TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

You enter this week and Senior Day at Akron on Wednesday in position to still earn a MAC Tournament home game for the third straight year. How badly does the team want to head into the playoffs assured of that game at Alumni Arena to start?
We’re definitely very serious. Road games in the MAC are horrible, especially in the playoffs, so we really want to get that home playoff game. Plus, there’s the enthusiasm from our fans and being in our gym will probably help us win that game.

While the team has hit a rough patch in the schedule, and has won five of its last 14 games, are you looking forward to the playoffs, a chance to play in front of the hometown crowd in Cleveland one more time and the chance to start again in the one-and-done format?
Definitely. The playoffs are like a new season, we say. The regular season is over and any team can win the championship. We’re definitely looking forward to the playoffs, especially with me going home to Cleveland and being in front of the home crowd.

As a sophomore, you started all but three games, but in the past two years you have played primarily as a top reserve coming off the bench. Does it help you to enter the game a few minutes after it started?
It helps. It definitely has its advantages. I get to read the defense and I get to observe a little bit before I go out there and play. My mind is racing when I’m sitting on the bench, thinking how I can do this differently, how I can help the team do this. It definitely helps coming off the bench.

This season, Calvin Cage has averaged 17.8 points per game and has proven himself one of the best players in the league. Having played with him for four years, could you have predicted this kind of season out of him?
Definitely. I always felt like Calvin was one of the most talented players on the team, even freshman year. Coming in, straight out of high school, we knew he had the potential to be great. Mentally, that was the difference. He’s very strong mentally now and that’s probably why he’s scoring so much. He knows how to read the defense and he knows how to use defenders to his advantage.

Roderick Middleton is third on the team in scoring with a 12.5 points per game average and he is tied for the team lead with Cage with 75 assists. How important has his presence been this year, when the team had to replace MAC Player of the Year Turner Battle?
Rod has definitely taken the place of Turner. We look at Rod as the leader of this team. Rod is our captain and he is definitely the backbone of this team. When things are going wrong, he’s the one who gets us together. Being roommates with these two guys, I understand their mindset and I know he feels like he takes a lot of the pressure. It’s hard, but he definitely is a great leader.

Three of your teammates from last season, Danny Gilbert, Mark Bortz and Turner Battle, have all moved on to play professionally, either abroad or in the United States. What kind of mark can you say those three have left on the program as a whole?
Great. My freshman year, coming in to a 5-23 season, those guys and us, we took this team to a different level. When we were younger, mentally, it is hard on the college level and they pulled us along with them. They’re definitely one of the key marks on the team.

In your first season, the Bulls went 5-23, but since the halfway mark of the 2003-04 season, the team has gone 51-20. How proud are you that you were one of the ones who helped turn the program around?
Very, very proud. I look at that as a key part of my life. I always wanted to come to a place and be important. All of us want that. When they recruited us, they told us, ‘We’re struggling now. We’re a build-up team. If you want to come in and start something, you can.’ It’s felt like we did it.

You were recruited by many programs, including South Alabama and Bowling Green. What made UB and coach Witherspoon’s program the right fit for you?
That was definitely something I looked towards, as far as building the team. The camaraderie of the team when I got here—my visit was great. It felt like a family. I love being with my teammates. That’s why I wanted to come here so bad.

One of the greatest things about athletics is that teammates are there to help you at the most difficult of times. How important was getting back on the court and being with your teammates, two years ago, after your cousin and best friend, Quinten Thomas, was killed?
It was great. Like I said, we’re a family. A part of my family was lost when that happened, so I was kind of down on myself. I was lost, but those guys picked me up. Getting back between the lines helped me a lot, because I know he always wanted me to be successful playing basketball. Growing up together, we always played ball together. Being out here, just playing and sweating and hurting, I know that he’s seeing me up there, he’s watching over me and he’s happy.

What’s been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
My favorite moment was probably our home playoff game last year. The fans, just the whole energy of the arena, it was definitely one of the biggest moments of my college career as of yet. Hopefully, I can take that and change that.

- The “10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina.