Question: Kevin, at first glance, the roster seems pretty heavy in terms of seniors and graduate students, and then you have your incoming freshmen. And then, you know, a couple of juniors and sophomores. How do you like, how the group is mixing at this point? 

KW: I think it's a good balance. Obviously, we have a terrific class of freshmen. But I think what's really going to help them is the fact that they do have juniors and seniors who have been through this, have been through college basketball, to understand what's going on. That will help them as we get closer to the season and will keep them going in the right direction when they hit the wall a little bit. And I think it's been a really good mix so far.

Question: What sort of jumpstart does a European trip like this do for you guys, as far as like in the grand scheme of things heading into next season?

KW: I think more than anything it gives us a chance to see what works, what doesn't work, and what you can do. But I think most importantly, it's a great opportunity for the guys on the team to really bond get to know each other, spend serious time off the court together, and do some really interesting things including an opportunity to see culturally what they might not have been able to see. So I think these trips are invaluable. I think coaches get a lot out of it, players get a lot out of it, and fans get to see an early peek. And, I think it's one of those things I wish we were able to do a little bit more often just because I think it's so valuable.

Question: Obviously, a lot of key returners from last year that played big roles during the season, but you also have plenty of newcomers, what have been your first impressions of them, whether it's the freshmen or transfers, adapting to both your system and for some of them just adapting to the college games for the freshmen?

KW: It's been great. I knew they were going to be really, really good. But they are really, really good at this point in the year. Not only from a standpoint of just being players, but their work ethic is great. They've obviously been coached at a very high level in high school. So they've been through hard practices, they have played against very good competition. The transfers, unfortunately, you know, most of them been hurt, since they've been here. So we really haven't had a whole lot of time for the transfers to kind of get in there. But the young guys and the old guys are mixing well. 

Question: I'm kind of piggybacking on both of those questions. How important is this trip to Italy for the seven new guys coming in? They obviously have more time with returning players on the court earlier in the year and off the court in Italy - is that beneficial to just kind of getting this new group to gel together?

KW: I think it's a great jumpstart. I think gives gives everyone a chance to figure out everyone's personalities which is what I like to use the summer for. You know, we don't practice that much. It's the first time we I've practiced in the summer. So let everyone kind of figure everybody out. Again, I think the older guys are doing a great job with the young guys and transfers. It just trying to teach them how we work and what we do. And so it's, again, it's really valuable.

Question: How do you implement things and how do you determine what you're going to implement since we're kind of in a pre-preseason?

KW: I'm putting my full defense in. And we're adding in a couple of defenses this year because the veterans will know what we're doing for the most part on defense. But I'll throw the whole defense into our 10 practices. And that's usually the norm where we can usually get everything in by 10 practices and then you build on it. It won't be clean but we'll have our whole defensive packaging by the time we leave and then by the time we get back we'll probably have a good quarter of the offensive package. So I treat this like an NBA training camp. You know, it's intense. We're going to double sessions on the weekend. Individuals in the morning, practice in the afternoon on during the week, so it's going to be a hard 10 days. The Italy trip is is kind of the reward for the practices is the way I look at it. So 10 hard practices, three good games where everybody will play different combinations. But we you know, this is this is a great way to jumpstart of getting a lot of stuff in so you can work on stuff once they do come back for school.

Question: When did this trip to Italy sort of pop up on your radar?

KW: This was already scheduled before I got here. You know, because it was on the rotation once every four years. I just I tweaked the schedule a little bit. You know, I wanted to add a little bit more wine country than other places. So I just tweaked it a little bit. But it was already on the rotation.

Question: You've had some movement on the staff in terms of assistant coaches and such; what have you seen from from the new staff and some guys stepping into new roles? What have you seen from them so far?

KW: That's probably the biggest work in progress I have going on right now. The players are easy and, and everything like that. So it's getting Mike on up to speed on things that are different here, getting Greg a little bit more involved in what he was was able to do before. Ricky's been great, but he only got jumped on the floor July 1. David's elevated to a new role. So, for me, I think a lot of my summer has been trying to get the staff kind of on the same page and getting them to understand what we're doing. Luckily, I've been through this before, but I've never lost three in a year. So it's been a little bit more time consuming on the staff side and the player side. But that's a good thing about having guys like Jahmir Young, JuJu, Dante, and Jahari - those guys have been great in helping the players get ahead of where we're at where the staff hasn't had to be so involved.

Question: Coach, after you're successful year last year, do you see that you're being accepted much greater on the recruiting trail? And also, how's the NIL program going for the university?

KW: Recruiting has been going great. I think this area is extremely welcoming to everybody to be honest with you. There is such a high level of coaches. I've said this all along from the AAU side and from the high school side. They respect the fact that I think the staff has put a lot of hard work into building those relationships. And NIL has been great. You know, it's just a constant battle, because that's really what recruiting is all about. I hate to say it, but there's really nothing much else besides that and it's not going to change anytime in the near future. 

