Hanno Möttölä: NBA Pioneer & International Coach on What It Takes to Go Pro

This week, Cory sits down with Hanno Möttölä—Finland’s first NBA player, University of Utah Hall of Famer, and current assistant coach for the Finnish national team. Hanno’s journey spans from dominating youth basketball in Europe to starring for Utah in the NCAA championship game, breaking into the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks, and later shaping European and Finnish basketball as a coach. In this episode, Hanno delivers practical, no-nonsense advice for families navigating the prep school and college basketball pipeline. He breaks down what truly separates future pros: the will and skill to practice, finding the right fit (not just the biggest name), and the importance of honest coaching over empty promises. Hanno also tackles the impact of NIL and transfer rules, why immediate playing time matters more than program prestige, and how European development models differ from the U.S. system.

💡Key Topics:

📌 What separates future NBA players: skill, will, and the right environment (basketball development, player mentality)
📌 Honest recruiting and finding the right college fit (prep school basketball, recruitment, player placement)
📌 NIL and transfer portal realities for international and U.S. athletes (college basketball, NIL, transfer rules)
📌 European vs. U.S. player development models (EuroLeague, NCAA, player pathways)
📌 Coaching Lauri Markkanen and the importance of self-driven improvement (NBA development, coaching insights)
📌 Balancing national team commitments with U.S. college basketball (academic-athletic balance, international players)

🏀 About Hanno Möttölä:

Hanno Möttölä is a trailblazer in Finnish basketball, the first player from Finland to reach the NBA, and a University of Utah Hall of Famer. After starring for Utah and playing in the 1998 NCAA championship game, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, later enjoying a standout career in Europe’s top leagues. As a coach, Hanno has developed elite talent at Helsinki Basketball Academy and serves as assistant coach for the Finnish national team, shaping the next generation of international players.

🔗 Connect with Hanno Möttölä:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/hannomottola/?hl=en
Twitter | https://x.com/hannomottola
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanno-m%C3%B6tt%C3%B6l%C3%A4-aa336077/

🔗 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

🔖 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
Amazon | https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/3c37179d-3371-47f9-9d97-fd569e8802a7/prep-athletics-basketball-podcast #AmazonMusic

Chapters

• 0:00 Cory Heitz introduces the episode, reminisces about playing against Hanno in Finland, and sets up the background.
• 2:17 Cory formally welcomes Hanno Möttölä to the podcast.
• 2:20 Cory and Hanno discuss their first meeting and early basketball experiences in Finland.
• 3:02 Hanno recalls hosting American players and the sauna story.
• 4:14 Cory transitions to Hanno’s development and journey to playing in America.
• 4:28 Hanno details his growth, coaching influences, and recruitment process, including why he chose Utah.
• 8:00 Hanno discusses Rick Majerus’s recruiting approach and the importance of head coaches visiting international prospects.
• 12:24 Cory asks about Utah practices and the “secret sauce” to making the NBA; Hanno describes the intensity, physicality, and luck involved.
• 19:33 Hanno shares lessons learned from Coach Majerus about work ethic and discipline.
• 21:52 Cory asks when Hanno realized he could play in the NBA; Hanno discusses his college progression, draft experience, and Utah’s success.
• 27:41 Hanno reflects on the best and worst parts of the NBA, including playing against Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.
• 33:10 Hanno compares EuroLeague and NBA playing styles, team dynamics, and fan cultures.
• 41:34 Hanno recalls the most electric college atmospheres, especially games against New Mexico and BYU.
• 43:57 Discussion about coaching Lauri Markkanen, his development, and what sets NBA-level players apart.
• 49:26 Hanno explains advising Finnish players on navigating the US college system, NIL, and transfer rules.
• 56:10 In-depth talk about NIL’s impact, player development, the financial realities of European basketball, and balancing national team commitments.
• 1:12:26 Cory asks about “Sisu” and its meaning in Finnish culture; Hanno explains.
• 1:14:25 Quick hitters: Best player played against (Michael Jordan), best coached against (Nikola Jokic), favorite movie (Pulp Fiction, Star Wars).
• 1:15:44 Hanno discusses hobbies outside basketball, especially cooking and family time.
• 1:17:45 Closing remarks, Hanno invites listeners to visit Finland, describes the unique seasons, and reflects on hospitality.

Transcript

Cory Heitz (00:00)
Welcome to this week's episode of the prep athletics podcast. I'm proud to have joining us an old friend. And by old, we played against each other when we were both in sixth grade over in Europe and Finland. And I'm talking about Hanno Möttölä Hanno's six foot 10. And yeah, we played against him when my little team from Kentucky went to Finland. ⁓ I've got a picture of me and him in black and white also, and that's my cousin, Brad Miller. So we had in the small little gym on the top floor of a hotel.

two NBA players in there. ⁓ and it was pretty surreal. And then I had a teammate in high school from Finland, Yari Vekula who Hanno knows and Hanno played at Utah when I was at air force, we were in the same conference and then he, almost won a championship at Utah, but lost in the final couple of minutes to Kentucky back in 1998. But when he was at Utah, I played for ⁓ legendary coach Rick Majeris. He had a lot of NBA teammates to include Britton Johnson, Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller.

Dolyak. so he goes about just the gruel it was to play for Rick Majeris. He talks about the transition to the NBA, what it's like in the Euro league and how that's different than the NBA. And then he's coached players like Larry Markkinen, know, who's now with, in the NBA and who played Arizona, who's just kicking butt as a seven foot three point shooter, ⁓ talks about his development. And we dig into the question that people want to know is what is the secret sauce to making it to the NBA? Right.

He gives his feelings on that and talks about NIL now and how that affects kids looking to go to Europe. So great episode, good catching up with Hanno after all these years. Uh, we did see him about eight years ago. I picked us up at the airport. We landed in Finland, got to see him coach, got to hang out with him a little bit and my former teammates. Uh, you are a vet killer. So it's a good blast in the past and good to hear a different perspective from a guy I really respect. So enjoy this week's episode of the prep athletics podcast with

Cory Heitz (02:17)
On our welcome to the podcast.

Hanno Möttölä (02:18)
Thank you Cory.

Cory Heitz (02:20)
Good to see you again. And we go back to the late eighties to where we actually met in Finland when a group of kids from Kentucky went over to the play. Cause there's like some coaching connection with the finished connection. And I found a picture probably 10 years ago and it was black and white and it had you in it. I found out, and then my cousin, Brad Miller. So there were two NBA players in a sort of YMCA gym and ⁓ you guys beat the tar out of us. I think some of the games we played against not just your team, but others.

You guys have beat us like a hundred to ten. You press the entire game and I think you had home cooking with the referees too. So, ⁓ why did you get to beat us so bad?

Hanno Möttölä (03:02)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sorry if we pressed the whole game. That's probably what I'm most against in the junior basketball, the coaches that go full-court press. But yeah, no, was great times, great times. I remember ⁓ our club, YMCA Helsinki, to host a big,

kind of middle of a season tournament and it was exciting to get some foreign visitors and you guys stayed in our different players' and yeah, it was good times.

Cory Heitz (03:34)
Did you actually have a player in your house with your family or not? OK.

Hanno Möttölä (03:36)
Yeah, I think we had two. I think we had two

players. Yeah, if I remember right. Yeah, I tried to him to sauna and he wasn't even heated and they got scared. that wasn't...

Cory Heitz (03:47)
Well, you know, they

got scared because my dad said, you know, if you get to go to a sauna, you're to have to get naked. So all of us being sixth graders, that's nothing more scary than being naked in front of anybody, let alone strangers. So that's the reason why, just so you know. And then Team Ulang, one of your teammates, that's who me and my buddy Joey stayed with. And yeah, they said, you want to get in the sauna with us? And we said, absolutely not. times have changed.

