Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Former NBA player and newest member of the Iowa United Diante Garrett joins the show for TBT Tuesday!

Episode Date: April 28, 2020

It's TBT Tuesday! On today's show we are joined by former Iowa State Cyclone Diante Garrett as he talks about his time in the NBA, his favorite experiences overseas, and why he is excited about playing in the $2 M winner-take-all tournament this summer with the Iowa United. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes. Welcome back for a special TBT Tuesday edition of the Locked On Iowa podcast. And on today's show, we have a very special guest, former Iowa State Cyclone,

former Utah Jazz and Phoenix Sun basketball player, and soon-to-be Iowa United guard. We got Deontay Garrett on the phone today to talk to us about his playing career, talk to us about his time at Iowa State, what that rivalry between Iowa State and Iowa meant to him and kind of what his first introduction to that was and why he's looking forward to playing in the TBT this year with the Iowa United squad. So really looking forward to that interview. I think you're really going to enjoy it. As a quick reminder, every single Tuesday,

we'll be dropping an interview from the Iowa United roster. This week, we have Deontay Garrett. Next week, we have Nicholas Bayer. So super exciting stuff coming up on the show every single Tuesday for our special TBT Tuesdays. If you are tuning in for the very first time today and you want to make sure you don't miss out on future episodes of the show, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

And if you are a fan of the Iowa United Squad and you are not following them on Twitter, make sure you do so as well. Follow them at IowaTBT. They're doing great giveaways, some really cool promotional stuff every single week. For the next 10 weeks, they are doing basically a get-to-know-you type of thing for every single player. This week is Deontay Garrett. So there's some trivia. There's some giveaways. There's training tips.

And then there is this podcast interview. So lots of great stuff. So make sure to follow them at Iowa TBT. And that being said, let's not waste any time. Let's hop right into an episode of the Locked On Iowa podcast, giving you an interview with Deontay Garrett. So I'm joined here by former Iowa State Cyclone and one of the newest additions to the Iowa United, the team comprised of Iowa, Iowa State, and Drake players competing in the $2 million winner-take-all tournament, the basketball tournament. Deontay, nice to have you on the phone, man. How are you doing, buddy?

Deontay, nice to have you on the phone, man. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing pretty good, man. Self-quarantining, getting myself, staying social distancing with the family and trying to stay clean out here. Absolutely. And it sounds like prior to when we were talking, before we clicked record, you're in Milwaukee right now with your family, right? Yeah, out here with the whole fam. Awesome, man. And how are you working out right now? How are you staying in shape? How are you still getting some of your basketball in while under this quarantine? Well, it's been tough here in Milwaukee to actually get a court, you know,

a gym to get in and get shots up. So my workout has been just, you know, around the house really, dribbling. I got a basement. I do some dribbling drills down there. I did that at the beginning, and I only got bored with that. So I started doing some conditioning, running around the block a few times, trying to get a couple miles in uh getting my trying to get my wind up you know and uh that kind of got boring so i end up trying to go to

playing at the park you know trying to uh by myself you know trying to get out there give a couple shots in it but it was the weather here is not not is not good at all so it's been it's freezing cold it's even snowed uh last week a few days and uh so it's been real tough to um get a good decent consistent workout in that like i would like but i'm trying to you know stay in shape of what i can what i got absolutely yeah kind of making do with what you have available to you. I'm from the Midwest originally. I lived in Madison for four years, so I get the poor weather. The Wisconsin area is just so beautiful from June through August, and everything else is just a crapshoot, man. You just don't know what you're going to get.

Exactly. Exactly, man. It'd be like the summers would be like, wow, man, I love living here. And then the winter comes and you'd be like, I can't wait to get out of here. It's just a nice little Jekyll and Hyde. Yeah, exactly. That's funny, man. So, sounds like you're recovering from an Achilles injury.

