Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to Kendall speaks. I'm Dr. Bryan Stewart. Kendall campus president.
Today we are graced and blessed to have our men's and women's basketball coach, Coach George Fernandez. Welcome.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Thank you. Good to be here.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: And coach Susan Summers. Welcome.
[00:00:19] Speaker C: Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: Great to have you two here. And it's an appropriate time. We're right in the middle of basketball season and, and we both have some great things to talk to you about.
Let's first talk a little about your journey here. Coach Summons, we'll start with you. Talk a little bit about your journey and how you got to Miami Dade College. I know you've been here a day or two, so tell us about maybe before Miami Dade and then the last several years, many years.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: Well, Dr. Stewart, it's a pleasure to be here. Kendall speaks. Great time in men's and women's basketball here at Miami Dade in a transformational time with athletics.
Yes, I've been here a few minutes, just a few minutes. But my road or the journey here to Miami Dade probably started, you know, when I had an opportunity to help a high school coach who needed assistance.
And I just finished my professional career as a pro player.
So I walked into the gym and she needed some help and she said, listen, I need an assistant coach.
We're not doing well. I said, okay, I'll try this.
I really hadn't planned on being a coach, but I stepped into it. She said, I think you'll motivate the girls. And that's what we did. We went on a 14 game winning streak, won the high school state championship that year.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: And the rest is history. I had a job offer to coach at Roxbury Community College, led them to the national Junior college championship tournament, state championship. Sent some kids here to fiu, Florida Atlantic. That created the connections from Boston to Florida. And then this position opened up under the esteemed. At that time, Jim Harvey and I also had an opportunity to coach NCAA Division 1 at Cornell University as a Division 1 associate coach. But when Miami Dade brought me in first, I never made it to that interview. Dr. Stewart.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Oh, wow. I didn't realize that. And that's our blessing that that never happened.
[00:02:08] Speaker C: So here I am and been trying to build that helm and the pyramid, as you would say, as John Winnard would say, the pyramid of success right here at Miami Dade from the inside and out, nationally, academically and athletically, with championships and graduation high rates at 93%.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: That's awesome. And I understand you're two wins away from 700, right?
[00:02:30] Speaker C: That is correct. Two wins.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: You know, I was sharing with someone the other day, CBS is going to do a broadcast special on me and they're coming into film on February and they'll be featuring that. But I'm focused on the team and the student success and I'm not focused on the milestones. Milestones happen when you work hard and you prepare and you're not looking.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Great attitude. And we're certainly going to talk about that current team here in just a minute. Coach Fernandez, I know a little bit about your journey, but tell me how you got here.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: Well, I.
I played basketball. I grew up here. Played locally at Miami Killian High School, right around the corner from here. Played a lot of games at Miami Bay South. It was Miami Dade south back then.
And so I played. I was fortunate to get a basketball scholarship and played at Stetson University.
I played for the great coach, Dr. Glenn Wilkes, one of the best coaches. He's in the College Basketball hall of Fame. I had a great experience. Basketball was my thing. That's what motivated me every day. I was able to go to school, got a degree in business.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: Business.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: So when I finished there, I had a little thing in the cba. It's kind of the G League. And I was playing for the Sarasota Stingers.
And I ended up getting cut about two or three games into the season. And the coach, the head coach had tried to recruit immediately. He was coaching at Southwestern Louisiana while I was in high school. He tried to get me over there. I decided to go to Stetson. And he told me, said, george, I think you've taken this as far as you can take it.
So now I'm in limbo, what I'm going to do. So I started working in a bank because I had my degree. I said, well, let's get on with my life. Basketball was great, move on. But I'll tell you what, I was miserable. And I had my boss, my direct boss at the bank called me in one day. He said, george, you don't want to do this. I could tell you're here, but you know, your job, your kind of getting sloppy, you're better. I said, you need a coach. And he got to know me over those two year period. And so I got a job at Barry University, D2. I was an assistant. That was my first job. And then I was able to get a graduate assistantship at the University of Miami. They had just brought basketball back. When Bill Foster was there, he came from Clemson, great coach.
So I was there for him. For a year. Then they didn't bring him back and they brought Leonard Hamilton, who did a phenomenal job of resurrection that program. He's done a great job at Florida State and so he's kind of been a mentor. So that's how I kind of got into coaching. I coached high school at Coral Park High School, Southridge High School here, locally. Then I got my first Division one job as an assistant at ucf.
You know, I moved around. Ended up back in Miami for seven years in the acc.
Associate head coach. Things happen. I'm back in high school and I. I coached at Doral Academy. We won a state championship there, my fourth year. Great experience. And when this job opened up, I always had fond memories of this place. The guy that helped me get my first Division 1 job was Cesar Odeo. Coach Summons knows. Great man. You know, he passed away about four or five years ago, but he coached here. And I remember all the great things that he did. I remember his camps. No pro camps here in the summer. They were phenomenal. And when this job opened up, you know, I went after. It was blessed, you know, to be able to get this job. And I'm glad I'm here. You know, I was always fond. And people forget. We used to have three, three teams.
