Hana Haden and Dr Ed Scott Press-Conference

New Memphis Women’s Basketball Head Coach Hana Haden and Senior Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Ed Scott spoke with the media following Coach Haden’s introductory press conference on Wednesday.

Transcript

Speaker 3

(0:00) Scott, they’ve effectively given opening statements already, so we’ll just go right into questions when we get the good Brad in the back. (0:07) Good, good. (0:09) All right. (0:10) Who wants to ask the first question?

Speaker 1

(0:13) How about say we’re done already? (0:15) My kind of deal.

Speaker 3

(0:16) Let’s go, Coach.

Speaker 1

(0:16) You’ve got to recruit.

Speaker 3

(0:17) We’ll go in the back. (0:18) Hi, Hannah. (0:19) I’m out of fuel at that two spot here in town. (0:21) Welcome to Memphis. (0:22) Something we hit on in the press here that I want to know a little bit more about. (0:25) The crime that takes you from JUCO and NAIA to D2. (0:31) How has that influenced your journey and how do you plan on continuing to carry that now that you’re at this level?

Speaker 2

(0:38) Yeah, I think it’s influenced my journey. (0:40) One, when you’re at those levels when you have your hands and everything. (0:44) But the roster reconstruction, right? (0:47) It’s not just assembling the players, but then when you assemble the talent and then you have success, that means we teach our culture like a curriculum from day one. (0:54) And I think just having that experience of if we had four returners or if we had a lot of sophomores that year at junior college and we ended up having a lot of times, we would have 10, 12 new players every single year. (1:06) So I think that experience has been really valuable, especially in today’s landscape.

Speaker 3

(1:11) You said that phrase, people connected, people that care, people that you don’t care about. (1:15) Where does that phrase come from? (1:17) Can I talk about that a moment? (1:18) Is it something that is tough to connect with new players every year?

Speaker 2

(1:22) Yeah, to your point, I think when there’s new faces, we have to be even more intentional about getting those faces out in the community so that people can meet them. (1:33) My experience, again, I’ve had a lot of new faces on different teams, but we’ve been able to get the community behind us from just getting out and whether you have a senior that’s a transfer there for only one year. (1:44) If she’s out at camps, we’re reading at schools. (1:51) We’re really our kind of mantra is we don’t say no. (1:55) So we’re going to, outside of season, in season, we have to be a little bit more selective. (2:00) But any opportunity that we get out and to get those players connected, whether it’s for that season or they’re here for their four-year career, you’ve just got to get them in front of those people and give them a chance to know them.

Speaker 3

(2:11) Greg. (2:12) Welcome, Coach. (2:13) Greg Giston. (2:14) I’ll be your games on ESPN+. (2:17) My question for you is, you kind of talked about it a little bit in your introductory presser there. (2:22) What is the one main reason among many Dr. Scott convinced you to come here and take this job?

Speaker 2

(2:29) Dr. Scott didn’t have to do too much convincing. (2:32) Thank you. (2:32) I wanted the job, you know, for the reasons that I said out there. (2:36) But I know that this is a place that we can win. (2:38) You know, this is a basketball city. (2:41) I think they have a fan base that’s hungry for success. (2:43) You know, the city of Memphis, the state of Tennessee, the southeast in general, you know, it’s really good recruiting areas. (2:49) We have the resources that we need to win. (2:51) And so that was enough for me.

Speaker 3

(2:53) Frank and then Joel. (2:55) Scott, for you, since you were meeting with her, what impressed you the most about your interaction?

Speaker 1

(3:00) Yeah, I think, you know, I do a lot of research on coaches before we even get in the search process and hand it with somebody that was high on our list because she had one. (3:08) And the way she had one and where she had one. (3:11) And I’ll be honest, when I met with her, you know, she’s got this vibe about her that’s real easy going. (3:18) And, you know, I know Memphis is tough and I know there’s going to be pressure on her to win. (3:22) And so we spent a lot of time talking about that, right? (3:25) Can you manage that? (3:26) Can you handle that? (3:27) And I asked her one question and her answer was right on the money. (3:31) And at that point, I knew we had the right person. (3:34) The junior college part matters. (3:36) It matters in today’s roster transition, right? (3:40) And I think if I get the quote right, you can tell me or if I get it wrong, you can correct me. (3:44) But I think you said something like this when you met with Dr. Hargrave, that at junior college, winning creates the bond, cohesion. (3:51) And in division one, cohesion and chemistry create winning. (3:55) And to know that and to have been through those cycles at various levels of college basketball, but the common theme was winning and developing young women. (4:04) And it just made it easy for me at that point to say this is the person that I want to partner with to try to build this program back.

Speaker 2

(4:15) Yeah, I mean, we want to keep the best players in Memphis at home, right? (4:20) If they have the talent to play here in the American Conference and help us compete for championships, then that’s going to be our goal is to not let them leave the city.