Haven't played a lot of organized basketball in the last year, year and a half. How is that recovery going? And what percentage do you feel like you're at right now? It's been going pretty good. It's been a long process. When it first happened, it was the last two games of the season, and I stayed with the team with them, and then in the playoffs too. So my first rehab started out there with the team with them and then in the playoffs too. So my first rehab started out there with the team,

and they did a great job of starting it off right. I had a great surgery, successful surgery, and they kicked it off good. And when I got back here, I just kind of stayed on the same regiment, you know, what they had me doing, like, you know, my workouts and trying to get that strength back and um i wasn't i couldn't do any basketball things like you know play one-on-one or two-on-two or do anything competitive for a very long time and that's that was very tough for me and i was thinking about that every day like man i wish i could go out there and play i

feel good but i know as soon as i go out there and play I feel good but I know as soon as I go out there and do like a hard cut I know it will hurt hurt me and stuff like that cuz it wasn't fully healed so over time you know I would say about a good two months ago I was able to play some competitive I got clear from my doctor my physical, to get cleared to play some basketball. And so I've been about some competitive basketball around here before the whole U.S. being shut down and all of that. I got a good chance to play like two weeks of playing with the fellas around here,

playing with the guys and getting up and down. And I was feeling pretty good. You know, I could still feel, you know, the injury and certain movements I tried to do. It would, you know, cut me off. Like, hold on, you can't do that, Chet. I had to rethink that a lot of times. And then the quarantine stuff started happening,

and that kind of like my the when i was just getting the groove was trying to play you know for five on five and stuff everything got shut down so i mean i so now i would say at that time i was about 80 85 percent being able to get you know get my wind up being able to go up and down, play some defense and stuff like that, just get used to things. So I would say I was about at 80%, 85%. Now I feel like I've got more, you know, I've got more, like I would say, rest. I don't put so much stress on it now since this quarantine stuff has been going on. So I think I've been, you know, I'm probably more now like 90% I would say

I would have to get out there and play some ball to to know absolutely yeah so I can only imagine uh this the end of the quarantine cannot come soon enough for you to probably get back on the court I feel like having the ability to play for two weeks and then having to go into shutdown probably made it even more tough because you're like, oh my gosh, I'm so close. Yeah, exactly. That's the one thing I was dreading. I'm like, okay, yeah, doctor just cleared me to play some ball. Oh, yeah, I was getting back in there, working out every day, going to go with the fellas and things like that.

And then the state just shut down on me. The gyms, they say the gyms are closed. Can't go in this gym. I had about two or three gyms I was able to like, you know, okay, I can't go to this one. Okay, I can go to this one. Everything was shut down on me. Yeah, it definitely makes it tough.

So I can only imagine then playing for the Iowa United this summer couldn't really have come at a better time. You have the opportunity now to play some organized basketball with a few guys you already know and a few guys you're probably excited to meet. So I guess to kind of lead into that question, how excited are you about playing in the TBT this summer? Oh, I'm very excited, man. I played two years ago, I think two years ago or three years ago, with Iowa United, and it was fun playing with those guys. Even though we were shorthanded in the second round going against Kansas State

when they had everybody. Yeah. And, like, you could tell the difference of, you know, you got to get, you know, you got to get used to playing with guys that you never played with. And it was a whole bunch of, like, you know, we were mixed in. But now, this year, I feel like, you know, I got Josh Young. I played against him a couple years, you know, when I was in college at Iowa State.

Played against Tyrus McGee. You know, he came on his visits. I played with him when he was there. I didn't play with him at Iowa State, but he was there on his visits. I played against him when he was there. I didn't play with him at Iowa State, but he was there on his visits. I played against him, played against him overseas, played with him in the summer league. And a lot of the other guys, you know, I've seen them on TV and I watched them, like, you know, highlights on, you know, Instagram and things like that. So I'm looking forward to playing with these guys for sure. Absolutely, man. It's definitely a different experience, right?

Because with the Hilton Magic Legends, you were with all Iowa State guys. Now you're going with guys that used to be your biggest foes. I remember I was actually in school during the time where you were at Iowa State and Josh Young was at Drake, and those were some good matchups. Drake was kind of on the incline. Iowa State was struggling a little bit towards the beginning of that. So those were really, really fun games to watch. Outside of Josh and Tyrus, who are you most excited about playing with on this Iowa United team?

That's a tough question, man. There's a lot of them that, for real, it's a lot of them that I've been, you know, after watching, like, the – I watched the highlights that everybody, you know, posted, you know, of the whole team that's going to be on the team and things like that. And I was sitting there like, oh, man, I get to play with him? Oh, wow. He's on the team too? Oh, yeah.

