GREEN BAY — Last year Sundance Wicks helped the UW-Green Bay Phoenix rise from the ashes leading them from one of the worst teams in the NCAA to an 18-14 record.
This year, longtime media personality Doug Gottlieb took over and his first coaching job hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing as the team is 2-16 and winless in Horizon League play.
Gottlieb says he’s confident he can get this program going in the right direction as he told NBC 26 in a one-on-one interview on Thursday, "Rome wasn't built in a day."
“My goal was to get better and better and better and I think anybody who has watched this team is honest with themselves says they’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but we’re definitely getting better,” he said.
UWGB’s low point: a loss to NCAA Division 2 Michigan Tech last month but afterward athletic director Josh Moon backed his head coach.
Gottlieb says Moon and the donors are supportive and realistic.
"It means everything to have Josh's support,” said the Phoenix head coach. “He knows that you have to have a sustainable model. You can’t just have one player here, one player there – that’s not how Green Bay carries themselves.”
One thing to keep in mind: Gottlieb didn't get hired until May, very late in the process. The players he had to fill the roster, as he put it, were either well-traveled transfers or fresh out of high school.
“We got with some young guys, we want to stick with these young guys,” Gottlieb said. “(We) want them to continue to improve. I don't necessarily want to develop players to star on somebody else’s roster, so we have to pick and choose the guys we want to build around and those are the young players who are playing.”
Gottlieb is also still juggling a three-hour radio show with his coaching job, he's received criticism from many fans but had this to say to those who don't think he can do both.
“There's nothing really you can say,” he said. “If anyone has come to our games and said they look ill-prepared, feel free to tell me, it’s okay. My boss doesn’t think so and I think that’s all that matters.”
For Gottlieb, he says the biggest adjustment coming to the NCAA is that he has to be attentive to all the little details, like managing the players and things like their grades.
“Basketball is just basketball,” he said. “You gotta manage people as a head basketball coach. I think I'm good in terms of my leadership, but the execution of some of the little things is just something you have to learn.”
He's at a school with a rich basketball tradition and Gottlieb says he's even gotten support from UW-Green Bay's most famous coach: Dick Bennett.
“Coach Bennett's been a great mentor and he texted and reminded me a couple of days ago that he only won 5 games his first year. I said, ‘Coach I'm going to try to get over that number, but God that gives me a chance to catch my breath’," Gottlieb said.
