From press conference with media yesterday:
On what the past few weeks have been like:
"It's been really fast and furious for almost two months now. A large part of it has been finishing the roster. Yesterday was really the first time on the court for our summer work outs. I would have liked to have gotten a little bit more time in the office preparing for that.
"We focused on three things. We focused on the relationship with the current roster, 2019-20 recruiting and recruiting for the future. That's been 99 percent of our time right now. Touching people outside the program and building multiple relationships will be the next step.
"Like anything when you take over an organization it's making sure you get everything in place. You spend the first several weeks running by yourself. Putting a staff together has been a priority. We have that in place now so things have now started to flow. Now I've I got to give them the focus and their responsibilities. I don't think you ever feel like you've gotten on top of anything yet, but certainly finishing the roster has helped."
On the impact of having Jarron Cumberland returning to the program:
"It's great. Obviously, you get the league's player of the year coming back.
"The process he went through is built for the student-athlete. I want all of our players who have that potential to go through the process. Within the process is my seat where you sit back and wait and let them go through it and when they make their decision you have to put things in place for yourself and for your program.
"Having him back is great. We were able to build a pretty good relationship prior to the workouts. Then when he was in the workouts you kind of lose touch a little bit because he's so busy. Now we're reconnecting since he's been back."
On the recent flurry of signings for the 2019-20 season:
"It was a lot of work involved in that. Our staff did an outstanding job. It was around-the-clock work. It's not something I look forward to doing again. I really like the early signing period. That's the way we've built our program in the past and will continue to do it here."
On the balance of recruiting for the 2019-20 season vs. for the long-term of the program: "It really comes down to the market. When you take the job at the time I did there wasn't a whole lot left in 2019 that I felt could impact us. I felt that the two young men we got will. So then you go the grad transfer route, which is what we did. We got three really good grad transfers. With having Jarron (Cumberland) and Tre (Scott) it was important to make sure we put some people in place for them. It really came down to a philosophical decision based on what was out there in terms of the ability to get involved with guys."
Comments on the new players:
Mika Adams-Woods: "He's a point guard who's got a little combo (guard) in him. He's from Syracuse. He originally signed with Nebraska. He's got a really bright future. We always say our freshman don't know what they don't know. I think they are going to experience that early on. He's got a chance to be a really dynamic player."
Jeremiah Davenport: "He comes from a family of basketball players. His sister went junior college then (West Virginia) and became first-team all-league. His brothers at Winthrop and St. Bonaventure got better as their careers went on. Mom and dad played college basketball. He bleeds Cincinnati. He's probably had three different Cincinnati shirts on (since arriving). I asked him if he got those from here and he said he already had them. So a basketball family from a legendary program with Carl Kremer at Moeller."
Chris Vogt: "I've got a great feel for him since he's transferring from Northern Kentucky. I think he's going to be outstanding. He played behind Drew McDonald but when I played him 20 minutes or more he averaged 12.7 points and almost seven rebounds a game. You could say, 'what the hell were you doing not playing him more,' but the guy in front of him was one of the best players in conference history."
Jaevin Cumberland: "I coached against him the past four years so I've got a really good feel for who he is and what he does. His shot-making ability and ability to spread the floor and his consistency in his approach to college basketball are key."
Jaume Sorolla: "He's a big guy from Spain who was at Valparaiso. I coached against him so I've got a really good feel for what he does. He's really good at ball-screen defense, which is what we pattern our half-court defense around. He has a really good understanding of what it means to go through the grind of college basketball and get after it."
Chris McNeal: "Our point guard who's last playing time was at New Mexico State (in 2017-18). He's tough. He's charismatic. He's an intelligent kid. He's got the ability to score from that position. His thing is he has played two years of basketball in four years of college. He's sat out twice, so there's going to be some rust to get off of him."
On what he's learned about his staff to this point: "I've got an integrity-driven staff. It's one of the hardest working staffs I've been around. A big key to the staff that I put together was (bringing in) guys that understood me. I'm big on messaging and making sure the message that we have gets out to the guys in the right way and in a way that's consistent. That's resonated with the class that we've signed and that's resonated with the brand that we've continued to push forward in how we want to do things. And that will only continue."
On what he's seen from some of the returners:
"Tre Scott went to a leadership camp that we sent him to this summer. He did a great job of leadership in the one workout we had yesterday. Trevor Moore has been constantly in the gym. And if I had to draw a picture of a guy that fit for our style of play in terms of what they looked like, it would be Keith Williams. He's a guy who's getting bigger and stronger each and every day.
"I've been insanely impressed with their character and commitment level to this program."
