Off the court with the coach

Santa Clara men's basketball Head Coach Kerry Keating sat down with The Santa Clara to discuss his outlook on his 2009-2010 team:

The Santa Clara: There are five freshmen and one transfer student on this year's roster. Is this a unique situation for you?

Kerry Keating: We've had five freshmen on our roster before, most recently at UCLA. In our second year, we made the Final Four. (The Santa Clara freshmen are) beyond their years physically. It's hard for any group of freshmen to be beyond their years mentally. They've done a pretty good job so far of making an impact especially from what's important from a defense and rebounding standpoint.

TSC: How have the freshmen responded to your coaching style?

KK: We've been pretty successful in practice so far from an effort standpoint. They're trying to figure it out and learn, and sometimes they sacrifice playing hard for stopping and slowing down and learning more. We've slowed down our learning process. (Cowels) and (Cunningham) and (Smith) as freshmen and Troy Payne have done a really great job having a great effort and attitude every day. They've been extremely coach-able, as I would have expected them to be, and I think it's given them a chance to have a greater impact quicker.

TSC: Who are you expecting to assume a leadership role?

Keating reflected on the student athlete roles of two of his older players, Ben Dowdell and Michael Santos.

KK: They're both good students. They both do a good job of using good judgment and lead by example in that sense. I think that even a guy like Nate Mensah understands it's really important from an academic standpoint in terms of time management and (he) goes above and beyond.

TSC: How does the absence of Scott Thompson affect the team?

KK: It affects us from the standpoint that it hurts our depth. We were counting on Scott getting out on the floor and kind of carrying over his experience playing against (John Bryant) for two years. We're more concerned for Scott's health than anything else.