Shownotes
Justin Newton is in his 6th season as Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Reinhardt University. He has amassed over 120 Head Coaching wins and has 13 years of experience as a college coach. Newton has had 3 top 2 Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season finishes in his 5 years at Reinhardt.
Newton previously served one season as the Head Coach at Andrew (Ga.) College where his team had a record-breaking 24-8 mark in 2018-19. He also spent time as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II University of Arkansas at Monticello in the Great American Conference (GAC). Additionally, Newton has made stops at fellow GCAA member South Georgia State, NCAA Division II Columbus State (Ga.), and Lee (Tenn.).
Newton started coaching in 2011 as the head boy's basketball coach at his alma mater, Victory Christian School in North Augusta, S.C. He turned an eight-win team into an 18-4 conference-championship squad in his first and only season as head coach.
On this episode Mike and Justin discuss the importance of effort and communication in building a successful basketball program. Justin shares insights from his journey, starting as a coach's son and evolving through various coaching roles, including his experiences at junior colleges and Division II schools. Newton highlights how vital it is to create a culture of accountability among players, where upperclassmen take the lead in maintaining team standards and fostering unselfish play. His coaching philosophy centers on practicing discipline and instilling a competitive spirit within the team, which he believes is essential for achieving success on the court. As he reflects on his coaching style, Newton discusses the significance of clarity in practice planning and the need to celebrate contributions beyond just scoring, reinforcing the idea that teamwork and effective communication are key to any team's achievements.
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Don’t forget to grab pen and paper before you listen to this episode with Justin Newton, Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Reinhardt University.
Website - https://reinhardteagles.com/sports/mbkb/index
Email - Justin.Newton@reinhardt.edu
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Transcripts
Foreign.
Mike Linsling:Is brought to you by Head Start Basketball.
Justin Newton:A lot of people like to use that phrase.
Justin Newton:I don't want to coach energy and effort.
Justin Newton:Well, I'm so I'm going to coach it every day and I think you have to.
Justin Newton:You are going to be the things that you emphasize and in college the things that you recruit to.
Justin Newton:Constant emphasis, constant talk, I believe leads.
Mike Linsling:To effort Justin Newton is in his sixth season as the head men's basketball coach at Reinhardt University.
Mike Linsling:He has amassed over 120 head coaching wins and has 13 years of experience as a college coach.
Mike Linsling:Newton has had three top two Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season finishes in his five years at Reinhardt.
Mike Linsling: mark in: Mike Linsling:He also spent time as an assistant coach at NCAA Division 2 University of Arkansas at Monticello in the Great American Conference.
Mike Linsling:Additionally, Newton has made stops at fellow GCAA members South Georgia State, NCAA Division 2 Columbus State and Lee University.
Mike Linsling: Newton started coaching in: Mike Linsling:He turned an eight win team into an 18.4conference championship squad in his first and only season as head coach.
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Mike Linsling:Don't forget to grab pen and paper before you listen to this episode with Justin Newton, men's basketball head coach at Reinhardt University.
Mike Linsling:Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads podcast.
Mike Linsling:It's Mike Linsling here without my co host Jason Suckel tonight, but I am pleased to be joined by Justin Newton, head men's basketball coach at Reinhardt University.
Mike Linsling:Justin, welcome to the hoopets pod man.
Justin Newton:I'm thrilled to be here, Mike.
Justin Newton:Really big fan of what you guys do for the game, faithful listener and just happy to be on here with you guys.
Mike Linsling:Thank you for your kind words.
Mike Linsling:Really appreciate it.
Mike Linsling:As I always say, when someone says that to me, it's nice to know that you're not just talking into an empty mic and the stuff is going out there to no one.
Mike Linsling:It's nice to know that there's some ears out there that are actually hearing and listening to what we're saying and the time that we're putting in.
Mike Linsling:So I appreciate that.
Mike Linsling:I certainly don't take it for granted that there are people out there like yourself who are listening and finding value.
Mike Linsling:So we're excited to have you on tonight.
Mike Linsling:Talk to you about some of the things that you've been able to do in your career.
Mike Linsling:Let's start by going back in time to when you were a kid, you grow up a coach's son.
Mike Linsling:Tell me a little bit about your first experiences with the game of basketball.
Justin Newton:Yeah, you know, my dad and mom, they have both been serving, you know, at a church for about almost 40 years now, which also has a school there, a small Christian school.
Justin Newton:And my dad served as the athletic director and, and head basketball coach.
Justin Newton:He coached softball, he coached football, he, I mean, he coached about any kind of ball you could have, but he had the most success and the most fun in the game of basketball.
Justin Newton:And I grew up, you know, just being the kid, kind of how my kids are now.
Justin Newton:I have a six and a four year old that are just running around the gym and around it all the time.
Justin Newton:So it's just part of what we did.
Justin Newton:You know, Friday nights and Tuesday nights were getting on the bus and watching the game and grabbing McDonald's on the way back.
Justin Newton:And so just being around it and loving it, you know, it's always been a part of our family and been a big part of my life, you know.
Justin Newton:So, you know, as far as getting into coaching, it was a real easy decision in that I just didn't want it to stop, you know, I Always liked being around the team and part of a team and just the tactical side of it and the competitive side.
Justin Newton:But, you know, my dad is still a huge influence on, on my coaching philosophy and, and my, my walk with Christ and, and what we try to do there.
Justin Newton:You know, he, he still serves at that same church.
Justin Newton:He no longer is technically in, in the sports part of it anymore, man, but he coached and was the athletic director for over 20 years.
Justin Newton:Won, you know, seven state championships alone in, in men's basketball and several in other sports.
Justin Newton:But, you know, he was, he was and he still is, you know, God first and use, use the game of basketball to influence others in a positive way in his walk of Christ and, and he's definitely one of the most competitive people I've ever met my entire life and, and got that from him, you know, so he's had a, he's had a great influence on my life there, you know, and he's, he's here today.
Justin Newton:He'll be, we got a game this weekend.
Justin Newton:He, he came up with my mom and he'll be back there, sits behind the bench a lot of the times.
Justin Newton:It's so funny now I have to kind of shush him over there on the back.
Justin Newton:Can't say that anymore.
Justin Newton:But he still loves it, he still enjoys it.
Justin Newton:So it's really great to have it be a family affair, you know, so very blessed.
Mike Linsling:Absolutely.
Mike Linsling:It's kind of cool for your kids to be able to have not obviously the exact experience, but a similar experience in that gym.
Mike Linsling:Access and being able to run around and just, I think when you're a coach's kid and you're in that situation where mom, dad are at the gym and you just start tagging along.
Mike Linsling:I, I wonder often times did you know, like, how lucky you were to be able to have, like, how old were you when you realized, like, not every kid gets to just go and have, have the gym open and be able to go in and shoot or play whenever they want to.
Mike Linsling:Did you ever come to that realization?
Justin Newton:Yeah, I think probably more towards, you know, middle school, high school.
Justin Newton:You just go, oh man.
Justin Newton:Everybody else doesn't get.
Justin Newton:I mean, it was an everyday you go to school and immediately after school we're going straight to the gym all day.
Justin Newton:When he was involved in, you know, a small school, every aspect where it's, you know, middle school practice, JV practice, varsity practice, and you're just there tagging along and it's your big playground, you know, this is my kid's big playground.
Justin Newton:They Think they own that gym right now.
Justin Newton:So that's.
Justin Newton:That's a really cool part of it.
Justin Newton:So I.
Justin Newton:I'm definitely looking back in adult eyes now going, man, what a cool deal.
Justin Newton:Everybody's got something different that makes their family special.
Justin Newton:And that.
Justin Newton:That has been one of the areas for sure that I'm blessed in.
Justin Newton:I also do think it's hard being a coach's kid.
Justin Newton:You know, like any level of success that you have as a player, you know, there are those.
Justin Newton:It's easier as an adult to have really thick skin, but you know, in that time of your life that you don.
Justin Newton:Know who you are and have the least amount of confidence that you could possibly have.
Justin Newton:You have adults and kids and things like that will say some pretty ugly things that, you know, the only reason you're a good player is your dad or only reason you get to play or shoot.
Justin Newton:So any level of success is never enough for those people.
