The first career goal T.J. Saint ever had lasted until he was 7 years old.
In the second grade, the aspiring astronaut drastically changed course by deciding to one day pursue a living as a men’s basketball coach.
The 2006 Indian Creek graduate continued on his career path last week when he was hired as the new director of strategy and video by first-year University of Georgia coach Tom Crean.
“It’s a really cool opportunity that coach Crean has given me. It’s doing analytics for ourselves, opponents, helping with game-planning, scouting of opponents and personnel breakdown,” said Saint, 30, who performed the same tasks the past four years for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.
“I was let go by the Pistons this summer. In August, coach Crean reached out to me through a mutual connection and it went from there. We talked on the phone, and I sent him work examples for about a week before flying down there for an interview.”
Without going into detail, Saint said at the time he was exploring other coaching possibilities both in college and the NBA.
The chance to work with Crean, the former Indiana University coach, was too good to pass up.
“He’s extremely motivated. Demanding. Really, really competitive and tries to squeeze every ounce of juice out of the fruit for an advantage,” Saint said of Crean. “I’m trying to see what I can bring to Georgia as well as see what I can learn.
“The bottom line is you are paid to win.”
Asked if he likes such pressure, Saint immediately said, “I do.”
Crean succeeds Mark Fox, who coached the Bulldogs for nine seasons before being fired in March. Georgia hasn’t advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament since 2002.
Before working with the Detroit Pistons, Saint served two seasons at Butler University as a graduate assistant and another as the program’s director of basketball operations.
Saint has experience working summer camps, having done so for many Division I colleges.
In high school, Saint lettered three seasons playing for former Indian Creek boys basketball coach Larry Angle. He went on to play college basketball at Mercer before transferring to Belmont.
Early in his coaching career, Saint wanted to be a Division I head coach by the time he was 30. He isn’t deterred by possibly having to wait longer.
“When I was 7 my goal was to be a successful NBA coach. That’s still my goal,” Saint said. “I felt this opportunity was very connected to what I did with the Pistons.”
Georgia plays two exhibition games before opening the regular season at home against Savannah State on Nov. 9.