Like, I was getting excited just, you know, just clicking through, like, oh, okay. Let me go to, you know, just clicking through, like, oh, okay, let me go to, you know, YouTube. And I watched a few of the guys play, and I'm like, oh, yeah, this is going to be a lit team right here. I'm ready to get it in with them for sure, for sure. And I would say I can't go wrong with Peter John, you know? Yeah. One of the guys that, a young guy that I seen growing John, you know? He's one of the guys that a young guy that I've seen growing up, you know? I've seen him when he was young. I've seen

the potential. Then I've seen, I was like, he's going to be good. He's going to be alright. At the time, I was at Iowa State and I was saying to myself, I hope he comes to Iowa State, you know? And things like that. I've seen him throughout the years getting better and better. And I was like, oh yeah, he's going to State, you know? And things like that. And then, like, I've seen him throughout the years get better and better.

And I was like, oh, yeah, he's going to be, you know, at the top level real soon. Yeah, he's an amazing player. I'm really excited to watch him play as well on the TBT team, you know, Iowa United. Last year, I think coming into this and, you know, talking to Matt, you know, some of these guys I hadn't heard of before. Matt Tybee, I think, is a great example. Didn't really know who Matt Tybee was and then got a chance to interview him and talk to him and came away really impressed.

So I'm really excited to see, obviously, you play with this team and some of the new additions and see kind of how that all gels. With your experience in the TBT, though, what did you learn from that experience previously playing with, you know, your Iowa State alum team? And what did you enjoy about it? Oh, man, I feel like it's a great opportunity for guys to go out there and compete and play for the team that, you know, like play with almost like an all-star team that you know of your – like back in the day, like your school.

Like guys that you grew up, like they went to the Iowa State that you've seen, like, oh, wow, he is a Hall of Famer. Oh, okay, I get to play with him? Or I get to play with anybody else? Like, you know, that was – like you grew up watching, like that was around. Like being on their – and they being on your team, and then you go out there and you fight for your school, really, and your district.

And, you know, and ain't no other way, like, you know, ain't no other better feeling than trying to compete for some money. Two mil? For sure, for sure. Like, you know, that's's one that's a great feeling right there to go out there and do that and um and able to you know showcase you know your ability what you can do out there get some good competition on tv in the summer you know whereas you know guys don't even really get a chance to be on tv or get a chance to even do anything like, you know, competitive like this, like,

you know, at a high level, you know, so I feel like this is a great opportunity for guys and for sure for me. Definitely, especially coming back from an injury. Do you feel like this is a nice, like, a nice rebound step to say, hey, I'm back, I'm healthy for the next step in your career? Yes, for sure, for sure. healthy for the next step in your career? Yes, for sure, for sure.

That's what I was going to – I already had it in my mind. I was kind of thinking this before the TBT. Not before the TBT, but before they even called me to ask me to play for the team. I was thinking to myself, okay, TBT is in the summer. I should be more healthier. I should be probably at 100%. I'm for sure playing TBT is in the summer. I should be more healthier. I should be probably at 100%. I'm for sure playing TBT. So I knew I was going to use that for an opportunity to showcase, oh, I'm back out here.

I'm back healthy. I'm back playing. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to get back to work now. And, you know, use that for sure, for sure as a platform definitely it sounds like the uh the stars kind of aligned then when tyrus i'm assuming reach out to you or matt reach out to you that was um pretty much a perfect match then for sure for sure uh i mean i've been talking to tyrus all year uh we play you know call of duty sometimes together on there and uh ps4 so i always talk to him and uh follow him on instagram we

always chat you know about this whole year and he mentioned it a few times like are you gonna play pbt and at that time i was kind of like you know hurt and i'm like i don't know yet i don't know i might take the whole summer off just to get more healthier and feel more you know but over time i got more healthier and i was feeling pretty good and the process started getting better and I'm like, oh yeah, I'm playing TDT. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The bat reached out to me and we got the live

communication going with him and it all lined up great. Absolutely, man. Well, I think I speak for everyone who's a fan of the Iowa United and the state of Iowa in general, but we're really excited to see you play with this team. Last year I went down to Wichita and actually watched them play against Wichita State alumni team, and the environment was incredible.