Justin Newton:And then you grow up and realize that it never would be enough.
Justin Newton:You just.
Justin Newton:You do it because you love it and you love because you do it.
Justin Newton:So I do.
Justin Newton:I do feel.
Justin Newton:And I've had.
Justin Newton:I've coached some coaches, kids that I can relate to in that aspect to where you go, man, you are lucky.
Justin Newton:But there is a burden there for those kids having to grow up in that.
Mike Linsling:And it was hard, no question.
Mike Linsling:Yeah, I believe it.
Mike Linsling:How did you and your dad navigate that?
Mike Linsling:Was that something that you guys talked about and sort of put together a plan, for lack of a better way of saying it, or was it something that was just kind of there that you kept off to the side?
Justin Newton:No, I still laugh about it this day, and it's very awkward at the time is my dad would go, look, that boy right there, everybody, that is my favorite player.
Justin Newton:There's no question he's my son.
Justin Newton:He's going to be my favorite player.
Justin Newton:But I want you to understand, we're going to play the best players and the people that deserve to play.
Justin Newton:But do I love him?
Justin Newton:I got to act like he's not my son.
Justin Newton:And him.
Justin Newton:I have to call me coach Timmy.
Justin Newton:No, he's my son.
Justin Newton:You can call me dad.
Justin Newton:And I'm going to coach him harder than probably any of you guys.
Justin Newton:He.
Justin Newton:The standard is what the standard is, but he.
Justin Newton:From the get go, he made it very clear, you know, I'm not going to treat him any different.
Justin Newton:But I.
Justin Newton:He is my son.
Justin Newton:And that is a realization and the truth of the matter.
Justin Newton:So I always thought truth on the table was really good.
Justin Newton:And he, he handled that in the right way.
Justin Newton:It definitely made for some tough car rides and some, you know, tough post game meals and things like that.
Justin Newton:When you're just ready to, you know, get in your nothing box and you can't help but have to talk about the game or, you know, somebody.
Justin Newton:So sometimes it was pleasant, sometimes extremely unpleasant.
Justin Newton:But, you know, definitely, definitely looking back on it now, really cool to get to go through those moments with, with your dad.
Justin Newton:Not everybody gets to do that.
Justin Newton:And, and my mom as well, you know, she cheer coach and sister cheerleader and playing.
Justin Newton:So we're just all getting in, in the car and that's just a family affair that, you know, we get to go to work together around each other all the time.
Mike Linsling:So as a player, were you thinking the game?
Mike Linsling:As a coach, were you already thinking about, hey, someday I'd like to follow in my dad's footsteps as a coach?
Mike Linsling:Or were you strictly focused at that point on being a basketball player?
Mike Linsling:Because I think there's usually two ways that people get to coaching, right?
Mike Linsling:There's either the kid who's drawn up plays as on a napkin when they're like 8 years old, or there's somebody who I'm playing, I'm playing, I'm playing, and all of a sudden my playing career ends for whatever reason, and then I look around, I'm like, I got to have the game still.
Mike Linsling:It's in my blood.
Mike Linsling:How can I stay in the game?
Mike Linsling:So I don't know if either one of those routes applies more to your situation.
Justin Newton:Yeah, I think, you know, just as a kid, I was really focused on, I just wanted to play in college, you know, a very small pool, very small level of high school basketball with some good players.
Justin Newton:But, you know, there's not a lot of guys that went on to play in college.
Justin Newton:And that was just my main focus.
Justin Newton:It wasn't any.
Justin Newton:I'm at 15, 16 years old.
Justin Newton:I'm thinking nothing about wanting to coach or be an adult.
Justin Newton:I wanted to be J.J.
Justin Newton:redick, man.
Justin Newton:That was who I, that was my favorite player.
Justin Newton:I wanted to go play Duke.
Justin Newton:I wanted to go do those things.
Justin Newton:And I played at a very small level, very similar to what we are, Tennessee Temple University.
Justin Newton:And it was really in college that, you know, I knew that that could always be an, an area that I could go into.
Justin Newton:But just talking to my dad and then the coach that I played for, Randy Lee, you know, really took.
Justin Newton:Took, you know, took time.
Justin Newton:I really appreciate what he did.
Justin Newton:Took time to talk to me about his path and journey and getting into coaching, working camps and going, you know, utilizing your summer as a player to make connections that.
Justin Newton:Having a little bit of a vision for what you want to do after.
Justin Newton:So it was really college.
Justin Newton:I started to.
Justin Newton:To think on that.
Justin Newton:I never actually thought college coaching would be it.
Justin Newton:I always thought I'd go back to the town I was, work at the school my dad did be in high school, and.
Justin Newton:And that's great.
Justin Newton:And there's a lot of great high school coaches out there.
Justin Newton:But, you know, I.
Justin Newton:I'm definitely.
Justin Newton:It was.
Justin Newton:When we'll get into it, it was a different opportunity that came after coaching in high school.
Justin Newton:That, man, I just took it and ran with it and.
Justin Newton:And hadn't looked back since.
Mike Linsling:What's your favorite memory as either a high school or college player or both?
Mike Linsling:What's.
Mike Linsling:What stands out for you when you think about your time as a player, as a.
Mike Linsling:In high school and in college?
Justin Newton:You know, like, I mean, you can definitely think of, like, big games he had as a player, but kind of corny, man.
Justin Newton:My.
Justin Newton:My favorite ones are just at the Hotel Clano with some of your best friends, you know, like, going to.
Justin Newton:We go to Christmas tournaments and Thanksgiving tournaments and, you know, sneaking out and getting some, you know, some food or, you know, meeting up with some girl in the lobby and cracking jokes and things like that.
Justin Newton:You know, those are the things that I remember and stick with me the most in my head is just spending that time with my best friends and laughing until we cried, like, to where your stomach hurts, you know, cracking on your teammates.
Justin Newton:So just those bus rides and those, you know, at the hotels and things like that are the.
Justin Newton:The best memories.
Justin Newton:And then obviously, you know, we were.
Justin Newton:We were fortunate enough to be in some pretty big games, so just some big shots and big plays, things like that, you know, stick out postseason play.
Justin Newton:I did have a game, you know, where we set the school record for the most threes in one game with 11 threes.
Justin Newton:And that was pretty cool experience to get to do that.
Justin Newton:And that one kind of sticks with me.
Justin Newton:Yeah.
Mike Linsling:Yeah, that's fun.
Mike Linsling:You're not knocking down that many.
Mike Linsling:That's.
Mike Linsling:That's always.
Mike Linsling:That's always.
Mike Linsling:That's always a lot of fun.
Mike Linsling:I had a game with nine, so I can.
Mike Linsling:I can relate to.
Mike Linsling:I didn't.
Justin Newton:I didn't.
Mike Linsling:Didn't get to 11, but, man, it's.
Mike Linsling:That's a.
Justin Newton:You played at a higher level than did, man.
Mike Linsling:Yeah, it's.
Mike Linsling:But the lines.
Mike Linsling:The.
Mike Linsling:The lines.
Mike Linsling:The lines the same distance away so it you know, it's.
Mike Linsling:It's.
Mike Linsling:It's all.
Mike Linsling:It's all shooting.
Mike Linsling:Shooting is shooting.
Mike Linsling:Right.
Mike Linsling:No matter.
Mike Linsling:No matter what.
Mike Linsling:No matter what the.
Mike Linsling:No matter what the level is, you got to be able.
Mike Linsling:The ball still has to go in.
Mike Linsling:Still got to go in the basket somehow.
Mike Linsling:So you mentioned about, you know, getting the advice about can't.
Mike Linsling:Getting advice about camp and.
Mike Linsling:And working and trying to start sort of looking at what it might take to be.
Mike Linsling:To be a coach.
Mike Linsling:What was.
Mike Linsling:Did you go out and go to a bunch of camps?
Mike Linsling:What was the favorite one?
Mike Linsling:If you.
Mike Linsling:That when you were out on the camp circuit that, that you went to either just through connections or just you like the camp itself and the.
Mike Linsling:The atmosphere that was created there.
Justin Newton:Yeah, I mean we.
Justin Newton:I went to Liberty Camp when Randy Dunn was the head coach and got to.
