Exclusive: Tulsa's Eric Konkol fires back at 'meaningless' preseason polls as quest for NCAA Tournament begins appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Eric Konkol is coming off his best regular season with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, recording 30 wins for the first time in his head coaching career. Expectations may be high on the program with the NCAA Tournament being the next objective for them as the American Conference preseason poll ranked them high, but the head coach isn't putting any stock in it.
"It really is meaningless. We're just going to control what we can control. If anything, it says that some people think that we're going to be good. But again, this is for fans. This is for people to talk about. We've got to have a good practice today and see where that takes us," Konkol said in an interview with ClutchPoints.
Konkol's journey as a coach actually started in 2000 with Tulsa, having his first role as a student assistant. He later became a graduate assistant with the Tennessee Volunteers before getting his first stint as an assistant coach with the George Mason Patriots in 2002, getting to the learn from legendary coach Jim Larranaga.
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Konkol briefly left George Mason in 2005 to coach at George Hopkins High School for two years before reuniting with the Patriots in 2007 and spending four more years with the program. His solid growth allowed him to earn the valuable opportunity of reuniting with Larranaga with the Miami Hurricanes in 2011.
Konkol represented the Hurricanes for four seasons, helping them get to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Then came the first head coaching gig when he accepted Louisiana Tech's offer in 2015. He coached the Bulldogs to a 153-75 record across seven seasons, making two postseason appearances, as one saw him finish third in the 2021 NIT. Konkol had major gratitude for what he learned from Larranaga that paved the way for him to embrace being a head coach in college basketball.
"I've been fortunate to be around. First of all, great parents, family, the teachers and coaches that I grew up with and got to play for. But in my coaching career, I spent the majority of my time with Jim Larranaga, both at George Mason and Miami. [He's] just a wonderful person, a tremendous teacher of the game of basketball, but more importantly, life. And because of him and the great players that we're able to be around, I was given the opportunity to be a head coach, and I've been able to continue being a head coach because of the staff and players that I've been around," Konkol said.
Konkol has achieved considerable growth as a head coach in college basketball. So much so that he embraced his next head coaching opportunity by becoming Tulsa's next leader in 2022. He has traveled all over the country, adapting to different cultures and winning standards at several programs. That ended up allowing him to develop one of his top traits as a coach. Getting to return to the university where he began his coaching roots also played a major role in his decision.
"The first thing is I'm not a picky eater, so I can enjoy cuisine in any location at any place. That's number one. Number two; I love people, and I love the experiences that come from getting to know people at a number of places. I actually had history here before. My first year in coaching was here at TU, so to come back as the head coach is not only a great honor, but had some familiar faces when I returned, and it built some great relationships here. My wife, our two boys are in high school. They're high school basketball players here in town. So, I think coaching and working at a university immediately pulls you into a community, and every place I've ever been to has been so positive for so many reasons, and I'm grateful for all those experiences," he said.
Konkol had a rough start coming out of the gate, only winning five games his first year at Tulsa. He improved to 16 wins the following year before regressing to 13 wins, but he has showcased development in a competitive conference that sees different teams make the NCAA Tournament throughout his stint.
Konkol finally got his big break in the 2025-26 campaign. Tulsa shined as one of the best teams in the conference, finishing second with 13 wins in American play as they performed well enough to reach the 2026 NIT. They beat Stephen F. Austin, UNLV, Wichita State, and New Mexico to get to the championship game before losing to the Auburn Tigers 92-86. Konkol knows that Tulsa fans yearn for great success in the long term, knowing his ambitions to grow the program are in the right place.
"There's tradition in Tulsa men's basketball here in our town, and I wanted to do everything I could to revive that. It's been an arduous climb. Of course, we all would like everything to happen immediately, but with all the changes in college basketball and leadership changes within the university, in a number of different things, this has been a process. In the process, we've all worked very hard together. And of course, last year's team is a lot more like how I've envisioned this: great crowds, terrific community investment, passionate fan base and a team that plays really well together, and that's the type of branding that we want attached to Tulsa men's basketball," Konkol stated.