I think just such an amazing experience, so really excited for this year as well. I want to take a step back, though, and talk a bit about prior to college. You decided to go to Iowa State coming from the Milwaukee area. Why did you choose Iowa State? What made you decide to go to play for the Cyclones? Well, here in Milwaukee, Coach TJ Eisenberger was always coming to my games. And then Coach Mack started coming to my games a couple times. This was my senior year.

And before my senior year, I would see Coach TJ at my AAU games. And I would see Coach Mack, you know, I would see them. And then my senior year, Coach TJ would come in, like, to almost all my games, and he was recruiting me hard. And at the time, I didn't even think I was going to go to Iowa State. I want some other visits. I want to take some other visits somewhere else.

And I'm like, okay. So I went to the Iowa State skills camp that summer. And I was like oh okay and then i met i went uh mike taylor wes johnson uh rashawn clark all those guys were there craig brackens was there with me at the camp and i'm like oh okay they were like you know we everybody was gelling everybody was cool i'm like okay then oh, okay, then. After that, end of my senior year, Coach CJ came to, when we went upstate to play for the championship, and he was there rooting me on. Like, you know, he was trying to, you know, hold his composure and everything.

And I'm like, he was recruiting me really hard, you know. I'm like, Iowa State, that's Big 12. You know, I figured, okay, cool. So I went on my visit, and it was like A1. You know, it was great. I had a great time. Went to the football game. A1.

I played with the fellas. I was playing with Mike Taylor, Wes Johnson. Everybody was out there, and I was like, oh, this is a great atmosphere right here. I was playing with Mike Taylor, Wes Johnson. Everybody was out there. And I was like, oh, this is a great atmosphere right here. I love it. My first visit, and I was like, oh, yeah, I'm going there. And I was like, I feel like, you know, coming in, and they was, you know, coming in as a freshman,

I'll be playing Big 12, you know, playing, you know, high competitive basketball as a freshman coming in. So I was like, there's a freshman coming in. So I was like, there's a no-brainer. I'm going to Iowa State. I didn't even think about going. No other visits. That's awesome.

It looks like you had some offers as well from Clemson and whatnot. I think if you had to pick a geographical region that I would prefer to go to, it would probably be the Carolinas. But obviously being from the state of Iowa, happy that you went to Iowa State, even though I am an Iowa Hawkeye fan over being an Iowa State Cyclone fan but nevertheless you had a great career I mean you started 99 games you averaged 30.9 minutes per game over four seasons which is incredible what was one of your favorite memories from being at Iowa State oh man that is uh That's a very broad question.

Yeah, that's a tough question. There's so many, like, you know, like playing like, oh, man, I can go back so far. Like when we played against Iowa at my freshman year where that atmosphere was unbelievable and where the Hilton Magic was like, that was my first time. Like, it was Hilton Magic going on at the beginning of the season, like at the beginning of, like, exhibition games.

But when we played against Iowa, that was, like, I said, oh, my God. Like, it felt like everybody in the world was inside the arena. Yep. Just yelling. It was crazy. It's so many others. When we beat, like, Kansas State, when they were ranked fourth in the nation, went down to the wire against Texas when DJ Augustine then was there.

when DJ Augustine then was there. Me playing when I had almost 30 on Kansas my senior year. I don't know. There's so many. I'm trying to think. No, that's fair. There's so many memories. It's such a broad question, but obviously I have to ask it.

But, I mean, over the course of your four years, I mean, you put together such an impressive resume. You are eighth. Did you know that you're eighth in the Big 12 in career assists? You are seventh in the Big 12 in career assists per game. You're fourth in the Big 12 in minutes played per game in your career. So, I mean, that's just what an impressive resume to come out of Iowa State with. The last question before we jump into some of your professional stops. How much did you hate or dislike Iowa, Drake, and or UNI at the time?

Man, it was, I didn't even, my first coming in, I didn't know anything about, like, you know, who was the rival. Like, I mean, they said it, but the day, like the two days before we played against Drake or UNI or against Iowa, it was so much, like, I don't know, the vibe and the whole atmosphere on campus just changed. I don't know. It just, I just, you could feel that urge of like, ugh, I can't wait to play these guys. We want to beat, you know, we trying to beat them, like beat them good. Like, you know, like, I don't them, like, beat them good. Like, you know. Yeah. Like, I don't know.

