Indiana University Athletics
Catching Up With #IUBB: James Blackmon Jr.
5/19/2015 3:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - With the 2014-15 academic year complete, we sat down with rising sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr. to get his thoughts on his freshman season and what he's working on for next year.
Have you looked at any of the preseason rankings? I know it's early, but you guys have been ranked pretty high in most of them.
"I haven't really looked at that, but people have told me on our team and stuff like that. They just throw that out there. Everybody's excited to see that."
What's it like to have so many guys back?
"It gives us a lot of confidence. Me, Yogi (Ferrell) and Troy (Williams) talked together about how good we could be. Now we're just excited to get this season going."
On having Yogi back for his senior season:
"Having him back for four years, you know he knows the program very well and he knows where guys want the ball. He knows where they should be. He's definitely the leader, so it's great to have him back."
On what part of his game he is looking to improve in the offseason:
"Just getting stronger to the point where you can see it. I still want to get better at my point guard skills and show that I'm more of a combo guard."
Which NBA player or players would you like to model your game after:
"I've always felt like I was a combo guard growing up. Being a guy that can score, you're usually always sort of thrown at the 2. But there are a couple of guys I like to watch and model my game after like (Portland's) Damian Lillard or (Washington's) Bradley Beal.
We saw the type of jump Collin Hartman made last season. I know it's early, but is there anyone capable of making a similar jump?
"I think Emmitt can be that guy. He's been in the gym working on his game so much. Last year, the way he improved going through the season, he got to play a lot more. I can see Emmitt making that huge jump. He's a work horse."