Justin Newton:To work there.
Justin Newton:Richie McKay and then I worked some smaller college stuff like at USC Aiken and I'm from Augusta Georgia in that area.
Justin Newton:So at USC Aiken when Vince Alexander was there and Augusta State and Dip Mitras who's still there now.
Justin Newton:You know, just getting to.
Justin Newton:To go to those places and see different levels of players and always enjoyed the app.
Justin Newton:The.
Justin Newton:The camp part was great work.
Justin Newton:The J.
Justin Newton:The very first Jay Billis camp ever.
Justin Newton:That was pretty cool.
Justin Newton:But it was really the after you know, the camp was over and getting to hear those stories from other coaches and how they got into it and you know, you would see different levels of players and coaches and just going man, there's so many good coaches out there, so many good players.
Justin Newton:But yeah, I mean I worked some.
Justin Newton:I worked at Duke camp one time.
Justin Newton:That was really cool and I think it's different now too.
Justin Newton:You know how guys get into coaching.
Justin Newton:I mean I definitely think I was on the tail end of it of man guys used to be man go work every summer camp you possibly can and make those.
Mike Linsling:Yep.
Justin Newton:I don't necessarily think that that's as popular anymore for coaches getting into it.
Justin Newton:I definitely think lots.
Justin Newton:There's a lot of clinics and things like the J Bill's camp.
Justin Newton:You can get into those things.
Justin Newton:The PGC clinics and all that kind of stuff.
Justin Newton:Head Start basketball, all that, you know, really, really cool.
Justin Newton:Really cool opportunities to make those connections now coaching AAU basketball or different areas opportunities more so than working, you know, the physical.
Justin Newton:I'm going to go to the UGA basketball summer camp and I know people still do that.
Justin Newton:That was the only avenue I think back then for making those.
Justin Newton:Those connections.
Justin Newton:And I did a little Bit of that coming into it.
Mike Linsling:Yeah.
Mike Linsling:The camp circuit I think has definitely changed from that respect.
Mike Linsling:Right.
Mike Linsling:I think that when you look at, if you go back in time, those camps, so many more kids would go and attend whatever a college camp versus now everybody's playing AAU in the summertime.
Mike Linsling:So you just don't have as many kids going to those camps.
Mike Linsling:And I think therefore you don't have as many coaches working them in the same way.
Mike Linsling:And it's just sort of morphed in a different, in a different direction.
Mike Linsling:So when you graduate, tell me about the job search.
Mike Linsling:What are you thinking as you get out of school?
Mike Linsling:Obviously you said the thought process first is, hey, I'm going to go back and I'm going to just be a high school coach and be a teacher.
Mike Linsling:And I know you went back to your alma mater, but what was the job search like?
Mike Linsling:Did you look around elsewhere?
Mike Linsling:What were you thinking?
Mike Linsling:What was your mindset when you graduated?
Justin Newton:Well, actually at the school that I was at, Victory Christian School, my dad was no longer the ad, the pastor kind of moved him into an executive pastor role.
Justin Newton:So it was a guy that actually played for my dad was the ad and he knew I was graduating and he called me, you know, even before I was like, even before I graduated, like, look, I'd love for you to come back and do this if it's something you're interested in.
Justin Newton:It was totally volunteer.
Justin Newton:You know, you don't get paid for coaching, but you could make some money doing this other avenue.
Justin Newton:So I didn't really look at anything else.
Justin Newton:I thought, man, what a cool opportunity being, you know, 22 years old and coming and being a head coach and, and getting that experience.
Justin Newton:So I just did that.
Justin Newton:And it was, it was neat.
Justin Newton:You know, we had, I, I didn't know what, I didn't know.
Justin Newton:I looked back at those times and it was absolutely pure passion and excitement.
Justin Newton:But yeah, I, I didn't look around much.
Justin Newton:It just made, you know, stars aligned and that was, that was the direction I was headed and really excited about coming back home and, and trying to follow in my dad's foot footsteps.
Mike Linsling:So what's that experience like?
Mike Linsling:I mean, there's a whole lot of things to unpack there.
Mike Linsling:One, you're coming back to your own school.
Mike Linsling:Two, you're coming back to a position that your dad held for many years and obviously had a tremendous amount of success.
Mike Linsling:And then you're also getting your first coaching position as a head Coach, as a 22 year old guy.
Mike Linsling:So what do you Remember about that first year in terms of just your own sort of adjustment, Are you, are you starstruck?
Mike Linsling:Are you figuring it out?
Mike Linsling:Was it more overwhelming than what you thought it was going to be?
Mike Linsling:Just what was that first experience like?
Justin Newton:Yeah, I think, you know, playing is way more fun than coaching's a blast, but playing is definitely more fun than coaching.
Justin Newton:But just getting that, that rush of the pressure that you have a direct impact and influence on kids, like immediately and that your words carry and you know, I am a competitor and emotional and, you know, you get excited and you say some things and you look back and you go, man, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to say in that moment.
Justin Newton:You know, you're, you're trying to fire up.
Justin Newton:There was a whole lot more motivating and firing up than there was teaching, you know, and I think that there's a place for both of those things.
Justin Newton:You know, it was, it's about competing and playing hard.
Justin Newton:And I played at college level and these kids have never played and don't know, but I mean, they don't care about that stuff.
Justin Newton:They only care about what you're doing for them.
Justin Newton:So I think it was an unbelievable learning experience for me.
Justin Newton:I'm still learning a whole lot, but a really cool learning experience to really get thrown into the fire of being in charge of trying to come up with, what does a practice plan look like?
Justin Newton:What is the consistency?
Justin Newton:What are the goals that we want to have?
Justin Newton:You know, you don't get to pick the players that, you know that you're going to coach.
Justin Newton:So trying to figure out what this team can be good at, not what their deficiencies are and what makes this team special.
Justin Newton:So that I found that really cool going.
Justin Newton:You know, these guys really struggled the year before, and then the next year we were able to turn it around by playing some really, really good, you know, pick it up, full court pressure defense that, you know, that, that really fit the group of guys that we had.
Justin Newton:So that part I thought was really, I never had a hand in that.
Justin Newton:I'd see my dad do that or my college coach do that.
Justin Newton:Just having a hand in, you know, what's the path, what's the, what's the plan?
Justin Newton:You know, and then I, again, from my mom and my dad, you know, that relational part of being able to connect with players and get down to their level, you know, to.
Justin Newton:They don't know.
Justin Newton:They don't care how much, you know, unless you know how much care.
Justin Newton:I know that's a corny and old Used one.
Justin Newton:But it's so true, man.
Justin Newton:Just being able to engage the heart and let them know, like I'm, I'm trying to, to do this for your best interest and you know, I'm here to help you.
Justin Newton:I'm not here to hurt you.
Justin Newton:So just making that connection with guys again, really, really neat learning experience and a lot of fall on face moments where you go, man, I, I don't know, I don't know anything yet, you know, so it definitely a humbling like bring you down.
Justin Newton:Like I need to be a student of the game and really need to learn if I want to be good at this.
Justin Newton:I really need to dive deep into here and, and be humble and hungry to learn if I'm going to be any good at this.
Justin Newton:Because I definitely know I have the passion and excitement and drive to do it, but there's a lot of people that want to do it.
Justin Newton:It's about, you know, getting better and learning.
Justin Newton:So I definitely think that set the foundation of man, Justin, you got work to do, you know.
Mike Linsling:So what was the process then once you realize.
Mike Linsling:Because obviously you come in and I think a lot of people coming off their playing career, right, we all think that we know a ton about what it takes to be a good coach.
Mike Linsling:And unfortunately in many cases, and I know this was rings true for me, that I basically knew what my high school coach did and I knew what my college coach did.
Mike Linsling:And if you'd asked me how anybody else did it, I don't know, you know, I wasn't that because my focus was on being a player.
Mike Linsling:And then all of a sudden I'm a coach and the only thing I knew was the, the two guys that I had played for.
Mike Linsling:So what was your process once you realized like, hey, there's things that I got to figure out about this game.
Mike Linsling:Where did you go?
Mike Linsling:Did you go to mentors?
Mike Linsling:Did you go to your dad?
