Episode #90: Jeff Gard

Significant Coaching with Jeff Gard – UW-Platteville Head Men’s Basketball Coach

This week’s episode is a courtside seat to the coaching journey of Jeff Gard, the longtime Head Men’s Basketball Coach at UW-Platteville. We talk hoops, leadership, and the incredible influence of the legendary Coach Jerry Petitgoue, who helped shape Jeff's values both on and off the court.

Coach Gard opens up about:

• Competing in the always-loaded WIAC conference
• Recruiting without an offer???
• How he builds a program that develops great teammates and even better young men

It’s a real, refreshing look at coaching with intention — and just the right mix of basketball talk and bigger-picture wisdom.

🎧 Stick around — Part 2 drops next week with Coach Gard’s best advice on college recruiting.

📚 Check out resources at coachmattrogers.com:
Significant Recruiting, The Recruit’s Journal, the blog, and the Significant Recruiting Launchpad online course.

Transcript

0:00

But again, I'm gonna stay true to who I am. I'm not gonna guarantee you anything. The only guarantee is that I'm gonna give you an opportunity to prove yourself. What you do with that opportunity is up to you. If you don't wanna work hard in the off season, okay then don't be upset with me when you don't make the roster or if you're one of my returners, you don't work hard in the off season. Don't be upset when you don't see the playing time that you want. Welcome back to the Significant Coaching Podcast. I'm your host, coach Matt Rogers, and if you've ever wondered what it's like to grow up under the influence of a coaching legend and then build your own legacy in one of the toughest D three conferences in the country, and recruit players who bring substance and staying power, then you're in for a real treat. Today's guest is Coach Jeff Guard head, men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin Platteville. Jeff doesn't just coach in the YAC, he embraces everything that makes it one of the most competitive and well-respected D three conferences in the nation. Now Coach Guard and I have a pretty parallel coaching history. Even though we didn't spend a lot of time with each other growing up, we both share a lot of the same memories. So we started the podcast by going backwards before we go forward. One of the most powerful moments in this episode is Jeff's reflection on the late great coach Jerry Peti youe, a mentor, a legend, and a guiding force in both of our lives. You'll hear what it was like to grow up around Coach P, the impact of the tri-state basketball camps, and how those early lessons continue to shape Jeff's coaching and leadership today. We also dive into what makes Yac basketball such a tough and respected league, the importance of building a connected, accountable, and resilient program culture and pay close attention to how Coach Guard evaluates potential recruits and how he handles offers to recruits. It's a true testament to his integrity as a coach. Okay. Before we dive in, make sure to check out coach matt rogers.com where you can find significant recruiting. The recruits journal, my weekly blog, and the significant recruiting launchpad, my online classes that help families take charge of the college recruiting process. And if you're a high school principal or athletic director, I'd love to speak with you and talk to you about, coming to speak to your families and your students about what's next for them after high school. Now let's get to it. Here's my conversation with Coach Jeff Gard. Coach Guard, thanks for being on the Significant Coaching Podcast. It's great to see you. I wanted to have you on for a lot of reasons, but both of us lost a pretty important mentor and coach in our life in the last month or so, and I wanted to get your thoughts on Coach Jerry Pegu and what he meant to you. I think it's first off, Matt, obviously appreciate you having me on and, excited to obviously spend some time with you today talking, but yeah, you're talking about an individual that was a, a teacher first. And both literally and figuratively as well. And I think obviously when you get into the game of coaching in general, that's what coaching is. It is teaching how do you connect with every student or every student athlete but then also the individuals that you work with as well. Yeah, I was fortunate enough, I had about. Four three years that I was able to be with Coach Pegu and, working within that Cuba city athletic department, even at the junior high level where I started out at but. Just being alongside him and just looking at how he, he operated on a day-to-day basis. There's so many things from an xs and o standpoint that I took away. But I laugh about it too. Even to the time when obviously I was here at Platteville and later. Coaches later years at Cuba City with some good teams that he had. And obviously we were fortunate enough to get a couple of his student athletes to come play for us as well. Coach would always be popping in the office and, he wanted to pick your brain about, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? We're gonna see a team that's gonna have a two, three zone coach. What's the best way? And I just look at him and I kinda laugh. I said, coach, your players are way better than theirs. Don't worry about it. But it wasn't so much the. Preparation for the game. It was just he was a continuous learner. Yeah. And I think I've talked with a lot of us that are close to coach and it was one of those things when Joe Paw. Retired at Penn State, how quickly he passed. And I think that's, something that was very near and dear to coach and that was the concern. He didn't have a lot of outside hobbies. This was what kept him ticking. And that's why he was in everybody's office, even when he retired from Cuba City, he joined the staff at Gina. And I told him, I said, coach, I said, Hey, when you retire, you got a seat on my bench. Come on up here. Sit in practice. And he did. He was at multiple practices, just watching. Yeah. But I think that's what kind of kept him going. But that's also something to think about is, doesn't matter if you're coach and just life in general, be a continuous learner.'cause it's gonna keep you moving. It keeps you