On May 1st the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to postpone the Draft Lottery and Draft Combine in Chicago due to an abundance of caution regarding the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to all of the seniors who have wrapped up their college careers, the early-entry deadline for underclassmen was August 3rd. The lottery took place on August 20th and the draft is scheduled to take place on November 18th. We will spend the upcoming days interviewing as many members of the 2020 draft class as possible. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with Sacar Anim about being a great 3-PT shooter and what it would mean to him to get drafted.
You won 4 straight state titles at DeLaSalle High School in Minnesota: what is the key to winning championships? Having a great culture within the program, which starts from the top down. Coach Dave Thorson taught us how to be gritty and have a hard-working mentality. Off-court values translate into on-court success….but defense and talent also help!
What made you choose Marquette? I had a good relationship with Coach Wojo (Steve Wojciechowski) after going underrecruited in high school. I created a bond with him and he helped me become the best player that I could be.
What makes Wojo such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He holds you accountable as a player and is able to maximize your potential on a daily basis. He will get on you to correct your mistakes and then move onto the next play. By the time I was a senior I felt that I could talk to him about anything. He played the game at a high level at Duke and learned from 1 of the best in the game in Coach K.
In the 2019 NCAA tourney you had 2 AST in a loss to Murray State: could you tell at the time that Ja Morant (17 PTS/11 REB/16 AST) was going to become a star? Yes: he kind of separated himself from the rest of the pack that year but I was just impressed with the way he acted like a facilitator/floor general.
You were named to the Big East All-Academic Team 3 times during your career: how did you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? It was actually pretty easy because we had a great support system around us. We got a lot of our homework done early in the morning so that we could focus on basketball and taking care of our bodies during the rest of the day. Our coaching staff valued academics as well and helped prepare us both on and off the court because there is life after basketball.
Last season you finished 9th in the conference with 39.2 3P%: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? A lot of it is about confidence because there are some days that you make shots and some days that you miss shots but you just have to stick with it. You become a good shooter during the offseason by getting in a lot of reps during the summer. It is easy to make them in a game after you have made a lot of them in practice.
You were scheduled to play Seton Hall in the Big East tourney last March before learning that the NCAA tourney was canceled due to the coronavirus: what was your reaction when you 1st heard the news, and do you think that it was the right decision? I was shocked at 1st but then I saw how the events were unfolding. I usually watch basketball games at night before going to bed. I remember seeing Rudy Gobert get diagnosed with it, followed by a lot of other conferences that started to cancel their tourneys. I knew it was only a matter of time but the Big East was still 1 of the last ones to cancel. We were definitely going to make the NCAA tourney so it hurt but I think that they made the right decision: there was so much uncertainty back then. It affected a lot of players/families but it is all about the health of the players. It was a learning experience and we all have to adjust to it.
Your teammate Markus Howard finished his career #21 on the NCAA scoring list with 2761 career PTS: what makes him 1 of the greatest scorers in college basketball history, and do you think he is going to end up in the NBA? He is 1 of those elite shooters, especially off the dribble to create his own shot. He can score at all 3 levels, which makes him so deadly. He is quick and has a high IQ and great endurance so I think that he will definitely end up in the NBA.
What is it like to be an African-American man in 2020? It is tough. Racism has always existed in society but it has come to light more this year. It can happen to anyone but it gives me a chance to be thankful for waking up every day. We have inequality in America and need to work on it: I hope we continue to better ourselves so that everyone has equal rights. As long as we stay strong/together we will prevail.
What would it mean to you to get drafted, and what is the plan if you do not get drafted? It would mean the world to me to get drafted: it is what you work from from the 1st minute that you start playing. If it does not happen then it is just part of the process: there are different ways to get to the NBA and I have no problem taking another route to get there.