Question: Coach, you guys had your first of 10 practices yesterday? What was that practice like in terms of the atmosphere?

KW: Practice was great. I liked the fact that some some of the younger guys from last year took some took some steps and played really well. I love the way the freshmen didn't take a backseat, they came out right away and tried to try to prove themselves. I seen big jumps in in Jahmir; JuJu has taken another big jump so far - he's worked really hard on his shooting and playing a little bit more on the perimeter. And Dante is, I think, poised to have a really good fifth year.

Question: Kevin, is there an update on chance Stephens status? And if he's out for an extended period of time, how's the impact your perimeter offense?

KW: I don't think I'm allowed to give injury updates, you'd have to go through John for that. In terms of perimeter offense, though, Noah has taken a big jump and Jamie Kaiser can shoot it with the best of them. I think just adding those two guys on the floor at anytime along with Jahmir who has really improved his shooting will give us options. I think Dante will be a much more consistent shooter. You know, again, I think last year, these guys playing the tempo that we played was, was a little bit of the reason for the way we shot the basketball. I also learned a lot about the Big Ten, about life on the road, a little bit. So changing the offense a little bit, especially on the road to get better three point shots, that's a little bit about me, not the players. But Noah and Jamie are to two extremely high level shooters, so just putting them out there is going to improve our shooting.

Question: What type of basketball teams will you go up against when you're in Italy.

KW: Honestly, I have no idea. I really don't. It's kind of irrelevant to me who we're playing. It's early August so most of the pros are not back with their teams yet. So it's usually a total mix match of what you get. Like I said, I think the real value of these trips is experiencing all the history and the culture that Italy offers and the 10 days of practice. I'm just more focused on the 10 days of practice and then we'll tip it off and let them go. 

Question: What do you want to see on the court from your guys. 

KW: Pretty much the basic stuff; I want to see the 10 days of practice in action. I mean, again, the three games are great for them, they'll enjoy it. But the 10 days of practice for me, is really where I want to set the tone for the season. We're going to play all 13 guys and will mix up the line-ups some. So I'll try playing four guards with Mady, I'm gonna try to play 7-foot, 6-11,6-11, 6-6, and 6-6. So the games will kind of be fun and we'll be able to experiment. Each one of the assistant coaches are going to coach the games, I'm not going to coach them. I think it's a great opportunity for them to be in charge and draw plays. I've always done that. And I think it's been very beneficial to my assistant coaches. 

Question: Have you been to Italy before? Is there a food or a site that you're most excited to see while you're there?

KW: I've been in Italy two or three times. I love Rome. I just love the fact that you can you can walk into one of the oldest churches in the world, and the next thing you know, you're in a Michelin restaurant. It's the coolest city in my opinion; the people are great. They're very welcoming. The food is off the charts. Again, I enjoy a good red wine. It's one of the best wine countries in the world. So I do love Rome. And we're going to Florence which I think is one of the most underrated towns where you can just walk for hours and hours and hours. So we're lucky we're able to go and we're going to take advantage of the experience. 

Question: You talked about what you want to see on this trip. But how do you hope that this trip pays off? When we get to the late fall in the winter? When you guys are in season? What do you hope to see then from this trip?

KW: I think the biggest thing I'm hoping is that we can take steps with the four freshmen, that Cal can take another step, that Noah will take another step. That way, by the time we come back and start practicing in October, we're working on stuff that we usually work on in December. And that gives us an advantage that we can build off of those things. And then maybe I don't have to work Jahmir so hard in December and in January. The same thing with JuJu and Dante, because the younger guys, and the guys that didn't play as much last year, are more advanced and they can play more minutes and give those guys opportunities to rest so they don't get beat down as the year goes on.

Question: Some coaches delegate quite a bit. How hands off, or hands on, are you about the development of your ice cream flavor? How many samples do you allow yourself to take on a day or weekly basis?

KW: I'll tell you that the creamery they did an unbelievable job. I gave them my three favorite ingredients which are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, banana, and black raspberry, and they came up with two really, really really good options. I put it up to a vote. We went upstairs and everybody tried it. I knew I had my favorite and everyone thought I was nuts that black raspberry, banana, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups would taste good. And I think I'm a genius when it comes to ice cream. It's just just one of those things - you know I'm not that great on on any type of balanced plays, but I can pick an ice cream.

Question: Staying on the food front, you coached in and around the New York area for quite some time with some great Italian restaurants in the city. What sort of Italian dishes do you enjoy and do you hope to enjoy when you go overseas?

KW: Oh man, I'm a big chicken piccata guy. I love lasagna - my wife makes probably the best lasagna that I eat. I love the fact that the food over there is very simple. It's not heavy on sauce. Their pastas all fresh which is very hard to get. And their breads, which I've been doing really good job this summer staying off the breads, but I will go over there and kill the bread for for 10 days. So I'm a huge pasta guy - I can eat pasta every night if my 50-year-old body would let me. And their pizzas, even though I'm a New York pizza guy, I shouldn't say that, but their pizzas are really good.