Men's Basketball with Coach Philip Parker

[00:00:10] Speaker A: And welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to in the Nest Emas athletic sports podcast. I'm your co host, Shane Douglas. Here with my other co host, Matthew Thomason. I'm going to get it down. I feel like it's still a little off, but we'll get there. We'll get there. That's for sure. [00:00:29] Speaker B: I think it's only take 27 or 29 or something. [00:00:33] Speaker A: It didn't take that long. [00:00:35] Speaker B: No, I'm saying this is like in the next episode. 29. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Yeah, we got 29 more episodes to really try. And at least maybe we'll do some practice rounds, come down here just for fun, but. Matt, how are you doing today, budy? [00:00:46] Speaker B: I'm good, Shane. How are you doing? [00:00:47] Speaker A: I'm well. [00:00:48] Speaker B: Finals week here at Amanda's Bible college. [00:00:49] Speaker A: It is finals week, so we have a lot of students that are just chilling or stressed about finals. [00:00:56] Speaker B: I am thankful that were you ever. I don't have to remember what that I know. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Were you stressed over finals week? [00:01:01] Speaker B: I think the very first semester I was because it was so new. But then after that, it's like it's either exam or paper project. It's whatever. [00:01:12] Speaker A: I never got stressed. Never. Finals week was like a holiday for me. It's like no class, which is we can chill and I'm going to get a grade regardless. Regardless. [00:01:23] Speaker B: And it is nice. Like, in the fall semester, you get a study day, so you get a free day to study, which, by the way, that reel that Anna Caranda did for Bible college, Instagram and Facebook page, that was really well done. [00:01:39] Speaker A: It was. [00:01:39] Speaker B: That was really cool. [00:01:40] Speaker A: It was good. Whose idea was that? [00:01:42] Speaker B: I mean, it's kind of a trend going on. [00:01:44] Speaker A: It is a trend. [00:01:45] Speaker B: But, yeah, it was good. [00:01:46] Speaker A: It was good. But, yeah, I didn't really do much during finals week other than take the test, and it was just relaxing, that's all. I know. It was nice. Once I got my finals home, I was out. Christmas break. Literally, intuitively, Christmas. I love Christmas. [00:02:00] Speaker B: That's the one really nice thing about, especially here, is how long Christmas break is. [00:02:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:05] Speaker B: It's literally like, it's Friday until January 10 when classes start back up. That's so long. I know, right? [00:02:12] Speaker A: But I like that some people complain about our breaks as faculty and staff or us being on staff, but I guess not faculty because they get the breaks, but just being staff. [00:02:25] Speaker B: I mean, our breaks are still pretty long as staff. [00:02:27] Speaker A: Goodness. [00:02:27] Speaker B: I remember we'll go to family events, especially on Rachel's side of the family, and everyone's like, oh, I got to go back to work tomorrow. I still have five days off. [00:02:37] Speaker A: We get a whole week for Christmas. [00:02:39] Speaker B: One of the many perks of working. [00:02:40] Speaker A: We get two weeks for Thanksgiving. I don't know if we get anything off for Easter because it's on Sunday. [00:02:45] Speaker B: Maybe one day, maybe. [00:02:46] Speaker A: But still, it's super nice. And then if you're on faculty or some staff, you get some are off. Yeah. Student life. [00:02:53] Speaker B: You get like your ten month employee. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Twelve month, which is nice, too, but it's whatever. [00:02:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:59] Speaker A: Anyways, well, we don't have too much of a long podcast. [00:03:03] Speaker B: No lighter week for athletics. [00:03:05] Speaker A: It's true. We'll recap some games that happened this past weekend as well as some upcoming games before Christmas break. And then we also have, well, technically, actually, they're after. [00:03:16] Speaker B: Well, they're during Christmas break. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And then, which is kind of funny, which is cool. [00:03:21] Speaker B: A new thing we're doing with our men's basketball team that we're excited about. [00:03:24] Speaker A: What? During Christmas break? [00:03:25] Speaker B: Yeah. That we're doing. Like, we're extending the semester a little bit longer, like four days longer to go on. [00:03:30] Speaker A: We'll touch on that. We'll touch on that. And then after touch. And then after our discussion, we're going to bring in coach Philip Parker, the men's head basketball. [00:03:42] Speaker B: Finally. Yeah. [00:03:43] Speaker A: Finally to talk about the men's basketball season midseason interview. I believe you're going to be given it. So I'll scooch on out of here and thankfully, I will scooch on out because I have ten minutes left in a survivor episode. So I got to watch that. Season 44. It's a good season. It's a good season. Season 44. You don't watch survivor, do you? [00:04:04] Speaker B: I watched it the one season when there was a Cowboys football player that was on it. Okay, this is season and 44. Does that mean that survivor is the longest? So they do two, like two a year. So it's only year 22. [00:04:18] Speaker A: Pretty much. [00:04:18] Speaker B: So the Simpsons still reigns as the longest ten year tv. [00:04:22] Speaker A: Yeah, they started like sometime in 2000. [00:04:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:04:24] Speaker A: I think maybe 2001 or 2000. They started with season one, but they drop one usually in the fall, one in the spring. Right now we're in season 45. But I wanted to watch kind of. They did like a new era. A new era. So 4142-4344 I watched all of them, of those four, and I just finished 44. They just announced a winner, which is really cool. It was a good season. If you watch survivor. Very fun. But we're not here to talk about the. [00:04:47] Speaker B: Speaking of Survivor, shout out. That was the greatest winter fest event theme that we've ever had. That was my freshman year. [00:04:55] Speaker A: Survivor is a fun. [00:04:55] Speaker B: It was so good. [00:04:57] Speaker A: I didn't have that. We had Narnia. I would love survivor. [00:05:00] Speaker B: I was on coach Brown's team. [00:05:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Did you guys win? [00:05:03] Speaker B: No. We came in like second. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Winterfest is coming up into January. Looking forward to hearing what the theme is, seeing what it is and what the student union does with all that. And also, speaking of Survivor, we have survived five episodes. [00:05:16] Speaker B: We have survived five episodes. So we're going to survive a few more. [00:05:21] Speaker A: I'm surprised we made it past the Spotify. The Spotify raps, too. I know with your rap, man. [00:05:26] Speaker B: I mean, at least there's not a blank space up there. So we're good. [00:05:29] Speaker A: But that was good. I'll give a high five. That was good. [00:05:33] Speaker B: I won't get flack for that comment. [00:05:36] Speaker A: So let's talk about the games this past weekend. [00:05:39] Speaker B: Matt. Yes. So this past weekend on Saturday, we played free Lutheran Bible school. So we went up there earlier in the year and played them, the school that were Mitchell Mar and Hannah Boyer came from. So I got to pull up the score real quick. So girls played and they won. Our girls. Our girls won. The Eagles. They won 53 20. Super game. Super sad game. It was Abrel Corvella's last game as a Manus Eagle, but she had a great game. She tied her career high and had eleven points. [00:06:11] Speaker A: Hey, that's legit. [00:06:12] Speaker B: Yeah, it was awesome. [00:06:13] Speaker A: It's like Mamba. [00:06:14] Speaker B: We're excited that she's graduating, but we're super sad that she's done with basketball. [00:06:22] Speaker A: She's a mama. She's got better things going on. [00:06:24] Speaker B: She does. But they also losing Abrel. But they're adding a couple more girls, which we're super excited about that semester. And then we, us guys played their guys again and we won 78 to 33. So another game. It's hard because when you have games like this, we've seen that, like when we go play division two schools, division one, like we've seen even some AAA teams playing division one in CAA. And those games are just so hard when it's like the competition level is just. The gap is so wide where it's like, yes, you want to work on things to help get better, but sometimes it's just really hard. And I feel like, especially for us guys, yes, we won by 55 points, but honestly didn't play that good. But at least we're consistent with some areas. So we've had good week of practice so far on trying to build up on things that we've been struggling in and improve because there are some things. [00:07:25] Speaker A: But is it too much to talk about that stuff on the podcast? Like, you don't want to give the enemy, like, the upper hand enemy? [00:07:30] Speaker B: I mean, it's the enemy. You look at the stats, everything's the same. It's rebounds, it's turnovers, and it's bad shooting percentage, which can all be fixable. So we just have to want to fix them. It's the thing. [00:07:44] Speaker A: But I love the choice of words you're using. You're very descriptive without you being descriptive, so it's just strange. [00:07:54] Speaker B: It's what everyone has to improve on. Obviously, you can't win if you don't shoot the ball well. Yeah. [00:07:58] Speaker A: It's as simple. [00:07:59] Speaker B: You're giving up so many. We're averaging giving the other team, like, 20 more possessions because of our turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds. So it's like they're fixable, but at the same time, frustrating. When you still have the same continuous mistakes against a, quote, bad team, it. [00:08:18] Speaker A: Opens kind of talking to you a little bit about this. It opens my mind and to reporters who have to interview the players, the coaches after games. It's funny because you can simply ask a question that is very broad, but you were digging for a deep answer of, hey, how did you guys lose? Or, what can you do better? And basketball, like a lot of sports. [00:08:42] Speaker B: Is so famous for it. So tell us how the game went. It was okay. Yeah. What do you got to work on? Basketball. [00:08:49] Speaker A: What could you do better to guarantee a win next time? Make more baskets. [00:08:53] Speaker B: Make more baskets. [00:08:54] Speaker A: Make more baskets. That's it. [00:08:55] Speaker B: In the words of our freshman Obadiah Moore, you got to put the ball in the basket more than the other team. Obi has the best one liners on the team, and he says the funniest things. Like, we'll say, like, all right, guys, what do we got to do in this situation? He's like, score the basketball. Like, obi, you're so funny. [00:09:14] Speaker A: It's like the Sunday school, right? It's tough to see that program kind. [00:09:28] Speaker B: Of like I said earlier in line last episode, three episodes ago, when I was a student, you're playing. You never won against them because they were so good. So it's just so interesting. Obviously, every team has the waves, but it's always interesting when you watch professional sports or division one. It doesn't necessarily hit you as much as when you're at the place when it's like, oh, yeah, it's crazy. [00:09:52] Speaker A: Just like the, and college is weird because essentially every four years is a rebuilding. [00:09:56] Speaker B: Right. [00:09:57] Speaker A: So unless you bring in a solid class every year, every two years, then it's going to be a rebuilding situation. And that's kind of where the women's basketball team is a little bit. And you see the steps they took and you see the steps and then you talk about the waves. And I said this, I think, or I'll say this in a future podcast of an interview that we have, which we'll talk about what that is, is our volleyball team and the wave that they're going on. [00:10:30] Speaker B: They're right here now. [00:10:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll say what I said later, but they're going to be great next year. [00:10:36] Speaker B: Oh, hands down. [00:10:37] Speaker A: And the wave of, wave of the volleyball team, the wave of the soccer team and where they're going and where we see the direction of the men's team, the women's team. And what we've been saying a lot is the athletic department here, all the coaches, the staff have the right mindset and not necessarily the right mindset as. [00:10:53] Speaker B: Well, but the correct mindset of keeping where things are like the Christ centeredness. You can be super competitive within that. It's crazy. Contrary to popular belief, you can be a christian and great sport. [00:11:08] Speaker A: Exactly. Everyone's on the same mindset in the athletic department, which is huge. [00:11:15] Speaker B: And it's so it's just going to. [00:11:16] Speaker A: Show, it's just going to show in a couple of years of where the teams go. And we hope the same for FLBC. [00:11:23] Speaker B: Because they've been there. And that's what I'm saying. Even for our teams, we've been there with that success. And so we know how to get there. And now all our teams are in the process of getting back there. So lots of good things going on. [00:11:36] Speaker A: And I'm doing a report right now for our admissions job of seeing where, I'm not going to talk about it too deeply, obviously, because it's a lot of. [00:11:45] Speaker B: But if you're interested statistics, ask Shane. [00:11:46] Speaker A: About it after to see kind of where a lot of these Christian and Bible schools line up with your accreditation as well as your Bible requirements, knowing. [00:11:56] Speaker B: Along