Dave Canales introduced as the new Carolina Panthers head coach this morning!

I think that's what the most important thing you can do is demonstrate to your players that you care about them as people, how to get how to help them get better, get the most out of what they do. And nobody embodies that more than NC Central head basketball coach Lavelle Moten, who will one day be president of these United States of America and he joins us on the Adam Gold Show. Coach, how are you, sir? I'm blessed, man. I appreciate you guys having me on.

Thank you very much for doing this. We're all talking about coaching. Do you have a philosophy about communication, about how you talk to your players? Because, you know, I thought Dave Canales did a good job of kind of communicating his thoughts today. It is the first day everybody wins a press conference. But what do you draw from coaches and other sports?

I think I know one, you do. Just your thoughts on that. Um, you know, I think the more things change, the more they remain the same. Um, you know, at the end of the day, um, for you to be the best version of yourself and for you to be the best version of yourself, both individually and collectively. Um, it takes truth, right? And so at North Carolina Central, we just pretty much live it, tell it and take it all of us. So I'm always honest with our guys. Um, that's not very popular, but, um, but at the end of their, uh, eligibility, they appreciate it a lot more because they'll know it takes a healthy amount of respect to not look someone in the eye and tell them what they want to hear and tell them what they need to hear of the fact, you know, in America, we have a, I hope no kids are listening, but we have a way of, uh, falsifying things to make people feel better about themselves.

Sure. Right. Um, and we've created these, you know, abnormal thoughts and ideas, just so people can feel better about themselves. And at the end of the day, we're really lying to people. Um, if you look at that day in December, right? We've convinced the world that someone is coming down.

I hope no kids are listening. No, no, no, no, no. We're very pro Santa here. Okay. We're very pro Santa here. Right. So like, just think about the legend of Santa.

Just think about, um, if you lose your tooth, you know, uh, fairies going to come and put money under your pillow. And like, I was just, I just dealt with the truth as a, as a kid at a young age, my mother and grandmother just delivered the truth to me. And they said, we always gonna live it, tell it and take it. So that's pretty much the philosophy I have with my team. Right. And so I think they respected at the end of the day.

And at the end of the day, that's all you can do. Lavelle Moten myth busting here on the Adam Gold show. He joins us. Uh, first of all, I'm, I'm, I'm curious about this. First of all, your team's doing what your team, what your teams usually do when four and one in the league right now, based on your win over Norfolk state, you guys are in the driver's seat.

You'll be, uh, you guys have a game, uh, I believe at Coppin at four or at home against Coppin at four o'clock on Saturday. How have, how has the, the current landscape, the way college operates today, how has that made it more difficult? Or maybe has it not for you at central? So it's, it's made it extremely difficult because at the end of the day, it becomes a, the have and have not rather have the most money. Um, pretty much as the last man standing and that's the business is no longer your grandfather's NCAA whereas amateur athleticism, like if I told from one other day, if these kids are amateur athletic athletes, athletes anymore, they're just semi-pros. Right.

All they're missing is Will Ferrell. That's just what it is. Right. And so it's difficult because if you get a kid on your often, he averages 10 points a game, um, chances are a main major is going to offer them close to six figures to come be a part of their program. Another 19, 20 year old kid, you say nothing, you know, six figures. So it sucks because you spend so much time evaluating and trying to find a diamond in the rough.

And oftentimes these kids only have one or two scholarships coming out of high school or their respective programs. And you offer them that. And when I grew up, there was a sense of loyalty, um, where you didn't violate the people that gave you opportunities, but self preservation right now. So that was the wild, wild west. And I always said this anytime, any relationship that you're in, when you leave with money, it ends badly.

I don't care what you, what relationship it is when you leave with money, it ends badly. Right. And so, um, I'm all for student athletes receiving NIL and money, but I think we got away from NILs because NIL, that acronym is name, image and likeness. So where are we seeing these kids name, image and likeness display? It's just becoming pay for play.

I don't see them on any ketchup bottles or any, uh, beverage bottles or any billboard saying, okay, that's name, image and likeness. Right. And so you, you, you deserve to be fairly compensated for that. Now it's just one to 13.

Everybody's being compensated close to six figures on power five rosters. And, you know, at the end of the day, we got adapt and adjust, but it is what it is. And now it's, it's just.

Turns it to the wild, wild West. So to answer your question, it's become a lot more difficult because you see coaches that got into it just because they wanted to mold young men and teach them the valuable lessons and the principles of manhood through the game of basketball. They're leaving the sport now, because again, once you leave with money, it's just business. It ain't nothing personal about it. It's hard to build a relationship with the guys. It's just business.

And so I always challenge people. I say, I don't know if you'll see a senior night where a person or seniors holding their jersey over their head, crying and emotional anymore, because I don't think people are that invested in it anymore. Lavelle Moten is joining us. I got a text from somebody I was discussing. I was discussing like calls, you know, officials calls, uh, and he just kind of threw in out of nowhere, uh, that he's disillusioned by the state of the game. I think that the kids have always deserved the money. And I think this is more of an overcorrection for maybe 10 or 15 years of, in a lot of ways, taking advantage of free labor. Uh, and I think we're, we're again, overcorrecting, but he said, you know, Kay left, uh, Roy left, Boeheim left and mentions all these, uh, coaches who retired and said they got out because of the way that the college world works these days. Have you had those thoughts, uh, about, you know, doing something else?

Uh, and if so, is it related to this? That's a good question. I have, I just love what I do. Right.

And I've been fortunate, Adam, because a lot of people don't know this. I saw this change coming years upon years ago because I started my coaching career. Unlike many other coaches in this profession, they, the inception of their coaching career was in college. I started my coaching career as a middle school coach. Right.

