Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Men's Hoops hosts tip-off press conference
10/23/2017 5:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Kermit Davis, players weigh in on upcoming season
Head Coach Kermit Davis
Opening statement:
"You know, it's an exciting time in college basketball because it's right around the corner. Our team, obviously as you try to push forward on a national scale of college basketball, you know the stainability part, we've experienced the success that we've had over the last six or seven years. Then obviously the push towards the excellence and even moving forward become tougher and tougher, but it is something we are excited to be a part of. I really enjoyed coming to the gym with this team. You know I think our guys Ed (Simpson) and Karl (Gamble) over here, we had a blue/white scrimmage on Saturday and I think we kind of lost our identity, didn't play every well and didn't compete at a very high level from our returning players standpoint. I think whenever you're trying to push forward, obviously in the strength of the team is going to be with the experienced players, and we've got some talented newcomers that are trying to figure their way out. But experience of our team is who's got to lead us. Our schedule this year, we have a chance to play nine teams out of the first 12 games that went to the NCAA or NIT Tournament. It could be in the top 10 of non-conference schedules in college basketball. But that's what we have to do. Last year's rank was about 25th or 26th. The selection committee looks at your schedule, to even have a chance, and if you've proven that you are not trying everything you can from at least a scheduling part of it not beating them just the scheduling part then that looking in a different direction so I think our non-conference schedule is going to test us tremendously. That's what we wanted and then our league as a whole, I think hopefully the league is growing and growing. I heard Rick say it, the whole thing about everyone asking the C-USA be a multi-bid league, well it can for sure but we have to schedule the right way and our teams and our league including Middle Tennessee has to win games in November and December so those first two months of the year will be critical to answer the question rather we can be in the conversation."
On how a tough non-conference schedule prepares the team more for C-USA matchups:
"Well you know here the non-conference is important because you don't get a lot of mulligans when you're in C-USA so you just don't get credit for playing them you have to win, you have to be perfect to make sure you win and so I try to put a lot of heat and extra game-like assemblence on our team right now in practice because I know how good we have to be in November. Now you can have slip-ups but then you still have your regular season and have to try to win your conference tournament, but we all have to understand how important those early November games are. When you look at Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Auburn, then you got Murray State, Belmont, Florida Gulf Coast twice – and they may be as good as any team on our schedule – then you go to the classic in Hawaii with a chance to play Princeton who should have beat Notre Dame in the first round of the tournament, USC, Miami, Akron, Davidson, New Mexico State, I mean it just goes on and on. So our team will be very tested."
On how Davis believes the team stacks up this year compared to other C-USA teams:
"Well everybody in the league would have loved to play us Saturday, in the blue-white game. They would have loved to be in the Murphy Center on Saturday at about 11. We wouldn't have had too much success against anybody. But I do think our team will compete, I hope we're really competitive for the C-USA championship. I do think our league, I mean Western Kentucky has gotten a lot better, UTEP has four starters back, UAB gets (Nick) Norton back and could have maybe three guys on the all-conference preseason team, Marshall is moving forward, as is Old Dominion. So I just think our league is getting better and better."
On if Middle Tennessee is currently the best program in the state:
"You know, I know one thing – we can play with anybody in the state. There's a lot of really great basketball programs in the state of Tennessee and some excellent coaches. I think you'll see more and more teams, like Memphis and Tennessee, who have great basketball tradition, but I think over the last six or seven years I don't think there's a question that we're one of the top programs. Obviously, let's just keep trying to propel our team, you know last year was the first time we were ranked as a team, 25th in the last coaches poll. All of those things, we've hit a lot of firsts but now we need to have sustainability."
On how the returning players have responded to the loss of Reggie Upshaw and Jacorey Williams:
"Those guys are terrific. Not only because of their talent but because of their toughness and basketball IQ. If you can combine those two things you can play at any level. Obviously the strength of our team is the experienced guards that our back. Giddy Potts and Ed Simpson have been here four years and Antwain (Johnson) and Tyrik (Dixon) have played a lot of minutes. Karl Gamble has got to make a big step forward. Whether it's Gonzaga or Wisconsin or whoever, all of a sudden here comes these guys whose roles shift. We've got to have guys like Brandon Walters and Karl Gamble take big steps forward."
