Mike White on starting over (applicable to San Jose State University basketball)

 (photo courtesy of The Advocate)

If there was a ranking system for college basketball coaches, Louisiana Tech Coach Mike White deserves a spot in the Major Achiever category. Just look what he has accomplished:

* taking his very first team to the championship game of the WAC tournament, one win away from Big Dancin'

* going 27-7 overall, 16-2 in league play during his second season, winning the Western Athletic Conference regular season championship

* racking up this success primarily with freshman and sophomores as the major contributors

So how did he establish this flourishing of Bulldog basketball and what are the takeaways that other new coaches could benefit from knowing?

Here are his thoughts, ideas and best practices:

Q: In the beginning, how did you go about selling your vision to new recruits?

Mike White: "The biggest selling point upon arrival in Ruston was playing time, opportunity, people, and style of play. We thought that offering a vision of an up-tempo pressing style, along with "need" leading to opportunity, were perhaps most important in attracting recruits."

Q: Does that vision sale differ now in recruiting (as joining up seems a more attractive sell but you now have a successful program where playing time will be harder to earn)?

Mike White: "The recruiting pitch has definitely differed, becoming both easier and harder at the same time. We are more recognizable after having had some success, and we also can sell CUSA. However, immediate opportunity for playing time is no longer as easy to sell."

Q: The task and mantra for most new coaches is "the culture must be changed" -- how and what must a coach do to facilitate that transformation he desires/what did you do at LT?

Mike White: "'Changing the culture' can sometimes be disparaging to programs and student-athletes, so we spent more time talking about "creating our own culture."  Demands and expectations on and off the court were the biggest culture factors.  Nothing creates culture, however, more than the kids that you sign. We made some decisions on day one about the types of kids that we wanted to coach, and we've remained convicted to those principles."
 
Q: What factors went into your decision regarding using an uptempo offensive pace and pressing defensively?

Mike White: "Our style of play was decided upon to simply help us recruit and put people in the stands. I feel like most kids want to play uptempo, and I also feel like we have a very athletic recruiting base. Also, our fans have embraced the way that our kids play. They appreciate the effort put forth, especially in our press."

Q: As a coach at a mid major, is it easier/more difficult to become successful (turning around the W-L record) or easier/more difficult to keep being successful? or are they similar tasks requiring similar approaches? or maybe tasks requiring different strategies?

Mike White: "Producing a winner and sustaining success are two different animals. I don't know which is harder, but they are very different, in my opinion. We spent countless time talking about this subject as a team last season. For the first time, we became the "hunted" and had to mentally adjust in several ways. I thought that our guys handled it pretty well, but it was definitely a very different mindset than in year one, and more difficult in many ways. It remains to be seen how we'll handle year three, with the biggest expectations ahead of us. I marvel at the few mid-major programs that are able to achieve great success every year."

We thank Coach White for sharing his thoughts.