Listen to this great interview from AD and Level with coach Ulric Maligi.
Here is the transcription:
AD: We are thrilled now to be joined on the Benchmark Hotline by Texas Tech assistant basketball coach, Ulric Maligi.
CL: This guy’s gold, man.
AD: And coach, the team roster came out yesterday. We all saw. We chatted about it here on the show. How impressed have you been with this group of men over the course of a pretty challenging off-season?
“Just very blessed. And first of all, thank you guys for having us and I paid Level to say nice things about me (laughing). It is good to hear your voice as well. I am a very, very blessed man. We’ve been fortunate to put together a team that’s extremely talented, but the thing that we talk about the most is they’ve been a lot of fun to coach. We have a very competitive group. And just kids that we continuously rave about, just off the floor, just in terms of the habits and characteristics and- it’s been a very- we’ve got a very mature group. We’ve got a lot of new guys, but our returning guys have done an unbelievable job, leading by example. Marcus Santos, our only senior, has just really stepped into a leadership role and Chris Beard has empowered him to do so, but it is pretty easy to- he may be arguably our hardest worker. So it’s been fun to coach so far.”
Ulric, we could go down the roster here. There’s- everybody’s got a great story and there’s so much talent here. But I mean a lot of people- we got- I don’t know Aaron, how many questions did we get over the summer about- is Joel Ntambwe around? Is he going to be on the team?
Three or four hundred.
Take us through- what he is as a player because the fans were really excited about him. We’re not sure what was kind of happening in the summer, but he’s back and on the team and all that stuff. But what can fans expect from Joel and what is he, from the standpoint as a player?
“Yeah, I think Joel is a very talented player. He is a prudent transfer, which Coach Chris Beard has established as part of our recruiting identity, so to speak, is getting prudent transfers and getting high school players that have a chip on their shoulder and probably a lot better than their ranking. It’s kind of our recruiting identity, but Joel- a lot like (Moretti) has some potential opportunities to play overseas. He is staying in constant communication with Coach Beard about those opportunities, trying to just do whatever is going to be best for him and his family, but we’re happy to have him back, man. He’s been- he came back and he’s fit right in. He had a great redshirt year. He’s 6’8”. He’s very versatile, can really shoot the three. He’s improving his ball handling and rebounding, but he’s a kid, he shot 40% from the three at UNLV and was a double-digit scorer as a freshman in a really good Mountain West League, so. His experience- he’s had a lot of big games. His experience is something you can’t put a price tag on. He got a chance to practice with us every day, being in this culture, so. We’re expecting big things from him.”
Your group has begun to sign stack recruiting class on top of stack recruiting class on top of stack recruiting class. It’s always fun to ask about these new players. Who of these freshmen have really kind of impressed you so far since they got to campus?
(All of them.)
“Yeah, I mean. I hate to sound cliche, but I’m telling you all of them are doing great. It’s- I’ve been coaching- this is my fifteenth season coaching. I think fourteenth season, at the collegiate level. And I’ve been blessed to be a part of some championship teams at various levels. But it’s the first time I can say regardless of the level, we have 13 guys that all went on scholarship, that can play in the Big 12. And we all know Avery Benson is more than good enough to play in the Big 12. I think he proved that against Louisville and other games, that he helped us significantly. And so- to have 14 guys that are good enough to play in this league is a lot of fun. We’re just blessed man that we were able to hit on these guys and so now we’ll just go to work and make them do their part and continue to get them better. And try to make a really cohesive group. I think that’s going to be the big deal is- just like chemistry.”
Yeah, and I think people get it and we’re no different. People get caught up and okay, the new, the freshman that come in, the transfers you’re bringing- but really, I mean, it’s so much. I think it’s fascinating. People forget about that. I can’t wait to see how much better Kyler is from last year. How much better TJ Shannon is and McCullar…Talk about that group and just how much more…it’s got to be part of their team because they’ve been in this program for a while now.
