Four Questions with Chris Gerlufsen

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San Francisco treat

San Francisco was one of the original college basketball dynasties. Behind Bill Russell and KC Jones, it won back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 1955 and ‘56, then reached the Final Four again in ‘57. It appeared in more Elite Eights in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and was even 26-0 behind Bill Cartwright to start the 1976-77 season.

After shutting down for three years in the ‘80s, success was harder to come by. But it started to find success under Kyle Smith in 2019, then ended a 24-year tourney drought in 2022 under Todd Golden.

Second-year coach Chris Gerlufsen was an assistant for those teams, and after a 20-win season last year, the Dons are on pace for their third straight 20-win year thanks to a defense with size and experience.

He discussed the Dons and his coaching odyssey before Thursday’s win at San Diego with Mike Miller.

Q: It's just your second season as a head coach, but you have the Dons off to a great start, especially on defense. You've held 13 of 16 opponents [editor’s note: now 14] to below 1 point per possession, which includes teams that are tied for their conference lead (Arizona State and Utah State). The impacts from new players such as Jonathan Mogbo and Mike Sharavjamts have been crucial for their size because it adds a whole other dimension to your defense. You've got some serious size. But I would think you're also pleased with the way guys like Marcus Williams and Ndewedo Newbury have developed.

How would you describe what's clicked for your defense and how you've managed to be so efficient?

Chris Gerlufsen: The first thing is that after our season ended last year, we really evaluated where we were at as a program. You kind of look at all the areas where your strengths are and, and where you need to make some improvements. And we identified the defensive side of the ball as an area where we really needed to make a jump. Some of that had to do with personnel, some of that had to do with some schematic things that we were doing as a program. But credit to, No. 1, the assistant coaches and our staff because I thought we attacked the transfer portal in a way that really addressed some of the issues and the needs. But second, and most important, the players are the most important in terms of making something work and, and making something be effective. Our personnel really fits what we've done to this point.

The overall positional size has gotten a lot better. We had really good offensive numbers last year. We were hard to guard and made a lot of 3s. But we were undersized in the backcourt, and we wanted to get bigger across the board. From a defensive standpoint, being bigger at every position helps cover up a lot of things, because length and athleticism has a chance to negate some of the mistakes. And you're right, guys who were in our program last year have taken a step defensively. We've also changed some things from a ball-screen coverage standpoint, and we wanted to turn people over at a higher rate than we did last year. I think now we're in the top 25 or 30 in the country.

Q: Sometimes those jumps are hard to contextualize. The Dons went from 205th in TO rate to 21st (as of Thursday). A casual observer might think that comes from a full-court press or trapping, but you're probably best described as a team that contains offenses.

Gerlufsen: It really starts with the players. They have to embrace the plan, and they need to carry it out to the best of their ability. And our guys have done a really good job of locking into what we've emphasized as a staff. The reality is, we've been really good at putting people on their heels because of our size and length. We'll press some here and there, but our guys do a great job of being aggressive in the half court.

There are still some areas where we need to improve — I know coaches always say that — but it's true. And those things will help us get better.

Q: You were an assistant under coach Todd Golden. He's made no secret of his attention to detail and his use of advanced statistics to evaluate his team. What lessons did you take away from him that you use now?

Gerlufsen: I thought I was analytically driven before, then I worked with Todd and I realized that I didn't know much of anything. And I say that as a strong of a compliment as I can give to him. He kinda opened my eyes to a different way of viewing the game, and I haven't lost any of the things that he did while I was an assistant.

That's the fun part of being a head coach, you get to pick and choose some areas and categories that you want to dive into. Using analytics will always be a great tool for us and something we use to evaluate what we're doing, and give ourselves the best chance to win.

Q: You grew up in Philly, you've worked on both coasts, in Kansas and in Hawai'i and you've been on some talented staffs -- you and Earl Grant were both worked at The Citadel in the early 2000s. Did you envision moving around the country that much? Or did you just try to evaluate opportunities as they came? Gotta be honest: Seems like it would've been tough to leave Hawai'i.

Gerlufsen: Early in my career, I always had a hard time leaving places because I got so ingrained in the process of trying to help a program become good. You become really invested in players and those relationships. Earl Grant and I, I think we spent two years together. We were the kind of wet-behind-the-ears assistant coaches who thought we knew a lot, but didn't really know anything. But we had some great times and learned a lot. He's still a really good friend; I'm happy for him.

But probably the smartest thing I did was leaving the East Coast and taking a job with Lamont Smith at San Diego because the doors that have opened from there all led to this point. It feels like a lot of people are chasing the chance to become a head coach and want it to happen fast. But I wouldn't change a thing. My journey and my progress really prepared me to be a head coach.