We are keeping our fingers crossed in the hope that we can return to a “normal” version of college basketball this fall: fans in the stands, announcers without masks, etc. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen but we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. We continue our coverage with Liberty SO PG Drake Dobbs. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Drake about making the top-10 plays on SportsCenter and his expectations for this season.
You were born/raised in Minnesota: what made you choose Liberty? When I 1st received an offer during my junior year I did not know what the school was about. However, once I came here for my official visit my parents and I were sold on it right away: the coaches were great at interacting with us and it felt like a real family.
You play for Coach Ritchie McKay: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has really high expectations and pushes me to be great every single day. I try to be him on the court by talking/leading: he has taught me a lot of leadership skills and has helped me not only with my life on the court but also my life outside of basketball.
You played in all 29 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I did not try to do too much and just play within myself and know my role. I tried to do whatever I could to help the team win by making a bunch of smart plays here and there and playing my role.
In your 1st home game last December you made a half-court buzzer-beater in a win over St. Francis PA (www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3868203399897356): did you think the shot was going in, and how did you feel about making the top-10 plays on SportsCenter? I did not think it was going in: I thought it was super-short. When I made it I started laughing: it was my 1st 3 of the season and my 1st basket of the game so I could not believe that it went in! It was surreal to be on SportsCenter: I got a lot of followers from that.
Your team began conference play 3-2 last year, then won each of its final 8 Atlantic Sun regular season games and all 3 conference tourney games: what changed in mid-January that allowed your team to run the table? We lost at Stetson on January 15th, which was the turning point in our season. After that loss we broke down what we needed to do and decided that it was not up to our standard so we got back to work and practiced a lot of long/hard hours. Once we got back to what we do every day we started to have success.
You went 13-0 at home last year: what kind of home-court advantage do you have at Liberty Arena? We have a huge advantage: we have not lost in 2-3 years on our home court. We have a really good environment and are used to it: it is tough for teams to come in here and beat us.
In the 2021 NCAA tourney you scored 2 PTS in a 9-PT loss to Oklahoma State: where does #1 overall pick Cade Cunningham rank among the greatest players that you have ever faced? He is probably top-10. He is a pretty good player…but Cuff (Elijah Cuffee) locked him up! He is definitely high up on that list.
Your non-conference schedule includes games against LSU/Missouri: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? They are both really good/talented teams so I am unsure which 1 will be the bigger test. They are tough so we will have to do a good job and play smart/hard/focused when we face them.
Your backcourt mate Darius McGhee is the defending conference POY/conference tourney MVP: what makes him such a great player? There are a lot of things: he is super-fast and really shifty with the ball. He has incredible range from the 3-PT line, which separates him from most other players. He can shoot from deep but can also get downhill and hang in the air against defenders: it is tough to guard a guy like that who can score on all 3 levels. He is also good on defense but we will definitely need him out there this year to score a lot of points.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? The goal is obviously to make it back to the NCAA tourney. I think that we will be really good: it is tough when you have a lot of new guys coming in who do not know the system but we will get them incorporated into the system so they know our plays and how we do things. Once we do that I expect us to be good this year.