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We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Xavier SO PG Edmond Sumner. Talent is not the issue: he was named a Freshman All-American last year and a Preseason 1st-Team All-Big East selection this year. However, he got tendonitis in 2014 and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher last New Year’s Eve after a nasty collision. If he can remain healthy this year then the Musketeers should remain in the top-20 for quite a long time. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Edmond about having a brutal non-conference schedule and overcoming a buzzer-beating loss in the NCAA tourney last March.
You grew up in Detroit: what made you choose the Musketeers? I was more of a late bloomer but Xavier had the confidence in me to make me 1 of their priorities. I felt like I could trust them: they are like a family. It is similar to my high school in terms of being a smaller environment.
You play for Coach Chris Mack: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is the same guy each and every day who gives you the good with the bad. Some coaches always give you the bad because they think that might benefit you but if we do something good then he will tell us.
As a freshman you played 6 games before having to redshirt due to a severe case of tendonitis, and last New Year’s Eve (your 20th birthday) you had a collision with 2 Villanova players and had to be removed from the court on a stretcher: how is your health doing at the moment? This is probably the 1st time that my knee is not bothering me. I have done a lot of training to strengthen the muscle around my knee.
In 2015 you were named to the Big East All-Academic Team: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I hate stereotypes like “he just goes to college to play basketball” or “he had other people do his work for him” or “he just came to class because he had to”.
In the 2016 NCAA tourney you scored 11 PTS but Bronson Koenig made a 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 3-PT win by Wisconsin: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career, and what did you learn from that loss that you think can help you this year? We are motivated by it because we know that we could have gone a lot further. It is in the back of our heads a little bit but we are moving forward and not really thinking about it this season.
You finished the season by being named a Freshman All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It means something but I am not a guy who cares a lot about awards: I just go out there and play. I care more about our team winning, which will lead to all of our players getting more individual recognition. I am team-first.
SG JP Macura was named 2016 Big East 6th Man of Year: how crucial is your bench to your team’s success? JP is going to be 1 of our top scorers this year and is 1 of our most efficient scorers. He brings a ton of energy and is a scrappy guy (which is something we need) so he will play a huge role in our success this year. We only have 15 guys so EVERYONE on our team has a big/crucial role. Nobody can play 40 minutes every game throughout the season even though they want to.
Your December non-conference schedule includes 4 games in a row against Baylor/Colorado/Utah/Wake Forest: how do you hope to survive such a gauntlet? When I saw those games come out this summer I was excited. I know 1 guy on Utah who is from Flint so they circled us on their list as the #1 team that they want to beat.
You have several transfers on your roster including Malcolm Bernard from Florida A&M/RaShid Gaston from Norfolk State: what is the key to having everyone come together and bond as a team? Shid has already been here for a year so he is part of the team. It has been a bit of an adjustment for Malcolm but he has blended in well. We wanted to make it feel like home for him so we have bonded with him.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We want to win a Big East title and make it to the Final 4. We got close in the Big East last year but let some games get away from us. This team is more than capable of winning a conference title and getting to the Final 4: we just have to stick together.