Candice Rohrman, an IDS reporter, went to Assembly Hall today to speak with four members of IU's 2009 recruiting class who were available for the first time to the media. Here's what she had to say:
Four of the six incoming freshman on the IU men's basketball team spent a large part of their summer in Bloomington.
Bobby Capobianco, Derek Elston, Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford all took summer classes and participated in workouts. The four, all of whom are sports management and marketing majors, felt taking the summer classes prepared them for their upcoming fall semester and helped them learn the vast campus well.
Coming early also allowed the four freshman to spend quite a bit of time with each other.
"Probably not a time during the day when I am alone," Capobianco said, "unless it's, you know, when I'm taking a shower before I go to bed at night--we are together way too much."
But Elston thinks spending so much time together will ultimately be beneficial for the team.
" I can already tell right now how much better we've become," he said.
The Hoosiers getting better this year, after a disastrous 2008-2009 season, is a great sign for all of the Hoosier faithful, and the competitiveness being shown in the early practices is also a positive.
Capobianco called the summer scrimmages brutal, but ultimately good for the team.
"Its not 'hey man, you get this rebound,'" Capobianco said of the intensity of the play between himself and his teammates. "I mean, people are going to the floor, people are throwing each other off the court. Its really, really competitive, and it has been brutal.
"Nobody said the Big Ten was going to be a cake walk, so I think its been a good way to start us all off kind of on the same page and get us ready."
Here are quick blurbs from the interviews today at Assembly Hall:
Christian Watford
On the upcoming season: Watford said that most of his preparation has been talking with the coaches and mainly focusing on getting the mental aspect of the game down.
On playing time: Watford said he believes he will be getting a lot of playing time this upcoming season. He thinks he will start, but that it really has not been long enough to truly tell.
Jordan Hulls
On playing in his home town: "Well, it's really a dream come true just to play Division I basketball, and to be able to play in Indiana with my friends here, that'll be fun as well. Playing for coach Crean is really why we are all here. Playing for him will be a different experience but it will be a good one."
On the pressure from being Mr. Basketball: Hulls said that there is ultimately quite a bit of pressure from winning such a prestigious award, and because of the honor Mr. Basketball carries, he is expected to perform well, and immediately.
"The pressure is going to be there, but I think we'll all be able to handle it, and for me--I am very excited for the challenge," Hulls said.
On playing time: Hulls believes all of the freshman will be seeing a large amount of playing time and that the Hoosiers can benefit from a young team again, because it would make them that much stronger for the next season.
On the Hoosiers playing in the O'Reilly Tip-Off tourney in Puerto Rico: "Just being on live TV and showing people that we're back and that we're going to try to being this program to where it used to be. It'll be a different tournament for us (freshmen). We'll be young, but I think we'll have a shot."
Derek Elston
On the upcoming season: "Cant wait. I can't wait till after these two weeks to be back, and to come out here and actually start workouts again."
On the team chemistry: "Everybody really, we're good friends, some more than others, I mean you'll have that anywhere you go, but right now everybody's just - its kind of just like a big, big happy family out here really. There's never a dull moment anywhere you go, and these guys love hanging out with us, and we love hanging out with them so it's a lot of fun."
On his work ethic: "I'm going to be one of the hardest workers on the team. I'm not going to be like that guy who's not working hard."
Bobby Capobianco
On his place with the team: "With the way that I can shoot the ball, I feel like I really can be an important piece to this team, and hopefully do a lot of good things to help it out." Capobianco also said he was willing to play whatever position Crean needed him for.
On the tourney in Puerto Rico: "I think its going to be a good opportunity for us to start the season and really show people that we should be taken for real this year."
On last season helping this season: "Those guys went through it. They brought that toughness, that will to get through anything to the team this year, and I think all of those things combined will really bring this team together and inspire us to really win a lot of games this year, which is our goal"