Hanno Möttölä (03:59)
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Cory Heitz (04:14)
But anyway, ⁓ so fast forward from that and ⁓ you you got really good, good enough to come play in America. How did you get so good? And then did you always want to play in the States or what led to that?

Hanno Möttölä (04:28)
To answer the first question, like everybody, you need to have a talent, you need have a will to practice and skill to practice. I guess this is the 11th year full-time coaching, ⁓ 13 total. More more I kind of learn about this. It's the skill and will to practice to get better is one of the biggest talents an athlete can have.

So I guess I was, know, and I kind of went kind of my, I guess my career kind of went up and down, especially in junior years. I was always tall. I played with my big brother for the first couple of years. So I got used to playing with older guys. then, then when everybody else got their, you know, their, you know, teenage growth birth, you know, I, you know, stayed at the same height, you know, about probably six foot four.

almost a year and a half. And then I learned some, you know, living better kind of perimeter skills. And then I started growing again. And ⁓ yeah, and then, you know, became about 6'11 or 6'10 and a half. So, so I got kind of lucky that I was, I was definitely a late bloomer biologically. So I wasn't one of those who could just, you know, with the sheer power and the strength to, you know, get your, you know, to succeed early on. I kind of had to, you know,

used my skills earlier and I was skinny as hell. ⁓ yeah, and you know, got lucky in our, that time, you know, Finland wasn't a basketball country like it is now, but I got lucky with probably the best junior coach ⁓ in the country who were demanding a lot of things out of us, but taught us the fundamentals. ⁓ So yeah, ⁓ and then I guess probably like a lot of kids growing up in the eighties, you know,

You know, kind of going to US was probably, you know, play basketball is probably, you know, kind of in their sights. For some reason, I was, you know, I went to San Antonio as exchange student after my sophomore year in high school and then came back home for two more years. That experience kind of after that, I was like, well, I ain't going back. You know, then, you you watch TV shows in the 80s like, it's a...

Cory Heitz (06:39)
Hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (06:54)
everything's great, but then you realize, you know, Monday morning, 7am, wake up at 7am everywhere. And then you kind of, so I was kind of hesitant to go, but then more and more schools started recruiting me and probably got recruited with the 60 plus schools. and that time, you know, it was a VHS tapes and just coaches talking to coaches and, and yeah. So then I ended up, you know, after, you know,

I took a visit to Utah and Cal, but said no to North Carolina and Kansas and you name it. yeah, end up with Utah with Rick Majors. And yeah, it was definitely a life-changing decision. And I would say a big learning experience to play for now late Rick Majors. He's going to change you.

from who you are to something different and most of the cases, but better, like in my case, but it does take a toll on you. I can tell you that.

Cory Heitz (08:00)
Yeah, now what did Rick say and what did the Utah staff say that differentiated them from the other schools you mentioned? Like, why did you choose them? What was the big factor?

Hanno Möttölä (08:08)
Well, yeah, well,

we talk about mid 90s now. So there was no Internet. There was barely no, I mean, no cell phones, really. ⁓ So, I mean, you literally you get there. You get the letters, you get a yearbook. ⁓ But what I because I my brain is this working like I want everything to be done by the book.

That's why I love it here in Finland. People wait on a crosswalk when the light is red most of the That's how I operate. ⁓ Where all the other coaches are telling you, you're going to be great, you're have chance to go to the NBA, da da da. My first phone call with Rick Majors, he blasted my defense at rebounding. ⁓

I mean, I wasn't probably all a defensive team. I was decent. I was really good shot blocker. ⁓ But like I was like, all right, well, he's he's actually watched tape. He isn't he doesn't just call me to, you know, you know, give me, you know, sugarcoat things. so that kind of draw interest in me. And then he came here to Finland and kind of meet, you know, you know, meet him. And he was just honest, brutally honest. Whatever his opinion is, I was he told you that.

I mean, and it was, I mean, in those four years, I mean, there's a lot of things that, that, you know, he said that you just roll your eyes, but that's the way he believed. ⁓ but, but again, you know, it was hard cause I, mean, I never heard of university Utah really before they started recruiting me. Then I started, you know, following a little bit and understood kind of a good history. obviously Keith Van Horn was, ⁓ when they started recruiting me, Keith was a sophomore.

Cory Heitz (09:54)
you

Hanno Möttölä (10:04)
When I took the visit, was a junior. yeah, so, you know, but I, you know, I got lucky, got to play with Andre Miller three years and Michael Doliak and, you know, the year, you know, so back then he was, I'm definitely for a foreign kid. I mean, it was 50 % luck. I mean,

truly where you end up because there, you just have no chance of getting any information. I mean, you can get a.

You know, like NBC International something showed the tournament games or one game every day and that was it. then, you know, so, but just, you know, talking to the coaches and, and, know, they came here to Finland and, and, and that's, kind of that experience would I then, I know, you know, we're not talking about kind of the recruiting part yet, you know, but I always tell the schools, like, if you really want to be international player.

Cory Heitz (10:38)
Right.

Hanno Möttölä (11:01)
the head coach needs to take that 72 hours out of his recruiting window, make the trip over, look at the kid and the parent in the eye and say, hey, I'm here. I want your son or your daughter. And reasons because it's only three days and back then your son or daughter's

kind of taking a leap of faith for four years. you got to, you know, but, but, know, it's a, it's a, different times. Definitely. Now there's a lot more, obviously things involved with the recruiting with the NIL and all that. But, but, ⁓ yeah, I mean, it's, it's, I mean, you obviously, you know, it's been 30 years since that recruiting process and, and, ⁓ you know, yeah, I kind of play games. All right. What if I've gone to North Carolina? What if I've gone to

a small school or you know, who knows what would have happened. But yeah, I was pretty lucky and you know, still, you know, have a lot of positive memories and still follow obviously Utah Athletics, you know, like everybody who's gone to a school for four years and given everything you got, you know, it becomes part of a family for the of your life.

Cory Heitz (12:24)
Absolutely. Now with these college practices, you've got four NBA players on the court with Andre, you, Keith, Doliak. ⁓ The secret sauce that everyone always wants to know is how do you make it to the NBA?

Right. And you're a rarity. Those guys are rarities. It's very hard to do. but what did you see those guys have in them that got them to that level?

Hanno Möttölä (12:47)
Well, mean, I guess it's short story here. So I flew in my first fall there ⁓ and I got in the previous night, late night. The next afternoon, someone knocks my door. It's Keith Van Horn, I'm Michael Dole. I'm like, hey, let's go play ball. I'm ⁓ jet lagged. ⁓

run around in offices to try to get all the registration done. Like, all right, let's go. So I'm thinking we go just shoot around and kind of welcoming thing. But what I kind of learned is Keith had kind of this way of welcoming the new guys in. And we went in there and we played one on one for about an hour and a half. And I probably got a shut off four times in that hour and a half.

But I did hear from afterwards that they both appreciated I went at it. So I guess kind of just the sheer physicality and ⁓ in Keith's the athletic system and Michael Dolia's case, physicality is something that you got to get used to. But I wasn't afraid of contact. was just kind of more also got to get learned to little new rules. FIBA rules are you can

You can do different things compared to college. But when you talk about college practices, in Utah's case, my first year, the October 15th, which was the start date, like it used to be, it fell on a Saturday. And we practiced Saturday, Sunday, both days, two, three and a half hour practice. So we're up to 14 hours by Sunday.

Cory Heitz (14:13)
you

Hanno Möttölä (14:41)
I can still remember, you know, and I, and we were practicing kind of at a high school gym, probably because majority didn't want anyone to see the amount of hours we put in. And he was literally across the street from my apartment. And I remember like barely able to walk, you know, across the street and, just laying on couch for three hours or four hours we have between. And I was like, where the hell did I put myself into? And I actually remember like physically, I remember it was probably November.