Everybody just felt that type of vibe. And then you knew the games were going to be crazy. You knew the games were going to be going, like, away game or home game. The game is going to be sold out, packed, and the crowd is going to be on top of you. And it was like, it was just like, it was like, you love it, like, oh, I can't wait to play it, but then it's like, I hate these guys. It was a love-hate type of relationship.

So it was fun, though, for sure. Definitely, man. I feel like unless you're from the state of Iowa originally, you probably don't realize how big that rivalry is, but it's very quick for you to learn. You learn very quickly how important that rivalry is once you're inside of it and a part of it. And you had a pretty good career against Iowa, went 3-1, went 2-2 versus Drake.

Again, that was during the Josh Young years, which was probably Drake's best five-year span in the last 25, 30 years. So you definitely had a good run against Iowa as well, and obviously the 2-2 against Drake. Post-Iowa State, you've had a couple different stops. I want to get to a few of those. Obviously, I don't want to ask you too broad of questions. I think that just makes it difficult, right? But as far as playing in the NBA, you played with the Suns for 19 games and the Jazz for

71 games. What were those stops like for you? What was it like playing for the Suns for 19 games and the Jazz for 71 games. What were those stops like for you? What was it like playing for the Suns and obviously playing for the Jazz? And what was your favorite experience in the NBA? Oh, man, that is, you know, every kid's dream to play in the NBA. And the chance to play my first rookie year playing with Phoenix was, that was a great experience, man. I had a lot of great vets.

That was a little bit older than me. Not a little bit, but, you know, they were – I would just say I had Marquise Morris. He was there. I had P.J. Tucker, Gordon Dragic, Sebastian Telfair, Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson was there, Jermaine O'Neal, Shannon Brown, Jared Dudley, and it was me and Kendall, Kendall Marshall. We were the only rookies that was on the team, and we had those guys that were just, like, they were just great.

They didn't make us do any hazing. They just, you know, took care of us. And being able to travel the world playing against the greatest players in the world, playing against LeBron, playing against Kobe, playing against KD, Russell, Kyrie, Steph, all those guys, It was fun. You know, that was my rookie year. I didn't play that much, but I was front row. I seen it.

I watched a lot of those games up close, and I got a chance to play against those, even though they were spot minutes, a couple minutes here and there. But I got a chance to get out there and compete. And then getting a chance to, you know, my second year playing with Utah, I got a way better opportunity. Got a chance to play. Got a chance to be in rotation.

Got a chance to play against, like, you know, guard, you know, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, all those guys. Playing against those guys and competing and, you know, scoring, you know, on those guys. You know, I would say my favorite memory will be when we played against the Warriors. I don't know why. The two times I played against the Warriors, I played my first time playing against the Warriors. I played really good. I had about 10 points.

I don't know how many points I had. It was like less than eight minutes. We were getting blown out, but I got a chance to, you know, that may be my second game or third game with the Utah Jazz, and we played against the Warriors. And Koja said, go, just play. And I think I had, I don't know, like eight, 10 points, I don't know, in like eight minutes or something like that. And it was, I was like, I don't know, I was in a whole nother world.

I don't know what it was. And then we played against the Warriors again on ESPN. And I had a hell of a good game. That game hit a couple, you know, buzzer beaters. I hit one on Clay Thompson. Everybody keeps sending me that to this day. Like, you know, ooh, like this move right here you know made the shot and i see it on social media somebody sent it to me and i keep getting reminded of it so that's one of my favorite moments just playing at the warriors

that year uh my my second year playing with the utah jazz getting that opportunity to play all those minutes and then playing really good. Absolutely. I mean, I'm looking at your stats right now and you really turned it on versus Golden State, man. One of your games you had 10.5 points and a plus 24, plus minus. You had, let me see, another game you had 8 points and a plus 17, plus or minus. Played 21 minutes in the one game and played,

looks like another 23 minutes in the other game. So just impressive all around, especially going against the competition like Golden State. You mentioned Kobe, LeBron. I want to get your thoughts here. I think I know where you're going to go with this, but who's the GOAT? Is it Kobe? Is it LeBron? Is it MJ? Man, listen, I feel like MJ, you know, I think he already touched,

he's already at GOAT status of where I wasn't born, I was born to, like, you know, but I wasn't old enough to watch his game, like, you know, like, sit down like how I am now and watch, let me watch one of his basketball games, like, live. You know what I mean? I mean, yeah. And the highlights are unbelievable. What are you doing because nobody else is doing it?

