University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Best of 2016
December 30, 2016 | Women's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
For the past 12 months I've sat down with Georgia Bulldogs, at least one from every sport, for quick chats (and not-so-quick chats) about everything from gift giving to good food to where around the world sports has taken them. Some Q&As may be better than others, but they're all interesting.
As we wrap up 2016, here's a collection of interesting and informative responses that stood out among the many interviews:
Football's Jeb Blazevich
Frierson: What's the best gift you've ever received?
Blazevich: My girlfriend gave me a helicopter ride for my birthday. It was like the first big present she gave me — she's probably my favorite gift, that God gave me. She gave me a helicopter ride and I didn't ask for it, I think I just said something a while ago.
She knew I really wanted to go, but I wasn't hinting or anything. She made it a surprise and we pulled up to the airport and I was oblivious. I was like, I don't know where we are and she makes fun of me for that. I was like, "Are we going up there?" as I pointed to the sky, and she said "Yeah," and I just started freaking out. I couldn't stop smiling and it was the coolest thing.
Football's Lorenzo Carter
Frierson: What's the best thing that's entered your life in 2016? It can be a movie, an album, food, music, a person — whatever.
Carter: The State Botanical Garden is really, like, very close, and I didn't realize it. One of my friends lives across the street from it and I've been going there, just walking the trails. It has beautiful trails, it has nice flowers — it's just a really relaxing place to be, especially during the summer.
Gymnast Brittany Rogers
Frierson: If you could play any other sport for the Bulldogs, what would it be?
Rogers: Football, I think, just because I'm a performer and I love being in Sanford Stadium. If I was a football player I would absolutely love having 100,000 people watching me every game. The adrenaline rush, that would be so cool to me.
It would be fun running into people and being a lineman and being able to eat what you want. They're like celebrities in this town and they get worshipped, but in a good way and a deserving way. I think that would be so cool to be like that, and I'm not saying that gymnastics doesn't have some of that. Gymnastics is probably the second-highest up there as far as recognition and support, so I'm in a pretty good spot.
Men's basketball's Kenny Gaines
Frierson: Take me back to your first dunk. How old were you and how big a moment was it?
Gaines: The first time that I dunked on a 10-foot goal, I was in the seventh grade, and I was outside (my house) and it might have been 10:30 p.m., and I had a cat at the time that always sat at the bottom of the goal, on the base of the goal, as I shot for countless hours.
That night I just kept trying over and over, but I couldn't palm the ball back then and I couldn't find a way to wiggle it in. Then one time I found enough juice and got up high enough to put it in, and I shocked myself. Our goal was kind of old and I actually cut up my hand on the rim.
I got so hyped I picked my cat up and was dancing around with her like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe I did it.' And I couldn't do it again that day, I'd lost the juice.
The next time I did it was in an AAU game. ... It was in warmups and I told my teammate to just lob it up and I'd go get it. I was the only person on my team who had the potential to dunk at the time and I went up and dunked it. Ever since then I've always been able to do it.
Women's golfer Manuela Carbajo Ré
Frierson: In terms of traveling, is there a place you've been that stands out more than any other?
Carbajo Ré: I think every single place is different and has something that stands out to me. I'm always amazed and you always discover new things and get new experiences. I'm telling this to you and it seems like what everybody says, but it's actually true. In every single place I find things that I like.
Like Japan, that was a place where I was never expecting to be playing golf. And Turkey. Honestly, I'd never thought about traveling to Turkey for a vacation or playing golf, so that's something that I could not have done if I was not playing golf.
Also, we had the luck to go to Augusta for the past three years and just play a normal round of golf with your caddy. It's just golf and you just go there and there's nothing. There's no noises, just a lot of trees and the clubhouse and one house next to the clubhouse, and that's it. It's just golf. That has something special, I think.
Football's Greg Pyke
Frierson: What's something from your childhood that you really miss?
Pyke: When I was really young — I have really vivid memories of this, probably from when I was five or six — we had this big hill at our house and I had one of those little jeeps with the battery in back, and I used to drive that thing around.
I would scare my mom because I would go to the top of the hill in our driveway and I would floor it down. I would kind of drift and spin out at the bottom, and my mom used to tell me that it always looked like I was about to flip, but I was loving it. I do remember doing stupid stuff like that when I was younger.