On how Davis plans to mesh all the guards:
"I think all of those guys right now are competing for starting spots on our team. After Saturday's scrimmage there's a lot of stuff up to grabs on our team for everybody. I hope we have a push from freshman Therren (Shelton-Szmidt), too. He's a talent, but he's a talent that's trying to learn right now. There could be times that we play four guards and we tried that the other day in the scrimmage. We can get Ed, Tyrik, Giddy and Antwain on the floor at the same time and still have a lot of physicality with those guys."
On who Davis expects to step into a bigger leadership role this season:
"I think if you ask anybody on our team from a leadership standpoint and having the loudest voice in the gym it's Giddy Potts. Ed is not as vocal but his leadership by example is phenomenal with what he does everyday and how he handles his business. Every coach who has walked in our gym can say it's number 20 who has taken on that role, but every player on our team has become more vocal and communicative."
On if Nick King could fall in line of great transfer players at Middle Tennessee:
"Nick is a one-year guy and is our first graduate transfer. So we've had two one-year guys win MVP of our league in LaRon Dendy and JaCorey Williams, but what they had was a redshirt year when they got here. Nick comes in immediately eligible to play. He's a real talent. He's kind of a hybrid four that can shoot and play-make. He's got to get tougher on the defensive end, but he's a natural rebounder and can make shots. He can make a three, drive it and his skill level is high. He fits in perfectly with how those hybrid forwards play in our system."
On why transfers seem to play well immediately under Davis' system:
"I think because of the position they play. If you're a forward and you come into our system to play it's a home run for you. You've got to be able to execute and be tough and physical, but if you have the skillset with the development that those guys get with our staff day in and day out it really works out great. Those past two guys, their talent level is high and the biggest thing is that they bought into our culture here."
On if the team feels pressure to get back to the NCAA Tournament:
"I don't think pressure is the word. I think expectation is the word. I think people work every day and night in our business to create expectations. I think our expectations are high and I love that. I got brought up kind of with almost a fear of failure. It drives us and hopefully it will drive our team. We love the expectations and hopefully they'll be high this year and I think that's a great thing for Middle Tennessee basketball."
On if this season's posts have improved their jump shot ability:
"Brandon Walters is a true five. He can make a 15-footer and is a good free throw shooter. He can make a three but he won't shoot too many. Karl Gamble can be a good 15-to-17-foot shooter and he can make a three. I told them in our film session this morning that I'll give a lot of freedom to guys who compete really hard on the defensive end and rebound. Nick King in both of our blue-white scrimmages has had about 26 or 27 points in both games and can make threes. He's one of the top three or four 3-point shooters on our team so that will be part of his identity. Davion Thomas can make 17- or 18-footers and James Hawthorne about 15-to-17-footers. But, you know JaCorey Williams only made two of them last year and he won MVP of our league. There was no better mid-range jump shooter than JaCorey Williams at his position in college basketball."
On what freshmen Davis expects to contribute early:
"I think our freshmen are going to good players on our team. Donovan Sims, it's up in the air but we may redshirt him. We'll decide that after the exhibitions. TJ Massenburg we really like. He's hit a little bit of a freshman wall but I think his talent level is going to be good. Therren Sczmidt right now has been in double figures and rebounded the ball well in both scrimmages. So if I had to pick a freshman now that I think can play in some of these games in November I think Therren would be the one. "
On the excitement of playing in Hawaii this December:
"I tell you what I wish we could look forward to it but there's so many games before, but to look ahead it's a great tournament because obviously it's an ESPN tournament. On those Christmas holidays I know when we're usually off I always watch that tournament because there's no basketball on except for that tournament. And then when you get that field, I think it's in the top three fields of all the exempt tournaments when you do the Maui, the Bahamas and that one based on the teams that are there: New Mexico State they're an NCAA tournament team, Princeton, MT, USC, Miami, Akron is an NIT team and Davidson. So it's going to be a great field. It'll be a fun time for our players. We're going to get there a few days early to enjoy it. But the competition is going to be terrific."
