Q&A: Williford talks end of season, transfers, AAU, and more
Editor’s Note: CavsCorner caught up with associated head coach Jason Williford on Tuesday afternoon for a one-on-one conversation that covered a wide range of topics including the end of the season, transfers, recruiting, and much more.
Let’s start here and talk about the end of the season. What was that day like for you? You guys are at a shootaround, you’re scheduled to play that night against Notre Dame. How tough was it for you to process the ACC Tournament being called off and did you know then that the season was probably over?
It wasn’t tough to process in light of what was happening, I think, because we thought it was coming. Once the Big 10 and the other leagues canceled theirs, we had an idea it was coming. We happened to be at shootaround, like you said, and I thought then—and I said this to the other coaches—that maybe we my play the first session on Thursday but there was no way we were getting to the evening session. So, I was prepared for the news. And then I think we did a good job of breaking that news to the guys and letting them process it on their own. We did a pretty neat thing to end it. When we got word that we weren’t going to play, Tony (Bennett) decided to do a huge game of ‘Knock Out.’ It was kind of our last goodbye with that group of guys, especially with Braxton (Key) and Mamadi (Diakite). The coaches, the support staff, it was like 40 people playing, so you can only imagine what that was like. The game probably went for about 45 minutes. The winner was Sam Hauser and Tomas (Woldetensae) was the runner up. Luckily, we’ve got both of those guys coming back and we’ll need all of those 3-point shots for next year.
Has any coach/player/team/fan base ever had as crazy a three-year stretch to end the seasons as you guys have had? How can you even process not just this year but the last three?
I think this year remains to be seen in some ways and I don’t think that’s just us. Obviously, we were playing good ball there at the end. This year was unprecedented for everybody and we’re still going through it. But I do think the previous two years, I’ve been able to sit back and process all of that and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The UMBC loss allowed us to become better coaches, better players, and having gone through that I am glad to have that experience. To ultimately win it all the next year, there’s nothing in basketball now that I don’t think I will be unable to handle after all of that. You’re talking the most historic loss ever and bouncing back. Quite honestly, I think that helped prepare us for this year, dealing with this adversity. Having had that experience kind of helped us handle this thing. And listen, for Braxton and Mamadi in particular, yeah they didn’t get a chance to defend that title but in Mamadi’s five years and in Braxton’s two at Virginia, they did something that many, many guys dream of doing and they can say they went out as champs. So, for them I think they were able to handle it and know that they still went out on top.
So, we’ve talked both these past two years about how quickly as coaches you have to turn the page once the final game is behind you. Season ends and you’re immediately into spring and recruiting. You have to jump right in. Considering the climate right now and the state of things in the world, what are the priorities this spring as you guys try to look forward on the recruiting side of things? What does recruiting even look like for you right now?
Priorities are like this: We’ve got one scholarship that we can use and we’re involved with a couple transfers. You never know what’s out there but there are a couple of guys that we’re involved with that we like. And recruiting, it’s kind of just the same as it always is but instead of visits it’s a lot more video. It’s a lot of FaceTime and Zoom. It’s completely changed in that way. I think this pandemic and going through this will change the landscape of a lot of things permanently. I do think recruiting will become more of guys jumping on FaceTime and being more visual as opposed to just texts and calls. You’ve had to learn to be a little more creative in how you recruit because there’s no in-person anything. We’ve been adjusting that way, doing a lot more audio/visual, and just trying to find ways to be different.
That leads into my next question: For a program that is built so firmly on relationships and culture and a true understanding of things beyond just basketball, how challenging is it to translate those things when you can’t have those in-person visits and your only options are video and audio?
To me, right now because we’ve got all the time in the world, I don’t think it’s that challenging. You’re balancing how to be home school teacher, a coach, and a dad all at the same time but beyond that, it’s not challenging because you’re finding time that fits the recruit’s schedule. Some of them are still in school. Some of them are finishing up. So you’re being cognizant of their time and what their commitments are. But also, I think it’s pretty neat too because you get to put a face with the name in your phone. They get to meet the entire staff instead of just the one head recruiter. Recruiting a kid now, it’s much more everybody is involved and it’s all hands on deck. I think that’s actually a pretty neat thing that’s come out of this. And for us we are, and you said it, much more about relationships. I think that will allow those folks to see everybody and get a chance to meet everyone individually.
Normally you transition right into the transfer market and then quickly after that you’re getting ready for spring AAU seasons. That all starts up pretty fast. None of that, at least as of right now, seems like it’s going to happen this year. Maybe the summer part does but spring looks like it’s lost. How does that change the calculus for how you look at your 2021 recruiting class?
Fortunately, there were some kids that we were already involved with, couple of guys had already taken some official visits and we had some kids in for unofficials. So, I thought we had a good head start on 2021. Now, it’s just about following up with those kids and staying on top of things. We’ve just got to watch a ton of film. You’re not going to get as much in-person evaluating with this group. It’s going to be a ton of high school film and just relationship building. We don’t know what AAU holds as far as the spring and summer go. Hopefully we’re back out there but if not, we totally understand. I think what it will do is, for some kids, maybe have them commit earlier and make decisions sooner. For others, they might hold out longer and maybe more guys will go into the spring in hopes of all of this being behind us.
On the football side of things, it seems like a recent trend amid all this is that kids are choosing to stay closer to home. Now, basketball is different obviously. It’s typically much more national than football, which is generally more regional. Do you expect guys will want to stay closer to home in light of this pandemic?
That’s a good question. Right now, in the early stages of this I would say that may be the trend because they want to be closer to family. I think what this has also done is given all of us a little bit of a reset, for all of society, in terms of realizing what’s important. It’s just a game, after all. Being close to family and being around the ones you love and having their support, that’s been my perspective. As I’ve been able to be home more, I think we’re all getting a better sense of what’s most important. So I think that trend might continue and it might be something that sticks around as we slowly get out of this. But I also ultimately think that, once we eventually get back to whatever normal is, that kids won’t be afraid to go away. As we get further away from this, I think finding the best fit will still be the ultimate goal for a lot of kids but I do think maybe the trend to stay a little closer to home might stick around. That could be a real blessing for us because there’s a lot of talent in this region.
Alright, last one. Speaking of 2021: Depending on how things work in the transfer market and what you do with that last scholarship, that class could be impacted but at least as of now as you go into the uncertainty of the spring and summer, what do you feel like your needs are in '21 and what’s the blueprint for how you’d like that class to go?
Well, I think there are several guys who I would love for them to say "Yes, I want to be a Wahoo" tomorrow. Obviously, in speaking generally, we need a big, we need a really good guard, and then potentially with those third and fourth scholarships, depending on what we do, we’ll take the best available player with that third one. Not sure what position but just a guy who is really good. I see us probably using three out of the four if that’s what we have. If we get a transfer, I see us using all three. So, we’ll see how it goes.
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