motivated. It's like you're, I look at you always trying to lose weight. Okay, you gotta keep moving to lose weight, and it's gotta get something that's gonna be motivating. What's your why behind all of it as well. But it's those parts that I lot I learned from coach. I said it in a tweet as well, or a post, a Facebook post or something that I put out. It was Faith, it was family. It was Cuba City basketball. Yeah. And I look at that I've got two young kids, a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old and they see the little. Mannerisms, the little twe twerks, the things that I do. And my daughter was asking me the other day, she goes, dad, why do you do that all the time? And all it was is just a recognition when you drive by a Catholic church tip of your hat, yeah. Little side of the cross on the chest, whatever it may be. She asked, why do you do that? And I'm like my dad used to always do it. Saw that, and then I always saw. Coach Petty. You do it too. Yeah. And it was, didn't matter where we were at it, but I think it was just that what did you learn from him? And it's those things that I look at that can I bring back to the program that are gonna last a lifetime. These guys are gonna forget the x's and no's that I talk about. But the type of person that you are. Is again, and what you do and what you expose them to is going to last a lifetime. And again, it's not trying to push something, force something upon somebody. It's just when they see you being true to who you really are and being comfortable in your skin, they're more comfortable. And I know we're gonna talk recruiting down the road here on this podcast as well. But, I think it's those things that I learned from coach that be who you are. Don't worry about what everybody on the outside thinks. As successful as coach was there was a lot of people that disliked him. I kinda laugh about it too. It's when I was with him early on as an assistant coach there, I. I tell the story I was getting my hair cut by this lady one day and. We got talking. She goes what do you do? And I explained and she goes, oh, I don't really like Coach Petty gu. He said, he cuts players. And I'm like, oh yeah. And she goes, michael Jordan got cut from his high school team. How many Michael Jordan's is Coach Pegu cutting. And I'm like hold on. And I'm also being careful because mine is, she's got scissors by my ear. I don't really want my ear cut off because she's mad at me now, but I'm like, yes, I know coach cuts. But you also have to kinda look at the big picture. Just because you interview for a job doesn't mean you're going to get the job. You have to earn it, and it's the same thing as a player. You have to earn the playing time. You have to earn the opportunity to be a part of the program. And what coaches established now, the great thing is everybody wanted to be a part of it because he won. So it's also being able to filter that out. How can somebody that maybe gets cut from the team still be a part of the team? And may, let them experience what the other student athletes, the 15 other individuals were going through at that time as well. But like I said, there's an individual that was in the city of Cuba city that did not like Jerry Peti youe, and I think there was wrestling coaches that liked him more than than this lady did. But again, it's just, he was genuine. He was one that did everything for everybody else. His wife is a saint. Yes. The, is just unreal. Yes, he will keep his legacy continuing to go forward. He's got a phenomenal family. His daughter has two boys as well. And I just, it's, coach was always, he never looked at him as a coach and I think every one of his players would say the same thing. He was more like another father figure. Exactly. Even as an assistant coach with him, I kinda look at the way he taught me some different things. I got in a little bit of trouble, obviously you're a college student. When I was working with him and had a little altercation I was more afraid to tell Coach Pegu what happened than I was to tell my mom and dad. Yes. And it wasn't what coach was going to do to me. I wasn't worried about that. It was just like I did. I lose respect in his eyes. Yeah. I was more concerned about upset, letting him down than anything else. His Yeah. You didn't want to be disa you didn't want him to be disappointed in you. Correct. Correct.'cause he did, he meant so much to you. Yeah. And again I kinda look back at it and who you get to get connected with along the way. How are they gonna touch you? Yeah. And help you and establish you in your way. And obviously I was fortunate enough to, parents that brought me up the right way and what they instilled in me, my dad. I can remember him even telling me too, he is like, how excited he was that I was working with Jerry Pet because he knew the type of man that Jerry Pet was. Yes, he respected him as a coach, but he respected him even more as a man because of the way he was. Yeah. And having a, having an older brother. So my dad's got two sons that are, were coaching with legends, and Greg was with Bo at the time and I was with Jerry at the time as well. And just how much. Dad just loved the fact that I was with Jerry Pegu because dad always said, he said, you look at the best coaches. Who are they? And they got their priorities. And like I said before, it was faith, it was family, and it was your organization, so he talked a lot about Lombardi, he talked a lot about Shula, and then it was the Jerry Pegu, so I was fortunate, not knowing which way my, my path was going to eventually end up early on getting a. Front row seat to the way things should be done. And again it wasn't about how things were done from an xs and o standpoint. Yes, I learned a lot from him and, it took things away. But it was just more was learned on life. And just in general from Coach Pet than probably anything with an Nexus o standpoint. Yeah. It's what I'll miss the most is just being able to pick up the phone and call him and Oh, absolutely Hear that voice. Hey, my friend. My friend, how are you my friend? Yes. That's the way he was. And it was so great'cause we'd start talking hoops, but we'd spend another 40 minutes, we might talk basketball for 10 minutes