Now that the NBA draft is in the books, your 2 main opportunities to see some basketball in the months ahead are the NBA Summer League and The Basketball Tournament. The TBT is an open-application, single-elimination tourney featuring 64 teams and offering $2 million in winner-take-all prize money. There will be 8 regionals during July in Columbus/Greensboro/Lexington/Memphis/Salt Lake City/Wichita/Richmond/Syracuse, followed by the final 3 rounds during August in Chicago. We continue our preview coverage with Jon Elmore, who graduated from Marshall this year with the most PTS/AST in Conference USA history. He will play for the West Virginia Wildcats next month along with his brother Ot and former 2-time C-USA all-defensive team honoree Pierria Henry. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jon about winning the CIT and proposing to his girlfriend during Senior Day.
You began your college career at VMI: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Marshall? During my freshman year my brother was my teammate but our grandfather got sick and we determined that it was best for us to withdraw from school and take care of him. It was really sad how it all happened but family comes 1st. A couple of months went by in Charleston and Marshall happened to be the closest D-1 school. I enrolled, talked to Coach Dan D’Antoni on the very 1st day, he gave me a tryout, and the rest is history.
In the 2018 conference tourney title game you scored 27 PTS/7-13 3PM in a 1-PT win over Western Kentucky en route to being named MVP: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I started that game out kind of slow and could not get into a rhythm. It was a really close game with an NCAA tourney spot on the line and in the 2nd half I just got hot. We flew back to Huntington and people were going nuts. We had a watch party on Selection Sunday: it was a dream come true.
In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored 27 PTS/4-8 3PM in a 6-PT upset of Wichita State: how big a deal was it to get the 1st NCAA tourney win in school history? It was huge. You grow up watching March Madness so to be a part of it was really cool. My family flew out to San Diego to watch me. Not a lot of people thought that we could beat a #4 seed but I thought that we would.
On Senior Day last March you proposed to your girlfriend Tori Dent: were you sure that she was going to say yes, and have you 2 set a date yet? I was pretty sure that she would say yes! I gave Coach a heads-up in advance and he gave me the okay. I told him that I was not sure that I would be able to play if she said no: I was worried about looking like an idiot. We do not have a specific date yet but are shooting for next summer.
In the 2019 CIT title game you scored 17 PTS in a win over Green Bay: what did it mean to you to win a title in your final college game? It was not the NCAA tourney but it was a really good way to go out. Not a lot of people win their final game at home so to cut down the nets on your home court with 7000 people sticking around to watch was a storybook ending.
You finished your Conference USA career with the most PTS/AST/3PM in league history: do you think that anyone will ever break your records? I hope not! If anyone breaks them they will have had a heck of a career…but hopefully not anytime soon.
You are the only player in D-1 history with 2500+ PTS/750+ AST: what is the key to being a great PG? You need the ability to make the guys around you better. You are kind of the coach out on the floor and have to see plays ahead of time and understand the flow of the game. I always studied the game growing up and it paid off.
You and your father Gay broke Steph/Dell Curry’s record to become the highest-scoring father-son combination in D-1 history with 5061 total PTS: who is the best athlete in the family? It was probably my dad but it is close. I think I have the edge on looks!
Next month you will be playing for the West Virginia Wildcats in the TBT: why did you decide to participate, and how is the team looking at the moment? It started off as my brother’s idea. My 1st and foremost goal is making the NBA so I am doing workouts but if I am not on a roster then I will be in the TBT. We have a lot of West Virginia dudes and some guys playing at a high level overseas. We are playing with guys we grew up with for a chance to win $2 million so it is pretty fun.
What is the post-college plan? I want to play basketball for as long as possible until the wheels fall off. After that happens I want to coach at a high level and stay in the sport for a really long time.