HH: How do you feel DJ has progressed over the course of the season?
DM: I think that defensively they have taught him a lot of things, he's learned a lot. The first two games of the Sun Belt Tournament especially was the best I've ever seen him move in his life. I thought that he got up and down the court really well. I thought that he got around his man on defense and in that UALR game he had I know four steals but he had several deflections as well on a pretty decent post player and that stuff he never got from me. I mean, that's 100% the coaches but he's done extremely well on that, but I don't think anyone has seen how skilled he is offensively yet because it's just not his role this year. DJ's nothing if he's not respectful of what everyone's desires are, he's going to fall in line and do what's best. It's a fairly guard-dominated team and he's going to accept that role this year and we'll see what happens in the years to come but right now he's accepting that's what's best for the team so he doesn't look to be real impactful on the offensive end and consequently he hasn't yet.

HH: What do you think about his foul problems he had throughout the year?
DM: Honestly I think that there's some movement issues that he probably needed to continue working on in regards to getting lower on defense, giving more spacing when he's further away from the basket.....unfortunately, most of his fouls were body fouls he got on lateral slides.......the perception that he doesn't have good lateral movement isn't accurate, it's more awareness for him than anything. I also think that he plays in a conference with very few good big men and he's gotten many ticky-tack fouls that probably wouldn't happen in another conference with more big men. I was at his FAU game and his FIU game and he had 9 fouls in about 25 minutes in those two games and I think in any bigger conference in America he probably would have had 3 or 4. Did he foul somebody nine times? Probably by the letter of law he did, but when you bump somebody that's 30 feet from the basket and they still have their dribble and there's no advantage given to them most bigger conference refs don't call that but in the Sun Belt they do and that's just the way it is. I think in the long run that won't be that bad because that will make him become an even better defender but right now being his size and his style of play he's had to make some adjustments. I also think that in the Sun Belt Tournament Coach Horn probably played a little bit more 2-3 zone and that helped him stay in the paint and not be as far away from the basket where he seems to get a lot of the silly fouls.

HH: Where do you think he's shown the most improvement since he played for you in high school? Do you think he's quicker now?
DM: I think he's faster. To me, quickness is more of a state of mind. Speed is just flat-out athletic skill and he's gotten faster. The strength coach Irele has worked hard with him and Coach Horn and his staff have done a nice job with his foot speed. I think he runs faster than he's ever run.

HH: I guess it was really a great experience down in Mobile for your whole family?
DM: It was thrilling. My only regret is I wish Jessica had transferred a year earlier and she could have been an even bigger part of that. She was definitely a part of the team this year because she got to practice with them and they're her teammates and she feels a sense of accomplishment as well but they play so well together and they pass so well, they use the post so good that it was just fun to watch them win their championship game. And it was a neat feeling for me to see back to back teams that my kids are part of win in the same day and go to the NCAA Tournament. I was really proud of them both being a part of a program like Western.

HH: Well, as far as Jameson goes, how do you feel he progressed over the course of the year?
DM: I think that Jameson has grown tremendously this year. He's grown as a competitor, he's grown as an athlete and his awareness of basketball has grown tremendously......and most importantly, the trouble he got in has really helped him grow as a man. So, I'm very pleased with his experience with us. He handled the strength that we brought him early and he handled the discipline that we brought him late and for that he's a better person and a better player.......and he's "Scary-Good." I mean there are moments when he really wants it......my college coach coached at Kansas for 19 years and he's seen a lot of great players and when Jameson put up 27 in the second half against IMG with a kid going to Florida, a kid going to Georgia and a kid going to another D-1 school.....you've gotta stop and go "my goodness, how good is this kid?" and you realize he's still a LONG ways away from what he could be. So, his upside is just so big and he really had a nice year this year.