So I've gone through about six, four weeks of this. I mean, from my perspective, just pure hell. because you don't, mean, it's a three, three plus hour practice every single day. And I remember I'm sitting in the classroom with a big auditorium and I write on the side of my notebook that, this is absolutely crazy. I'm going home in May. know, I wasn't quitting then, but like, hey, I'm.

Cory Heitz (15:20)
Right.

Hanno Möttölä (15:40)
I'm going through his first year, like, I mean, because I got offered 10 year contracts from ACB team in Spain before I went to Utah. You know, and back then, I mean, I, you know, we're not talking about NIL era, you know, I got, I might, I might've gotten a, you know, free subway sandwich and some extra Friday, TGI Friday points in my four years. And that was the benefits we got, which I'm really proud of. But, know, kind of the second part of your question is, you know,

The NBA guys, it's obviously you need to be one of the best of the best and be at the right time, you know, at the right time. ⁓ And then be consistently good because that's when it's not enough that you have one good game in front of someone. You need to show that, you know, and we're talking about back then, you know, we all stayed four years. So ⁓ it's that consistency.

Cory Heitz (16:21)
Mm-hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (16:38)
Nowadays, it's a lot more about sheer just athletic ability, talent, and kind of, you know, what does this future maybe look like? Back then it was more, okay, how ready product, you know, can we get? Okay, it was still one and done guys and, you know, all that, but, you know, probably half of the first round, one good person in the first round picks were

where and the draft where guys were three or four years and you know, we're able to go right in and and produce at least a little bit. So talent, great coaching. And then like I said, lot of that is luck. I've told people, there's 450 players in the NBA. I guarantee there's a couple of thousand in the world who could play NBA tomorrow. Easy. And then at the same time.

Cory Heitz (17:35)
Mm-hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (17:37)
there's players in your NBA right now, you would drop them in the Euro league or good league, good league and domestic league in Europe. They would struggle. it's a, it's so, but yeah, I mean, was back then it was, you know, college was kind of really kind of, you know, for a kid from Finland, because I didn't play any high level European competition other than with a national team. So to be able to, you know,

had a chance to go to the NBA, was my way of doing at it. Although when I went to Utah, I wasn't thinking about going to the NBA. It wasn't my dream because if I would tell someone I'm going to make the NBA, it would have been a joke. There's never been one from Finland. We had probably five guys get drafted in the 60s and 70s, early 80s.

There was a good group of players that went to BYU because the Mormon missionary came here, ⁓ a man named Robert Peterson, a long time ago. ⁓ He became a national team coach and he was assistant coach on our 62 Tokyo Olympics. Obviously he had the BYU connection and he actually got the BYU coach to come in and try to recruit me. I've heard enough stories of that and I wasn't...

I wasn't going to BYU, But yeah, so that was, you know, that was my route to the NBA. then, gotta be lucky, gotta be really good. And then one of those really good players and get a little bit of lucky.

Cory Heitz (19:22)
Yeah, love it. Now, before we move on to the NBA, what's the biggest thing you took away from playing for Coach Majeres?

Hanno Möttölä (19:33)
Um, he, he always told us that whatever you decide to do, do it a hundred percent. You know, if it's, if you, okay, you go to math class, well, you got to spend whatever it is, hour, hour and a half there. Why not give it all you got? Cause you got to be there anyway. And he's not physically demanding. So, um,

I mean, he really, and he, I mean, he pushed us to a limit and, and, and, you know, and I can also say I was able to.

When I left Utah, I was never able to practice that hard again because no one pushed me to that limit anymore. And then when you leave that, you're like, all right, well, now I'm in the NBA. I can ease up a little bit, which obviously wasn't maybe the smartest thing. But I think just the sheer work ethic and then also the level of

Cory Heitz (20:18)
wow.

Hanno Möttölä (20:41)
level of discipline you need to get good at something. And that's probably, pretty hard for these kids these days because they have so many things going around. They stop to be a discipline and concentrate on just a few things. just, you know, how hard you can actually work. I thought I was practicing hard, but I was probably going 50, 60 % before I got to that environment.

Did he go overboard? Absolutely. Something that he couldn't do today. But he truly pushed us to a limit and it's pretty fun to look back and realize how much you can actually get out of yourself on daily basis.

Cory Heitz (21:31)
Yeah, love it. Now, what was the moment in your college career when you said

I think I can play in the NBA. Was there a game? it what someone said to you? Was it you taking on Van Horn one day in practice and beating him up? Was there a moment before and after when you had that belief?

Hanno Möttölä (21:52)
Um, I mean, I would say now that I think going back, I remember after my freshman year, see I'm only one year younger than Van Horn, but I say, you know, because I was exchange student, so it took me one more year of, uh, of kind of high school and then I'm born late in the year. you know, uh, but, um, I remember first time the NBA was ever kind of discussed was at kind of end of season dinner.

This is my freshman year, Majora's asked like,

Cory Heitz (22:21)
you

Hanno Möttölä (22:22)
hey, you know, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to talk to NBA teams to see kind of what's the feedback. I was like, okay, well, you know, I mean, they were like, okay, like for me it was because I'm a, I'm a program guy. I, I, you know, I, I follow the lead, you know, you know, a Van Horn stay four years, Doliak is going to stay another year and all that. So, and then, but then, that was kind of the first time he's ever discussed. Then the next year.

when we started really rolling. We got Alex Jensen, now the 12-year NBA assistant and now newly appointed head coach of University of basketball team. Alex returned from a Mormon mission. So we had Alex, myself, Michael Doliak, and Andre Miller. Keith had gone to the NBA already. And then Drew Hanson was in the starting lineup. Then also another

future NBA player, Britton Johnson, only McDonald's, all American history that that majority have ever gotten. He was a local guy from Murray, Utah. So we had a really good squad and we started, I think we were 18 and zero, 18 and one, 18 when we lost the first game and had a really good season.

me, and Michael were kind of the leading scorers and had some big games in national TV, TV games. ⁓ so then kind of started hearing a little bit of the, you know, talking again, there was no social media and there was no really internet that you could follow. So, which is good. But I understood that, you know, if I stay healthy and keep growing and get stronger, you know, I have a chance. And then obviously, you know, we get to the final four.

Get to the national championship game. I have a good game there now looking back You know, that's when I should have gone to draft The following year, you know, I play stay with Andre. We were number three in the country going to tournament then unfortunately lost to a well is erbiac and and and he's a He's a Miami Ohio Team, I mean worst game we ever played in my four years ⁓

And then Andre asked me, you got to come to draft with me. But I was again, kind of brainwashed. Hey, Utah guys stayed four years. Andre stayed five years. Andre Miller was the first NCAA athlete to get the Prop 48. The benefits to stay five years. So yeah, so I stayed for my last year and then was a preseason All-American. I was still a lottery pick, know, Christmas time.

But I blew my MCL, I blew my elbow and my thumb preseason, middle of the season. So I played about half a games and, you know, I remember Majors asked me like, would you like the red shirt? I'm like, I'm not like, whatever, I'm playing. So he kind of in his book, in his, you know, interviews later on, like he, that's one of the things he regrets that he let me play at about 70 % most of the season. But it was my choice.

You know, so I dropped from a potential lottery pick, first round pick to the second round, but then I had to grind it out and earn the contract. But yeah, so that was kind of my path, the NBA. I mean, just four years before I wasn't going to the NBA, you know, going to college, go to the NBA. I was going to college to become a good college player ⁓ and then kind of was able to keep up with the good teammates and obviously play for

My first three years we were a top 10 team. My first year we lost to Kentucky in the Elite Eight. Second year lost to Kentucky three and a half minutes to go. We're still leading the national championship game. Then junior year we were really good, got upset second round. And then my last year we lost to a eventual champion Michigan State in the second round. So I got spoiled as far as the one.

four conference championships. went 61, 63 and one at the Huntsman Center, our home arena. I lost to Tim Duncan my freshman year, New Year's, that was the Tim Duncan, Keith Van Horn, number two and number four team in the country. And after that I went 57 and 0 in the home court. So, you know, it was great times. You learn how to win. have the, you.