On if TJ Massenburg's NBA pedigree makes him a better player:
"I don't think so. Maybe it's something like horseracing where blood lines are good and it does have an effect. But I do think TJ is a smart guy, he is majoring in the same thing as Ed is, mechatronics engineering. But I think right now with these freshman, the pace of tempo of the reps in practice is a little quick for them right now. Whether it's in high level college football games, it's why these talents come in to places like Alabama and they can't play as a true freshman. It's just the pace and the physicalness is too fast, they'll finally figure it out and TJ will eventually."
On what changes Davis has seen that lets him know this program is becoming elite:
"I see it in increased improvement in the exempt tournaments, but the teams don't get to make those decisions, the people who want the best teams do. So like we'll go to the Bahamas next year in the Atlantis, and it's Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida, Butler all of them. So I see that. But it's hard, we tried to get one of those charity exhibition deals, Tennessee wouldn't play, Memphis wouldn't play, obviously we're already playing Vanderbilt. We thought we had a deal with Wichita State but it didn't work out with the day we were going to travel to Wichita State. So it'll be interesting to see if Tennessee will sign up and we're willing to give more than we get to continue some home series or maybe start something up with Memphis. So we'll see, we hope our RPI will kind of speak for itself as we continue to improve."
Guard Edward Simpson:
On replacing Upshaw and Williams' leadership:
"Well really, just like the women's team was saying earlier, it's about being more vocal out there. For me, coach said it, too, I'm not the loudest person out there but it's about leading by example. So that's every rep, every day, coming in prepared, and that's what I try to do for the younger guys so they can see, like a big brother standpoint, this is how you do it every single day. So that's from my standpoint how I try to lead. I know Giddy is the more vocal person on the team and he does a great job. So us together, we're all doing a really good job from the leadership standpoint. And I think the young guys are really starting to catch on to things. As the season goes on, they start catching on to the offense and how you need to prepare every day, then I think we'll be pretty good."
On the level of competition making them better:
Absolutely, you know you have to come into the non-conference schedule prepared and you have to win some of those games. You have to if you want a chance to get some of those automatic bids into the NCAA tournament which is always our purpose going into the season. So the games we have coming up into our non-conference is a big push for us and that means we need to get started right now. And we need a sense of urgency going into every day because we need to be good at the beginning of the season so when the conference season does come around it's like you're already in great form. So we need to be prepared right now to win some of those games and that puts a sense of urgency on us right now to actually get it done."
On the opportunity this season to lead without Upshaw and Williams:
"It gives us a chance to really grow up. From our bigs standpoint, JaCorey and Reggie took a lot of the minutes as y'all saw last year. People like Brandon (Walters), Karl (Gamble) and James (Hawthorne) and all the new people coming in are going to have to step up. That gives them the opportunity to come in and flourish like we know that they can. Even for the guards, with the bigs kind of being younger this year, that gives us a chance to be more leaders out there on the court and gives us a chance really to have to show our skillset, because we might have to take more of a scoring role or do more things like go four guards at a time. So it gives us a chance to really open up our skillset if we need to and it gives our bigs a chance to really grow up and go into that new spot that Reggie and JaCorey left open."
On what a day in the life of a mechatronics engineer looks like:
"I wake up, I go to class, go to school, I eat and I go to sleep. And that's about it. *laughter* No but really, lately I've been working on two robots. I've got this one robot for this independent study I've been working on. The second robot I'm working on it's pretty cool, it's a robot that can make pancakes, that's my senior design project. It keeps me busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love it to death. I love having to put my hands on things, and doing the math for it and seeing something go from nothing to something. So I love that and I love coming to the basketball court every day. Even though I may not have a life outside of what I'm doing right now, I wouldn't trade it for anything."