North campus, downtown campus and south campus. And we all know how good the north campus was with Bill Ihelm. You know, they went to the national tournament a couple times. One year they lost in the national championship game. So I grew up around that and. And I remember the memory. So that's why what lured me to come back here. And I'm blessed to be here. I'm really glad.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Well, our audience will know how blessed we are to have both of you. You can tell the roots in basketball, the roots in Florida and Miami Dade College basketball is in great shape with both of you. So let's go through some questions. Let's talk about a typical week. And I know that's a tough question because a typical week varies, whether it's your recruiting or whether you're preseason. But let's talk right now since we're in the middle of district play. Coach talk about what a typical week.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Looks like, you know, for us. We. We have the. We practice 12, 30, 2, 30 every day. That's our block.
And we watch film. Sometimes we'll do it before practice, sometimes after.
And they lift. Right now we're lifting during the season. We lift. I have them lifting every Monday and Thursday. So we do it after practice. We also have study hall, so we do Study halls three times a week, four times a week. And study hall kind of varies. Some guys need it more than others, so we're really on top of it, you know.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Coach Summons, you agree with that also?
[00:07:09] Speaker C: I definitely agree with that.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: So there's guys that I say you need more than three days, you know, they don't like it, but it's for their own benefit, you know, because I always tell them, I said, I've seen this, and I know Coach Summons can relate to this. We've seen a lot of kids that are really good players and they can't move on because they're deficient academically. And I was fortunate that I played for a coach that he was honest about getting our degrees. So I'm on them about. Big thing with me is I want them to leave here with an AA degree. They're here two years, you know, sometimes they only might be here a year because they get a Division 1 offer and they move on. I'm okay. But as long as they're here two years, our focus is academic, to make sure they get their A degree. So my assistants, what I do is I divide individuals. I give half to one coach, half to the other coach, and they're responsible, meeting with them, and if there's an issue, get to me, you know. And so we try to stay on top of things. And the thing that I like here, you know, now we got progress reports that go out electronic.
A lot of places don't do that, you know. So if there's an issue, we try to find it early in the process because you don't want to find it with a week left in class because sometimes it's just too late to do anything. So. So, you know, this past semester, we had a 2.95.
You know, the guys. We had three guys for a 4.0, you know, so they kind of carried the load. But I have a good group. I really have a good group. And I try to recruit kids that I enjoy being around, that are coachable, that are about the right things. It's not just about winning, but you gotta have, you know, academics gotta mean something for sure.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Well, I've watched him, and I enjoy watching them, too. You said something that brought back memories to me. I think back when I played this wonderful sport.
Did you lift weights when you played?
[00:08:47] Speaker B: We did. And back then, Coach Summer, did you?
[00:08:49] Speaker C: I did.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Boy, I didn't. Our coaches didn't do it my senior year in college, no. My junior year, I found them finally. But if I'd have lifted Weights sooner.
Hated that.
[00:09:02] Speaker C: Change your body, change your game, get better.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess in Texas we weren't that smart.
Coach summons. Talk about a typical week for you right now with conference play going on.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: Conference play, you know, very similar to George. We have different staggered schedules, but the concepts are and principles are the same.
We focus the emphasis on making sure the students have good resources so they can continue to perform not only in the classroom, but on the floor. It's a grueling week. It's a busy week for them physically, emotionally, spiritually.
We have to address the mental wellness aspect.
That's real.
We have academic study table three, four times a week. And I also do, because part of my background is as a faculty member, as an educator, I sometimes will do an academic blitz, what I call an academic blitz. If I feel there's an urgency to do a blitz five or six days a week, non stop to address an issue. Another component I include, obviously is if I have a student or two that needs that extra, additional work, extra hours, they're in there for extra hours. They may not like it, but they appreciate it later on. We currently have a team GPA of a 2.80x. I'm happy with that. I've got a good group. They're coachable.
We're trying to maintain the injuries that we have.
In retrospect, women's basketball and women's sports provides them an opportunity to improve their health overall and maintain good health.
And that's important to their well being. As a student athlete, they're a student first and they have to be able to function in the classroom.
And I played the game as a top AIAW NCAA college player for Texas. Lamar University, Belmont, Texas.
43 points, single game scoring record.
We played against McNeese State. I finished number two in the state of Texas at that time and we lifted weights. You know, our regiment was very strong.
What I try to do here, because I'm big on conditioning and training, it also provides an edge to our opposition.
Keeps them sharp mentally, physically, keeps them alert, keeps them focused in the right direction, that this is serious. There's a sense of urgency. We want to be the best, we don't want to be the least.
So I keep them in what we call apt training. Athletics has hired a company, Athletes performance training, functional sports training. They're very good. We do that three days a week. While they're doing that, they also lift weights. We're in season, so we're looking at maintenance and maintaining the strength, not going overboard. We talk about explosive movement Burst pushing everything that they may experience in the game. So we include that as well. I think it's been beneficial, I think it's been helpful. That's why I have kept it in place.
