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We continue our season preview coverage with Abilene Christian SR SG Payten Ricks. During the preseason every single team is talking about the desire to improve, but it will be hard for the Wildcats to top last year. After 7 straight seasons with a record of .500 or worse, ACU went 27-7 last season and won the Southland Conference tourney title game by 17 PTS before running into another group of Wildcats from Lexington. Coach Joe Golding lost 5 of his top-6 scorers from last year so he will rely heavily on his SR SG to lead the way this year. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Payten about making a game-winner last January and facing Kentucky in the NCAA tourney.
You grew up in Kansas: what made you choose Abilene Christian? After being recruited by ACU and taking my visit, I liked the Christian aspect of the school. The community was very inviting, the coaching staff was genuine, and the players were really close with each other. I enjoyed my visit and even wanted to commit while still on campus but I waited until I got home to make sure. I committed a couple of days afterward because I still felt like it was the best fit for me.
You play for Coach Joe Golding: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? Coach Golding is a good coach because he cares for his players and respects us as men, not just as basketball players. I really value that fact that he genuinely cares for our well-being and prepares his players for life after college as well. The most important thing that I have learned from him is to not change no matter the circumstances or who you are around. For example, he wore the infamous navy blue suit with a rip in his pants at the NCAA tournament last March. He could have bought a new suit but he stayed true to who he is.
You played in 28 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? The coaches trusted me enough to put me in the starting lineup and my teammates instilled the confidence in me that I could play at this level even though I was just a freshman.
Last January you scored a game-high 22 PTS including a 3-PT shot with 2.7 seconds left in a 3-PT win at Southeastern Louisiana: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I have worked on that shot a lot during my career so it felt natural and I felt it had a good chance of going in: thankfully it fell through the net. It ranks pretty high for me in my career.
You shot 84.2 FT% last year: what is the secret to making FTs? The secret to making free throws is confidence and extra reps, but I would say mostly confidence.
In the 2019 NCAA tourney you had 3 STL in a loss to Kentucky: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? I learned a lot from the Kentucky game mentally: it was the biggest stage of basketball that I have played on and I kind of let the bright lights get to me. I learned that although it is a surreal experience you still have to prepare the same way and not lose sight of why you are there and how you got there.
Your non-conference schedule includes road games at UNLV/SMU/Wichita State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Wichita State for sure. I almost always forget that they are technically a mid-major school because they have been so successful in the past. They are disciplined in what they do and are a very good defensive team. That is also a home game for me in Kansas that I am looking forward to.
You are 1 of 3 seniors on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this season? I have to step up and take more of a leadership role and that is going to be vocally. There is not much pressure because every one of my teammates has confidence in me and I have just as much confidence in them. Trey Lenox is one of our seniors who I have roomed with since I have been here: he has been more vocal than ever and is embracing a leadership role as well. We have more than just one leader on this team and that will be huge for us.
You lost each of your other top-6 scorers from last year (Jaren Lewis/Jalone Friday/Jaylen Franklin/BJ Maxwell/Hayden Farquhar): how will you try to replace all of that offense? We have 5 incoming guys this year who are going to help us right away to replace the scoring from the other top-6 scorers from last year. I do not think that we will have a problem scoring the ball as a team: our biggest focus is growing defensively.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goals for this season are to make it to the NCAA tournament again and be the #1 defensive team in the conference. I expect that we will have another successful year as long as our group stays together and we trust our coaching staff.