Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Lorenzo Romar about former Washington star Brandon Roy

Posted on July 23, 2021 by Jon Teitel

The list of great NBA players whose careers were cut short due to injury is a long 1: Grant Hill/Bill Walton/Jay Williams and many many others. Brandon Roy certainly qualifies after 1st looking like he was heading for the Hall of Fame: 2006 All-American at Washington, 2007 NBA ROY in Portland, and 3 straight All-Star appearances from 2008-2010 followed by Kobe Bryant calling him “the hardest player to guard in the West”. Just before NBA training camps opened in 2011 Roy announced that he would be retiring due to degeneration that had occurred in both of his knees. He later became head coach at Nathan Hale High School and was named 2017 Naismith National High School Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 29-0 regular season record. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Brandon’s college coach Lorenzo Romar about his clutch player and making the NCAA tourney. Today is Brandon’s 37th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

After graduating from Garfield High School in 2002 Brandon was an early-entry candidate for the NBA draft before eventually deciding to withdraw his name: how close did he come to going pro, and what made him change his mind? There is a misconception as to why he tried to do that. If he could have been a lottery pick out of high school then he would have done it. He had not yet qualified for college so there was that carrot there. If you see Lebron James standing at the other end of the playground then you want to see how you stand up against the best. Brandon was not an arrogant kid: he just wanted to check it out.

What are your memories of the 2004 NCAA tourney (Roy had 9 REB/7 AST in a 2-PT loss to UAB)? It was a high-scoring game (102-100) that was very exciting. We sat a couple of starters for missing curfew.

In December of 2005 he scored a career-high 35 PTS in a win over ASU (after missing 7 of his 1st 10 shots), followed by another 35 PTS in a 2-OT loss to Arizona (he made a 3-PT shot to send the game into OT and another 3-PT shot at the buzzer to send the game into double-OT): where does he rank among the greatest clutch players you have ever seen? I know that he was clutch: there were not many other players in the country that year who I would rather have the ball in their hands. If you doubled off of him then he would find an open teammate. He was so versatile: he could hit a game-winning 3 or post you up or beat you off the dribble. It set him apart from everyone else in the country.

In 2006 he was named conference POY/All-American: what did it mean to him to win such outstanding honors? He was not even all-conference as a junior and was not our most recognized player but he finally got the recognition as a senior when it all came together for him.

Take me through the 2006 NCAA tourney:
Roy scored 21 PTS in a 3-PT win over Illinois: how were you able to overcome an 11-PT deficit with 13 minutes left? He had a lot to do with that. We really clamped down defensively to force some missed shots. He had 1 great play down the stretch where he went 1-on-4 to score a tough basket.

Roy scored 20 PTS in a 6-PT OT loss to UConn: what impact did his foul situation have on the game (he went chest-to-chest with Rudy Gay in 2nd half and got called for both a technical and a personal foul, giving him 4 fouls and forcing him to the bench for several minutes)? I think it changed the entire game because we were up by several points at the time he went to the bench.

In the summer of 2006 he was drafted 6th overall by Minnesota (4 spots behind LaMarcus Aldridge), then immediately traded to Portland for Randy Foye: was it hard for him to separate the personal side from the business side of professional sports? It did not hit him at that point: I think he was just excited to be in Portland, which was the next best thing to being in Seattle. I think it hit him more after he became a free agent.

In 2007 he was named NBA ROY: how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros despite a left heel injury that limited him to 57 games? I talked to an NBA administrator that year and I said that his team would be helped if he drafted Brandon. The administrator said he needed veterans…and I said that by January Brandon would be a veteran! He is an old soul with a very high basketball IQ. He was fundamentally sound so he was ready to become the face of the franchise right away.

In the 2008 All-Star Game he scored a game-high 18 PTS in 16 minutes for the West off the bench in a 6-PT loss to East: how was he able to play his best against the best? I do not know if he was that surprised: he felt that he belonged.

In December of 2008 he scored a career-high 52 PTS (with no turnovers) in a win over Phoenix, and the following month he had a career-high 10 STL in a win over Washington (1 shy of the NBA record): how was he able to balance his offense with his defense? He is such a well-rounded player. As a senior for us he did a little bit of everything.