Mike Linsling:Did you go to film?
Mike Linsling:Did you, where, where'd you go to to sort of start to build that knowledge base that you came to recognize that, hey, I, I gotta, I gotta get better at this part of it.
Justin Newton:Well, you know, I was only at my alma mater for a year and we were, we went to, we were at a summer camp and my college coach I played for gave me a call.
Justin Newton:It was in July and it's like, man, I got a college coaching buddy at a junior college, Corey Baldwin, who coaches at South Georgia State, and he had his assistant bail on him and he needs to know something in like a week, you know, Are you interested?
Justin Newton:And I'm like, oh gosh, maybe, you know, so, you know, I'm like, man, what a cool opportunity.
Justin Newton:My parents were fully supportive of it and I just dove right in there.
Justin Newton:And I really believe that that time going to.
Justin Newton:I learned so much from my dad and so much from my college coach, but that time of where I, where I went away from my first big boy job and pennies on the dollar, by the way, but going away from everything, you know, and that you're comfortable with in coaching and working for.
Justin Newton:And I could.
Justin Newton:They always say you're the first head coach you work for is so important.
Justin Newton:And man, I believe that because it can give you a foundation or a love or a yearning for how to do it.
Justin Newton:And man, did I get a good one in Coach Baldwin over at South Georgia State.
Justin Newton:And he was the one that goes, that showed me, you know, like this is, it's not the what that you pick, it's that you pick something and you're married to it and you're a master teacher of it, you recruit to it and that's what you do.
Justin Newton:And this is our way.
Justin Newton:And he really showed me what it means to run a program and to be clear on what the mission, the mission and the vision is for our program.
Justin Newton:So I mean full court pressure and big time athletes and you know, very physical and he was very well connected in the coach, still is in the coaching community.
Justin Newton:So he would take us to clinics and he's always on the road, you know, recruiting.
Justin Newton:So he would take, he would take us on the bus ride, introduce us and he'd take us to college practices because we're trying to get our guys recruited at the junior college level.
Justin Newton:So constantly seeing those other levels and he knew he still does that, his assistant there, that's not a destination job.
Justin Newton:And he's got a really good knack for moving his players on, but just as good move his, his assistants on to other places.
Justin Newton:So he really used that and I try to do that with ours now as a, as a mentor spot.
Justin Newton:Like, look man, this is what it takes to be good in this business.
Justin Newton:And I want you to go further than I was.
Justin Newton:And here's some things I didn't know at the time.
Justin Newton:Here's gotta be a learner, you gotta work really hard.
Justin Newton:And so yeah, that was the place that really started my, my search for knowledge and my excitement and my baptism into going, man, this is not all it's cracked up to be.
Justin Newton:You know, like, yeah, coaches just roll the balls out or X's and O's, man, walking guys to class or making sure they're out of trouble.
Justin Newton:I can't even tell you something, you know, stuff like that, where I'm going, whoa.
Justin Newton:This little Christian school kid from north Augusta is getting baptized in some crazy, some crazy here to understand that, man, it's really, you're in the people business and you know, figuring out how to get this group of people to move in one direction.
Justin Newton:So that was, that was really where it was.
Justin Newton:Long winded answer.
Justin Newton:But that was really where it started for me in, in figuring out my path and how I wanted to get better at this.
Mike Linsling:Looking back, what was unique, what did you like about the JUCO experience?
Mike Linsling:Cause obviously it's different from where you are now and some of your other stops along the way in terms of, you know, you talked about it just academically making sure guys are doing what they're supposed to do and keeping them out of trouble and all the different things that kind of go into a JUCO experience.
Mike Linsling:And obviously it also comes down to, as you said, building relationships with those guys so they can trust you and then giving them that next opportunity for the guys who, who take advantage of it.
Mike Linsling:So what do you remember about.
Mike Linsling:And what do you like about that, that JUCO experience?
Justin Newton:Oh man, I remember everything about it, you know, because such a foundational part in my life and you know, I think the, the biggest thing was just the lack of education that most young people have about players at every level.
Justin Newton:And I'm get, you know, being at the school, I turned down going to a small junior college because I'm like, I don't need, I'm.
Justin Newton:I'm a good student.
Justin Newton:I don't need to go to a junior college or it's not necessarily always about that.
Justin Newton:You're getting there in these.
Justin Newton:I mean I'm looking up, there's a 610 dude with his armpits in the rim and you know, these dudes flying around.
Justin Newton:Bigger, better athletes I've ever seen in my life at this little junior college in Waycross, Georgia.
Justin Newton:You know, so just the, the ability to be like, man, there are high level players here.
Justin Newton:So that, that was cool.
Justin Newton:And then just understanding, man, there's levels within levels of stuff.
Justin Newton:So you know, this junior South Georgia State and its situation is going to be completely different than northwest Florida states situation.
Justin Newton:And some junior colleges or maybe a tech school is about like, man, they can only get, you know, lower level academic guy.
Justin Newton:Well, South Georgia State, we, we were a state school.
Justin Newton:It was hard to Kick guys in there.
Justin Newton:It wasn't quite as, as simple as that.
Justin Newton:So the, but the, the main thing that I loved about the junior and I later went on to become a head coach in junior college ranks for one year is just the, the hunger for man, I've got something to prove.
Justin Newton:You know, I'm not where I'm going to be.
Justin Newton:You know, you're always looking for that, man.
Justin Newton:If we can do this as a team, we can accomplish X and, and every other level, four year basketball, that's man, get a degree, that's, that's win a championship.
Justin Newton:And all those things are still true at the junior college level.
Justin Newton:But you got this fourth one, you know, which is man, move on to the next level.
Justin Newton:Man, if we all do well here, we're all going to move on, coaches, players included, you know, so it was really cool to get those guys.
Justin Newton:He always had A plus B equals C which is our number one goal here is to graduate.
Justin Newton:You get, you get a degree here, it's a whole lot easier to get in anywhere else.
Justin Newton:Right.
Justin Newton:We want to grab, we want to win.
Justin Newton:You know, people want people from winning programs to do A and B.
Justin Newton:The moving on part to the next level is going to take care of itself.
Justin Newton:So just that process of man, getting guys that maybe didn't get what they wanted and seeing them have the development and the hunger to man, they started out here and freshmen average two points a game.
Justin Newton:Then man, their first team all, all conference guy in the junior college ranks.
Justin Newton:Now they're playing Division 1.
Justin Newton:It's just such a, such a cool deal to watch.
Justin Newton:In a short time people be able to make such big jumps that you know, sometimes at four year level you need to make those jumps in four years.
Justin Newton:But sometimes kids don't, you know, because you get stuck in thinking I'm here, I've made it, I've done it, you know.
Justin Newton:So that was what I found really cool and interesting about there.
Mike Linsling:Yeah, no, it makes complete sense.
Mike Linsling:I think that it's as you said, an element that maybe isn't always as present at a four year institution because as you said, guys are locked into their spot.
Mike Linsling:Although now with the transfer portal, I'm not sure, I'm not sure.
Mike Linsling:I'm not sure anybody's locked into whatever.
Mike Linsling:I'm not sure that's as applicable as it might have been five years ago, but certainly understand kind of the point of what, of what you're getting at when you start out at the college level.
Mike Linsling:At the college level, what do you think you Were best at?
Mike Linsling:What was your, what was your strength?
Mike Linsling:What did you bring to the table that first season that you feel like, hey, this is something that obviously I know that there's every coach.
Mike Linsling:The standard answer is I was bad at a ton of things.
Mike Linsling:But what's something that you felt like?
Mike Linsling:What's something that you felt like was your strength that when you look back at it you're like, hey, this is.
Mike Linsling:If I didn't do anything else, this is the one thing I brought to the program.
Justin Newton:God, I can't tell you how poor of an assistant I was my first year.
Justin Newton:Oh man, I'm so thankful.
Justin Newton:But I did eventually find that man.
Justin Newton:I really just like as a kid I just enjoy being in the gym, you know, so getting guys extra shots.
Justin Newton:But even beyond that, you know, we don't have a big recruiting budget.
Justin Newton:But I would just go, I just go to every high school game, I go to every showcase and all that.
Justin Newton:So recruiting really became my niche as, as an assistant.
