Ja Morant had a better week than you did last week. On Tuesday he was named OVC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, on Friday he scored 29 PTS including the game-clinching 3-PT play with 8 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Jacksonville State in the OVC tourney semifinals, and on Saturday he was named conference tourney MVP after scoring 36 PTS in a 12-PT title game win over Belmont to earn an auto-bid to next week’s NCAA tourney. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Ja about his wonderful week and a former AAU teammate of his named Zion.
Your father Tee was a pro basketball player who ended his career after you were born and then helped train you in your backyard: what kind of impact has he had on you both on/off the court? He made me who I am today, both as a young man as well as a basketball player.
You played AAU ball with the South Carolina Hornets where 1 of your teammates was Zion Williamson: how good was your team back in the day, and could you have ever imagined that the 2 of you would become 2 of the top players in college basketball? We had a very good team: we also had Devontae Shuler who is now as sophomore at Ole Miss. I could see that Zion would be a great player as soon as he stepped onto the court.
Last March you had 14 PTS/3 BLK in a loss to West Virginia: what did you learn from that game that you think will help you this March? I just got the feel for the environment so this year I know what it takes. I will be more comfortable this year and that experience from last year will definitely help.
You have scored/assisted very well during each of your 4 losses this year (26 PPG/8 APG vs. Alabama/Auburn/Belmont/Jacksonville) but you also committed 27 TO in those 4 games: do you feel like you have to cut down on the turnovers to give your team a chance to win a game next week? I still feel like we can win a game. Most of my turnovers come when I have the ball in my hands and am just trying to make a play.
Last week you were named conference POY/conference tourney MVP: where does that rank among the best weeks of your life? I would say that it was 1 of the top weeks of my life, especially with us winning the conference championship. It is easily in the top-3.