Presutti ready for bigger role at MU
Jake Presutti has been an important figure for the Marquette men's basketball team — mostly behind the scenes — since getting hired in 2014.
He will take on a more prominent role for the Golden Eagles after getting promoted by head coach Steve Wojciechowski to assistant coach this week. The 33-year-old Presutti formerly served as director of basketball operations and video coordinator.
Presutti talked about his basketball history and new job Wednesday evening before heading on his first recruiting trip for MU.
Q. How did Wojciechowski tell you that you got the job?
A. I expressed my interest after everything happened with Coach (Brett) Nelson (the former MU assistant who was named head coach at Holy Cross last week). We actually both were out of town. We talked very briefly last week and then we were able to talk at length on Sunday. And on Tuesday morning we met and that's when he told me he was promoting me to assistant coach.
Q. Did you tell the team yourself or was there an announcement?
A. We actually had a team dinner (Tuesday) night. It was really cool. Coach talked about promoting me and Dan (Madhavapallil to director of basketball operations) and the players were super excited. But I got to be honest, earlier I was downstairs in the Al (McGuire Center) and I had a huge smile on my face and (MU player) Sacar (Anim) saw me. Sacar looked at me and I just had a smile on my face where he just read my face and he went 'Yeah!' and just gave me a big hug. He actually brought me into the locker room and the guys were in there and we had a really cool moment in the locker room with the team. Which was awesome.
Q. Let's go back to the beginning. At Syracuse, you were a manager, then a walk-on, then a scholarship player. Was being a coach always in the plans?
A. As a high-school player in Western New York, I was recruited at the D3 level and my thing was I knew wanted to coach. I knew I wasn't going to play professionally. Through my parents, I knew I had to get to high-major school to learn. I chose Syracuse and through some luck and hard work, I was able to spend a year as a manager. Then I made the team and walked on and then earned a scholarship. I was able to learn every day from Coach (Jim) Boeheim and Mike Hopkins. It was an incredible experience. I feel like that has prepared me for this day. That's something I reflected on when I talked to Coach Wojo about the job, what I learned from Coach Boeheim, what I learned from Coach Hopkins and what that meant to me and how that made me the coach I am today.
Q. How did you land at Marquette and meet Coach Wojciechowski?
A. We actually had never met. I was working for USA Basketball at the time. So I went from Syracuse to the Houston Rockets to Eastern Michigan to USA Basketball. Coach Boeheim and the USA Basketball people are close. And Coach Boeheim knows Coach Wojo really well. But the USA Basketball folks – B.J. Johnson and Shawn Ford – they thought it was great opportunity, something that fit. I reached out to Wojo and he finally called me one day and the rest was history. I actually drove up from Michigan to Milwaukee and had an interview.
Q. Being the director of operations, you're kind of doing everything, right?
A. I started out as video, so when Coach (Justin) Gainey left and (Wojciechowski) promoted me to ops, he liked the way we were doing video, so he kept me at video and I had a lot of help from managers. So I was really responsible for the team edits, the team video, doing the (daily) schedule for the team, working with our support staff in the office on the travel schedule and things like that. You're involved in a lot with the program, and you kind of get to see the inner workings of Marquette and the program. For what you don't get to do on the court, I get to make up with my relationships with the players. Which is awesome.
Q. Doing all that, did it prepare you for this next step to assistant coach?
A. I think so. First and foremost, I feel like my relationship with the guys is something I think is going to make me a great coach at Marquette. I love these guys. They know me. They trust me. I care about them. There's a lot of driving factors in why I wanted this job when Coach Nelson left, but the main reason was being able to coach this group. I wanted to coach this group very badly, and I am very fortunate to do so.
Q. What was it like being on the court during practice for the first time (per NCAA rules, only assistant coaches can act as instructors)?
A. It was (Tuesday). It was great. I'm naturally very positive and bring energy and things like that. It was great being out there and sweating with the players. It was awesome. Only two days in, it's been awesome. Something I look forward to every day.
Q. It's unusual for an assistant coach to be hired in July. Are you just being thrown into the recruiting (a live evaluation period for NCAA coaches started Thursday)?
A. Our staff has done a great job with recruiting. They have deep relationships with a lot of guys in 2020 class. My first objective is I have to be a great teammate to (MU assistants) Stan (Johnson) and DK (Dwayne Killings) in recruiting. I'll really dive into the 2021 and 2022 classes here this month. We have to have a great class in 2020 and that's on our minds and I think I can assist them and be a great teammate and help finish recruiting those kids.
Q. You worked with a lot of respected assistants at MU — Johnson, Nelson, Killings. What did you learn most from those guys?
A. I've been very fortunate at Marquette to work with great people since I got here. And I've learned so much from them. The biggest thing I draw on is just the knowledge of the game, I've learned so much from them. But then the preparation in the scouting, the preparation in the daily, having a plan. Every workout, every practice is thought out and planned. That's something that has rubbed off on me and I look forward to carrying it on.
Q. Tell me about the last 24 hours since being hired. Is your phone buzzing nonstop?
A. The nicest moment after he told me he was promoting me (in the morning), we actually had a 9:30 meeting so I had a little bit of time after we met. I was able to FaceTime with my wife because she's out of town. My wife and kids, which was awesome. I was able to briefly call my parents, just because they know this has been a dream of mine. I was only on the phone with them for 30 seconds but they were waiting on pins and needles, too. It was a special moment for my family. Specifically my wife and kids, knowing that we're going to be here in Wisconsin and we're going to continue to grow the program and grow the players on the team.