with ministry and professional degrees. [00:11:58] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. As well as what do you come out with? Do you come out with one bachelor's degree, two bachelor's degree, two majors, and knowing here at Emmaus that we're the. [00:12:09] Speaker B: Top of it, have we require the most chapels, we require colleges that require the most Bible classes. [00:12:17] Speaker A: I won't get into it, but we have a lot of Bible requirements. We have the standard of all accreditation. We have a professional and ministry programs, et cetera. You get two majors when you graduate. With all that said, and there are options for a dual degree with our three plus one. With all that said, it is awesome finding out about all these different schools around the nation, good christian schools, good bible schools that don't just have the name. [00:12:48] Speaker B: There are a lot of good christian schools, good bible colleges out there. [00:12:52] Speaker A: Yes, because there's a lot that just. [00:12:54] Speaker B: Have the name, and there are some that are doing it not necessarily the right way, but there are still, which is encouraging to hear you say that there's still plenty out there that are doing it the right way, that they're keeping the main thing the main thing. [00:13:05] Speaker A: And with those schools that keep the main thing the main thing, we only hope and wish the best for them all around, athletics, academics, community, the enrollment. We just want the best for those schools. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Exactly. It's kind of like the interview I had with Zach Kirkman over at faith, how obviously we're Emmaus, they're faith. Same with all these other, like, we're competitors. But when it comes down to we're all on the same team, that's true. We're all on Jesus's team. We're all fellow believers in Christ. And so while we want you to come to our school, that school is not a bad option. But we want you here. But going to places, there's going to. [00:13:42] Speaker A: Be schools, there's going to be things that we can't provide. Students here at Emmaus athletically as well as academically or socially or whatever, that's the same everywhere. [00:13:50] Speaker B: There's things that we can provide. [00:13:52] Speaker A: There's students coming to me like, yeah, there's this one school I'm thinking about going to, and I'm like, that's a good school, but they don't have this that we do have. Right. And that's like something that's important to them, and that can be the same for athletics. Right. And so if you're a student out there and you're thinking about an athletic program, we have a couple of interviews actually coming up this month with the volleyball team coaches and players, soccer team coaches and players, cross country coaches and players. With that said, we're going to hear from a lot of them of how Emmaus was not necessarily their first option. [00:14:22] Speaker B: But it's back now. They're like, this was the best option. [00:14:26] Speaker A: Exactly. And they're thankful that the Lord led them here, opened the doors here, shut doors elsewhere, and they have not looked back. A lot of them have only been here for a semester or three semesters. [00:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:39] Speaker A: And I just want to really dive more deep into those interviews with those students to hear more about it, because there's a lot of people out there that don't know about Emmaus or might. [00:14:48] Speaker B: Just think I was at another school before I came to Mayas, and I'm like, I love it here. I still love it here. I loved it here as a student. I'm so thankful for it. And it's like, more people need to know about Emmaus and find out about how great it is here, because there's so many, like, praise the Lord for so many great things going on. [00:15:05] Speaker A: I know. [00:15:06] Speaker B: Both athletically, academically, spiritually. It's super encouraging. [00:15:10] Speaker A: You don't judge a book by this cover. Look at the COVID It says, emmaus Bible college. Open it up, see what we got. And that goes for our athletic programs. And when you open it up, you look more into it. You see that everyone in there, the coaches, all have the same like mindedness when it comes to putting Christ first, having success on the court, having success on the field, and then off the court. Right. Discipleship, mentorship pouring into. Set them up for success. Long run. And that doesn't just go for academics, but that goes for growing the kingdom and making him known. Right? Yes. [00:15:44] Speaker B: Which is so important. [00:15:47] Speaker A: It is. With all that said, I love going on these spiels with you, Matt. It's awesome, because we both love Emmaus. It's great. But let's bring it back. And we got an interview coming up with Coach Parker, which is going to be really exciting. [00:15:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:00] Speaker A: But let's talk about some upcoming games going on in this new schedule that you have. [00:16:03] Speaker B: Yes. So women's basketball, they're done for the semester, so they'll be back January 6. No, 10th, I think. No, twelveth. I think. I think it's the twelveth, but, yeah. So this is the first time we're doing this, which we're hoping to make this tradition. We are doing a post finals trip. So finals gets done Friday afternoon. We're going down to Galesburg, Illinois, to play Knox college, division three in the NCAA, and then coming back to campus. And on Sunday, we're leaving for Michigan, where we're going to stop in Chicago, take the team to a g league game, which is going to be a lot of fun. And then the Windy City Bulls. [00:16:40] Speaker A: Okay, cool. [00:16:40] Speaker B: And they're playing whatever the mad city, whatever Detroit is. And then we're going to Michigan, to Grand Rapids to go play grace Christian, and then on Monday, and then Great Lakes on Tuesday or vice versa. And then you're going to make a. [00:16:55] Speaker A: Trip, aren't you, to Canada? [00:16:57] Speaker B: That'll be at regionals, because they're also hosting regionals. Okay. Yeah. So we're doing that, and then I think on the way back, a bunch of guys are going to fly to Chicago. So that'd be nice to drop them off, and we'll come back to Dubuque. So kind of a fun post finals tradition. Just time to be together. [00:17:11] Speaker A: That will be exciting. [00:17:12] Speaker B: Have some games, but also have some team bonding and building activities and stuff like that. [00:17:16] Speaker A: Do you guys take two buses, too? Two vans? [00:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll probably be either two. It'll probably be the trans and the Sienna would be my guess. [00:17:22] Speaker A: And then who drives you and coach P? [00:17:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I usually drive the transit. He drives the Sienna. [00:17:26] Speaker A: Where do the players? [00:17:28] Speaker B: Well, Landon