PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast
PREP Athletics Basketball Podcast
Helping Coach South Sudan Basketball at the Paris Olympics feat. Coach Joe Mantegna of Blair Academy
In this episode of the PREP Athletics Podcast, we welcome back Joe Mantegna, the head coach of Blair Academy and assistant coach for the South Sudan Men's National Basketball Team. Joe takes us on an incredible journey from the team's humble beginnings in the Afro Basket qualifiers to their historic participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics. We dive into how South Sudan went from being ranked 83rd in Africa to securing a top 25 spot in the world, almost beating Team USA in a thrilling warm-up game. Joe shares his unique perspective on the dedication, talent, and teamwork that made this journey possible and how these experiences will shape his coaching at Blair Academy.
đź“ŚKey Topics:
âś… The remarkable rise of South Sudan Men's Basketball from 83rd in Africa to the top 25 in the world
âś… Joe Mantegna's role and experiences at the 2024 Paris Olympics
âś… Coaching and leadership insights from an international competition
âś… The influence of Blair Academy players in the South Sudan team
âś… The importance of playing for a cause bigger than oneself
âś… How Joe plans to incorporate Olympic experiences into Blair Academy's basketball program
🗒️ About Joe Mantegna:
Joe Mantegna is the head coach of Blair Academy's varsity boys' basketball team, and boasts an impressive record with over 400 wins against a nationally ranked schedule. He also plays a significant role on the international stage as an assistant coach for the South Sudan Men's National Basketball Team, helping guide them to notable successes in AfroBasket and World Cup qualifying tournaments. With a background that includes coaching stints at colleges like Boston University and Lehigh University, Joe brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his players.
đź”— Connect with Joe:
Email | mantej@blair.edu
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/coachmantegna/?hl=en
Twitter | https://x.com/coachmantegna
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-mantegna-1aab482b9/
đź”— Connect with Cory:
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep.athletics/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166
đź”– Subscribe to the PREP Athletics Podcast:
iTunes | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prep-athletics-podcast/id1546265809?uo=4
Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/6CAKbXFiIOhoHinzsReYbJ
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Cory Heitz (00:00)
Welcome to this week's episode of The PREP Athletics Podcast. This is a fun one today because we are having Blair Academy's Joe Mantegna rejoin us because he was at the 2024 Olympics in France as an assistant coach for the South Sudanese basketball team. And if you didn't hear about them during the Olympics, they almost beat the U S team. I think they were up one point with eight seconds left before Lebron beat them. That wasn't in the Olympics. That was in the preliminary warmups, but big moment for them.
We get to hear Joe talk about how they went from very bottom of the barrel in the Afro Cup to now being ranked 25th or in the top 25 in the world. He talks about his former Blair players that are coaching and on the team right now. Some great experiences he had, excuse me, in France and how he's going to incorporate that and utilize it in his coaching at Blair Academy. So a little bonus episode here, but I thought we'd be good to get some behind the scenes for the Paris Olympics. So sit back.
and enjoy this podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Cory Heitz (01:24)
Joe, welcome back to the podcast.
Joe Mantegna (01:26)
Thanks for having me, Cory. Really appreciate you having me on.
Cory Heitz (01:28)
Yeah, now the reason we're having you on here is you just got back from a pretty interesting trip overseas and why don't you tell us where you were.
Joe Mantegna (01:35)
So I was fortunate enough to be at the Paris Olympics with the South Sudan Men's National Basketball Team and we were the second African country ever to win an Olympic game. it was an exciting and summer full of learning and summer full of great pinch yourself moments for sure.
Cory Heitz (01:54)
I bet now how back us up. How did you get associated with the South Sudanese team?
Joe Mantegna (01:57)
the, president of South Sudan basketball is Luol Deng, who was my first recruit to Blair Academy in 1999 when I got here. And, the head coach of the South Sudan national team is my other 1999 recruit Royal Ivey who, is the second assistant for the Houston Rockets and a long time NBA player. and one of my former players, Marial Shayok 2012, I believe from Blair.
was our leading scorers. So it was a Blair Academy family affair. That's not really what it was about out there, but the other guys got to joke plenty about that the Blair Jabs were flying around the team all summer long.