Speaker 3

(4:26) Go ahead. (4:27) For both of you, if possible, I’m just curious when you look at the expectations for this program, obviously, like the resources there, the opportunity for growth is definitely there. (4:35) But obviously, I haven’t been in a tournament in a long time. (4:37) How do you, especially, Dr. Chav, when you were interviewing candidates, how did you gauge kind of what you expected and what you want moving forward?

Speaker 1

(4:44) I’ll let Hannah go first. (4:45) I want to hear how she’s going to get us back to championships.

Speaker 2

(4:48) I mean, the American Athletic Conference is a very good league. (4:53) There’s a lot of talent. (4:54) There’s great coaching. (4:56) You know, it’s a tough conference. (4:59) But I think that this is, you know, Dr. Scott and I talked about, there’s two ways to get in that postseason. (5:04) And so we want to be, we want to have a competitive net to put us in a good position if we didn’t win the tournament. (5:11) But obviously, you know, the goal is to win the tournament and go to the NCAA tournament. (5:14) Like, that’s going to be the goal and the standard.

Speaker 1

(5:17) Yeah, Jonah, I think you know we’re resourced really well. (5:19) I mean, we’re sitting in a standalone, basically, women’s basketball facility, right? (5:23) We’re in the lounge area right now. (5:25) They have a nutrition area. (5:26) Women’s basketball has their own weight room that they use by themselves. (5:30) They have their own facility that they share with volleyball four times a year. (5:34) So when I looked at the infrastructure, it was present. (5:36) I needed somebody who could win with less because what I found at Memphis, and you saw this with Coach Huff. (5:43) And right now, I’m doing great because Coach Huff and Hannah are both undefeated. (5:46) So my track record is really good so far. (5:50) But no, in all honesty, I mean, the infrastructure was there. (5:52) So I needed someone who could take the infrastructure, articulate a plan to get us where we want to go. (5:57) And literally, we finished 4-in-14 in the league last year. (6:00) And I was talking to Hannah, I think, yesterday in the lobby of the AOB or the other day, and we finished 4-in-14. (6:06) I mean, so this is not new for her. (6:08) I think sometimes when you hire folks from winning programs or higher levels who don’t understand the resource level and who haven’t had to build the culture as she talks about like a curriculum, it’s more difficult for them even though they’ve wanted other places. (6:21) So she had the experience. (6:24) And then you heard her talking to a press conference. (6:26) She wanted to be in a city. (6:28) She wanted to be in a place. (6:29) Look, you all know in Memphis, if we’re playing well, you guys love us and you love me. (6:34) If we’re not playing well, it’s like I’m coaching every team and I’m the worst AD in America. (6:38) You’ve got to be able to deal with that here in Memphis, and you’ve got to embrace it. (6:42) And I just, after spending enough time with Hannah, I learned quickly that she has what I’ll call the intestinal fortitude to be able to deal with that. (6:49) Don’t let her smile fool you. (6:50) When she gets on the court, she’s a different beast. (6:53) And that’s what I want. (6:54) And that’s what I want for all of our coaches. (6:56) And Hannah, you know, she fit that mold perfectly.

Speaker 3

(6:59) We’re going to Nick and then Casey. (7:00) Hey, Coach, we’re going to just move you on with your data. (7:06) We’ve seen you interact a little bit on social media with them part away and with Coach Huff and I’m sure other coaches have reached out as well. (7:12) What are those conversations they want to have they offer you any advice?

Speaker 2

(7:18) Yeah, I’d say probably advice similar to that tweet I described, right? (7:21) You get what you give and Coach Hardaway, you know, talked about this is the Memphis Tigers. (7:26) It’s a family, right? (7:27) And all of us supporting each other, you know, offered his support. (7:31) He said he might come to a practice, which I was really fired up about. (7:34) But, yes, Coach Huff reached out and they’ve just been, you know, willing to be just resources in the transition. (7:39) It’s been awesome. (7:44) Yeah, we’re going to describe our team with relentless effort, togetherness, toughness, and discipline, right? (8:00) We talk about effort and second effort, you know, those are things that necessary, you know, on the court making plays and things like that, but discipline is doing the right thing all the time, regardless of who is watching, you know, togetherness, your connectivity. (8:11) We’re talking about trying to go to the tournament, right? (8:14) Like you’re getting in the conference tournament and you make it to the semifinals and the finals. (8:16) Those teams are connected and they’re together and those are the teams that want to continue playing together and they want to extend their season. (8:23) So, you know, in the landscape, whatever, you’re going to have a lot of new faces on the roster. (8:28) Some of that has to develop organically. (8:30) It starts with recruiting, right? (8:31) And getting the right character that their relationships with each other will develop organically and then it’s the job of our coaching staff to be intentional about helping them build that so that we have that togetherness at the end of the year. (8:43) And then toughness speaks for itself, right? (8:45) Like we’re going to be a gritty team defensively. (8:47) Again, we’re going to guard you. (8:48) We’re going to make it really, really tough on opponents. (8:51) We were the number one defense in the league last year and that’s something that I always hang my hat on as a defensive end because when we talk about controlling the controllables, you know, defense never has a bad shooting night. (9:00) Defense travels, you know, so we do want to put points on the board and we’re going to do it as efficiently as possible and really big on efficiency over pace. (9:08) But we’re going to hang our hat on the defensive end.

