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Chat Reel: Shawn Finney
Ex-Kentucky assistant set for first year as a head coach
Posted: Thursday November 02, 2000 5:31 PM
Updated: Thursday November 02, 2000 5:31 PM
He coached under Tubby Smith at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky. Now Shawn Finney is running his own program at Tulane.
The first-year coach spent some time with CNNSI.com users Thursday, Nov. 2 about Green Wave basketball and C-USA. Keep reading for a transcript.
CNNSI Host: Welcome to today's C-USA chat with Tulane coach Shawn Finney. Welcome, Coach. Thanks for spending some time with us.
Shawn Finney: Thank you for having me on the chat today. I'm very excited to be here to represent the conference, as well as Tulane basketball. I'm looking forward to answering some questions about the upcoming season.
From Mark Collier in Atlanta: Coach, how will you adjust your game plan to compensate for the lack of veteran leadership on this year's team?
Shawn Finney: I think everyone knows we'll be involved in playing and having playing time with few numbers. LeDaryl Billingsley is our only senior, and has really stepped up and shown great senior leadership. He is driven to improve and build on what he's accomplished over the last three years at Tulane.
From NYC: Coach, you must get tired of hearing about the Bearcats. Anyone going to "de-throne" them this year?
Shawn Finney: Well, coming from Kentucky, we heard a lot about the Cincinnati Bearcats, and now we have a chance to compete against them in C-USA. It's going to be exciting to play against Coach Huggins and his great teams that he's had in the nineties. As far as dethroning them, we'll take one game at a time, and prepare for Cincinnati when they come up on our schedule in January.
From Randy McClain in Baton Rouge, La.: Are you likely to sign any recruits in the upcoming November signing period? Was it hard to get Tulane's recruiting up to speed coming on board only in mid-July?
Shawn Finney: We still hope to sign possibly one or two guys in the early signing period. Coming in mid-July, we are behind in recruiting, but we do have some quality young men who are interested in our program, and are looking forward to building the future during this early signing period and the regular signing period.
From Zac Missler in Sacramento, Calif.: Being a young assistant here at Sacramento State, I would love to be a head coach one day. To move in this profession is very difficult at such a young age. What did you look for when hiring your staff and what will you look for in future assistants?
Shawn Finney: Hiring a staff comes down to comfort level for the head coach, possible relationships with the head coach and what you as an assistant coach will bring to the table. Obviously, your track record as an assistant coach, as far as X's and O's, and "recruitability" will be a key for coaches to consider you for job opportunities. When I was hiring my staff, I wanted to make sure of youth and experience, and you always want to make sure you have loyalty. I'm very excited about the staff I've put together. I know I have bright young coaches that will be hard to keep down the road.
From Wade: What is more stressful: coaching during conference games or recruiting?
Shawn Finney: Being a first-year head coach, I can't really, from a head coach's standpoint, know the level of stress of coaching during a conference game yet. But being a head coach and understanding the recruiting, it's stressful in a grinding day-to-day way. What the stress of coaching that conference game for a two-hour period, and the lead up to that game, I don't know.
From Dawg: You were at UGA when Chris Scelfo was an assistant. Would you have ever figured that you'd be at the same school as head coaches? Are you that friendly with him?
Shawn Finney: It's always a bonus when you go to an institution and have familiarity with a coach like Chris Scelfo. I've known Chris since I was at Georgia, and we have a very good working relationship, as well as a very good friendship. But being in this business for 16 years, many careers crawl past along the way.
From Jonathan Landrum in Lakeville, Ind.: I know you're not at Kentucky anymore, but I want to know how Tayshaun Prince's progress is going. He is incredibly talented, better than his stats would suggest.
Shawn Finney: Tayshaun had a great summer working out. I'd have to believe that Tubby will look to Saul Smith and Tayshaun Prince to provide the leadership for the team. Tayshaun has such a versatile game, can play inside and out, hit the three, post up, lead the break, that he gives you tremendous versatility, and I feel he's one of the best players in the SEC, as well as the rest of the country.
From Tom: Are you concerned to any extent with all the distractions a city like New Orleans can offer?
Shawn Finney: I think there is distraction on any college campus. When you look at Tulane being located in New Orleans, and the French Quarter, you always are concerned about what your players are doing at night, regardless of where you live. But having been around New Orleans now for 3 1/2 months, and our players and students, the French Quarter is more for tourists than for locals.
From Dawg: What are your thoughts about facing another C-USA newcomer in John Calipari?
Shawn Finney: Having had a chance to coach against Coach Calipari as an assistant coach at Tulsa, I know he is an excellent coach. He'll bring great credibility to Conference USA, and I'm very excited to compete against Coach Calipari as well as the rest of the league.
From Will: In your opinion, what is the greatest college basketball game every played? Do you agree with others that it was the 1991 Kentucky-Duke Eastern Regional Finals in the Meadowlands? What about championship game between Kansas-Oklahoma in 1988?
Shawn Finney: For me, it's hard to put labels on any game as being the greatest. There have been so many great games played in college basketball, and I know that Duke-Kentucky game in 1991 was great. I preferred the 1998 Duke-Kentucky game, where we made a comeback to go to the Final Four, before we went on to win the national championship there. I watched the 1991 game, and it went to overtime. I had dinner reservations, and had to tape the last five minutes.
From Stacy: What's it been like for you personally to go from Lexington to New Orleans?
Shawn Finney: In this business, moving is part of advancement. It was different going from Randolph-Macon in Ashland, Virginia to Tulsa, and from Tulsa to Athens. It's always a change. but the biggest adjustment is your personal life, and leaving behind your friends in each city, because you're always excited about the new challenges ahead.
From Syren: How is Wayne Tinsley shaping up so far and is he going to be a factor on this year's team?
Shawn Finney: Wayne is really coming into his own. He's worked extremely hard in individual workouts, on his jump shot. He's a warrior on the glass and defensively. I expect Wayne to have a major contribution to this team as a freshman.
From Steve: Who do you consider the top college coaches of all time?
Shawn Finney: The top college coaches of all time ... that's a very difficult question. There have been so many great ones. Going back to Adolph Rupp at Kentucky, to Phog Allen, to Hank Iba, to the coaches of today like Dean Smith, Bobby Knight and current coaches like Tubby Smith and Jimmy Boeheim. It's hard to say who's the greatest coach. Everyone in this game contributes on a daily basis. I hope I didn't leave anyone out, because there's so many great ones ... I know I did.
From Mark: In your opinion, what are the top five college programs, in terms of tradition?
Shawn Finney: Having come from Kentucky, that's the one I have to pick as having the greatest tradition. I feel like they're the top program in America, and I'd have to leave it at them being number one.
From Stacy: How does it feel to replace a guy like Perry Clark, who rebuilt the program and was there forever?
Shawn Finney: Coach Clark really laid the foundation of Tulane basketball. He started with nothing, and then took them to the NCAA tournament, and created a national basketball reputation. It's an honor to have the opportunity to follow someone like Coach Clark.
From Jon: How long do your practice normally last?
Shawn Finney: We'll get in tour days where we go from 6 AM to 7 AM, and come back and go from 3-5 or 5:15. So, based on that, we go about 3 hours to 3 hours and 15 minutes a day.
CNNSI Host: That's all the time we have today with Tulane coach Shawn Finney. Thanks again for your time, Coach.
Shawn Finney: I'd like to thanks CNNSI for having me on today, and being a part of this Conference USA chat.
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