Herb Sendek, Santa Clara Men's Basketball Coach

The Oklahoma City Thunder are one win away from hoisting a Larry O'Brien trophy. Last night, they won their 63rd game of the season by double digits, which is just a stupid good number. They have 83 wins on the season. A big reason why they won that game. And a lot of these games this year has been Jalen Williams, who was cooking last night.

Once again, he had 40 points in a game five in NBA Finals to put his team one win away from winning the championship. And his story is unbelievable from zero power five college offers, ended up being a three-star recruit, goes to Santa Clara. And right, just the story of him being the 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft is really cool.

Now he's right the Robin to the Batman in Oklahoma City, and they are one win away from winning the title. Let's get a little bit about the origins of this story with the head men's basketball coach at Santa Clara University. And that, of course, is Herb Sendek, who's kind enough to join us right now. Coach, appreciate the time. Thanks so much for giving us a few minutes.

That's my pleasure. Great to be together with you. Yeah, so let me start you off. You're watching your former college player last night. You know what he's been able to do in the NBA.

But when he drops 40 points in an NBA Finals game to put his team up three games to two, how do you just process that?

Okay. Yeah, it was uh Obviously, a tremendous amount of fun to watch. I was sitting in our living room together with my wife Melanie and we were cheering as if we were courtside at the game. And then the text started coming in from different members of our Santa Clara University community, and they've continued to roll. in all through today.

And so I think our entire university community right now just has tremendous pride and is really enjoying seeing Jalen succeed at the level that he is. And I love a story like that, right? Because he didn't go to one of these big programs. He ends up being no Power Five offers. Like I said, a three-star recruit.

And here he is on one of these all-time great teams.

So let me ask you, going back a few years now, how did he originally get on your radar? How did you originally discover Jalen Williams?

Well, I think it was during his sophomore year in high school that a member of our staff, Jason Ludwig, identified him as a promising young prospect.

So we started following him. And then as he got into his junior year, We started recruiting him. And from then you know, just kind of stayed with the process and ultimately he chose to come to Santa Clara. But Jason did a great job early on identifying him as somebody that would really fit our program. And then we were fortunate to be able to get him to choose us.

Now tell me the story I was reading on Anscape earlier with the glasses and the J Drip nickname that you ended up giving him. Yeah, I mean, like early on, it was obvious he had a flair for fashion. He is a big personality. He loves life. He never has a bad day.

And so one time when I went to see him, he was rocking these sunglasses with white rims. And they look pretty good, actually. And so the next time I went to see him, I too was wearing the same sunglasses. And so, you know, that's kind of stayed with us through the years as we've gone back and forth, him making fun of my fashion. and me always recognizing his elite fashion all the way to the Paris Fashion Show.

Now, I'm from Long Island. I didn't realize that he was also considering Hofstra, and it was pretty close between you guys and Hofstra. Obviously, good for you guys that you got him there and look at the career that he's gone on to have. When you had the build up to his announcement and where he was deciding to go, how nervous was it? And you start to realize: man, this guy could can be really special.

And maybe we do have one of these uncut gems here. Yeah, no, we were thrilled when he decided to come with us. We really were. And, you know, we knew he was going to be a tremendous fit for us and an outstanding player. And so anytime you are able to finally get a commitment from a player that you've been recruiting for that period of time, it's always a celebratory moment.

Why was he a coach so so underrecruited when you look back at this process in your opinion? I don't have an answer to that question. You know, we you know, we recruit guys who we think can play anywhere and who have bright futures in the game. And we were convinced The jailing was special.

Now Could I have predicted he was going to score forty points in Game five of an NBA Finals three years into his NBA career? Probably not. But we knew he was going to be a very, very good basketball player in college and beyond.

So, obviously, you guys thought he always had the potential. Maybe not to this level, but was there a moment? Through his college career, where you said, okay, this is not only going to be a guy that's special, but he's going to be really, really special.

Well, I think there were there were You know, it was a buildup over time. It wasn't just, you know, like one moment or one play or one practice or game. You could just see it building, you know, as he made progress through his first year. His second year was a tortured year because it was COVID. And our season was an aberration in every conceivable way.

And so it's almost unfair to overthink or put too much stock into what he did or didn't do that year. And then he came back his junior year. And I would say early on in the non-conference season, you know, we would look at each other in staff meetings and say, This guy's not going to be with us after this year. It's an unbelievable story. You know, you look back at it now in this NIL.

And transfer portal era. Clearly, he valued the relationship that he built with you. And you guys did such a great job at building those relationships. It still kind of shows you that relationships still mean so much in the game of college basketball and all college sports. They do, and it's the most important thing.

And that's the most important thing in life. And it's hard to... Um think of any endeavor that um yeah that is it made better by the presence and the community with others? Coach Harp Sendek here with us for a few more minutes. Jalen Williams, his player from college, had 40 points last night.

Thunderer, one win away from winning an NBA championship. Does his great job, obviously, is the head basketball coach at Santa Clara. You got a chance when you're at Arizona State to coach James Harden. Just how do you kind of compare coaching James to Jalen? See, that's something I would never do.