Um, and then I did that for a couple of years and then I was a high school coach. So I was present with the change, the change in philosophy, the change in thoughts and ideas, the change in this generation, the change in these helicopter parents. I saw it all coming. So it's not a shell shock to me. I think everyone else was shell shocked because they didn't see it coming. Right. And it was kind of like the boogeyman waiting around the corner. And when they met the boogeyman, they're like, Oh no, I'm not, I can't handle this. I thought it was 15, 20 years ago. Um, because I was also a teacher in the classroom. So I would see a kid make 86 in my language arts class, but their mother would call me, want me to encourage the grade to a 90.

They didn't earn it. I was like, hold on. What is this? Right.

So it was, it hasn't been a major rollercoaster type adjustment for me. And at the end of the day, I love basketball and I just love molding the lives of young men and women and giving them those opportunities to go be better husband, fathers, um, head of household leaders in their communities. At Lavelle Moten on Twitter, Lavelle Moten, NC central head basketball coach is joining us here. Uh, you mentioned you were a middle school coach. I wish, uh, that you were, uh, Jack's middle school coach and maybe even as JV coach now who would tell him, no, don't Jack up that three.

We don't need another three. Um, I think it was Steve Kerr the other day that said the game might be getting too odd, might not have been Steve Kerr was a coach who said the game might be getting too offensive these days. And maybe we need to design, uh, rules to bring defense back into it.

Is that true? I kind of like offense. Yeah, I think, I think what the game needs is a balance. Um, I think unlike any era before we're seeing the most talented skilled basketball players to ever touch a basketball. Um, and I'll tell you what, I'll be completely honest with you. Um, the rules are now in favor of the offense, but social media has changed the thing as well. Right. Um, I was talking about this with, with, with Rashi Wallace. Like, you know, we've been close forever.

And so, you know, she don't bite his tongue on opinion. And I was just like, it's so crazy. Like you're seeing these guys score 70 and 60 and like, we're not even batting the ice, right? It was like, like we've become desensitized to office of output such as that. So if somebody gets 82 tomorrow, we'll say, okay, he scored 82 and it'll trend for a day. And then we're back to our regular lives. When a while back that used to just like stop the world for about two decades. Right. And so it's almost like social media has played a major part in the changing the way the game is played because honestly, Adam, people don't want to get embarrassed anymore. So I don't think they are relentless on the defensive end and fear of being crossed up, dunked on, scored on and all of those things.

So I just think it's, they're not even up for the challenge. So I think Luca scored, what was it? 73 73.

Right. So the headline was Luca scored 73 points on the Hawk. When I played, it would be Luca score at 73 points on John Doe. And that was personal because back in the day, our matchup was our matchup. Nowadays, there's so many ball screens that people just get to switch. And so there's no culpability or responsibility on, yo, you got Luca, this is your matchup.

Right? And so it's not like that anymore. And so it's a different game. It's being played differently. I don't think people are guarding with the pride that they want to guard it.

And I just think people love to see the office of output. So something has to change a little bit, the competitive nature. And again, I love the fact that everybody's making money, but when you're making that much money, right? You don't, you don't have, you're not incentivized to go out there and guard and defend and make it walk on the defensive end of the floor. It was always a generation of defensive players that that's how they earned their living.

Right. But now, nowadays, everybody earns their living on the offensive end of the floor. The other, the other day, Carl Anthony towns scored 62 and he wasn't even the high score among centers in the sport because Joe Ellen bead had 70 the same day. It's just unbelievable. And I remember Kevin Durant's response to that was like, what, what are you kidding me? I had seen Carl Anthony towns had like 48 or something at the half. Before I let you go, Lavelle Moten, you guys have a big game coming up on Saturday against Coppin State.

Four o'clock. Environments at, at your place are usually pretty good. How's, how's it been this year?

And what do you like the most about your team? You know, it's been, our environment is great, man. If you've never got a chance to come out and witness a HBCU basketball game, like it's unlike anything you've ever seen in your life with all due respect to everyone else in their fan basis. It's a lot different, man. It's a lot different.

And it's too difficult to describe on the phone. You almost have to sit firsthand and experience it. You know, our crowd, our fans, our students, the alums that they've been superb throughout, you know, my entire tenure at North Carolina Central, and they truly make it a home court advantage. And we just call them our sixth man and the student section out of Moten Maniacs and they bring it. And so they make it a difficult place for both the teams to play.

And, you know, I like my team. It's different because we have 10 new guys. So we're just trying to figure it out. Right. It's like, wow, how do you get 10 new guys to buy in to the value system and the more system that you're trying to implement? It's really, really difficult. Right. And I just think that's the frustration throughout the country with opposing coaches.

You know, most people have developmental programs. We were one of those programs, but it's just hard to roll the ball out there for one year, get 10 guys to kind of buy in because 10 guys are not going to buy in and still have some level of success. We've been fortunate to kind of have a solid trajectory and get these guys on one accord and, you know, kind of stick to our principles and beliefs and our value system and trying to get them to the fan. And so we've been successful thus far. Got a long way to go, a short time to get there. But we'll keep grinding. Eight of your last nine, you have won four and one in the conference and in the last nine games holding teams to 18% from three-point range.

That is a good formula. Lavelle Moten, N.C. Central head coach, four o'clock Saturday against Coppin State. I appreciate your time, my friend. I'll talk to you very soon. Thanks so much for coming on. You're the best, my man. Thank you so much, brother. We'll talk to you soon. Lavelle Moten here on the Adam Gold Show.