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00:00 [INAUDIBLE]
00:02 Your role now, obviously last year you got a run,
00:06 but now it's seemingly increasing.
00:09 How do you view your role at this point?
00:12 I guess at this point, just being versatile.
00:17 We've had a lot of adversity with our roster, obviously.
00:23 Just being able to fill in at whatever the team needs,
00:26 and a big part of that right now is rebounding.
00:28 So just coming in and making sure
00:32 that I'm going for every ball, trying
00:33 to get some offensive rebounds, putbacks,
00:37 being able to guard five men, four men, three men if I need
00:41 to, and really just kind of being that versatile piece that
00:45 can carry on some of the traditional West Virginia
00:48 basketball from the teams of the past.
00:53 I think there was one time in that game
00:57 when Jesse comes out, and I think
00:59 it was you and Quinn in there.
01:01 And we were all kind of, OK, well, who's the five
01:03 in that situation?
01:04 Are you guys kind of wondering the same thing?
01:08 So we're both really four men, but I have--
01:15 he's an inch taller, but I have more size, more weight.
01:18 So I can guard the five a little better.
01:22 So normally I'll be our five when us two are both in.
01:26 But we have a little bit of interchangeability
01:28 where sometimes he can roll and sometimes I can pop,
01:31 and it kind of just gives us a little more freedom.
01:36 What is your self-vision of yourself as a player?
01:39 What do you see yourself as as a player?
01:42 I mean, honestly, just at the different schools and teams
01:47 I've played on, I've kind of taken pride
01:51 at being whatever the team needs.
01:54 I have the ability to shoot the ball.
01:56 I have the ability to play in the post,
01:58 to play on the perimeter, really just play defense.
02:02 Whatever coach asks me to do is what I'm going to do.
02:08 Does that hurt you or help you not having a--
02:13 not saying he's a four or he's a three?
02:16 I mean, there's pros and cons.
02:21 But first and foremost, you've got to put the team first.
02:24 You've got to put your brothers first.
02:26 And whatever role is given to you,
02:28 that's what you have to excel at for the benefit of the team.
02:32 And when your team is doing well,
02:34 everyone will have individual success.
02:36 So that's my main goal.
02:39 You've had so much transition over the years
02:42 since you left high school.
02:43 Have you thought about that?
02:44 And what was this summer like?
02:46 Did you finally feel like you're settled in
02:47 and you're going to be in a place for more than a year?
02:50 And then what happened happened?
02:53 Yeah, that's kind of exactly what I was thinking.
02:55 I was like, every year I've had a new coach
02:58 or been at a new school.
03:00 And I thought, you know what?
03:01 This place feels like home.
03:03 I'm going to stay and end up having a new coach
03:08 and a whole new team anyway.
03:11 But honestly, it's something I'm used to,
03:14 just learning new guys, learning the new system.
03:19 It's something I've done every year.
03:20 So it doesn't feel like anything I wasn't ready for.
03:25 But yeah, it's definitely been a transition this summer.
03:31 Was it difficult emotionally at the time for the guys
03:34 that were here?
03:35 Some left, some stayed.
03:36 What was it all like when you went through that?
03:39 Yeah, it was definitely a difficult time.
03:44 I built a connection with the guys from last year.
03:47 We went through a lot, and we all really loved each other.
03:51 We really were a family.
03:54 And just having as much confidence and excitement
04:00 for the upcoming season with the roster we were going to have
04:03 and the pieces we had already put together,
04:08 when that kind of fell apart, that definitely hurt a lot.
04:17 Like you were saying, everything that's happened,
04:20 everything that's happened recently
04:22 with the injuries and suspension,
04:25 how much of a conversation do you guys have in that, OK,
04:28 this is what we have right now, and it's
04:30 battle and it's adversity.
04:32 But down the road, we could be this once everyone gets back.
04:39 Is that in the thought process at all?
04:43 Oh, for sure.
04:44 And honestly, we've been saying it for so much longer
04:50 than just of recent.
04:51 Because as you know, every couple of weeks,
04:54 something else happens for us, unfortunately.
04:58 That's how it seems, at least.
04:59 But we've been saying since the beginning,
05:01 we're going to beat this adversity.
05:04 Josh came in in a time when things
05:11 were kind of up in the air.
05:12 And ever since then, that's kind of how our mindset has been,
05:16 where it's like, yeah, we're going through some stuff.
05:20 But teams have went through worse and still had success.
05:24 And we're prepared to make the most out of our situation.
05:31 The flip side to that is asking the question, well,
05:34 what the heck else can happen?
05:36 I mean, I don't know if that's something you guys talk about.
05:38 Yeah, knock on wood.
05:39 Right, right.
05:42 Yeah, I mean, I guess I look at it the other way.
05:46 I think we're due for some good news coming up soon.
05:50 Something positive has got to come from this.
05:54 What's Josh like as a head coach?
05:56 And we sort of view him as night and day from hugs, is he?
05:59 Or I mean, what's it like?
06:01 I mean, he's been with hugs so long.
06:05 He's definitely taken a lot from hugs.
06:09 But they're definitely two different coaches.
06:12 I really, really enjoy Josh's attention
06:17 to detail with a lot of the things,
06:20 where I'm glad I learned the toughness from hugs.
06:27 But there were a lot of things where it was like,
06:30 it wasn't as much technique.
06:35 It was more, we're just going to out-tough them.
06:38 We're going to be strong.
06:39 We're going to be physical.
06:40 And I think Josh takes that same mentality.
06:45 But he also applies more attention
06:47 to detail and technique and that type of thing.
06:52 When he gives you advice on technical things,
06:56 what is it?
06:57 I would say like, so positioning for rebounding,
07:03 getting through screens.
07:06 Like the big thing with hugs last year
07:09 was, we don't get screened.
07:11 We don't get-- like, how are we guarding these--
07:14 we don't get screened.
07:15 If somebody comes up, you put your arm in their chest,
07:18 and you don't get screened.
07:20 And it's like, that works.
07:22 I mean, it works really well if you can do it well.
07:24 But obviously, there's certain situations
07:26 where sometimes there are certain techniques that
07:30 can definitely be beneficial.
07:32 So just making sure that he carried over
07:36 the things that were really efficient from hugs,
07:38 and then also adding a little more.
07:42 I'm just kind of curious from a player's perspective here.
07:45 And I know you guys have only played one game in the exhibition
07:48 game.
07:48 But from a player's perspective, do you guys
07:52 think there is a big difference in the block charge,
07:55 the way it's being called this year?
07:56 Oh, yeah.
07:57 Yeah, it's a crazy change.
08:01 We talked with-- I'm not sure exactly who he was,
08:07 but he was in charge of the referees and the rule changes
08:10 this year.
08:12 And basically, he told us it's almost impossible
08:18 to take a charge this year.
08:20 And with us being West Virginia, and we take pride
08:25 in taking charges and doing things of the sort,
08:30 it really changed our mindset for different things.
08:35 And we have to work on walling up, jumping a lot more,
08:40 instead of falling to take a charge.
08:43 But everyone in the country is having
08:45 to go through the same change.
08:47 And I think we've been working on it
08:50 since the beginning of the summer.
08:51 So while it's definitely changed the game,
08:54 I think we're prepared for it.
08:58 Most important last question.
08:59 Can Jordan Love do the job?
09:01 Oh, man.
09:05 Oh, man.
09:06 I'll always be a Packer fan till the day I die.
09:12 But man, this year taught me that we were really
09:17 blessed the last--
09:19 I don't know how many years with our quarterbacks.
09:22 Yeah.
09:23 Yeah.
09:24 I don't know, Jordan Love, it's his first year
09:27 being the starter.
09:28 So I'll give him a little leeway.
09:30 But man, it's been tough to be a Packer fan this year.
09:35 Thanks, man.