On the pancake robot:
"Right now we're working on making it work. So the first semester is getting all the mathematics down, all the motors and all the parts we're going to use, whether we're going to use steel or aluminum, using things like that. We're getting that part down first and then second semester is actually putting it together. Hopefully, if we do well enough the first semester we won't have any flaws that we have in the second semester so it'll just come together really easily. It has to dispense the batter, flip the pancake and put it to the plate. That's our job and it's graded on speed and taste. So first place, you get a 100 and things like that. So that's a competition right there for us, we need to do good on that or if we get last we might just end up with a C in the class. So it really pushes us to do good with that too."
On expectations changing over the years:
"Even my freshman year, we've had the same expectations every year. Coach Davis keeps expectations high and we always strive to be that great. Even from freshman year I think the expectations have been right there, I just think we've gotten better every year. Freshman year we had 9-10 new guys coming in and with Coach Davis' system it's really about catching on every day coming in and giving 100% and really understanding when your shots are coming, how to play defense, everything. It's so detail oriented, where for me freshman year it was a big difference so even though we have pushed up to that national stage that we've gotten to the last few years, those expectations never have changed from freshman year, we've just gotten older and we know what to expect every day so that's helped us out."
On using three or four guard lineups:
"I don't mind them at all. I think it will be great. It'll give defenses a different look out there, too. We could switch up some things run some different defenses and some different offenses, maybe keep the other team on their toes. I think it's a great lineup if we have to go to it. Sometimes I think we will, sometimes I think we don't. Even though I think with people like Brandon and Karl in there I think they're great. That's great rebounding for us, that's something we haven't really had in the past even last year Brandon didn't play that many minutes but a real true 5 down there that can bring in the pain. If we have to go to the four guard lineup I think it'll be great but I do enjoy having the bigs out there holding down the fort for us."
Forward Karl Gamble:
On what the bigs have worked on to fill in JaCorey and Reggie's roles:
"Really, all-in-all I've been working on being more productive. Brandon and I, we didn't play much last year but really we're just focusing on stepping up and playing a bigger role like coach said, just being productive overall. Obviously we lost a lot with JaCorey and Reggie but I feel like me and Brandon are going to grow up a lot this year."
On what he learned from watching Williams and Upshaw:
"Really what stood out to me is their toughness and how they compete. How they go for every rep, they don't slack on any reps. And I've talked to both Reggie and JaCorey and really they were just telling me to stay confident in myself and this is pretty much the year to show what I can do. I've been here two years, and they haven't been the best two years but I've been patient to show what I can do here."
On the help that having Brandon Walters next to him in the paint provides:
"It helps a lot. Having to guard him every day, Brandon is a big dude. So he's a lot to handle but when he's on your team that's also a plus. Obviously he rebounds well, but he also has an intimidation factor to him. He's going to be a big factor for us this year."
On personal improvements this offseason:
"Really I've been working on my body pretty much. Having a stronger base and better balance, you know last year I would get pushed off the block a lot because my core and my base weren't very strong. So really just developing my body to extend the season and play better for longer minutes, to produce overall."
On the changing of the team dynamic:
"It's going to be a slight change. You know, losing two major players like JaCorey and Reggie but I feel like we're going to adjust fine. I feel like we're going to produce as much as we did last year and we have a lot of talent as well like newcomers such as James, TJ and Therren. So I think we're going to be fine in that area."
On the attention on the national stage:
"It's actually a good experience to have to have major guys come in and tell you what they see and what you can improve on and what you're doing well. But the thing I appreciate the most about when they came in is they said how hard we practice so I feel like that's something good we can take away from it."
On the mindset of the team:
"That's pretty much our mindset every year. Coach always tells us 'What now? That was in the past what we did. Basically we're just focusing on what can we do this year? How can we improve this year to have even greater success?'"
On comparing Giddy and Reggie's leadership styles:
"Their leadership styles are the same but I would say Reggie is a more in your face type of guy. So Reggie sees something, Reggie is going to say something. That's pretty much how our whole program is, we don't sugarcoat anything. If you're doing something wrong we're going to tell you. So that's what pretty much makes us how we are."
