Baylor Basketball and a Culture of Excellence with Caleb Lohner

Intro [Music] hello everybody and welcome back to Deer sports today we have Caleb loner in the studio today Caleb is a senior forward for the Bears he started his career at BYU making last season his first year as a bear Caleb scored a season High of 13 points to help lead Baylor past UCSB in the opening round of NCAA tournament he went five for five from the field setting a Baylor Ina tournament record Caleb thanks so much for coming on today yeah thanks for having me of course great to be here yeah I mean just finished finals and how was that for you um happy that finals are done got a few weeks off of school can just play basketball so we're rolling yeah that's Being a student athlete the best we kind of just had that finish the tournament no practice just School finishing that up it's kind of nice just to be like a student or just a basketball player for a little bit oh for sure sometimes you just get so caught up in one or the other that you're oh man I have to do school or oh man like I still have basketball after this yeah but student athlete it's a it's one word sometimes it feels like two it's all good though definitely a blessing to be a student athlete though Team chemistry oh yeah for sure nice little benefits and all things like that um y'all are doing super well yeah yeah we're hooping it's exciting yeah it feels Cherry right now it's uh okay meshing together there's great team chemistry um we got a few tough ones coming up so we're excited about those but besides that man we're excited just to keep this thing New facility rolling yeah it's exciting to see all like doing so well and obviously like the women's team is doing well and so frell's bumping right now which is really exciting frell's about to be no more hopefully I know which is just wild like how does that feel for the new facility to be open making that transition oh man we're so excited yeah f is kind of slowly falling apart on its own like every day something's going on electricity light bulbs falling from the ceiling uh waterers not working the heaters in the locker room don't do their job like so I guess I guess we're all excited to have a little bit of change of scenery and who's who wouldn't be excited for a brand new Arena so we're we're stoked off that yeah it's going to be sick we'll still be in the feral so no worries at all we come on over yeah hey if we could play a pre-season game in there are you kidding that would be sick yeah um but yeah I was a little little jealous but it's okay we just finished up in Kentucky and their volleyball Arena was being redone so we got to play in the rep Arena um and to like I kind of like poked my head probably wasn't supposed to but like definitely like looked in the basketball um locker room and like the 2012 final four Court their floor that was sick yeah R's pretty it's a classic Court classic Arena at least there's a lot of history there it was insane but yeah Getting into basketball excited for yall to have your new space we're going to miss you I love seeing y'all staff and just like even like the women's team and um Charlie is just awesome and so the best him always like saying Hey to us or just it's kind of fun to share that space with you all but excited for you all to have your new own space yeah Bittersweet yeah it's exciting yeah that's awesome um so how did you get into basketball um I don't have a crazy story mine's like everyone else's my dad started putting me in leagues and teams when I was little and you know I had my little plastic basketball hoop when I was a kid and that's just kind of how it took off I guess and I grew up playing football and basketball I think baseball at one time I was kind of every sport until I figured out which one I really liked then basketball became the winner and we just kept it going from there that's awesome so but your dad kind of energy to you yeah I'd say I give credit to my dad for pushing me in it I guess yeah and he played at BYU correct where you started your career yeah just for a few years okay so was that like a big reason of why you went there or yeah I guess it was one of them and then just the connections that I had and relationships and yeah very grateful for my time at BYU yeah that's awesome um Prep school you also played at a prep school for two years yes walk us through that because I just feel like that's so different from I mean I guess baseball kind of does that sometimes with the IMG cies but like walk us through that experience and how that was like on your own at such a young age yeah I mean it was good actually um I think at first it was definitely something that I was not accustomed to leaving your high school um showing up in a new place new people in a tiny little town with I think we had a total of 300 students from grades like 12 to to four or something I don't know tons of kids um it was snowy it was freezing cold it was in the middle of nowhere some places you didn't even get cell reception oh and it turned out to be one of the best prep schools I was like whoa this is this is neat like this is cool um and I got to play my uncle was had just kind of taken over the coaching spot there he had coached in like Utah public schools for a while and then he took that job um he just loves to coach basketball and so it was fun to be with him enjoy that process and journey um definitely grateful for it met some awesome people developed great relationships and so it was cool yeah how do you feel like that helped you with the recruiting process at all um I don't know if it necessarily helped me because I think when I was going to a prep school it was pretty tunnel vision like I was either going to stay at my high school or go to this one specific Prep School yeah just because of the connection with my uncle that I had um but I think it did help me mature being you know out of the house and kind of on your own and making your own decisions and living by yourself kind of early than the traditional going to college and so definitely helped me mature figure out kind of where I wanted to be where I needed to be at the time and um we went from there that's awesome I feel like it's kind of hard to try to make those decisions at a young age and so totally being on your own also like going through that process I can't even