After Tuesday’s press conference, the Northern Star obtained an exclusive interview with new head men’s basketball coach Rob Judson.

Northern Star: What was going through your mind when you first heard of the opening for the head basketball coach position at NIU?

Judson: At the time, I felt for Brian Hammel because of the physical situation he was in. I knew Brian through recruiting and that is something that every college basketball coach has to do. That was my initial reaction. It was so early in the year that we didn’t really think about it.

Star: When did you realize that the coaching job was something you wanted to go after?

Judson: It was probably after my initial contact with Northern and felt that it would be a great fit for our family, a great opportunity to move into a university where we had some familiarity, was more comfortable with and to stay in the state of Illinois.

Star: Your first assistant job was here at NIU and your first head coaching job is also here. How special is it knowing both your firsts came at NIU?

Judson: It’s special. Just the fact that it is my first head coaching job is special. I was at Northern before, and I am looking forward to renewing that experience.

Star: Last year you were offered the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan and you declined. What makes this year different?

Judson: We (family) have been so fortunate to stay in-state for my whole coaching career. We have a long family history in the state of Illinois. It gave us a great comfort zone. When you look at that, there weren’t that many jobs that would allow us to repay the contacts that we have developed in so many years. Northern Illinois was definitely one of those situations.

Star: Did you feel that this was your job to lose?

Judson: No. You always have to go into something feeling like you need to go out and win. I went into this situation wanting to win.

Star: It has been 10 years since you last coached at NIU. How much have you grown in those years?

Judson: It is hard to measure because I know every day I try to work and learn and have an attitude that will enable me to develop into the best that I can be. I have worked with a lot of good coaches. I will take a little bit from each one and blend that with my personality so we can put our own unique stamp on NIU basketball.

Recruiting

Star: You have been regarded as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches. Cary Groth talked about the key in finding a new coach was recruiting in Chicago.

What type of contacts do you have in the Chicagoland area?

Judson: My base for recruiting has been the state of Illinois and the metropolitan area of Chicago, trying to recruit as many high-level basketball players.

Star: Is the Peoria connection going to stay?

Judson: We have some strong ties in the Peoria area. Peoria is one of those outlining areas that has some tremendous athletes. We will recruit there, we will recruit Rockford, we will recruit in Chicago. If that is where most of them are, then you are going to spend most of your time. Over time, we have developed those strong connections with integrity and are hopeful that the coaches that we dealt with feel that we have done a good job with the young men that they have entrusted with us and will feel comfortable with the job we are going to do here at Northern Illinois.

Star: I heard when you went on recruiting trips, you would not only recruit blue-chip players for Illinois, but the mid-major players for NIU with the though that you might get the job. Where you that confident that you were going to get the job?

Judson: The one thing that has been helpful is that you are going to see a lot of players. In Christmas tournaments, in AAU over the summer, you are going to see a lot of different players from Division I players to Division III players. My familiarity with the area has allowed me to know a lot of types of different players.

Star: Was there ever any thought that if you were to get the NIU job, maybe you should start recruiting for NIU with that thought?

Judson: It is always good to have that awareness.

Fan Base

Star: At Illinois you built the Orange Crush to increase the student fan base. What can you do to do to build NIU’s fan base?

Judson: It was there, but we tried to restructure it. We were very hands-on with that. We let the students interact with the players. I know the students at NIU are creative, energetic, smart and love to be in front of a television camera. We want to make them feel appreciated and a big part of what we want to do with the basketball program.

Non-conference schedule

Star: How important is it to have a strong non-conference schedule?

Judson: It is important because you want to prepare the team for the MAC conference. You want to play the games that will give you the opportunity to be successful. We have to be aggressive, and we have to balance that with home games and with those opportunities will make us a stronger program.

Star: Why do you want to go out and schedule the Big 10, Big 12 and intrastate teams?

Judson: Scheduling is hard. I am sure they will probably have more desire to play us now and hopefully they will want to play us less in the future. But a lot of it depends on the timing of when we can get the games and where they are going to be at.

Team unity

Star: How can you make this team motivated?

Judson: A plan and a vision to move yourself to be successful is what you have to do as a coach and you have to get your player to buy into that. You do that by building relationships and making the players believe that they are in a family. You have failure together, you have success together but you continue to move on and grow.

We have the opportunity to have a fresh start. Every program I have ever been a part of, we have not had success on the court until we have it off the court and that all starts with their attitudes. Once we have those habits, then the victories on the court follow.

Star: When that happens, what steps do you have to take to make it come together on the court?

Judson: I think it is important for the guys to do things off the court together. We are going to try do whatever it takes for them to do stuff together off the court. We want that atmosphere, and we want that family feeling.