Eric Konkol prepares for the fifth year of his stint with the Golden Hurricane. The program hasn't returned to the NCAA Tournament since 2016, looking to make noise as a member of the American Conference as they reach for the glorious heights they enjoyed long ago.
Konkol is aware that expectations will be high on the Golden Hurricane this upcoming season. The American Conference preseason coaches poll ranked them at fourth place on the list, projecting them to be a contender for the NCAA Tournament as well as one of the favorites in the conference. Konkol isn't worrying about the poll results, understanding why it ended up in the way it came out while placing focus on Tulsa's success this upcoming season.
"I think these polls, and of course I voted in it. It's really challenging to do now more than ever. I do think with Wichita having so many returners back, you can certainly see why they're picked at the top. After that, it's really hard to determine. I really don't put a lot of weight in it. I don't look at that for any type of motivation at all," Konkol said.
Tulsa set a number of program records last season. They broke the program single-season records in points (3,233), made 3-pointers (399), made free throws (722), free-throw percentage (.780), games scoring 80-plus points (26), games shooting .500 or better (12), and games shooting .400 or better from 3-point range (17).
In the current era of college sports, many teams go through significant turnover. A lot of players test the waters in the transfer portal, looking for bigger opportunities in stronger leagues. Tulsa underwent roster changes, having to add 10 players this past offseason. Jaylen Lawal and Myles Rigsby stand out as key returners from last season for the Golden Hurricane. Lawal averaged 7.3 points per game, scoring 279 points. Rigsby averaged 6.2 points and was terrific at the free-throw line, going 62-for-71 (.873) last season.
As for the additions they made , Denton Forsythe, Brent Moss, Macon Emory, and Chris Loofe stand out. Forsythe came out of high school as one of the best guards in the nation, being 44th at his position and the fifth-best player from Oklahoma on 247Sports after averaging 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. Moss transferred from UTSA, where he averaged 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Roadrunners. Emory left Delaware after two years, producing 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds as he ranked seventh in CUSA in defensive rebounding last season. Meanwhile, Loofe joins Tulsa for his last year of eligibility after averaging 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds at MTSU.
"I absolutely think that there's tradition still within the transient nature of college basketball of being able to show, like, 'hey, this is what we're looking for.' And then I know for us, in our recruitment, we've said, 'hey, this is what we're going to do here. If this is something that you're excited about, join us. If this isn't, then we'll wish you well.' But we really think that we found a group of guys that have versatility. We tried to get a little bit bigger, a little bit more interior presence defensively. We still want to lean into a high number of 3-point shots and assisted 3-point shots, but this team will be different, just like everybody's team is different year in and year out," he said.
Konkol noted that these changes will bring forth a different Tulsa squad from last season. Nonetheless, he envisions the team to play with pace, speed, and tenacity while boasting solid depth to help them persevere through the ups and downs of the regular season. The head coach may have reached a high point with the program, but he feels the team is only getting started with showing their true ceiling as a contending roster against any team in the country.
"Being at Tulsa, we took over a program that we were trying to get back towards the top of the American, and that is also taking great help from our administration, our university board, our community, and I stand here and speak as the head coach, but the climb that we've been able to go through, and we're still climbing, that has taken everybody, and we're just going to continue to try to climb," he said.
"We embrace expectations. I think that's a really good thing, and there's been a lot of work and investment from a number of people to allow and foster elevation in our program. Our goal is to become the best version of ourselves, but within that, to give ourselves the best chance to compete at the top of the American Conference. It's going to be a really good league again this year. Terrific coaches, players, some history, tradition-rich programs, but we absolutely embrace expectations. We love that there's excitement in our community on our campus about men's basketball."
The Golden Hurricane will look forward to their season opener, being at home. They host the Ottawa (KS) Braves as tip-off commences on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
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