imagine I know I relied so much on my parents in that time of like making a decision of like just even trying to figure out how to do high school so I think that's really cool that you feel like it matur you in that way to help you get ready would you do do it again like or would you change anything about it or which parts I feel like um maybe just going to a prep school or do you wish you would have done something different about the recruiting process or um prep school I think I would for sure always do again I think with recruiting if I were to go back where I am at now yeah I think I would take a more personalized approach with where Caleb loner needs to be and wants to be yeah versus friends family outside influences because just naturally you know people talk and they want you to do this and that but I think at the end of the day it's most important to decide where you want to be and where you need to be yeah and I think if you take that those two things into account when you're being recruited or whether it's for sports or in the future or whatever you're going to be all right so if I could go back think I'd prioritize those two things a little bit more yeah that that's so well said because I feel like especially for me like sixth generation Bor like supposed to go here like come on like why wouldn't you go to Baylor um sixth generation sixth generation gez I can't even count that many generations back yeah it's on my mom's side um my dad played golf here Mom was generation your dad's a golf or golfer golfer oh yeah turned Pro for a little bit good for him um yeah he loved it but definitely a little bit of little bit of pressure to like want to bite the bullet make that decision um it was the best thing for me but I think that's super well said of it's hard to not at such a young age like listen to those influences and um like you have so many different Hobbies of like surfing and playing golf and like all those different things of um Waco doesn't have a lot of those things but um to make that like personalized decision um is huge I feel like for kids to understand that going through that process yeah W Go's kind of the Dirty South got here and I was like dang this is not the DFW metroplex where I grew up no it's not W its own little gem it is I'm glad you Wake Up Waco say that a lot of people hate on wo and like don't get me wrong not a lot to do here but but it's I think it's a really cool community and you got totally make of it what you want you know yeah I think any I think anywhere I think people are too snobby these days about wanting to be in a specific spot I say wherever you're at at the time wherever like life has taken you in that moment you can make the best of it whether you're in Waco you're in Orange County on the beach you're in New York like it's all whatever you whatever you make of it that's the experience you're going to remember and honestly wake Up's been sick yeah W has been cool good yeah um have you been out to Waco surf at all I think it's like the only thing I can think of that yeah I've been out there quite a bit taking some friends out there it's fun yeah um during the season it's definitely harder to get out there just because they're so busy but um I've enjoyed Cameron Park okay uh the summer I was golfing a ton there's only a few courses but I was on as much as I could took some of our teammates so yeah wakeo Biggest Surprise W's cool good that's awesome so glad to hear it um so do you feel like that's been the biggest surprise about coming to Baylor for you or what's been a highlight of being a Bor so far probably all the players that I've gotten to develop relationships with and the coaches um it's cool to be part of a a winning program U there's just there's difference of accountability of um just wanting to do something that you haven't done before because you have one and done so many things before I think being a part of something that just holds you to this level of Excellence is really cool not only develops you as a player but as a person yeah so these habits and things like I'm even wearing a a wristband that says same old boring habits okay and it sounds so simple but it's that's a thing we focus on that's something that I've learned and I'm hopefully going to take for the rest of my life so so being a part of something Scott Drew like that's really cool yeah I mean just to have like Scott drew in your corner that's pretty cool just to know that like he wants excellence and he wants it for you on and off the court um is something not found everywhere what do you how would you talk about his coaching style he's a unicorn okay you don't there's no other Scot Drew there's just not yeah and his coaching style is very unorthodox I think to a lot of normal I guess normal college basketball coaches um he does a lot of Delegation with the assistant coaches that sometimes you don't see with like a head coach of how big he is and how much he's won and then the way that he treats his guys and the way that he brings family into it as a like the Baylor family you know he talks about and the way he brings his old players in and yeah like some programs they don't they're not like inviting of their old players and the culture isn't this one Bor family like if you've been a part of it you're a part of it so it's been awesome to play for somebody like that and um he's definitely an example in the community to college basketball and definitely to us that's exciting it's really fun to walk around the feral and like randomly see like this NBA guy and I'm like oh my gosh I saw you on TV like 4 days ago like and it is it is evident like we can outside looking in you see that Joy from y'all's program and you get to see those relationships building and just how yall treat each other and the relationships you are building with your teammates um it's very much like on display and people can see that so just props y'all's program and continuing the Excellence um I know that we always are like okay we want to keep the feral Excellence as the standard so our program is trying to do it well y'all are Al obviously carrying it well right now um the Bears man Bears that's exciting um so you all have Expectations had super strong starts this season um what do you feel like the expectations going into the season do you feel like they're being met what do you