Speaker 3

(9:15) You said you asked one question after I inhaled it, but you didn’t say what it was.

Speaker 1

(9:19) Yeah, of course, Jeff would ask. (9:21) I love Jeff.

Speaker 3

(9:24) What can women’s basketball be here? (9:26) Like you see internationally it’s exploded and, you know, it gets equal billing. (9:32) You put your IDSP under the next tournament. (9:34) What should it be here, Broadway speaking?

Speaker 1

(9:37) Yeah, so I’ll give you the PG version of what I asked Hannah because I’m a gentleman and she’s a lady. (9:44) But I straight up and down asked her, do you have that dog in you, right, and that we’re going to need in Memphis? (9:50) Because you see her. (9:51) She’s sweet. (9:52) She talks really fast. (9:53) Her and Haley, if you watch those two talk together, you can’t get a word in. (9:56) And you saw how when you asked the question about basketball, she lit up, right? (10:00) That’s what I got from her when I interviewed her. (10:03) But after the interview, she called and left me a voicemail to articulate a couple other things that she wanted me to know about her candidacy. (10:12) And I called her back and I said, look, Hannah, the one question I have for you is, do you have that dog in you that is going to need to be successful at Memphis? (10:19) And her response was, I am that dog, Dr. Scott. (10:21) And I said, okay then. (10:23) And I said, then let’s go. (10:24) It’s time to roll. (10:25) So that’s the question and that was the answer. (10:28) And thank you, Jeff, because it tells me you pay attention to what I say and I appreciate that. (10:33) Look, I think we should be in the top four women’s basketball on an annual basis, right? (10:38) There’s injuries happen, roster turnover happens every year. (10:41) I don’t put win-loss totals on our coaches. (10:44) I don’t do it to Penny. (10:45) I don’t do it to Huff. (10:46) I don’t do it to any of our coaches. (10:48) But based on this last year’s metrics and what we know about NIL, we were probably second in the league on RevShare behind South Florida. (10:58) South Florida pours a lot of resources, as both Hannah and I know, into their women’s basketball program. (11:03) We have this beautiful facility that’s, again, self-contained for women’s basketball. (11:07) And I forgot to mention it has a training room that only women’s basketball gets to use. (11:12) Hannah came in and saw the facility. (11:13) She said, wait, this is ours? (11:15) Like, who else uses it? (11:16) And we’re like, that’s you. (11:17) That’s it. (11:18) And so I think we have all the pieces where, Jeff, if we’re not making the NCAA tournament to give you a succinct answer, if we don’t make the NCAA tournament on a regular basis, we should be in the WNIT, right? (11:29) We should be playing in the postseason in women’s basketball. (11:32) And we should be better than we’ve been. (11:34) The city deserved it. (11:35) The university deserves it. (11:37) And I can guarantee you that we have the resources behind women’s basketball, as Hannah knows, for us to be able to do it. (11:42) Otherwise, she wasn’t taking the job at a place she doesn’t think she can win. (11:46) And that was really important to me, too. (11:47) I asked her that. (11:48) Do you think you can compete against these other coaches in this league with the resources we can provide you at the University of Memphis? (11:55) And your answer was?

Speaker 2

(11:56) Yes.

Speaker 1

(11:57) There you go. (11:58) So sometimes it’s more simple than you all think when you’re going through the process when you’ve identified all the intangibles.

Speaker 3

(12:05) We’ll go back to that. (12:06) It seems like you’re taking over a similar situation to what you did at Georgia Southern. (12:09) It’s quite something. (12:10) What was the biggest key or a couple keys to getting that program turned out so quickly?

Speaker 2

(12:15) It’s getting the right mixture of personalities and the right mental makeup of the individuals in your locker room. (12:22) That’s quite simply the answer. (12:25) Just to be transparent, we had very similar talent from year one to year two. (12:28) We had a huge turnaround. (12:30) And our first staff meeting, after we completed year one at Georgia Southern, going into year two, I passed out a piece of paper to my staff, and I said, culture wins and culture kills. (12:40) And we wanted to establish the right culture, again, have the right people in the locker room. (12:45) I mentioned out there we want to recruit the best players who are also the best people. (12:48) You’re coaching 15 young women. (12:50) You’re always going to have 15 unique personalities. (12:52) That’s what makes it fun, as long as we’re like-minded and we have the same priorities and the right character.

Speaker 3

(13:00) All right. (13:01) Thank you both.

Speaker 1

(13:02) Thank you.

Speaker 2

(13:03) Appreciate you. (13:03) Thank you.