We do film review. We break down film preparation and the will to win helps you to achieve success.
You have to have both. Not just preparation, but you have to have the will. So we break down film before practice, sometimes after, sometimes on the bus, sometimes in the hotel. Maybe I'll go back to the same film again just to make sure this something we didn't miss. Take a look at the film.
We need to make sure we got a box out number 22. And what can we do different? So it helps them to prepare, it helps them to center and focus on what we have to do. And the rest is up to them. We all know as far as Gump would say, you can open up a box of chocolate, still don't know what you're going to get when you take the wrapper off. And when the game starts and the buzzer sounds, we could do all the preparation, but it's up to the players to show up when the lights come on and play the game.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: That's awesome. Well, I hope we have a few perspective Miami Dade College players listening. And with that in mind, let's, I want each of you to talk about your coaching philosophy.
Help our audience understand what. And we'll start with you, Coach Summons. What's your philosophy with your team? And I'm sure it's evolved over the years, but today, where do you see your, what's your philosophy with your players?
[00:13:28] Speaker C: Well, I think my philosophy is, is a culmination of the journey I've had as an educator, a professor, a mentor coach working with USA Olympic basketball.
And I like to just simply say my focus is to create champions not for a day, not for a week, but for a lifetime.
And sports happens to be the treadmill and the springboard that allows us to be able to give them that foundation to help them be a champion in life skills. Sports teaches discipline.
It helps them to be better leaders.
It helps them to be better students in the classroom. It helps them to be organized. It helps them to prepare to do well on a job interview.
So my philosophy as a coach really embraces all of the components that it takes to be a well rounded coach, student athlete.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Wonderful. That's wonderful. Great job. Coach Fernandez, your philosophy?
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I kind of see myself as, as a mentor to these kids. You know, I think today especially kids need mentors because they're not. It's a different world that we're living in. The.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: And you know, Coach Thomas said you, I've changed, my style has changed from. I've been doing this 35 plus years. But you have to adapt to how the world is going. And kids learn differently, they react differently to stressful situations where, you know, in the past, and I'll take Bobby now, you know how Bobby was, Bobby was, you know, he was on you and great coach. But that style doesn't, doesn't work today because kids don't, they don't know, they don't react well.
I think kids today, like, if they fail, it's like the end of the world. And you know, sometimes you have to fail to move on. I try to use my own life experiences sometimes, you know, the character of a man is revealed, how you deal with adversity. So I try to prepare him not just for basketball games but off the court. You know, someday these guys, they're going to be husbands, fathers, you know, and I do, I like to bring in guys, talk to them like some role models, you know, that I've known that have played basketball. Not too long ago I had Chris Corciani here. Chris Corciani was a great player here in Miami. McDonald's All American, played at NC State, played in the NBA. He came and he had a great message to them. Just bring him in, talk to him for like 30 minutes. So, you know, it's not just all about basketball. And I try to teach him. Look, to be successful, there's a process you have to follow.
I don't really focus a lot on just the winning and losing. I said, that'll come. The winning will come if you do A, B and C. Try to teach them that, you know, and try to teach them that, look, it's okay to fail. Sometimes the best lessons are when you fail, especially in sports. And I like team sports because it teaches you how to work with other people, that we can't do it ourselves. We all need help. I don't care who you are and how successful you become in life. We all need somebody there to help us. A mentor or something. Said learn to rely how to work with other people. It's a lot easier to win games when you do it together as opposed to doing it by yourself. And then, you know, academics are important to me. You know, I want them. I've seen the stories where guys, we've had guys come here from other junior colleges.
When we got their transcript, they basically had them in classes just to keep Them eligible. There was no course whatsoever for them to get a successful degree. They weren't it. They would have stayed in that pattern. And I had a Division 1 coach tell me this the other day. He goes, you know, we like recruiting guys from your program because I know academically, you guys are doing it the right way. So when they get there prepared, and that's our job, you know, to help.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: Them, that's an ultimate compliment, having that.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm trying to help them reach their goal. I know what their goal is. They all want to move on and play, whether it's Division one, Division two, get a degree and all that. So we try as best as we can to help them along the way.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: And, you know, Miami Dade has always been looked at as one of the top academic community colleges in the country.
And for many years, as it relates to the NCAA requirements and compliance, when other institutions may have been struggling through the transformation, Miami Dade was always a mainstay because we were already working towards the highest level of academic outcome and performance for our students as it relates to the NCAA requirements. We also would have some NBA players come in from the Philadelphia 76ers, the legendary Wally Jones, to come in and do a workshop with our students. I also had a couple of the Harlem Globetrotters come in.
I had one of my colleagues from the NBA, Lakers, Irv Thomas, who's a homegrown guy right here in Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Octavia Blue, who played for the wnba, who's now at Kennesaw. So we try to bring in guest speakers and even our own professors here at Miami Dade College, our arts and letters faculty who want to come in and do a speaking segment with our students to give them a variety of different aspect of the game, but life and how to be a better student. Very relevant.
