Fargo Shanley: Craig Irwin Interview

Fargo, ND - On March 31st, Fargo Shanley activities director Reggie Jackson announced the hiring of Craig Irwin as the Deacons next head boys basketball coach. This was a prestigious and huge hire for Shanley. Read below to find out more information on Shanley’s new head coach Craig Irwin with a Q & A session from Prep Hoops Dakotas. The Deacons had a record of 13-11 this past season and they were 1 game away from making it to the Class A State Tournament. After the season, former head coach Tony Paper stepped down. Shanley loses a nice group of seniors that played good minutes this season. However, the Deacons will bring back some high-level players and they have plenty of young talent to go along with it. Look for the Deacons to have a big offseason and to be a darkhorse next winter. Get ready for a new era of BASKETBALL at Fargo Shanley under Craig Irwin! <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/67-Conner-Kraft-crop-2500x1642-1633894310.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1305460" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/67-Conner-Kraft-crop-2500x1642-1633894310-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Shanley’s most talented player and biggest college prospect is [player_tooltip player_id="1128188" first="Conner" last="Kraft"] (2023) |6’8 PF|. Kraft has been playing very well this spring in AAU hoops with Howard Pulley. See below for comments on Kraft from coach Irwin. <h5>Shanley AD Reggie Jackson said this about the new Deacon head coach Craig Irwin:</h5> <h4 style="text-align: center;">"We are very excited to have Coach Irwin aboard! Not just because he is a proven winner on the court. We are blessed to have a leader who will not only teach these young men the game of basketball but also assist them as they grow in their faith."</h4> <h2>Q & A with head coach Craig Irwin</h2> PHD: What does it mean for you to be the next head boys basketball coach at Shanley? Coach Irwin: "It is flattering that this opportunity came about after a 14-year hiatus from Coaching. I have not even considered getting back into Coaching as I have really enjoyed watching all 3 of my kids playing. All 3 had good HS careers and all 3 had scholarships to play in college so I still felt connected to the game and wouldn’t of wanted to miss those moments for anything. The timing was right as my youngest just capped off a nice career at South Dakota State so there are no more games to attend next year. The Shanley job is appealing because they have great tradition and I feel they have some nice players in the program right now as well. The EDC will be very good with some talented individuals along with quality Coaches so I am very excited to start working with our guys." PHD: Can you talk about your basketball playing career? Coach Irwin: "I led the State of ND in scoring in 1981 as a graduate of Sawyer HS. I had scholarship options and went to Lake Region State College and we are still the only team in that school’s history to make the NJCAA National Tourney. That was back when all of the Junior Colleges in the Nation were all in one division so to make the final 24 was pretty special. I played without an ACL from my freshman year in HS, and after two years of playing sparingly in college, I turned down some options at the 4-year level due to problems with the everyday practice grind on the knee. They never fixed ACL’s back in the day so I was fortunate enough to play at all as most didn’t after ACL tears back then. Some of my closest friends today were teammates on that college team (which is now in the LRSC HOF) and I encourage anyone to play in college if given the opportunity. I have a ton of memories from being in a successful program even though I had limited minutes. I think that experience as a role player in college has helped me in my career as I work hard at communicating with role players I coach, and understand their importance to the success of a season." PHD: Can you talk about your coaching career? Coach Irwin: "I have had high school stops at Max, Sawyer, and Minot Bishop Ryan HS in ND and also in Bisbee, AZ. I was an assistant at Minot State University and then the head coach at Dakota College in Bottineau, ND for two years, and my career ended with eight years at NDSCS in Wahpeton, ND. At Science, we had some tremendously talented teams. I had a strong baseball coaching background and have served as an athletic director at the two junior colleges I coached at as well. I am glad I spent some time early in my career as an assistant as I learned from some great coaches. I utilize my assistants better because I was one for a few years. I feel we will have a solid staff of assistant coaches at Shanley and that is critical in keeping a program consistent year in and out." PHD: How would you define your coaching style? Coach Irwin: "In college, you have the luxury of recruiting players that fit the style that you want to play. In my 10 years as a JUCO head coach my teams were in the Top-10 Nationally in scoring in 9 of those 10 years. I have always loved up-tempo basketball. One team averaged 102.3 PPG for the season at NDSCS. A lot of that tempo was predicated on what we did defensively. We would gamble and were the aggressors on defense extending the floor with various types of full-court pressure defense. We always had depth so we could play that way. I want to try that at Shanley but this summer will be good for us to experiment because we have to make decisions as a staff what is the best option for success for our players in the program. I have adjusted more when I was a high school coach to personnel and we will do the same at Shanley but I think we have the ability to play up-tempo from the film that I have watched." PHD: What type of offense do you envision your teams will run? Coach Irwin: "The style of offensive play desired is explained above but it is really interesting to me how the game has changed in the last decade offensively. I have always been one to give freedom, I feel for my players as I don’t want them thinking too much but reacting. There is not nearly the structure today in the game as what there was when I was coaching. I like some of the changes I see but I will admit I don’t like some of the others. I still will utilize the post. Points in the paint are essential and I do feel ball reversal is the key to successful offensive possessions. I see a lot of bad shot selection in HS games when I watch them and there has to be that mix of freedoms, but