SAN ANTONIO — New Incarnate Word men's basketball coach Shane Heirman knows that his program is a project.
“I need nastiness out there, I need competitors, I need grit,” said Heirman today at his introductory press conference. “Because if you’re going to get through this, it takes a great deal of toughness.”
As the Cardinals search for their first ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth, they turn to 34-year-old Heirman.
He replaces Carson Cunningham, who never had a winning season in five years. The Cardinals went 12-19 in 2022-23, and must replace leading scorer Johnathan Cisse who left via transfer.
“We can create a gameplan, we can X and O this thing to death, but there’s no substitute for will,” Heirman said.
Heirman most recently served as an assistant coach at Central Michigan, and before that an assistant at DePaul in Chicago. He has never been a head coach at the college level.
“Culture is cultivated by the head coach,” said Heirman. “Through his staff and trickles down to the players.”
Speaking of staff, Heirman is connecting his to the San Antonio community with the hiring of former Spurs guard Jaren Jackson Sr. as his assistant.
Jackson, who played for the Spurs from 1997-2001, was present at Tuesday’s press conference and drew a connection with how the Spurs run their organization with how Heirman wants to run his program.
“I consider the Spurs more like a program than like a team,” said Jackson, who was a part of the Spurs’ first championship roster in 1999.
“Coach Shane mentioned that in his speech about establishing a culture. And I think every program wants to do that but it can be a little challenging at times. But to do that you have to have a good relationship with your players.”
“Coach Pop (Gregg Popovich) has always had that with his players up and down, from the superstars on the team down to the 12th man on the team. You have to have the utmost respect for everybody on the roster, and that’s what Coach Shane has done in the past and he’s going to do that here.”
Jackson’s connection with Heirman goes back to when Heirman was the head coach at high school powerhouse La Lumiere prep school in northwest Indiana in 2017. Heirman coached Jackson’s son, Jaren Jackson Jr., who now stars for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jaren Jackson Jr. was one of 25 of Heirman’s players who went on to play at the Division I level.
A native of the Chicagoland area, Heirman played collegiately at Tulsa from 2008-2011.