In 2011 he underwent arthroscopic surgery on both his knees, then announced his retirement at age 27 due to a degenerative knee condition, but decided to return to the NBA in 2012 before being waived in 2013: how good do you think that he could have been if he had been able to stay healthy? I think he could have been a Hall of Famer.

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We Want the Funk: HoopsHD interviews former TCU star Lee Nailon

Posted on July 21, 2021 by Jon Teitel

The NBA Finals are all done but you still have a few opportunities to see some basketball in the months ahead: Olympics, NBA Summer League, and The Basketball Tournament. The TBT is an open-application, single-elimination tourney featuring 64 teams and offering $1 million in winner-take-all prize money. There will be 4 regionals during July in Columbus/Illinois/West Virginia/Wichita, followed by the semifinals/final during August in Dayton. We commence our coverage with Lee Nailon, who was 1 of the best scorers in the nation for 2 straight years at TCU in 1998/1999 before spending 15 years playing pro basketball in the NBA/overseas. He is the coach of the Fort Worth Funk, who played Team Arkansas last week. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Lee about being a great scorer and running a catering company.

After high school you attended a pair of community colleges: what made you choose TCU? My dream was to play in the NBA like my Indiana hometown hero Shawn Kemp. I did not have great grades coming out of high school so I chose to go to junior college for a couple of years. Coach Billy Tubbs was honest with me and won me over. He said that he would help me reach the NBA and he kept his word.

Coach Tubbs passed away last November: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was hard on us and held us accountable. He taught us to work hard and put family 1st.

In 1998 you were named All-American/WAC POY: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I did not play the game for honors but I was humbly excited.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney you scored 32 PTS/12-22 FG in a 9-PT loss to #12-seed Florida State: why are those 5-seed-vs.-12-seed games such a toss-up? Thanks for reminding me: I am still mad about that 1! It was a great experience and that was probably the best college team I played for. After that season it seemed like a lot of 12-seeds started upsetting 5-seeds so I think we started it. We went 16-0 in conference play and Coach Tubbs knew exactly how to get the best out of us in every single game. I fouled out with 5 minutes to go against FSU and that was the ball game.

You were 1 of the best scorers in nation for 2 years in a row (24.9 PPG in 1998/22.8 PPG in 1999): what is the secret to being a great scorer? In 1998 I lost out by a couple of PTS to Charles Jones from LIU. A lot of guys are great 1-on-1 players but what turned me into a great scorer was trying to score so that I could hear my name called out loud by the PA announcer.

On January 16, 2005 you scored a career-high 32 PTS/14-20 FG for New Orleans in a 3-PT loss to Toronto: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I do not even remember that game but I guess I was on fire that night!

In 2007 you were named Israeli League MVP and led Bnei HaSharon to the Israeli Cup final before losing to Hapoel Jerusalem: how big a deal was it to upset Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semifinal? When I 1st came to Israel I was told that we had to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv but I had not followed the league that much in the past. People on the streets would tell me that they were the best team and it pissed me off that every other team in the league had been written off. We had already beaten them 2-3 times during the regular season and our coach/GM really wanted to beat them in the playoffs. They had a pretty good team but we had a better coach. I did not think that I would win MVP: I was just trying to get a better job but looking back on it now it was huge to win that award.

After spending several years playing pro basketball overseas you moved back to Dallas with your wife and opened a catering company called Dough & Tips (www.facebook.com/groups/636365830293158): how is the food business treating you so far? We are doing really well and it took off really fast. We got our 1st deal with Ronald McDonald’s and it just snowballed after that. We are giving back and feeding really good soul food to people all over the DFW area.

You also created an AAU team and work with unsigned seniors to help them get college scholarships: are we going to see you become a college coach in the future? I would love to coach at TCU but some dreams do not come true. My passion/focus is to give back to Fort Worth because the city embraced me so I will always give them my best. My goal is to share all of the knowledge with players that I got while playing overseas.

