T.J. Otzelberger: Bringing “Heart, smart and together” to Milwaukee, where he learned it

MILWAUKEE — Of course T.J. Otzelberger is from Milwaukee.

The effort and focus Otzelberger’s Iowa State men’s basketball team put on defense and rebounding, the requirements he puts on his players — it doesn’t suggest the stereotype of the suburbs, but rather, the cliche of big-city grit.

Otzelberger’s basketball roots are in this city that loves its pro, college and high school basketball. He attended Thomas More High, a Catholic school where the game is a big deal. His head coach, Pat Ross, didn’t know Otzelberger had a future coaching at the highest level of college basketball, but he knew he had a leader.

“I was the freshman coach when T.J. was a freshman,” Ross said from his Florida home Saturday morning. “He got promoted to the varsity when he was a sophomore. I get the varsity job when he was a senior.

“In that preseason, we go down to Racine for three scrimmages and we lose all three games, and we do not look good. We get on the bus, and nobody talks.

“This was a Saturday. Back then, you could practice every day. So I said ”We’ll have a 9 a.m. practice on Sunday. I got to the gym around 8, and every one of the kids was in the locker room already. I said ‘How’d you get in here?’ The kids said ‘T.J. has a key.’

“I remember T.J. saying ‘Coach, we’ll be OK. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ll be OK.’

“He could bring those kids with them. It wasn't being a loudmouth or bragging, it was just they followed his example. We'll just work a little harder and get a little better. We took off after that. Had a very successful year. I mean, we worked our butt off, and they were prepared, and they played defensively.”

Otzelberger went on to play basketball at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he was a team captain for two years. From there he became a coach, starting at a high school in Burlington, Wis. Five years later, Greg McDermott hired him for the first of his two stints as an Iowa State assistant coach that covered eight years.

After three years as head coach at South Dakota State and two at UNLV, Otzelberger is in his fourth NCAA tournament in four years as Iowa State’s head coach. The Cyclones play Ole Miss Sunday night for a shot at their third Sweet 16 in that time.

He’s 47, a long way from being 17 here. Still, Otzelberger brings his Milwaukee days with him as a coach.

“Coach Ross was a really important mentor for me,” Otzelberger said Saturday. “His message was always ‘Heart, smart, together.’ Let's play hard, let's play smart, let's play together.

“My senior year of high school, it was more like five guards just flying around defensively, and at times I was like our small forward, whatever height I think I am when I'm walking on my tiptoes. It was a fun experience.

“He was a coach that was demanding, yet somebody you loved to play for, because he knew he cared about you and he always made time. … He’s always texting his feedback. So I'm just really appreciative and grateful for the belief he had in me and then our continued relationship.”

Ross is 80 and retired from coaching for the last 13 years. He spoke with joy as he described Otzelberger’s success.

“I remember when I took over (as varsity coach at Thomas More),” Ross said. “We had a players-and-parents meeting before the season. I said some days your son's going to come home and he's not going to be happy with me. I said, I understand that. And I said I'm probably not happy with them, but when they're here and I'm their coach, I'm going to tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

“And a couple years ago, one of T.J.’s players got interviewed and he used the exact same words from back then. I told my wife ‘I can’t believe that.’ So I texted T.J. and he said ‘Well, Coach, I listened and I never forgot.’ ”

Ross intently watches all the Cyclones’ games on television. He joked that when he yells for Otzelberger to call a timeout, the coach hears him and does it.

“What I’m most proud of is the coach/player relationships that he has with players,” Ross said. “I can see the mutual respect going back and forth. That's the same relationship we had when he played for me.”

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