It's like, wow. I grew up as a Kobe fan, man. I've been always a Kobe. Kobe Dean Bryant has always been number one on my list, no matter what. I know Jordan is up there. I know that. Kobe has always been number one. I always will pick him over LeBron, even though LeBron is up there, too.

You know what I mean? But I just, I'm going, have Kobe and LeBron right there. I'm like, what's up Kobe? I'm on your team. Sorry LeBron. Simply that. I can respect that. I think that's a pretty good answer. I'm around the same age as you as well. I don't remember

Michael Jordan watching specific games. I just remember Michael Jordan is an amazing player, remembering highlights and whatnot. Are you following along with the last dance by chance? Oh, yes. Sure, for sure. Last week, tonight, I'm tuned in. I'm sitting – yeah, I'm tuned in.

I'm not moving. I might come up, put my phone on, do not disturb. I love it, man. Yeah, it's definitely making me realize I didn't actually know what the hell was going on back when I was seven or eight and watching the Chicago Bulls. But it's pretty cool to be able to see it in retrospect. Yep, exactly. To see, like, behind-the-scenes things.

You're like, oh, okay. Like, I didn't know that happened. I was young. Didn't even know that was going on. Yeah, I didn't realize Jerry Krause was was such a dick to be honest right i didn't know he was that like you know he was that type of type of guy yeah i thought everything was all good uh so that's that's funny i know i think the last dance is definitely giving everyone a nice little reprieve considering there's not a lot of sports going on right now so yes, yes. This definitely came in handy.

Yeah. So once, you know, obviously once the quarantine's lifted and, you know, you're playing with the Iowa United, after that, what's your plans? Are you looking to get back into professional basketball? Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure. I'm definitely going to look to get somewhere next year. After this quarantine is lifted, everything is back normal

or close to normal at least. And we can get back to, you know, guys getting overseas and getting back to work and all of that. I am for sure on the list. I'm ready. I'll be ready to go. I think TBT is definitely going to be one thing that's going to help me out with that. And showing teams that, okay, he's back healthy.

He's back playing. He's ready to go. I'm looking forward to that for sure, for sure. I love it, man. So when I took a look at your resume and playing overseas, it looks like you spent some time in Croatia, France, Israel, Turkey, Japan, and Italy. Out of all those stops, what was your favorite place? And this can be either basketball or just personal, either one. I would say first with basketball, I would say when I was in Italy and Turkey

because we were playing, I was playing in two different leagues. I was playing in the Turkish league and the Italian league, the top leagues, and playing Euro Cup. And in the Euro Cup with Italy, we got to the top 16. We made it to the next round, and we were playing really good. We ended up winning the Italian Cup that year in Italy. And so I would say that was a great experience, you know, basketball-wise. And Turkey was great basketball-wise because it was the same.

We played Euro Cup in the Turkish League, and we were number three in the Turkish League. We were winning a lot of games. We were set to, you know, getting ready for the playoff push. Then I got hurt. And then we ended up losing in the first round. Well, the second round, we ended up losing in the second round. But that's

that's one thing I wish I was out there I could have definitely helped but off the court I would say that my favorite would be Israel in Japan Israel was the living was awesome man I lived across the street from the beach. Rough life. Yeah, right. It's weather. The coldest it got was about 70. I was wearing shorts every day.

Our arena, like our practice facility and stuff, was literally five minutes away. You could walk to practice. We're shorts coming from the beach. We only practiced one time a day, and it was earlier in the day. It would be done around 1, 2 o'clock. You got the rest of the day to just do whatever you want to do. And me and my family, we stayed on the beach all the time.

We would barbecue on the beach, go out there, and my son would be swimming out there, man. It was a great living out there in Israel. And most people would think, like, Israel? There's no way. You know, thinking war and all of that. Yep. Israel was almost close to a downer of Miami almost. The weather was good.

The beach was right across the street, and it was clean, you know, and the restaurants there were great. The food was good. And I would say Japan, too. I was maybe 20, 25 minutes from tokyo you know that's the main capital where they shoot movies at yeah and they got and it was it was so it was a crazy experience you go out there and you know you everybody crossing the street different ways zigzagging and you got to get across the street before the lights turn green.

