Jimmy Lallathin was appointed interim coach of Kennesaw State’s men’s basketball team on Jan. 2, which is when the university announced that coach Lewis Preston was taking a leave of absence for personal and medical reasons.
The Owls are 1-6 during that span.
Athletic director Vaughn Williams was going to meet with Preston the weekend of Jan. 18-19 to decide on when he would return to coaching. That meeting didn’t take place. It was rescheduled but the two didn’t meet again. As of Friday,a return date hasn’t been set. Preston hasn’t returned text messages.
Lallathin spoke about the challenges of the situation after the Owls were beaten by Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday to fall to 4-19 this year. They will play at South Carolina-Upstate on Thursday.
Q: How would you describe this situation?
A: It's a difficult situation because I'm very good friends with coach Preston. You want him to fee and get better. Whenever he's ready to come back we will be here with open arms.
From a basketball standpoint it’s always little bit different because you aren’t making suggestions, you are making decisions. That makes it tougher
But basketball is basketball.
It’s the off-the-court stuff, different meetings, different things. That makes it a little more difficult. I could hide behind my title the first time, bunker up and watch a lot of film, concentrate more on the basketball.
Now it’s more it’s making sure every part of the program is going where we want to go, so that makes it a little more difficult.
Q: It’s been almost three weeks, what is the sense you get from the players: are they doing what you are saying because they don’t know when Preston is coming back, or are they tuning you out because they expect Preston to come back soon?
A: Coach and I have been here from the beginning. We've recruited these players together. We have a whole knowledge of them. It's not like I came in late and had to get to know these guys. I know where they are from, and know their families.
It’s almost kind of a joke: sometimes they’ll say when coach is (talking that it sounds like) it’s really Coach L and when Coach L is saying it it’s really Coach P.
It’s a lot of the same stuff. It’s about maintaining their focus. They care about him and they are concerned about him and making sure that he’s OK.
I keep reassuring them. I talk to him and he’s OK. He’s doing fine.
Whenever Vaughn and him make that decision about coming back, we’re ready to go.
They are a committed group, regardless of who is coaching them.
Q: What have you learned about yourself?
A: This has been a great experience for however long it lasts.
You don’t get into coaching and say ‘hey, I never want to be a head coach.’ That’s not the perspective I’ve had.
It’s given me some confidence of leading, leading practice and making decisions, learning from my decisions.
I’ve been talking to mentors for critiques. It’s given me some confidence on some of the feedback. I’m feeling more comfortable on a daily basis.
I love the game. I’ve learned I love the game even more. I’m excited to continue doing my job as associate head coach as best I can to hopefully perpetuate into a full-time role someplace.
Q: Have you made any changes to practice?
A: Coach and I are so close in our thought process it's just a different voice. I'm holding them to an accountability level. We worked so closely.
The one piece of advice I’ve always gotten is to be me, so I’m not Coach P.
I do what I feel comfortable with and what I’ve learned from coach Preston, as well as what I’ve learned from coach (Charlie) Coles at Miami.
I don’t think it’s structurally different. It might be a different attention to detail on drills. I’m looking at something a little bit differently than coach is at times. For the most part, basketball is basketball.
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