Q & A with Coach Q

By: Zach Schonbrun

Posted: 11/13/08

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman is coming off a banner second season as head coach, leading the Orange to the NCAA Tournament while being named co-Big East Coach of the Year. The Daily Orange sat down with Hillsman to discuss last season and his expectations for 2008-09.

Are you still getting up at 6 a.m. every morning to jog on the treadmill?
"Yea, I'm right about 5:45-6. I can't sleep. I'm just very excited. It's hard to sleep when you're up thinking about stuff all night, so you might as well get going, get on the treadmill running and watch some tape."

You're constantly out promoting and talking about your program. Where do you find the energy to be so accessible?
"I want our team and our program to be perfect. And in order to be perfect, you've got to work hard and put things in place. I just believe that I'm very blessed, I'm in a position that I've always wanted to be in and I always told myself that once I got into position as a head coach I wasn't going to shut people out, I wasn't going to say "No," I was always going to try to accommodate as many requests as possible. And I love people. I like being around people, meeting people, having a normal life. I don't want to be unapproachable."

Was there ever a point last year when you felt you were doing too much?
"It was tough, but I still wanted to maintain the same thing. I always talk about being accessible, to the players to the media. It's an obligation."

You won Big East co-Coach of the Year last season, sharing the award with Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma. Was that a goal of yours?
"I never thought about it. Coach of the Year awards you really don't think about. I was just wanting to concentrate more on getting better as a team, playing hard every night and competing. It was funny because once they started talking about Coach of the Year award it was kind of like, 'Wow.'"

What did you think of being selected sixth in the preseason conference poll this year?
"The conference is unbelievable. To be picked sixth in that conference means people are saying you're an NCAA Tournament team. People are saying you have a chance to advance in the Tournament and be a Sweet 16-caliber team, and when you think about that, it's very humbling. It's an honor. And it's a big responsibility."

How long did it take you to get over the loss to Hartford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year?
"I'm still not over it. I'm really not. Those are disappointing and defining moments. When somebody says, 'Oh, you're going to forget about.' You don't forget about it. I think about it at least three or four times a week. Because it's a monumental thing to advance and advance and advance to a national championship."

Why schedule a tournament in Alaska?
"We're trying to put our kids in adverse situations, tough conditions and tough settings, and difficult travel. Because that's how tournaments are, you never know what's going to happen. Who would've thought the World Series would get delayed for two days? You never know what's going to happen and what you're going to do. We didn't play very well on the road, so our first three games this year are road games to make sure we can put ourselves in position to play better on the road. Those kinds of games and those tournaments get us ready for the Big East and hopefully Sweet 16's, Final Four's, Elite Eight's."

The team is a little bit on the thin side this season, are you concerned about it?
"I'm not. I think this year our depth is a lot more quality. The players have gotten better. And to talk about adding Tyler Ash to this and talk about bringing the No. 1 JUCO player in the country off the bench in some games is going to be incredible. So I'm not really concerned about that. I'm more concerned with staying healthy."

Can you characterize this team?
"Very explosive. We're a very explosive team on both ends of the floor. I think with our athleticism we can put the ball in space, we can play very good off the bounce. So it's going to be tough to guard us."