On what the past few weeks have been like:
"It's been really fast and furious for almost two months now. A large part of it has been finishing the roster. Yesterday was really the first time on the court for our summer work outs. I would have liked to have gotten a little bit more time in the office preparing for that.
"We focused on three things. We focused on the relationship with the current roster, 2019-20 recruiting and recruiting for the future. That's been 99 percent of our time right now. Touching people outside the program and building multiple relationships will be the next step.
"Like anything when you take over an organization it's making sure you get everything in place. You spend the first several weeks running by yourself. Putting a staff together has been a priority. We have that in place now so things have now started to flow. Now I've I got to give them the focus and their responsibilities. I don't think you ever feel like you've gotten on top of anything yet, but certainly finishing the roster has helped."
On the impact of having Jarron Cumberland returning to the program:
"It's great. Obviously, you get the league's player of the year coming back.
"The process he went through is built for the student-athlete. I want all of our players who have that potential to go through the process. Within the process is my seat where you sit back and wait and let them go through it and when they make their decision you have to put things in place for yourself and for your program.
"Having him back is great. We were able to build a pretty good relationship prior to the workouts. Then when he was in the workouts you kind of lose touch a little bit because he's so busy. Now we're reconnecting since he's been back."
On the recent flurry of signings for the 2019-20 season:
"It was a lot of work involved in that. Our staff did an outstanding job. It was around-the-clock work. It's not something I look forward to doing again. I really like the early signing period. That's the way we've built our program in the past and will continue to do it here."
On the balance of recruiting for the 2019-20 season vs. for the long-term of the program: "It really comes down to the market. When you take the job at the time I did there wasn't a whole lot left in 2019 that I felt could impact us. I felt that the two young men we got will. So then you go the grad transfer route, which is what we did. We got three really good grad transfers. With having Jarron (Cumberland) and Tre (Scott) it was important to make sure we put some people in place for them. It really came down to a philosophical decision based on what was out there in terms of the ability to get involved with guys."
Comments on the new players:
Mika Adams-Woods: "He's a point guard who's got a little combo (guard) in him. He's from Syracuse. He originally signed with Nebraska. He's got a really bright future. We always say our freshman don't know what they don't know. I think they are going to experience that early on. He's got a chance to be a really dynamic player."
Jeremiah Davenport: "He comes from a family of basketball players. His sister went junior college then (West Virginia) and became first-team all-league. His brothers at Winthrop and St. Bonaventure got better as their careers went on. Mom and dad played college basketball. He bleeds Cincinnati. He's probably had three different Cincinnati shirts on (since arriving). I asked him if he got those from here and he said he already had them. So a basketball family from a legendary program with Carl Kremer at Moeller."
Chris Vogt: "I've got a great feel for him since he's transferring from Northern Kentucky. I think he's going to be outstanding. He played behind Drew McDonald but when I played him 20 minutes or more he averaged 12.7 points and almost seven rebounds a game. You could say, 'what the hell were you doing not playing him more,' but the guy in front of him was one of the best players in conference history."
Jaevin Cumberland: "I coached against him the past four years so I've got a really good feel for who he is and what he does. His shot-making ability and ability to spread the floor and his consistency in his approach to college basketball are key."
Jaume Sorolla: "He's a big guy from Spain who was at Valparaiso. I coached against him so I've got a really good feel for what he does. He's really good at ball-screen defense, which is what we pattern our half-court defense around. He has a really good understanding of what it means to go through the grind of college basketball and get after it."
Chris McNeal: "Our point guard who's last playing time was at New Mexico State (in 2017-18). He's tough. He's charismatic. He's an intelligent kid. He's got the ability to score from that position. His thing is he has played two years of basketball in four years of college. He's sat out twice, so there's going to be some rust to get off of him."
On what he's learned about his staff to this point: "I've got an integrity-driven staff. It's one of the hardest working staffs I've been around. A big key to the staff that I put together was (bringing in) guys that understood me. I'm big on messaging and making sure the message that we have gets out to the guys in the right way and in a way that's consistent. That's resonated with the class that we've signed and that's resonated with the brand that we've continued to push forward in how we want to do things. And that will only continue."
On what he's seen from some of the returners:
"Tre Scott went to a leadership camp that we sent him to this summer. He did a great job of leadership in the one workout we had yesterday. Trevor Moore has been constantly in the gym. And if I had to draw a picture of a guy that fit for our style of play in terms of what they looked like, it would be Keith Williams. He's a guy who's getting bigger and stronger each and every day.
"I've been insanely impressed with their character and commitment level to this program."