Justin Newton:We're evaluating talent, making those connections with high school juco four year coaches and just man, trying to help put that team together and getting the vision from the head coach, man, what is our need?
Justin Newton:What is the type of player that we want to have?
Justin Newton:Because oftentimes, you know, we can be, you know, given to.
Justin Newton:I just want to go in the gym, find the best looking dude I can.
Justin Newton:Whereas I think assistance could really benefit from man, really study your head coach and understand what is his vision of the fit for our program and go out and find that more so than talent is absolutely essential.
Justin Newton:I mean they got to have talent and they got to have ability.
Justin Newton:But you know, what talent, what talent, what, what intangibles are the things that your head coach values.
Justin Newton:Otherwise you're going to, you're going to be wasting a lot of time.
Justin Newton:So man, I just went in every gym, tried to cast a wide net.
Justin Newton:I knew that, that selfishly could.
Justin Newton:Could help me make connections in, in trying to go in this game.
Justin Newton:So that became the thing I felt like I became really good at there and then at the next few stops.
Justin Newton:That was my, that was my main role as an assistant was coming up with names and hitting the roads and making connections and bringing guys in recruiting wise.
Mike Linsling:All right, how do you balance out?
Mike Linsling:And maybe this has changed since you started, but how do you balance out evaluating a player in AAU versus evaluating them as a high school player?
Mike Linsling:Because I remember, and this is now probably even longer ago than the timeframe that we're talking about, but I Remember when my kids were young, so my oldest is 20 now, and saying to people that would tell me, oh, AAU is more important if you want to play college basketball.
Mike Linsling:And I remember telling people, like, there's.
Mike Linsling:You're crazy.
Mike Linsling:There's.
Mike Linsling:There's no possible way.
Mike Linsling:And then as my kids.
Mike Linsling:So my son's a freshman at Ohio Wesleyan, Division 3 here in the state of Ohio, and all of his recruitment came through aau.
Mike Linsling:I mean, once people identified him in aau, then coaches came to watch him play in high school to demonstrate that they were interested.
Mike Linsling:But I would say that 99% of his recruitment went through AAU.
Mike Linsling:So how do you think about just evaluating a player?
Mike Linsling:Obviously, those two settings are different, and clearly not just in terms of the setting and the fact you can see a million players in an AAU tournament versus one or two in a high school game, but just also the role that a player plays.
Mike Linsling:But just.
Mike Linsling:Just talk about the difference between looking at a player with their high school team versus an AAU team.
Justin Newton:Yeah, I think, you know, especially at the small college level, when you're talking about aau, you're getting the best players from most high schools, and you're able to get them all under one roof.
Justin Newton:It's just the better bang for your buck.
Justin Newton:But I.
Justin Newton:I do believe it just starts the process.
Justin Newton:Right?
Justin Newton:Like, so you're watching those AAU games and you're going, man, here's my list.
Justin Newton:I need to go out and see them with their high school as opposed to, man, let's just go to the local high school game and see what happens.
Justin Newton:You probably.
Justin Newton:If you're going to a high school game, you have already zeroed in on this kid, and you're looking for reasons to keep recruiting him or to not, you know, at that point, I don't.
Justin Newton:It's.
Justin Newton:And sometimes, definitely, you go in a high school game, you go to watch these two kids, and, man, there's, man, who's that guy?
Justin Newton:I don't know who that is.
Justin Newton:And that happens.
Justin Newton:But, you know, I do think your base starts in those travel ball seasons.
Justin Newton:Of course, now, at least where.
Justin Newton:Where I live, I don't know if they do this up north as much.
Justin Newton:Maybe they do.
Justin Newton:But now with the June live period with these high schools, where usually that's reserved for going to team camps and things like that.
Justin Newton:Like, the Georgia Basketball Coaches association does an amazing job here to where they get, like, the 200 best high school basketball teams in Georgia, and they stick them all under one roof at Lake Point and You can see those same kids that you just saw in April and you're going to see in May, are going to see in July, in June with their high school teams, and it's a totally different deal.
Justin Newton:Man, they're their best player or man, they have a different role or, man, they're being coached.
Justin Newton:How are they being coached in a system?
Justin Newton:You know, as not the AAU programs don't run a system.
Justin Newton:It's just much less practice time, much more, much less of that going on.
Justin Newton:So I do think with the new June live period, you kind of can build a whole lot more into the summertime than you used to.
Justin Newton:But yeah, I, I definitely think when you're talking about going to plant like a high school game, you've probably done most of your homework before then.
Mike Linsling:Yeah, I think that's what you described in Georgia.
Mike Linsling:We started doing that here in Ohio.
Mike Linsling:I think this will be, this summer will be the, maybe the fourth year that we've had that.
Mike Linsling:And they do it here.
Mike Linsling:They call it Midwest Live.
Mike Linsling:And it.
Mike Linsling:We bring teams from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, all over, all over the place here in the Midwest.
Mike Linsling:And yeah, to be able to have again, all those really good high school teams under one roof.
Mike Linsling:When you go back and talk about efficiency now, you're seeing you get the aau, whatever the volume that you normally get in aau, but then, as you said, you're also seeing a kid in a system which is much more like how they're probably going to play when they get to your school, which I'm sure helps with the evaluation process.
Mike Linsling:And again, the more chances you get to look at a kid and see what they are and be able to see them in person, clearly you start to get a feel for what that kid is all about as a player and probably just as importantly as a person, and whether or not they're going to fit into your program and all the things that again, go along with what it takes to be able to recruit somebody.
Mike Linsling:So the value of that to me, I mean, again, and I only saw it really from the parent perspective, but the value of that, to me, that's off the charts in terms of being able to evaluate players more accurately.
Justin Newton:Yes, No, I, I agree.
Justin Newton:It's become.
Justin Newton:I don't know about other coaches, but a lot of our favorite part of the year, AU is definitely fun, but man, that June period is so cool.
Justin Newton:And the competitive level of you kind of get some rivalries going, you know, a local teams playing against each other in June, you know that it's unlikely that you don't see it until the regular season.
Justin Newton:So it's been really.
Justin Newton:So there's even more on the line there for the competitiveness and edge and it means a little bit more to lose a game in that setting than necessarily an AAU setting.
Justin Newton:So that, that has been really fun for us coaches to watch and see kids in those scenarios.
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Mike Linsling:Tell me about the next three stops as an assistant.
Mike Linsling:What attracted you to each of those jobs, what you learned along the way and then we'll eventually get to the first head coaching opportunity that you get.
Justin Newton:Yeah.
Justin Newton:So from South Georgia State I left and went and became an assistant at college Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia for head coach Robert Moore, who's still there.
Justin Newton:We actually played in a couple juco jamborees there and I just thought that place was so cool and I love the town and made a really good connection with Coach Moore actually got that job.
Justin Newton:I eat I just bugged the crud out of him with emails which I don't encourage that to be the, the, the pat but I knew he knew who I was and I had just, that was one job I just laser pointed like I want to, I want to be on your staff coach.
Justin Newton:I love the opportunity and, and to his credit him and Coach Hicks who is the, the associate ed gave me a chance and man I just, I went over there, worked really hard for those guys for a year, learned a lot from them and it was very different than anything I'd had.
Justin Newton:It was the most talent I'd ever seen.
Justin Newton:I mean we were so incredibly talented.
Justin Newton:Coach Moore and Coach Hicks just like to another level of the recruiting piece just taught me, you know how even more not that I didn't know already some but even more how to evaluate what translates at this level, you know what you're looking for and what good programs to find.
Justin Newton:So that, and then their coaching style was completely different.
Justin Newton:Like we ran the like amoeba zone.
Justin Newton:I had come From a strictly double fist, man to man, run and jump press, you know, pack into a pack line stuff.
Justin Newton:And over there, man, we're man to man on misses and amoeba on makes and big.
Justin Newton:Incredibly huge athletes.
Justin Newton:We had seven guys played professionally off of that team at D2 team.
Justin Newton:So it was just a different vibe and a different level.
Justin Newton:I mean mu the Peach Belt, especially back then, really high level of D2 basketball and again, just going.
Justin Newton:And I did not realize it was.
