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If you need a tour guide to take you around the state of California, Josh Fox is your man. He was born in Fiji but grew up in Los Angeles and went to high school in Northern California. He began his college career at UC Riverside, then spent a year at City College of San Francisco, and after finding a home at UC Davis he was named Big West 6th Man of the Year last spring. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Josh about why he chose the Aggies and how it felt to make the NIT last season.
You were born in Fiji: how did you 1st get into basketball? I lived there for 4 years and played a lot of rugby as a kid, but after we moved to LA I found a basketball court at our local YMCA and started following the Lakers.
You began your college career at UC Riverside but after 1 year you switched to City College of San Francisco, where you had a 28-game winning streak: did it reach a point where people just expected you to win every time you stepped onto the court? We had high expectations for ourselves. There were already a lot of seasoned players on the team before I got there, many of whom ended up playing in D-1, and the coaching staff put us in a great position to win. When we actually lost a game it was shocking!
What made you later choose UC Davis? Darius Graham is a friend of mine from high school. When he suggested that I join him at Davis instead of Riverside I just kind of chuckled at him, but after I transferred out of there he hit me up again. I like the coaches here and the program is going in the right direction. I fell in love with it during my visit so it was an easy decision for me to join the team.
You play for Coach Jim Les: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He loves basketball and wants us to succeed. However, his main concern is our life off the court. He acts as a father-figure in terms of our classes and our family. His basketball pedigree speaks for itself so I could not ask for more. Everyone says how basketball is more of a mental sport but not everyone takes that into account. He has helped me watch a lot of film and taught me to think things through. The other thing he taught me is to be a leader by the impact I have on others.
Last November you scored a career-high 23 PTS (11-14 FG) in a win over Utah State: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? It felt good. It was like throwing a tennis ball into the ocean and I was making some ridiculous layups. I let it loose and Coach just told me to relax, so it felt well to help the team.
You finished the year by being named Big West 6th Man of the Year: what did it mean to you to win such an outstanding honor? I did not even know they had an award for that, so when people congratulated me I thought it was just for having a nice season. Coach called me to tell me that I got it, which was great, but you cannot win that kind of award without teammates who make you look good. I was very happy to see that my hard work paid off.
In the 2015 NIT you scored 2 PTS in a loss to eventual champion Stanford: what did you learn from that game that you think will help you this year? It was a tough loss: we were sad because we had a bigger goal of making the NCAA tourney. Our heads were all over the place: we were taking final exams at that time because our schedule is different than other schools. We were trying to deal with so many things happening at once, but now I can tell my teammates to handle their business early so that we are better prepared. I want to help my teammates when they have to juggle so many things at once.
Your non-conference schedule includes road games at St. Mary’s/Boise State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? They will both be battles. Boise State had a great season last year so we are looking forward to playing them. We will have some growing pains at first but I am happy to have such a great team on our schedule, as it will really help prepare us for conference play.
You are 1 of 2 seniors on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? I have always tried to lead in different ways. I have not been the loudest guy in the past but I am trying to become more vocal. I think the guys respect me and really listen to me. I try to lead by example so it should be easy for me to step into that role.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I have high goals and I will not set our standards any lower than last year. We really want to win the conference this year and hopefully I can be a good leader. It will be a fun battle and we are looking forward to the challenge. Our coaches will keep our expectations high even if other people think we will have a down year.