and be 40 minutes talking about his kids or talking about the players. You're talking about coaching and I would always be calling for advice. And I felt like you said we turned it into, Hey I'm thinking about doing this. What do you think about that? Yeah. And I just I was like, coach me talking to you about advice is, it's like me trying to tell a plumber how to turn the wrench. It just doesn't make any sense. That's, and I remember telling him once I said, coach, he said, you forgotten more about the game of basketball than I know. Yes. And that's the way it was. But yeah, like I said, he would, he'd come into practice and you'd. And I have him at practice to observe and to give me feedback. And then he'd walk out of practice and he'd have three, four pages of notes. And I'm like, okay, what do you got for me, coach? He goes, that was great. Oh, that was awesome. That was awesome. I love that. I love what do, why do you do this? How do you get this? What are you looking for here? And I'm like. He was just a student. He was looking at, this is an opportunity for me to learn. Yeah. And again, like I said, I think that's what kept him so motivated, kept him ticking all along. That's so great. Yeah. I could spend a whole podcast talking about coach with you and I'd love to get you and your brother just on one of these just to talk together.'cause I think we all have so many stories about Bo and Jerry and the fact that, you look at all 50 states. And the tree. It's basically Bull Ryan and Jerry Peti. Youe, yeah. Basketball coaching in the state of Wisconsin. I don't think you can say that about any state in the union about what two men had an effect on for girls and boys coaches. And what's taught, absolutely. How many of us as a young coach ran the swing for crying out loud? Yep. Yep. Yep. If you weren't running the swing, you felt out. Yeah. You were wrong. Yep. You were wrong. You were wrong. So it's No it's true. It's so great. It's such a great history and I grew up in northern Illinois where Coach Peti youe coached at Lena Winslow High School when he first started. So that was so cool for me to be at Tri-State Basketball Camp as a 12 or 13-year-old, knowing that Coach Peti you, this great coach coached at my high school and I thought that was just the coolest thing ever, and I think that it's 60 years it is, and I think it's. Early on at a young age, even when we were in high school. And at the time that I was at Iowa Grant playing, obviously the league, the SWA had broken into SWA one, SWA two, or the large and the small division. Didn't, we didn't get to play'em. But it, again, it was like. You looked across the way and he is oh, there's that old guy, he's, coach Petty. I said, yeah, coach looked the same for 40 years, but again, and everybody laughs about it, but it's like they'd always ask, how old is coach? How old is coach? Oh, I'm like, I'd say this. And he is man, he looks a lot older than that and or what young, whatever it may be. But I'm like, yeah, he just kept on going and yeah. But again, I think it's as you. It wasn't until I got out, I think Greg would say the same thing when you got out and you actually got to know him, how much more you respected him. And then just, like I said, I was just fortunate enough to see an ad in the paper that there was a coach needed at Cuba City, at the round school in the elementary. And I applied for it and getting to know him along that journey. And then every year just. He invited me to be more and more involved within that program as well. And yeah, like I said, to this day I told Ryan when we were going through the visitation, I said, I am who I am today as a coach because of your dad. Yeah. And I said, and again, I said, this has nothing to do with excess. No. Yeah. I am who I am today as a coach and how I operate because of your dad. Same here. I think that kinda wraps it up right there. It does. It's great coach. It's hard to believe, but you've been at Ville for a decade now. I got the gray hair to show it too. You, that's why I wear the hat. You really took a program that had a great history at Platteville, one of the best in the country, and you have made it yours. The way your teams play, it's so much your character. It's still, I think, the toughest league in the country. What's changed the most about the job over those 10 years for you? That's a good question because we had a meeting this morning as a, as an athletic department, and we were talking about some different things and I think the biggest thing for me is over the years from my first time of as the head coach to where I am now, I'm not as consumed and wrapped up in the outcome of a game. As I was early in my career, right? Yes, I wanna win. I'm not gonna lie about that. I wanna win, but I also look into stock, into how are we doing it? So being really, ultimately being more process driven than outcome driven. That's been my biggest change of my mo. I think it's allowed me to enjoy what's going on versus being so stressed out. Now don't get me wrong, we've also gotten phenomenal players and I have an unbelievable coaching staff. And I think that's been a key piece of it all. And I think that's the biggest thing is just continue. And when I took the job and I, or I was fortunate enough to get the job Greg was at my press conference. And Ron Rainey, who was Bo's high school and college coach, and was an assistant with Bo at Platteville he was at the press conference as well, and Coach Rainey was a, is a very close family friend and has passed away a few years ago though. But we got done with the press conference and walking out of the room and Greg and Coach Rainey were standing up there as well. And the best advice that was probably given to me is from Coach Rainey is be you. This is your program. This is don't be Bo. And then I was fortunate that growing up in Southwest Wisconsin and coming to school here, I kinda had a front row seat across the way watching a legend in his own run, his program and how not only running the program, but you got everybody involved, the community, everything. The place was sold out all the time. And then obviously there was. Transition period from when Bo left to go to Milwaukee. Coach Landrum came in. And