Miami Dade has an incredible global.
Global excellence rating.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: That's great.
Talk a little bit about mentors for you.
George, let's start with you. Who are the. You mentioned some earlier, but who are the mentors that got you where you are today?
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Well, my. My college coach and I learned a lot of basketball from him, but I also learned how he dealt with us.
You know, he.
He had been a stetson for over 30 years. I'll just use as an example. I know Susan can relate.
He was one of the first coaches in the South Back then.
Black players weren't being recruited by Southern schools. He was one of the first ones to do with a Stetson.
And he made a pact with the president. He goes, some of these kids are probably the first person in their family to go to college, let them in.
I'll make sure they graduate. And he always graduated.
And a lot of them, you know, he passed away not too long ago, but when he was 90, they did a celebration for him and we went. He had players that I didn't know he had been coaching so long, and they were all so thankful. And it wasn't just the basketball, it was the part that I'm talking about. He did give him an opportunity to succeed in life outside basketball.
Leonard Hamilton was.
I learned I was a GA at Miami. I had been a player. I knew nothing about coaching, how to run a program, especially at that level. And I saw it every day. You know, he's been doing it. He's 75, he's still going strong at Florida State. You know, he did a great job at Miami.
He was associate head coach at Kentucky back in the glory days.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: I didn't know that.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Yeah, for Joe B. Hall, recruited, great recruiter. And I tell you what I learned from him.
I understood why he was able to get great players.
He was a relationship building person. And by that I mean he taught me. He goes, george, you can recruit a kid.
You have to have a relationship on a daily basis. They're gonna have good days, bad days in school, outside school. And he always said, look, they might have a fight with their girlfriend. And that right there will trigger where it'll affect them in the classroom, it'll affect them on the court. But he was. He constantly. And I mean, he talked to those kids every day.
His office was always open. You know, some head coaches, they don't want players going in there, want the assistance to deal with it. And he was opposite. You know, he wanted assistant coaches involved in their lives. But he would constantly. And I saw that. You know, he's been coaching over 40 years and he, you know, if to. To last that long, you got to be doing something well, sure, but I had him and then Kirk Spiro, who gave me my first Division 1 job. You know, he was great. He coached at UCF for a long time. Then he ended up being an assistant in Iowa. He's no longer coaching. But those guys were very helpful because I was young and I'm trying to figure out, you got to recruit, you got to coach, you got to do so many things as an assistant coach. But I learned how to run a program that now I'm using those same principles that I learned here at Miami Dade, you know, and I think those guys were great.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: For me, that's a Great answer. Awesome. Coach Summons, I know you've had a mentor to talk about your mentors, please.
[00:21:56] Speaker C: Well, one mentor probably was very influential for me was the former Boston Celtics player, Satch Sanders, played for the NBA Celtics. He was a mentor to me as I was growing up and really learning the game in the Boston Garden, thinking I could play this game and later on believing I could coach this game, and then later on in my pro career, helping to train me to play in the women's pro league.
Cindy Russo, who's one of the top NCAA coaches for Division I, George might remember that name. FIU, led FIU to the NCAA Sweet 16.
We sent her a great many of players over the years to fiu.
She coached at Lamar University and saw me when I was playing in the USBL California League and offered me a Division 1 scholarship.
And that's how I ended up at Lamar University in Texas playing for coach Cindy Russo and led them to a Southland NCAA championship as a top college prospect and got drafted in the third round of the first ever women's pro league, the wbl, out of Lamar for Cindy Russo.
Great principles, great motivator, had a great relationship.
So through those mentors and just garnishing the ability to work with people because we're in the people business every day.
And as George would say, if you're in the people business, you're in the relationship business. And as a coach, a coach is a teacher, A teacher is a coach.
And you have to have that relationship with that student athlete.
On a bad day or good day, it doesn't matter. You have to be able to identify that and get the best out of them.
I have been fortunate over the years to be gifted enough to see the best in a student and get it out of them. And sometimes they don't see it, but they realize halfway through the process, they start seeing it and then they start blossoming.
And you get all kinds of students from different walks of life, different background, different family values. You have to be able to cultivate that because as you say and as you know, everyone learns differently.
Everyone brings something different to the table, and you have to be able to pull out all of those rich nuggets to create the best kind of team atmosphere.
And so Cindy Russo, another mentor, Pat Head Summit, the late, great Pat Head Summit from the University of Tennessee. The late evolves. I remember on multiple occasions sitting in her basketball camp as a coach on the first row with Bobby Knight.
And I won't say what Bobby Knight was saying, you know, and we all.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: Know at Least the three of us does.
[00:25:07] Speaker C: I think the three of us know if you ask Bobby Knight a question on how do you win the game, he'll say, take care of the basketball, but I'm gonna blank out tits along the way. Anyway, I'm sitting there and I'm just listening to some of the rich nuggets that Pat had. Summit would share with the audience that I garnish some of my principles on when I'm working with students in general.
