In addition to interim head coach Brandin Knight, who met with members of the BTN media yesterday, Rutgers men’s basketball team captain JaMichael Davis and Tariq Francis also got the chance to be interviewed by the BTN media crew.
The first question that the two were asked had to do with their reaction when they found out that head coach Steve Pikiell would be taking some time off while he battles cancer.
“I was just, you know, sorry to hear it, but I knew we had to, you know, move forward with him
and just be somebody he can depend on and just support him in that battle because it’s bigger than basketball at the end of the day. So it was really just, what’s the next steps to move forward and, you know, get him back with us,” said Francis.
“When we heard the news, it definitely hit home. But I think the first thing he kind of told us was that he was going to be OK. So that kind of went a long way. And it was kind of like, ok, what do we have to do now? You know, we can fall back and kind of like chill or not. We can attack it the same way we would if he was still around. So that’s what we went with. You know, we just try to get better,” said Davis.
Later on in the press conference, Francis was asked what he learned while he was adjusting to the Big Ten last year and how that knowledge will help him be a more productive scorer this year.
“Really just the play styles of the team, some of the defensive strategies, and then, like, size. I feel like the size difference between the leagues was something that, you know, was different for me. But, you know, going forward into this year, I think I’m just trying to use the tools that helped me be successful last year and, you know, help translate it to not only, you know, being able to score more and impact the game more, but, you know, help it contribute to winning more,” said Francis.
Davis also got the chance to comment on the new look center group for the Knights and how the team’s rebounding efforts will benefit from their presence.
“Definitely all of our people that we have picked up. I think Christian, who we picked up, he’s going to be nice. Obviously, Big Buca, we got Big Buca. He’s a footer. He’s a big guy. He’s a big cat. We got him. We got Gevonte. We got Merv. We got a lot of size. Those guys are very strong. They’re willing to bang down there. So I think they’re going to make a lot of noise for us,” said Davis on the revamped center group.
To view the entire press conference, click here.
