By: By Caroline Burleson
KENNESAW, Ga. –With Kennesaw State Owls head men’s basketball coach Lewis Preston having just finished his first season at the helm of the program after spending years as an assistant coach, he recently reflected on his first season in that position, as well as the future of the Owls program.
With the addition of several highly-touted freshmen to the Owls roster this fall, Owl Nation has a lot to look forward to during the 2012-13 season. They will be tested right off the bat, with road games against opponents such as Tennessee, Pitt and Notre Dame on the schedule. Coach Preston had the chance to discuss this past season and what he looks forward to most over the course of the next few months.
How has the transition been in regards to going from being an assistant coach to a head coach?
“I think the most important change for me this year was asking myself, ‘How much did you do from an administration standpoint, as well as public speaking, fundraising, things of that nature?’ I knew that was all part of the job, but it’s impossible to really know how much time that would take up over the course of a season until you experience it. Going back and looking at it, I think I handled that as well as I possibly could in year one, and I’ve certainly learned a lot about how to manage my time in that respect.”
Now that you’ve had time to reflect over the last several weeks, what are you looking forward to about this upcoming season?
“I think one of the things we’ve done a really good job of is in regards to scheduling next year; we’re a lot more balanced when it comes to playing at home and on the road. This past season, we only had 12 home games versus 19 on the road. I’m also looking forward to the opportunity to compete with some of the local teams that we have on this coming season’s slate. Chattanooga comes to us after we played at their place this past November, and we’re also set to take on Georgia Southern. We’re going to Tennessee on Nov. 9. With all of that, we’re still going to have a national schedule, with visits to Notre Dame and Pitt also set. We just want to give our fans as many things to be excited about as we can. The home games we have scheduled, as well as the young men that we’re going to bring into the program will do just that.”
Speaking of the new players joining the Owls this fall, can you tell us a bit about some of them?
“I am very excited about each of these young men. Yonel Brown led his team to the Sweet 16 at Berkmar High School this season, he’s a phenomenal young man, comes from a great family and is a leader. He did a great job running the point guard position for Berkmar and I think he is going to give us added depth at that position. I think that will be very important for us as we move forward to 2012-13. Most recently, he was named Gwinnett County Player of the Year, and I think that was very well deserved, when you consider how much his team exceeded people’s expectations this year.
“Myles Hamilton, a guard out of St. Edward’s High School in Cleveland, helped take his team to Ohio’s Final Four and was named Second Team All-State. He brings toughness, mentally and physically, to our team that is going to be much needed as we continue to grow here in the A-Sun. He has the ability to play multiple guard positions. He has done a much better job of shooting the ball this season than I originally thought he was capable of. He could be another guy who could run the point as well. So now you go from just probably Delbert Love, who is not naturally a point guard, to having Yonel, who is a natural point guard, and Myles, who has played point guard. Delbert got much more comfortable in that position as the season went on, but now you’re going to have some depth at that position, and with his high school teammate in Myles, no less.
“Jordan Montgomery just won the Florida Class 2A State Championship again at Orlando Christian Prep. I think he is the guy of all the guys that has made the most improvement throughout the course of his final high school basketball season and it culminated in him helping his team win another state championship. That’s the way everybody wants to go out. He is going to be a great defensive player for us. As I was watching him play this season, I envisioned him at the top of the run, different presses we’re going to put in and things of that nature. He’s a very underrated shooter and is very good at driving and slashing to the basket. I think he brings a variety of different skills that we can benefit from as a team, whether it’s at the guard or forward positions.
“Brandon Williams, from Summit Christian School out of West Palm Beach, Fla., also won a state championship at the high school level during his junior season, and really had a great senior year. Athletically, he is going to be fine. He is going to give us added size at the forward position. Also one of the strengths of his that probably most people don’t know about is his ability to pass the ball and also knock down the 15 to 17 foot jump shot.
“The common denominator between these four young men is they all come from winning programs, so they understand how to win. They understand how hard they have to work to maintain that level of success and they’re not afraid to get into the weight room, and the gym to get up extra shots. So I think that will be huge as our program takes that next step forward.”
With the addition of so many young players, what are your hopes and expectations for the freshmen next season?
“It is a growing process. It’s going to be a process. I think one of the things that gives me continued confidence and hope was to watch USC Upstate have the kind of year that they had. I think they had the biggest turnaround in wins of anyone in Division-I this year and their backcourt was made up of two freshmen in Mario Blessing and Ty Greene, who ended up being the A-Sun Freshman of the Year. You have Mercer that is basically a bunch of sophomores and juniors next year. Florida Gulf Coast made it to the championship game in the A-Sun and they’re a young team as well who had two All-Freshman honorees in Bernard Thompson and Brett Comer.
“I think it’s about making sure that we’re doing the right thing as soon as our freshmen get on campus in June and make sure we’re preparing them for the grind of the college basketball season. Hopefully, when it’s all said and done, before they leave here, they have an opportunity to experience March Madness. So my main focus right now is to get them acclimated here at Kennesaw State and we’ll let those other things play out as we progress.”
Now what about your expectations for the players returning next season?
“I think what’s important for our guys that are returning is that they keep the sour taste in their mouth of this last season because I know that I do. It is a great motivator because I do not want history to repeat itself. With them, they have to understand that they’re going to be the guys that will be the leaders for this young group. It’s a very young group and they could be swayed one way or the other very easily.
Our job as a coaching staff is to make sure they stay on the right path and that they’re doing the right things, because if you maintain success consistently, success breeds success. For us, it’s just a matter of creating a culture that’s going to give us the opportunity to win games. Creating a winning culture is, first of all, to go out and recruit talent that’s accustomed to winning and the second thing is to get these young men to play at a level that I don’t think they ever expected themselves to play at. As you look at different teams in our league, with what USC Upstate did this year, with what Florida Gulf Coast did this year, what Mercer did this year, they’ve all had points like what we went through this past season. Last season (2010-11), Upstate won five games. This year, they won over 20 contests. which is a great thing for them.”
Lastly, what makes you excited about this program and coaching the Kennesaw State Owls?
“What I am excited about with this program is we are all growing and blossoming at the same time. I thought our student body here at KSU was great considering everything that happened throughout the course of the season. I think the support we’ve had on campus and within the community has been phenomenal. I’m very excited about being a part of this university and being a part of continuing to help grow this basketball program.”
