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2016 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day

Friday, Oct. 21 | #Pac12Hoops
TV: 10A / 11MT on Pac-12 Network

2016 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day: Jerod Haase wants Stanford to be invested, tough and selfless

Oct 21, 2016
Stanford Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO - College hoops is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, yet there is considerable consistency around the Pac-12 where 11 of 12 head coaches this season return from last year. The lone new face on the sideline is on The Farm, where former UAB coach and Roy Williams disciple Jerod Haase takes over the reins from Johnny Dawkins.

While installing offensive and defensive philosophies is at the top of the to-do list of any head coach, Haase wants to make sure the right culture is in place for the Cardinal to succeed over the course of his tenure. Haase boils it down to three key words that describe what he wants Stanford men’s basketball to be about under his watchful eye.

“Our core values for the program are going to be invested, tough and selfless,” Haase said at 2016 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day here on Friday. “That’s something we’ve tried to visit a lot with our guys about; that everything we do on the court, off the court are going to come down to those core values. If I’m fortunate enough to be at Stanford for a long time, that’s going to be the core foundation for everything we do.”

Translating that to on-the-court matters, redshirt sophomore big man Reid Travis notices the investment the coaching staff is putting into defense.

“That’s one thing that coaches are preparing is that we’ve got to be tough and we’ve got to guard,” Travis said. “That’s been the emphasis the last few practices is that we really have to guard, and we’ll really have to dig in on defense.”

“I feel like if we can guard at a high level, we can be competitive and successful in the Pac-12.”