I tell people it was amazing feeling when you go into the last two minutes of a game and you know you're going to win. Because you know we practice better, we are more disciplined, we more detailed. The Kentucky game was really the only one that we lost in the last seconds, but at the home we were pretty damn good.

Cory Heitz (27:27)
Yeah, one of our best, the four years I was at Air Force, one of our best wins was almost beating you guys.

the year you went to the finals. think we lost you guys by three at home. So that was kind of a victory for us is that's how, that's how on the other end of the spectrum we were. Right. But, ⁓ no, thanks for sharing all that. All right. So you, so you now get to the NBA, ⁓ to the Hawks. And what I like to ask former NBA players is what was the best part about being in the NBA and what was the worst part about being in the NBA?

Hanno Möttölä (27:41)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

For me, the worst part was, again, kind of going back to my previous answer, I needed... Like, there's a negative thing about playing for Majors is that you just do what he and his program kind of tells you to do and there's... You don't have an ounce of energy to do anything else. We didn't have energy to go early to shoot. that would... I mean, so...

I needed an NBA team that had a really strong kind player development program. Let's go two hours early. And I played. I started my first three games. I started probably, I don't know, 25 games in my two years. I played 15 and about 18 minutes my two years.

⁓ so I wasn't, I wasn't like, you know, 10th, 11th guy. was a, you know, six, seven, eight guy. But, ⁓ so I guess the worst part is that. then I was, I was taught this perfect team basketball at Utah. And then you go to the NBA and, I still tell, I'm not, my, my brain is not, you know, doesn't, doesn't work the way NBA players should. Like I don't, when we were down 20.

I told Coach Kruger to take me out in the last five minutes. I don't want to be out here. I want to get ready for next game. We're now looking back, well, I should have been selfish and just put up numbers in last two minutes. So I wasn't selfish enough for the NBA. A lot of that was the way we were programmed at Utah and also my personality. So I guess for a pure NBA player, that was the...

Kind of worst part, I guess. ⁓ But the best part is obviously ⁓ getting a chance to play against your childhood idols. Got to play against Michael Jordan, got to play Olajuwon, was my... I've watched hours and hours of his moves on the VHS tape. And I tell people one of the two best moments of my career is when MJ...

Cory Heitz (30:01)
you

Hanno Möttölä (30:30)
I got switched on the MJ and he gave me the, the elbow, the patented little fake and fadeaway jumper and hit it on my face because that's the way it should be. And then Elijah won, gave me the dream shake and hit it. I was like, all right, now I'm baptized. So, you know, that's obviously, you know, and obviously the lifestyle is great. But just, you know, be there. And then when you realize that, I can play in this league, not, you know, yeah, if I go, could you go back?

Cory Heitz (30:45)
Mm-hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (31:00)
back and tell myself what you need to do to stay 15 years in this league. Because I should have stayed 15. But at that time, the way I was thinking, I wanted also to come back to Europe. I had some one-year offers, but I wanted to come back and play basketball in my mind, ⁓ more team basketball.

Because I felt ⁓ in two years I didn't really get better as a basketball player in the NBA. Although you ⁓ played four games a week, but you really, it's more just a game prep and go there. So yeah, I mean, it's unbelievable experience. Wouldn't change it for anything. But also, it was hard for me at that time because I knew I wasn't selfish enough for NBA.

And that's why I was lucky I went to Utah because it's the ultimate team game, team program. And Majors kind of told in front of everybody, hey, is our number two option after Andre. Or my last year, hey, I'm going to kill every single person here if Hanno doesn't have the most shots at the halftime. So my brain needs that. So I'm told in front of the whole team, like, hey,

Cory Heitz (32:17)
All right.

Hanno Möttölä (32:23)
Hanno is selfish if he doesn't take these shots that we create for him. Rather than, hey, try to go create your own shot. And they're kind of thinking, does the coach need that? I'll play with a of guys who they don't give a damn what coach says. They're going to put up their shots. I always needed to know my role and then make sure that my teammates know that I'm filling that role, whether it's just to being rebounder and defender or try to be a scorer.

So in that sense, I got real lucky with Utah as well.

Cory Heitz (32:57)
I love it. Thanks for sharing that. So you then went from the NBA and then played for some top teams in the Euro League. For those that don't know, what are the big differences between the playing styles and the experience?

Hanno Möttölä (33:10)
Well, again, I'm talking about, you know, I went to EuroLeague 2002, so it's a long time, but obviously I still watch it, you know, watch it every week and, you know, coach in the men's national team, which we play against NBA EuroLeague players. I would say the...

Euroleague is closer to the basketball that you see in the Olympics. It's FIBA rules and this is not me saying it's the all the NBA players. It's a lot more physical. Defensive rule, there's no defensive three second. So in FIBA basketball, Euroleague, when you beat your guy, there's a health waiting. You don't get into three paint without being touched. Whereas obviously because of a lot of the rules in the NBA,

the lane is lot more open. So if you beat your man, there's a good chance you can go and dunk it. So I would say the physicality and then also which really also just it took a little time to get used to not that every game didn't matter in college, but in the NBA, it's 82 games and we all understand it's for the money reasons. It's not

There's no human being who can play 82 games at the... Every possession counts. In Euroleague, every possession counts. Every game counts. the intensity is pretty high up. That's why I love watching NBA playoffs. Because the level of intensity rises so much from a regular season. Unfortunately, regular season is what it is. Some great games, but...

So I would say the intensity and then it's also it's more team oriented. ⁓ It is more team defense, more team offense. And you know, it's the best players in EuroLeague. They don't play 35 minutes. If you play 25 minutes in Europe, it's a 40 minute game. 25 minutes is a ⁓ lot. So it's a bigger rotation, ⁓ bigger rotation.

Cory Heitz (35:19)
And.

Hanno Möttölä (35:25)
Obviously only five fouls to be used just like in college. ⁓ So, you know, it is lot different. Obviously, NBA has incredible talent level, incredible. I mean, yes, most of the best players in the world play in the NBA, no question. But from like a pure basketball standpoint, if you take a regular season Euroleague compared to regular season NBA game.

For my liking, I enjoy Euroleague a ton more because it is, it's a team basketball. It's, it's the intensity is, is, it's pretty incredible at some of those matchups. And obviously the crowds are incredible in some places. It's, it's a, it's a kind of college, best college atmosphere on steroids. You know, you, you can, you go to Belgrade. There's, I don't know.

Cory Heitz (36:13)
Good.

Hanno Möttölä (36:24)
Out of the 20,000 people in the stands, there's 10,000 middle-aged men without shirts singing and yelling 40 minutes. It's pretty... That's what I love. At home, you love it because they're singing your name and all that, but I love to go on the road and try to silence those crowds because at them, it is their life. Through the fan groups, they're organized. They're basically professional fans. Yes, they do have a day job.

Cory Heitz (36:50)
Yeah.

Hanno Möttölä (36:54)
to finance that, they have like, and they have like, this is going a little deeper, but like when I played my last Euroleague season in Greece, I was talking to people at that time, Panathinaikos, which is the biggest club, their fan groups, yearly budget was about 10 million. Olympiakos was like seven. I played for Aris, another legendary, like three, and that means, okay, and they have, so you have like a monthly schedule, hey, this is your men's team plays here.