usually rides with me, but he likes the Sienna, so he's kind of abandoned me trader. [00:17:33] Speaker A: So it's all about the vehicle. I'll be honest, when I was the manager for the soccer team, it wasn't necessarily about who was driving. Trust me, it was the last, like. [00:17:40] Speaker B: Four years, it's been who's driving the men's basketball? [00:17:43] Speaker A: Really? For me, it was like, okay, where's the comfy seats with the transit? Trash? Missed the bus, but the bus was nice. Bus was really nice with the transit. If you're in shotgun, that's the best spot. Anything else? Kind of sucks. Really stiff seats. But with the Sienna, you can't go wrong anymore. [00:18:01] Speaker B: Anywhere can go. Yeah. [00:18:02] Speaker A: So I would probably choose a Sienna, too, I'll be honest. And you can lounge, too, a little bit. [00:18:10] Speaker B: It could fit six people. And then obviously, I think the last trip, when I drove the Transit to moody, there were nine of us in there. [00:18:18] Speaker A: Are you required to drive the transit? Why are you pinned in for the transit? [00:18:23] Speaker B: Usually we play at rock, paper, scissors, and then whoever wins takes the Sienna. So I just made that up. [00:18:28] Speaker A: But do you enjoy driving the coach p is in the back, everyone. But do you enjoy the. [00:18:32] Speaker B: He's not coming on camera quite yet. [00:18:34] Speaker A: You like the transit more, or Sienna? [00:18:36] Speaker B: He does. Okay. [00:18:37] Speaker A: Sienna. Yeah, man. I would like the. [00:18:41] Speaker B: I'm. I'm the servant, so I serve, so I do whatever is. Yes. Such a sweet guy. Yes. So sweet. It's what any good assistant coach will do. [00:18:51] Speaker A: It's always fun finding out. [00:18:52] Speaker B: Should do it's. [00:18:53] Speaker A: Always fun finding out where the players lie and whose side they take. Like if you and Coach Parker ever. [00:19:01] Speaker B: Got, I'm not going to say what year it was, but coach Parker was not the coach. But we had. [00:19:05] Speaker A: Were you a punk as a player? [00:19:06] Speaker B: Right. We had eleven guys on the team and nine guys would ride with me and two guys would ride with the other in the other car. [00:19:11] Speaker A: Well, coach Parker said that you were a punk when you were a player. [00:19:14] Speaker B: Back in the day. Apparently he said some other things. Probably too. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Well, that makes, that doesn't sound. Well, that's fun. That trip does sound super enjoyable. [00:19:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm really excited about it. [00:19:30] Speaker A: Just a lot of bonding there. [00:19:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Have that time together when no one's stressed out about school or anything like that. And there's good things. [00:19:39] Speaker A: How much are those tickets to the game? [00:19:41] Speaker B: We got a deal, too. I think they were pretty inexpensive, like 15 at all. I mean, it is g league, but still g league. [00:19:50] Speaker A: It's like still pretty. [00:19:51] Speaker B: I mean, we probably could have gone to the Pistons game for like $3 since they're on that 20 game losing streak. [00:19:57] Speaker A: I would have go to the. Yeah, might as well, right? [00:19:59] Speaker B: I think they said if they lose eight more games in a row, they have the NBA record for most consecutive loss games. [00:20:04] Speaker A: I'll take it, though. It's an NBA game. [00:20:06] Speaker B: Yeah, it's professional sports. I mean, even what Thursday night football game when it was the Steelers and the Patriots or whoever it was, even though it's like that was a good game, worst teams out there. [00:20:18] Speaker A: It's still professional. Steelers are pretty good this year. They can make the playoffs. [00:20:21] Speaker B: I mean, it's not like you're watching like middle school, b team basketball or anything like that. [00:20:25] Speaker A: Every time we are given our assignments for away trips, I always look to see if there's any professional games going on, especially for football, but basketball as well. See like, oh, is this an option? I can go. [00:20:36] Speaker B: I have done a few times. I went to the first Kansas state home school convention and there were minor league baseball games that night. Actually. [00:20:46] Speaker A: Those are kind of fun. [00:20:47] Speaker B: But I mean, Iowa Cubbies, but Iowa Cubbies are fun. But it was the wind surge, which are the Royals. It was the Springfield Cardinals, which are the Cardinals, a team. And that was when Jordan Walker and Mason Wyn were both on that team. And now they're both in the majors. [00:21:03] Speaker A: And the big mean, I would go to Iowa Cubs a lot when they had like Rizzo, which is cool. [00:21:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:09] Speaker A: And Brian Bryant and then Schwarber. But yeah, anyways, fun trip. Looking forward to that is cool. You guys should keep that as tradition going. [00:21:19] Speaker B: Moving forward might be different places here and there, but it should be. Yeah, it should be a lot of fun stuff like having stuff like that can be really key and influential in how the season goes or just guys experience in general and stuff like that. [00:21:31] Speaker A: That's really cool. And that's going to help your know, team chemistry a lot, too. Moving forward. Well, with all that said, we're going to move into an interview with Coach Parker. But as I leave and coach Parker comes on here in the next couple of months, Matt will close us out, but in the next couple of weeks. Yeah, we're excited. During winter break, we're going to have a lot of interviews. [00:21:50] Speaker B: Yes. The recaps of the fall sport. So on the December 21 it'll be volleyball, December 20 eigth it'll be soccer. And then January 4 episode will be cross country. [00:22:00] Speaker A: Looking forward to that. So we got coach McHugh on here for soccer and then who do we. [00:22:05] Speaker B: Got for coach Hannah? Coach Hannah, volleyball. And then coach Jeremiah for cross country. [00:22:10] Speaker A: Yeah. So looking forward. And then some of the athletes, current players. So we got Caleb Ness, Lauren Fessler. [00:22:18] Speaker B: And then Kate Jansen, Kate Jensen, Josh, Matt and Bennett Griner. [00:22:21] Speaker A: There you go. So looking forward to all those interviews. It's going to be a good time. Or I guess we already interviewed. [00:22:27] Speaker B: It was a good time. We already recorded them before they all leave for Christmas break. [00:22:31] Speaker A: That's going to be good. I'm looking forward to hearing all those and hearing you guys, which is why. [00:22:35] Speaker B: You see us all wearing different shirts throughout the interviews because I record at different times. [00:22:39] Speaker A: I always wear the same stuff I have, like my material. I'm not on an athletic program. [00:22:45] Speaker B: If you want, you are. If you guys want me to be, you are one like I am where they don't give me nothing. [00:22:53] Speaker A: You're part of the athletic program. You get everything. [00:22:55] Speaker B: We're part of the admissions. Ridiculous. [00:22:57] Speaker A: They don't give us nothing. [00:22:58] Speaker B: Do you want me to wear a backpack? Well, you were. You were part of the athletics program back in the day. [00:23:04] Speaker A: We got a duffel bag with Emmaus on it. [00:23:06] Speaker B: Yes. You got to wear that. [00:23:07] Speaker A: Like, I can wear that if you want me to. You're going to complain some more. [00:23:10] Speaker B: I'm going to complain all the time. [00:23:11] Speaker A: Because you never don't throw the pen. [00:23:13] Speaker B: Stuff anyway to the interview while Shane goes and change. [00:23:16] Speaker A: I'm not going to change. I'm going to finish survivor. I have ten minutes left. In survivor. I got to finish it. [00:23:21] Speaker B: Good luck. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Bye, everyone. Thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the interview with Coach Parker. [00:23:28] Speaker B: And we're back. We're joined with men's head basketball coach Philip Parker. Coach Parker, you're finally here. [00:23:38] Speaker C: Finally here. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Finally here. My bad. Welcome to the podcast. [00:23:42] Speaker C: Thanks for having me. [00:23:42] Speaker B: Thanks for being here. I'm glad to be with you, genuinely. Thanks for being here. [00:23:45] Speaker C: I didn't have a choice, but I'm. [00:23:47] Speaker B: Glad I know coach P, you said. [00:23:49] Speaker C: Coach P, you're fired if you don't do the podcast. [00:23:52] Speaker B: No, that's not what I said, but. [00:23:53] Speaker C: I'm glad you guys do this. This is a really cool thing and it's a benefit to our school. [00:23:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it's been a really fun journey just seeing the growth that we've been able to have from when we first started recording to now, how it's been consistent and having guests interview. Yeah. Great studio. Hopefully it'll be moved to the real studio here in the next couple of years, but you never know. We'll see what been. We're almost done with our first semester, so. [00:24:19] Speaker C: Almost done. [00:24:19] Speaker B: This is your second year here leading us as head coach. And, yeah, we're excited for this. I just talked to Shane about this finals trip that we're going on, this post finals trip to Illinois and Michigan, but it should be a fun one. But how do you think about this semester so far, coach? I know it's been a wild one for sure, but. [00:24:38] Speaker C: No, it's been interesting. We've got a really interesting group of guys, and I really enjoy being with them. It is a fun group, and that's one of the things I've been telling a lot of people is that. [00:24:52] Speaker B: It. [00:24:53] Speaker C: Really is like, it's a unique mix of guys that get along really well and I enjoy coaching them. And so that's been really fun for me. It's been refreshing, I think, for both of us. Yeah, definitely. Just in the fact there's, like this good mix of older guys with some leadership and some younger guys who fit in really well. And there's just like this good camaraderie that we have just kind of built into the been that's been encouraging. And obviously, having a big part of this, too, is just having other adults or older adults as well. So having you and Dylan and Kevin kind of joined our program has been huge for me just because I need your support. [00:25:38] Speaker B: Having someone like Kevin helping us has been huge. It really has been. And it's been really cool because we have four seniors on the team and an Emmaus men's basketball team hasn't had four seniors in probably 15 or 20 years. And the fact we've had Jake and Seth are both four year seniors and then Zach and Kwan are three year seniors that have played. And so having that experience, it helps a lot, but it's just cool to see guys fight throughout their entire time here and can stick it out, continue doing it, graduating, getting a degree and still being a part of a program. [00:26:14] Speaker C: And something great that's happening and that's not normal anymore. [00:26:17] Speaker B: No, especially at our level. I always joke at the really big Duke in North Carolina, they're all like one and dones. But honestly, sometimes at our level, it's really like that because especially with programs or some guys might just come in for the one year bible certificate or go on afterwards. So it's nice having consistency of guys that want to be here that are sticking it out for two, three, four years, not just taking this as a next step and then jumping onto the next thing, which is good for some guys and can work out. But it's also nice when. [00:26:49] Speaker C: Yeah, you can't build a program if you don't guys have stick around. Right? [00:26:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:53] Speaker C: It's been a blessing to have those guys and having them for two years now or Zach for one year, but having the other guys for two years has been a really cool thing and honestly, something new for me to learn as a coach because I've never coached seniors, I've had a junior one time, and I've never had a guy that's been in a school for four years. And so even learning how to coach them and how to, in a sense, kind of respect their place and respect, maybe not respect is right word, but essentially kind of give them that. Like, hey, you've been here. You know what you're doing. I'll give you a little bit of leeway on something. [00:27:26] Speaker B: You're familiar with the environment, with the teams we play. I'll consider listening to you. [00:27:33] Speaker C: Yeah, that's been fun. [00:27:35] Speaker B: That has been. Yeah, no, it's been really good. I think this year it's just been really cool to see, obviously, with this being last year was your first year you came in and then this year with similar but almost a different team and just being able to build established last year, like the rebuilding of the foundation and this year building even more upon that to kind of build this program where we want it to be and just following you and just seeing the guys that we bring in with recruiting and kind of how we establish our identity and who we want to be because every school is different with who they want to be. But just how we've been able to do that has been really encouraging. And seeing where we can go, it's really exciting. It's really exciting. [00:28:20] Speaker C: Is that a question? Sorry. [00:28:21] Speaker B: No. I mean, it can be a question, but it was more of a statement. [00:28:24] Speaker C: But no, it's a good thing. It's a really cool thing. And it takes some time and it takes some perspective. It takes patience and all these things. [00:28:32] Speaker B: And that's the hard part. It does take time. And I think it's our