A.J. Guyton discusses his candidacy for IUPUI’s coaching vacancy

The IUPUI men’s basketball program has an opening for a new head coach and, as expected, it has drawn plenty of interest. The program is seeking its next leader to help a struggling program become a consistent winner.

The Jaguars compiled a 26-70 record over the last three seasons. This past year, they went 6-26, including a 1-13 mark in the Summit League. It’s worth noting, however, that they were decimated by injuries.

In addition to being a Division I school, the job is attractive because in another year, their home will become the Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. A renovation, costing an estimated $63 million, is scheduled to be completed next summer. That’s a game changer, particularly in recruiting, as they’ll play at a respectable facility. They’ll move from a 1,215-seat gym at ‘The Jungle’ to one that seats about 8,200.

The deadline to apply is Thursday, March 20th, according to a coach who has submitted his resume.

One familiar name that put his name in the hat is A.J. Guyton, a four-year guard (1996-2000) at Indiana University. Guyton, 36, was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 2000 NBA Draft, then spent some time with the Golden State Warriors in 2002 before going overseas.

I talked with Guyton, who applied for the job, about his interest in the IUPUI job. Read our conversation below:

What have you been up to the last few years?

“I’ve been coaching high school basketball, assistant to varsity and junior varsity coach for the last two years at Peoria High School. I’ve been coaching a semi-professional team for the last two and a half years, going on three, in Bloomington, IL.”

Why is this a job you wanted to pursue?

“I put my name in the hat for two reasons. Number one, I believe that it’s a perfect marriage for me, and just because I believe it don’t make it true. Then, number two, I know that there’s a lot of successful candidates that have way more experience and are way more attractive but you have to kind of look at the way the kids are nowadays and the way the AAU scene is. If I was an athletic director, I would go with a guy that was in that middle range that could relate to the kids but also have a little bit of old school to him, that he could meet in the middle to create a successful program.”

Has your name been in the hat for any other jobs in the last year or two?

“No, this is the first time I really actually pursued it. I wanted to get some experience and build up a resume to where I’ve been around the game at different levels. I also coached a year in junior college, as an assistant at Illinois Central College. Over the last four years, I’ve been going everywhere to watch practices and games and coaching basketball at all levels.

What’s your first impression of the IUPUI job and why is one that you desire?

“I think the job would be perfect for a guy such as myself, a young and up-and-coming coach who has had some success on the levels that I’ve coached on and also, being that I’m an alumni of IU. With that level of basketball, it could be real attractive for a young student-athletes to consider playing at IUPUI. It’s just one of those perfect marriages, in my eyes, that could be a win-win situation recruiting wise, it’s a win-win situation with the fan base and I think on the court it would end up being a win-win situation. People would see and understand that I am a good coach and I could be a high-level college basketball coach one day.”

Since most people do know you as that IU player, what type of coach would they be getting with you?

“I’ve been blessed to be able to play the game at every different level, from high school basketball all the way up to the NBA — and everything in between. I spent some times in the minor leagues. I spent seven years overseas. So there’s no part of the game that I haven’t seen and from that, I’ve created my own kind of style of basketball.

“It would be surprising to people that my focus is on defense. I like to defend, and I always tell my kids, ‘To be able to create offense off your defense is a more exciting brand of basketball.’ I’m not a coach that wants to run a myriad of sets and plays. Just like to let the kids have fun and get up and down the basketball court by focusing on getting stops and making plays defensively.”

One of the obvious knocks I could see is in terms of recruiting, since you haven’t really been in it. How would you respond to that and would part of it be bringing in quality assistants to lean on at times?

“Absolutely. I definitely already have assistants in mind who are in the Indianapolis area and who have extensive college experience already. I would surround myself with those group of people that it’s not hard for me to get acquainted with the AAU system here in the midwest, and even outside because I have a lot of great friends. Jess Howard, at the University of Kansas, is one of my best friends. We talk a lot about what needs to be done to create a good recruiting base. That’s not even an issue I don’t think. I think more so it’ll be my experiences and how would the university trust me to run their program. I got some solid people backing me so it’s something that’s definitely possible and will get done if I was chosen.”

Will you have anyone call on your behalf?

“Absolutely. That’s what it’s all about in the end. I don’t want to name any names but I’ll definitely have a lot of Indiana people calling on my behalf. Definitely. That’s something that goes without saying.

“I just think it’s a perfect opportunity for a young Hoosier to come back home and create some buzz in the state of Indiana. Not only do I want to be a coach to kids, but also be a mentor and kind of carry on a new-age legacy in the way that Coach [Bob] Knight did for me.”