May you travel, you follow them into France for this yearly game. And then the next Tuesday, it's a soccer game or women's volleyball. And it's what I'm talking about. So it's like a grown up student section. That's probably good. It's a grown up student section. And if you're not doing well, you're going to hear it. I've gotten hit with a coin in my close to my eye and all that and get thrown by a plastic bottle with...

Cory Heitz (37:37)
Yes.

Hanno Möttölä (37:53)
I in Naples in Italy, there was some... Yeah, we walking into a huddle in the timeout and these two old ladies, grandmas in the front row, told me with a plastic bottle because they were not happy with their team, we were beating their team. So, do they go overboard sometimes, the crowd? Yes, but it's amazing. And it becomes a drug for ⁓ you.

Cory Heitz (38:19)
mission.

Hanno Möttölä (38:22)
And that's when I retired, then that was the one thing that hit me like I'm never going to maybe feel that again. ⁓ So, so you get a little bit of glimpse of what does a rock star feel like when you play in some of these European arenas. It's pretty, it's pretty amazing.

Cory Heitz (38:39)
Yeah, I love you said that. I've only experienced that once and is when I was in Istanbul and ⁓ the two teams there, the two clubs that have gone back hundreds of years were playing each other and I got there early and there was things I noticed for there are no women, no children. And it was very aggressive and there was violence in the air and there were fights in the stands and like they had police escorts and it was nuts. And whenever the opposing team at the ball, everyone would whistle. So it was noisy.

Hanno Möttölä (39:00)
I love you. Yeah.

Cory Heitz (39:07)
And ⁓ there were a couple of NBA, former NBA players out there playing. actually talked to one of them later about that. And he's like, yeah, was like nothing I'd ever seen before. So it was not, it was not a family friendly event like the NBA is, right?

Hanno Möttölä (39:21)
Yeah, yeah,

yeah. mean, and then obviously, you know, there's a lot of and there's some who are pretty aggressive crowds. ⁓ But also those cultures are a little different. And so I would say probably that it has become more more of a family event. But still, there's the fan section that that goes at it hard. ⁓ You know, but also like my my year with Bologna, which

Cory Heitz (39:35)
Yes.

Hanno Möttölä (39:49)
you know, we got to the Euroleague final in Tel Aviv, lost to them. We talk about pre-season, two months before the season starts. We drive 10 plus hours to Slovenia, to this high altitude training crowd. And we're out there, nine in the morning, you know, running around in outdoor field, know, conditioning. And all of a sudden, I start hearing drums going and singing. Two buses full of

our fans, families, drove there 10 hours, two months before the season starts, to cheer us when we are just conditioning in high altitude camp. I was like, okay, like, I'm going to play hard for these guys. So like that's like, same kind of in college, like you understand, like, you have to give everything you have for them, because it's the atmosphere you play for school, the fans.

Cory Heitz (40:32)
That's awesome.

Yeah, that's right.

Hanno Möttölä (40:47)
It's a lot of that is in Europe as well. But obviously then the NBA, you go some of these great places, where there are good crowds, it's obviously unbelievable atmosphere as well. But it is ⁓ different. Every game truly matters. So I highly recommend if ⁓ any listeners are thinking about a European vacation during a basketball season, try to see if there's a good basketball game ⁓ or a football game for that matter. ⁓

or soccer game, you know, I would say. mean, it's a, there's some, there's some great fans in Europe for, for team sports for sure.

Cory Heitz (41:27)
Yeah, let's go back to college real quick. When you played on the road, what was the most electric atmosphere for you?

Hanno Möttölä (41:34)
Us and New Mexico was, you know, New Mexico was a top 15, top 20 program. We were the top 10 program. So that was always, you know, we were two, it was always the usual, the last game of the big Monday or Sunday or early game or, you know, or Sunday, you know, national TV games. So those were always really, really good games. They had great teams. ⁓ And then obviously, you know, BYU.

It's a natural rivalry, but we were so much better than them at that time. Actually did end up losing my very last, so I was 11-1 against BYU, which still hurts, but we were pretty dominated against them. So it wasn't really close games then. So that was obviously a really good one. But it was kind of a shame that because of how good team Coach Maggiore had it built.

And then the altitude in Salt Lake City, ⁓ not very many outside the conference high major teams would play us home and away. We had Texas, we had Wake Forest, trying to think who else, like, so that was kind of, the Dukes and North Carolina, they wouldn't play us, although they knew we were top 10 team.

Cory Heitz (42:45)
Right.

Hanno Möttölä (43:01)
because it's a different animal when you travel from sea level to the, and it's only 33,000, 3,300 feet. ⁓ Denver is another couple thousand, then we go to Wyoming, which is the highest elevation gym in the D1. And I remember we got smoked there a couple of times. We're there because you're so tired. ⁓

That was always fun. See, the visiting team started asking for extra air and that way you knew you got them.

Cory Heitz (43:38)
Yeah, thanks for sharing that. was curious. ⁓ So you coached Laurie Markkinen before, you he went to Arizona and then now he's in the NBA doing great things. Once again, I'm trying to find the secret sauce here of what makes an NBA player and what did he possess specifically that helped him get to the level he's at today?

Hanno Möttölä (43:57)
Well, I gotta repeat myself. You gotta have the genes. His father played for Roy Williams at Kansas. It was probably the reason why I didn't go to Kansas and told our national team coach that Roy Williams can't recruit me because Loudie's dad told the stories about three-hour practices without a water break. And then it's funny because then Roy Williams recruited Loudie and then we would laugh about it like, all right, so he...

Cory Heitz (44:01)
Same stuff, right?

Hanno Möttölä (44:24)
You were scared of me, but you went to play for Rick and Jers. So Lowry and then his mom also a former former basketball player. So great genes. Both brothers played high level athletes. So that's one and love of a game. I mean, he loves basketball. He loved to practice on his own when he was a kid.

Cory Heitz (44:35)
boost.

Hanno Möttölä (44:50)
He's young as of the three brothers, so he got a little beat up probably and had to survive that. And that was early in my coaching career. ⁓ just he was one of the first players.

And really, honestly, there's only handful that you knew from the after first week that you never have to tell Laurie to go full. You don't have to think, okay, who am I going to put into that drill with Laurie? So someone, you know, pushes him to further. ⁓ so he, so that was, you never have to, you know, practice. don't have to, you don't have to coach effort with Laurie or, or detention of detail. ⁓ little example, I

He was a skinny kid growing up, like myself. He was always a good shooter, but he shot one motion shot from really low set point, even when he got to us his junior year. ⁓ I told him, it's a big chance for you to move with his mom to Helsinki from three hours away from Uvaskula. ⁓

let's ease into this, you know, probably in a month, let's start working on, know, kind of let's see what happens when you start raising your set point a little bit. And then he comes back to me about three weeks later, like, that new shot that we talked about, you start feeling good. I'm like, what? Yeah. I've been working every night, you know, lifting my, my, my set point.

So you're like, all right, well, so he challenged, he's a type of player that challenges coach. Like he, you can't just half ass anything with him. And he's a team guy, doesn't talk back. So he's has his own opinion obviously, and obviously now he's in totally different level. But if we have a chance to work out in the summers or with national team, he's still like the kid, little kid.

Cory Heitz (46:30)
Yeah.

Hanno Möttölä (46:55)
Watches coaches in the eye and you know does was asked. So again skill and talent to practice skill and talent to want to get better. Those are and then if the foundation is that you have great genes and with loudest case he was probably six nine when he got to us and by the time two years later he graduated he already passed me and now he's

whatever seven, seven, seven probably one, something like that. So, so that helps. And he's, he's athletic. ⁓ So, you know, it's a, everything kind of needs to be in one package. If you want to get to that all star level, you know, I I wasn't as tall as Lowry. I wasn't athletic as him. I can still say I was better inside score. That's probably what I, you know, you know, I'm not comparing myself to Lowry now, but so

That was enough for me to get the NBA 25 years ago. ⁓ So, so that's, it's the same kind of story. Lowry just done everything and had better, you know, foundation than I did. So, ⁓ so he obviously, and you really, really, it's fun to be around players like that because you can actually see him grow and kind of, and almost best type of coaching with him is like,

Cory Heitz (48:07)
Right.