then I was fortunate enough when I left, went to Lakeland College for two years and was fortunate to come back with Paul Combs at the time that took over. So there was been a gap of when Bo was here to when I got to take over. Yeah. But again, it's knowing that how much Bo was. An influence on coaches and just in Southwest Wisconsin, but also me growing up like Coach Rainey's comma is be you. Yeah. And I think that's the one thing that's always stuck with me is you can look what everybody does, and how, what makes them successful. It's ultimately is what are they? Where do they hold their, where do they hold their values? From an offensive side of things, taking care of the basketball, shot selection, efficiency from the defensive end of the floor, the defensive efficiency as well and taking those things versus how does that person act on the sideline? I think that's the one thing I see with a lot of young coaches is that they try to mimic. What another coach is doing or how they act and how they're yelling at the officials or, some of that stuff is just earned, that's right. And, but again, then when you're trying to be like that, your players are seeing you be somebody that you're not. And I think that's, as I continue to get more and more comfortable with myself as a head coach I became more and more comfortable just being me. And then again, not worrying so much about, what others thought, Hey, this is the way we're going to do it, and I will say, that about the midway point, and this was probably back in 20 15, 20 16, we were down. We had back to back losing years. And I remember our interim athletic director at the time, I'm sitting down in his office, he was a football coach, and we were talking and he's I'm gonna tell you Jeff, he said the guy at the top of the hill isn't happy with what's going on with the basketball program. And kinda read between the lines, Hey, get stuff straightened out or else you're out. Yeah. And I didn't take that as a threat. I looked at it more, it was, Hey, this is a challenge. All right, now we're really gonna find out where my values sit. Do I completely jump ship of what I believe in to do something that's gonna please somebody else and do things just to go unethical, bring kids in that are gonna help you win quick, but. They're not gonna be the fix or, hey, stick true to who you are and what you do, and let's just make sure we're worried about the process. Yeah. And it was that kind of an aha moment that I'm like, I remember sitting back, I'm talking to Greg on the phone and we're going through some different things and I'm like, he goes, what are you doing in practice? He goes, are you holding'em to the standard? Is your are? Are you doing what you want to do? What you believe in? If you are doing that, stick with it because at the end of the day, I was willing to go down with guns blazing, doing it my way. Yeah. Versus trying to fall into what somebody else thought I should be doing or doing it their way. Which just made it a lot more easier. And then really you can sit back and, the following year we go from being dead last in the league to winning the league and losing in the Sweet 16 on a buzzer beater Yeah. To the eventual national champions. And I'm like, it was a bittersweet moment. I wasn't gonna be the guy that was gonna turn to the. The chancellor at that time kinda rub it in their face. You wanted to get rid of me and the very next year I turned this thing around. Words of advice. Maybe I need a little motivation, but I also would say too is that my players were also healthy. Yeah. The year that we finished dead last, I lost my sixth man tore his ACL in practice mill. Nobody even around him. Tears it. And this is the second game, going into the second game of conference play. Lose my starting point guard in the game, and then my backup point guard gets hurt as well. I'm like, sometimes you just can't control those things. No. But at the end of the day, I also didn't let that panic show panic to the guys. I'm like, Hey, we're gonna continue to do what we do, and. It was more of just continuing to build into that, being process driven. Yeah. Versus outcome driven as well. And I, I think that's the thing. You can do everything perfect. Yeah. And still lose a game. You can be god awful and win a. That's right. So at the end of the day, how are you measuring yourself? What's your standard? And like I said, I think that's, we talked about that a little bit today. It just be more process driven than outcome driven. And at the end of the day, process driven is gonna give you longevity Yeah. And sustainability within your program. And I think that's where we're at right now. And, our challenges is, staying at the top. Yeah. So how do you continue to stay at the top? You don't. You gotta look at guys, everybody's coming at you. Okay, what are we gonna do new this year? What's gonna be different? Or at the end of the day, we can add things that are gonna. Help this team be even more successful. But at the end of the day, we can't do those things until we do the basics better. Yeah. And I think that's just that, that constant message that we're driving home with our guys is that, the climb to the top of the hill isn't the hardest thing's when you're there and you wanna stay there and showing that sustainability and I think that's also, that's a sign of a good program. Absolutely you're gonna have turnover. And I think we were just talking with my staff, this afternoon or this morning as well in our staff meeting here, just in within the program. And I said, you look at it, my assistant coaches have done an unbelievable job in evaluating the talent that we bring into our program. And I say that not because we win, but because we retain everybody. We're not a revolving door where. You know it's not the transfer portal at Platteville. That's right. We look at the transfer portal as far as who we wanna bring in. We don't really go after it that hard. We want to build with what we have in. And then also I think it, it helps when you have the national player of the year, two times in a row, goes in the portal both times just to see what the grass is like on the other side. But both times he keeps on coming back after being