From 2001-2010 the 2 lowest seeded teams in the NCAA tourney played in an Opening Round game at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, OH. In 2011 the NCAA changed the format to a series of play-in games between teams holding the 4 lowest-seeded auto-bids and the 4 lowest-seeded at-large bids called the 1st 4. Today we should be talking about last night’s 1st 4 games (perhaps UCLA and NC State having a rematch of their 1974 Final 4 2-OT game that ended the Bruins’ streak of 7 straight NCAA titles, or Winthrop and NC Central engaging in a battle of the Carolinas?), but instead we are left to wonder what could have been. 3 of the 4 1st 4 games in 2011 were yawners with a final winning margin of 9+ PTS but the 4th was a 4-PT OT thriller with UNC Asheville beating Little Rock. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with former Bulldog PG JP Primm about winning that 1st 4 game in 2011 and almost becoming the 1st #16-seed to ever upset a #1-seed in 2012.
At Dickson County High School you were invited to play in All-Star games for both basketball/football: which sport were you best at, and which 1 did you enjoy the most? My best sport was probably baseball but I fell in love with basketball during my sophomore year. I was playing football as well and loved whatever sport I was doing at the time, but due to the way the seasons fell and since basketball was the last 1 of the year it drove me to continue playing that sport.
You played for Coach Eddie Biedenbach at UNC Asheville: what made him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He really gave me a shot and I learned a lot from him as well as the 2 guys who recruited me: Nick McDevitt, who is now head coach at Middle Tennessee, and Brett Carey, who is now an assistant coach at Indiana State. I learned how to lead, how to talk to different guys in the huddle, etc.
You played 31 games as a freshman and led the team with 139 AST: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? Once you join a new team you have to find your niche and figure out how you can fit in. I am a natural leader so I wanted to lead by example even as a freshman. I was constantly in the gym trying to get better, which helped me gain a lot of respect from the older players.
In the 2011 Big South tourney title game you scored 7 PTS in a win at Coastal Carolina: how much of a home-court advantage did the Chanticleers have at Kimbel Arena, and what was the reaction like after you got back to campus? They had an advantage but we were a veteran team who understood what we had to do. Our coaching staff explained that it would be a game of runs and we rallied together possession by possession.
In the 2011 1st 4 you scored 22 PTS in a 4-PT OT win over Little Rock and sealed the win by making several FTs down the stretch and a STL in the final seconds: what did it mean to you to win a game in the NCAA tourney? It meant a lot: it is every kid’s dream while watching the NCAA tourney on TV. It is 1 thing to be excited to just be in it but it is another to not just be satisfied with that goal. It was such a rewarding feeling after all of our 6AM workouts and the hard work we put in every summer. It was super-exciting for all of us.
In the 2012 NCAA tourney you scored a team-high 18 PTS in a 7-PT loss to Syracuse: how close did you come to being the 1st #16-seed to ever upset a #1-seed, and what did you think of the 2 calls that went against your team in the final 2 minutes (a lane violation called against you and a ball that appeared to go out of bounds off Brandon Triche that was given to the Orange)? I do not like pointing fingers at the refs because if we could have handled our business then it would not have mattered. They did not cost us the game but rather the opportunity of winning, if that makes sense. I felt like I was shooting into the ocean that night so if we had a couple of calls go our way then I think I could have made a shot at the end to win it. I was doing the same thing during FT attempts every single time so replays would have been very crucial back then. If we had won that game then the future of some of our players would have changed tremendously.
As a senior your 75 3PM/84.2 FT% were each top-3 in the conference: what is the key to being a great shooter? Just spending a lot of time in the gym. Coach Carey put me on a summer shooting challenge before my senior year where I had to make 100,000 shots(!) in 84 days: he would call to check in on me and make sure that I stayed on pace. He said that I could lie to him but would not get anything out of it so I bought into it and was true to it. I completed the challenge on the final day, which was a huge thing for me.
You remain the all-time leader in school history in both AST/STL: how did you balance your offense with your defense, and do you think that anyone will ever break your records? I had the role of leading the team as a freshman and had some great players around me who could shoot the cover off the ball. The last thing I wanted to do was make my teammates not like me so I would share the ball like crazy. Once I started catching on to being a better defender by anticipating passes and blowing up pick and rolls, that helped keep me on the court.
After graduation you played professionally in different countries for a few years: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? It is very different in many ways. It is not just the basketball part: when you are playing for a coach in France who does not speak any English is a tough transition! I was the low man on the totem pole but they expect a lot out of anyone when they are paying them $100,000. I got called for 3-4 walks in my very 1st preseason game: it was 1 of my biggest struggles because I have such a quick 1st step that the refs just took away from me.
You currently work as a basketball trainer: what makes your training different from other programs, and what do you hope to do in the future? I have a lot of things going on with my training. Everyone who works with kids thinks they are a trainer but I evaluate my players and have more than 100 kids in my AAU program. I am fighting to really build that up and some of our older guys are getting D-1 high-major offers. I am going to have a feeder program so it is all starting to come together. I would not trade it for anything because it is my calling from God and I get to give back to kids and try to help change their lives.