Hanno Möttölä (48:21)
Keep your mouth shut. Look what he does. And then get little pointers there, know, or ask like, how does that feel? But, you know, I think the one of the big talents for coaches is, you know, is to be quiet.

That's a lot of times that's the best type of coaching. You know, it's coaching is not about telling the players what you know. It's your you got to get the players to figure it out themselves.

Because the only thing that matters is what the players know. It doesn't matter what I know, players need to know. They're the ones who are playing it. So, Lauri is always a very curious guy and ⁓ he's just a great guy to be around.

Cory Heitz (49:04)
Yeah, thanks for sharing all the development.

the background with him. ⁓ Now you help a lot of players from Finland navigate the US college system, right? You help bring them over sometimes to high school. Sometimes you place them directly from Finland, but give me your take on how you advise your players to handle all the NIL and transferring that's happening these days.

Hanno Möttölä (49:26)
Well, you know, I again, I worked for the Finnish Basketball Federation for last 12 years. Now I stepped away last fall. So it was part of my my job description is to because of my relationship with my background with with American coaches. So and obviously, as you know, it's against like the year that that loudly.

you know, Lauri went to Arizona, we had Lauri plus four other Division One players in our 14-man roster or 12-man roster in Finland. So when you navigate five players, you know, how many hours of phone calls and emails and all that, it's a lot of work. then, so obviously it's changed a lot from back then. A player which back then I would have probably

think about high major maybe, now it's, okay, let's see a mid-major, a good mid-major, and then you work your way up because as we all know, the transfer rules and NIL has changed a lot. the high major schools are looking for older guys, ready, established players. So now it's ⁓ very different helping the players recruiting than it was.

four or five years ago. I mean, it's almost completely different. And it's still tough for me because again, ⁓ I understand the NIL. I'm all for players making money. ⁓ But I'm right there with 99 % of people that it's gone overboard. There needs to be some kind of structure. And I'm not sure it is good for...

Cory Heitz (50:58)
That's right.

Hanno Möttölä (51:24)
the player development to always be jumping to the next opportunity. ⁓ so I would say right now for international player, it's crucial that you play right away. Whereas back then when it was a four year process, not only international, but you go in first year. If you get on, ⁓ you're good enough, you're not gonna redshirt, you're gonna play a little bit next year.

Cory Heitz (51:39)
Hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (51:53)
Little more like mice. got again, I got, you know, you need to be lucky. There's a big tie on telling you this on this conversation. But I, when I got to Utah, one of the other forwards decided to transfer to a D2 school. So it was basically our front court was Keith Van Horn, Michael Goliak and myself. There was no fourth option. So Majors told me, Hey, you're going to back up both of them. And then if you're good enough, that fourth spot is yours.

for the next three years. And

Cory Heitz (52:25)
.

Hanno Möttölä (52:26)
that's what happened. So I got lucky. played, no, I don't know, 15, 16 minutes my first year. So it's so crucial now for players to play right away at the D1 level because what I would advise to look for a level that you are good enough to play right away as a freshman. Meaning if your level is here and you get offered here,

And here I would advise to probably go to that lower level. The chance that you're going to be happier, and lot of players are happy when they play, and the chance for you to succeed and get better and then showcase yourself for the higher level team is higher. There's a lot of players that you see, you know, go to the high majors, go to too high of a level.

And then if you don't play, or you're dropping down, probably going to lose some NIL money on the way down. it's a tricky slope. it's amazing that I'm saying it, your goal is not to play at the same school for four years. If we talk about a good level Division I basketball player, unless you start at the high, high level, or you're a homegrown guy, let's say...

you know, wherever and, you know, they take care of you with the NIL or, know, you're a low major one guy and you're a local guy, you stay there, you know, but if you're, you know, let's say a foreigner or, or wherever, Texas guy going to, going to somewhere in Illinois or somewhere in Texas, you know, in West coast, your goal is to be at probably at least two schools because that you have, you have a showcase yourself at that starting level.

first two years and then you get a chance

Cory Heitz (54:25)
you

Hanno Möttölä (54:26)
to play at a higher level, possibly earn more NIL money. So it is a professional sports nowadays. And I love that the coaches are saying it out loud when you talk to them. They understand it is professional sports. The money that is thrown out this kid, it's unbelievable compared to the actual outside of US.

Cory Heitz (54:38)
Yeah.

Hanno Möttölä (54:51)
professional basketball. so that's the, I'm, you know, I was more probably bullish, you know, paying five, 10 years ago to try to get the ⁓ almost the highest level possibility that guys go to. Cause I was so sure that our guys are good enough. Some guys did some guys, it was a wrong decision, but I learned, I think the players are, and now I would say, let's go to that where you're to have most chance to be happy.

That's you gotta be if you're not again, college season is very short. We talk about first week when the game starts, it's the first week of November. And then four months later, you know, it's December, January, February. It's the first week of March. So it's it's four and half months. And the season is over unless you go. So it's extremely short season. And now if you if you had, know,

If you spend the whole year, because then you have eight months or seven months off season, you need to be in the right place and somewhere where you are needed. Go somewhere where you are most needed and where you feel that you have a chance to get some playing time.

Cory Heitz (56:10)
Yeah, unless there's an option that pays double. And then you get away the option of, I go to a place I'm not as excited about and make double the money? Because look, in the real world, Hanno, people do jobs for money all the time they don't like, right? So it's just another discussion to have, which makes it even more complicated. something you mentioned there too is once you finish in college and potentially go overseas, you're going to make a lot less money.

Hanno Möttölä (56:27)
Thank

Cory Heitz (56:34)
and explain that conversation you had with me a couple of weeks ago and the mindset that people weren't really thinking about these days.

Hanno Möttölä (56:40)
Well, I mean, it's again, I mean, in my my tiny bit jealous that NIL is now not 30 years ago. Absolutely. I mean, we would have been banking, you know, with the the the big time boosters we had, you Utah, you know, basketball was backed up then, you know, but but by but the fact of reality is

Cory Heitz (56:51)
You would have, yeah?

Hanno Möttölä (57:04)
that this NIL money is not, it's its own market. It'll be like a stock market that only some people in a certain country can invest in and the returns are like outrageous. Like it's this green world. ⁓ know, ⁓ we have players who make a lot more money than, you know, NBA players. have college quarterbacks making five times more than starting, some starting, you know,

rookie in the NFL. I think, but from a pure basketball standpoint, ⁓ it's a very interesting, I think, dilemma and problem the professional basketball is going to face in the next couple of years. And it's probably already started. But now you have American players who, let's say they're good players, let's say close to high major players. ⁓

You make couple hundred grand a year. So you made a million in four years. Probably being at a couple of different schools or charter planes, all food is catered. now you go to a level of basketball in Europe or elsewhere, you know, the high level is extremely good. It is higher than division one ⁓ college basketball and they're very different.

You go somewhere where you go and you make five grand a month. You know, and all of sudden you're sitting in a bus and you realize, this is a grind. You know, I'm not maybe not good enough to play at this level. And, and, and how many players are ready to, you know, go through that wall and grind it when you just make a couple hundred grand or let's say even more.

Cory Heitz (58:48)
you

Hanno Möttölä (59:02)
you know, a million or 500k, what I have you and let's say you go from making 500 grand to 100,000 and to be able to make 100,000 in Europe, you need to be hell of a player. Let's say you go from 400 grand to 50,000.