offered division two scholarships and after being offered a division one scholarship. Amazing. And I think that it says about, the program that you have, but also the people around it. He loved the teammates that he had, and that was, if he was gonna leave, that was gonna be the hardest thing, is to tell his teammates I'm going. Yeah. And I think that's, again, you surround yourself with the right people, do things in the right way. Good things will happen for you. You're finding Platteville kids that want to be there. I'm sure you'll tell me that's a big testament to his parents too and how he was raised. Oh, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. And I think that's, that is the one thing is that, I always say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, that's right. People, they, you hear a lot of. A lot of people and in higher education right now, we're hearing it. And I talk with different businessmen as well and they talk, kids have changed now. Kids haven't changed, they're still the same. It's just where's the attention at home given to'em. That's right. To make sure they're doing things the right way. And I laugh about it, last night my little 9-year-old Vince, who likes to push my buttons a little bit, and I climbed into him a little bit, and then. My wife Amy this morning before I, we left and Vince is in the office with me today as well as Hannah and Amy said, take it easy on Vince. You were really hard on him last night. I said, no, mom, there's accountability here. Yeah. All right. You're nine years old, you have responsibility. And I said, if I let this slide now and I cover up for him, is he learning a lesson? And I think there's, we're always able to teach lessons that are gonna help somebody down the road as well. And like I said, beginning, going back to the conversation with the beautician about, getting cut from the basketball team. I'm like, you're going to, I don't wanna say everybody, you're always gonna fail, but you gotta prepare yourself. Not, you're not always gonna get what you want. And I think that's sometimes, as a parent, I I catch myself too. I said, I give Hannah and Vince a lot, I let'em off a little bit and then it's now I try to catch myself and I remember. How many times are Greg, Gary and I would always be mad at mom and dad. Yep. They wouldn't always let us, we see our friends or a guy down the street or whatever. He got it. That's fine. If he got it, that's not the way you're gonna earn it. That's right. And I think that now I look back and I have so much more appreciation for what they made me earn, and I think that's. You know where we're at today. I was, Greg and I were both in coaching, we're in a unicorn, I say, where neither one of us played college athletics or college basketball. He was recruited to play or came to Plattville, wasn't recruited, came to Plattville to play baseball and he walked on as he said, he was asked to walk off. I was on the flip side. I came here for football got hurt. Don't know where it would've gone, but I also wasn't. I had to take a different route. Yeah. But you look at a lot of guys that, hey, I played college basketball. They got a great name tied to'em because of their playing days. That got'em a job. Yeah. But when they, something's given to'em, now all of a sudden it's a different realm, and maybe you see'em fail when they hit tough patches. And we talk about it. A lot about you earn it, it's not given to you. And we'll get into the recruiting piece of it as well, I know down the road, but we had. Have other programs on our, in our department as well as obviously throughout our league that do the offers to a division three student athlete. And I understand, obviously I know Sam's your relative there as well, and she does the offers and we've talked about this, I've actually picked her brain a lot about the offer and what does it mean? I look at it this way and I'll sit with a young man on his, on my couch, in my office with his parents, and I'll say, I know you're being offered by schools X, Y, and Z, and they're division three schools. I don't give offers. And they'll kinda look at me a little bit. And I said, it doesn't mean that I don't want you, you are here, you're sitting in front of me because I think you're the very best of the best. I want you here. However. I was taught in and brought up in life that if you earn something, you have a better appreciation for it and you work for it. So if I tell you, Matt, I want you to come to Plava, I want you to be a pioneer, but I'm not offering you anything. I'm giving you the opportunity to be a pioneer. You have to earn that jersey. What one's gonna make you work harder in the off season to get that jersey something that, Hey, you're offered, you've got a guaranteed spot on our roster as an incoming freshman, or you're gonna have to earn it. It's gonna push you more and more. And we've had some great players that have come through here, and I've had guys that had division two offers out there as well. And I've gone to'em and I said, listen, I said, you're good. Yep. I think if you read between the lines, you can see how you fit within my program. But again, I'm gonna stay true to who I am. I'm not gonna guarantee you anything. The only guarantee is that I'm gonna give you an opportunity to prove yourself. What you do with that opportunity is up to you. If you don't wanna work hard in the off season, okay then don't be upset with me when you don't make the roster or if you're one of my returners, you don't work hard in the off season. Don't be upset when you don't see the playing time that you want.'cause at the end of the day, I said, you gotta feel to push yourself. You're your own motivator. I talk a lot with our guys that said, you self-evaluate, you self motivate. And when you can be honest with your evaluation, that's the hardest thing is to be true to how you evaluate yourself. I'll talk to'em on the phone. I said, guys, I said how you doing in your workouts this summer? Oh, everything's great. I'm getting in the gym, four days a week and I'm in lifting four days a week, and I'm sitting there thinking bs. I said, you right now, you're not honest with your own evaluation. When you know, and you can say