And it has been helpful. But other mentors. Jim Cox, the late great Jim Cox, who was the director of athletics here for many years. In fact, he was one of the main ads that brought me in for my interview many years ago.
And I knew when he picked me up at the airport, at Miami airport, this is where I was going to be.
Because he was a relationship athletic director. He was a people person.
He was very fair, very supportive, and his wife is a dear friend, Jan Cox.
So next year we will culminate in our women's basketball season, the Jim Cox and Jan Women's Basketball Classic. And we'll feature six teams here in November, 14th through the 16th just to commemorate his honor. So he was a tremendous mentor and there's been so many others.
I could go on and on, but I pull a lot of different principles for everyone. Teachers, Faculty, colleagues, presidents, Dr. Padrone.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Eduardo Padrone, he's the reason I'm here.
[00:26:51] Speaker C: Yes. And Madeline Pomayega, another great one.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:26:56] Speaker C: My former player, but also fearless leader, mentor, colleague.
So there are a lot of nuggets that I pull in to help shape.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: That I appreciate you both sharing those great things. Let's take now a moment maybe for each of you to share one of your accomplishments you're maybe most proud of. Coach Summons, we'll start with you.
I know that's a tough one, but you mentioned a few already, but anything come to mind?
[00:27:23] Speaker C: I think one accomplishment that I would mention in recent is our team bouncing back from a tough loss on the road by two points against the 15th in the nation ranked team in overtime.
And we came out the very next night to win a game. 132 to 68 points. We scored 132 points.
It was the first in the state.
I actually have the FCA commissioner checking to see if it was a record, but we scored 132 points in one single game.
And I took the press off and so that was a tremendous accomplishment for them to see the growth.
And when I do a film review before I go forward, I always go backwards.
So that they can see their results. And I use it as a motivation to. To help them move forward. And if they could see that their work is giving them good results, they're going to work harder and reach higher.
So that's just one accomplishment. Another would be our team GPA with all of the different injuries, and we've been on the road a lot, we've been traveling a lot, and it's grueling.
And to be able to maintain high academic standards and high academic performance while you're experiencing that is also a tremendous accomplishment because we all know sitting here that that can be an impact on a student academically.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: Very good. Thank you. Coach Fernandez, any come to mind for this season?
[00:29:19] Speaker B: Obviously, we had a big win back in December. Last game before the Christmas break, we beat Monroe. They were ranked 15th in the country, and they had just beaten Northwest Florida in New York by 20, 25 points. So last year we played them because we always play in the FSW Classic, which is the last two games in December before they go home for the break. And we lost a tough game to them. They're good program. They've been around. They're naturally ranked, and that was a big win this year. We beat Indian river early in the year, and people are saying, well, it's just a conference game. But men's program hadn't won an Indian river in close over 10 years because I was kind of checking. So I always try to give them something to play for. You know, we all want to win the game, but every game is different. As far as the message, I said, look, you need to change that. And we played really well.
Other accomplishments outside of Miami Dade, winning a state championship when I was at Doralla county, that was big. You know, we had a good team, but we weren't overly talented as some of the teams that we had to play along the way. But we beat some heavy hitters, won six games to go to win the championship. And we had a goal. It was a tough path, but those kids were tough. They were mentally tough. And, you know, now the best thing is you win a championship, and that's there. And. But the relationships, you know, and the memories are there. I always tell kids, I always tell. I tell our guys, you know, let's create memories for this year. You know, we're trying to win a conference championship. Men's program hasn't done that in a while.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: When's the last time our programs won championship?
[00:30:51] Speaker C: Well, we won a conference championship, actually, before the pandemic. We were coming off for back to back to back women's conference championships when the pandemic hit. And then the pandemic hit and things changed a little bit and we had a resurge. So now we're back in, back in the race. We're ranked number seven in the state. We moved up. We're in position in conference and second. Right now we're holding steady. So we're focused on qualifying for the state championship this year in 2025.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: When was the last time the men's.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: Won, do you know, a conference championship? It's been a while. I'm not exactly sure. But when I say a while, it could be 15, 20 years. So that's something that I'm trying to put in our guys mind. You know, let's play for something you guys will cherish, you know, for the rest of your lives. Right now we're in third place. You know, we're three and one.
We play Eastern Florida on Wednesday up at their place up in Melbourne and they're nationally ranked. I think these are 20, 21st. Good team. Really, really good team. You know, Susan knows this.
The juco league in the state of Florida is as good as anybody. I know Texas is good, Kansas, but I've had coaches at the Division 1 level tell me for the men's side that they think this is the toughest one. You know, you got the panhandle teams, you know, they have a lot of, a lot of history there. So we're trying to get back where they constantly talk about us as one of the better teams.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: So I don't want to give away any secrets to any players or other teams listening, but just a little bit about each of your teams. Coach Fernand, I'm really impressed with your guard play. I love the solid defense you play out front, especially in the half court game. I think you're really putting pressure on teams.