human mindset. Like, no, we want it now, but it's like, no, it takes time to have a genuine, it being done the right way. [00:28:44] Speaker C: Absolutely. And so, yeah, we're trying to take those steps now to kind of think of what do we need to do now to be who we want to be. How do we take those steps of building our values, our foundation, our culture, even playstyle in some ways, too, that maximizes who we are now but also elevates us to we want to be. And that's like this puzzle that we're kind of in right now where we're trying to decide what do we work on, where we're not good, how do we take what we are good at and make that better? And it's just kind of like this interesting puzzle that we're going to go throughout, at least for now, but maybe throughout most of the year, I don't know. But I think we have the guys to do it and the guys have been really flexible and they've been really gracious with, I think, us, which I. [00:29:31] Speaker B: Think showed just how good they are as people and as players that they've been able to adapt to the changes or the different tweaks. And, I mean, that speaks a lot for them, too. [00:29:42] Speaker C: Absolutely. Because I make a lot of mistakes. And you make a mistake or two every once in a while a lot. Not really, but yeah, we do. And I try to be open about those things and just having guys that are okay with that and then guys, we're working really hard to be better for them and they're patient with us is huge. Yes, big deal. [00:30:07] Speaker B: And I think that's something that's so great at our level. I've been here my whole time, 700 years. Right. You've been through down to the school at Calvary. You're a head coach at Spurgeon for three years and this is your second year here at Emmaus. And just know the environments of the three institutions of just being able to be. You're not just a coach, you're like a life coach. You're almost like you have a pastoral hat. With the guys that we're mentoring them, we're not just wanting them to be great basketball players. I mean, we do want them to be great basketball players, but we also want them to be great leaders, great husbands one day, great friends in the student body and stuff like that. And that's something that clearly shows with your love for coaching, is how much you love your players and want what's best for them. [00:30:52] Speaker C: And that's where I was actually having this conversation. Were you in this conversation earlier? [00:30:55] Speaker B: Yeah, Luke and I were in it. I came in halfway through the conversation, basically. Yeah. [00:30:59] Speaker C: It's like this idea of really so much what we do is just counseling, and it's just walking with these guys through life. And what we were talking about earlier was just. I was talking about how I need to coach because it pushes me spiritually. And if I'm not in a position where I have to pour on other people and obviously my family is a big deal and that has changed, too. But having to have guys come in my office and bring up real issues and real life issues and spiritual issues and me realizing, oh, this is purely, if I'm walking with the Lord in the way I should be, then I'm going to be a better coach. And if I'm not, I'm not a good coach. It's one to one. And so, yeah, just really relying on the Lord and nothing. I'm not that special and I'm not that talented, but relying on the Lord to use me and use my mistakes and the dumb things I say pretty much every practice, every day, and just hopefully trust in the Lord to use that for his will. In a way, it's kind of scary, but it's also like, it's enlightening, too. It takes off some of that burden. [00:32:11] Speaker B: And I feel like the challenge of that, knowing I can't just talk the talk. I have to walk the walk. I have to be in the word. I have to be in mentorship. I have to be absolutely at church. I have to be serving in order to be able to do that in this environment, because you can't be like, well, what's your spiritual life look like if what I'm saying is broken because I'm not doing what I'm telling them to do, and it's just like, it is. Yeah. And you can't be fake. I know. We've talked about how, especially at secular schools, usually the coaches are like the worst people because that's all they do, and then there's no one to pour into them. But being able to do that, having that coaching hat on opens up so much more opportunities to be there for the guys because there's that trust there. [00:33:00] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:33:01] Speaker B: And they would rather go to one of us than a teacher or an RA or their friends because we've built that trust through one because we spend countless hours outside and inside the gym. And I think that's just been one of my favorite things about what we do, why we do it, is for the guys and to raise that next generation of leaders and godly men, because it's just so important. [00:33:27] Speaker C: Yeah. And that's why having Kevin as a character coach on our team and having other guys that have been pointed to me and you is just so important for us because we're obviously not that old. [00:33:40] Speaker B: Right. [00:33:40] Speaker C: And we need more wisdom. And having godly older men like that to help us help our guys. [00:33:50] Speaker B: Is. [00:33:50] Speaker C: One of the most important things and one of the best things that's happened to me. And obviously having. I need to pitch my wife, too. She told me not to mention her, but even having my wife and her being so patient with me, who also is a coach, also is a coach. The most attractive coach I've ever seen. But, yeah, just even having her being really supportive and being really patient with me, that really is some of the things I've learned. The short tenure of my career. It really is. Like, it's. Your administration will determine your success and your family and your wife. [00:34:23] Speaker B: No, it really is. If you have your spouse's support of, like, I know that this is something you love, and I want to support you through it and help you along with doing this, what you love. That's so great. You can tell when coaches don't have that at home, and I really feel for them because, you know, coaching is something they love, but when they're pulled different directions, that is so hard. [00:34:49] Speaker C: Yeah, it's hard to do because it's not your life, it's not your identity, but it really is kind of all encompassing because it is sharing your life and it is sharing everything, you know and everything about you with a bunch of guys, which is an incredible thing. [00:35:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Which I'm so thankful that Tasha's so supportive and Rachel's so supportive because it allows us to still pour in greatly to our families, but also pour in almost in a sense. [00:35:15] Speaker C: And you need to go home sometimes. [00:35:17] Speaker B: Yes, I need to go home. You need to go home. Dylan needs to go home. [00:35:19] Speaker C: Absolutely. Yeah. Dylan, go home. [00:35:20] Speaker B: And having Dylan a part of the program graduated last year, and coming on this year as a volunteer assistant coach, that's been nice to have him around. [00:35:28] Speaker C: He's a hustler, man. [00:35:29] Speaker B: He is. He's a beast out there on the. [00:35:31] Speaker C: Recruiting trail, on the recruiting board. [00:35:33] Speaker B: So thankful. I know you joke with him a lot, and I joke with him a lot, but just like, he deserves it. He deserves it. He does. But he does such a good job of identifying prospective recruits and getting them in the funnel and involved, and I think that's been something we haven't had in a long time, if not ever. [00:35:49] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So he's been massive. And I think for him, his work is more long term. So what he's doing is he's reaching out to these twenty four s, twenty five s, even 26s pretty soon. We don't really know until a couple of years, but, I mean, he's been so helpful just taking off some of that load from us. Obviously, I'm a dinosaur and don't have Twitter or Instagram. I'm a double dinosaur. But, yeah, him doing those things have been huge for us. He's gotten in contact with some really good guys that we've been able to build some relationships with. The future is bright, and things are looking really cool. [00:36:29] Speaker B: I'm so excited about this perspective class, especially with the number of guys we've been talking to. It will be a game changer next year and just of the excitement and just been really cool to see how. So thankful for how much the Lord has blessed this program and from last year and the difficulties we had last year, the way we finished. [00:36:51] Speaker C: I don't remember last year. [00:36:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. I blame coach Sanders, but how we've been able to do this year, obviously, we're not where we want to be this year, but I don't remember last. [00:37:00] Speaker C: Year of Barrett being born. [00:37:02] Speaker B: That's true. [00:37:03] Speaker C: It wasn't traumatic. [00:37:04] Speaker B: Yes. You made me coach games. I know, but, like, shout out, Barrett. [00:37:08] Speaker C: Going at you in the hospital. [00:37:09] Speaker B: I know, right? [00:37:11] Speaker C: Quit blitzing. [00:37:12] Speaker B: Ball crazy days one. [00:37:14] Speaker C: Don't hedge those. I remember that, actually. [00:37:17] Speaker B: I remember reading my phone halftime, like, oh, boy. I'm just kidding. This is tough. And I also like that, too. That just puts such a different perspective on. Especially, like, assistant coaches. Because I remember speaking of coach Sanders, because when he said there was one game where the ref kicked him out and didn't you have to, I lost it. You lost the game, but you had to take over and coach when Bear was born. And then I had to coach that Marinatha game. And I think it gives a whole, like, mindset to the assistant coach. I have to be ready at any time. We all have to be ready in time. It can't just be like, oh, I just show up to practice and be like, okay, I'm going to help you in this area, but I'm going to sit back over here. [00:38:01] Speaker C: But it's like, no, you have to. [00:38:03] Speaker B: Be there because you never know when literally you're going to get thrown right in and you want to be at your best to support you, but also to support the guys and show that, that you care and you're not there just to hang out and have a good time. [00:38:14] Speaker C: That's where you're such a blessing to me, and Dylan is such a blessing, and Kevin, too, because you guys are so invested and I've worked with some really great guys and great coaches, but they just haven't been able to be around as much as you guys are. And yeah, just being able to start hand things off to you and letting you run with some things is such an encouragement to me. And it really helps us as a program as guys learn how to take coaching from you because they don't want to hear from me all the time. [00:38:44] Speaker B: Tired of my voice or it's not like, oh, he's just a token coach. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Absolutely. [00:38:49] Speaker C: And that's just the program is going to be great and we're going to be really good and we are doing some great things even this year. But a lot of that is really because you and Dylan and Kevin and the work that's been going on even in the past, even before I got. [00:39:09] Speaker B: Shows the confidence we have in you and where the direction that we're going in the program. [00:39:13] Speaker C: You have confidence in me? [00:39:15] Speaker B: Yes. [00:39:16] Speaker C: Okay. [00:39:17] Speaker B: Surprise. [00:39:18] Speaker C: I know. No, you're good. [00:39:19] Speaker B: But no, it's so true because none of us would have this excitement or this support of the program if we didn't value it or appreciate the time that we all had. Because it's actually kind of nice having a non emmaus because all three of. [00:39:38] Speaker C: Us played here like an outcast a. [00:39:40] Speaker B: Little bit, but also in the same environment because, I mean, we did a lot of stuff against each other back. [00:39:44] Speaker C: In the day, but you weren't, except what did Shane call you earlier? [00:39:49] Speaker B: He said something about a punk or something. [00:39:50] Speaker C: Oh, you weren't a punk. You're probably really nice. [00:39:53] Speaker B: I was obnoxious, I guess. [00:39:54] Speaker C: Had this bad memory of you for some reason. [00:39:57] Speaker B: It's coach Sanders'fault. [00:39:58] Speaker C: It's a good memory. [00:40:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Who would have thought? You're sitting the bench at Calvary. [00:40:02] Speaker C: You need an episode without Coach Sanders sign pretty soon, right? [00:40:06] Speaker B: Which he's going to be mad at me that, oh, Philip's on the podcast before I was. [00:40:11] Speaker C: I'm sitting in Zach Kirkman's chair. [00:40:13] Speaker B: I know. We're going to the trifecta of Calvary, people on the podcast when he gets on. [00:40:17] Speaker C: Zach Kirkman sat in this chair. What a blessing to my wife. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Seriously. It is. But no, he talks about. Did you rewatch the podcast? [00:40:26] Speaker C: I actually did. I probably shouldn't have. [00:40:27] Speaker B: Yeah, he talked about you on it. [00:40:29] Speaker C: Yeah. Don't believe it. [00:40:30] Speaker B: Actually, we both talked about you on it. [00:40:31] Speaker C: Don't believe anything he says. But no. Yeah, I love Zach, and he's done. [00:40:35] Speaker B: Some good things over there, but, oh. [00:40:36] Speaker C: My gosh, he makes me feel self conscious. He's so good. He's so good at his job. He does a good job with them. [00:40:42] Speaker B: He does. [00:40:43] Speaker C: And I'm just trying to live up to him now. [00:40:46] Speaker B: We'll see what, like, going back to just. It's just so know, having what Shane and I talked about a little bit ago in the first half of the podcast of just like, every head coach here at Emmaus is on the same page of where we want, what we want athletics as a whole to look like and we, what our individual teams look like, and then just the support of all the different assistant coaches of like. Because if we're coaching in this environment, you're not coaching in an environment like this just to jump to the next thing or just because you want to coach. But also, there's so much more that goes on here, and it's just so cool to see. [00:41:23] Speaker C: You want to really coach. [00:41:24] Speaker B: You really want to coach. [00:41:25] Speaker C: You have to really invest in people. [00:41:26] Speaker B: Yes. Which is so cool to see people like Vicky Denny at Bob Jones, who's been there for 30 years, or coach Lamb at Ozark, coach Fincham, who's been at faith since 2002, 2004. Coach Afridi is at central for so many years, and you're not there just to coach. You're there to do everything, and you're not going to be there unless you believe or support in what's going on at the institution. And so that's what's so encouraging. There's a lot of young coaches here, and the future of having long lasting coaches is really exciting. Because you can establish that foundation, establish your core, and just keep going, which. [00:42:07] Speaker C: Is even more than that. It's the people that hire those coaches. That's really where it starts. And so having an administration that's supportive and coach McHugh, who's been super kind. [00:42:14] Speaker B: Coach McHugh has been a game changer. [00:42:16] Speaker C: And he's the other guy, too. That's been really kind of pouring into our program and helping me think through things and telling me to stop doing dumb things when I'm like, hey, I wish I do this. And he's like, nah, I wouldn't do that. And I'm like, oh, that's probably a good idea. I probably don't want to do that. But, yeah, it really starts at the top just of president Boom and Dean Chavez and Chris and all these guys that are really just investing in us. [00:42:40] Speaker B: And it's been so cool to see, because you can tell Chad and fundraising and the support of even Mr. Kuhnjamin with academics and seeing the professors and their support, Emmaus, how they viewed athletics has changed so much positive since even when I played. And it's just been so encouraging in a sense. I'm like, I'm a little jealous because just the entire school embodied play in practice. [00:43:09] Speaker C: You shouldn't be jealous, right? [00:43:10] Speaker B: Whatever. Shoot in practice. I do shoot in practice, but just from where we were. Well, sometimes we have to do it for our rebounding drills. [00:43:18] Speaker C: That's when I shoot. [00:43:20] Speaker B: But just like the growth in the support that athletics here at Amazon has had in these last ten to 15 years has just been astronomical. And it's so cool to see the value of sports and just the tool that it can be for ministry and spreading sports is a universal language, and it opens up so many opportunities to witness to other people or spread the gospel because of a sport. And it's been so cool just to see our teams embody that and looking at the maybe upcoming missions trips in a couple of years for some of our teams. And I think it's just been really cool to see that. I'm so thankful for, like you said, for the people that are in the higher administrative positions and the value that they see and the encouragement and the support. Where you see them at the games, you see them walking by practice and watching for a little bit because they're genuinely excited about what's going on. [00:44:12] Speaker C: I know President Boom asked me about the game or the team a lot. Almost scares. Know what? If I might make a jeez, but no. So it is a real cool thing and it's been. [00:44:24] Speaker B: But, yeah, like, you not. It's not like they're, oh, so tell me about what are you doing? It's like, no, they're genuinely interested because they're supportive and they're excited about what's going on. [00:44:33] Speaker C: They want to be supportive. I don't know what the other tops of that would be, right. [00:44:41] Speaker B: But, yeah, like we said, there's a lot of really good things going on here at Emmaus, but especially specifically the men's basketball program and just the direction that we're going and the environment that we're building. And, hey, you guys out there that want to be a part of know, we would love to talk to you and learn more about you and get to know you and see if this would be a good fit for you guys and if this is something you want to do, because it's going to be a minute where we're going to take everything by storm. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be like that. [00:45:08] Speaker C: Yeah, it'll be cool. I'm very excited to go on the journey with you. [00:45:14] Speaker B: I'm excited. Thanks for letting me be on the journey with you. [00:45:17] Speaker C: I couldn't get rid of you. That's true, but I don't want to. [00:45:20] Speaker B: Yeah. You're like, I have to come to Mayas and talk to Matt. Dang it. [00:45:24] Speaker C: You're built in the program. You're like, our floor. You're there. [00:45:29] Speaker B: We just got our floor redone this summer. [00:45:32] Speaker C: Consistent, steady, pretty, all these things. [00:45:36] Speaker B: But excited for our Christmas party on Saturday with the team. [00:45:39] Speaker C: So it'll be great. [00:45:40] Speaker B: It'll be fun. But Coach Parker, thanks for. Sorry. Finally being on the podcast. We're glad that you're here and here as an Emmaus eagle, even though you were here, even though you won basically every time that you play coach against us. I think I beat you once. I think I beat you once or twice. Shout out that one game when you drove all the way here and then you had to turn around and go home because there was that pandemic going. [00:46:02] Speaker C: Well, we just want to dubuque Chickfila. [00:46:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. [00:46:04] Speaker C: Shout out, Duke. Chickfila for. [00:46:06] Speaker B: Shout out, Justin Barnes. [00:46:08] Speaker C: Six hour drive just for chickfila. [00:46:09] Speaker B: For chickfila. [00:46:10] Speaker C: Yeah. Actually, 12 hours. 6 hours, but don't remember. It was worth it in the long. [00:46:16] Speaker B: Run now that you're here, which we're thankful I did. [00:46:19] Speaker C: 20 minutes. Not 20 minutes. Five minutes from my house. [00:46:21] Speaker B: Right. Which is so cool. [00:46:22] Speaker C: I don't have to drive 6 hours for it. [00:46:24] Speaker B: But thank you guys for joining this episode. Keep an eye out for these next three games on our social media for on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Have a great and a merry Christmas, and we'll see you guys next year. [00:46:36] Speaker C: Go eags. [00:46:37] Speaker B: Great day, Eagle.