to yourself, this is what I'm struggle with. It motivates you that much more to be better. And then all of a sudden when you're motivating yourself, and that's where you raise the bar, and guess what? When that freshman comes in and he's chomping at the bit. He's pushing. When we get into practice now I've got my junior that thinks he's gonna coast well. This freshman's pushing him. The junior's saying, I ain't gonna let that freshman beat me, so I'm gonna work that much harder. That's right. And we always tell our guys, I said, you come back, Logan Pearson, you're the National Player of the year. There's no guarantee that you gotta spot on this roster. Now listen, I know, but I'm gonna say it out there. Logan knows it. Yeah, coach you're full of it. But also Logan, I expect you to be my hardest worker.'Cause of what You have so much coming back here. And again, I think it goes back to that you gotta earn it versus just being given, and I think that's the, sometimes it's tough. We don't always want to. Put all the work in that comes into it. I say we live in a fast food society. Everybody wants things instantly. But I always tell'em too, I said, what's your best, what's the best meal that you get? My mom makes this. I said, yeah, mom makes this. And it takes mom a half an hour, 45 minutes to make it. That's why it's so good. Alright. It's gonna take time for you to get the best of the best, and I think that's. That's also part of the reason why we have the transfer portal is as crazy as it is. Yep. Not patient, we're not patient with what's going on. We want instant gratification and like I said, it's a fast food society. It's, it speaks volumes to your character, your courage, your conviction as a coach. There's very few coaches that have that type of conviction to say, I believe in who I am. I'm looking at you and telling you I believe in you, but you've gotta come in. And understand, this never stops. We don't stop working because we've hit, because we made it to the national championship game. We don't stop working because we won. The Yac last year, we don't stop working'cause we got a starting job. I love it, coach, because it's the message. Not enough families and not enough kids are getting on a daily basis. It's not getting pounded into these high school coaches because there's such a fear of losing their job. If they raise their voice or they discipline too much or they run too much. And I think at the end of the day, we've lost that vision of what greatness looks like or what significance looks like. It's about saying, I'm gonna be disciplined. I'm gonna, I'm gonna give my best every day. I'm gonna be that 1% better. Or I can expect I'm not gonna get what I want in return. Correct. Correct. And the more I can share Jeff Guard with these families and these coaches, the more excited I am. The better. I sleep at night.'cause I know more people are hearing your voice and saying, okay, gosh. D three is no slouch. No. Go watch. Go watch UW Plattville. If you're in the Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota area, make a trip. Go watch UW Plattville play and you're gonna go, holy cow, this is Division iii. This is what Division III looks like. Because I don't think that high school kid understands how good a basketball it's. Correct, correct. And, but I also, sometimes they forget on how did you get there? Again, it goes back to that work ethic. They're the best teams, and we all know the analogy. The best teams don't play the best. They're not. They're not where they are when the lights are on. It's what they're doing when the lights are off, and it's all the work that's being put in. It's the competition. I said, it's when we recruit. Now, I said. It's not about us recruiting to beat team A or team B in the WIAC, it's, we recruit to raise the bar in practice. And when that practice, and we've been fortunate, over the last few years now practice is, it's a joy. And you walk in there and it's, Hey, we're boys, we're roommates. I. All this, when you step between the lines, it's war. That's right. I want the same thing you want. And at the end of the day, I think that's what it's really all about. Yeah. Is that we all come from different cultures, different backgrounds, diverse, whatever it is. We're coming to Platteville for one common goal. We're all alike here. We wanna win. And okay, what's it gonna take? And there's gonna be competition. And I said, you'll prove to not only me, that you're worthy of that spot, you are gonna prove to every one of your teammates. Yep. They're gonna say, yep, he needs to be on the floor. And then most importantly, now I've instilled that confidence in you that, hey, when you're on the floor, you're on the floor for a reason. And it's because of the work that you put in. You didn't just trip into that spot, you had to earn it, and again, what you put into it, again, go back to self evaluate, self motivate, that's gonna get you where you wanna be. I, I remember my first practice at co college, Darren Pint was the senior point guard. I was this wet behind the years freshman. He came at me so hard. I felt like he was attached to me for two and a half hours. He never quit pounding me. He never quit beating me up. And I was like, oh he must just be wanting to teach a freshman lesson. Well, 82 practices later, he was, he never stopped doing it. How I trained after my freshman year compared to coming outta high school was completely different. It was all because of Darren. Yeah. Coach set the tempo, but that senior. Made me such a better player. He made me such a better leader. He taught me what my work ethic could be. And you're doing that from top to bottom. You've got 20 kids in your program that are all doing that and that's why. They're owning it and yeah. And while you guys continue to do coach, so sorry. Again, thank you so much. The messaging is right on. And your teams are fun to watch because of I'm so impressed. I wanna do a little rapid fire with you before we jump into some recruiting talk and just do some fun stuff. Just to share a little bit who you are, what's your favorite basketball movie of all time? It's gotta be Hoosiers. Yeah. Absolute. That's a given, obviously it's in Indiana, but it's also