Opening statement:
"You know, it's an exciting time in college basketball because it's right around the corner. Our team, obviously as you try to push forward on a national scale of college basketball, you know the stainability part, we've experienced the success that we've had over the last six or seven years. Then obviously the push towards the excellence and even moving forward become tougher and tougher, but it is something we are excited to be a part of. I really enjoyed coming to the gym with this team. You know I think our guys Ed (Simpson) and Karl (Gamble) over here, we had a blue/white scrimmage on Saturday and I think we kind of lost our identity, didn't play every well and didn't compete at a very high level from our returning players standpoint. I think whenever you're trying to push forward, obviously in the strength of the team is going to be with the experienced players, and we've got some talented newcomers that are trying to figure their way out. But experience of our team is who's got to lead us. Our schedule this year, we have a chance to play nine teams out of the first 12 games that went to the NCAA or NIT Tournament. It could be in the top 10 of non-conference schedules in college basketball. But that's what we have to do. Last year's rank was about 25th or 26th. The selection committee looks at your schedule, to even have a chance, and if you've proven that you are not trying everything you can from at least a scheduling part of it not beating them just the scheduling part then that looking in a different direction so I think our non-conference schedule is going to test us tremendously. That's what we wanted and then our league as a whole, I think hopefully the league is growing and growing. I heard Rick say it, the whole thing about everyone asking the C-USA be a multi-bid league, well it can for sure but we have to schedule the right way and our teams and our league including Middle Tennessee has to win games in November and December so those first two months of the year will be critical to answer the question rather we can be in the conversation."
On how a tough non-conference schedule prepares the team more for C-USA matchups:
"Well you know here the non-conference is important because you don't get a lot of mulligans when you're in C-USA so you just don't get credit for playing them you have to win, you have to be perfect to make sure you win and so I try to put a lot of heat and extra game-like assemblence on our team right now in practice because I know how good we have to be in November. Now you can have slip-ups but then you still have your regular season and have to try to win your conference tournament, but we all have to understand how important those early November games are. When you look at Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Auburn, then you got Murray State, Belmont, Florida Gulf Coast twice – and they may be as good as any team on our schedule – then you go to the classic in Hawaii with a chance to play Princeton who should have beat Notre Dame in the first round of the tournament, USC, Miami, Akron, Davidson, New Mexico State, I mean it just goes on and on. So our team will be very tested."
On how Davis believes the team stacks up this year compared to other C-USA teams:
"Well everybody in the league would have loved to play us Saturday, in the blue-white game. They would have loved to be in the Murphy Center on Saturday at about 11. We wouldn't have had too much success against anybody. But I do think our team will compete, I hope we're really competitive for the C-USA championship. I do think our league, I mean Western Kentucky has gotten a lot better, UTEP has four starters back, UAB gets (Nick) Norton back and could have maybe three guys on the all-conference preseason team, Marshall is moving forward, as is Old Dominion. So I just think our league is getting better and better."
On if Middle Tennessee is currently the best program in the state:
"You know, I know one thing – we can play with anybody in the state. There's a lot of really great basketball programs in the state of Tennessee and some excellent coaches. I think you'll see more and more teams, like Memphis and Tennessee, who have great basketball tradition, but I think over the last six or seven years I don't think there's a question that we're one of the top programs. Obviously, let's just keep trying to propel our team, you know last year was the first time we were ranked as a team, 25th in the last coaches poll. All of those things, we've hit a lot of firsts but now we need to have sustainability."
On how the returning players have responded to the loss of Reggie Upshaw and Jacorey Williams:
"Those guys are terrific. Not only because of their talent but because of their toughness and basketball IQ. If you can combine those two things you can play at any level. Obviously the strength of our team is the experienced guards that our back. Giddy Potts and Ed Simpson have been here four years and Antwain (Johnson) and Tyrik (Dixon) have played a lot of minutes. Karl Gamble has got to make a big step forward. Whether it's Gonzaga or Wisconsin or whoever, all of a sudden here comes these guys whose roles shift. We've got to have guys like Brandon Walters and Karl Gamble take big steps forward."