“Yeah, credit to Coach Beard because it starts with him. We have a real program and I’ve been forcing him to be a part of some real programs. Player development is important and guys get better from year to year. I’ve been a part of programs too where we just outcount the other team and guys may not get as good as we want them too year in and year out. But that doesn’t happen here man. And so you guys know better than me, but guys- I think Kevin McCullar is just as big on court because I think he can arguably be the most important player in the Big 12, I believe that. I mean he ended the year on a high note and may have been arguably the best freshman in the Big 12 towards the end of the year. TJ Shannon has really improved his shooting. And his leadership is really maturing. I mean his body looks great and he’s going to have a big-time year. I think the crowd will have to yell at him to shoot open shots to shoot, which is great. He’ll be able to go right and finish with contact. Kyler Edwards has really matured. He’s added to his game. I think the competition too has allowed Kyler to really step up- he’s always been a competitive kid, but we just didn’t have the depth last year, like we have this year where guys, like- they all know- they can sit out and you can probably beat anybody in the country. It’ll be right there. You don’t have a chance so, Avery is Avery. Tyreek Smith has really made significant strides. The redshirt year has been a blessing in disguise for him. He’s gained 28 pounds of muscle. Coach Riley has done an unbelievable job with him. Tyreek has really improved and then Clarence Nadolny. Man, I’ve been really proud of him, really improving his decision making. His confidence is at another level, so. He’s going to help us as well.”
And how much are you guys even- and you may not even be paying attention to it, but are you trying to follow how this thing is going to go when the season may start. We’re talking about a bit of a delay or do you not even- you guys don’t even get caught up in that, you just go to work everyday and try to get better?
“Well, you know that’s our culture. We kind of go to work everyday. We punch the clock. Again, it just starts from the top, but we can control man. You know what I’m saying. It really doesn’t stop anything because a lot of these guys have aspirations, all of them really have aspiration planning and NBA. Some of these guys are going to be ready for the 2021 draft, regardless. So that’s the goal. It doesn’t change anything. So, I think when the season is- when we know what that looks like, our guys obviously will be excited and we will too as the coaching staff and so I think- Coach Beard has been communicating with us all the different possibilities. We hear all the rumors and all that kind of stuff, but yeah we’re just been working and trying to work on our relationships, players with coaches, coaches with players and then the players with players. That’s really our goal to out-relationship the other teams, to have better X’s and O’s even though we have that, but that’s our plan. So, that’s what we’re working on, getting going to work every day, and we call it the process around here.”
Here is the transcription:
AD: We are thrilled now to be joined on the Benchmark Hotline by Texas Tech assistant basketball coach, Ulric Maligi.
CL: This guy’s gold, man.
AD: And coach, the team roster came out yesterday. We all saw. We chatted about it here on the show. How impressed have you been with this group of men over the course of a pretty challenging off-season?
“Just very blessed. And first of all, thank you guys for having us and I paid Level to say nice things about me (laughing). It is good to hear your voice as well. I am a very, very blessed man. We’ve been fortunate to put together a team that’s extremely talented, but the thing that we talk about the most is they’ve been a lot of fun to coach. We have a very competitive group. And just kids that we continuously rave about, just off the floor, just in terms of the habits and characteristics and- it’s been a very- we’ve got a very mature group. We’ve got a lot of new guys, but our returning guys have done an unbelievable job, leading by example. Marcus Santos, our only senior, has just really stepped into a leadership role and Chris Beard has empowered him to do so, but it is pretty easy to- he may be arguably our hardest worker. So it’s been fun to coach so far.”
Ulric, we could go down the roster here. There’s- everybody’s got a great story and there’s so much talent here. But I mean a lot of people- we got- I don’t know Aaron, how many questions did we get over the summer about- is Joel Ntambwe around? Is he going to be on the team?
Three or four hundred.
Take us through- what he is as a player because the fans were really excited about him. We’re not sure what was kind of happening in the summer, but he’s back and on the team and all that stuff. But what can fans expect from Joel and what is he, from the standpoint as a player?
“Yeah, I think Joel is a very talented player. He is a prudent transfer, which Coach Chris Beard has established as part of our recruiting identity, so to speak, is getting prudent transfers and getting high school players that have a chip on their shoulder and probably a lot better than their ranking. It’s kind of our recruiting identity, but Joel- a lot like (Moretti) has some potential opportunities to play overseas. He is staying in constant communication with Coach Beard about those opportunities, trying to just do whatever is going to be best for him and his family, but we’re happy to have him back, man. He’s been- he came back and he’s fit right in. He had a great redshirt year. He’s 6’8”. He’s very versatile, can really shoot the three. He’s improving his ball handling and rebounding, but he’s a kid, he shot 40% from the three at UNLV and was a double-digit scorer as a freshman in a really good Mountain West League, so. His experience- he’s had a lot of big games. His experience is something you can’t put a price tag on. He got a chance to practice with us every day, being in this culture, so. We’re expecting big things from him.”