still want to see from your team um kind of walk us through maybe things like personally that you have um that you're wanting to achieve this season Walk us through it I think we are meeting expectation I think expectations for every team are different yeah um but I think we have a long way to go which is the most exciting part uh I think paying attention to a little bit more detail I think defensively we can tighten things up just a little bit and then just continuing to have fun play basketball at the end of the day this is a game and with all the time and all the work that you put into it if you can't enjoy it there's no point in doing it yeah and so and I think we've done a great job of that so far cheering on each other having fun you know smiling while we're out there call them Beast modes beast mode is when someone gets a DK great play everyone's standing up screaming just enjoying the game I think we keep doing that we got a bright future for First Career Shot this season yeah um I think like the one of the clips I saw on Twitter of Austin like made his first like career shot and I'm not kidding I literally had like tears in my eyes watching like just watching y's bench cuz I was like oh my gosh like they are so excited for him so happy for their program like just as an athlete I was like oh my gosh like that's just such a cool moment very cool but exciting that you feel like yall still have I mean you haven't even hit conference yet really but just like still so much left to go and you don't want to peek now no we're going to keep growing and we're excited to see what comes yeah Power Forward awesome um so you are power forward what do you feel like you can bring to that role for your team um what are your expectations for yourself um going through the season Walk us through that um I think I I can keep bringing defensive energy energy to the team as a whole yeah um an occasional shot here and there uh presence just on the floor when I'm on it um being one of I am like a senior it's weird to say yeah can't believe this is my fourth year of college basketball but holding everybody together being the leader that um I believe that I am and helping the team we have a lot of young guys and not necessarily holding their hand through it cuz they don't need that but you know keeping them up when I people are hitting them down I think is important cuz uh some people are just so hard on themselves and I think as athletes were perfectionists and so just trying to be the best leader I can be and help where I'm needed and at the end of the day I want to win more than anything so wherever I can be of help um in that winning process is where I'm going to be Teaching the ropes yeah gosh yeah I'm like now a senior 2 so like we we have a lot of girls in our young team on our team as well and just kind of you said it great not holding their hand but wanting to kind of like helped them through the process of I feel so old of I'm like oh my gosh like that's what I look like when I was a freshman okay like here's what I wish I would have known or just like teaching them the ropes it's so cliche but um yeah just like again like w to continue that culture of Excellence um and just instilling that in them because I feel like too making that transition from high school to college like there's like a confidence shift that people don't really talk about totally um so I just like instilling that in them and it's exciting you do have a lot of young guys who surprised you the most all of them yeah they're all so much different than I thought they would be and it's fun to be around a group like that that just brings their own special sauce to the table so there's so many personalities too on our team and it's fun to be on a team with lots of personalities locker rooms fun post games fun yeah so um they've all they've all surprised me but jacobe I think um the maturity that he carries for his age and um the future I think that he has is really bright yeah so it'll be fun to you know continue the season and then see his progress as um hopefully a pro one day yeah that's awesome it's Postgraduation plans exciting to hear that um so what are your plans post grad what does that look like basketball Wise job wise I do not know that's okay still figuring that out um there's always the potential of just staying another year yeah um with Co I was a covid baby okay so that was my first year of sports so technically if I want I have another year of Eligibility Just One MH okay so just playing out those options and just seeing what works yeah I guess and where I'm where I feel like I'm supposed to be so yeah do you is like going to the league a goal yeah yeah okay I think I think everyone wants to play professional basketball like it's fun to get paid to just play basketball just to play your sport is fun and so it's everyone's gool yeah do you have like a a Dream Team to be on or like a specific City or if I were to play for one team it would be the Dallas Mavs okay that's the home team yeah um if I could choose another team it would probably be like everyone's going to say the Lakers or a West Coast team would be cool yeah but who knows everyone's Journey takes him Relationship with family somewhere different yeah um being from Dallas you seem like you're pretty close with your family talk about your relationship with them and just like how basketball's played into that and yeah um I have four awesome younger brothers wow okay that are all studs and I would say that basketball has played a part hopefully in their eyes of just me being an example yeah and I think to me that's the most important thing that if I'm not able to be around them all the time just due to sports and the past that I've taken but if they can look up and say hey look he's he's doing good like we want to you know follow in his footsteps or we trust him or um I don't know just see kind of the path that I've taken i' I'd hope that would be an example to them so to me right now as the big older brother being an example is the most important Older sister thing yeah I'm an older sister and so you get it I get it you know I'm like I just kind of hope my younger brother figures it out you know I'm like watch what I'm doing fingers cross everything goes okay um like don't follow me too closely cuz I don't know where that'll take you but yeah no