Has anyone noticed? Basketball season is finally here and I couldn't be more excited. I'm not talking about the NBA, but college basketball. I have already seen Midnight Madness and the Red and White scrimmage, but it took the Big Ten basketball media day for me to finally get excited for another season of college basketball.
Big Ten media day was held in Chicago Sunday, and featured a gamblers dream team. Dee Brown, Vincent Grier, Paul Davis, Alando Tucker and Carl Landry were all there, just to name a few.
Every single basketball team from the Big Ten was there with their "A" list athletes and head coach, and I had the opportunity to interview to them all.
I started off slow, first interviewing Matt Sylvester of Ohio State. It was a quick and painless interview. Not much was said and according to him, the Buckeyes will grace the courts of the NCAA tournament this year.
Next, I moved onto Landry of Purdue. Since the Boliermakers have a new coach, I thought I could pry a couple of great quotes from the Purdue swingman. But no, he just predicted he would lead the Big Ten in every single offensive category. Don't get me wrong; it isn't a lofty goal for the senior. He was second in the Big Ten last season in scoring and led the Big Ten in field goal percentage.
After the Landry interview, I moved onto the two most sought after individuals: Bruce Weber and his savior Brown. It was difficult to find the two since they were buried in a plethora of aggressive journalists. After listening to Weber answer question after question, in his raspy voice — mostly about Brown — I began to understand how important the preseason Big Ten Player of Year will be for the Illini. Since Illinois lost three starters, Brown will be carrying most of the load this season. Beyond that, Weber and the Illinois athletic department has had Brown on a Champaign-Urbana "celebrity tour."
After Brown received his bachelors' degree last year, he has been busy motivating young children on the importance of education and leading by example.
The more Weber talked about Brown, the more anxious I got. Finally, I left the Weber media fest and headed to the next table to talk to Brown. I got lucky and landed a seat right next to him. I was a little distracted by his nickel-sized diamond earrings, but managed to sneak in a few questions. I started asking him about how he sees himself as a leader and according to him, "basketball is not everything and education is the most important thing."
What? Did the one of the nations best college basketball players just admit that basketball wasn't everything? This was a great day. Not only did Brown admit that education was important, but so did Wisconsin's Tucker.
Tucker, the leading man on the Kohl Center courts, said, " It's important for us athletes to erase those stereotypes on athletes in the classroom. Everyone is watching what I am doing and I am fully aware of that."
These two quotes from the two leading players of the Big Ten were astonishing. I thought this day would only go up from there. However, my next interview proved me wrong.
While interviewing Marco Killingsworth, Lewis Monroe and Marshall Strickland, all of Indiana, I was shocked to find that these players did not want to talk about basketball. Instead, they had asked me to turn off my recorder to ask for my digits. Then the trio asked if Madison had racist fans. According to Killingsworth, the KKK was waiting for him following an Auburn vs. Alabama basketball game and he didn't want to see that happen in Madison. After that story, I was quick to move on.
A Paul Davis interview proceeded and it was the most ideal way to end the day. According to Davis, the Spartans are pumped and ready for the season to start. I couldn't agree more.
Although, Davis does think that the Spartans will beat the Badgers at home during this season.
