CBSSports.com: Probably the unsung presence on both sides of the floor during your title run was Niels Giffey. Who replaces his intangibles on defense and his timely shooting on offense?
Ollie: We've got a lot of players who can do that. Kentan Facey will step into that role and bring some intangibles, doing all the dirty work for us. Phil Nolan is going to be in the mix, too. He's added 20 pounds since the end last season. Sam Cassell Jr. is going to do a lot of those things too -- get long rebounds and make timely shots -- stuff like that. We've got a lot of guys that can step into those roles and they've got to focus on that and do what it takes to allow us to win. Hopefully they understand that that's their role. We want to win basketball games and sometimes you get to shine and sometimes you don't, but if UConn wins then we all get to eat at the end of the day.
CBSSports.com: Expectations are always high at UConn and that's never going to change. What has to happen for this group to play its best basketball when it matters most in March?
Ollie: We've just go to pay attention to details right now. You can't be distracted by the crumbs, because the cake is at the end of the season. A lot of people are grabbing for the crumbs and get frustrated if we lose a couple of games here or there but you need to understand that we want to go after the cake. We want to be right when the time is right in March and April and we can't distracted because injuries happen or something happens where we're not playing our best basketball. We need to stay with the program. We need to stay with the process. We have to have the mindset that if we're always learning then that's when we're most successful.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...nns-kevin-ollie-on-title-keys-to-getting-back
Jon Rothstein, CBSSports.com: What's the biggest way your life has changed since winning the national title last April?
Kevin Ollie: It hasn't been a big change. There's a lot of events and different things like that but we've been pursuing new recruits and focusing on getting the players in our program better. Other than that, this is business as usual. We're trying to get better and focus on our team and hope that they come out and play the right way and compete and also complete each other this season.
CBSSports.com: When you win a championship, there's so many celebratory things that come after the process. At what point, were you able to look ahead on focus on team you're about to coach and not think about the team that cut down the nets?
Ollie: I was always doing that. Once the celebration was over with, I was thinking about whether or not Ryan Boatright was coming back to school. I was thinking about whether or not DeAndre Daniels was going to come back to school. I was thinking about how our recruits and how our freshmen were going to fit in with our team for this year. As a coach, you never stop thinking about that. You always want to make sure you have a contingency plan for everything and anything that happens in this game. Guys leave -- DeAndre had an awesome six-game stretch and it allowed him to be taken by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the NBA Draft (37th overall). Now you've got to go to Plan B. I had a good situation where everybody was buying in into one system. And they're not getting drunk off success. They're not reading any press clippings. We've got a lot of guys that are stepping up in different roles which is good.
CBSSports.com: Your name was linked to several NBA head coaching jobs during the off-season. What was it like to deal with all the rumors and how did you handle it?
Ollie: Some of it was false, some of it was true -- I just never got wrapped up in it. I wanted to be here at UConn. Of course, we were negotiating my new deal, and I knew that was going to happen -- it was just a matter of me and (UConn athletic director) Warde Manuel sitting down -- but to be honest, we went straight to the Spring recruiting period when we got back from the Final Four. We finished playing April 6th or 7th and the next week we were out recruiting again. There wasn't a lot of time for me to think about NBA jobs. I was thinking about what recruits could come to UConn and get us to the next level where we're going to continually be in a position to win a national championship. I kept my options open of course because you have to do that but at the same time I wanted to be here. I think I've got the best job in America. I love the University of Connecticut. I love my players. They believed in me when a lot of people didn't, so of course I'm going to stay with them and try to see if we can continue to win and not only maintain this program but also strengthen this program. I think that's what we did last year.
CBSSports.com: How does the pressure of replacing Jim Calhoun compare to the pressure of being the head coach of the defending national champions?
Ollie: It's the same thing in the sense that we're not motivated by fear or anything like that. I'm motivated by desire. I'm not defending the national championship because nobody can come in and take it away. We had a championship season last year and I'm going to try and go win another one. There's no pressure in that, I just want to go win another one. I know it's a long road and it's a process. Guys have to buy in and things like that. But defending a championship? That's not what it is. Who is going to take it? We're the champions and nobody can take that away from us. I've tried to let our guys know that there's no extra pressure. Let's go out there and try to win another one.
CBSSports.com: When your team hit its stride last year during the NCAA Tournament, you regularly exploited mismatches on the offensive end of the floor. Does the personnel you have on this team give you those same capabilities?
Ollie: Yeah, definitely. We're versatile and we've got a lot of different pieces that can be moved around. That team last year was a veteran-laden team. We had Niels (Giffey) who was a four-year senior, Shabazz (Napier) was a four-year senior, Tyler (Olander) was a four-year senior -- so there's a little more teaching involved in this, in terms of understanding the level that we need to play at. It's not hard but it's a transition because all of these guys don't know how to play UConn basketball just yet and that's what we're teaching. But they're learning and they're coachable and that's what I like about our guys. They're getting better and you can see that in practice.
CBSSports.com: You lose a great perimeter player in Shabazz (Napier) but you add a few, and most notably Rodney Purvis -- a transfer from NC State. From what you've seen initially, does he have the chops to join the conversation among the great guards that have played here?
Ollie: He's got to work for that. You can't just say that. Potential is a bad word and he does have potential to be one of the more explosive players in our history here, but the guys that are in that conversation now -- they just worked and worked and kept getting better. Daniel Hamilton is the exact same way. He's got great potential, but at the end of the day, God-given talent has to change into skills, hard work and toughness -- especially mental toughness. All of those great players were mentally tough. When we got in do or die situations, they always made the right plays and hopefully the new guys that are here have that same makeup.
CBSSports.com: Amida Brimah had moments of brilliance last year as a freshman. What do you anticipate from him as a sophomore?
Ollie: The same thing, but I don't expect to see just flashes. I expect him to be a consistent player for us. People really didn't see his offense, but he's gotten so much better in that area of his game. He's got jump hooks now that he can go to over his right or left shoulder. He's doing that a lot more effectively and now we just want him to rebound. That's what I'm pushing him towards -- I want him to be a monster. He's still going to be able to block shots, but I want him to be the total package as a player and he's certainly capable of doing that.
CBSSports.com: Probably the unsung presence on both sides of the floor during your title run was Niels Giffey. Who replaces his intangibles on defense and his timely shooting on offense?
Ollie: We've got a lot of players who can do that. Kentan Facey will step into that role and bring some intangibles, doing all the dirty work for us. Phil Nolan is going to be in the mix, too. He's added 20 pounds since the end last season. Sam Cassell Jr. is going to do a lot of those things too -- get long rebounds and make timely shots -- stuff like that. We've got a lot of guys that can step into those roles and they've got to focus on that and do what it takes to allow us to win. Hopefully they understand that that's their role. We want to win basketball games and sometimes you get to shine and sometimes you don't, but if UConn wins then we all get to eat at the end of the day.
CBSSports.com: Expectations are always high at UConn and that's never going to change. What has to happen for this group to play its best basketball when it matters most in March?
Ollie: We've just go to pay attention to details right now. You can't be distracted by the crumbs, because the cake is at the end of the season. A lot of people are grabbing for the crumbs and get frustrated if we lose a couple of games here or there but you need to understand that we want to go after the cake. We want to be right when the time is right in March and April and we can't distracted because injuries happen or something happens where we're not playing our best basketball. We need to stay with the program. We need to stay with the process. We have to have the mindset that if we're always learning then that's when we're most successful.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...nns-kevin-ollie-on-title-keys-to-getting-back
