University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... E'Torrion Wilridge
January 10, 2017 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Some 10-minute interviews, the typical length of one of these quick chats with a Georgia athlete, feature only a few questions and a lot of very long, through answers. And those are great. Other interviews turn out to be more rapid-fire, because the subject's answers aren't as long. And those are great, too, because you get to cover a lot more ground.
This Q&A with men's basketball forward E'Torrion Wilridge was of the rapid-fire variety, and the 6-foot-6 sophomore from Beaumont, Texas, talked about Christmas gifts (he was a Power Rangers fan), his first year-plus in college, his first dunk and much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: As we chat here the holidays are coming up, so what's the best gift you've every received?
Wilridge: It would probably have to be when I was younger and you're into toys and stuff. I remember one time I got some Power Ranger action figures and I was a big Power Rangers fan, so I was really into those.
Frierson: What's the best gift you've ever given, when you knew it was going to be a home run?
Wilridge: It would probably be the gift that I'm giving my little brother this year. I'm giving my little brother a couple of pairs of shoes. His feet are growing as he's getting taller and I'm getting him some shoes I knew he's going to like.
Frierson: What's something from your childhood that you really miss?
Wilridge: I miss not having as many responsibilities, being able to life care-free.
Frierson: Is that one of the biggest adjustments in coming to college, the time management and the long list of things you have to do each day?
Wilridge: Definitely. You've got to manage a lot of things — class, practice, tutoring, your relationships with other people — so there's a lot of stuff going on that you've got to manage.
Frierson: Who is somebody on the team, or any other Georgia athlete that you know, that you've come to really admire?
Wilridge: It would have to be Yante Maten. Yante's a great guy, a great player as well, and he's just fun to be around. He's an all-around great person.
Frierson: What's the best new thing, at least new to you, that entered your life in 2016?
Wilridge: I've made a lot of new friends this past year and I'd probably say the new relationships I've developed are the best thing.
Frierson: If you won the lottery, say $10 million, what's the first thing you're going to go buy?
Wilridge: I'd probably buy myself a new wardrobe. I wouldn't say I'm big on fashion but I like tennis shoes, so I'd probably buy myself a lot of shoes.
Frierson: Most of us that see you guys around only ever see you in your Georgia gear: t-shirts, sweats and that kind of stuff. It's almost hard to picture you guys in regular clothes because we never see you in them.
Wilridge: The Georgia stuff is great and we have a lot of it, for sure.
Frierson: What's something you'll never, ever get tired of eating?
Wilridge: Chick-fil-A, without a doubt. That's my favorite fast-food restaurant.
Frierson: Do you have a set thing you get there every time?
Wilridge: Either I get the nuggets or the spicy chicken sandwich.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do? Or what's something creative you wish you could do?
Wilridge: I wish I could paint. There's a lot of big money in painting, people selling paintings for millions of dollars, so I wish I could do that.
Frierson: If you could spend an afternoon with Coach Fox doing anything, what would it be?
Wilridge: [Laughs] I'd want to sit down and watch some college basketball with him, like other teams, and just see how he processes what he sees and develops the scouting reports on other teams.
Frierson: I'm a 5-foot-11 guy without much leaping ability, so I've never come close to the rim. That makes me jealous of the guys that can dunk. What can you tell me about your first dunk?
Wilridge: My first dunk was in the summer before I went into ninth grade. I was at AAU practice just playing around before it started. One of the other guys on the team could dunk and this was my first time ever trying, so I just went up there and jumped off two feet and dunked it with one hand.
Everybody went crazy, including me. It was my very first time trying and I got it.
Frierson: As somebody that can't do it, it seems like it would be a big moment in your life, or at least your basketball or athletic life. Do you remember your best one in a game?
Wilridge: It was an AAU game and one of my teammates, on a fast break, threw it off the backboard and I came in from behind and dunked it. That was probably my best one.
Frierson: What can you tell me about Beaumont, Texas? When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Wilridge: Every time I think of home I just think about my high school years, the people that I met. I've got a lot of lifetime friends that I made and that's what I think about, my family and my friends.
Beaumont's a great town — there's not really much to do but you'll find a way to have fun and you'll meet some very interesting people.
Frierson: We're sitting in the practice gym, across the hall from the gymnastics team's practice facility. Do you ever look over and see some of the pretty crazy stuff they're doing in there?
Wilridge: Sometimes they'll be practicing and we'll walk by, and they'll be doing some incredible stuff over there. Jumps and flips and all kinds of stuff I wish I could do.
Frierson: Is there another sport or event that you watch and wonder, how the heck do they do that?
Wilridge: Gymnastics is definitely one. I've also been to an equestrian meet before and the stuff they do with the horses is kind of intriguing.
Frierson: If you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self that was just arriving at Georgia, what would you tell him?
Wilridge: Always stay confident and never get down on yourself. There's going to be some rough times, but there will be some joyful times, too, so just stay level-headed and don't get down on yourself.
(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.
