{"id":86195,"date":"2013-11-01T12:28:51","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T16:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=86195"},"modified":"2013-11-27T12:29:01","modified_gmt":"2013-11-27T17:29:01","slug":"the-wisdom-of-kevin-ollie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/11\/the-wisdom-of-kevin-ollie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wisdom of Kevin Ollie"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UConn<\/a>
UConn men’s head basketball coach Kevin Ollie ’95 (CLAS) hugs Shabazz Napier \u201914 (CLAS). (Steve Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before the official start of practice for the 2012\u20132013 men\u2019s basketball season, there was only one certainty: With a ban on postseason play due to NCAA penalties, the Huskies would play their final game of the year on March 9, 2013, at Gampel Pavilion against Providence.<\/p>\n

No one knew what might be in store for the Huskies, given the transfers to other schools or the departure of several key players from the 2011\u20132012 squad to the NBA. There were more question marks when Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun announced his retirement in mid-September and Kevin Ollie \u201995 (CLAS), whose only coaching experience was as an assistant for two years in Storrs, was named to lead the team with a one-season contract.<\/p>\n

Ollie doled out messages about work ethic and effort throughout his first season, imparting his philosophy of life and basketball to his student-athletes and the media. He says he felt no pressure to replace the Hall of Fame coach whom he considers a second father.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to be myself. People were saying, How are you going to replace Jim Calhoun? I\u2019d say, I\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t replace him,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cI don\u2019t care what I do, even if I win four national championships, I still can\u2019t replace him. He came here when there was nothing, and he built this. I can\u2019t replace him, but I can be the best Kevin Ollie. That\u2019s what I\u2019m going to try and give this University.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Hear audio clips from UConn Magazine<\/em>‘s one-on-one interview with Coach Ollie:<\/strong>
\nWhat’s behind Coach Ollie’s success?<\/a>
\nListen in as Coach Ollie gives insight into his past, his family, and what keeps him moving forward.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

On point<\/h2>\n

Last November, an upset opening win over No. 14 Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein Air Base in Germany indicated the Huskies might have surprises ahead during the season. It became a roller-coaster ride, with other upsets of ranked opponents, some frustrating losses, and seven overtime games, including the team\u2019s 63-59 overtime win over Providence that ended the year with a record of 20-10 overall and 10-8 in the Big East.<\/p>\n

In many ways, it was familiar territory for Ollie, who had proven again and again during a nomadic 13-year career in professional basketball that he could do the job and overcome any obstacle placed before him. He established a reputation as a reliable veteran who could mentor younger players while making contributions on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\"UConn<\/a>
UConn men’s head basketball coach Kevin Ollie ’95 (CLAS) speaks with members of the media before the First Night show at Gampel Pavilion in October 2012. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the outset, Husky fans enthusiastically expressed their support for the former Husky, who proclaimed his affection for UConn and his student-athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the one always giving 100 percent. I feel every time I step on the court, I\u2019ve got to match his intensity,\u201d junior forward Neils Giffey \u201914 (CLAS) said, after practice early last November. \u201cHe\u2019s really showing us how to work hard. Everybody respects him so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ollie says playing for Calhoun and such highly respected NBA coaches as Chuck Daly, George Karl, and Larry Brown allowed him to learn the game from the best basketball minds in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a point guard, I not only had to know my position, I had to know everybody else\u2019s position on the court,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cI didn\u2019t have all the talent in the world. I had to study, look at the game tapes. It allowed me to be a better student of the game and what coaches are trying to do in certain situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

No excuses<\/h2>\n

Ollie says his primary lesson from last year is to make the best use of every hour of the day, a message he conveys to his players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only 24 hours in a day, and the way you are successful is how you use those 24 hours,\u201d he says. \u201cEverybody\u2019s pulling at you; you have to know time management. The alarm is going to get you up. You can rest your mind, but you can\u2019t sleep. You can\u2019t take days off. You can\u2019t make excuses. You\u2019ve got to get the job done. It\u2019s about results. That\u2019s what I try to teach our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he also awakes each morning asking the same question: What do I need to know that I don\u2019t know right now?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning every day. I\u2019m an empty cup. I think that\u2019s what will allow me to, hopefully, become a great coach and an even better leader,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cI don\u2019t know it all. I\u2019m not afraid to tell anybody that. I collect information and make a decision. There\u2019s a lot of stuff I don\u2019t know, but I better ask somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ollie will be imparting his newly learned lessons to a Husky team that returns a core of experienced players \u2014 including Shabazz Napier \u201914 (CLAS), Ryan Boatright \u201915 (CLAS), and DeAndre Daniels \u201915 (CLAS) \u2014 who enter the new American Athletic Conference with the chance to win a conference championship and make the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be great. I really believe that,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cI don\u2019t know about a national championship and all of that stuff, because I\u2019d tell you that championships will chase us if we have the right attitude. Winning chases us. We don\u2019t chase winning. If we have the right attitude and play together unselfishly, those things will automatically happen. I want these guys to have a habit of winning and making winning plays at the right time and that it\u2019s not just on the basketball court, it\u2019s out in the real world and academically. You want to make winning plays and show yourself well and be ambassadors for UConn basketball. My expectation of those guys is to go out and play hard like we did last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was first published in the Fall 2013 edition of\u00a0<\/em>UConn Magazine. To access more stories and audio clips like these,\u00a0download\u00a0<\/a><\/em>UConn Magazine’s<\/a>\u00a0free interactive app<\/a>\u00a0for tablet devices.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s behind Coach Ollie’s success?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":86306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-86195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 08:06:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86195"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86729,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86195\/revisions\/86729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/86306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86195"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=86195"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=86195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}