What are you, what are your look at look in the future for the rest of the conference? What are your goals?
What's out in front that either concerns you or again, we don't want to.
[00:32:44] Speaker B: Give away any secrets, but I mean we defend. I put a lot of focus on defense. You know, I do on offense too, but you know, there's some nights you're not going to shoot the ball well, but your defense can carry you. And I've always been a believer offense puts people in the, people in the stands. But defense is what wins championships, you know, and if you go through, I don't care what sport, you know, baseball, football, you always see it, you know, The Kansas City Chiefs, you know, we all know, you know, talk about Patrick Mahomes and he's great, but they've had one of the, they've been carried by their defense, not their offense the last couple years and they won a Super bowl because of their defense. And I'm a big believer in that, you know, but you know, we're working, you know, we're still got to get better. You know, some areas we got to clean up. We got to rebound the ball better at times. We're not, you know, we're a smaller team.
[00:33:32] Speaker A: Yeah, that's exactly so.
[00:33:33] Speaker B: But we have to do it with five guys, you know, and our guards, I told them the other day, I said, you guys need to rebound better. Now Jamal Morris, he's been a leading rebound the last three games. He had 12 in one game. He's six foot tall, but he plays with great energy and he's tough.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: He's strong too. And you did a good job on that seven footer the other night. I thought blocking out your team blocks out well and that's what you got to do when you're not.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. We didn't score. It was a slow game really. There was no pace, a lot of fouls, there was no pace to the game. The rhythm was bad. You know, that happens sometimes. You have to grind out games, so. And in this league, a lot of times you got to win games like that.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Coach Summons, I'm impressed with your three guards. I know you love to press, but I think your three guards really push the ball well and you have a couple of really quick handed players out there and I know you're not as tall as maybe you've been in the past either. But I think keeping that ball, you know, out of the lane has been a big thing. The other thing I want to compliment your team on is your three point defense. I think early in the year there were a few open shots that I even could hear you not have. And I've heard you Coach Fernandez too, especially in the corner shot the other night. But talk a little bit about your season and maybe your goals for the rest of the season.
[00:34:43] Speaker C: Well, Dr. Stewart, we're excited right now and the team is excited. They're passionate about the game, they're having fun.
That's important.
They recognize that they have to be better defensively. We have to continue to defend the three.
Certainly we continue to work on being a better rebounding and boxing out team because you're not going to always be able to just get that rebound based on the opposition and the matchup, we have some athletic pieces, we have some players that have high IQs. That's tremendous. One of my themes this year was I felt like we needed to score in this league. As George knows, this is the toughest, one of the toughest.
The JUCO leagues, Texas, Kansas, in the country. You know that if you have six teams that are ranked in the national poll, all from Florida, so every night you have to compete, you gotta be able to score an attack.
And when I was crudin recruiting, I was looking at guard play.
I wasn't pleased with that. Last year I wasn't pleased with the way we were handling the ball, the way we're releasing, shooting, defending.
So I think I've done a good job with bringing in some nice pieces that can not only handle, but have high IQs and shoot the ball. Kiara Harris.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: That's true.
[00:36:01] Speaker C: 39 points the other night. Yeah, 39.
Unselfish, quick release, good body mechanics, you know, elbow under the ball. Textbook form.
Unselfish, but just getting her in the right spots.
You know, the rebounding, the boxing out, the basic set. We've got the freshman post, Clea Peterson, out of Detroit, who's really developed and matured and taken on the leadership role to have a presence in the paint. 27 points, 17 rebounds. She's a freshman being highly sought after right now by NCAA Division 1 college programs. And then you have Shamir Quimby, a sophomore now. You know, you watched the game the other night. She's ranked number two in the state. But she didn't shoot the ball very well the other night, right?
[00:36:53] Speaker A: Yeah. She didn't have one of her better nights.
[00:36:55] Speaker C: Not one of her better nights, but she decided instead of dropping her head, I used that as an example. She didn't drop her head because there's another aspect of the game. You have to do what the team needs you to do to help the team win. So she dug down and she became a rebounder. She. She had 20 rebounds the other night.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: Oh, I didn't realize that. Wow, that's great.
[00:37:14] Speaker C: 20 rebounds. That was motivation to her teammates. They said a guard had 20 rebounds, so the post was looking at the guard. Well, if you're having 20 Saturday, I've got to do better than that.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: That's good motivation. Well, I think it's going to be a great season for both of you. Before we end, there's a couple of questions I want to talk about. First, Coach Summons. I think it's important to talk about women's sports right now, you know, in the last year, Caitlin Clark has really put the spotlight on women's basketball. And I know it's been in the spotlight a long time, but right now is a really important time, I think, for women's athletics. Give me just your thoughts on women athletics in the future and what you would say to our audience about how important it is.
[00:37:55] Speaker C: Well, certainly Caitlin Clark and many players before her have raised the bar and standards for women's sports. And, and I would be remiss if I didn't say this, but women's sports and women's basketball deserves a seat at the table.
