As the Sacramento State men’s basketball program gets set for its first official team practice this Friday, Oct. 17, the media relations office had a chance to catch up with first-year head coach Brian Katz. The Hornets and other teams across the nation have been practicing as a team just two hours a week since Sept. 15 (per NCAA rules), but will be allowed to get into a normal practice routine (20 hours per week) beginning Oct. 17 after 5 p.m. Below are some of the excerpts from the interview with Katz.
Q: What are some of the aspects of Sacramento State that led you to take the job? Katz: “Living in the community for 90 percent of my life, having graduated from Sacramento State, and just having a familiarity with the University and the region made it a very enticing job. For me, the most exciting part about the job is the ‘What could be?’ element. I believe the community is untapped in terms of support, I think we can build a very strong homecourt advantage and I know a lot of components are already in place that add up to this being a very good job.”
Q: The entire coaching staff and 12 of the players are brand new to the program. How long do you think it will take for everyone to get on the same page? Katz: “We hope that it happens quickly. However, having coached for a while, you learn that when 12 of your 16 players are brand new, there is a very high learning curve and a lot of changing, adjusting and absorbing that needs to take place. I would be very surprised if there weren’t a few bumps in the road early on, but we will be fine eventually.”
Q: In your opinion, what are the most important factors that go into building a winning program? Katz: “First of all, we have to get our culture right, meaning we need develop a culture of serving, giving, commitment, work ethic and attitude. Not only do players need to respect each other, they need to respect the community, the student body and their instructors. Most importantly, we need to be respected by others through the way we handle ourselves on and off the floor.”
Q: Is there a philosophy you teach that you want your players to follow? Katz: “We have a simple phrase....there are only two absolutes in the game of basketball. Always hustle and never have a bad attitude. Those are the only two absolutes I know in the game of basketball.”
Q: What are some of the things you like about this year’s roster? Katz: “I like the fact the kids we recruited all come from winning programs. That tells me they understand sacrifice, fitting in, and playing a role on a team. All our guys have really worked hard and bought into the system. As far as effort and attitude, I really couldn’t be happier.”
Q: What type of offense do you like to run? Katz: “Offensively, we’ll look to break and get early, easy shots. When we don’t have that option, we’ll be a very structured, post-oriented team. We will develop roles for the right guys to take shots they can make, and as a result, shot selection will be a huge aspect of this team. When it comes to offense, it really doesn’t matter what you run....what matters is your shot selection.”
Q: What type of defense do you like to employ? Katz: “We will play man-to-man defense 90 percent of the time. We will attempt to contest every shot, and attempt to become a very physical and hard nosed team that opponents will hopefully find difficult to score against.”
Q: Each of the 12 players (seven signed players, five walkons) you brought in this year are junior college transfers. Why did you go the JC route opposed to bringing in some high school players? Katz: “Getting the job so late (April 10), you need to do a year’s worth of recruiting in two weeks (the initial signing date last year was April 16). Beginning the recruiting process so late, I knew we had to get players that could contribute immediately. Unfortunately, many of the high school players available that late in the game are not able to contribute right away. I don’t have a preference as far as high school or junior college players, except I did for this particular season. You will see plenty of high school players signed in the future.”
Q: Who will be your team captains this year? Katz: “(Junior point guard) Mike Marcial and (junior center) Justin Eller.”
Q: What do you see as some of the strengths of this year’s team? Katz: “If our guys stay healthy, I like our depth on the front line. We have very good chemistry and we’ll attempt to compete night in and night out. We want to be very mentally and physically tough, and in the limited time I’ve had with them in practice, the players have shown that.”
Q: You are a health nut. Can you give us some examples of your daily regimen? Katz: “I’ve been running three miles a day every day for the last 20 years. I try to eat fruit and vegetables all day long. Five tomatoes, two bananas, two apples and possibly some carrots or green beans takes care of my breakfast and lunch. I have a normal dinner, but I don’t eat red meat. Some examples of dinners I enjoy are chicken, fish, pasta and garden burgers.”
As the Sacramento State men’s basketball program gets set for its first official team practice this Friday, Oct. 17, the media relations office had a chance to catch up with first-year head coach 
