ZS: It is no secret coach, you guys over at Bryant have been extremely proactive with online recruiting. What are some of the key aspects you as a staff emphasize throughout the process and how is it helped you sidestep the recruiting limitations of Covid-19?
JG: Our staff has always tried to be ahead of the curve in recruiting. I want my guys thinking outside of the box and finding ways to be unique and resourceful to bring in student-athletes who fit Bryant University and fit our culture. We lived on Zoom calls and gave a ton of online campus tours.
But between myself and my staff’s relationships we feel even with the Covid-19 limitations, we were able to still put together a roster of guys who fit our culture of success on the court and in the classroom.
ZS: How would you evaluate the progress of Benson Lin, Charles Pride (who have shown early promise) and who are other key returners we can expect contributions from during the 2020-21 season?
JG: We return five guys, with four who started 15 games or more for us last year in Mike Greene Jr., Benson Lin, Charles Pride, and Hall Elisias. Mike Greene was last season’s Rookie of the Year and had over a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio.
Benson Lin was on the All-Rookie team and was only frosh in the league to make over 50 3-pointers. Charles Pride was named Rookie of the Week five times as a frosh last season, and Hall Elisias was third in the nation in blocked shot percentage.
Nate Stokes, our fifth returner, missed much of the year after returning from knee surgery. But— he’s a guy who can really shoot the ball at his size (6-foot-8) and is a competitor. I like their character and I like their edge. Excited to see what kind of jump they can all make in year two at Bryant.
ZS: Favorite memories at Quinnipiac playing point guard under Joey Desantis?
JG: Definitely playing in the NEC championship vs CCSU in 2002. People still talk about that game being the best basketball atmosphere in NEC history. The place was rocking.
National TV, and it really was what put Quinnipiac the map. That night, Quinnipiac Athletics was no longer ‘that school with the Q in Connecticut.’ We gained some national notoriety.
ZS: Being up in Rhode Island, it seems as if Bryant’s staff really put the work in as far as criss crossing the country with recruiting and simultaneously made a high order commitment to scouring the local landscape for talent.
How do you guys keep tabs on kids throughout the country and what factors play into the process?
JG: I think my staff had a good idea of the kind of players and people we want in our program. High character, selfless, competitive, gym rats. We want guys who are going to value a degree from an esteemed University.
Also, of course, have a passion to win championships and play this game at the professional level after college.
ZS: As Adam Zagoria recently noted, you guys have given out a steady stockpile of offers lately. How would you describe your philosophy as a coach on dropping a scholarship offer?
What are the benefits to being quicker to offer, as opposed to those who want to see a prospect multiple times or talk multiple times before officially offering?
JG: During the pandemic, one thing we have all had is time. The one thing we didn’t have, however, was any definitive idea as to what summer recruiting was going to look like. Our staff scoured film of High School and AAU games, and worked the phones for three months.
First, in finishing our 2020 class. Then, taking our 2021 and 2022 recruiting efforts to the next level.
Between highlights videos, Synergy, Krossover, HUDL and multiple other video systems we evaluated thousands of prospects this spring. We targeted a large group of players and offered the guys we felt could come and have an immediate impact here.
If one of those guys committed immediately, we would be ecstatic.
I would love nothing more than to get a commitment from a rising junior who we feel strongly about and then have two years to mentor him and prepare for what it’s going to take to be successful at the college level. Because most freshman don’t really know the work, sacrifice, and discipline it takes at this level.
In addition, we want these young men to know that we have been evaluating them this spring. Once AAU or scholastic recruiting starts again, we have already seen them and will continue following them.
Depending on the number of scholarships we have in a certain class we will only take a certain number of players. That is something we are very upfront about.
We feel we have a lot to offer a student-athlete here at Bryant. We are willing to recruit nationally to find guys who can hopefully help our program take the next step. Let’s face it: In the power 5 alone, there are 832 scholarship players. So We are not going to just pigeonhole ourselves and not spread our recruiting wings.
