Prospect Profile

Q. Did you ever think you’d have this opportunity (to work out for NBA teams)?
A. “It wasn’t even in my mind. I was just worried about going to college, getting a scholarship and playing for a Division-I team but the opportunity presented itself. It’s a good opportunity to come back and try to play for my hometown.”

Q. What’s this experience been like?
A. “Oh, it’s been a good experience. It’s a blessing to be able to be one of the players that gets to come in and travel all over the world to try out for professional league teams.”

Q. I saw you shaking hands and meeting everybody you could, right?
A. “Definitely, I just wanted to go out there and thank them for the opportunity.”

Q. Do you feel like it’s an obstacle that you have to overcome to show that you’re better than a mid-major college?
A. “Definitely, you always want to be criticized. You just have to go up against adversity and then come into these workouts with the best of them and compete and show your level of skill in these workouts. It definitely helps.”

Q. How often do you talk to Stanley Burrell (Xavier)?
A. “Actually, he was at IMG in Bradenton, Florida training with them so we got to talk to each other a lot.”

Q. Have you thought of the prospect of maybe you both landing here at some point?
A. “That would be the best thing for us, to come back to our hometown, both of us being from Indianapolis and growing up together. It would be a good for us.”

Q. Were the Pacers a big part of as you were growing up – he (Burrell) talked yesterday about five minutes about what the Pacers meant – what does this franchise mean to you?
A. “Definitely. It’s one of the franchises that got me into basketball, just watching them from childhood days and growing up, following them and just trying to following in everybody’s footsteps, mimicking moves from everybody and just growing up watching them.”

Q. Where do you see the franchise at? Do you see it building up back towards where it used to be?
A. “Definitely. I see them on the rise and competing for the NBA Finals soon.”

Q. How many workouts have you had scheduled?
A. “This was my third one and I actually have fourteen left.”

Q. Was your body ready for the rigors of going through this process?
A. “It really hasn’t hit me yet but I’m sure it will catch up with me with all of the flying and traveling. I just want to stay off my feet as much as possible, get a lot of rest and drink a lot of fluids.”

Q. Where are you headed to next?
A. “I actually fly out later today to Boston.”

Q. How nerve wracking is all of this – you look over there and see Larry Bird checking you out – do you find it nerve wracking in this process?
A. “Coming into it your nerves are bouncing up and down but once you get on the court and start showcasing your abilities, they tend to calm down.”

Q. Through this workout process what do you feel like you need to establish or show NBA teams about your game?
A. “I just wanted to tune up a lot of things on my game. There are a lot of questions about a lot of things. I just wanted to go out there and show them that I’ve been working and trying to work at the things that are needed to see improvement in.”

Q. How do you think you did today and what kind of feedback have you gotten from them?
A. “I haven’t really gotten any feedback yet. I went to, like I said, walk around shake everybody’s hand, thanking them for the opportunity. Today, I think it went pretty well. We got out there, shot a lot of shots and got to compete a little bit.”

Q. What do you feel like your strongest attribute is?
A. “I bring a lot of on and off the court things like bringing character to the team, my shooting ability and my ability to play defense.”

Q. It’s not a very deep draft as far as shooting guards. Does that make you more optimistic that you might get picked in one of these two rounds?
A. “Definitely. It’s just something to strive for, to just come out and keep working as hard as you can and continue to get better and let your play take care of everything.”

Q. Is this one of those deals where you’ve been working out just in case your not drafted you can still get on the undrafted free agent list?
A. “Definitely. If the opportunity presents itself, we can take it. That’s what these workouts are for, getting in for these teams, showcasing your abilities. Even if you don’t get drafted, they’ll still have spots for you if they’re available.”

Q. Will be one of those dream deals, if the Pacers were to bring you in, growing up here and seeing the blue and gold?
A. “Definitely. To come back here and play on my hometown court. It would mean a lot to me. It would be close back to home where a lot of fan base and a lot of friends and family.”

Q. “You talked about off the court stuff. Have a lot of teams been focusing on that and asking you questions about that so far? Has that been a big focus of teams when they are trying to evaluating players?
A. “I think teams look into that a lot. You don’t want to pick up any bad guys that have any issues on or off the court. You just want to get good guys that fit into your program.”

Q. Do you feel comfortable here? Have you played here before?
A. “I’ve played in Conseco four times – the state championship my sophomore and junior year. We won it my junior year. (I’ve also played here in the) Jermaine O’Neal All-Star Game and the Indiana All-Star Game.”