I would never compare. You know, that's. That's a Had uh Unproductive exercise. And, you know, I think we tend to do. Too much of that.

And I think you, what would be a better exercise is just to enjoy. The uniqueness of each player, of each person, and allow them their own space to be who they are. And, uh, So I, you know, no different than a parent with more than one kid, right? Who's the favorite child? Yeah.

You don't want to get into comparisons, because when you compare, you almost necessarily. unintentionally diminish one when you elevate the other in some regard. And uh I just find great beauty in allowing each of them and and all of our guys to be uniquely themselves.

So so what made let me ask you to see then this way. What made James so unique looking back at it and what made Jalen so unique looking back at it? I mean, I just think each of them had their own path, their own personality. Their games have evolved according to their own skill sets and opportunities. They just have their own unique paths.

Both Absolutely great in their own way, in their own regard. Um but uniquely themselves. It's got to be surreal because you look at James, he's going to be a Hall of Famer, right? And he won an MVP in this league and also started his career with Oklahoma City. And now you see Jalen, what he's gone on to do.

And that team, right, one more victory. They get a championship and he had 40 points in NBA Finals, knowing those guys from the beginning. I know, right, you're in the college business, right, you've had successful players before, but it's got to be pretty neat when you just say, okay, James Harden, MVP of the NBA, and Jalen Williams now a guy that had 40 points in NBA Finals game. Yeah, no, it really is amazing. And those guys deserve all the credit, and I couldn't be happier for their successes, you know.

And it is tremendously fulfilling for a coach, a teacher, a parent to watch the evolution and development, the growth of young people. And in these two particular cases, you know. Worldwide attention is being showered on their development. And you think back like it was just yesterday. when you were going to see them playing in a high school game or a club basketball game in the summer.

And you can recall fondly the first day they arrive on campus as a freshman. And now you fast forward to these kinds of epic moments on the biggest stage in basketball. The early parts of Jalen Williams, when you watched him in high school, what did those games look like? Just wondering, coach. Yeah, I mean right away it was obvious to us like he had a really, really high basketball IQ, a great feel for the game.

He also had a a good skill set. And you could just tell, I mean, He hadn't caught up to his body yet and his body wasn't finished. Growing and maturing. And we just felt like once that happened. Right.

These other things that we were seeing and noticing would really blossom. And begin to impact the game at even greater levels. And so, yeah, you could just see. I mean, he had. He had a lot of really amazing attributes, tremendous potential, and it just took time to develop those, some natural maturation.

And even since he started in the NBA three years ago, he just improves every step of the way. You know, and last night we saw another breakthrough for him. Before we let you run, so I'll go to the draft next week. Through NBA experiences, they sent me the last few years, and it's an awesome time. And they put you right on the floor, and you get to see all the college coaches with their players and their families.

When you go back to Reliving That Night in 2022, when he was the 12th overall pick. in the NBA draft, just what do you recall fr from from that time? Yeah, just um I felt a tremendous amount of gratitude to be able to be there and share that moment with Jalen and his family. Jalen has absolutely a wonderful, beautiful, amazing family. His parents, You know, they are incredible.

They have to share so much in this success story. Jalen would be the first to tell you that. You know, they're. their parenting helped. propel him In ways that are impossible to measure.

So, to be there, to be a part of that special moment, I just feel a heart full of gratitude. gives you chill bumps. You know, one more thing, just looking at what Jalen's been able to do. It's one thing to be a great player in this league, and then it's another thing to be a great player that's also clutch. Was that clutch gene something that was always evident to you?

Because they have forty points in an NBA Finals game. That's as clutch as as it could be, especially with some of those moments that he had late in the game when it started to get a little bit tight. Yeah, I mean, I immediately think back to his game winner against BYU, other clutch moments he had for us. Jalen is very even keel when it comes to performance. Doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low.

And like I said earlier, he doesn't have a bad day. He might have a moment like all of us. But he's a happy person and he finds joy in the process. He's a positive person, so he's gonna see the glass always as being not half full, but three quarters full. And as a result, he's able to.

I think really navigate pressure situations well because he has a bedrock of belief in himself. Right? He's confident. And He's just able to Um stay in the moment. without once again getting too high or too low.

He's the head basketball coach at Santa Clara. That, of course, is Herb Sendek, kind enough to join us the day after one of his college players, former college players, Jalen Williams, lit up the NBA Finals in a game five, putting the Thunder up three games to two with the 40-point performance. Coach, good luck this upcoming season. We appreciate the time. Thanks for doing this.

Hey, my pleasure. All the best, guys. Thank you. You got it. There he is.

Coach Herpsendek joining us on the Zach Gelp show on the Infinity Sports Network. Appreciate him carving out some time for us. We got one more segment to play and one more segment to get to. Stanley Cup final. It could be over tonight with the Stanley Cup in the building.

We'll take a look at that when we come on back. Update time first. Here's Zach.