UC Guard Day Day Thomas Media Day Interview
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00:00 How's the team been tonight?
00:01 Man, it's been exciting.
00:03 I've been ready to get here since I committed.
00:06 Condition was good.
00:07 I'm ready to work with the guys, ready for the games to start.
00:11 What have those battles been like,
00:12 practice with a guy like Jizzle James?
00:14 Oh, yeah, it's been good.
00:16 Me and Jizzle, you know, competing.
00:18 Very competitive guys, you know, compete very well
00:21 and practice getting each other better.
00:23 Do you have a preference on jersey
00:25 or do you like all of the boards?
00:26 Man, I'm not going to lie. I love these.
00:29 Hey, Jordan, you know I love Jordan.
00:30 I got a lot of jerseys at home, so I'm loving the Jordan.
00:33 What do you have a favorite record on the AFC
00:35 Average Highs, I figured I'd ask you.
00:37 My favorite record is probably Jordan 11s or 4s,
00:39 or Jordan 4s.
00:42 What did your time at junior college
00:43 teach you about college athletics,
00:45 the grind that that was?
00:47 Say that again?
00:48 What did your time at junior college
00:49 teach you about, like, the grind of college athletics?
00:52 Juco grind is a little different.
00:54 See, here you got GAs you can work with.
00:56 Juco, you only got your assistant coach,
00:58 so y'all grind every morning before class,
01:01 in the afternoon after class,
01:02 so it's been real, like, get it out of the mud at Juco.
01:06 Yeah, it's real.
01:07 What led to the decision to go there out of high school?
01:09 See, I was committed to D2,
01:12 then the coach left, then my grades were bad coming out,
01:14 so I only had one Juco that reached out to me,
01:18 so I committed on the spot and took the chance,
01:20 took the opportunity.
01:22 So did you ever pursue yourself
01:23 and plan to pursue your career?
01:25 Nah, I did. I did.
01:27 So when they called me, you know, that was my first offer,
01:30 so when they called me, I was excited.
01:31 It was like 12 at night. I was excited.
01:33 I woke my mom up.
01:34 She yelling in the house, crying.
01:38 Everybody was just proud.
01:40 Did that play a role in you ultimately picking Cincinnati?
01:43 What was the biggest kind of selling point
01:44 for why you're here wearing that Jordan jersey right now?
01:47 Coach West and Coach Dollar, man,
01:48 they did very good recruiting me.
01:50 They stayed in contact.
01:51 They wasn't blowing my phone up every day, you know.
01:54 They just told me how they grind here, you feel me?
01:57 I had a light heart. I was working here.
02:00 You mentioned Coach Miller and Coach Dollar.
02:01 Talk us through your relationship with these guys.
02:05 Coach West is my guy, man.
02:07 Me and him, we got a great relationship.
02:08 He's still on me every day in practice.
02:10 Coach Dollar, too, he's still on me.
02:12 Make sure I don't get everything done on the offense court,
02:14 so great relationship with them, too.
02:17 What kind of game do you think fans can expect from you
02:20 to see on the floor as a new UC player?
02:21 Oh, yeah, definitely going to bring the energy.
02:24 It's definitely going to bring the defense.
02:26 I'm going to get my team involved first,
02:29 and whenever my time comes, it comes.
02:32 I can score the ball. I'm definitely going to defend.
02:35 This is a team with a lot of experience and older guys.
02:37 How has that helped with your personal development?
02:40 It helped a lot because the older guys like John Newman,
02:44 they just tell me how things are going to be,
02:45 how fast it's going to be.
02:47 So us working every day in practice,
02:50 it's going to prepare me.
02:51 What was kind of the biggest thing that you
02:53 and the coaching staff got together and said,
02:55 "We got to work on this for Day Day to have
02:57 the biggest impact possible coming from Juco to Big 12"?
03:00 The key part, the part of your game
03:02 that you and the coaching staff kind of identified
03:04 as we got to get Day Day kind of up to speed
03:07 or improve this part to make sure he has the best impact
03:09 in the Big 12.
03:11 I would say really in transition
03:12 because my speed with the ball.
03:14 So when the big rebound and throw it out late in transition,
03:17 I can really get down here and get to the rim.
03:19 So really just getting to my spots and playing in transition.
03:23 Do you kind of relish this role
03:25 that you're going to have of being kind of the first guy
03:27 that probably will get the ball in his hands
03:29 and being that veteran player at the point guard position?
03:32 Oh, yeah, because I'm always making things happen.
03:34 That comes first.
03:35 I always got to get the team involved and make things happen.
03:38 Coach mentioned you guys have been playing at a ferocious pace
03:41 in terms of tempo this offseason.
03:43 We know that's something you're very familiar with.
03:45 How does that make you excited
03:47 as a player to get down there and attack?
03:50 It's fun because, you know,
03:52 most people relax in transition defense.
03:55 So as me, I'm kind of fast.
03:57 So I'm already just going by, and they're trying to speed up.
03:59 Then when one man hit, I get my team involved.
04:02 And we got people that can shoot the ball with us.
04:04 So me playing in transition, I'm loving it.
04:06 I'm loving the role.
04:07 How much has Coach shown you, though,
04:08 of Dave Metellus since he was here for a while
04:11 and had a really successful season?
04:13 He was just showing me how Dave get everybody involved,
04:16 how Dave can score the ball in certain spots
04:18 Dave got to and where he scored at,
04:20 and how Dave defended and bring the energy on the court.
04:24 You mentioned the support staff that you have here.
04:27 What's it been like working with Coach Rayfield
04:29 to help develop your body and your strength?
04:31 Rayfield, he - that's the best scrim coach I ever had.
04:34 I ain't never had a scrim coach like him.
04:37 He do well.
04:38 He make sure I'm staying in shape with cardio,
04:41 make sure I'm getting strong but not sore every day.
04:44 It's been good. It's been good.
04:46 Now, as a passer, are you a skyline guy?
04:48 Have you tried that at all?
04:49 Nah, I did, but everybody talk about it out here.
04:52 Everybody talk about skyline. When are you trying skyline?
04:54 When's the chili going to be tasted by Day Day Thomas?
04:58 I'm going to have to try - I'm going to try it next week.
05:01 Next week. Next week.
05:02 We'll check back in. We'll check back in.
05:03 Yes, sir. Next week.
05:04 What's Day Day's favorite food?
05:06 My go-to? See, I love wings,
05:09 so I like going to Wingstop.
05:10 All right. Wingstop.
05:12 What's been your favorite part of Cincinnati so far,
05:15 obviously, and the city?
05:16 What's been your favorite part of the city so far?
05:19 My favorite part? See, I'm not a big outside guy,
05:22 so I be in the room. I be room and gym only,
05:24 so I'm not, like, a real big outside guy.
05:27 I be in the room.
05:28 Davion, your given name, your legal name, Day Day Thomas.
05:31 Where did the nickname come from?
05:33 Let's hear the origin story.
05:34 See, I've been called Day Day since I've been a little kid.
05:37 So your mom, your aunt or something?
05:38 Yeah, my mom. My mom. Yes, sir.
05:40 So it's just something she came up with and it stuck?
05:42 Yes, sir. So everybody call me Day Day.
05:44 Love it. Thank you.