On how Davis plans to mesh all the guards:
"I think all of those guys right now are competing for starting spots on our team. After Saturday's scrimmage there's a lot of stuff up to grabs on our team for everybody. I hope we have a push from freshman Therren (Shelton-Szmidt), too. He's a talent, but he's a talent that's trying to learn right now. There could be times that we play four guards and we tried that the other day in the scrimmage. We can get Ed, Tyrik, Giddy and Antwain on the floor at the same time and still have a lot of physicality with those guys."
On who Davis expects to step into a bigger leadership role this season:
"I think if you ask anybody on our team from a leadership standpoint and having the loudest voice in the gym it's Giddy Potts. Ed is not as vocal but his leadership by example is phenomenal with what he does everyday and how he handles his business. Every coach who has walked in our gym can say it's number 20 who has taken on that role, but every player on our team has become more vocal and communicative."
On if Nick King could fall in line of great transfer players at Middle Tennessee:
"Nick is a one-year guy and is our first graduate transfer. So we've had two one-year guys win MVP of our league in LaRon Dendy and JaCorey Williams, but what they had was a redshirt year when they got here. Nick comes in immediately eligible to play. He's a real talent. He's kind of a hybrid four that can shoot and play-make. He's got to get tougher on the defensive end, but he's a natural rebounder and can make shots. He can make a three, drive it and his skill level is high. He fits in perfectly with how those hybrid forwards play in our system."
On why transfers seem to play well immediately under Davis' system:
"I think because of the position they play. If you're a forward and you come into our system to play it's a home run for you. You've got to be able to execute and be tough and physical, but if you have the skillset with the development that those guys get with our staff day in and day out it really works out great. Those past two guys, their talent level is high and the biggest thing is that they bought into our culture here."
On if the team feels pressure to get back to the NCAA Tournament:
"I don't think pressure is the word. I think expectation is the word. I think people work every day and night in our business to create expectations. I think our expectations are high and I love that. I got brought up kind of with almost a fear of failure. It drives us and hopefully it will drive our team. We love the expectations and hopefully they'll be high this year and I think that's a great thing for Middle Tennessee basketball."
On if this season's posts have improved their jump shot ability:
"Brandon Walters is a true five. He can make a 15-footer and is a good free throw shooter. He can make a three but he won't shoot too many. Karl Gamble can be a good 15-to-17-foot shooter and he can make a three. I told them in our film session this morning that I'll give a lot of freedom to guys who compete really hard on the defensive end and rebound. Nick King in both of our blue-white scrimmages has had about 26 or 27 points in both games and can make threes. He's one of the top three or four 3-point shooters on our team so that will be part of his identity. Davion Thomas can make 17- or 18-footers and James Hawthorne about 15-to-17-footers. But, you know JaCorey Williams only made two of them last year and he won MVP of our league. There was no better mid-range jump shooter than JaCorey Williams at his position in college basketball."
On what freshmen Davis expects to contribute early:
"I think our freshmen are going to good players on our team. Donovan Sims, it's up in the air but we may redshirt him. We'll decide that after the exhibitions. TJ Massenburg we really like. He's hit a little bit of a freshman wall but I think his talent level is going to be good. Therren Sczmidt right now has been in double figures and rebounded the ball well in both scrimmages. So if I had to pick a freshman now that I think can play in some of these games in November I think Therren would be the one. "
On the excitement of playing in Hawaii this December:
"I tell you what I wish we could look forward to it but there's so many games before, but to look ahead it's a great tournament because obviously it's an ESPN tournament. On those Christmas holidays I know when we're usually off I always watch that tournament because there's no basketball on except for that tournament. And then when you get that field, I think it's in the top three fields of all the exempt tournaments when you do the Maui, the Bahamas and that one based on the teams that are there: New Mexico State they're an NCAA tournament team, Princeton, MT, USC, Miami, Akron is an NIT team and Davidson. So it's going to be a great field. It'll be a fun time for our players. We're going to get there a few days early to enjoy it. But the competition is going to be terrific."