Justin Newton:It was this high of a level of players and, and coaches, some unbelievably good coaches in the beach Belt.
Justin Newton:So that was a really cool stop there.
Justin Newton:Went on from there to become an assistant at Lee University for Tommy Brown.
Justin Newton:And the associate head coach was Cole Rose.
Justin Newton:Tommy Brown now runs the Heartbeat.
Justin Newton:I think that's what he calls it.
Justin Newton:He's gonna kill me not knowing it, but one Heartbeat clinics and he goes and speaks all around the country with different teams.
Justin Newton:He'd be a great personality podcast, by the way.
Justin Newton:Really good coach.
Justin Newton:Coached at Lee University for a long time, Bluefield for a long time.
Justin Newton:And Cole Rose, who is now the head coach at Palm Beach Atlantic, who's in the top 25 in the country now in division two, got to work with those guys at Lee and the Gulf south and just again seeing the level and did the travel.
Justin Newton:Unbelievable how far across the country we were going.
Justin Newton:And, and there I got to go through the process of NAI 2 D2 like they are just leaving NAI to D2.
Justin Newton:So learning that was probably the most I'd ever learned about the compliance side of what goes into getting guys eligible and recruiting periods and dead periods and you know, when can, when can you talk to kids and all that kind of stuff from what kind of releases and paperworks and things like that that we really had to be on our toes with.
Justin Newton:So it was a great learning experience there.
Justin Newton:It was the first time I'd ever been on a staff that's been fired.
Justin Newton:You know, they always say there are coaches that aren't that are going to be fired or have been fired.
Justin Newton:And it was a very scary time in my life because I just got engaged to my now wife Nikki and we get let go like a month and a half before we're supposed to get married, you know, so I had to have some incredible faith.
Justin Newton:So I'm.
Justin Newton:I'm talking about searching email and getting on NCAA job postings, you know, just anything I could find.
Justin Newton:And I had a.
Justin Newton:It was a lower paying job, but it was Arkansas, Monticello.
Justin Newton:They had not been extremely successful yet, but got to go over there and work for an amazing head coach in Kyle Tolan.
Justin Newton:And he's really had an incredible impact on a lot of my coaching philosophy too.
Justin Newton:And just he was a great Christian man who really had his teams connected.
Justin Newton:Great teacher.
Justin Newton:His dad was a 30 year teacher in Oklahoma in like 7 Oklahoma basketball hall of Fames as a player.
Justin Newton:And his coach, coach at Oklahoma Baptist, won a couple national championships there and he helped us.
Justin Newton:He was a volunteer coach there too.
Justin Newton:So getting to learn a lot from those guys, Won a conference championship with them.
Justin Newton:So those were my, my three stops as an assistant coach, you know, before getting the opportunity to, to jump into the head coach role.
Mike Linsling:So at this point, are you looking for head coaching positions?
Mike Linsling:Are you feeling like you've sort of solidified who you are as a coach and that you're ready to take your own program?
Mike Linsling:Are you actively seeking jobs or does the Andrew job sort of come to you out of the blue, for lack of a better way of saying, how do you get that opportunity?
Justin Newton:Yeah, I, I wasn't.
Justin Newton:Look, I was very happy at Arkansas Monticello.
Justin Newton:You know, it was far away from home, but it was a really good place and me and my wife were really happy there.
Justin Newton:And Kyle had done a great job of working to, you know, know, get a raise.
Justin Newton:I mean, it was going good.
Justin Newton:We had two great years, you know, signed a contract, it was all going well.
Justin Newton:And then the saint, the Andrew College job, which it was not a good job, which is why I could get it, you know, everybody's first head coach job, man, I got to wait for a good one.
Justin Newton:Well, you know, you might not be able to get a good one.
Justin Newton:You know, you need to get one that makes sense and that you could, you think you could make an impact and you could make a run at it.
Justin Newton:And the guy that was at Andrew College before me, Jamie Brooks, was a close friend of mine.
Justin Newton:And Corey Baldwin, the guy I worked for, who was obviously in that league, knew it was coming open and called me and was like, look, dude, you know, head coaching jobs don't grow on trees.
Justin Newton:I know these are the things that make it really difficult.
Justin Newton:The location, how much it costs to go there.
Justin Newton:It's a private juco in a league with a bunch of public jucos.
Justin Newton:I mean, there's so many bad things, but it's a good place and it's a good opportunity for a first head coaching job.
Justin Newton:And you're from Georgia, it's back home.
Justin Newton:You know, you're probably about to start to have a family, you know, probably makes sense to get back.
Justin Newton:So, you know, just said I'd look at it and did.
Justin Newton:And.
Justin Newton:And, you know, I just felt right in my heart and spirit that this was the right move for us and.
Justin Newton:And made the move.
Mike Linsling:So when you take that job and you transitioned from assistant coach to head coach, obviously you put some thought into.
Mike Linsling:Before you step into that chair.
Mike Linsling:You thought about, well, when I get my own program, what's it going to look like and what am I going to do?
Mike Linsling:Both from a basketball on court, style of play, offensively, defensively, that kind of thing, but also just type of culture you want to instill and all those things.
Mike Linsling:So how closely were you able to match your vision of what you thought you would do with a program versus what you were actually able to do once you step into that seat at Andrew?
Justin Newton:Yeah, I think, again, just having the benefit of some really good mentors that you can call and, you know, they'll tell you the truth.
Justin Newton:So my dad and Corey Baldwin, as I mentioned, I call him every, every day.
Justin Newton:And, you know, I, I like, I need some help.
Justin Newton:I knew I needed some.
Justin Newton:I knew.
Justin Newton:I didn't know what I.
Justin Newton:What I wanted to quite.
Justin Newton:I had an idea of some things I liked here or there, but I think high clarity, high performance.
Justin Newton:So I went back to.
Justin Newton:I spent, you know, four days and went and sat with Coach Baldwin and asked him every question I possibly could about the way he did things and what we did, this what we like, what we didn't like.
Justin Newton:And because being somewhere and seeing it and being a teacher of it and a master teacher of it are two different things.
Justin Newton:So I do think I did the right thing in going back and doing my homework.
Justin Newton:And then the same thing with Coach Tolan and, And Coach Moore.
Justin Newton:You know, I.
Justin Newton:I asked the things that I wanted to bring that I learned there.
Justin Newton:You know, I just asked them and wrote, Wrote down a ton of stuff.
Justin Newton:Tried to get all in front of me, like, this is a whole lot of stuff.
Justin Newton:I got to get some clarity and some simplicity here about what we wanted to do.
Justin Newton:And the main thing we came down to is what it is here now, which is compete together and discipline.
Justin Newton:You know, we wanted to play harder than any team.
Justin Newton:You know, we wanted to be able to say, man, we're going to play harder than any.
Justin Newton:Any team that walks in the gym.
Justin Newton:You know, we want to empty the tank.
Justin Newton:And what does compete look like, you know, in our drills and our daily habits?
Justin Newton:Like anything that we're going to do.
Justin Newton:There's going to be a winner and a loser for and we're going to celebrate what repeated.
Justin Newton:So we would celebrate winners and things like that.
Justin Newton:Again, something I got from another place.
Justin Newton:And the togetherness piece was something that, man, I really thought Coach Tolan and them did a good job at UAM about.
Justin Newton:What does it mean to have an elite level locker room?
Justin Newton:You know, I don't think it's sitting around the campfire and singing Kumbaya.
Justin Newton:I really think it's.
Justin Newton:Man, you have to understand if you want a good relationship or you want a good marriage, man, you have to choose to have a good marriage.
Justin Newton:You have to choose to have a good relationship and you have to work, put work into it.
Justin Newton:So just how do you, how do you manifest that in your team?
Justin Newton:And the other one was discipline.
Justin Newton:Our we're going to do our plan.
Justin Newton:Discipline is just doing the things you said you were going to do long after the time you felt, after the feeling you had when you said it right.
Justin Newton:So we wanted to be very clear and simple about our plan and we weren't going to divulge from that because it wasn't going the route that we wanted to go.
Justin Newton:So I do think I had to ask myself a lot of questions, wrote a lot of stuff down and tried to get a vision because if I'm confused, they're definitely going to be confused.