And gender equity is very relevant and very important. No matter what pyramid you're at, the community college level, the NCAA level, and women are competing at an all time. Right. Just like men. We deserve the equal and fair treatment and equity that is due across the board.
[00:38:32] Speaker A: Well said.
[00:38:33] Speaker C: And so we see more of the ESPN coverage because of the Caitlin Clarks and the Candace Parkers and the Diana Taurasis that have Brianna Stewart and Brianna Stewart's, all of them. And these leagues are emerging. In fact, there's a new league that's coming right here in Miami that's getting ready to set off in the summer. So it's going to transform and change the way we are looking at the game in women's sports. And I hope that it continues to flourish and continue to rise. There's no doubt about it. The WNBA has expansion teams.
Hopefully, maybe Miami might decide to bring the team back here. We had the Miami soul, we had the team in Orlando. Maybe they'll bring the WNBA team back here to Miami. Anyone listening?
[00:39:26] Speaker A: Coach Hernandez, let's talk about men's basketball. What do you see? What do you think some of the issues are going forward?
[00:39:30] Speaker B: Well, you know, now it's changed with the NL and the Portal very much. It's changed the whole landscape. How composing a team in one season, it makes it hard. You know, I'm sad to see where some of the older coaches like Larry Naga just stepped away. Coach Kaski, Roy Williams and it's different Jay Wright at Villanova, so. But look, it's here. I'm glad. Athletes should get compensated.
You know, I, I know we have the ncaa. I don't always agree with some. I thought they had antiquated rules, you know, and, and sometimes we all want to make money, but greed can destroy anything in any society. And I hope that isn't the case. So I'm hoping, you know, I would like to see like Coach K maybe have a seat and Maybe be in charge of college basketball. You know, guys like him, Roy Williams, you know, Tom Bezos, guys have been around because we need to fix this. Because right now it's hard. It's hard for a lot of coaches. Hard, harder to coach just because you don't know who you're going to have. And a lot of times kids are having success and they leave because they can go get some more money somewhere else, you know, and that's. That happens. Look, it's. It is what it is. But I think they need to have some type of structure or some. Some things in place to give a little bit more stability because I don't know.
You know, to me, the way I see it, if. If we keep going this way, only the power schools are going to be able to compete and then the lower schools that don't have the resources, the money are going to get left behind. And that's what I'm concerned about. I'm not an expert on this. Just. This is just me watching, you know. You know, Division 1 basketball is becoming a lot like junior college basketball.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:13] Speaker B: Where I had a division one say, well, we had a fellow new. Nine new spots. I said, hey, welcome to JUCO basketball. We're doing that all the time.
[00:41:20] Speaker A: You know, what do you think? There's an article this week or maybe today even about 68 team, NCAA tournament expanding.
What do you think of that?
[00:41:28] Speaker B: I'm all for it. I know some. Some people are not. But I just think it gives more. You know, March Madness is.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: It's the best.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: It's the best for both sports.
[00:41:36] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:41:37] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:41:37] Speaker B: Sporting event in the year.
[00:41:39] Speaker C: And the parity has expanded.
[00:41:41] Speaker A: It is. And the number of teams too. They were the articles pointing out how many more D1 teams there are to expand that.
[00:41:47] Speaker C: Absolutely. And. And one of the points that George mentioned, the NC NCAA Division 1 portal has transformed the way all coaches at that level are recruiting. We all know that. It's also expanded the parity. It's expanded the matchups. That's why there's better teams.
You can't predict specifically that team winning the NCAA every year. No, it's changed because coaches are going out and they're recruiting those kids from the portal to have better parity. But they're also recruiting from the JUCO ranks.
And as a result of that, the spinoff from that. The spinoff is it's going to make the JUCO foundation stronger because now with the new rule, though they haven't officially voted, but they're moving in that direction. A student could go to the JUCO for one year or two years and still go to a university and have all four full years. That's crazy. Now that rule right there in itself spins off from the NCAA portal. And now that kid who may have been thinking about going to Vision One, but mom said, or their parents said, you know, you can go to the JUCO and get that experience and you're still going to have four years.
That's a great selling tool. It's a great recruiting tool. And you're going to see the JUCO level transform in the next year or.
[00:43:06] Speaker A: Two and also academically have a better footing before you get to the four years.
[00:43:10] Speaker C: Absolutely. And Division 1 coaches are looking at that. They want that student has experience and has maturity.
[00:43:17] Speaker B: And I think expanding gives more kids an opportunity. Experience March Madness.
[00:43:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:23] Speaker B: Which is the best. It's the best sporting event that March, for sure. You know, a lot of people miss work during March. They stay home, watch those. Especially those early games that started noon. There's a lot of people calling sick in those days, but it's March Madness.
[00:43:38] Speaker A: That Thursday, Friday is the best day of the year.
[00:43:40] Speaker C: It's the best day.
[00:43:41] Speaker A: Well, this has been a great conversation.