Cory Heitz (02:38)
Tell me about the pride South Sudan had for their basketball team.
Joe Mantegna (02:41)
You know, I think this is one of probably aside from their independence 13 years ago from Sudan The last 13 years have been filled with a lot of heartache poverty and war and violence Millions of people have been displaced into refugee camps and through asylum all over the world. So it is
not been the happiest of places in terms of the way they think of themselves as a country. And so to bring the kind of pride we were able to bring through sport and uplifting the country through basketball, and I think just giving a hope that people from South Sudan can achieve great things and can make a very positive effect on the world view, it was very fulfilling that way. And frankly, the last four summers that we've competed have been.
just to win the first international game four years ago and then to come in fifth in the Afro Basket and then to make it to the World Cup. so every summer has been milestones and things to celebrate back in South Sudan. So it's been really cool.
Cory Heitz (03:43)
Yeah, take us back because you mentioned the stat that you had some really low ranking in Africa and now you've got a higher ranking worldwide. Explain that stat to me.
Joe Mantegna (03:48)
Thank
Yeah, we, we had to go through pre qualifiers to get to the qualifiers for Afro Basket. Afro Basket for those many who don't know is the African championship. So when this process began four and a half years ago, we were the 83rd ranked team in Africa. And in fact, lost a pre qualifying game to Kenya. And we're not going to qualify for the qualifiers. Algeria got COVID.
And that is the only reason that South Sudan went through to even begin the qualification or we would really be starting our process this fall. So it took COVID for another country for us to even make it to the qualifiers. And in that four year window, we ascended to the Olympics. You know, the documentary will be coming out in the next year or two. And it is sort of a bit of a Disney story.
You're so ingrained and embedded in it, you you're just trying to win every game and get better. It's hard to sort of look at the big picture now doing these interviews and talking about it when I'm removed here. It's kind of crazy when you say it out loud.
Cory Heitz (04:53)
I know. Now, you mentioned they were ranked 83rd out of how many?
Joe Mantegna (04:56)
That's a good question. I don't think many more than 83, let's put it that way, because not every African nation has a national basketball team. So we were at the bottom of the barrel. And again, we had never had a national team. you know, this was the first time they had attempted to enter FIBA and have a national basketball team. And so it's been a very it's been the quickest ascension in the history of FIBA. No team has ever gone from where we were to now top 25 in the world and winning an Olympic game.
Cory Heitz (05:00)
Perfect.
Joe Mantegna (05:24)
No team. It's completely unprecedented at the FIBA level.
Cory Heitz (05:28)
And what do you attribute that to? Like if we wanted to do the same formula for the 81st ranked team in Africa, can you replicate this or is there something special about the leadership or the coaching of the players that led to this rapid ascension?
Joe Mantegna (05:40)
I mean, I think it was probably all my assistant coaching. would, I would think no. Listen, you know, South Sudan is the tallest nation in the world. So, you know, we have more seven footers per capita than any other country in the world. So obviously that's a good starting point. These are people that are long and athletic and sort of, you know, genetically built for basketball.
Cory Heitz (05:44)
Of course, but aside from that.
Hmm.
Joe Mantegna (06:06)
From a leadership standpoint, Luol Deng funded this program for the first two years out of his own pocket. So there's just not a lot of people that can put millions of dollars of their own money. The government for the first few years did not see the vision of this. Once we got it going and Luol had done it in a first class way, the government has been fully behind us the last two years, giving us millions of dollars to fund our program. It's been a little misinformation about that.
They did not fund us the first two years, but the last two years they've been fully behind us. And then I think, know, there's a sense of belief with Luol being the president of the foundation. He had been to the highest level, been an NBA All -Star with Royal as the head coach.
He brought a toughness and a leadership and a belief. And we have NBA players, we have NBL Australia players, we have players that play in Europe and all over the world and in the Middle East. So there was a talent base that was able to start to see the vision and slowly get on board once we began the momentum.
Good leadership, some funding from an individual that cared deeply and talented, connected players playing for something bigger than themselves. It got done pretty quickly.