On if TJ Massenburg's NBA pedigree makes him a better player:
"I don't think so. Maybe it's something like horseracing where blood lines are good and it does have an effect. But I do think TJ is a smart guy, he is majoring in the same thing as Ed is, mechatronics engineering. But I think right now with these freshman, the pace of tempo of the reps in practice is a little quick for them right now. Whether it's in high level college football games, it's why these talents come in to places like Alabama and they can't play as a true freshman. It's just the pace and the physicalness is too fast, they'll finally figure it out and TJ will eventually."
On what changes Davis has seen that lets him know this program is becoming elite:
"I see it in increased improvement in the exempt tournaments, but the teams don't get to make those decisions, the people who want the best teams do. So like we'll go to the Bahamas next year in the Atlantis, and it's Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida, Butler all of them. So I see that. But it's hard, we tried to get one of those charity exhibition deals, Tennessee wouldn't play, Memphis wouldn't play, obviously we're already playing Vanderbilt. We thought we had a deal with Wichita State but it didn't work out with the day we were going to travel to Wichita State. So it'll be interesting to see if Tennessee will sign up and we're willing to give more than we get to continue some home series or maybe start something up with Memphis. So we'll see, we hope our RPI will kind of speak for itself as we continue to improve."
Guard Edward Simpson:
On replacing Upshaw and Williams' leadership:
"Well really, just like the women's team was saying earlier, it's about being more vocal out there. For me, coach said it, too, I'm not the loudest person out there but it's about leading by example. So that's every rep, every day, coming in prepared, and that's what I try to do for the younger guys so they can see, like a big brother standpoint, this is how you do it every single day. So that's from my standpoint how I try to lead. I know Giddy is the more vocal person on the team and he does a great job. So us together, we're all doing a really good job from the leadership standpoint. And I think the young guys are really starting to catch on to things. As the season goes on, they start catching on to the offense and how you need to prepare every day, then I think we'll be pretty good."
On the level of competition making them better:
Absolutely, you know you have to come into the non-conference schedule prepared and you have to win some of those games. You have to if you want a chance to get some of those automatic bids into the NCAA tournament which is always our purpose going into the season. So the games we have coming up into our non-conference is a big push for us and that means we need to get started right now. And we need a sense of urgency going into every day because we need to be good at the beginning of the season so when the conference season does come around it's like you're already in great form. So we need to be prepared right now to win some of those games and that puts a sense of urgency on us right now to actually get it done."
On the opportunity this season to lead without Upshaw and Williams:
"It gives us a chance to really grow up. From our bigs standpoint, JaCorey and Reggie took a lot of the minutes as y'all saw last year. People like Brandon (Walters), Karl (Gamble) and James (Hawthorne) and all the new people coming in are going to have to step up. That gives them the opportunity to come in and flourish like we know that they can. Even for the guards, with the bigs kind of being younger this year, that gives us a chance to be more leaders out there on the court and gives us a chance really to have to show our skillset, because we might have to take more of a scoring role or do more things like go four guards at a time. So it gives us a chance to really open up our skillset if we need to and it gives our bigs a chance to really grow up and go into that new spot that Reggie and JaCorey left open."
On what a day in the life of a mechatronics engineer looks like:
"I wake up, I go to class, go to school, I eat and I go to sleep. And that's about it. *laughter* No but really, lately I've been working on two robots. I've got this one robot for this independent study I've been working on. The second robot I'm working on it's pretty cool, it's a robot that can make pancakes, that's my senior design project. It keeps me busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love it to death. I love having to put my hands on things, and doing the math for it and seeing something go from nothing to something. So I love that and I love coming to the basketball court every day. Even though I may not have a life outside of what I'm doing right now, I wouldn't trade it for anything."