First of all, you both have to promise me to come back. We need to have a women's show for you to bring a couple of your athletes. And same with you, Coach Verhennes.
We like to close our broadcast with turning the microphone around.
On our very first broadcast, the students ask if they could ask me a question. So I want to let you have that opportunity. You can ask me anything you want.
[00:44:03] Speaker C: Dr. Stewart, I'm glad that the mic is turned around because I've been waiting to ask you this question.
[00:44:08] Speaker A: Uh. Oh, let's cut this.
[00:44:09] Speaker C: Alex, top NCAA college player in Texas. Tell us, how did that impact you as a leader?
[00:44:18] Speaker A: Wow, that's a great question. There is no way I would be where I am today if I didn't play college basketball.
What it taught me on leadership, and I think, George, you said it. The team aspects of basketball is how I run my. My job.
When I played, I could shoot threes, I could rebound, I could assist. I came off the bench, although I started almost every game. But I look at myself that way as an administrator. Some days I'm the coach. Other days I'm assisting for others to be in charge of things. So I just think the game of basketball, sports in general, but the game of basketball specifically is what's allowed me to be successful as, as a. As an adult.
I don't often tell this story, but when I signed my college scholarship back in those days, you had to put down your major, and I wanted to put down coaching.
I swear to you, my dad was a university, or is a university, Was a university president, and he goes pick something else. No offense to you, too, but he knew that, you know, I may have had a higher calling being a university president. I had no idea where I'd be today, but I wrote down mathematics, and I still allowed myself to participate in basketball. I've coached over a thousand little league games. And nai game.
I won two national championships in baseball, one in basketball, so. But there's no question what happened in college taught me what it meant to be an administrator. So thank you for that question.
[00:45:44] Speaker C: Amazing. Amazing. Thank you.
[00:45:46] Speaker B: Well, before I ask you a question, I'm glad you're here. You know, having a former athlete be a president, as coaches, you know, it makes us.
It puts us at peace because you understand better than anybody what coaching involves. And not only that, but what student athletes go through.
There's a big difference.
I love, you know, kids that just come to school, that's great. But being an athlete and then being a student, it demands a lot on them, you know, that people understand their daily requirements. But what do you see yourself doing in the future?
I know you hear mommy, Dana, as a president will be your next step. Maybe you just want to stay here, you know, but.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: Well, first of all, I have to say, the women's basketball coach let me practice with her players. So one day I'd like to practice with the men.
You know, one of the things. When I first started teaching math back at a junior college in Texas, I never looked past the day where I was.
You know, I had a chance to then be an administrator and work my way around Texas and come here. And I really. I wake up every day thinking I'm proud. I'm happy to be where I am.
You know, I had the opportunity to be the president of the medical campus for six and a half years, and I had my eye on this campus all along. I never knew I'd get a chance.
Dr. Padrona actually asked me a question in my last. In my interview with him about, what would you do one day if I moved you to the Kendall campus? And here I am at the Kendall campus, ironically. And so I'm happy right now, you know, I mean, I don't know what the future holds.
Having athletics was one of the goals in my life, and to have it here at the Kendall campus and you know, we have all the athletics is really something that's unique to me. So I don't really have a good answer for that today.
Maybe ask me a year from now and I might have an answer. But every day I wake up happy to come here. And, you know, I think this is a great campus. We've got great students, we've got great athletes, we've got great employees, and I'm just happy to be here.
[00:47:48] Speaker B: The one thing I learned since I've been here, everybody works together.
[00:47:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:52] Speaker B: Because I've worked at places where that wasn't the case. And it's not a good working environment. You know, athletic department, you know, you know, we have to share the gym, but we're always working with each other. It's not like, well, I'm gonna get it my way. No, it's just everybody works with each other. We all cheer for each other, too. You know, I. Like I said, I've been in places where that wasn't the case, and it's not a.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: And we share that gym with more than just each other. We share it with the community. And I have a plan on that that I don't want to say, but I would love to see us have more space one day. So there's a lot of. You ask about some of my goals.
I have goals for another sport or two here with us, and I have a lot of goals like that to help enrich our programs.
So we'll see.
[00:48:35] Speaker C: Well, teamwork makes the dream work. And we are absolutely delighted that you are here as our esteemed leader, educator, professor, administrator, coach, trainer, all of the above. And we welcome you.
It is tremendous. And as you know, I've been here a great many of years.
[00:49:02] Speaker A: You have.
[00:49:03] Speaker C: And so I've been able to walk through a journey and see a great many of leaders. So I just want to say it is an absolute delight and the future is bright with Brian Stewart on the free throw line.
[00:49:24] Speaker A: I might be better at the three point. That's a pretty good free throw.
[00:49:27] Speaker B: Shoot.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Well, I want to thank Coach Summons and Coach Fernandez for being with us today. And joining us on Kendall Speaks. I want to thank our head writer, Christina Saenz, Paul Klein, our executive producer, and Alex Beckman fellow speaking the Dials over there producing today. Thank you all and goodbye for now.
