A visit with Kyle Smithpeters
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Summer plans haven't changed all that much for former Harrisburg standout Kyle Smithpeters.
The one-time John A. Logan assistant basketball coach, who now holds the same title for Paul Lusk at Missouri State, is business as usual in Springfield, Mo.
The transition from the JUCO ranks to D-1 has been about what Smithpeters expected.
Although he didn't expect to wake up May 23, after only a few months in the far west portion of Missouri, to find out a tornado had touched down just 70 miles away in Joplin.
Smithpeters is embarking on the next rung up his ladder of success, saying that the game of college basketball is what he loves the most. And while the one-time Saluki is competitive, wants to win and do things the right way, he also enjoys the straight-forward relationship he shares with members of the Bears staff.
Now is the time when Smithpeters has to roll his sleeves up and get ready for work. He'll hit the recruiting trail in July and cover most of the midwest.
In the meantime, Smithpeters talks about his transition, working for Paul Lusk and why he got involved in college coaching.
Daily Register: Talk about the transition from where you were at John A. Logan College to where you are now at Missouri State.
Kyle Smithpeters: The transition hasn't been all that much different. You're still coaching college basketball. When I got here to Springfield, school was pretty much close to being done and we didn't have a lot of contact with the players. It's still a lot of work, a lot of the time and what I expected myself to get into.
DR: Has the experience going a step up in the college ranks been what you thought it would be?
KS: Yeah, it's been great. To see this gym (JQH Arena) that we will be playing in and realizing the seats are going to be full is a fun aspect of it. To this point, it's been more than what I probably expected. It's been fun and I've learned a lot in just a short period of time. I get to work with a great group of guys and coach (Paul) Lusk has just been great to me.
That's why I made the move, I wanted to learn more. I think in any kind of business or job, you make moves to better yourself and to better your knowledge and I feel like I have done that so far. I'm really excited to see what else it's going to bring.
DR: Talk about what it's been like to work with coach Lusk.
KS: Coach Lusk is a great guy and that's the biggest thing for him. He's a high character guy. He's a guy who's not going to tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. It's truth and in any business, that's all you can ask for, is to hear the truth. He'll tell you exactly what he thinks and how he wants things done. I think that's what makes this group of guys work so well is that we are all on the same page. There is no hidden agenda, we're here to win basketball games with good kids and do it to the best of our ability.
DR: What's been the biggest perk or the best thing you've been able to do in your new job?
KS: We really haven't been able to get on the road a whole lot with it being the dead period right now. It won't be until July that we can really get out, so a lot of time for me has been spent making phone calls and writing letters, which I've done before, but the dynamics of it all have changed quite a bit. I have more areas to cover now, which is great and I've met a bunch of great people. At the end of the day, what has really been exciting is the town of Springfield. I didn't know a whole lot about it coming into it. It's a great city and a school that has a lot of tradition in a town that really supports it's athletics and basketball program. When you have that on top of everything that's what makes programs succeed.
DR: Did college coaching just happen for you? Why not high school coaching.
KS: College coaching is just something I always wanted to do. With high school basketball, I had a very good experience and enjoyed watching my dad and it's a little bit of a different cup of tea than what is involved in college basketball. For me, I wanted to get myself to the highest level I could. A lot of it now is just the passion I have for the game of college basketball. I like the idea of coming out right now knowing that the 13 guys on that floor want to be there. That's why they want to be here, they're here to play basketball and go to school. They're not worried about playing another sport - at the end of the day - they're here to play basketball.