Yeah.

So he comes to Cincinnati.

He's on his visit.

So he tells Brian Kelly, I know Coach Cronin.

I want to go see Coach Cronin.

So here they come.

Like, what the hell is all this commotion? Here come the Kelseys.

That's the strategy of their game, too, is the

Now that you have been through this for seven and a half years, how specifically do you think being in Southern California amplified the life of, for your daughter?

Oh, for both of them.

You know, my stepson, their e- You know, they, they...

I think it, it, it really helped him academically.

Um, and, uh, you know, culture-wise for my daughter, who, you know, is a mixed race child, um, here that's, sh- she's in, almost in the majority, um, y- you know, at her school.

Comfort zone around...

Y- you know, teachers use these terms.

Yeah

How did you find your career?

by accident right so like I went to Australia and I was trying to get a job in retail any kind of job you know working in clothes shops or music shops or anything I could do and I couldn't get I couldn't get a job and I don't know what it was because you know it was like you might be backpacking you're going to be heading off or whatever my brother was working doing drug and alcohol working in a rehabilitation centre and so he said to me look do you want to go and have an interview for this like it's Pretty different, you know, and this is what it is.

We work in a rehabilitation center with people that are detoxing from drugs.

And, you know, it's challenging, but it's also very rewarding and so forth.

And I was like, Jesus, you know, I was thinking to myself, I was probably at that stage, was I doing as much as, I was probably doing more than the people that were in there.

Like, in a sense, I felt hypocritical of even stepping into that space because I, you know, was still carrying on a bit like that, you know.

But then I realized when I went for the interview and did all that, it wasn't about that.

What do you like most about living in Australia?

So you worked with Glenn as a musician from

when? The last five, six years.

We moved back to Ireland and we've always been in contact and then Glenn got really busy with the Oscar.

We sort of met up around 2016, I suppose, when he started hanging out a bit more with Shane McGowan and Shane's 60th birthday party and we would have been working with Shane a lot then.

We sort of reconnected and we had lots and lots of great nights together.

What emotions did you

have? Just good.

Can't believe that he's gone, really.

He, he, he will not be able to navigate the lines at the Chick-fil-A.

[laughs] So, no, but look, I, I, I, I will tell you, man, um, in this era, like I figured we'd talk about this, I think you gotta search for why you're coaching.

You know? Because if you...

I tell, like I, I...

You know, I'm, now that I'm a veteran headed to my 24th year as a head coach, I try to tell guys that, that s- you know, that tell me how messed up it is at their school.

And f- let's not talk about NIL.

Just whatever, the budget, the travel, um, you know, admissions, what- whatever.

Have you felt any pushback on that end from, like, a recruiting standpoint at all to change?

It's just the way they play"?

Yeah, Colin, I, I thought it was gonna take 80 to beat them, for sure.

Um, they, they, look, they, they're so, uh, well put together, uh, with Vogler at the point, uh, w- as a, an elite freshman.

So you have the NBA guy checked.

You, you, you have Killian Boswell, the senior grizzled vet guard.

You got that box checked.

You got shooters all around checked.

Uh, your thoughts?

It's just the way they play"?

Yeah, Colin, I, I thought it was gonna take 80 to beat them, for sure.

Um, they, they-- look, they, they're so, uh, well put together, uh, with Vogler at the point, uh, w- as a, an elite freshman.

So you have the NBA guy checked.

You, you, you have Kylan Boswell, the senior grizzled vet guard.

You got that box checked.

You got shooters all around checked.

I like Michigan, uh, your thoughts.

It's just the way they play"?

Yeah, Colin, I, I thought it was gonna take 80 to beat them, for sure.

Um, they, they ...

Look, they, they're so, uh, well put together, uh, with Vogler at the point, uh, w- as a, an elite freshman.

So you have the NBA guy checked.

You, you, you have Kylin Boswell, the senior grizzled vet guard.

You got that box checked.

Uh, your thoughts.

It's just the way they play"?

Yeah, Colin, I, I thought it was gonna take 80 to beat them, for sure.

Um, they, they, look, they, they're so, uh, well put together, uh, with Vogler at the point, uh, w- as a, an elite freshman.

So you have the NBA guy checked.

You, you, you have Kilin Boswell, the senior grizzled vet guard.

You got that box checked.

You got shooters all around checked.

Uh, your thoughts?

Where do you land on tough coaching, hard coaching in the world of the transfer portal?

Uh, no, no different than before.

