Talked to them today before Tulane's basketball practice.
HUNTER'
On getting Jalen Cook
"It's funny because the very first kid I saw when I took the job for recruiting was Jalen. He was the first kid I went to go see I remember walking in and said yeah, I want that guy, and then everybody said so does everyone in the country (laughing). I'm glad I did it. I knew that when you take a job like this, you've always got to have a guy, especially if he's in-state, that can really be that one guy in the origram that you can really say, OK, now we're for real."
On process:
"He noticed we've had great success with our transfers. That's part of it also, and then he also understands that the best players I've had that have bene NBA guys have been guards, whether it's George Hill or R.J. And then we needed a point guard. All the things he wanted, we had."
On "it" factor
"He's one of those kids, and you can't say this all the time, but you either have it or you don't. He's one of those kids that has it. You can go put him on a football field or a baseball diamond, he's going to be exceptional. He's a great kid, also, which really helps, but from an athletic point of view he's just extremely talented."
On fitting into system:
"What helps him is that we've got a lot of guys that have been in the system. If he were new with a lot of other guys like we've been, it would have been a struggle for him. He's picking it up, and what we're trying to do is make it easier for him so he can just go play. Having a guy like Sion (James) next to him really helps because Sion went through those battles. He understands, so it helps both of those guys together."
On perfect fit:
"We couldn't score last year. That was just a major concern, especially from that position. You don't win in college basketball without good guards. You just don't. We've now put ourselves in that position. Will he make mistakes? Yes. But he is what we're building this program around, and the beauty of it is we'll have him for four years."
On how he gets his points:
'He's explosive with the ball and he can really shoot the 3, so you can't say I'm going to back off of him because he can really shoot it. And if you get up on him, he's so quick with his first step and he's strong. He uses his football abilities sometimes on the basketball court. He's not the tallest kid in the world, but he's extremely strong and extremely explosive."
On first two weeks of practice:
"It's been great,, and it's great because Im not starting over. The first year I was starting over and then last year I was starting over. To have all these guys, whether it's R.J. (McGee) or TY (Tylan Pope) or Sion, now I feel like honestly it's my program and we're ready. it takes time. That's why I'm excited. Now we've got my kids in this program."
On guys who have impressed him:
"The veterans are doing great. The two guys that are doing really god are TY and R.J. They understand. Both of them have won games for us. if I had to say the biggest two surprises, it might be those guys with Oton (Jankovic). Those three guys are going to be in the rotation. One of them may start. Having that experience, especially with a guy like R.J. We were laughing. He averaged 15 minutes his first year and then played a lot of minutes and won some games for us last year. Every time I'm trying to recruit over him, but at the end of the day he's still there."
JALEN COOK
Why Tulane:
"The key factors was it's a great school, a great academic school, coaches kept in touch ever since coach Hunter game, so I always knew the relationship was there, and especially with Jaylen Forbes playing here, my old teammate from AAU, (Louisiana Elite) was a big factor, too. Just the coaches, the team is good and I just wanted to leave a mark here and win some games. It wasn't a very easy (decision), but at the end of the day I'm very proud of the decision I made."
On process:
"It's been great. Everything has been going smooth. We've been having great practices. It's been good."
On improvement:
"My game has taken a leap. I put in a lot of work over the summer to put in a lot of shots. The first year at LSU helped me being around a lot of top, high-level guys, practicing against them every day and competing. My game is at a great place right now."
On what he does best;
"I defend good. I can shoot it great. Score. Just playing the right way."
On being a big scorer:
"What makes me such a good scorer is knowing when to score, knowing when to place the ball and just staying locked in and just trusting in the work I put in every day on my shop and remembering to have fun playing the game."
On learning the matchup defense:
"It's difficult to learn for sure, but as time goes on and we keep practicing and working with the team, it's going to get easier."
On defense:
"I always looked at it at the end of the day as defense wins championships, so me being sharp on the defensive side will be way more valuable that offense."
On leaving LSU:
"I considered staying, but Will Wade is a real great recruiter, so he brings in a lot of guys. I wanted to take another step."
On not playing much at LSU:
"I don't really like sitting on the bench, so it was tough. Just getting back onto the floor and into the groove of things is going to be great."
On basketball or football:
"It wasn't easy at all. Football was my first love, so it was a very hard decision. I chose basketball because I've bene excelling in it, I've been playing it a lot. I love it, I work hard at it way more than football. I love basketball more."
On his role:
"My role is going to be to lead the team, play defense, get people involved and just make big shots."
On being successful as team:
"I feel very confident. We should definitely finish top in the American Conference and make a run at the March Madness."
On teammates:
"I feel pretty good. We've got a great team, great leadership and a lot of guys who've been here before, so that helps me. We have a good group and we are going to have a lot of success."
On Sion James:
"Sion is the real deal. Big guard, he always communicates, he's always working hard. He has a bright future. Him alongside with me, we're going to be very tough."
On Birmingham:
"It was a lot of distractions, very different going to Birmingham. Birmingham was good, though. It was a good little vibe for us getting away two weeks. Kind of isolating from everything was good for us and we came together as a team."
On key for team to be successful:
"The key for this team to be successful is playing defense, getting rebounds, just laying it on the line on the defensive end and making shots and being aggressive on offense. That's really what's going to get us over the hump."