Southwest Wisconsin. Small town. Yeah. You Hey it's Platteville. That's right. My dad laugh about it. We were two years ago down in Rine in the Sweet 16 and we had more people from Platteville than the other three schools probably combined. Yeah. And our, one of our guys says, that's Platteville. Pioneer Nation travels. That's right. I think when he said that, I had that vision of, they're on the bus, traveling down the road and you got the line of cars behind. That's right. The, I think that's the one, even, you love the movie, obviously. Again it's tough love. Yeah. Brought that team together and built them up. And again, you talk about a coach being who he was and I'm gonna stick to it. I got all the naysayers on the outside. I got the city council is getting together. They're gonna, they're. Gonna get rid of me. And you get Jimmy comes in and saves the day for you. And, it's but that's a, it's a lifer, it is, it's a great one. I get get upset when I talk to guys that haven't seen it, or I know. Me too. So that's gonna be the first movie on the bus and the next road trip, that's what we're gonna watch. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. We're starting with that one. What's the most underrated skill in college basketball today? Passing. Yeah. Passing. A hundred percent. Yeah, it, the reason I say that too, it's hard to, who's the guy that's gonna go in the gym and by himself and work on passing? Yeah. You, you don't see that. But it's also, it's the most underrated, but, and unappreciated because. When you throw a great pass and you, if I throw a great pass to you, Matt, and you bang a three, you're gonna get all the glory. That's right. If I throw a lousy pass to you and it goes down to your knees and then you miss the shot everybody's if Jeff would've thrown him a better pass, he would've made that. Or you throw a pass, it goes out of bounds so there's not enough credit and you gotta put people in the spots to be successful. And that's what a pastor does. Yeah, that, that was my game.'cause I couldn't shoot where a lick, and my dad, when I was six years old, had me out in the garage and, we taped a box in the garage and I had to throw 50 passes and hit that box with my right hand, with my left hand behind my back, bounce pass. And it, that skill got me to college basketball'cause it surely wasn't my shooting. I could offend and I could pass, yep. Pre-game routine. Do you have any superstition? Do you have any tradition? What I had one of my players said, I don't have any superstitions. I have little tions, I've got a few of my, I guess my superstition is I don't let the cat out of the bag, so yeah, I got some. All right, Matt, but I'm not gonna share'em with you. And those are not even my wife or my kids or anybody on my staff. No. My little routines that I have. Yep. I laugh. I do. Carry the tradition. Superstition, tradition. I don't know. So in our locker room, there is a drain in the middle of the floor. Yeah. Now guard, mind you as well, we got a carpeted floor, but there is a Oh, a water drain in the middle of it. Yeah. And I've heard always all the years that when Bo was here, he'd be pacing in the wa locker room talking to the guys. And they said he would never step on that drain. And even like when, last year I was with Bo and a couple of our boosters. We were out in Springfield when he was going to the Hall of Fame, and that, that was the weekend of it. And he got telling that story to our group as well, and about never stepping on the drain. And, the players there, they were, he was hearing stories from them later on about how they were making bets that Okay, is he, oh he's really close, but he never stepped on it, I finally told him, I said, coach, I said, I wouldn't tell that story. He goes what do you mean? I go, you lose a lot of credibility as a coach when you tell that story. I said, because you're giving these great talks. Your players aren't even paying attention to what you're saying. All they're worried about is, are you stepping on that dang drain or not? That's right. So I'm like, he's telling, and I'm hearing the players and I'm like, you gotta let, you got a Naysmith Hall of Fame coach. That is talking to you and trying to motivate you, and all you're worried about is he gonna step on the drain tonight or not? So I think that's, I'm not, that's teenage boys to a tee, isn't it? It is, right? It is. I, but I think that's one thing. I don't step on the drain, whether it's not a super superstition, it's a tradition. I guess that's what I try to carry on as well. But yeah. I love it. And it's funny, I'm like that too. Nobody knows what those 20 minutes of prep before a game are in, in my world. I, my wife doesn't know it. My kids, my players, my assistant coach don't know it. There there's time for me before the game where it's just me I, that I've gotta get myself where I wanna be. I've told my assistants as well, it is the loneliest 20 minutes of your life. It so is before, and now you put that in there and you're looking at 25 to 30. 32 times a year. That's right. I'm lonely. And it's it seems like that 20 minutes takes forever. Yeah. As well. But like I said, I've got a little routine and that I constantly go through. That helps me pass the time as well. Yeah. I, I always tell people there's another 20 minutes at two o'clock in the morning that when I'm sitting at Denny's after a game, looking at the stat sheet for the 4000th time, trying to figure out how we lost when we out rebounded by 10 and took 10 more free throws. It's. Every coach has that. And it's always there because it's such a big part of our so our soul. It is. It is. Yeah. And I think that's the hardest thing is to be able to turn it all off too. Last one coach, because Wisconsin basketball is so special. I grew up just under the border, 10 minutes under the border in Illinois and we went to Tri-State every year. We played against Cuba City every year.'cause Coach Pegu and coach Lady had this, this great relationship. What's one word that defines Wisconsin basketball culture and maybe Wisconsin Platteville culture? I just toughness. Yeah. There's that grit, that toughness about, you look at you look at athletics in general in Wisconsin. Yeah. Farm