And it's amazing how they keep that whole city just spotless clean. They stick to all rules. Like, they stick, they strick on their rules. You got to throw your trash away in this can, but make sure you take your plastic out of your trash and put it in this can. And if you don't you know they're gonna find you it was just so much like you know strict rules over there but it was great living man it was like the the living like i can't even you have to be there to experience tokyo man it was great though it was so i would say it was it varies on what was my favorite place to

go or favorite place to be because if it was basketball then it would be Turkey and Italy if it was just living off the court it would be Israel and Japan you've uh you definitely spoke pretty glowingly about both Israel and Japan and now I'm a little bit jealous and that's definitely going to be one of the places that I'm looking to take my wife to when we get out of this lockdown thing now. You definitely got to check those places out for sure. You get out there, you're going to be

like, wow. You're going to be like, am I in a movie? Those are always the best places to vacation to where you're like, is this actually real life? Is this where I'm at right now? Exactly, exactly. That's awesome, man. I just have

two more questions for you. What was it like winning the Italian Cup? What was that experience like? Was that one of the, would you say was that one of maybe the top five professional highlights of your career? Oh yeah, for sure, for sure. Because I had before even winning that Italian Cup, I was in the Italian Cup Championship.

Not the Italian Cup Championship. I was in the Israel Cup Championship, and I lost. I lost to Tel Aviv. I was in the Tokyo Cup Championship, and I lost. I forgot who I lost to out there. Then my third year when I got to Italy, and we played in the Cup when we got to the championship, and I'm thinking to myself, and I told my teammate,

I said, you know, this is my third year straight coming to the Cup, and I haven't won one yet. And they was like, oh, we're winning one today. We got you today. And I was like, okay, we got to get one. And we ended up going out there, and I ended up playing pretty good and helping the team. And my team, it was a crazy, that was a crazy experience, man.

And we ended up winning the Italian Cup. And nobody, we were like probably, nobody bet, like probably, because we just got a new coach right before it happened, right before the Italian Cup happened. Like we just got a new coach, and the new coach was the assistant coach to the assistant coach. He just became our head coach so it was crazy he was just saying he was just so with so much energy he was just telling us to just go play free just

play hard and and we end up winning that's awesome just like I was like that was a great experience man that was like one I was like finally got me one great experience, man. That was like one I was like, finally got me one. Yeah, you finally got it. That's awesome. That's one of the top five for sure. I love it, man. You had a pretty good game that game. I'm looking it up right now.

27 minutes, 13 points. Went three of six from deep and had, it looks like, three rebounds, which is pretty awesome, man. So congratulations, obviously, a couple years late from me at least, but awesome to, you know, get that win and get that kind of monkey off your back, you know what I mean? Yeah, for sure, for sure, because I was thinking right before the game, I'm like, man, it's my third straight one, man.

I'm going to be out here almost like LeBron. Yeah. Can't get a chip when it really counts. That's funny, man. But it feels good, though, to get that one. Definitely. So what's the biggest difference, then, between the European game and the American game?

And do you feel like, which one do you feel like translates better to playing in TBT? I would say the big difference is, I would say, is the defense. Like, you know, overseas, a lot of teams, a lot of guys, we take a lot of pride in playing against the Americans and, you know, want to, you know, prove to them that, you know, I can shut him down or I can play better than him. And, you know, over here it's more of like a, I got more skills than you.

Okay, I got more skills than you too. Ain't no more like I ain't going to shut you down. I'm just going to show you I got more skills than you. You know what I mean? I can outscore you. And over there, they take a lot of pride in trying to stop the Americans. And, you know, their defense is set on more of like, you know, like a college type of defense where there's no three seconds in the paint.

So a lot of their big – a lot of their big man overseas – a lot of big man overseas are 7'1", 300 pounds. You can't go down there really that much. You know, they're taking that bruise, and you got to – that's one adjustment that you'll have to get used to. And, you know, over here, you know, the paint is open more because you can't just sit in the paint. You can't just be sitting there just waiting for guys to come in.

