TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

Last season, you nearly doubled your points per game output from the previous season. Also, you shot 53 percent from the field. What keyed the increase in your offensive production?
It just came with a lot of practice and hard work. I’m not a very offensive-minded player, but I’ve worked on that aspect of my game with the coaches in the preseason. Each year I’ve developed a little more, and it’s been showing up during the games.

Another vastly improved aspect of your game came at the free throw line. You shot 66 percent from the charity stripe after hitting just 54 percent in 2000-01. How did accomplish that turnaround?
That’s something that Coach Witherspoon has worked on with me a lot. He has worked with me on my form – keeping my elbow in and keeping my left hand off the ball when I release it. Again, a lot of the improvement comes during the preseason and over the summer.

What does it mean to have Mark Bortz around? How imposing is it for the opposition when both of you are on the floor at the same time?
That’s a big threat. Mark is a big, athletic kid. He can block a lot of shots; he can take up a lot of space for us. Down there, we’re kind of the same type of player. We compliment each other very well.

Is it difficult to have such a young team – with only four juniors and seniors?
We certainly are a young team, but fans shouldn’t expect anything less than they got last year. Some people look at being a young team as a bad thing, but it really is a good thing. We have guys now that will develop and continually get better. That’s great for the program.

With the graduation of Darcel Williams, Lou Campbell and Rob Brown – averaging a combined 37 points per game – does everyone on your team need to contribute more offensively?
Yes and no. We still have Turner Battle and Mark Bortz, who are both very capable of putting a lot of points on the board for us. But we are looking for everybody else to chip in and help out. I feel we are pretty balanced in that respect, as far as scoring.

What team goals do you have this season?
We go into each season thinking that we are going to undefeated and get into the NCAA Tournament. We’re not setting goals as if we want to win 15 games – we want to go undefeated. That’s the mindset we enter with.

What does it mean to have Big Ten schools such as Northwestern and Penn State on your non-conference schedule?
It’s good exposure for both the school and us. It’s also good to see where we stand in respect to their programs – the Mid-American Conference against the Big Ten. So there are a number of benefits of playing teams like that.

How would you appraise the preseason practices and scrimmages?
It’s been good so far. We undoubtedly have a young team, so there’s been and will be a lot of teaching and learning going on. The young guys have been learning our techniques and our strategies, but guys have picked things up quickly.

What did it mean to have a number of fans turn out for last Monday’s open practice?
It was great to have people out at practice. We want to see those people come out for our games. It gets the guys fired up when we have a great atmosphere at Alumni Arena. We love to play in front of that type of crowd.

How significant was last year’s win over Kent State – the Golden Flashes final loss prior to their NCAA Tournament run being ended by Indiana in the national quarterfinals?
It meant a lot to the program for us to beat them. They were definitely top dog in the conference and that win proved to people that we’re not that far behind. We still have bits and pieces that we need to put together to get to their level, but we’re definitely headed in that direction.

-The ’10 Questions with…’ feature is compiled by Geoff Nason.