it's it's a special Special bond bond just to like you said just to go through your life and do your thing but to be an example for them and hopefully they pick up on some of the totally keys but they're their own people too they'll figure it out yeah they got time too so New York Christmas that's awesome um y'all were in NYC for the NIT um tournament and y'all get to play at some pretty cool places yeah and we're about to go back yes which is so exciting yes I'm excited to see New York at Christmas time yeah uh I plan on going to the rockerfeller tree okay um what else do I plan on doing I don't know walking around with the lights and stuff everywhere I've never been in New York at Christmas time okay yeah me so I'm excited to see that um yeah it's Playing in a big city exciting I is it different like playing basketball in that type of environment or um once you hit the court no yeah but I guess around yes being in a big city is always different different than Waco for sure um but usually the routine is pretty similar okay just because uh I think in sports you start to realize routine habits are really important so getting up at these specific times eating at these specific times shoot arounds at these specific times focusing on that and then um just enjoying the game wherever it is we got to play in the um Spectrum Center okay oh that's so cool yeah and then my my favorite part of that trip was going to their practice facility okay and we walked in um to the Nets practice facility and these curtains like on the back wall it was it was at the top floor of this huge Warehouse I like where are we like I've seen this in movies I don't know where we're going and these huge drapes go all the way up and all of a sudden you can just see the entire New York skyline oh my gosh from a few miles away probably and it was just incredible yeah H H basketball with a view basketball with a view that's pretty cool yeah it was it was really cool yeah defin it was probably one of the coolest gyms I've ever been in yeah so it was Arenas fun that's so cool I think that's honestly one of the coolest things about playing College athletics is you get to see so many different facilities and just Arenas and like it truly takes you places that I never would have gone by myself too you know so that's just yeah just add it to the bucket list you know awesome um okay I always ask people Conditioning um to ask you questions if whenever I have a guest come on SO cyberbear asked um how was your offseason conditioning what did you do to get faster and leaner for this season what did I do to get faster and leaner tons of Weights um tons of cardio okay food yeah actually Dan food was the biggest thing for me okay um I was able to lose some weight lean up a little bit and this summer I really focused on what I was eating how much I was eating and when I was eating and to me that's what made the biggest strides I felt the biggest push is in my body I was able to feel a lot stronger more energy faster and just again tracking like my food uh our dietician or I don't know what his exact title is but Corey he's awesome he helped me kind of set up this app where it was every time I ate something it was so easy just to log it yeah so and there's all these pre-made things that you could follow to like a guide I guess and how much like you were eating when it comes to your carbs your proteins that kind of thing and so tracking that was big cuz some days I would just eat normally like I would and I was like whoa it's cool to see the numbers like oh I'm eating way too much of this or I've not eating enough of this yeah so tracking that I think was the biggest part of my offseason yeah that's good to hear it's like those small little things that you really don't realize that I make such a huge difference in your performance as an athlete um Corey worked with us last season too and he's awesome yeah like really taught us just like here's what your game day plate should look like here's what your training plate would look like and you just don't think about those things nope so that's good yeah um and then Ashley Free Days Hodge um asked if you have a free day you can only choose one um surf for a couple hours um or go play 18 holes I can't answer that honestly because it depends where I'm at okay if you're in Waco I'm golfing there because it's it's easy easier to get out on the golf course here true you know what if you're in California I would try to go surf and get demolished by waves okay um because you're not in California all the time and California is cool I've been telling we've I have a teammate and great friend Austin Sachs he lives out there I'm like dude you got to invite me like let's go show me around he's been dying to show me around where he's from and um some of his favorite be beaches down there so I told him this summer I'm like dude we're out there we're going to go see some stuff you're going to show me around never been to Rodeo Drive or any those places so I was like let's go see Hollywood Teammates yeah that's like one of the best parts about having teammates from all over the place I'm like I would never have gone to East Texas wasn't for Harley CRA on our team you know we're like going to we have a girl from San Francisco I'm like yeah I'm going to go visit you it's going to be a free place to stay and yeah I'm gonna go hang out yeah that's Letter to Sports exciting um so for our final question that I ask everybody that comes on um if you could write a letter to sports saying anything you wanted to what would you say and why I would say dear Sports thank you for the relationships and the values that you've taught me and what I think is truly important as we live on throughout this life um and cherishing those relationships because you never know when your last day is going to be so holding on to the valuable people in your your life and cherishing what's truly important that's awesome well thanks for coming on today yeah thank you for having me it's been great okay thank you Outro for listening today um it's always so fun to have someone in the studio and just get to know more about Caleb and learn more about Baylor basketball um as always make sure you follow the Instagram Twitter um everything is in the link link tree in the bio um until next time this is Faith Lynch with your [Music] sports