You coached the Fort Worth Funk in this year’s TBT: how close did you come to beating Team Arkansas last week, and what were you going to do with your share of the $1 million prize money if you had won it all? We were 1 possession away. What the players do not understand is that you have to get together early: we only had a few weeks to put the team together because we got a late start and only held a couple practices. Hopefully we can get together sooner next year to build some chemistry/trust, which are the most important things. After we win next year I will give some of the proceeds to the foundations that are near and dear to me.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Kevin Baggett/Don Harnum about Rider legend Jason Thompson

Posted on July 21, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Last spring Austin Peay’s Terry Taylor became the most recent member of the 2000 PTS/1000 REB club. Another member of that exclusive club is Jason Thompson, who finished his career at Rider with 2040 PTS/1171 REB. After being named 2008 MAAC POY he was drafted 12th overall by Sacramento and spent almost a decade in the NBA, and has played pro basketball overseas for the past several years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Kevin Baggett and AD Don Harnum about Jason’s amazing career. Today is Jason’s 35th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

Jason grew up in New Jersey: what made him chose Rider? Kevin Baggett: He had some other options. There were a lot of schools that wanted him to redshirt or go to prep school for 1 year but he had an opportunity to come here and play right away. Don Harnum: He is a family-type of kid who did not want to go far away from home. We recruited him the hardest and his parents were at every single game but he was not a lottery pick when he 1st arrived here.

As a senior he was named conference POY: what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? KB: I think that it was a great accomplishment but he cared more about winning championships. Unfortunately we had some injuries in the MAAC tourney. DH: People act like he was 6’3” when we recruited him and that he just ended up growing to 6’11” but that is not true. The narrative is that he was 6’7” when we started recruiting him and 6’8” when he committed to us. He also grew as a player who was driven to get into the gym all the time. I was his coach as a freshman and we played him early on: at a bigger school he would probably not have played until his junior year.

In the 2008 MAAC tourney title game he had 22 PTS/12 REB in a loss to Siena: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? KB: It probably ranks up there because we were having a really good year. We lost 3 starters in the semifinals including Jason’s brother Ryan. I am sure there were some other tough games along the way. DH: In the semifinals he played 1 of his best games ever but by the finals we had lost 3 starters to injury and Siena double-teamed him all over the court.

He averaged 16.7 PPG/9.6 RPG in 122 career college games: how was he able to balance his scoring with his rebounding? KB: He was just willing to do whatever it took for us to win. He could bring the ball up against the press, guard the other team’s best player even if it was not a center, etc. We have not had anyone else who made the impact that he did. DH: He was always able to rebound right off the bat: NBA scouts told me that rebounding was always a skill that consistently transferred to the next level. He was quick/mobile and was simply the biggest dude in the league. He was long and could run the court.

He graduated as the all-time leading rebounder/shot-blocker in school history: what was his secret for being a great rebounder/shot-blocker? KB: Being 6’11” helped: he arrived here at 6’7” but left with a size-19 shoe! The MAAC is more of a guard-oriented league but he altered a lot of shots while being a 2-time conference DPOY. DH: He was long, quick off his feet, and had a good level of alertness.

In the summer of 2008 he was selected 12th overall by Sacramento in the NBA draft (2 spots behind 2021 NBA champ Brook Lopez): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? KB: It meant a lot to both him and his family and said a lot about his work ethic/dedication. There were many times we had to kick him off the court because he was always working on his moves. We tried to protect him as much as possible but he wanted to be out there for every single possession to show his teammates how committed he was. To come out of a mid-major school and get drafted was a great day for everyone: he still sleeps/breathes Rider and has donated more than $1 million to our university. DH: He was not even on the NBA’s radar until late in his junior year so he is kind of a unique case. We did not even discuss the NBA when we signed him but I thought that we stole 1 when he came here. I give him and his coaches credit for that but late in his senior year the scouts started showing up. He was almost giddy to discover that people were looking at him because he was not a top-5 recruit coming out of high school.

As a rookie he played all 82 games while averaging 11.1 PPG/7.4 RPG: how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? KB: He stayed within himself and never tried to do anything he was incapable of doing. He was a glue guy who would rebound/defend/run the floor. Watching him play by giving up his body/taking charges reminded me of how he played in college. He was never a problem off the court and still works harder that most players I have ever been around. DH: Part of it was that he was physically mature. He was not just a low-post player: he could shoot/drive and was more ready as a 4-year guy. He was in Chicago training with his agent, who put a lot of pressure on him not to return for graduation, but he insisted on returning to campus to walk across the stage and get his diploma.

He made the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals with Toronto and has spent the past several years playing pro basketball overseas: how proud are you of all his success? KB: I tell people this all the time: I am happy for him to live his dream but am prouder of the person who got his degree in 4 years and continued to stay humble. He never changed even after making some money: he is committed to his craft and could still probably play in the NBA. The fact he was willing to travel abroad for the love of the game says a lot about him. DH: He is such a good guy. We just built a new practice facility and he comes back to work out with our guys every single summer. His name is on that court and he also helped us renovate our locker rooms. He has given back and is proud of having gone here. He brings his friends and we have quality pickup games all summer long in our gym.

1 of his college teammates was his younger brother Ryan, who also played pro basketball in Europe: who is the best athlete in the family? KB: Ryan is: I think that he should have played in the NBA as well. At 6’6” he could play 4 positions for us and his basketball IQ was as high as anyone who ever played for me. If Ryan really decided that he wanted to be in the NBA then I think he could have made it. DH: You are not getting me into that 1! Ryan is 6’6” and can probably play 4 different positions. He is 1 heck of an athlete but Jason had 5″ on him, which makes a huge difference.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? KB: A great person. When he comes into a room people light up and gravitate toward his presence. What separates him from a lot of people is his ability to be “different”: he has a work ethic and is willing to commit himself to what he wants to accomplish. He has great character and great parents and congratulates our team all the time: I cannot say enough about him. DH: The best way to say it is that he is 1 of 2 retired numbers that we have ever had. His name is on our court forever, which is a pretty good legacy.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews former Presbyterian coach Gregg Nibert

Posted on July 20, 2021 by Jon Teitel

You cannot think about Presbyterian basketball without thinking of Gregg Nibert. After spending a few years there as an assistant in the 1980s, he took over as head coach in 1989 and won more than 400 games before stepping down in 2017 with a winning record. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Nibert about making the leap to D-1 and facing a high school phenom named Zion Williamson. Today is Coach Nibert’s 64th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

You played basketball at Marietta College: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? I was a very knowledgeable PG and started my final 2 years on the varsity. I played good defense and got the ball to the good players on my team. I knew that I probably wanted to coach and always wondered why guys did what they did on the court. My head coach Phil Roach knew Mike Schuler who was the head coach at Rice and I became his grad assistant.

You became head coach at Presbyterian in 1989: why did you take the job, and could you have ever imagined that you would stick around for almost 3 decades? I started there as an assistant with Butch Estes before becoming an assistant at Furman for 5 years and later returning to Presbyterian. That was another dream come true: my wife is from Simpsonville which is right up the road. We were an NAIA school at the time before joining D-2 for about 15 years and then going to D-1.

In 1996 you won the South Atlantic Conference tourney title: how big a deal was it at the time? That was a huge deal because we had just moved up to D-2 in the early 1990s. We had some really nice teams and made the D-2 tourney in consecutive years in 1996/1997. It was a heck of a league with some really good coaches.

You were a 2-time SAC COY: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I had some top-notch assistants and recruited some low-D-1 players who wanted to get a great degree. We were a 1st-class school who played some D-1 teams like Charleston and traveled abroad and made some D-2 tourneys. My guys wanted to win and some of them even turned down D-1 schools to come here: they were hard-nosed/tough and worked hard.

In 2007 your school made the leap to D-1 and you ended up playing 25 of 30 games on the road: what is the biggest difference between D-2 and D-1, and how exhausted were you by the end of that year? To play Duke/UNC and beat a ranked Cincy team made me have to pinch myself! When we found out that we were not going to be in a conference we decided to get our name out around the country and bring in as much money as we could from guarantee games. We went all over the country and made about $650,000. I knew the guys wanted to travel and we recruited some nice players but it was probably a bit much. We were all a little weary to be honest and when you are used to winning the losing can be tough on everyone.

Every single 1 of your seniors graduated from Presbyterian during your tenure: how much importance do you place on academics? We tell them from the get-go that academics came 1st: we scheduled our practices around classes and we wanted our guys to get their degrees. Some of them went on to play pro basketball but they all knew that the ball would stop bouncing eventually. We had 1 guy who did not graduate after a terrible spring semester but he might have gone back to get his degree later.