Justin Newton:And I look back and go, man, I definitely could have done better.
Justin Newton:Yeah, I still am struggling with that.
Justin Newton:Like, who are you as a coach?
Justin Newton:What are your non negotiable, what are the things you believe in and sticking to those things while adapting to, to the way players are now and the resources you have and things like that.
Mike Linsling:So yeah, what, what's changed from that original vision?
Mike Linsling:Let's start with the basketball side of it and then we'll come back to the culture, relationship, locker room part of it.
Mike Linsling:But just start with the basketball side of it in terms of how you want your teams to play, what you want them to look like on the floor.
Mike Linsling:How has that changed over the years that you've.
Mike Linsling:Obviously you went from Andrew to Reinhardt, but how does what you thought you were going to want your teams to play like has that changed from day one to where you are now?
Mike Linsling:And obviously personnel, you make changes based on who your, who your personnel is and that kind of thing and trying to fit their strengths.
Mike Linsling:But just from a basketball standpoint, how have you evolved as a coach over the time that you've been a head coach?
Justin Newton:Yeah, I Think the style is still what, what I, what I envisioned to begin with.
Justin Newton:I mean, we play fat.
Justin Newton:We don't.
Justin Newton:We say we play fast, we don't necessarily shoot fast.
Justin Newton:You know, we want to play with incredible pace on both ends.
Justin Newton:You know, like we, if we can fly it up and get an in rhythm corner three or a layup, you know, like, why wait later on, you know, to say just because it's quick, you know, but that also doesn't mean I'm flying it up and jack and stuff.
Justin Newton:Like we really want to move and share the ball, you know, and, and be a team that you can't just cut the head of the snake off.
Justin Newton:So we really still believe in, in that ball movement stuff.
Justin Newton:And we run, you know, the old Carolina secondary, you know, with some adjustments for more skill type players, as opposed to two big postmen that, that are in there.
Justin Newton:Right.
Justin Newton:Or it's more of a, you know, get three to the baseline, you know, rim runner and then play them with pace and motion.
Justin Newton:Things like on offensive and defensively, you know, again, I think maybe not what we teach necessarily has evolved, but how we teach, you know, and the clarity of, of what, what the plan is and the verbiage of what it is, instead of just being like, man, we gotta get there or man, this drill.
Justin Newton:Yeah, like getting really clear on what, you know, no middle means and where are, where our spots are on the floor offensively.
Justin Newton:This is the halo, man.
Justin Newton:This is the Ray Allen corner hug the silent.
Justin Newton:Like, I just, I don't believe I was as good at that early on.
Justin Newton:I think I've grown as a teacher and I've still got a lot of growing to do, you know, but you know, it hasn't necessarily changed in the style of play.
Justin Newton:I still think we play with pace and space offensively and then defensively we want to wear people down.
Justin Newton:We, we play kind of the no middle press defense, um, and quite frankly have struggled in, in the last year.
Justin Newton:But you know, traditionally we've been really tough defensively and then we usually are top two or three in the league and assist the game, you know, so that's kind of our, our niche around here.
Mike Linsling:All right, so let me ask you two things that go along with those two points that you just made of competing and playing hard on the defensive end of the floor and then sharing the ball on offense.
Mike Linsling:Because obviously any coach who's out there listening, if you can get your team to do those two things, there's a pretty good chance you're going to have some Success in some way, shape or form.
Mike Linsling:So when you think about getting your team to compete and play hard defensively, what's the key to that?
Mike Linsling:And then I'll come back to the unselfishness and, and making the extra pass and those things in offense.
Mike Linsling:But let's start on the defensive side of the ball.
Mike Linsling:How do you get a team to play hard defensively?
Mike Linsling:What's the day to day talk?
Mike Linsling:The day to day actions that need to happen in order for your team to compete, compete at the level you want them to defensively?
Justin Newton:Well, I think Kelvin Sampson said, you know, you can always hear a good team and you never can hear a bad team.
Justin Newton:And I do believe that talk and not rah rah talk, but early, loud, often positive talk constantly leads to unbelievable effort.
Justin Newton:Right?
Justin Newton:Like so man, I'm, we're, we're.
Justin Newton:Man, turn the ball like I want to.
Justin Newton:I want to pressure the ball and turn the ball.
Justin Newton:Well.
Justin Newton:If I don't have, I'm more apt to do that more consistently if the baseline behind me is encouraging me that entire time.
Justin Newton:Turn him zay.
Justin Newton:Turn him zay, man, turn him again.
Justin Newton:I got your back.
Justin Newton:I'm here.
Justin Newton:You know, just that constant communication to level up to, to what it looks like.
Justin Newton:And I think returners also help by leading by example.
Justin Newton:So when you play for man, they set the tone of man.
Justin Newton:This is what it looks like to sprint, you know, to sprint to the paint back on defense.
Justin Newton:This is what it looks like to close out hard and sit down in the stance and shove a guy out for a blockout rebound.
Justin Newton:Right.
Justin Newton:So I think whatever it is you emphasize, I know a lot of people like to use that phrase.
Justin Newton:I don't want to coach energy and effort.
Justin Newton:Well, I'm so I'm going to coach it every day and I think you have to, you are going to be the things that you emphasize and the thing and in college the things that you recruit to, you know, and I, I've learned that kind of the hard way too.
Justin Newton:Sometimes in that man, you have to have an identity as a team.
Justin Newton:And if we're going to identify as a, a defensive minded team, you know, and we're having.
Justin Newton:I want to fix you as a coach, I want to fix this by recruiting this type of player.
Justin Newton:Well, if he doesn't fit what I just talked about, you know, it's hard, it's hard to have a really good defensive team if some of your best players aren't good defensive players, you know.
Justin Newton:So I do think you have to, you have to recruit to that?
Justin Newton:Are they mentally tough?
Justin Newton:Do they value that side of the ball?
Justin Newton:And have they been coached that way in their high school or their junior college?
Justin Newton:Right.
Justin Newton:So some of that is solved in the recruiting process.
Justin Newton:But I believe it starts with incredible talk and then not like blowing the whistle when it's not good enough.
Justin Newton:Like, I mean, being, hey, man, that's not that.
Justin Newton:Whatever that was.
Justin Newton:That is not.
Justin Newton:That is not the level of communication and stance and dog, you know, that we're talking about here.
Justin Newton:So just constant emphasis, confidence, constant talk, I believe leads to effort.
Mike Linsling:As you've been at Reinhart for multiple years and you talked about your returning guys being able to instill that, how much of the policing of that type of effort and talk and communication is now taken off your plate and been put on the plate of the upperclassmen.
Mike Linsling:And obviously, as you said, the whistle sometimes has to blow and it needs to blow.
Mike Linsling:But how much of it has been taken over by the returning guys in the program where compared to, let's say, your first year versus now?
Mike Linsling:Obviously the standard has been set and the guys that are coming back know what that standard is.
Mike Linsling:How much are they enforcing that just because again, it's.
Mike Linsling:It's our team, right?
Mike Linsling:It's not.
Mike Linsling:It's not your team.
Justin Newton:It's.
Mike Linsling:It's our team.
Justin Newton:Oh, I think, I think especially this year, we've had some incredible locker room leadership.
Justin Newton:But I think the, the longer you do something, the longer you're at a program and the more you have success doing it, I think the better your leaders grow.
Justin Newton:And that is the definition of we hear that contagious phrase player led teams are better than coach led teams, but people don't really dive into that or not enough.
Justin Newton:That doesn't mean the coach, the players are calling the plays or making the subs or creating the vision.
Justin Newton:That means that the best players and leaders on your team accept the vision and the mission that you've laid out.
Justin Newton:They're just taking the driver's seat over and making sure they're the, they're the guardrails.
Justin Newton:If anybody deviates from that thing, they're the ones.
Justin Newton:They're like, hey, hey, buddy, we're back over here.
Justin Newton:Right?
Justin Newton:So I do think that especially on good teams, those guys are much more effective.
Justin Newton:And the most important conversations that are AD are not me blowing the whistle or me going on my tangent during film.
Justin Newton:It's usually when I'm not there in the locker room or I'm not there at the hotel room or I'm not there at that meal that they're having and they're talking about, this is what we do, man.