still getting the ball where it needs to be for successful possessions. That is coaching and we won’t just spread the floor and let players play one-on-one or stand around looking for kick-outs. Not many people remember who Steve Alford was as a player, and you don’t see many Steve Alfords anymore, because not many offenses have players screening away from the ball and players moving as much without the ball. It’s different but in some ways, it is better too, as players enjoy those freedoms, so it will be fun to implement some of the popular things coaches are doing now with what was more the norm back when I was active coaching. I don’t see us ball screening as much as I see in the game now. Everyone ball screens ALOT and we will some but not as much as some teams do. You have heard many coaches say, "Be quick but not in a hurry!" We will run some continuities mixed with quick hits. You still have to value possessions offensively even when you play up-tempo. Points per possession will be a valued stat in our offensive philosophy/program!" PHD: What style of defense do you plan to run? Coach Irwin: "Our goal will be to extend the floor and we will see if we will have the depth to do that. I like to teach man principles early on and we will mix in different zones too as a combination. A lot of what we decide to do defensively will be determined by how fast I feel we have the ability to play offensively. You don’t create tempo with how you play offensively but by what you do defensively. I know how I want us to play but we will determine what is best for us at team camps this summer." PHD: Who will be a few of your top seniors next season? Coach Irwin: "I really feel we have probably the best player in the State in [player_tooltip player_id="1128188" first="Conner" last="Kraft"]. I coached eight players at the junior college level that signed professional contracts and I feel he is as far along as any of those players were entering his senior season of high school. I know there are a lot of talented players in the State, and some definite D1 talent, but Conner will be our leader. He is very dedicated to the game and I really like his ball skills for being 6’7 to 6’8". He attacks the rim and will dunk in traffic but can stretch a defense the way he shoots the ball. He is driven and has high goals for himself and I like that, as that will help our team’s success. I really like the game of [player_tooltip player_id="1213170" first="Vuciri" last="Hakim"] as well. He is 6’5 and very athletic. He can do some great things with the basketball and with added confidence, I think, he can be a very good offensive player in the EDC. I think he will be one of the top defenders in the conference with his length and lateral quickness. Those two were starters last year on a good team and I like how they play. The point guard is an important position in our system and [player_tooltip player_id="1213720" first="Alex" last="Wheelock"] is another senior who plays the PG position that had some good experience this past year. We will have some good competition for spots and again I have players that I have not had a chance to evaluate in the gym yet. It will be exciting to see the competition for playing time as there were a number of seniors that logged most of the minutes last winter that are no longer in the program. Even though I feel we have some key experience back, we will have a lot of minutes available for players to compete for. My early assessment is we have some wonderful young men in the program and that is every coach’s dream is to work with good people." PHD: What are the offseason plans for the Shanley basketball program? Coach Irwin: "We will be mixing in some team camps in the FM area along with some skills workouts. We will feature skill work in our camps along with attending team camps in June and July. I like our guys playing AAU and having a baseball background. I encourage our kids to compete in other sports during the off-season too. If they aren’t in the gym with our staff then I want them competing on the golf course, baseball field, weight room, etc, and just competing. We don’t need to solve everything this summer but it will be nice to work with the kids too. I played multiple sports growing up and encourage our kids to do the same but they can get in the gym some too and do multiple sports/activities in the summer. Anybody can be a shooter! If you want to be a "maker" you need to get reps, so if they are in other sports we will encourage them to get reps." PHD: In your opinion, who will be some of the top players in the EDC next year? Coach Irwin: "I have watched a lot of the games online from last year and there are some talented underclassmen in the EDC. Four of the top 5 scorers last year in scoring are returning. North had a nice finish and has [player_tooltip player_id="1144600" first="Carter" last="Zeller"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1144475" first="Jeremiah" last="Sem"] both proven scorers returning. The leading scorer in the EDC with [player_tooltip player_id="1169136" first="Mason" last="Klabo"] at Davies is an exciting player. [player_tooltip player_id="1317710" first="James" last="Hamilton"] at South, and our own [player_tooltip player_id="1128188" first="Conner" last="Kraft"], who I feel is as good as anyone in the State, and I am excited to work with him more. [player_tooltip player_id="1115649" first="Zach" last="Kraft"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1138811" first="Reis" last="Rowekamp"] return at Red River. There are others and of course, there always will be some that improve and we hope we have some of those players that are surprises in the league." PHD: Who are some of your underclassmen to look out for? Coach Irwin: "It’s not really fair for me to start naming names being so new to the program and we really encourage our student-athletes at Shanley to participate in other sports so there are a number of players I have not seen play as they are active in spring sports. I know our freshman lost a close game to Davies for the Freshman EDC title last year so we have some good young players coming up in the program. I look forward to spending some time in the gym this summer watching our players more closely." PHD: What do you do for fun outside of basketball? Coach Irwin: "My wife Dianne and I have a lake place in MN on Big Cormorant Lake and enjoy having our kids visit on the weekends. I really enjoy the outdoors. Golf and hunting are my two passions outside of spending time with my family."