University of Georgia Athletics
Q&A: Best Of Men's Basketball 2016-17
March 08, 2017 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Throughout the Georgia men's basketball team's season, each home program featured a Q&A with a member of the Bulldogs. First was senior Brandon Young, way back in November, and last was junior Yante Maten, near the end of the regular season.
Some of the Bulldogs are All-SEC stars, like Maten and senior J.J. Frazier, and others like Young and sophomore Connor O'Neill don't see much action. Also included was sophomore Christian Harrison who hasn't played at all due to transfer rules.
Regardless of minutes and production, all 15 Bulldogs were asked a bunch of questions -- many of them the same for every player -- and only a few of them had much to do with basketball. What follows is the best of what they had to say:
Frierson: I usually ask guys about their first dunks. As a guy that never came close to touching the rim, I'm kind of fascinated by the whole thing. But I don't think I've every seen you dunk and I don't know if you can.
J.J. Frazier: I actually dunked a couple of weeks back in practice. My teammates were joking with me about how I can never dunk, but in a game when I make a layup my hand will be up there [at the rim], so I dunked in practice the other day.
I think my first dunk, I was a junior in high school and we were playing Mt. Zion out of North Carolina, and my high school coach was like, "I bet you can't dunk it." I got a fast break and I just took off and dunked it.
Frierson: In what way do you feel the most, for lack of a better term, "Americanized"?
Derek Ogbeide: In all kinds of ways, the way I'm influenced in music, people, the friends I have here and the way I speak. There's always a certain vernacular in every country, like when my British friends call I might get an accent out of nowhere. When I'm talking to my American friends, I sound a little bit like them. I definitely feel like I've gotten accustomed to the culture.
Frierson: What's the greatest play or athletic feat of your life?
Turtle Jackson: I can say something that I'll never forget was during my sophomore year [at Athens Christian School], we were down 21 in the fourth quarter. I scored something like 20 points in the quarter and we came back and won, against a team that had three or four D-I players.
That's not one play, but just that span right there was one of the best things I've ever done.
Frierson: You were pretty young when your uncle [Alec Kessler] passed away, so how aware are you of just how great a player he was here at Georgia?
Houston Kessler: I've seen some footage of him, but it's mostly things I've heard about him. He was 6-11, could shoot the ball really well; he was a really hard worker and that's something that's inspired pretty much everybody in my family. Do your best and work as hard as you can to try to be excellent in the classroom and out on the court, and at whatever you want to do in life.
Frierson: Do you have a guilty pleasure, like a movie that you know is pretty terrible but you love it anyway?
Juwan Parker: One of my favorite rappers is Riff Raff and he is a terrible rapper -- he is awful. But his music is just so fun and funny, so I really like listening to Riff Raff. As a matter of fact I went to one of his concerts when he was in Athens, and I think that was my first-ever concert.
Frierson: How did that [high school state championship] game change things for you?
Jordan Harris: My school hadn't been there in so long and my whole city went to it and the other team's whole city went to it, Coach [Mark Fox] was there, Coach [Philip Pearson] was there -- everybody was there.
There was a lot of pressure on me because I was the best guy on the team and that got me ready for everything. I had 41 [points] and if I wouldn't have had 41 we would have lost, so that got me ready.
Frierson: If you could spend an afternoon with Coach Fox away from basketball doing anything, what would it be?
Yante Maten: Probably talk about basketball. [Laughs] I'd probably play him in golf because I heard he's not good and I could say I beat him in something. Other than that, Coach Fox is a caring dude and I could picture us just talking about things. He's a competitor and pretty much anything that has to do with competing I could imagine us doing, even something like go-cart racing.
Frierson: OK, now, can you give me the summarized version of your thoughts on Deflategate? We don't have an hour, so keep it kind of tight.
Connor O'Neill: I think it was a sting operation, that the league was out to get the Patriots. I think the legal limit of the footballs, the rules were followed, the procedures were followed all the way through. It was a cold, rainy day whenever they measured the footballs in the AFC championship game and obviously I'm no scientist, but when you have cold weather balls tend to get a little deflated.
I'm going to leave it there and not say too much about my man Roger Goodell [NFL commissioner]. I'm not a big fan.
Frierson: What's the one thing you could eat every single day for the rest of your life?
Kenny Paul Geno: I love food, so there's a lot. I would say my mom and grandmom's dirty rice. It's probably my favorite. It's the Mexican dirty rice and my grandmom puts jalapeño in it, but my mom does the grounded up sausage in it. I love it.
We would eat it at the dinner table and then I'd go do something for a little while and come back and heat up some more and eat it. It's my favorite dish.
Frierson: What can you tell me about Beaumont, Texas? When you think of home, what comes to mind?
E'Torrion 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: It's been almost a year to the day (Nov. 3, 2015) since Coach Fox announced at the preseason banquet that you were getting a scholarship. As significant days in your life go, where does that one stack up? It's a heck of a compliment.
Brandon Young: That's one of the top days of my life, for sure. I had no idea it was coming, it was a complete surprise to me, which is pretty cool, and it came like a week after my grandfather had passed so it was an opportune time to bring some good news to the family. It was pretty sweet -- perfect timing and a complete surprise.
Frierson: When did you know that this, playing at a big school, was possible?
Tyree 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: When you're the new guy, how long does it take to settle in and feel like one of the guys?
Pape Diatta: It became easy once I got here. Everybody was welcoming and welcomed me with open arms, so it was easy to just get in and feel comfortable. It didn't take long for guys to make fun of me ... and you know how teammates are, if they don't make fun of you that means they probably don't like you.
Frierson: Have you found a good pancake place around here?
Mike Edwards: I usually just go with IHOP or J. Christopher's, but I will say by far my favorite place to go, and you can ask anyone that knows me, is Waffle House. We don't have it in Michigan, so when I came down here it was all new to me. I love Waffle House.
Frierson: What's the best thing that all these years of playing sports has taught you?
Christian Harrison: To stay determined would probably be the most valuable thing. I feel like a lot of people get good at something and then they stop working, or either they're good at something and they never really worked hard to become good.
There was a point where I barely made the middle school team, seventh-grade year, and then eighth-grade year I made it, but played in only like two games. So after that season I just was determined to be a better player once I got to high school.
I worked really hard that summer and the following summers, and I think me and another guy were the only players from that middle school team that got the opportunity to play in college. Determination is a really important thing.
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.
