Chris Collins comes to Northwestern from Duke as a stark contrast to Bill Carmody, the man whom he succeeds. The 39-year-old fiery young coach is determined to lead the Wildcats further than they've gone before, a tough job given that Northwestern has never made the NCAA Tournament and is in the ultra-competitive Big Ten Conference.
Have any of the other Big Ten coaches given you advice so far?
I think all of them have, obviously, told me how tough the league is, and just to keep working, stick to your guns and what you believe in. They've all wished me luck. The thing that I really like about this league with the coaches is there's such a good respect level. You might not see that in a lot of other leagues. You're competing like crazy, and everybody wants to win, but I can sense already a great respect amongst the coaches in the conference. They've all been great to me so far, so I have only good things to say.
Was it a tough transition adjusting to the academic standards that Northwestern has for its recruits, or in coming from Duke, was that not a big adjustment for you?
Fortunately, the kind of school I'm coming from is kind of a similar type of kid in terms of maybe an academic background or upbringing. I've just tried to parlay that. And everything in recruiting is about relationships and getting to know these young men, getting to know their families and the people around them that help make the decisions. For me, what I've tried to do is talk about what our future entails: the excitement, being in Chicago, having a chance to play in the Big Ten and also get a great education. There's only a few schools that can offer that, where you can play at the highest level and still get a top 10 to 12 education in the world. We're fortunately one of those.
It's been a nice buzz so far. There's been a good excitement locally about the program. Now, we have to go out and play. Buzz is nice, and it's all fine and good, and I'm glad people are excited, but now we have to go out and actually show it on the floor and play. That's where you really have to have the results.
Have the rule changes in regards to hand-checking adjusted the way you play defense in practice at all?
What we've tried to do is have more practices where we have officials, just so the guys can get used to the way they're calling things. The first time we scrimmaged, there were 60 fouls [in an] intra-squad scrimmage because they're not used to it. We can complain about it, but we've been told this is how it's going to be called, and the players are going to have to adjust how much hands they're using on guys, the way they're body-checking and bumping. Like I said, we just want to see consistency. If there's the consistency, then the coaches and players will adjust to it.
What can you say about the way the Northwestern fans welcomed you when you initially came in?
It was amazing. I didn't know what to expect. The thing I love about this area is Chicago embraces their own so well. To be able to go around town, if I'm at a restaurant or at a store, to have random people come up and just say, "Welcome home. We're really pulling for you. We want you to get that going at Northwestern," it made me feel great. To see the fan reaction, the people at our school kind of rally around where we're at and where we're trying to go, I think it's a great time for Northwestern athletics. A couple weeks ago, we had ESPN [College] GameDay on campus and the excitement around football and our other sports programs and what Jim Phillips, our AD, and the administration has built in terms of athletics. We're on the rise in every sport, and they're bringing me in to bring basketball to that level. It's a great challenge. I know it's going to take a lot of work. It's not going to happen overnight, but I'm committed to getting it done in the long haul.
At what point did you decide to give James Montgomery III a scholarship?
It was something he earned over time, and literally, it happened probably a day before I said it to him in front of the now-infamous video that's out there, which was great. I met with my coaching staff. We've had some turnover in the program, so we had a scholarship available. We keep preaching to our guys about the commitment, about the dedication, about being a great teammate, working hard every day and no one's done that better than James. First of all, he's earned it, so it's a great thing for him. But for me, it's also a great statement for our program and for our guys that if you do those things, you will be rewarded. I think it helps for a number of different reasons. It was something that he earned through his work habits and his dedication, his commitment. The kid's an engineering major, so he's got labs and classes. Literally all he does is basketball and engineering. For him to bring what he's brought to our program, getting a scholarship is something he earned and he's deserved.