Women's soccer's Louise Hogrell
Frierson: What was your first Georgia football game like? I'm guessing that was a pretty weird or eye-opening experience (for someone from Sweden).
Hogrell: I was very excited to go to my first Georgia football game. The only thing was, I got there and I didn't know anything about the rules, it was so hot and I left at halftime (laughs). It just got too much; I was confused and didn't really understand what was going on.
Runner Bryan Kamau
Frierson: What's something that's entered your life in 2016, or that you've experienced, that really hit home or has had a profound effect on you?
Kamau: For 2016 I'd have to say having the opportunity to go back to Kenya. I was born in Kenya but I came here when I was in second or third grade, and I hadn't been back in about seven years.
I went for about a week and a half, toward the end of summer. I was cutting it close because it was close to the start of practice and I didn't want to mess with my training too much. But it was an opportunity that I couldn't give up. Being able to see my family — cousins, aunts, grandparents — was something pretty big for me, and I had a lot of fun.
Women's basketball coach Joni Taylor
Frierson: What was the most satisfying moment of the season, in terms of your first season as a head coach?
Taylor: Honestly, the buy-in from our players. There's a lot of things I could say statistically or from the games, but I knew that if we as a staff didn't get our seniors and our players to stretch themselves, not on the floor, but off the floor in terms of their team building and leadership and buying in to each other, that we wouldn't have the season that we wanted to have and we wouldn't be talking about winning at Vandy or winning at LSU or beating five ranked teams, because none of that would have happened.
What's most satisfying for me is how those girls are with each other in that locker room. They truly are sisters and they love and care about each other, and they did a lot of growing up this summer and it reflected on the floor.
Volleyball's Cassidy Anderson
Frierson: If you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self that was just arriving at Georgia, what would you tell her?
Anderson: I'd tell her that everything is going to be OK. It was really hard to move eight hours away from your family, and you're like the baby of the family, so you're getting dropped off and watching your parents leave for the first time. I still cry every time I say goodbye, I don't know why.
It's like everything's coming from a different place. You're not the all-star on your team like you were in high school and club, you're competing for your spot. The style of volleyball is different, college is so different, you're on your own, and you have to take care of yourself.
I'd tell her to hang in there and know that everything is going to work out as planned. Just relax.
Men's basketball's Kenny Paul Geno
Frierson: If you could have played any other sport for the Bulldogs, what would it be?
Geno: I would like to say football, but probably it would be baseball because I grew up playing baseball, too. I think it would be fun to play at this level. A bunch of my friends are baseball players, so it would be fun to go and see a different side of things.
I really like Coach (Scott) Stricklin and it would be fun to see, going from playing for a competitive guy like Coach (Mark) Fox to another competitive guy like Coach Stricklin, and see how they do different things.
Women's golfer Rinko Mitsunaga
Frierson: You often have interesting and unusual socks on when you're playing. Most players wear ankle or no-show socks when they play, so what's the story on your strong sock game?
Mitsunaga: (Laughs) Back in junior golf I used to actually wear knee-high socks that were like funky and had different designs on them. I just love them; I think it's fun and I think it's not too over the top. I think when you're looking on tour I notice that everyone always look the same and I think having something different kind of makes you stand out a little bit.
Also, they're just so cute that I can't stop wearing them.
Equestrian rider Kyndall Harper
Frierson: How much of the enjoyment is the interaction with the horses, not even in competition but just the day-to-day care and interaction?
Harper: That's my favorite part. You're attached to them all. One of my retired show horses — I'm from St. Augustine — and he's still at home and he's like hanging out. My grandparents and my sister are taking care of him while I'm at school, and he is like a family pet. His name is Chicken and he is like a pet.
Men's tennis' Walker Duncan
Frierson: What's the best thing that's entered your life in 2016? It can be a movie, an album, food, music, a person — whatever.
Duncan: That's a tough question. ... I don't know, I've started listening to more classic rock, like The Band and they're awesome. I've also started listening to The Grateful Dead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I like that music a lot. It's chill music.
Oh, there's these really good pretzels that they have at the grocery store. They're the buffalo pretzel chips and I'll have to bring you some the next time you come out. They are very good and I have them every week, so that answers that.
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.
Players Mentioned