Justin Newton:I mean, you may not agree with Newton there, but, man, this is the standard of what it's going to take to win.
Justin Newton:So you're not going to win that battle.
Justin Newton:You might as well get over here with us, right?
Justin Newton:So those are way more effective than you sitting there trying to beat a dead horse.
Justin Newton:You know, you got to.
Justin Newton:You got.
Justin Newton:You're a salesman.
Justin Newton:You got to have more on this side of the fence if you're going to.
Justin Newton:Because they're all.
Justin Newton:All new guys are going to question, you know, there's a hundred different ways to skin a cat.
Justin Newton:So if they were successful at their last place, you know, they're drinking the Kool Aid on what they did the last place.
Justin Newton:Right.
Justin Newton:And that's great, but we're not at your last place anymore.
Justin Newton:You're here now, you know, so are those returners welcoming that in and enforcing that?
Justin Newton:Yeah, I think it's a huge role.
Mike Linsling:Yeah, it makes sense.
Mike Linsling:All right, talk to me about the unselfishness piece of it.
Mike Linsling:I'm guessing that the first part of the answer is you recruit it, right?
Mike Linsling:You watch it.
Mike Linsling:You see guys that play the way that you like the game to be played, in terms of moving the ball on offense.
Mike Linsling:But once you get a guy in there, once you start putting your team together.
Mike Linsling:Look, we all know players like to score, right?
Mike Linsling:Players like to have the ball in their hands.
Mike Linsling:Players like to do things.
Mike Linsling:They like to be the proverbial straw that stirs the drink.
Mike Linsling:But we all know that that's not the way that basketball works.
Mike Linsling:Basketball works best when nobody cares who scores and when the ball moves.
Mike Linsling:So how do you instill that in your team?
Mike Linsling:What does that look like in a practice setting, in conversations, in meetings, in film?
Mike Linsling:How do you get that message across so that your kids see that, hey, the ball has to move, and when it does, this is the result.
Justin Newton:Yeah, I mean, I think, again, the longer you're at a place, you have film and things like that that you can go to, but I do think that's just the starter place of it.
Justin Newton:Right.
Justin Newton:But I think clarity on what is a good shot, you know, and.
Justin Newton:And analytics will tell you for sure, open in rhythm, catch and shoot threes, layups and free throws.
Justin Newton:And.
Justin Newton:And I do think that's true.
Justin Newton:But also, we like to say what, we hunt nines, you know, there are no tens in basketball, you know, but we hunt nines, you know, and we don't want zero zeros or turnovers, right?
Justin Newton:So what does a nine look like?
Justin Newton:And that's open in rhythm, in roll and in time, you know, open corner three might be good for you.
Justin Newton:Who made eight threes.
Justin Newton:It might not be for, you know, our five man.
Justin Newton:You know that that's better around the rim.
Justin Newton:So just understanding roles.
Justin Newton:So I think it starts with clarity on what a good shot is.
Justin Newton:And I think.
Justin Newton:I think clarity on roles like celebrate things that they bring to the team.
Justin Newton:Man, this guy's an unbelievable shooter, but this guy is an unbelievable rebounder.
Justin Newton:He's never going to be able to shoot it and handle it but give like praising that guy.
Justin Newton:We have different roles that have kind of silly names and things like that.
Justin Newton:We have, you know, your spacer, your racker, or we.
Justin Newton:We call one guy like our defensive stopper, we call the ups man, because the guys come up with, we're going to put him in a box, he can't get out of here, right?
Justin Newton:So like you.
Justin Newton:You come up with those things that, man, I identify as, that's my role and that is important to our team.
Justin Newton:Success other than just scoring.
Justin Newton:And then things like, you know, again, they remember the shot, the made shot, but do they remember the banana cut that the point guard made and flying it up that led to us being able to get a paint touching it on the other side?
Justin Newton:Do.
Justin Newton:Do we celebrate that point post guy sprinting to the halo and sealing a guy and making their team get four guys to the baseline.
Justin Newton:He doesn't ever touch the ball, but it leads to a trail three, you know, so emphasizing those things that you're going to lead to a great shot and celebrating them even when they didn't score or they didn't get an assist, showing that, man, that's an Eagle assist, that's.
Justin Newton:That led to us having success on the offensive end.
Justin Newton:So that they do feel part of it.
Justin Newton:Because if it's only celebrating the shot that's made or the action that's run, you know, I'm going to have 15 players that want to be in that action or take that shot.
Justin Newton:Right?
Justin Newton:But emphasizing and celebrating those things that lead to good shots, I think help.
Mike Linsling:It's so funny to hear you say it in that particular way.
Mike Linsling:In terms of recognizing a play that happens that doesn't show up in the scorebook.
Justin Newton:Right.
Mike Linsling:It doesn't necessarily show up in the stats, but it's the three on two where the one guy runs hard and the defender has to slide over and then the other guy gets the layup.
Mike Linsling:And the guy who ran hard gets no credit for that.
Mike Linsling:But what I always find interesting is when I've been watching my kids play, and oftentimes I'll sit next to other parents or whatever, and I'm watching a game.
Mike Linsling:And 99% of people that you'll sit next to and watch a game don't see the things that you would see as a coach or that I'm sitting there and I'll watch.
Mike Linsling:And every once in a while I will have somebody that'll say, oh, look at that play.
Mike Linsling:That again, didn't result in a basket whatever whatever.
Mike Linsling:But 99% of the people you sit next to just, they're evaluating a player or a game or a situation based on who makes the basket or whatever.
Mike Linsling:And then the other thing that I always think is funny, and I think it goes back to sort of my bias towards the way that you're talking about your team's playing right, and moving the ball and whatever, is when I'm watching a game, like, I'll sit and I usually don't clap for anything.
Mike Linsling:Like, I'll just sit and I'm just.
Mike Linsling:I'm just observing the game.
Mike Linsling:And the only thing I'll ever say anything about usually is a good pass.
Mike Linsling:And the one day I was sitting with my daughter, who she's a freshman in high school, I think we were watching the boys high school team where.
Mike Linsling:Where she plays, and kid made a nice pass and I just clapped him like, oh, that's a great pass.
Mike Linsling:And she just turns tonight, she just turns her head.
Mike Linsling:She looks at me, she's like, dad.
Mike Linsling:She's like, only thing you ever get excited about is when somebody throws a good pass.
Mike Linsling:I'm like.
Mike Linsling:I'm like, you're like, you're 100.
Mike Linsling:You're 100, right?
Mike Linsling:Because that.
Mike Linsling:If we could unlock that as coaches in the game of basketball, I mean, it's just.
Mike Linsling:It's amazing to me how many people play the game of basketball and have not yet figured out that when the ball moves, it's so much easier for your team to have success.
Mike Linsling:And I think as.
Mike Linsling:As coaches, it's.
Mike Linsling:It's one of the hardest things to instill in your team because again, the natural tendency from the time we all pick up a ball is everybody just wants to be the person chucking and chucking it in the hoop.
Mike Linsling:And so to.
Mike Linsling:To get somebody to see that.
Mike Linsling:And so I just always feel like, man, when you see somebody who can pass and move the ball, it's such a special talent.
Mike Linsling:I'm sure that's what you're looking for when you're recruiting guys, too.
Justin Newton:Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Mike Linsling:All right, tell me a little bit about your practice planning process, both in terms of how you go about designing what a practice is going to look like.
Mike Linsling:How do you figure out what we need to work on in a given day?
Mike Linsling:Obviously within the season when you're playing games, it's easier to kind of look at.
Mike Linsling:Okay, here's maybe an area we struggled in in the last game.
Mike Linsling:Just walk me through a planning.
Mike Linsling:A practice planning session.
Mike Linsling:How are you doing that by yourself with your staff?
Mike Linsling:How do you go about putting together a good practice?
Justin Newton:It's definitely with our staff, you know, when we can.
Justin Newton:I like it all the room and we're talking, but sometimes it just ends up being me.
Justin Newton:We're playing three games in one week and we're on a text message string or we're talking about it on the bus and I'm making notes there.
Justin Newton:But we do want to have a level of consistency.
Justin Newton:I tell our team, look, I'm not designing practice.
