University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Tyree Crump
December 15, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Tyree Crump had to wait a while to knock down his first 3-pointer for the Bulldogs. The freshman guard from Bainbridge, Ga., a three-time all-state player for Bainbridge High School, missed his first 10 3-point attempts this season.
Then came his first big night, on Nov. 30, against Morehouse in Stegeman Coliseum. Crump not only was 2-for-2 on 3s in the Bulldogs' 86-72 win, he was 4-for-4 from the field and made all six of his free-throw attempts. Crump wound up leading the Bulldogs with 16 points, in just 13 minutes of action.
The following afternoon Crump sat down for a quick chat about making shots, going home, his first dunk and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: How did it feel to finally knock down those 3s after struggling a little in your first few games?
Crump: It felt pretty good, for sure. My confidence is always high, and I knew that eventually I would have a good shooting night — and it was the other night.
Frierson: When you're missing 3s is it tough to keep shooting or do you just have to have the mentality that they're going to start falling sooner or later?
Crump: The mentality of a shooter is that the next one's going in. I don't even think about what happened on the last shot at all.
Frierson: What's been the biggest surprise of being off at college so far, either on or off the court?
Crump: School, really. Just having to get adjusted to everything, waking up early, all the tutoring and no free time.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do? Or what's something creative you wish you could do?
Crump: Besides school and basketball, that's basically it. I wish I could sleep more; I sleep, but not as much as I want to.
Frierson: What's the one meal you could eat every day for the rest of your life?
Crump: I could eat a cheeseburger every day, every day.
Frierson: Is having to watch what you eat and think about it something that's new for you since you've comet to Georgia?
Crump: We eat a lot and you couldn't go out to eat something like Wendy's every night. You've got to eat healthy and doing that helps your body a lot.
Frierson: Have you had a chance to go home much since you've come to college?
Crump: I haven't, since home is like five hours away. My parents, my mom have come up here, which is good, but you want to go home sometimes.
Frierson: When you do head home, when do you know you're home? Is there a sight or a smell or something specific that really tells you you're home?
Crump: Once I pass this place called [Anthony's One-Stop Grocery & Laundry], which has great barbecue, then I know I'm home.
Frierson: What's your barbecue meal?
Crump: I get four Que-Dogs, it's a hot dog with barbecue on it. It's really good, and I get ribs.
Frierson: As a guy that could get the net but never got close to the rim, I'm always interested in a players first dunk. Do you remember your first dunk?
Crump: I do remember it. My first dunk in a game was my freshman year, against our rival school. We were down by two and I played the passing lane and got a steal, and I went the other way and dunked it.
The crowd went crazy because I was a freshman and that was a big deal.
Frierson: Did you surprise yourself at all by doing that?
Crump: I did, because I wasn't expecting to get that high. I just didn't think about it, I just dunked it.
Frierson: Who's the funniest guy on the team?
Crump: The funniest guy is probably Turtle Jackson. He's just funny, period.
Frierson: Is there anyone on the team or another student-athlete you've met that you've come to admire a lot?
Crump: There's two: [football freshmen] Brian Herrien and David Marshall. They just know what they want to do in life and they've got the same plans as me. They just want to be successful and I'm with it.
Frierson: When did you know that this, playing at a big school, was possible?
Crump: My eighth-grade summer I started playing AAU ball and traveling to play against some of the top players in the nation. And I could compete on the same level they could. Eventually I knew that it would all fall into place if I just performed well.
Frierson: That seems like it would be an eye-opening moment, both for what was possible and for the work you knew you'd have to put in to make it happen.
Crump: My seventh-grade summer I knew that I had a lot of work to put in, because the guys were so much ahead of me and they were really good. They only thing they did was play basketball, while I played football and basketball.
I really just wanted to focus on basketball so I stuck with it and got better.
Frierson: Do you have a guilty pleasure, like a movie that you know is pretty terrible but you love it anyway or something else silly you're a little ashamed to admit?
Crump: I still eat a lot of Wendy's, but I don't admit that I eat a lot of Wendy's.
Frierson: What do you usually get?
Crump: I get the chicken nuggets.
Frierson: I was talking to a football player the other day, Davin Bellamy, and he talked about how much he loved eating Cane's. He admitted to sometimes eating it before practice, which he knew probably wouldn't lead to anything good.
Crump: I've eaten there a lot since I've been here.
Frierson: If you could have played with or against anyone in history, who would it be?
Crump: In history? I would love to play with Michael Jordan. Just being around him and seeing all the amazing things he could do.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