HH: I know earlier you said that one of the biggest things he needed to work on was moving without the ball. Did he really improve in that area?
DM: Yes. When I spoke with you the first time I thought that Jameson was going to be just a flat-scorer that looked to score everytime and on our level he could have been 30 point a game guy and that's just not his personality. So, he'll play some ONE at Western at times. He handles it really well at 6' 5" - 6' 6" and he sees the court really well but he's a great scorer so he's a pretty darn good all-around player. The other thing I said earlier was that when I first got him he played hard about 20% of the time and by mid-summer when I spoke to you he was probably up to 45-50-60%. Our goal was to get him to 100%, I think he's at about 80%. He's still got a whole other level of intensity to get too but what encourages me is whenever he was challenged he always rose up and that's when you know he's got it in him. It's a thing one day where people are going to look back and say, "Coach, you had DJ and he's a big-time player, you had Jameson and he's a big-time player.....both of them getting paid to play someplace....how could you not win more games?" (Laughs) So I think they're going to be even better away from me than with me because they have so much potential, both of those boys.
HH: Did he get much stronger or gain any size in the last year?
DM: I think he might have grown an inch. He was 6' 41/2" - 6' 5" when he entered our school and he's walking out around 6' 6." He's taller than he was when he got here. From a weight perspective, you know, I think Jameson is not going to gain a lot of weight until he gets with Coach Irele and gets on a strong program that's consistent and controlled and they're monitoring it and really watching what he eats. Unlike Jeremy, he'll put some weight on eventually. Jeremy is one that you just never know because he's got evidently really high metabolism or something, he's just so thin. I don't think that Jameson is going to have that issue, he'll put it on with the right type of program.

HH: So, do you feel more confident now that he'll make a pretty good contribution as a freshman next year?
DM: Yeah.....understanding Coach's style of play, which obviously we'd like to see Jeremy and DJ and the Bigs used a little bit more offensively, and I think that's what's going to happen, but Coach Horn is very fond of his guards and I think with that being said I think Jameson is going to be very good. The more I watch Ty.....if he can learn to play with Ty's movement....which Ty does move really well without the ball, he runs well and he just makes the most out of his athleticism and size....but recognizing that Jameson is 2-3 inches taller than Ty and with tremendous athleticism, if he can play at the passion level that Ty does he is going to be really, really special at Western.

HH: Did you have any other schools asking about him throughout the season that maybe didn't know he had signed with Western?
DM: Yeah, we got a lot of calls in the Fall as it got known that he was at our place. What happened was....people were aware of him at IMG but he hadn't really shown any of his potential because for whatever reason it wasn't in him yet. Then when he came to us and started showing it then we started hearing about it. There's a lot of in-state schools in Florida that really recognize that they missed on a good one with him. When he put on a show against Kenny Kogee (sp?) from IMG at our Christmas Tournament there were several scouts up in the stands and they were very impressed with what they saw.

DM: I will also tell you this.....Jessica has improved a TON this year. She's heading back up, she came home for Spring Break, and she just got done working out with my team and I was shocked at how good she is. I mean it's really amazing what Mary and Coach McCray and Coach Graves and all those guys did with her this Winter....she's a whole other player. I didn't quite frankly know if she had this in her, she's much better than I've ever seen her play, so I'm really excited about her growth as well. I'm really impressed by the Western Kentucky coaches. Their strength of character is the best thing.

MISC. Tidbits:
DM: Nored is every bit as athletic as Tyrone but he could care less about shooting and he's going to be fun. He's going to be much more of a penetrator-disher. And I gotta tell you, you're going to LOVE the kid they're bringing in from South Carolina (Brian Narcisse).....DJ LOVES him. And just the time I was around Nored I was VERY impressed by him, he's just a quality kid, yes sir, no sir. And Jameson is a great kid. Darrin's bringing in these good kids. There's just a lot of GOOD people on that team and they'll be better than people think next year.

DM: I gotta tell you, I'm not afraid of anybody. I mean, you look at the way we played Tennessee and it could be argued that they could win a national championship this year, there's no reason for anyone at Western to be afraid of whatever our draw looks like. If DJ and Jeremy can keep themselves in the game a lot comes down to your studs, which studs show up. If Tyrone and Courtney have the games they can they're very scary. If I'm Kansas or I'm Purdue or I'm Carolina or Duke or UCLA.....I don't want Western in the first round. And I really think you've got the nucleus of a team that can go to three or four or five of these things in a row. I think next year could really, really be fun. When you graduate somebody like Courtney everybody's expectations are going to lower and it's kind of fun sometimes to come back in those environments after you've had a good year and people expect you to not be quite as good.
HH: I think we'll be very good next year.
DM: They might be better and I hope that they have a good, strong schedule again.

 

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HILLTOPPER INTERVIEWS