You got to get out, and it's more spread out here. And over there is more of a – i would say more structured yeah they got kind of a european style of play like you you you you will adjust to that their style is way different than playing here in the state for sure for sure absolutely man so um i think that that's actually so i've talked to obviously you know a couple of the other guys on the team in past years, and that was probably the most interesting response. I didn't even think about it like that in terms of how the rules can really impact just what you're doing from a European standpoint or the American standpoint,

and the fact that the European players take a lot of pride in trying to shut down the American players, which never even crossed my mind that that would be the case, which I think is crazy to think about. For fans of the other teams, the people that are listening to this podcast who followed the Iowa Hawkeyes or followed the Drake Bulldogs or the UNI Panthers and maybe didn't follow Iowa State as much or didn't follow your career as much, what do you bring to the table? If you could describe your game in a few words, what do you bring to the table? What does Deontay Garrett bring to the table for the Iowa United

this year? A guy that's going to come out and just compete. I'm going to do my best as far as learning the guys. I know we're going to have a good training camp before we go and learning

the guys. And being one of the guys that's going to have a good training camp before we go and learning the guys. And being one of the guys that's going to go out there and you'll see, lead by example. That's how hard I want to go. And, you know, teaching, you know, being a teacher and being teachable. You know, like I want guys to tell me, like, yo, I like this. Or I see that you can do this. I want to, you know, be learning and being a sponge to soak up from them so I can give my knowledge to them too so we can all be on the same page.

And I know I can do that for sure because of my personality, being able to talk to guys and, you know, off the court and on the court, you know, and I think that's one thing I can bring in being, you know, being able to, skills-wise is, you know, being able to pick and roll, you know, find guys, you know, being able to penetrate. You know, I got Tyrus McGee. I got Josh Young, shoot the threes. You know, there's going to be three galore going on.

You know that? Yeah. So I'm going to do my job of penetrating, finding guys. And if my lane comes open to score, I'm willing and capable of doing that too. So I'm just going to be a guy to come out there and going to compete, be teachable, learn, be a teacher, and ready to get after it. I love it, man. I'm super excited to watch you play with these guys.

It was a blast last year. The team's only getting, you know, significantly stronger with the additions of you and some of the other guys as well. I do have actually one last year. The team's only getting significantly stronger with the additions of you and some of the other guys as well. I do have actually one last question. What is your expectation this time around for the TBT and for the Iowa United? Any predictions you want to make or do you think you guys are going to go pretty far?

What are your thoughts? Man, you know, I'm trying to get to that two mil, man. I need it. I want it. I know it's going to be definitely a tough journey to get there. You know, a lot of teams, you know, been playing in this, you know, for years. And it's going to be, you know, it's going to be a fight for it.

And I think, you know, I think we're going to be – we look pretty good. I think we're going to be really good. And I think my guys are going to be ready to get after it and be as hungry as I am to try to get as far as we can and touch that two million. Absolutely, man. And the nice thing, too, is you guys get part of that money. The fans that support you get part of that money.

I think it's just a really cool concept all around. Deontay, I've taken up a ton of your time. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me and talk a bit about your time at Iowa State, talk a bit about your professional career and what you're excited about with the Iowa United. Any last words, man, before we let you go, buddy? No, man, just, you know, guys, stay clean, stay safe, you know,

and get out of this quarantine and get back to, you know, regular schedule programming and get back to, you know, regular schedule programming and get back to playing some ball, man. Absolutely. I love it, man. Well, Deontay, you stay safe, buddy. Looking forward to seeing you down in Wichita for the Iowa United. All right.

Thank you, man. Appreciate you. No problem. Talk to you later, buddy. And that'll do it for our show today. Again, a special shout out to Deontay for hopping on the show, talking to us a bit about his time at Iowa State, his recruiting experience, his time overseas playing basketball, his time with the Jazz and the Suns, and then also what he's looking forward to the most about playing

in the $2 million winner take all tournament this summer with the Iowa United squad. And as always, like I said earlier on the show, make sure to follow us every single Tuesday. We're doing our special TBT Tuesday episode where we're dropping an interview with one of the Iowa United members every single week. Next week is former Iowa Hawkeye, Nicholas Bayer. Make sure to check that out. You can do that by subscribing wherever you downloaded this podcast at, whether that is Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app. Make sure to check that stuff out there.

Thank you again for all tuning in for the show. Absolutely appreciate it. Have a fantastic day and stay safe out there.