HUNTER'
On getting Jalen Cook
"It's funny because the very first kid I saw when I took the job for recruiting was Jalen. He was the first kid I went to go see I remember walking in and said yeah, I want that guy, and then everybody said so does everyone in the country (laughing). I'm glad I did it. I knew that when you take a job like this, you've always got to have a guy, especially if he's in-state, that can really be that one guy in the origram that you can really say, OK, now we're for real."
On process:
"He noticed we've had great success with our transfers. That's part of it also, and then he also understands that the best players I've had that have bene NBA guys have been guards, whether it's George Hill or R.J. And then we needed a point guard. All the things he wanted, we had."
On "it" factor
"He's one of those kids, and you can't say this all the time, but you either have it or you don't. He's one of those kids that has it. You can go put him on a football field or a baseball diamond, he's going to be exceptional. He's a great kid, also, which really helps, but from an athletic point of view he's just extremely talented."
On fitting into system:
"What helps him is that we've got a lot of guys that have been in the system. If he were new with a lot of other guys like we've been, it would have been a struggle for him. He's picking it up, and what we're trying to do is make it easier for him so he can just go play. Having a guy like Sion (James) next to him really helps because Sion went through those battles. He understands, so it helps both of those guys together."
On perfect fit:
"We couldn't score last year. That was just a major concern, especially from that position. You don't win in college basketball without good guards. You just don't. We've now put ourselves in that position. Will he make mistakes? Yes. But he is what we're building this program around, and the beauty of it is we'll have him for four years."
On how he gets his points:
'He's explosive with the ball and he can really shoot the 3, so you can't say I'm going to back off of him because he can really shoot it. And if you get up on him, he's so quick with his first step and he's strong. He uses his football abilities sometimes on the basketball court. He's not the tallest kid in the world, but he's extremely strong and extremely explosive."
On first two weeks of practice:
"It's been great,, and it's great because Im not starting over. The first year I was starting over and then last year I was starting over. To have all these guys, whether it's R.J. (McGee) or TY (Tylan Pope) or Sion, now I feel like honestly it's my program and we're ready. it takes time. That's why I'm excited. Now we've got my kids in this program."
On guys who have impressed him:
"The veterans are doing great. The two guys that are doing really god are TY and R.J. They understand. Both of them have won games for us. if I had to say the biggest two surprises, it might be those guys with Oton (Jankovic). Those three guys are going to be in the rotation. One of them may start. Having that experience, especially with a guy like R.J. We were laughing. He averaged 15 minutes his first year and then played a lot of minutes and won some games for us last year. Every time I'm trying to recruit over him, but at the end of the day he's still there."
JALEN COOK
Why Tulane:
"The key factors was it's a great school, a great academic school, coaches kept in touch ever since coach Hunter game, so I always knew the relationship was there, and especially with Jaylen Forbes playing here, my old teammate from AAU, (Louisiana Elite) was a big factor, too. Just the coaches, the team is good and I just wanted to leave a mark here and win some games. It wasn't a very easy (decision), but at the end of the day I'm very proud of the decision I made."
On process:
"It's been great. Everything has been going smooth. We've been having great practices. It's been good."
On improvement:
"My game has taken a leap. I put in a lot of work over the summer to put in a lot of shots. The first year at LSU helped me being around a lot of top, high-level guys, practicing against them every day and competing. My game is at a great place right now."
On what he does best;
"I defend good. I can shoot it great. Score. Just playing the right way."
On being a big scorer:
"What makes me such a good scorer is knowing when to score, knowing when to place the ball and just staying locked in and just trusting in the work I put in every day on my shop and remembering to have fun playing the game."
On learning the matchup defense:
"It's difficult to learn for sure, but as time goes on and we keep practicing and working with the team, it's going to get easier."
On defense:
"I always looked at it at the end of the day as defense wins championships, so me being sharp on the defensive side will be way more valuable that offense."
On leaving LSU:
"I considered staying, but Will Wade is a real great recruiter, so he brings in a lot of guys. I wanted to take another step."
On not playing much at LSU:
"I don't really like sitting on the bench, so it was tough. Just getting back onto the floor and into the groove of things is going to be great."
On basketball or football:
"It wasn't easy at all. Football was my first love, so it was a very hard decision. I chose basketball because I've bene excelling in it, I've been playing it a lot. I love it, I work hard at it way more than football. I love basketball more."
On his role:
"My role is going to be to lead the team, play defense, get people involved and just make big shots."
On being successful as team:
"I feel very confident. We should definitely finish top in the American Conference and make a run at the March Madness."
On teammates:
"I feel pretty good. We've got a great team, great leadership and a lot of guys who've been here before, so that helps me. We have a good group and we are going to have a lot of success."
On Sion James:
"Sion is the real deal. Big guard, he always communicates, he's always working hard. He has a bright future. Him alongside with me, we're going to be very tough."
On Birmingham:
"It was a lot of distractions, very different going to Birmingham. Birmingham was good, though. It was a good little vibe for us getting away two weeks. Kind of isolating from everything was good for us and we came together as a team."
On key for team to be successful:
"The key for this team to be successful is playing defense, getting rebounds, just laying it on the line on the defensive end and making shots and being aggressive on offense. That's really what's going to get us over the hump."