Cory Heitz (07:15)
Okay. Thanks for sharing that. Now, before the Olympics, you had a warmup game against the U S national team, which famously features four previous NBA MVPs and South Sudan, almost beat them and you were their court side. Tell me about the environment. Tell us about what it was like to be on the sidelines against four previous MVPs. Like give me your fly on the wall point of view.
Joe Mantegna (07:37)
Yeah, so I mean, it was in the O2 Arena in London and it was a bunch of friendly games set up by USA Basketball. We felt very fortunate to be invited, frankly. And I think we were sort of supposed to be the game in between the two tougher games. you know, O2 Arena was packed. Crazy story. There was a tunnel construction going on and
Our hotel was very near the O2 arena, but to take a bus because of the traffic in this tunnel being offline, it would have taken us about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the arena. It should have taken about 10 minutes. So both the USA and us, we both took the tube. You can imagine LeBron James and Kevin Durant stepping onto the tube and we did the same and you know, we.
We have, we're very, you can't miss us in a subway train. Let's put it that way. We're a rather large team. So both teams took the tube to the game and a place was packed. I laughed with some of the guys when we were warming up, felt as if, if you could take a poll of the 22 ,000 fans, there was probably 21 ,958 of them watching the U S warmup. I mean, it's almost like you're invisible. You know, there's Steph Curry and LeBron James and KD.
Cory Heitz (08:21)
Right.
Joe Mantegna (08:44)
Etc, etc. Warming up at the other end. You know, I laughed. was like, I can't imagine there's more than eight sets of eyes even watching you guys do your layup lines right now. So it's you've never felt more invisible in a 22 ,000 seat arena that was filled to the brim. And yeah, you know, it one of those days we made a bunch of shots. And once the shots started going in, I mean, you we have pro basketball players, our guys are good. They are not NBA Hall of Famers, of course, but it's not like we have a bunch of chumps. And so ball started going in and
Cory Heitz (08:51)
Thank
Joe Mantegna (09:13)
caught the USA a little flat and not making shots and we were up one with eight seconds to go. some guy named LeBron put his shoulder down and made a play. And we still had three shots to win the game at the end at the buzzer. And talking to people afterwards, people said, it might have been the biggest upset in the history of basketball. And up there was Chaminade beating Ralph Sampson's Virginia team.
So it was a bit of a bummer. We couldn't kind of put it away. It would have been something special, but it certainly thrust us into the national, international world basketball spectrum and drew attention to our program and drew attention to our players and the journey we had been on. So it was an incredibly positive thing for our program. I tapped Luol Deng on the leg. We sit next to each other as assistant coaches on the bench. And of course,
He's been in my life since he was 14 years old. And we went up 14 like late in the second quarter and I, it's just, I tapped him on the leg, on the bench. can't even believe what I'm seeing right now. He kind of gave me a wink and we kept at it. So yeah, it was a cool day.
Cory Heitz (10:18)
Was the team disappointed they lost or were they like, Hey, we almost got them. Like, was the attitude in the locker room after hand?
Joe Mantegna (10:22)
Yeah, I mean, they were super pissed we lost. And I mean, that gives you a little window into our group. I think after a few hours had passed and we were back at the at the hotel and having a late dinner at midnight afterwards, there was some, you know, there was some warm feelings and wow, you know, your phone starts ringing and Instagram starts banging and you see you're the number one.
Cory Heitz (10:29)
Yeah.
Joe Mantegna (10:45)
trending sports thing on Twitter and all of sudden you sort of have the beginnings of a realization. I mean, it's really interesting to be cordoned off in a hotel and you're not quite sure how the world is taking in some of the things until you get on your social media and you have an understanding that that was on national television back in United States and all those things. So yeah, I mean, guys were really mad in the moment and we were,
It gave us confidence going into the Olympics that we could compete with these teams.
Cory Heitz (11:12)
Gotcha. And then your role as a coach, what was your specific duties for the team?
