University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Teshaun Hightower
January 09, 2019 | Men's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Teshaun Hightower can rap a little bit and he'll chow down on a Snelling Hall quesadilla any chance he gets. These are just two of the things the sophomore guard from Lithonia, Ga., revealed during a recent Quick Chat.
The 6-foot-5 Hightower has been a regular in the starting lineup this season after starting three games as a freshman — click here to read our Quick Chat from a year ago — and he figures to be a key component in the Bulldogs' system as SEC play continues, starting with Wednesday's game against Vanderbilt. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: It's graduation day for December graduates as we're doing this and dozens of men and women are going by us in their caps and gowns. When you see that do you kind of think to when it might be your turn?
Hightower: I just think about how they're really blessed. They've been through a lot, the long nights of studying and work, so I'm really happy for them.
Frierson: At this point in your college career, about a third of the way through it, has it been about what you anticipated? Has it been different from what you were expecting?
Hightower: It's been about what I thought. College is supposed to be a little challenging, so you just take the challenges and run with them.
Frierson: What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you first got here?
Hightower: School-wise, just use Rankin, use it more and more, and basketball-wise, just slow down and see the floor more.
Frierson: Is that one of things Coach Crean preaches? But at the same time he wants you all to play really fast.
Hightower: Yeah, it's not really slow down, for real, but slow your mind down.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on someone else's dime, where would you like to go?
Hightower: I like Vegas, that was pretty cool when I went for an AAU trip, but I just want to go for a vacation.
Frierson: What is it about Vegas that gets your attention? I mean, it's designed to get your attention.
Hightower: There's a lot of lights, but it's very hot, the Strip — I mean everything is cool out there.
Frierson: If you could take one move from somebody in the NBA and incorporate it into your game, what would you take?
Hightower: I'd take Kyrie (Irving's), he did the move on Steph Curry, he dribbled, he spun, he put the ball down and shot — I don't know exactly what he did but it was tough. I would take that because Kyrie's got the whole package in his game.
Frierson: Do you understand the people that collect all the shoes, the sneakerheads? I get the collecting a bit but I don't understand never wearing most of them.
Hightower: I collect shoes but I'm not like a sneaker freak. I have a lot of shoes, I like shoes.
Frierson: Do you wear them or are they just in boxes on a shelf?
Hightower: No, I wear them.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day for the rest of your life and never get tired of it?
Hightower: Quesadillas. Snelling (Hall) has good quesadillas. I can eat that every day.
Frierson: What do you like to put in your quesadillas?
Hightower: Ground beef and cheese and queso.
Frierson: Who's the funniest guy on the team?
Hightower: Ooh, that's kind of hard to answer that one because we've got a couple of comedians on the team. I would pick three of them, which are Slim, Derek (Ogbeide) and Turtle (William Jackson).
Frierson: Ok, wait, who's Slim?
Hightower: That's Amanze Ngumezi. He's very funny.
Frierson: He's called Slim?
Hightower: We call him Slim.
Frierson: Is that supposed to be a joke? The guy's like 6-8 and 250 pounds.
Hightower: Nah, he said he got the name when he was in high school, but he just got bigger.
Frierson: Who's the freakiest athlete on the team?
Hightower: Jojo Toppin, by far. He doesn't have to warm up to jump or anything, it's just natural. He can do anything.
Frierson: Do you have any hidden or not-so-hidden talents?
Hightower: I can rap a little bit.
Frierson: Have your teammates heard you?
Hightower: Yeah, for sure.
Frierson: Who would you compare yourself to?
Hightower: I don't think I'm like anybody.
Frierson: Do you have a favorite song to perform or have you written your own stuff?
Hightower: I've written a couple of things.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing 15 years from now?
Hightower: In 15 years, after the league (NBA), I've got a family going and I might want to stay here in Georgia, probably in the Lithonia area. I want a big, gated house and to be just really enjoying life.
(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.