On the pancake robot:
"Right now we're working on making it work. So the first semester is getting all the mathematics down, all the motors and all the parts we're going to use, whether we're going to use steel or aluminum, using things like that. We're getting that part down first and then second semester is actually putting it together. Hopefully, if we do well enough the first semester we won't have any flaws that we have in the second semester so it'll just come together really easily. It has to dispense the batter, flip the pancake and put it to the plate. That's our job and it's graded on speed and taste. So first place, you get a 100 and things like that. So that's a competition right there for us, we need to do good on that or if we get last we might just end up with a C in the class. So it really pushes us to do good with that too."
On expectations changing over the years:
"Even my freshman year, we've had the same expectations every year. Coach Davis keeps expectations high and we always strive to be that great. Even from freshman year I think the expectations have been right there, I just think we've gotten better every year. Freshman year we had 9-10 new guys coming in and with Coach Davis' system it's really about catching on every day coming in and giving 100% and really understanding when your shots are coming, how to play defense, everything. It's so detail oriented, where for me freshman year it was a big difference so even though we have pushed up to that national stage that we've gotten to the last few years, those expectations never have changed from freshman year, we've just gotten older and we know what to expect every day so that's helped us out."
On using three or four guard lineups:
"I don't mind them at all. I think it will be great. It'll give defenses a different look out there, too. We could switch up some things run some different defenses and some different offenses, maybe keep the other team on their toes. I think it's a great lineup if we have to go to it. Sometimes I think we will, sometimes I think we don't. Even though I think with people like Brandon and Karl in there I think they're great. That's great rebounding for us, that's something we haven't really had in the past even last year Brandon didn't play that many minutes but a real true 5 down there that can bring in the pain. If we have to go to the four guard lineup I think it'll be great but I do enjoy having the bigs out there holding down the fort for us."
Forward Karl Gamble:
On what the bigs have worked on to fill in JaCorey and Reggie's roles:
"Really, all-in-all I've been working on being more productive. Brandon and I, we didn't play much last year but really we're just focusing on stepping up and playing a bigger role like coach said, just being productive overall. Obviously we lost a lot with JaCorey and Reggie but I feel like me and Brandon are going to grow up a lot this year."
On what he learned from watching Williams and Upshaw:
"Really what stood out to me is their toughness and how they compete. How they go for every rep, they don't slack on any reps. And I've talked to both Reggie and JaCorey and really they were just telling me to stay confident in myself and this is pretty much the year to show what I can do. I've been here two years, and they haven't been the best two years but I've been patient to show what I can do here."
On the help that having Brandon Walters next to him in the paint provides:
"It helps a lot. Having to guard him every day, Brandon is a big dude. So he's a lot to handle but when he's on your team that's also a plus. Obviously he rebounds well, but he also has an intimidation factor to him. He's going to be a big factor for us this year."
On personal improvements this offseason:
"Really I've been working on my body pretty much. Having a stronger base and better balance, you know last year I would get pushed off the block a lot because my core and my base weren't very strong. So really just developing my body to extend the season and play better for longer minutes, to produce overall."
On the changing of the team dynamic:
"It's going to be a slight change. You know, losing two major players like JaCorey and Reggie but I feel like we're going to adjust fine. I feel like we're going to produce as much as we did last year and we have a lot of talent as well like newcomers such as James, TJ and Therren. So I think we're going to be fine in that area."
On the attention on the national stage:
"It's actually a good experience to have to have major guys come in and tell you what they see and what you can improve on and what you're doing well. But the thing I appreciate the most about when they came in is they said how hard we practice so I feel like that's something good we can take away from it."
On the mindset of the team:
"That's pretty much our mindset every year. Coach always tells us 'What now? That was in the past what we did. Basically we're just focusing on what can we do this year? How can we improve this year to have even greater success?'"
On comparing Giddy and Reggie's leadership styles:
"Their leadership styles are the same but I would say Reggie is a more in your face type of guy. So Reggie sees something, Reggie is going to say something. That's pretty much how our whole program is, we don't sugarcoat anything. If you're doing something wrong we're going to tell you. So that's what pretty much makes us how we are."
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/ Men's BasketballFacility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
Thursday, July 03
MTSU Men's Basketball Coach Nick McDevitt interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Press Conference vs Chattanooga NIT 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