Cory Heitz (59:09)
you

Hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (59:24)
And then you, you're not a star anymore. You know, your teammates are older. It's a different game. And what I'm a little bit afraid of for the game of basketball is, that, that I think some, some young pros are going to, you know, maybe just say, it's not worth it. Why don't I go back to States and start coaching or go into a different field, which is a shame because it's a, you know, so, so that's a, I think it would be great for, for the

parents and the players to understand that this is a the NIL is unbelievable. But it is not. It doesn't reflect your value. In the outside of US pro market. Your value, if you're lucky, it's half. It might be 10 % or might be 25 % of it. But then if you make it in Europe, obviously, you know, money at the top of your league, it's it's

Cory Heitz (1:00:01)
Okay.

Hanno Möttölä (1:00:23)
It's unbelievable or in Asia, but it is an it's an interesting kind of dilemma and talk to some coaches. can already see it. And then on the flip side, now that the colleges are allowed to pay or the collectives now are allowed to openly pay for players. A lot of the high level European prospects are now looking to come to States. Whereas in the past.

from the big, big basketball countries, France, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Italy, they would stay and develop there and the best players and make the pro team. as the Euro League and the domestic leagues have gotten better, it's lot tougher for a young player to play in Serie A or in Bundesliga in Germany. And the average age in Euro League is...

I mean, it's definitely higher than NBA. know, ⁓ I know we checked a couple of years ago for the positions three and four. If you were not American and not a local, let's say like a Spanish guy playing Spanish, your league team, the average age was over 29 years old. So if you're a European and you're not a local and you, you, average age for positions three and four, it was almost 30 years old.

Cory Heitz (1:01:41)
Okay.

Hanno Möttölä (1:01:53)
So there is no 23-year-old American who

walks into Euroleague unless you are really, really, really good. So it also creates an interesting scenario where these Europeans who have developed in this system, now when they're 18, 19, they can make 10 times the money in college. And now their development...

Cory Heitz (1:01:57)
you

Hanno Möttölä (1:02:23)
you know, depends on that four and a half month season, whereas probably nine months in off season, still college teams are allowed to, you know, four hours a week. I understand there's ways around it, but it's you know, whereas in Europe, it's a more of an 11, 12 months out of a season development program. So what does the European, high level European players picture look like?

five or 10 years if this continues. Let's say if Jokic would have come over at the age of 18 and not stayed in Serbia for a few more years, would the college coach allow him to be who he is? And then on the flip side, there's some guys who are going to benefit greatly from going to the States. there's some huge things happening in the game of basketball worldwide.

because of this NIL situation. It's a whole new market and these professional teams know they are in a little bit of trouble because they're going to lose their young talents to US. So because of that, I know they have started putting in their contracts when they get them as 16 year olds or whatever. Now there's a development NIL buyout fee.

Cory Heitz (1:03:40)
And.

Hanno Möttölä (1:03:51)
So this is also a way for European academies, European pro teams to start getting money back, which is great again, because for academy in a smaller basketball country like Finland, if you can get a five or 10 grand for a player, I'm not even talking about 500,000, which I know some of these guys are,

know, the clubs are paid. You know, it's so, so obviously it's a positive thing overall, but it is also, it's gonna, it's gonna create a different kind of a...

development path now for a lot of the high, high level European prospects and what's the end game? Everybody's not going to make the NBA. So ⁓ it's going to be interesting to follow it. you know, how many schools, because, you know, huge part of the European game is also the national team.

And when the players are in college, it's usually maybe the U-20 national team. ⁓ During high school is the U-18. So it's a year, every summer thing. So one of the things when the players are recruited from here, the guys who I've helped, especially when I still work for the Federation and the Academy, was that we want our players to be available to play for the national team during summer. Because we feel...

That six month program, I mean six week program where we can offer them four hours of practice every day. Okay, we're not practicing that bomb. know, colleges are stuck with the four hours a week. Our national team programs, they can practice, you know, how much they want. Guys are probably going to be able to play 12, 13 games, you know, including that European championships. you know, so that's always fights, you know, coaches are college coaches are great with that.

when you're up front with it. It's important for us, it's important for the player. And then, yes, are they going to miss some of the summer school and some of the workouts in summer? Yes. But can the American player or the other players in the program, can they play 11, 12 high level games in the middle of the off season when again, college season is extremely short? It's for, I mean, absolutely most is five months.

Cory Heitz (1:05:49)
Yes.

Hanno Möttölä (1:06:14)
So that's always been big for us. So now when more more Europeans are going there, okay, are the agents upfront with the national team? And then obviously if you're a high level player, you might be able to play for the senior national team during college. ⁓ We had Mikhail Yantunen, now, unbelievable Euroleague player for Paris. He played for University of Utah for two years.

Cory Heitz (1:06:32)
Thank you.

Hanno Möttölä (1:06:43)
And Larry Krzysztofiak was the head coach

then. He took the three days out of his August recruiting time to come to Finland. ⁓ with him and the other high, high level players we have who are already senior national team players when they went to college, we asked him, if we are in an absolute must-win situation in the qualifiers, can we make the phone call?

Can Mika come during the college season to help us? Because he was a starting, when Lauri wasn't playing during the season, he's a starting four man then. And he's, you know, he's our starter with Lauri now. And Larry Kostoviax said, absolutely.

Cory Heitz (1:07:29)
Good.

Hanno Möttölä (1:07:31)
Go forward two years, it's COVID. We needed the last qualifying window.

We needed one win to qualify for the European Championships. And we made the phone call, coach Kristovia, who's a man of his word, unbelievable guy. Yes, he knew it was going to hurt him. Mika missed a couple of games. Mika flew in, boom.

Cory Heitz (1:07:56)
Yes.

Hanno Möttölä (1:08:01)
played the first game, we won it. He didn't stay for the second game, flew back because of COVID rules, all that. had to be in quarantine for a couple of games. But like it's, and I always tell the story, when I was a freshman in 1996, Rick Majors told me, I know national team is extremely important for you. You should go back in the middle of season in November, fly Finland.

Play two games, I think we played Italy and Macedonia. And they come back and let's see how it feels. Okay, back then we didn't have money to fly business class. Traveling was lot longer anyway. I went, okay, it was right after the grueling five weeks of preseason. And I went there and played. I understood at least after Rick Mendes's preseason, I can't play national team games, I'm exhausted.

So I tell stories to these college coaches when they're like, yeah, well, you know, I don't think that, you know, he could be played at, be missing six weeks of summer school. All right. Well, Rick Majors told me to go play in the middle of the season. But obviously it's it's it's a extreme case. We would have never asked Mika to come back to play if it wasn't basically one and done situation, because then we made the European championships go forward year and a half. You know, we.

Cory Heitz (1:09:12)
Yes.

Hanno Möttölä (1:09:27)
You know, we had it's unbelievable. We made it to the quarterfinals, you know, lost to Spain in the last couple of minutes. so it's a, it's a, for international player, college is not everything. It's a year round thing. And I always tell these college coaches when you are recruiting an international player, if he or she is part of the national team program, it should be the player in the middle. It's college. And then.

if he has a strong national team program like we do, both sides are pulling together. So when the coach players is at the school, we do everything possible to help you guys. And then the player needs to wanted that the college coach also wants him to go and get the experience and seize the value of it. Because again, the six weeks of playing high level.

Different type of basketball only helps the player. So they're going to return as a better player. I never spent the summer in Utah. I came home every summer, played for the national team, and then came back. Boom. It didn't hurt my academics. I was two-time academic All-American. I got better every day. And I don't think I could have survived it if I'd stayed in Utah in summer.

Cory Heitz (1:10:44)
Mm hmm.

