Q. Just wanted to ask you, taking this new leadership role, what's the main message that you want to give to the current guys on the team and just kind of the young guys in the future that will come into Indiana?
JORDAN HULLS: Yeah, coming in, you know, obviously being born in Bloomington, watching Indiana Basketball my whole life and playing here, my thing is trying to relate to these guys and get to know them, first of all, you know, what makes them tick, how I can help them in any way, shape or form and for me it's kind of just instilling, like, this place, when this gets going, it gets going. There's really no place you'd rather be playing basketball, and just trying to instill that. The hard work and things that it takes to play, and be a really good basketball team.
And I get that here, with my first few years, not so great, but I learned a lot from those two difficult years that led us to two Sweet 16s. So taking from my experiences playing here but also my nine-year pro career, just trying to relate that best way I can to these kids.
Q. I guess first of all, welcome back. Secondly, I don't know how much on-court work you're going to be able to do or if it's strictly recruiting, but a guy like Leo, wonder how much you can possibly take him under your wing here in the off-season?
JORDAN HULLS: Yeah, obviously shooting is an area that we like to keep working on and improving. Everybody every summer is going to try and do that. For me, like I said, it's to be a mentor and to try and relate to these guys and help them in any way I can and a guy like Anthony who I have known for a long, long time. Being a former Bloomington south product, for me it's really cool to see how hard he's working; and doing what I'm able to do as far as, you know, giving him the confidence to go out there and shoot the basketball when he's open and doing those things, not just the fan base but with everybody, to try to get their shot prep and those things in line when they ask me questions and stuff like that, like I said, from my personal experiences being the shooter that I was, hopefully those things that can carry over to the court.
Q. Hard to believe it's been 13, 14 years when you were in the recruiting process and we were writing stories about you. In your new role, what do you think the biggest things that have changed in terms of recruiting since you went through the process and what are maybe the biggest challenges moving forward in recruiting that, not just you, but in general, that guys doing this for a living are going to have to overcome in the years ahead?
JORDAN HULLS: It's a good question, when I was getting recruited, there's a lot of rules that have changed, a lot of different things that you can or cannot do, but for me, my recruiting process was fairly short once I got the offer from Indiana, I may be waited two more weeks and then I decided to commit. So that process for me, I have maybe a little bit different version than most.
But with that being said, I just have a lot of friends and guys that did go through the whole process, and being back here and being in this realm just for a short time, you can already see the things that need to be done as far as, you know, staying in contact with those that you can and just trying to research and learn everything about the prospect that you can or whoever, just so you can build that relationship.
For me, whether it's business or recruiting or whatever, relationships are everything, and that's how I'm treating that here as well. So I know that's very important for me and I know that's important when I was going through the process as well, but you're going to be playing and devoting your life to the school academically but also on the court. So you want to make sure that it's the right fit for you, and I'm doing the best that I can with that.
Q. I wanted to go back to your recruitment as well. As I recall it, you know, the first couple years of high school, you didn't have a lot of schools paying attention to you and then all of a sudden it kind of blew up. Just kind of tying that back to your current role, have you thought about what that's going to be like to maybe be the first guy that gets a call from a high major school, what that's going to be like for you after your own experience of sitting in that seat?
JORDAN HULLS: Yeah, for sure, I'll probably have a special place in my heart for that, that kind of thing, because I was sending out tapes to anybody who would even take a look at it when I was getting heavily recruited. I played with a lot of good guys on my AAU team and got noticed in Pittsburgh and things took off from there.
Yeah, it's something that for me, it's realizing after being in the pros for nine years what high school basketball looks like in today's game because these guys seem a lot more athletic than those I remember playing against.
So it's me adjusting to that but also applying those pro philosophies that I've learned and really try to pick out certain things or characteristics that guys have. That's the fun part for me is diving in and seeing the players that have the intangibles to help us succeed or whatever comes with that. That's a very exciting thing for me to try and just watch good basketball, watch good players and try to get those guys.
Q. I hope you're doing well. How did this opportunity kind of come up for you obviously you were playing overseas. Was it Mike Woodson that called you first? How did those kind of talks and the job effort, job offer, come about?
JORDAN HULLS: Yeah, the opportunity came up and I was still playing at the time and I was asked if it was something I would be interested in pursuing and after talking it over with my wife and family and just trying to see, is this something I would be willing to give up playing for, because I fully planned on playing for another two or three years. I was still playing at a high level, in a good league, good competition, one of the highest in Europe.
For me, it was something if I was going to give it up, it would have to be for a situation to come back home, that's really the only way that I would ever do that, and after going through the process and do my research and talking to the coaches and other people to figure out if this was really something I want to get into, for me it was something I just couldn't pass up. It's an opportunity to learn from some really, really good coaches, guys who have been at the NBA level, college level for a long time.