Joe Mantegna (11:16)
Yeah, I mean, I became sort of the chief of staff over the last four summers. So early on, know, Royal had never really, I mean, it's amazing what he's done as a head coach because he had never really been a head coach. He coached a little bit in the G league and, and, know, he coached NBA summer league, but to have not very many head coaching reps and to coach all high leverage games, you know, I told him, said, this is unprecedented. No one coaches games like this as a head coach when you've had no head coaching.
You know, I mean, so the first two summers I was really by his side as someone who's coached seven or 800 games and he sort of needed help with the game management and the substitutions and just some of that stuff because he had never done it. and, but geez, you know, by the time we got to the world cup last summer and then the Olympics this summer, you know, I did all, I was there to do all the same things I had always done for him in the first two summers, but he didn't need me as much, which was awesome. And as a mentor and,
Cory Heitz (12:08)
Mm
Joe Mantegna (12:09)
an older coach to not be needed and to have someone ascend to the level where you're coaching the highest of leverage games and you're good. And in fact, you're doing a great job. You're not just good. You're not just surviving the moment, but Roy was doing a great job. you know, as the chief of staff, I oversaw game management stuff. I oversaw scouting on both sides. I would kind of be the second set of eyes on the offense and the defense and help with the games.
in terms of the substitutions and the, you know, files to give and all that stuff. And then, you know, they just called me the OG. was I was kind of there to do whatever anyone needed. And, you know, that including coming early and rebounding for guys. And, you know, I was I was doing a lot of that stuff, too. I can't tell you how many passes I threw over 36 days this summer. So that was great. And as someone who's been a head coach for 20 going on my 26th year now.
It's great to be an assistant and add value as an assistant and it makes me more conscious of my own assistants. I I hope they would say I am anyway, but I have great assistants at Blair and to be an assistant, I think, gives me an appreciation for what assistants everywhere are doing. I was just trying to add value. Same thing I tell my coaches at Blair, my assistant coach, hey man, add value everywhere you can. If that's sweeping up the court, if that's rebounding.
If that's giving me a game winning under OB play, like just add value everywhere you can. And every day I got up, I was trying to figure out how I could add value around the edges to the South Sudan team and just serve Luol and serve Royal and serve our players from the smallest things to the biggest things, depending on what they needed.
Cory Heitz (13:42)
You love it. Love it. Good to get a different perspective after being in that headseat for 26 years, so probably helping your coaching. The, the opening ceremony was just crazy. I mean, a lot going on and you're on the boat with the team. Tell us about what that was like coming in on the, on the river, on a boat and you're in your fancy suits.
Joe Mantegna (13:46)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Well, we we became a fashion icon, I guess. know, it was easy to find me in the group, let's put it that way. But our opening ceremony garb was was well received around the world. So we had a fashion designer in Kigali, Rwanda that made the suits. And wish I could mention the name, his name. I can't think of it right now. But a very cool guy that measured us up when we were in Rwanda training camp and the suits arrived when we got to Paris. So
That was cool. yeah, being on the boat, was incredible because as I said, four years earlier, we brought a group that we weren't sure we could win a game and the Afro Basket qualifiers. And now we're riding the boat. We had always sort of said, I think I may have said it to you on a previous podcast, Cory, like the goal was always to make the Olympics and we would say it out loud, but I'm not sure who believed it. I mean, maybe, you know,
What I learned about pro players is they're so incredibly confident. You you almost have to have this outsized confidence to ascend to the level of, know, even being a European pro or playing in the G League. mean, your self belief is just different than most. So maybe these guys believe that they would be there in this quick a time. I'm not a hundred percent sure when we started this, this journey. I thought so, but it all hit home for me when we were on the boat, dressed in our opening ceremonies gear. And there's a millions of people on the, on the.
the bleachers on each side of the set and it became real. And it was emotional, guys were waving the flag and people cheering for us. was...
It was what it's supposed to be. was a symbolic, emotional moment and it really characterized all the work we had put in. There was a lot of sacrifice. None of us had made any money for a number of years. We weren't doing it for that. And so to ascend to this level and be on the river in the South Sudan boat was amazing. Even walking around the Olympic Village in our garb before the opening ceremonies and interfacing with the track stars for the U .S. and seeing some of the other basketball players and meeting, you know, athletes we didn't know from New
Zealand and from countries, you know, we were next to the Kazakhstan judo team, you know, I mean, so it was it was an incredible experience once in a lifetime and so glad I got to I got to experience that.
Cory Heitz (16:11)
Do you have any celebrity encounters?
Joe Mantegna (16:12)
no, I didn't. Katie Ledecky actually I did see and and and and fist bump with but no people were coming up to our team again, not me but our team because we looked like we did. You know, there's all these seven foot beautifully dark skin guys in these beautiful black suits. So everyone was coming up to our team again, not me.
and taking pictures of these guys that they just look beautiful in their suits, know, these handsome fellas. So we sort of felt like the celebrities, the USA game had just happened and everyone was coming up to take pictures with our team. So it was a really cool moment for the guys on our team.
Cory Heitz (16:47)
Awesome. And then from this experience, what are you going to take from this and incorporate into your coaching at Blair Academy?
Joe Mantegna (16:54)
Well, you know, when you prepare for these great Euroleague coaches who are, you know, who coaching these teams, I mean, Serbia was one of the scouts that I really helped a lot with and sort of took the lead on and, know, we had played friendlies with Australia leading up to the World Cup and just, you know, played against China, these legendary Euroleague coaches. So the game is very different, but there's so many things you can take from it. So as I was doing edits,
For South Sudan, I had a little file over here for Blair Academy. was I stealing stuff every step of the way every summer? Absolutely. Was I stealing stuff from how pro coaches prepare? Absolutely. Learned so much from the coaches on our staff. Was I stealing stuff from how the pros on our team prepared, how they stretched, what their routines were like, how they shot?
100 % would I grab guys and ask them questions about how they trained in the offseason, the guys on our team, you know, when we're breaking bread at some random hotel in Madrid and we're just kind of sitting around.
Absolutely. So, you know, I was trying to be a sponge. mean, I'm 55 years old. I've won. I'm coming on 500 wins at Blair. And, you know, I'm still as hungry to get better and just learn and be better at this. And I've told my assistant coaches at Blair and told Royal, like, the day I'm not hungry to learn and get better and just, you know, ask questions of everyone around me, then I should pack it up here.
And this has been four incredible summers of learning for me. Just, you know, humble yourself and learn and ask questions. And so, I mean, I feel like I'm a far, far better coach now than I was when this process started just because I've been, I've just been in the presence of so many people that are so good at what they do. And I've been forced to study.
I'm alone in hotel rooms in Africa, like I'm just studying, what else are gonna do? If on the beach, I might be doing something else back in Jersey, but I've been in hotel rooms for four straight summers just studying my craft and trying to learn. So yeah, it's been great that way.
Cory Heitz (18:44)
Right.
That's excellent. Man, your player is going to be lucky to have all that knowledge because that's not a normal resume for a prep school coach. So it's going be good to see that in action.
Joe Mantegna (19:01)
Well, you can come in and let them know that when they're running laps here in preseason in October, you can let them know that they're lucky to have me, because they may or may not feel that way, but we'll see. But thank you.
Cory Heitz (19:11)
Yeah, absolutely. Hey, we're going to do a couple of quick hitters here to finish up. All right. The best meal you had during your France trip.
Joe Mantegna (19:18)
tell you, I'm not supposed to eat much gluten, but just getting back to the bread in Europe, my gluten allergies weren't great, but just getting back to the bread in Paris and Madrid, even in London, but my gosh.
All the food in Southern Europe. mean, we spent six days in Madrid playing friendlies and training and everything I ate in Spain. And just the fact that there's these 60 year old men sitting at cafes at 11 in the morning on a Saturday, you know, either having a cappuccino or a glass of red wine. I just think the Southern Europeans know how to eat. They know how to live. They know how to siesta. I may be moving to Madrid. I don't know if anyone wants to open a prep school in Madrid, but I'm ready to go to Southern Europe. So.
Everything I touched in Madrid was magnificent.
Cory Heitz (20:05)
Okay, most fun you had at a non -sporting event.
Joe Mantegna (20:08)
We are pretty locked in.