Hanno Möttölä (1:10:53)
But obviously it's a case by case, but for us, the national, we are pretty small basketball country by the number of players. So it is crucial that all the best players are representing our, it's university games, like next summer is the world university games. They're in Germany. Baylor is representing us when I played back in 95, us sent the absolute best college players. It was in Japan. was the starting, starting five was.

Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Kerry Kittles, Tim Duncan, I think one of the O'Bannon brothers. Marcus Canvey was a backup. I played two university games. They're unbelievable experience. So like, you know, our college players, we hope they all come back and play for us because it's also part of our kind of senior national team program. It's a high level, two week event, 5,000 athletes. know, so those are important. And I think...

The international, I mean, the college coaches, modern college coaches, they understand it and want to be part of that player's total development and sees that it's also good. The players need to go home in summer. And if you can combine being home and getting high level coaching, high level training, good games, and then come back and you don't miss the whole summer, you miss six weeks there in the middle.

Cory Heitz (1:11:56)
you

Hanno Möttölä (1:12:22)
So that's a huge part of the recruiting for us.

Cory Heitz (1:12:26)
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing all that. Last question for you. There's a word in the Finnish language called Sisu. S-I-S-U. For those that don't know what that is, explain that and explain how you learned that growing up in Finland.

Hanno Möttölä (1:12:41)
⁓ Probably best translation is grit, determination, and part of that is also collectiveness. We are extremely collective country. ⁓ People do what it's kind of asked. That's probably how we got through the COVID thing so well because there's always dumb people everywhere who want to break the ⁓ rules.

Um, so see, so is, is, is definitely, um, a toughness, a great thing, uh, um, that, you know, when things kind of get tough, you know, Finnish people find a way to survive and survive together in a lot of cases. Um, I think kind of, mean, I don't know if it, when it started, but, but obviously, you know, uh, you know, our, our, our history in second world war, you know, uh, being able to withstand.

Russia's Soviets attack when they had 10 times the soldiers that we did. You know, that's, that's kind of probably one of the, you know, one of the starting points of that. So it's a, it's a thing, you know, it's a, you know, it's attitude that you have, that you do the things that you're asked to do. You're very trustworthy and, and, and you have a determination and a grit to, uh,

to survive whatever the obstacle is. That's probably a good thing to say.

Cory Heitz (1:14:17)
Yes, love it. We're going to finish up here with some quick hitters, all right?

who's the best player you ever played against.

Hanno Möttölä (1:14:25)
Michael Jordan.

Cory Heitz (1:14:27)
Okay, who's the best player you've ever coached against?

Hanno Möttölä (1:14:32)
⁓

Wow, probably Nikola Jokic. He's pretty good.

Cory Heitz (1:14:41)
Okay, yeah, not bad. What's your favorite movie?

Hanno Möttölä (1:14:45)
I am a movie guy. ⁓ lot of great...

I'm a Star Wars guy for sure. We used to watch a lot of Star Wars pregame movies with Michael Doliak. So that's kind of degenerate, like, know, Pulp Fiction, hell of a movie. I haven't watched it in a long time, but we were just talking about Tarantino movies with wife the other day. So yeah, let's go with Pulp Fiction.

Cory Heitz (1:15:22)
I saw Pulp Fiction at theater eight times because I just couldn't believe it and I had to keep showing people like you've got to see this I don't even know how to describe it.

Hanno Möttölä (1:15:29)
And I

still like when you watch it again, you see a new side of it. It's a hell of a flick.

Cory Heitz (1:15:39)
Yeah. And then when you're not doing basketball, what are your hobbies?

Hanno Möttölä (1:15:44)
⁓ I love to cook. That's something you play for Rick Magyar. He never ate with us. He knew we were extremely uncomfortable around him. But he always on the road told us to go to the best restaurants. So that was our salary. School had, we're allowed to pay for it. So we would go to five star restaurants with our windbreakers on and there's people, you know, with their suits and all that. ⁓ And then the NBA, that was also a great part of it. You know, play with Tony Kukic and he was also a culinary person.

Cory Heitz (1:15:46)
Okay.

Hanno Möttölä (1:16:13)
He taught me a lot of good restaurants. So I love to cook. And he's also kind of my little inner competition. I want to get better. If I see something I want to cook, you know, then, you know, when then when I put the dish on the table with family, I'm proud if it's good, I'm going to say it out loud. But if I take the first bite, it's not what I expected. I'm like, you know, so I kind of harsher myself. ⁓ So that's probably it.

Obviously, you know, spending time with family, ⁓ you know, and family and friends was able to go ski first time last weekend with my buddies first time probably, probably since I retired so almost 15 years ago. So yeah, try to be active, try to stay up, you know, try to go to gym two, three times to lift some weights and ⁓ don't play basketball. My mind, okay, my knees and my leg wouldn't allow me to really, but like

I can't do basketball half-assed. I play some soccer with friends. We played in this summer league for 20-plus years. So yeah, hang out with the family and try to cook some good food. The grilling season is starting here, ⁓ so that's something I'm looking forward to.

Cory Heitz (1:17:14)
Right.

Love it. Is there anything we didn't discuss that you want to mention before we go?

Hanno Möttölä (1:17:45)
Well, no, I mean, you know, it was a great catch up. know, it's, you know, you've been, you know, big help for for someone, you know, getting knowledge on some of the recruiting stuff for myself. yeah, highly recommend, you know, any of the listeners again. You don't get the Euroleague's basketball experience in Finland, but if you want to you want to, you know, visit Finland, you know, summertime is a great time to do it.

You know, it's been a pleasure and an honor to be your guest. And I think we covered a lot of things.

Cory Heitz (1:18:22)
Yeah, we sure did. Yeah, I've only been, I've been depending four times now, every time has been in December. So I'd like to have come in the summer at some point, but.

Hanno Möttölä (1:18:30)
Yeah,

yes, days are getting pretty long now. It's going to be it's going to be a light all the way probably up to like 9 15 9 30 now and in a little bit it's it's a 24 hours of light and it's a special time here. But then, you know, flip side, like you were in December, it's dark, but I love it. Some people get depressed, but I love it when it's when short days just, you know, put on, you know, light up a candle and, you know, enjoy kind of the, you know, maybe a put, you know.

Cory Heitz (1:18:48)
Yeah.

Hanno Möttölä (1:18:59)
Firewood working and all that. you know, I'm a I love a year round here. Not that I'm not against traveling to a nice summer destinations in when it's our winter. But but yeah, it's a harsh nature. It's a beautiful nature summertime. You know, there's not a place in the world I would rather be at. ⁓ It's warm enough, but you know, but it doesn't get blazing hot here. ⁓ And it's a cool place to be.

Cory Heitz (1:19:29)
Well, you're gracious to host me and my dad eight years ago when we came there and you got to connect me with my high school teammate, Yari Vecula, who I hadn't seen since 1994. And we got see you coach and you actually brought Timu Lang, who was the sauna who we were so afraid to get in as kids. So you're a gracious host. And next time you come to Denver, look forward to getting you in our sauna and, you know, sharing that experience.

Hanno Möttölä (1:19:50)
Absolutely. I test run it.

Cory Heitz (1:19:52)
All right, guys, thanks for tuning in. Former NBA player, former Utah youth, former national team and Euroleague player, Hanno Medulla joining us here in the podcast. We go way back. It's good to have him on and share his thoughts. If you liked all this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on all the major podcasting platforms and go to YouTube and subscribe there where we also have bonus content and any questions come up, feel free to reach out to me. I get back to everybody. You can find us at prepathletics.com. Hanno, good to see you again, brother.

Hanno Möttölä (1:20:20)
Thank

you.

Cory Heitz (1:20:23)
All right. Thanks guys. See you next time. Take care.