Um, I think first of all, your players have to know that you know what you're talking about.

So do they believe you're making them a better payer? Secondly, they signed up to play for cultures that winning is the only thing acceptable.

Listening is the only thing that's acceptable.

Uh, and doing whatever it takes a- and giving your best effort is the only thing acce- acceptable.

So they understand when they didn't do that.

Right.

Where do you land on tough coaching, hard coaching in the world of the transfer portal?

Uh, no, no different than before.

Um, I think first of all, your players have to know that you know what you're talking about.

So do they believe you're making them a better player? Secondly, they signed up to play for coaches that winning is the only thing acceptable.

Listening is the only thing that's acceptable.

Uh, and doing whatever it takes, uh, and giving your best effort is the only thing acce- acceptable.

So they understand when they didn't do that.

Yeah.

Where do you land on tough coaching, hard coaching in the world of the transfer portal?

[sniffs] Uh, no, no different than before.

Um, I think, first of all, your players have to know that you know what you're talking about.

So do they believe you're making them a better player? Secondly, they signed up to play for coaches that winning is the only thing acceptable.

Listening is the only thing that's acceptable.

Uh, and doing whatever it takes, uh, and giving your best effort is the only thing acce- acceptable.

So they understand when they didn't do that.

Yeah.

Where do you land on tough coaching, hard coaching in the world of the transfer portal?

Uh, no, no different than before.

Um, I think first of all your players have to know that you know what you're talking about.

So do they believe you're making them a better player? Secondly, they signed up to play for coaches that winning is the only thing acceptable.

Listening is the only thing that's acceptable.

Uh, and doing whatever it takes, uh, and giving your best effort is the only thing acce- acceptable.

So they understand when they didn't do that.

Yeah.

When does a reflection time come at the end of a season? Is there other time for that? Does it come a year later, months later? You know, when do you really reevaluate, or is there any time for that in the modern – calendar?

It's a great question, Petros, because what you have to do is during your season, January, February, especially when you get into February, you have to start evaluating your players and figuring out who you want to retain, what your budget's going to be, because when it ends, it ends quick.

And Every player has an agent.

Every player has a number.

And you have to detach yourself from what college basketball used to be.

Hey, you didn't know how to practice.

You weren't very tough.

Do these deals have to get done now?

between having the young people enjoy March Madness and getting down to business and winning basketball games?

Great question.

I think it's time to embrace the big dance and everything that goes with it and have the guys enjoy it.

You

know, I didn't get peppered too much today about, oh, you're traveling again, because my answer is, well, we're used to it, so that's okay.

Okay.

We embrace it.

We're used to it, that part of it.

How do you balance out this time of year, the guys having fun and enjoying what is going to be one of the greatest times of their lives, and really getting down to business and competing and really gnashing their teeth?

Yeah, great question.

I think it's time to embrace... um embrace the big dance and everything that goes with it and and have the guys enjoy it um you know the i didn't get peppered too much today about oh you're traveling again because you know my answer is well we're used to it so that's okay uh you know we're we embrace it we're used to it uh that part of it uh i i think that uh You've got a great point.

They're young, and I don't care if they play in the NBA or not.

These are where you make the memories, right? These are the best time of your life, your NCAA tournament runs.

And I think that taking a couple days off, not playing Friday is big for us.

We did recovery today, Monday.

Or if you'd rather, guys, just kind of try to keep that thing level in these elimination-style contest tournaments.

Kind of give us an idea of what going through that type of schedule, this type of conference, does for your team come tournament time.

Well, the hard part is during the run through a conference with so many good teams, it exposes your weaknesses, which...

It may cost you some gains, but if you have talent, it allows you to adjust and face reality on the things you need to improve on.

Some of those are individually.

Some of those are collectively.

And you have to stay focused on what you need to do to improve.

You can't get caught up always in the results.

He's got a 30-point game, and I think with 25 or something like that against USC as well.

How, aside from the injury, obviously you want him on the court, but generally, how has he acclimated to what you've asked of him, and what's he bring to the backcourt? What do you like about his game, and him?

Well, he, he's got great offensive ability.

He's slippery, you know, to, to put it in football terms.

Uh, y- you know, he's a scat back.

I- it's hard to corral him.

But he's stepping up a weight class.

You know, when you step up a weight class, it's just more physical.

... from your personal experience, do most of the high-achieving players that you encounter, do they still wanna be coached hard? Do they still wanna grind?