djsalway

Question: First off, how much did the Indiana offer mean to you? What made you choose Indiana over the other schools recruiting you?
Answer: It meant a lot, it's a great opportunity, and is a very successful school in terms of basketball and education.
Q: How meaningful is it to come back to the state of Indiana to play basketball, especially with the history of IU and the basketball-crazy fan base?
A: I was only born there, not raised there, but given the history and fan base, it means a lot. I'm a very humble person.
Q: What would you consider your strengths, as both a basketball player and a teammate?
A: I can score the ball, I'm a team player first, I want to win by all means and will do whatever it takes to win, and my IQ for Basketball is high. I can set good, solid screens, talk on defense, and get my teammates the ball.
Q: What part of your game needs the most work before the season starts in November?
A: Getting stronger. Once I'm stronger I'll be fine, and I could be more aggressive on rebounding.
Q: What parts of your game do you see fitting well in Coach Crean’s system? Are you familiar with it?
A: Not very familiar with it but from what I'm hearing it sounds like bigs that can shoot well and are more skilled, but we haven't really talked about that yet.
Q: What do you believe you can contribute to the program in your Freshman season?
A: I think I can contribute by working hard, having a good winning mentality. I’m definitely a positive player. No minutes have been promised, but I'm going to work as hard as I can to try and earn those minutes. And if I play, I can score, and once I get stronger I'll be able to score, rebound, and play defense.
Q: What does it mean to you to be a Hoosier and have the opportunity to wear the Cream and Crimson?
A: It means a lot, Indiana is a huge school and seems to have many good people. I'm very excited to be a Hoosier and can't wait.
Q: Will you be visiting Bloomington before the summer? If so, when?
A: Yes, hopefully sometime in the next week and a half.
Q: Have you spoken to any of the other commits for Indiana’s 2014 class? What are your thoughts on the incoming recruits?
A: I've texted Max and told him there is a lot of haters out there and let's prove them wrong and let's do big things at Indiana. I think I'll fit in well with the rest of the guys.
Q: To finish up with a bit of a fun question, do you have a specific nickname you would like Hoosier Nation to call you by?
A: I've never really had a nickname but I've been seeing on Twitter people saying "thrilla prilla" or “thriller priller," but it doesn't really matter to me, if the fans want a nickname for me they can make it!
Q: Do you have a number you want to wear, or does that not matter either?
A: I'm not a selfish person and not the type to put myself first, any number would be fine with me. It’s not about me or my number. It's about the team and winning games and winning a NCAA championship.

I think we can all agree on one thing: we did not expect this game to be nearly as close as it was. But in the end, a win is a win, right? It goes on the résumé as a W and we are 2-0 once again. It’s safe to say that with every basket that went in en route to our comeback, Assembly Hall got louder. Will Sheehey and Troy Williams both hit big shots down the stretch when the team needed them most. Noah Vonleh kept the team in the game throughout the first half, banging down low and grabbing rebounds left and right. Vonleh ended with his second straight double-double. The ultimate takeaway from this game and the atmosphere surrounding it is that the fans had something huge to cheer about. A dunk is a dunk, a blocked shot is a blocked shot, and so on. But for the first time this year, there was tension. Whether you like it or not, human beings enjoy tension. Even though it was our Indiana Hoosiers, there was still a sense of tension that just proved, once and for all, that college basketball is back. We love college basketball because of upsets like the one we averted last night. This is a learning experience. We can all get better from this. Fans don’t need to overreact; the team didn’t. Look where they ended up. They all kept their cool and came back from an early deficit.
Now it's time for some Player Analysis:
Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell – Yogi was able to score last night like we know he is able to this season. He knocked down 3 three-pointers which helped him end with a solid 17 points. He is one of our leaders and many scrutinized his actions after taking out his frustration on the bench. Personally, I like to see the fire within him come out like that. Last year, he knew it would be easy to run a team with four 1,000 point scorers. This season, it will be challenging. He knows that, and I think he’s willing to take the challenge.
Will Sheehey – Will stepped up when we needed him the most. He scored a game-high 19 points, with 15 coming in the second half. Will stuffed the stat sheet with a total of 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. He struggled mightily in the first half, not making a single shot from the field. After last night, I can say that Will is going to be the senior leader that we need. He knew when to “take over” and hit huge shots down the stretch, especially from long range.
Jeremy Hollowell – Jeremy, after a career-high 16 points in game one against Chicago State, looked a little lost in this game. He finished with 6 points and 6 boards. He was in foul trouble for most of the night, which didn’t help his performance whatsoever. He will bounce back. It wasn’t just a tough night for him, it was a tough night for everybody.
Noah Vonleh – This man is a beast on the boards. I think I can keep opening his analysis with that sentence. He kept us in the game in the first half when everybody else looked as if they had no idea how to play basketball. He was willing to put the team on his shoulders and go down on the block and bang with the big men from LIU-Brooklyn. He tallied another double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. I cannot wait to see where he can take this team and how he grows throughout the rest of the year.
Troy Williams – No one expected Troy Williams to hit a three to keep us in the game, but he did it. When he put that shot up, everyone was yelling “NO!” But it went in. Troy’s athleticism becomes a problem at times because he wants to make the highlight play, rather than the simple play. I expect that to be tamed a little from now on, but I still love his upside. He is extremely athletic and long. Although I think he could have a bigger impact on defense, he still played a great game (second half).
Stanford Robinson – Once again, I’m not really sure where Stan was last night. He did make two of his three shots and got to the line for two free throws, but other than that he didn’t look great. His one turnover was awful; he just let the defender take the ball. I know Stan can have an enormous impact on this team and I expect it to come soon.
Devin Davis – Devin had a huge rebound with 4.8 seconds left to give us a one and one at the free throw line at the other end. Although he missed it, at least he was able to get the ball down to our side of the court with that rebound. He didn’t score this game after having double-digits in the opener, but his defensive prowess made an impact late. He played big minutes in the big parts of the game, which is key for a freshman like him. I’m excited to see where he goes.
Hanner Mosquera-Perea – I would love to talk about how much I love his athleticism once again, but he just wasn’t active last night. I don’t know what was up with him. He grabbed a couple rebounds, but it really didn’t matter. I just want him to try to make a difference in the game, but he just doesn’t seem to want to.
Evan Gordon – He does a really good job of taking care of the ball when asked to do so. He didn’t score and looked bad in the first half. He still hasn’t hit a three for us, which we really need. But he is a leader, albeit a quiet leader. He looks like he has the poise and confidence that it takes to win games like last night’s.
Luke Fischer – We need to work on Luke’s hands. He missed a couple passes that were simple catches. He didn’t play until late in the second half and came in with a protective mask on his face. Although I don’t know why he had the mask, he ended up throwing it off after a few seconds of play anyway. We could use Luke’s big body down low, but he still hasn’t looked like the great player we thought we were getting.
Austin Etherington – He played early in the game and never saw the floor again. I don’t think he’s that great and while he was out there, he didn’t make an impact. Here’s to wishing he can make an impact in limited minutes from here on out. Otherwise, he may end up transferring, a la Mo Creek (who had 19 points last night for GW).
All in all, this can be used for growth. I love the upside of the team and multiple players, so cut them a little slack. This season is not completely over. Not even close.