Talk about a win-win: Scottie James transferred from Bradley to Liberty back in 2016, and last Sunday the Braves AND the Flames won their respective conference tourney title games on the very same day to earn automatic bids to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Flames made the NCAA tourney 3 times as a member of the Big South from 1994-2013 but this marks their 1st trip as a member of the Atlantic Sun…which they joined just last year. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Atlantic Sun conference tourney MVP Scottie James about what it feels like to make the tourney for the very 1st time.
You began your college career at Bradley: why did you decide to transfer, and how did it feel after learning that the Braves clinched a spot in the NCAA tourney the very same night that you did? I liked the school but it just was not a good fit for me basketball-wise. I was happy for them when I learned that they made it: I still keep in touch with a few of their guys.
You decided to transfer to Liberty in 2016: what makes Coach Ritchie McKay such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him? The best thing about him is that he really cares about us as people and our development spiritually. His personal relationship with us allows us to trust him and his competitive drive is great: I love it because I am a competitive person.
You have played in 3 different conferences during the past few years (MVC/Big South/Atlantic Sun): how difficult has it been to adjust to a new group of conference opponents every single year? I have not had back-to-back years in the same conference but it is cool to meet different players every year: it helps you become a more versatile player.
You have been top-10 in the nation in FG% during each of the past 2 years: what is the key to being a great shooter? A lot of the credit goes to my teammates who get me in great spots to get easy buckets. I try to be patient on my post-ups and wait for my guys to lead me.
In the 2018 CIT semifinal you had 3 BLK in a loss to Illinois-Chicago: what did you learn from your postseason run last March that will help you this March? It helped us last weekend: just having a feel for how a tournament goes is important. Last year we realized that it is win or go home, which is an extra incentive that will help us come together as a team.
2 of your 6 losses this year were to Alabama & Lipscomb: which of these 2 bubble teams impressed you the most? That is a tough question. We played Alabama pretty early in the season: they had a few good guards and Donta Hall is tough to play against. Lipscomb shoots the ball really well and we played them 3 times. I think that they both deserve to make the NCAA tourney because they are both really good teams.
In the Atlantic Sun tourney title game on Sunday you had 17 PTS in a 6-PT win over Lipscomb en route to being named conference tourney MVP: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what has the reaction been like since returning to campus? It meant a lot to me. Coming out of high school I was not heavily recruited and I did not do too much during my time at Bradley. Some people told me that I would not make it but now we have finally won a championship! It is spring break here so there are not a lot of student on campus. However, we had a decent crowd after getting off the bus when we returned and there is a lot of people talking about us on social media.
Will you guys be doing anything special for JR F Myo Baxter-Bell’s birthday next Monday? I am sure that we will get together and do something fun. Myo is a funny guy and everybody loves him: even our opponents!
Your father David played pro basketball and your mother Christy is a professor at Liberty: what did your mom teach you about being a student, and what did your dad teach you about being an athlete? My mom taught me for a couple classes in middle school and became a professor here during my 1st year. She taught me to stay on top of my work and make sure that I am being studious. My dad has always been really hard on me in terms of rebounding. He was short in high school before growing late and all he did was rebound/score around the rim. He has taught me to become more versatile but stressed rebounding because that is 1 part of the game where you can be selfish. I would not be where I am today without them.
What kind of seed do you think that you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think that you are going to get? It does not really matter to me. I have heard from other people that we will get a 12-13 seed but nothing is set in stone yet. No matter what seed we get we will be ready to go.