Your group has begun to sign stack recruiting class on top of stack recruiting class on top of stack recruiting class. It’s always fun to ask about these new players. Who of these freshmen have really kind of impressed you so far since they got to campus?
(All of them.)
“Yeah, I mean. I hate to sound cliche, but I’m telling you all of them are doing great. It’s- I’ve been coaching- this is my fifteenth season coaching. I think fourteenth season, at the collegiate level. And I’ve been blessed to be a part of some championship teams at various levels. But it’s the first time I can say regardless of the level, we have 13 guys that all went on scholarship, that can play in the Big 12. And we all know Avery Benson is more than good enough to play in the Big 12. I think he proved that against Louisville and other games, that he helped us significantly. And so- to have 14 guys that are good enough to play in this league is a lot of fun. We’re just blessed man that we were able to hit on these guys and so now we’ll just go to work and make them do their part and continue to get them better. And try to make a really cohesive group. I think that’s going to be the big deal is- just like chemistry.”
Yeah, and I think people get it and we’re no different. People get caught up and okay, the new, the freshman that come in, the transfers you’re bringing- but really, I mean, it’s so much. I think it’s fascinating. People forget about that. I can’t wait to see how much better Kyler is from last year. How much better TJ Shannon is and McCullar…Talk about that group and just how much more…it’s got to be part of their team because they’ve been in this program for a while now.
“Yeah, credit to Coach Beard because it starts with him. We have a real program and I’ve been forcing him to be a part of some real programs. Player development is important and guys get better from year to year. I’ve been a part of programs too where we just outcount the other team and guys may not get as good as we want them too year in and year out. But that doesn’t happen here man. And so you guys know better than me, but guys- I think Kevin McCullar is just as big on court because I think he can arguably be the most important player in the Big 12, I believe that. I mean he ended the year on a high note and may have been arguably the best freshman in the Big 12 towards the end of the year. TJ Shannon has really improved his shooting. And his leadership is really maturing. I mean his body looks great and he’s going to have a big-time year. I think the crowd will have to yell at him to shoot open shots to shoot, which is great. He’ll be able to go right and finish with contact. Kyler Edwards has really matured. He’s added to his game. I think the competition too has allowed Kyler to really step up- he’s always been a competitive kid, but we just didn’t have the depth last year, like we have this year where guys, like- they all know- they can sit out and you can probably beat anybody in the country. It’ll be right there. You don’t have a chance so, Avery is Avery. Tyreek Smith has really made significant strides. The redshirt year has been a blessing in disguise for him. He’s gained 28 pounds of muscle. Coach Riley has done an unbelievable job with him. Tyreek has really improved and then Clarence Nadolny. Man, I’ve been really proud of him, really improving his decision making. His confidence is at another level, so. He’s going to help us as well.”
And how much are you guys even- and you may not even be paying attention to it, but are you trying to follow how this thing is going to go when the season may start. We’re talking about a bit of a delay or do you not even- you guys don’t even get caught up in that, you just go to work everyday and try to get better?
“Well, you know that’s our culture. We kind of go to work everyday. We punch the clock. Again, it just starts from the top, but we can control man. You know what I’m saying. It really doesn’t stop anything because a lot of these guys have aspirations, all of them really have aspiration planning and NBA. Some of these guys are going to be ready for the 2021 draft, regardless. So that’s the goal. It doesn’t change anything. So, I think when the season is- when we know what that looks like, our guys obviously will be excited and we will too as the coaching staff and so I think- Coach Beard has been communicating with us all the different possibilities. We hear all the rumors and all that kind of stuff, but yeah we’re just been working and trying to work on our relationships, players with coaches, coaches with players and then the players with players. That’s really our goal to out-relationship the other teams, to have better X’s and O’s even though we have that, but that’s our plan. So, that’s what we’re working on, getting going to work every day, and we call it the process around here.”
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