boys, tough, hard nose, grinders. Yep. I look at the way our program operates the years of the past when Bo was here, even when Bo was at Wisconsin and at Milwaukee you didn't have. The five star athletes. Nope. You weren't running a high octane offense and flying up and down flying. I always say, you wanna find those guys that, that dunk make dunking look like they're dunking on a Nerf hoop. There wasn't a lot of those guys. No. We're just gonna root you outta the way. Yep. But just that toughness about a Wisconsin kid, and I think you, again, you look at it. It wasn't just in basketball, it was like just your athletic, you look at Wisconsin football. Yeah. It was ground and pound. Yeah. We're gonna, we're gonna beat you up at the offensive line, and then by the end of the day, we're gonna become, we're gonna be winning. Go back again. Process driven. Yeah. And again, it's that little piece of it, but I would say that's the one thing that. When you look at Wisconsin basketball in general, it's just the toughness. Yeah. The athletic ability, obviously, yes, there's, they're there. But maybe not as much as what we've seen in some other states. Yeah. At the bottom are the number of high flyers that are coming around. You just got tough nosed kids that you know are efficient with what they do. It's so funny, I wrote a blog after Coach passed and I wrote it, for him, and I told the story how I went to the University of Notre Dame's basketball camp as a 13-year-old and Digger Phelps handed me the best camper award at the end of camp. I was just, I was blown away. The next week I went to Tri-State. And I got my ass handed to me and I was probably the worst player there'cause it was so physical and it was so tough. Everything I thought I was good at these kids could do blindfolded. Oh yeah. And I learned so much about my own character and how I needed to work just by being at that camp, just surrounded by these kids that all had these muscles that, I was, I had Lani for arms. Yeah. And I just got murdered because I wasn't prepared for that type of basketball. Yep. I remember this was quite a few years ago when they were still in high school, but like show Walter and Gosser. Yes. Guys. They were playing for Wisconsin Swing. Yeah, so this is the Wisconsin Madison kind of version. Now there's obviously a lot of AAU programs out there as well, but I just remember. Watching those guys play and we were looking at a couple guys, but obviously show Walter goes to Madison, Gosser goes to Madison, like they had a couple other guys that ended up, going scholarship level. They walk on the floor for an AU tournament and then they're seeing a team out of New Jersey or Texas and that, and it's like the team outta Texas. You could just read their mind. They're like, look at these chumps. That's right. It's kinda white man can't jump, yep. You know who's the chump over there? And that's what they're looking at, like the wis, all these Wisconsin guys. And when it's all said and done, Wiscon, Wisconsin Swing is winning in by 20. Yeah, that's right. Against a team that is, yeah, they got, guys are going to Texas, they're going all over the place. But again, they were the true team. They were the toughness about'em that, hey, we're gonna, you're gonna stay with us, but eventually we're gonna wear you down. That's right. And it said, it's like a good running game in football. We're gonna wear you down. And when it. Time comes to, to break this thing open, you're gonna be too tired and we've just, because we've beaten you up for so many. Yeah, that gets me so excited about coaching. Just talking about that, hearing you talk about it because it's I don't care how great of an athlete you are, I can block you out every single trip. I can force you to the sideline and take away the middle floor every single time. I'm gonna make every life so hard for you. And that's Wisconsin basketball. Yeah we're gonna take care. We're gonna just take away everything you think is great about what you're capable of, and we're gonna make it a thousand times harder. Yep. That's when I watch your teams, that's what I see. It's just we can't do anything we wanna do. Yeah, because you're making it so hard. Correct. And it's like I said, we, even when we run the swing and we still, we have our version of the swing. Yeah. And like coach Che will tell you, coach, we don't run the swing. I'm like, we have guys in swing spots, so humor me a little bit. Keegan humor me on this, but I go. What we do, we screen a lot. Yeah. And when you're constantly getting hit in the back on a screen, and That's right. Does it help in the first five minutes? No. But eventually something's gonna break and you're like, I'm sick and tired of this. I just don't want to get hit anymore. Now I'm lazy on a cut or Communication's poor. And the next thing you know, they're, you're seeing the easy buckets and the That's right. And the most crucial part of the game as well. And all of a sudden they stop seeing man and ball. And all of a sudden that screen works, that cut works. And you give up two or three layups and you're defeated, you're deflated. Exactly. Exactly. I love it. Coach, thanks so much for doing this. Thanks for great conversation. Appreciate you having me on. That was a fantastic conversation with Coach Jeff Guard F full of hoop stories, coaching wisdom and ideas for raising not just great athletes. But better humans from memories of Coach Pedigo to his insights on life in the YAC. This episode truly captures what significant coaching is all about heart connection and coaching with purpose. If you enjoyed today's chat, don't forget to head over to coach matt rogers.com. You'll find significant recruiting the Recruits Journal, our weekly blog, and the significant recruiting launchpad designed to help families navigate the college journey with clarity and confidence And hey. Don't miss part two of my conversation with Coach Card. That'll be coming this Monday. Next time he's breaking down college recruiting from what to look for in a program and how to build a plan that fits you, your athlete, and your family. Thanks for tuning in. Take what you learned. Keep building strong programs, and until next time, keep leading with significance.