Everything From Damon Stoudamire's Preseason Media Availability

Head coach Damon Stoudamire talked to the media for preseason availability today, heaping praise on his freshmen, returning players, and the process of the team. Here is everything he had to say.

Opening Statement

“First and foremost, you know, we just saw Brent. I just want to congratulate him up to this point. You know as a coach. That's trying to do different things. I know how hard it is, and you know it didn't start with that win on Saturday. I didn't go to the locker room. I wasn't in the locker room after the game or anything, but I heard the speech. Not only did I hear the speech, but I also heard what the players said afterwards. That's the process of it. It's always exciting to see the trajectory. He was just here, what, a year before me or whatnot, and he takes over in the interim. So we've essentially been here together to see where they've started. You know the process of how it goes because it's not easy.  Just happy for him and his continuous success.  You know things are going in the right direction because he's got them going in the right direction. Now the biggest thing is to go make something up to be mad at him this week. So everybody patting him on the back, you gotta get him back on their toes and on their heels to get him to understand we've done what we were supposed to do and if we want to be the program,  know that we want to be just like I try to instill in our guys, you know, we can't be happy about these things. We've got to take advantage of them and keep the momentum going.  I just want to say that.”

On how much he is relying on returning players Kowacie Reeves and Jaeden Mustaf to bring new guys up to speed…

“You know, it's gonna be on them to talk to the guys about their expectations. I think that's been the best thing so far. When you have Baye Ndongo, when you have Jaeden, when you have Kowacie, and even Dyllan, because he was here last year. They know what the standard is. It makes it easier as a coach and the staff, knowing you're trying to create your culture and fighting for your culture when you have people that's in the locker room that understand the culture.  Going into year three,  you know, I have two guys that have been with me from day one, and Baye and Kowacie. Jaeden, you know, he got significant minutes as a freshman,  looking for him to take a jump. So, you know, really excited about that group of guys.”

On Lamar Washington and what he brings to the table….

“Leadership and stability. That's what I love about him. I've known him for a very long time. He's from Portland, Oregon. It's crazy. Most people don't notice that Lamar was highly recruited in football. He was a really good linebacker. So sought after early on, had offers from SC in Oregon. He just loved basketball during COVID, then he left.  But he went to Jefferson High School.  He played football, and my uncle was the head coach of Jefferson. Then he played basketball for one of my best friends whom I was teammates and won a state championship growing up in Portland. The leadership part, the stability, grown man, coming in from Texas Tech, he knows what it looks like, he's played with first-round picks.  He had a chance to go to the Pacific and play.  He really evolved there. He was all-conference, and I'm looking for him to be a big part of that nucleus of guys that I talked about.”

On where the basketball team is in the process of getting to where they want to be…

“I think we're right on point to where we need to be. It's continuing to move the needle. I think we have a team that's full of depth. We got numbers.  We got competition. I think collectively we've got a group that likes each other. I think those are the biggest ingredients to having a good team. As a coach, you love the competition.  As a player, what I used to say is, and I go back to when I played at Arizona, the least talented team I played on went to the Final Four. The most talented team I played on we lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. So the excitement for me is more about the cohesion that we have amongst the group. Like I haven't seen this group since I've been here, I haven't had a group that has hung out together. We gotta kick them out of the gym. They go back to the locker room, and they hang out with each other. In the locker room, they go out together. They were at the football game last week. So for me, that's a joy because that's half of the battle. Now, we haven't handed out any minutes on any of those things yet, but the process started at the beginning of the summer, and it's just continued up to this point.”

On the freshman class from 2025…

“I'm gonna segway to your question. I told Baye last year after the season was over, said, I'm not gonna protect you no more from the standpoint that you have to talk to the media. You know, they've got to know who you are.  You're going to ACC Media Day. I have a freshman class that I think is elite. I think that they will contribute.  All of them will contribute over the course of time. I think we have some special ones in this class, starting with Mouhamed Sylla. I think that he’ll be one of the best freshmen in the country. I think people should enjoy watching him while they can. You know, he's a joy to be around, and he does things that freshmen don't do. I'm excited to coach him. You know, we have Akai Fleming, a local kid. I think that  the biggest thing is that nobody has seen him in a couple of years, about a year and a half, because he hadn't been healthy, but he's healthy.  He's athletic. He brings a different dimension than what we've had. We got Cole Kirouac, who is one of my favorite players.  I think he's one of the smartest players I've ever coached as a freshman. He's a seven-footer. He's only going to get better. He's a local kid.  Obviously played last year at OTE. We have Eric Chatfield, and I think over his time here, he will be really good. I think that as a small guard, he has a chance to be special. And what does that look like? I don't know. Most people always say, Well, you're a little guard. Does that look like? I don't like to compare what I did to any small guard, because what I did was special. I think that he has a chance to be really good. We got Davi Remagen from Germany, and Davi is really good. He just turned 18. He's been a pro, I think, since he was like 14 or 15. He has a man's body right now, and I'm excited about him as well. I can't forget Brandon Stores. Brandon Stores has the biggest personality on this team. He's gonna be a guy who not only helps with menace. Bronx kid. Really, really high IQ, but what I love about him, and you guys are falling in love with, is that he has one of the most contagious personalities you'll  ever see in a kid. He's always talking, and his teammates love him.  He knows how to keep the energy in the room. It’s a breath of fresh air to have a group like that.  So  different personalities, but all the same, a group that's gonna help us both on the floor and off.”

On the point guard position, on its shot creation and playmaking ability…

“We lost our point guard, and it's no problem. One thing about coaching, and I've learned this, you just got to change a little bit. You've got to tweak it. You'll see more people handling the ball. The way we've played in the past and explaining the way we've played in the past, obviously, it was a style that I brought with me, but we didn't have multiple ball handlers. We got way more people who can make plays. We'll play out of the post a little more. You know, we have really good bigs like I said. One guy hasn't talked about, and I think it is crazy to say, but he’s probably one of the best passers on our team, Peyton Marshall, you know, transfer from Missouri. Peyton really passed the ball for me. He reminds me a lot and where I've always been attracted to him when I recruit him out of high schools. I play with Oliver Miller for those that remember Oliver, who has passed away,  but he went to Arkansas, and I played with him in Toronto and Peyton's a really good passer. So there's just a lot of different dynamics that we have that we just didn't have in the past, and we got versatility. So the ball will be distributed evenly. It won't be a dominant ball handler,  but it'll be a lot of people that I feel like can make plays.”

On having the addition of Sylla and Marshall helps Baye Ndongo….

“I've even told the staff there are some things we have to get comfortable with, and we have to live with. Sometimes the spacing might not be ideal and different things of that nature, because we'll be playing with a lot of two big lineups. The biggest thing is that you said Baye is not playing the five. Him being known, predominantly at the four except in small ball situations, I think it'll help him. The past couple of years, he just hasn't had a lot of people who could take pressure off of him. It's either he gets the rebound or we don't get the rebound. By the time the games were on, they were putting two and three guys on him on the box, out, you know, to his credit, he was still a monster and did a whole lot of good things. Having him at the four, you know, expanding his game, he'll have to guard perimeters. Things with him we've talked about, and he has to get comfortable, especially moving on from Tech when he leaves Tech.”

On Kam Craft and Kowacie Reeves role on the team this year..

“Make shots. They gotta keep the court space, obviously. Wasey, never got on track last year early, and then when he got injured, we shut him down. I look for him to have a bounce-back year.  Wasey has the potential to do a lot more. We're to play him some at the four and small ball lineups because he can create opportunities there as well. So he's going to play a big role in this. In Kam, we got one of the best shooters in the country. He had a 40-point game last year at Miami (OH). In terms of shooting, we haven't had that since I've been here. The way he can shoot, he can make spot ups, he can come off picks. He's an evolving playmaker from the standpoint, he's not gonna bring the ball down and do different things. But just trying to get him to be able to make the next read, make pocket passes, come off ball screens, and things of that nature. Both of those guys are gonna have to make shots. We need four to five threes between both of them in a game with our bigs, so they can play in spacing.”

On the scramble of piecing together the schedule and having to fill two games…

“Hey, it wasn't bad at all. We have a schedule that, to me, if we handle our business, is favorable. I think that we do have a lot of home games early, which is big for us. I think the biggest thing with this team and I've been preaching this to our team. I've been preaching this to our staff, and we've done a lot of things differently in the first two years over the summer than what I did in the past. I've actually been practicing, implementing, putting things in with all the new faces that we have. The biggest thing is we've shown an ability; we can beat top 25 teams, we can beat top five teams. We have to beat the teams we're supposed to beat. That makes a season.  You've got to win the games that you're supposed to win.  If we can build our momentum going in the ACC play to me, we have a favorable schedule going in the ACC play. We play a lot of home games. We just have to take one practice and one game at a time. I love our schedule. It wasn't a bad thing in terms of going from 20 to 18 because it gave us a little more flexibility. We have an opportunity. We just gotta take it one practice, one game at a time, and I think we'll be fine.”

On Peyton Marshall and if he will get some minutes this year…

“Big P was gonna play, but Slim P is gonna play too. So it didn't matter. He was gonna play regardless. The thing about P is that, again, he has a big personality as well. I mess with him at times. I said, Man, on your Instagram page, you're doing all this modeling and stuff. He's really in tune with a lot of things, but what gets lost in that is his play. I think that the biggest thing for him is being able to stay out of foul trouble. I think that  P is a big, strong kid, and I think that he just has to figure out how to stay on the floor. We have to help him in those areas,  but he moves well for a big guy.  The beauty of our team is not just with P when I say this, but it's when everybody,  man, I'm not giving out any free minutes.  We don't have free minutes. We got enough bodies to where you play as hard as you can, you come out of the game.  I don't have free minutes this year. Last year, I had a lot of free minutes due to injury. I don't have free minutes this year. I look forward to him playing a big role  in this program this season.”

More Georgia Tech Basketball News: