City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of our 2016-17 college season preview, six weeks of coverage that will span everything from Division I through Division III, junior college and more. To access our entire college of preseason content, check out our Season Preview Hub.)

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Earlier this offseason, CoBL spoke with each of the Division I coaches in the area for a Q&A session, and now we’re expanding it to include the various Division II programs in the CoBL coverage region.

With the first full-time D-II and D-III practices beginning on Oct. 15, we’ll be using the next few weeks to sit down with the area’s D-II head coaches and see where they’re at as they prepare for the 2016-17 season.

Our latest chat was with new Goldey-Beacom head coach T.J. Dekmar, who found himself as one of the youngest NCAA coaches in the country at 26 years old when former head coach Chuck Hammond moved up into a new role as the school’s Dean of Students suddenly last month. Now, instead of going into his second year as an assistant, Dekmar takes over a Lightning roster that's senior-laden, with seven players in their final year of collegiate eligibility.

Coming off a 10-18 season (8-11 CACC South), Goldey-Beacom returns its top four scorers, including seniors Shakeem Wilson (15.0 ppg), Sameen Swint (10.9 ppg) and Elijah Tillman (10.0 ppg) plus sophomore sophomore Corey Taite (13.9 ppg), and adds several other experienced players to the roster.

Here are the (copy-edited) highlights of our conversation:

CoBL: It’s been a crazy month for you -- how did it all happen? When did you find out?

T.J. Dekmar: I found out pretty much when everyone else did. They announced that Chuck was taking over the Dean of Students position, and then he informed me that I was going to be the predecessor, take over the program if I wanted to, and I was shocked, I was excited, I had no idea it was coming but I’m ready to step in to what Chuck has started here and keep it going.

CoBL: So he never hinted to you that “if I stepped down, would you want to be coach?”

TD: Not once, he never hinted anything that he was going to leave, or was thinking about leaving. I woke up as an assistant, worried about making sure every kid was getting to study hall, and then the next moment I was thinking about our practice schedule for tomorrow morning. So it was a little crazy.

CoBL: And now you find yourself switching gears, right in that moment. When the initial shock settled, what was your initial priority list, and where are you at right now?

TD: Well, the first thing I obviously wanted to do was let the guys know what the situation is with the team. We’re lucky, we have a veteran group with a lot of seniors that know what they have to do. So I’ve got to step into a spot where the players on the team are already motivated, they know what they have to do, and then they took the lead with the younger guys, even before we made the announcement. The biggest change was just now I’m the one holding the whistle in practice, I’m the one who’s making decisions and it goes on my shoulders. But as a team-wise, the players-wise, they still have the same goal, our goal never changed. Chuck obviously did a great job with them, he did a great job putting together a roster that’s motivated and together and hungry to keep getting better. So I got lucky that I was able to take over a roster that knew what they had to do.

CoBL: What did you learn most from Chuck during that first season about being a head coach, about this program, about what it takes to win down there?

TD: The biggest thing was how to recruit scholarship players. Coming from Delaware Valley University [as an assistant from 2011-15], Division III, we didn’t have scholarships to give, so we had to get creative and obviously we recruited lower-level players; they were very good but they weren’t scholarship guys. Here obviously we have scholarships to give, we do a lot of Division I transfers, a lot of junior college transfers here, and with us not having full rides like other schools, we have to get creative on how to get kids here and we have to sell ourselves more, sell the school more, sell the area more, because we don’t have those full rides. So Chuck really taught me how to sell things, how to sell the school, our program, really get the kids intrigued and excited to come here, even without that full ride.

CoBL: Had you set a goal for wanting to be a head coach by 30, by 35? Nobody’s expecting to be a head coach at 26, but had you thought about your path?

TD: At 26, it never really had crossed my mind. Every spot I was at, either under Coach Stitzel, or Coach Hammond, I just wanted to learn as much as possible, and whenever that opportunity came, i wanted to be as ready as possible for that opportunity. But I never set an age goal, or I needed to be a head coach by this (date) or it’s not going to work out. Everywhere I go, I just wanted to learn as much as possible, and when that opportunity came, I wanted to have as much information as I possibly could up to that point. And obviously I’m going to keep learning, I’m going to keep asking people and talking to other coaches, successful coaches in our conference, but I did not expect this at all. I was just in the right place at the right time, I was very fortunate to be under Coach Hammond and at Goldey-Beacom when this situation arose.

CoBL: What are you going to do in terms of your staff?

TD: We’re just not going to have a full-time assistant anymore. I was the events and athletic facility coordinator, so I’m going to keep that role as well as head coach, and just have part-time guys underneath me...we’re going to keep the same staff that we had, just nobody is going to replace my spot. It’s mostly the same guys from last year, and we added Jarrel Lane, who was our starting point guard last year, to the staff as well. So it’s a very good staff, the staff knows our guys, our guys know our assistant coaches, so I really like what we have between the staff and our players.

CoBL: You guys haven’t been to the league playoffs in the last five years, is that the overriding goal this season? What approach are you taking in terms of setting expectations and goals?

TD: Well right now it’s preseason, our main goal is to get better. We didn’t win as many games as we wanted to last year, we need to get better. The only goal we’re setting is Goldey-Beacom getting better every single day. Obviously long-run, we’d love to get into the conference playoffs, win the conference tournament, that’s every team’s goal right now, to get into the NCAA Tournament. Our guys are motivated, they’re hungry, they know that they do. We have a very senior-heavy team so it’s an easy sell, they know this is their last chance around to make something special here and I think they’re ready to do it and they’re excited to do it.

CoBL: You have five seniors who played last year, plus two more [Nick Lawson & Riyan Williams] who are joining the team this year for their final year of eligibility?

TD: Nick was a redshirt for us last year, so he was a part of the program, and then Riyan Williams is a graduate transfer from Georgetown University.

CoBL: Obviously Georgetown’s got a decent reputation, what are you hoping he’ll bring to the team that he learned from being a Hoya?

TD: Riyan, he’s a very talented player, we’re expecting a lot of things from him. But just the mentality that he brings from coming from a Division I program, and in the Big East, just every single day in lifting and conditioning and practice, just the mentality that he has and he’s sharing with the younger guys, that you don’t find every day. He works hard, some people would think he’s coming from a Big East school, he must have an ego; that’s not the case at all. He’s willing to learn, he’s thirsty for knowledge and he’s helping out any way he can, and he’s still trying to get better every single day.

And Nick, the redshirt, he’s a very talented shooter, we expect him to come in and make a lot of shots for us. So those two older guys, Nick’s been around the program, he knows what we expect out of him and Riyan’s learned very quickly.

CoBL: Returning those five starters, including three of your top four leading scorers from a year ago, do they all share the leadership responsibilities, or is there one or two of them that you’re really counting on to set the tone?

TD: No, all five of them share it, they’re great leaders with the younger guys and the rest of the team. Elijah, Shakeem, Sameen, Khaleel and Paris, they all know what it takes to be winners, all of those guys are great leaders on the court and off the court. They take care of our young guys, show them the ropes around campus, in the classroom and on the floor. They never let any of our guys take a break, they go at each other all the time in practice, they push each other to be better in the weight room and study halls and on the gym floor during pickup. Every senior we have shares the role of leadership and I can really count on any one of them to help me out with getting a message across to the team.

CoBL: In terms of other newcomers, you also have a junior, Dante Thompson --

TD: Yes, Dante’s new, he last played at Lackawanna College two or three years ago now. Very talented, strong forward who we expect a lot from, we brought him in, a little lack of size that we have on our roster, so we really need a lot from him down low to help us battle with his rebounding and defend the post. But he’s been off for two years, so it’s going to take a little time for him to knock that rust off and get back in game shape, but once he does we expect really big things from Dante.

CoBL: And then the freshmen, you’ve got five freshmen coming in. And with 9 or 10 sophomores, juniors and seniors, what is your message to this freshman class at this point, with so much experience above them but a lot of minutes going to open up next year?

TD: Right now, they just want to learn as much as possible. They’re in a great position where they have hard-working, talented guys ahead of them, so they’re learning from a great group of guys. So they’re just trying to soak up as much information as possible, get better every single day, and just keep working hard. We return a lot of guys, we’ve brought in some older guys to fill some roles, but they’re working hard every single day in practice and they’re getting better and they’re learning, which is all we can ask of our freshman right now.

CoBL: Finally, your sophomores, especially Corey Taite. With seniors, you sort of know what you have at this point, Corey averaged 13.9 ppg and was all-rookie last year; is his improvement the biggest X-factor on the team?

TD: Corey’s a huge piece for us, in my opinion he was the best freshman last year in the conference, he played very well for us. But that freshman to sophomore jump is huge and tells a lot about a player. He’s been working so hard in the weight room, putting weight on, getting bigger, he’s in the gym all the time. So I expect the same thing from him, I expect him to put up numbers again and be a very big piece for us and have a very nice season. But when Corey Taite goes, our team goes. He’s just so dynamic on both sides of the floor, he can impact the game in so many ways.

CoBL: In terms of your X’s and O’s philosophy, are you going to try to put your spin on this season or really leave the tinkering for next season?

TD: Well, me and Chuck have very similar philosophies so there’s not much that we’re changing. We’re going to play mostly the same way, defensively we’re not going to change much, offensively, a lot of motion stuff, a couple of sets, Chuck liked a lot of sets, I think we’re going to play more freely without some of those sets. But I’m not going to change much, our guys are comfortable with what they’re doing. I think with our first game being in 58 days or something like that, I think we’re going to have most of the same principles and philosophies and go with what Coach Hammond had been building here.

CoBL: Anything else you wanted to add?

TD: I think that’s it, I’m excited to get started, I’m thankful for Goldey-Beacom giving me this opportunity and I think we’re going to have a very nice year and be a big impact on this conference. I think with our older guys and what it takes to win, we lost a lot of close games this year, we brought in a lot of  new guys last year that were still learning how to play, I believe this year they’ve learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they’re motivated and hungry and I'm excited to see what this group can do.