TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

This Wednesday, you travel to Akron for a Mid-American Conference battle. This game has an added feature, though, as you will face off against Cedrick, your younger brother. How nice would it be to beat him and the Zips at their place?
This game is real important not only because it’s a conference opponent, I’m playing against my brother. It’s a little family rivalry. I mean, it’s always good to get the win, but with my brother being on the other team, it’s a little something more for me.

Cedrick took the same path to MAC basketball as you did, at Marian Catholic in Illinois and at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. In fact, he left Marian the all-time leading scorer and averaged two more points per game at Brewster. What was it like watching him take that same path that you did to reach Division I?
It felt good. My brother and I, we’re real close and to see him take the same path I took, going to Marian and then Brewster and then a Division I school, I was proud of him. I think I taught him a lot. We work out together in the summer and I try to give him as much advice as I can and just help him with the little things in life. To see him finally make the Division I school and play in the same conference as me, I was pretty proud that day when he signed.

This past week, you did a couple things that no UB team had ever done before, winning at Central Michigan’s Rose Arena, 83-67, and beating Toledo, 56-54. Coach Reggie Witherspoon recruited you saying it was a chance to start a legacy at UB. How nice is it to start to create some of that legacy?
It feels real good. We’re finally starting to see the hard work pay off. We put in a lot of time, just going over offense and working on our defense. We work really hard in practice, so just to see everything we put into this program finally starting to come around for us feels good. I appreciate it and I know the rest of my teammates appreciate it, too.

Buffalo seems to have some “Cardiac Kids” in it, having prevailed in three overtime games and won three others in the last possession of the game. How do you guys consistently find a way to pull out those tough games?
I think it has a lot to do with practice. We battle in practice. The way we practice, we’re ready for any game we play in. We’re not thinking just about 40 minutes and then that’s it. We realize that if it goes to overtime that we feel like we’ll have a little bit more energy left to pull it out. Forty minutes or 45, I think the way we practice gives us a little bit of an edge.

You pulled down eight rebounds in games against two of UB’s biggest rivals this year, Niagara and Canisius. What’s it like playing in those Big Four games, when the arena is packed and you know the other team is going to come out ready for a fight?
As a player, you try not to think about the crowd and who’s going to be there. You just try to stay focused and go out there and perform, pretty much. Those are good wins overall for the team. The fact that I pulled down eight rebounds was good, but I was just trying to go out there and be aggressive. Whatever happens, happens. It just so happened I pulled down eight rebounds.

Against Canisius, you nearly pulled a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds in the 69-65 win. Being only 6-3, what is the key for you to be able to get a rebound?
I think you’ve just got to try and attack the basket. I got some lucky bounces, I guess, but you’ve got to stay moving, stay active. Just always be around the basket; the more you’re around the basket, the easier it is to get rebounds. I think that’s the key—always keep moving and be around the basket.

Last year, the Bulls won 12 of their final 17 games. What finally clicked for your team after starting 5-9?
I think we finally started to trust in each other and play together more as a team. I think that was the biggest thing. Earlier on, I don’t think we really believed in each other and each other’s abilities and what we could do. As the season went on, I think we started to step it up as far as defense and just communicating with each other on the court. Offensively, we were moving the ball. I think that was just the biggest reason for us turning it around.

Knowing that UB was on NCAA probation while you were being recruited, what made you decide that UB and Coach Reggie Witherspoon were the right match for you?
Really, just the opportunity to come in here and play. They had a pretty good record the year before I came here. They had improved from the year before. I figured with me coming here and the other freshmen, we had a chance to do some good things over here. I was excited about that. The atmosphere in Buffalo - I liked that, too.

Your older brother, Erick, played football at Eastern Michigan and you were a star free safety at Marian Catholic, being recruited at a number of Big Ten schools. What made you choose hoops over the gridiron?
I think the major reason was my injury. I had back surgery when I was in high school. After that, I didn’t want to go with football because I didn’t want it to keep flaring up. I think that was the biggest reason for me to go over and shoot basketball.

What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
I have to say when we played Kent State (an 82-66 win on Feb. 25, 2004) and the Sea of Blue. That was the largest crowd I ever played in front of. Fan support was great and we ended up getting the win, so that’s probably my greatest moment at UB.