I'm just trying to be the best at my position that I can be, help these guys the best that I can, and you know, for me and my family to come back home, back to Bloomington, my kids get to see my grandparents more and kids and cousins and that came full circle for us. We are not getting any younger. My kids are getting older, so that stuff played a big part of that as well.
Q. Curious with your experience playing overseas the last nine or so years, and the relationships you've built over there, will that open the door at all for international recruiting for Indiana?
JORDAN HULLS: Great question. I mean, yeah, etc. Always a possibility. I see it happening more and more. I've played in, what, four different countries but made connections all over Europe. That's another thing that's definitely a possibility if things fall into place in that regard. There's talent all over the world, and if we want to try and get the best players possible that's going to help us win and if it so happens to be from Europe and it's through a connection that I was able to make over my nine-year career, that would be pretty cool.
Q. I remember talking to your dad, and he told you to play as long as you can play. How hard is it to walk away at this point, still producing and putting numbers up yet?
JORDAN HULLS: Yeah, that's a good question. I've always been a gym rat, someone always in the gym working on my game.
Then as I got older, started training kids. I always knew getting into this room was my future and I was playing at a high level. I've talked to a few different people and they are just telling me to really embrace and dive into the work, trust your decision and all that you do, and you know, just be excited for the next opportunity. You know, this is a great phase for me and my family, this next stage of life that we are super excited about and I'm going to attack it just like I did when I went on the court and do the best that I can, as hard as I can, and you know, things tend to work out that way.
Q. Following up on this past weekend, what was that experience like I saw you taking a ton of notes on the basketball side, and just getting back into the Indiana Basketball scene.
JORDAN HULLS: Yeah, it was great. You know, to get in there, get out there on the road and see these kids play in person is different than watching them be on a computer. It's a lot better to see them in person, see them interact with their teammates and see the little details they do when they run off the court, what have you. For me it's special to be able to go out there and do that and like you said I'm trying to learn as much as I can. So taking notes on whatever I can and whatever I see that I think can help me not only as -- be the best that I can in my role but also to try and help these kids in the future.
Q. Growing up, what were some of your early memories of IU Basketball?
JORDAN HULLS: Early memories were always coming to Hoosier, get your cans and you donate and you watch the Hoosier Hysteria. At that time it was midnight so it was pretty special to stay up late and watch the first practice of the year. Those are for sure my earliest memories and also watching A.J. and that crew play in my grandpa's basement on the big screen TV.
Q. So when this all came together when you had that first conversations with your parents that you were coming home what was that like?
JORDAN HULLS: They were pretty over the moon about it. My parents, my in-laws, brothers, sisters, Cousins, everybody, you name it, was pretty excited because, you know, nine years is a long time to be playing overseas.
Of course I came back in the summertime, but you know, it's just different when you're home for, you know, six to eight weeks and you're trying to see everybody. It just didn't work out. They are happy to see my kids a lot more and be around. Their cousins can see them for more than just an hour while they are here. It's special for us as a family.
Q. How good is your German?
JORDAN HULLS: Not so good (in German) but my son is fluent which pretty crazy, so I can understand quite a bit. But speaking is completely different just because of the structure and where the verb is placed in the sentence. My oldest kid is fluent and my second son, Leo, he can understand but doesn't quite speak it. So I'm doing to have to try and keep up with them so they don't talk bad about me behind me back.
Q. Going back to what you said earlier about kids that have not had a lot of offers, and obviously just the level of athleticism that you see, but what do you think your experience is going to tell you about recruiting in terms of what someone who may be isn't the most athletic or isn't the tallest or whatever, how much do you think that can help, seeing the value of hard work and basketball IQ, how do you think that can help you when you go around looking at players?
JORDAN HULLS: For sure, get to go see that in person, that really helps me. You can see how they control the game or their fundamentals. They are not turning the ball over. They are good teammates. Those kind of things go a long way. Obviously you can tell from a guy, you know, if you look at a guy like me who wasn't, you know, most physically looking person in the world, you know, but you can just tell with some people that they just got it, whether or not they are super athlete or if they are this or if they are that. So for me, I think it's paying attention to the details and those are things that really helped me personally was just staying the course and knowing that I was doing the right things.
Obviously it's a crazy, crazy atmosphere. There's so many different kids in the country, so just knowing that you've got to go out there and work. I know that is what worked for me and that's still a good recipe for kids out there today. I think learning more about the kids and how they work, for me, is you know, is something that I'll be looking forward to.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports