It's quotes like that, above, that make it enjoyable to interview IU recruit Bobby Capobianco. I have spoken with him several times, and great quotes continue to roll off his tongue. I saw him play twice over winter break, but also sat down with him for a 30-minute in-person interview. Here is the article that ran in today's issue of the IDS.
Below are quotes that did not make the article, but first I wanted to point out that his father, Bob Sr., was a quarterback for Vanderbilt University (1983-84) while is mother, Barbara (Brackman), is eighth on the all-time women's basketball career scoring list (1,631) at Vandy.
On the status of his left foot (he had summer surgery and missed one high school game):
"It's good, I'm back completely. I've played four games (now eight) now and haven't had any pain. I don't think about it, I don't even favor it. I'm jumping off both feet.
On playing for Indiana Elite AAU and the resulting recruitment (or lack thereof) by IU:
"I had always been around IU and I thought it was a great place. The first call I ever got from IU was Coach Crean calling me. That was when I committed. They had shown no interest in me at all when Sampson was there... I was around it a whole lot and I was a fan, I just never thought it was a reality for me. With Coach Crean there, I couldn't see a better fit coaching-wise and school-wise."
On what he his most looking forward to next year at IU:
"To be completely honest, I'm just looking forward to getting in and having an entire organization who are there to make me better. In high school you'll have a coach, maybe have a couple assistants, and you might have a strength coach, but that's a guy who's covering the whole school. But to have an entire group of people who are dedicated to help you increase my strength, increase my quickness. And then to have someone as intelligent as the assistants and Coach Crean who can break down my basketball and say, 'Hey, you do this well but you need to work on this, or we can change this.'"
On the support received from IU fans:
"It's awesome. It shows how much people care. You'll find people -- whether it's someone who loves in Bloomington, a student, someone who might live in Indianapolis or somewhere else -- who know who you are and who have the interest. That really shows the support that the Hoosiers get.
On "the moment" (post-signing) when he really knew IU was the place for him:
"I'd say the big moment for me was when I was in there for (Hoosier Hysteria) and the gym was full, or even the first game (vs. Northwestern State). I had played eight or nine AAU games there (Assembly Hall), but there had been 100 people scattered in the stands and those were our parents, and they clap a little when we score. But to hear the noise, just to be in the atmosphere...That's somewhere where I said, 'This is where I can see myself taking the floor and going all out.' That was a cool moment."
On IU as a school, not just a basketball program:
"I want a school that has a good basketball team that, at the same time, I can hang my diploma on the wall and say, 'I graduated from a great school.' That's one of the big things for sure."
Goal between now and when he joines the team:
"I'm not going to sit here and say that I can be ready physically when I get there, but I want to have myself in the best shape to go because I don't want to be that guy that the coach has to say, 'Oh, we have a lot of work to do with him this season.' Physically, I want to be as ready as possible when I get there."
On the possibility of winning the first Big Ten title since 2002:
"I think that would be great. I think there are certain steps you have to take. I'm not going to say next year that we're going to do all this and that because I don't know what college basketball is about yet, I haven't been there... I think that next year we can have a lot of success if we kind of fall into Coach Crean's program. I think that if we keep building over the next, maybe, two years I think we could have the program back to being a contender for a Big Ten title. After that, it just kind of falls into, do you get a good (tournament) seed? To have a ring, whether it be a Big Ten ring or a national championship, that would be fantastic. I think we have a legit possibility if everybody falls into it."
On the player he admires/looks up to:
"Since I was little I was always a big Tim Duncan fan. He's a guy who is never flashy. Ever since I was little my dad would say, 'Bobby, you're never going to be the most athletic guy out there, you're not going to be the guy who's taking off from the middle of the lane dunking on everybody every play, but you go out there and you know that you can shoot a bank shot every time and make it, or you can do the small things.' Tim Duncan was a huge influence on the way I tried to model my game and just kind of the way I attack the game."
On the influence of his parents, both college athletes at Vanderbilt:
"It's both of my parents really. My mom is just being as big of an influence as my dad is. My momwas the college basketball player. She was the one who won a national championship (1984 Women's NIT). She understands what it takes at that level."
On the motivation he gets from his his mother's basketball acomplishments:
"I get my 1,000-point ball (last year) and I have it and I take it back to my house (and) she's like, 'Oh yeah, go throw it downstairs on top of the TV.' I do, and there's her high school thousand-point ball and her college thousand-point ball. It kind of belittles anything that I have yet to do. It's kind of a challenge."
Last words?
"I'm kind of ready to go. I've been looking forward to this for a while. I've got to finish out this high school season, but then I'm just looking forward to hopefully do some really good things (at IU).
I'm looking forward to coming into a situation and kind of rejuvenating it and kind of build it back up."
Bob Capobianco, Sr.
On when he realized his son had college basketball potential:
"I always knew he was going to be a talented athlete. He's always been big for his age. It would probably be presumptous to say when he was dunking on his Little Tyke when he was two. That was probably a little early. That being said, I would say that by the time he was a 7th grader. He went from about 5-foot-10 and 180 lbs., he grew about five or six inches and actually lost ten pounds. The athleticism started to show, his ability to score the basketball was very obvious... So probably between seventh and eighth grade was when I think we all looked at him and said, 'Gosh, there may be some genuine talent we should help him with.'"
On what he hopes his son gets out of IU / how he hopes he gets remembered:
"I want Bobby to get everything he possibly can out of the college experience. I certainly enjoyed my four years at Vanderbilt and got a chance to play in the Southeastern Conference against great competition, and I'll remember that forever. I want him to have a memorable experience. If he finds his place, and he gets to play -- whether he gets to start or he's in a rotation -- there's no better college environment than Assembly Hall. I'd like for him to be remembered as a tough-nosed kid who played Indiana basketball, who was appreciated for things that he brings to the court, his kind of blue collar work ethic -- the toughness and the ability to do exactly what Tom Crean is going to ask of him next year and and the years following"