You remain the all-time winningest coach in school history: what makes you such a great coach, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? The most fortunate thing is longevity: I was there for 28 years and won more than 400 games. Our staff got some great players who were mentally tough and played good defense. They had a tremendous work ethic and were very physical. We beat Wake Forest/Auburn in back-to-back games 1 year!

You later became an assistant coach at Spartanburg Christian Academy: how did you like the job, and what do you hope to do in the future? It was really neat! When I was a head coach I learned early on that loyalty was extremely important and I was very blessed to be at a great school. I have known head coach Chris Arp for a long time and he runs the same point-zone defense that I ran at Presbyterian. The kids look up to him and I was proud to be in a different role. I enjoyed it a lot and we were close to winning a championship.

A few years ago in your school’s game against Spartanburg Day School, Zion Williamson had 37 PTS/10 REB/5 STL in a 31-PT win in the SCISA Region I-2A tournament: how dominant was he in high school, and what do you think his ceiling will be in the NBA? I heard all of the unbelievable stories: everyone loved him even if he was pounding a dunk on you. Every gym was standing-room-only wherever he played. There is no doubt that everyone is in awe of a 290-pound player who is so athletic. I think that he will become 1 of the best NBA players ever. He has a really compassionate heart, wants to win, and is like a sponge because he wants to learn as much as he can. He cares about his teammates and does whatever it takes to win.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? We took a challenge and were 1 of the best teams in NAIA. We almost made the Elite 8 in 2003 and made a good plan to go to D-1. We lost our D-1 status for 1 year so our seniors had to essentially redshirt for 1 year but were still right on par to do some good things that nobody expected us to do. Guys got better while they were there both as individuals and as a team, which is what any head coach wants to happen.

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2021 NBA Mock Draft (Version 2.0)

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Jon Teitel

The NBA Draft is scheduled to take place on July 29th and until then we will do our best to predict where everyone will get selected. Some websites do their mock drafts based on “best player available” but we try to focus on team needs: for example, if a team like Houston already has John Wall at the 1-spot then they are probably not selecting a point guard with the #2 overall pick. Please see our 1st round predictions below and then tweet us your comments regarding what looks good and what might need a re-pick.

#. TEAM: NAME, POSITION (SCHOOL/YEAR OR COUNTRY)
1. Detroit: Cade Cunningham, PG/SG (Oklahoma State/FR)
2. Houston: Jalen Green, SG (G-League/FR)
3. Cleveland: Evan Mobley, PF/C (USC/FR)
4. Toronto: Jalen Suggs, PG (Gonzaga/FR)
5. Orlando: Jonathan Kuminga, SF/PF (G-League/FR)
6. Oklahoma City: Scottie Barnes, SF/PF (Florida State/FR)
7. Golden State: Keon Johnson, SG/SF (Tennessee/FR)
8. Orlando: Jalen Johnson, SF (Duke/FR)
9. Sacramento: Kai Jones, C (Texas/SO)
10. New Orleans: James Bouknight, SG (UConn/SO)
11. Charlotte: Davion Mitchell, PG (Baylor/JR)
12. San Antonio: Ziaire Williams, SG/SF (Stanford/FR)
13. Indiana: Franz Wagner, SF/PF (Michigan/SO)
14. Golden State: Moses Moody, SG (Arkansas/FR)
15. Washington: Corey Kispert, SG/SF (Gonzaga/SR)
16. Oklahoma City: Josh Giddey, PG (Australia/INTL)
17. Memphis: Miles McBride, PG (West Virginia/SO)
18. Oklahoma City: Alperen Sengun, C (Turkey/INTL)
19. New York: Usman Garuba, PF/C (Spain/INTL)
20. Atlanta: Cameron Thomas, SG (LSU/FR)
21. New York: Jaden Springer, SG (Tennessee/FR)
22. LA Lakers: Ayo Dosunmu, PG/SG (Illinois/JR)
23. Houston: Tre Mann, PG (Florida/SO)
24. Houston: Trey Murphy III, SG (Virginia/JR)
25. LA Clippers: Nah’Shon Hyland, PG/SG (VCU/SO)
26. Denver: Chris Duarte, SG (Oregon/SR)
27. Brooklyn: Josh Primo, SG (Alabama/FR)
28. Philadelphia: Josh Christopher, SG (Arizona State/FR)
29. Phoenix: Jared Butler, PG/SG (Baylor/JR)
30. Utah: BJ Boston, SG (Kentucky/FR)