Cory Heitz (20:08)
or a different sporting event besides basketball. Maybe if you went to another event, you can share that too.
Joe Mantegna (20:12)
Yeah, so because we were stationed in Lille, we didn't get to go to other Olympic events. And, you know, I don't have any complaints, but obviously in a perfect world, we would have been based out of Paris. So that was the issue. My wife and my youngest son went to the volleyball beach volleyball game under the Eiffel Tower. So that was what we splurged for. And they had, sat in the front row of beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower.
and my youngest were just they had the best time. My oldest son and his girlfriend went to her seven -on -seven rugby in front of 65 ,000 people in Paris. So my family had great Olympic sporting events, me not so much.
Cory Heitz (20:51)
Best movie you watched on the plane rides and all your travels.
Joe Mantegna (20:54)
I rewatched the World War II movie, Dunkirk, about the fishermen getting the English army out of Dunkirk and basically saving the war so they could retreat back to England and Churchill could work his magic. I think it's the third or fourth time I've watched Dunkirk, but amazing film.
Cory Heitz (21:00)
sure.
Joe Mantegna (21:15)
I was studying a lot of film on the plains and not watching as many movies, but I did watch Dunkirk again. It's incredible film.
Cory Heitz (21:19)
I figured, All right. Last question, Joe, what's the most cherished souvenir you brought home?
Joe Mantegna (21:26)
I brought home a autographed uniform. We had extra uniforms and I had all the guys on the team sign a South Sudan uniform and that'll be framed in my man cave. I have one from the World Cup. I have one from Afro Basket.
But you know, I try and to, we have photographers and documentarians following us around. So I have beautiful photos and video from everywhere we've been the last three summers, because we've had people embedded with us, really talented photographers and videographers. So I really tried to live and sort of get off my phone and take everything in and feel it. I knew people were getting pictures of all of it and sending it to me later. So I didn't even have to do that.
And so, you know, my family did the souvenir thing, but I didn't even take pictures. I didn't take pictures, I didn't take video. I just tried to live it, feel it, drink it all in, and then I knew all the memories would be, you know.
solved for me by other people, but it was really a very 1985 existence of just trying to embed myself and just sort of be all in in all these experiences. it's that can inform how we live in other places too, I think.
Cory Heitz (22:36)
Yeah, very well spoken. Anything else you want to mention that we didn't cover in this, this short talk?
Joe Mantegna (22:41)
I just think, you know, our team's a window into what can be accomplished when people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. And, you know, it's something that I preach to my team at Blair. you know, we talk about cause over self and I've never been a part of anything more that embodied cause over self more than this. I mean, this is just guys from Australia and North America.
playing for their home country. Some of them had never stepped foot in this country. Their parents were from there and that they just wanted to play for this country. everyone that spoke about our team just talked about the passion and the effort with which we played with.
what we did made it onto Twitter about beautiful basketball. But man, you cannot play more impassioned and with more intensity and more together and connected than our team did. No one had any selfish motives. Nobody was taking a play off. We had one bad practice in 36 days. You know, one bad practice, one bad day in 36 days. And so.
You know, it's just such a connected, united group pushing for one goal. it's just, and it's incredible to be a part of and listen, I mean, my team's coming off of a state championship. I have to say my team last year wasn't, you know, for a prep school level, wasn't far off of that. But as a coach, that's what you want to be a part of. You create a culture of effort and unselfishness and you see where that can go, especially when you have talented people.
And man, I've been living that for the last four summers and it's uplifting and it's rewarding and it gives you an idea of sort of how you can max out groups of people. And I think our group maxed.
Cory Heitz (24:17)
Love it. Thanks for sharing that, Joe Mantegna, coach of Blair Academy, also assistant coach for the South Sudanese national team, joining us to give his updates on what it was like to be with the team and be at the Olympics and play against teams like the U .S. and almost beat them. So thanks so much for coming on this bonus episode, Joe, and very good luck this season to you and your team.
Joe Mantegna (24:37)
My pleasure, Cory. Keep up the great work, my friend. Thank you very much.
Cory Heitz (24:40)
Thanks, take care.