DetroitTitans.com sat down with new women's basketball assistant coach Oties Epps to learn more about his background, including some of his coaching influences and why coming back to his native Detroit was important to him.

Learn more about the coach Epps in the following Q&A:

Q: Can you talk a little about your coaching style, some of your coaching influences and some of your philosophies?

Epps: My coaching style is just a combination a lot of different people that I've had the opportunity to work for and played for. My college coach, Eddie Andrist, at UW-Stout was a big influence on me. His defensive style, getting up and down the court, being fast and aggressive, those kind of things and then I had the opportunity to work for coach Peterson Abiad at Cleveland State and the influence there was just about finding the right kind of kids that fit what your vision is and then from there I had the opportunity to work at Wisconsin for coach Stone and she really helped me learn that one, you can be in this business and be a family person, which was important to me and two, the emphasis you have to have on the defensive side of the ball.

For me, I'm more of a defensive-minded coach first. I know it's important that you're good offensively and everyone likes to see that, but at the end of the day, it doesn't take talent to be good defensively, it takes an inner desire to get out and give the energy and effort to communicate and to defend. Every team and person has the ability to go be good defensively, so that's something that I really bought into, that's something that I preach, that's something that I believe in whole-heartedly and it's something that we're going to pick up here.

Q: Do you have any favorite coaches -- outside of your mentors -- that you look up to?

Epps: Growing up in Michigan, I was always a huge Michigan Wolverines fan and now, Michigan State is a favorite. I've always liked Tom Izzo, just because of the passion that he coaches with, the enthusiasm he has about his kids and his program, the accountability he has for his players. I was fortunate enough to work in the same program as Mike Garland, who was at Cleveland State when I first got there, and just his influence that he had from coach Izzo and some of the stories that he was able to share, I really like his approach. I think that in this game, you have to passionate about what you're doing, you have to have that enthusiasm because that matriculates down into your staff and players. I love Izzo and there are some drills and things that I do in practice that I've gotten from some of the clinics that he's done.

But there's so many great coaches out there. I've been fortunate to play for a great coach in coach Andrist, but also see a lot of great coaches and be alongside some really good men's coaches. If I had to pick one more, Bo Ryan, at Wisconsin. I'm telling you, he's one of the more underrated coaches in the profession. His approach, day-in and day-out, the mentality that he had, the mentality that he was able to get his team to buy into. You didn't have to be a blue-chipper or a McDonald's All-American to be a successful, to be a national championship caliber-type team and they were able to do that. Sticking to the fundamentals, conditioning and again, another coach that valued defense.

Q: It has to be neat to come back to Detroit -- can you discuss that a little bit, the chance to come back where you grew up?

Epps: My family moved around a lot -- I went to three different high schools. I started out at Redford and then to Detroit Northern and then from there I ended up at Highland Park High School where I started to play ball and play football, I ran track and cross country. It's really good to be back. Just getting out, I was able to take my children to where I grew up, my neighborhood. For me, it's nice to reminisce about some of the experiences that I had with them. I haven't been back here since 1996. And now I'm here coaching.

For me, growing up it was the University of Detroit Mercy and this was the place where you wanted to play and back then, we had some really good teams. Jermaine Jackson was here and he was a big time player that decided to stay home and come here and make a difference and he was starting to do that. I wanted to be able to do that and I wasn't good enough to play at this level, but growing up in the city, you wanted to be able to play here. And now, to be able to coach here. I had a friend send me a message saying, 'can you believe you coach at Detroit Mercy?' For me, this is as good as it gets, growing up here and coming to all of the game and camps here. I won the 1-on-1 competition in eighth grade here at Perry Watson's camp, so now I coach here. To me, it's a dream come true and I'm very excited to be here and have this opportunity.

I'm very familiar with Calihan Hall and the University of Detroit Mercy, the traditions, and I just want to help our program experience some of that success. We have what we need to do that. Coach Scott does a tremendous job, he's a great motivator, he's really invested in his players, which is important and I think we have something special brewing here.

Q: It's going to be a young team, young core, I know you've had some young teams before. It's got to be exciting that you have a young core coming up?

Epps: For me, the nice thing is, I've learned over time and I haven't had the opportunity to get on the court with any of the players yet, but they're waiting to kind of see if you know the game. Being able to articulate in ways that they can understand how I see us playing defensively, some of the things that coach Scott wants to see us accomplish offensively and having that youth can be a good thing. Overall, our league lost a lot of experience from last year. There were some teams that were mentally stronger because of the success that they had over time, but at the end of the day, anything can happen in our league this year because a lot of experience is gone. I think the playing field is level. If we can have some early season success, that'll help the kids buy in to what we are teaching a little quicker and things could really take off.

Q: What kind of a player were you?

Epps: I was a good player, I was fortunate to play with some great players. I played Team Michigan when I was coming up. Back then you had to make the team. I was more a role guy, I'd play 6-8 minutes a game, depending on the score. I played with players like Robert Traylor, Ed Norvell, Maurice Taylor, those kind of guys. I learned very early that I wasn't at the level that I wanted to be. For me, it was about how to make up that gap and it was through my work ethic. Work a little harder, give a little bit more, dive on the floor, play defense. Do things that others weren't willing to do and that's the kind of coach that I am too. I'm always trying to do things that others aren't willing to do.

That's the kind of team that we want to be able to put on the court defensively, kids that are going to get after it and roll their sleeves up and give that energy and effort because from my experience, there's always a point that people are willing to go to. It's no different on the basketball court. So defensively, if I'm willing to go with you person-for-person, each step, there's a certain point where you're not going to want to give any more. If I can go just a bit further, than I can get you, I can one-up you.

That's the kind of player that I was and that helped me leave the city and go to college and further my education and to have the opportunity to get into coaching. I love coaching because it's given me so much. I come from very humble beginnings and I'm the sum of a lot of people's help. A lot of people looked out for me and did things for me to help me to get to where I am today. So this is my way of giving back, is to help young people to achieve their goals or whatever their aspirations may be.

Q: How did you meet coach Scott?

Epps: I first met coach Scott during my first year at Cleveland State and he was at Toledo and we were playing each other. It was pre-game warmups and I'm a pretty personable guy and we kind of have the same personality and we just hit it off and we've been friends ever since. We've followed each others careers and we've advised each other on different jobs and moves that we've made throughout our careers and our friendship has just kind of blossomed. When we are on the recruiting trail, we always make time to get together. Our thing was to go have sushi. We both like sushi, so we'd find different sushi spots in different cities.

I just really respect the fact that he was willing to be open with me and sharing ideas with me. He'd been coaching a little longer than me at the time and just schooling me to some things in the game. Our friendship definitely blossomed and he's been able to lean on me during different times as I've been able to lean on him, so it's been great.

Stay tuned for more updates for Detroit Mercy women's basketball throughout the summer and make sure to follow the team on Twitter at @Detroit_WBB.