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2021 Draft Preview: HoopsHD interviews San Diego State prospect Jordan Schakel

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Jon Teitel

With only a few games remaining in the NBA playoffs it is never too early to start preparing for next year. The lottery was held on June 22nd, the final deadline for early entry withdrawal is July 19th, and the draft will take place on July 29th. We will spend the rest of the month interviewing as many members of the 2021 draft class as possible. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel commences our coverage by chatting with Jordan Schakel about being a great shooter and what it would mean to him to get drafted.

You were born/raised in California and both of your parents went to USC: what made you choose San Diego State? Their winning history, energetic fanbase, and 24/7 practice center.

You played for Coach Brian Dutcher: what makes him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? The thing to me that makes him great is his trust and ability to let his players play and not get in their way. I have never played for a coach that let us have so much freedom on the offensive end. As long as you play hard on defense you get the trust to play your game on offense.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored 2 PTS but Rob Gray made a windmill layup with 1.1 seconds left to clinch a 2-PT win by Houston: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That was not as devastating as when we played Utah State in the conference championship my junior year and lost at the buzzer. The shot Sam Merrill hit ended up finishing our season on a sour note, as that was the last game we played before the pandemic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuV0eM9GsY0

In 2020 you went 30-2 (with only a pair of 3-PT losses) and were projected by some to be a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney before it was postponed due to COVID: how close did you come to going undefeated, and where do you think that Aztec team ranks among the greatest in school history? I do not think we were as close to going undefeated as many thought. I think it served us better to lose to UNLV before the conference tourney and then to Utah State before the NCAA tourney because you learn more from losses than you do from wins. We were hungry and humbled after the last loss and I think that we were primed for a Final 4 run. To me that team is top-3 for sure, but I cannot tell you how we compare to the Kawhi Leonard Sweet 16 team in 2011 because we did not get a chance to play in the real tourney. I will say that I would take our team over anyone ever if I am playing!

Last January you scored a career-high 28 PTS in 29 minutes off the bench (including 8-11 3PM) in a win over Colorado State: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? That was a great bounce-back game for us. Colorado State’s game plan was to just leave us open for threes all game long and bank on us going cold and choking at some point. I saw my teammates start passing up open shots and told them to give me the ball and I took every shot that I could. Thankfully I was able to make a high percentage of them and set a school record.

You played in 12 MWC tourney games during your career and won 10 of them (with the 2 losses coming by a combined 10 PTS): what is the key to winning games in March? The key to winning games in March is trusting all of the work that you have put in as a team to get to that point.

You finished your career as the as the #1 FT shooter (87%) and #2 3-PT shooter (42.7%) in school history: what is the secret to being a great shooter? There is not any secret: just hard work, dedication, and not accepting anything short of greatness. I was not born a great shooter and it did not come naturally: I have worked on it every single year.

You had a 4.2 GPA in high school and made the Academic All-Mountain West during each of the past 3 years: how did you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? It was a lot of hard work and late nights studying during the season when I would rather watch basketball or get into the gym. It was a lot of sacrifices that ended up paying off in the end.

You turned 23 last month: what did you do for the big day? I actually was traveling to Boston for a workout on my birthday but I celebrated the night before by going to a UFC fight. I got to see my favorite fighter (Israel Adesanya) live and learned a lot from it.

You are preparing for the NBA Draft this month: what would it mean to you to be drafted, and what is the plan if you do not get selected? It would mean a lot to me to be drafted but regardless of the outcome I feel extremely blessed to be in this position and will be celebrating the end of a long pre-draft process on the 29th. If I do not get drafted then the goal is to make a roster and earn my way into the NBA by playing in the summer league. I know that God has a plan for me so I am not worried where I will end up.

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