INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 22, 2022

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Press Conference

Q. A year ago at this time, there seemed to be so many questions to you like why you came back, and here you are a year later, and you're still here. Can you take us through -- did you give it any thought about leaving after last season and what affected your thoughts on this?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I think the biggest thing for me was obviously last season, who the coach was going to be, with Coach Miller getting fired and Coach Woodson coming in and then setting up meetings with him, I think just talking to him and seeing his vision of my game and how he's going to expand me and help me, I thought it was huge, and so I trusted him.

I think basically that's the same thing that happened this year, obviously with COVID again coming into play, I think just trusting his process and doing a little bit more out on the floor is going to be huge for me this year.

Q. Trayce, wanted to get your thoughts, you had a chance to do some draft prep out on the West Coast. Can you take us through some things that kind of helped you, maybe added to your game, and what do you feel are focal points for you that can help you be a dominant player this year?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: The biggest thing for me really is when I was out there, it was just shooting. That's all I was doing was shooting, from everywhere, whether it be threes, twos, free throws. It's all basically emphasis on shooting, just off the drive, off the catch. That was the biggest emphasis that my agents wanted me to do.

It was every day for two straight months of just shooting, so that's basically -- that's what they said they wanted to see. That's what the scouts said they wanted to see. So that's what I was doing.

Q. Trayce, I don't know if you heard Coach Woodson earlier, but he basically said you have the green light to shoot from the perimeter. Is that something you feel like you're going to do more this season, or does it feel like something you need to do more?

TERRI MOREN: Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. Obviously last year I think I had the green light, but at the same time, my presence was needed inside, but now we've got some other players like Malik and Logan who's coming along really strong that I'll be playing a lot more for this year and be able to showcase my abilities from three.

It's all about repetitions. I'm getting a lot of shots up in scrimmages and practice, so those are going to translate to game shots.

Q. Coach Woodson was asked about your legacy, which is going to be tremendous because you've scored all the points and rebounds and things like that, but he said ultimately it'll be defined by winning a Big Ten title, winning an NCAA title, and just what your reaction is to those kind of expectations.

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Yeah, absolutely. I think I have kind of set the stone of my individual legacy, being an All-American and doing all those things, but those don't really matter if you don't win something here. Winning is a big thing here, so winning a National Championship and also winning a Big Ten title, those are my two main goals this year, and if I do that, I know everything else will take care of itself.

Q. You said you expect to play a lot more power forward. Is Logan Duncan going to be the 5 in that case, and how much more ready is he to take on a whole lot more minutes than he had a year ago?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Yeah, so Logan is playing at a really high level right now. He's rebounding the ball and he's defending really well, especially just playing against me, and I'm just seeing it on the floor when I'm playing against him.

He'll play a little bit of the 5. I think Malik will rotate at the 5 and 4, as well. But with our offense, everything is interchangeable.

I think it's going to be good for us this year. We're kind of spread out more and more people are going to do more things.

Q. Trayce, kind of along the lines of legacy, expectations for this season, I imagine it's the sort of thing you would have always kind of wanted at Indiana but now they're here, especially externally, you're going to be one of the people at events like this, Big Ten media day, are going to have to shoulder it the most. How do you approach a season where expectations aren't just high individually or internally, but everywhere you go people are going to be asking you specifically how do you get your team through this?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I think just coming in here my freshman year and not having really any expectations, even sophomore year, and then junior year just having a new team. Finally coming in here to this historic program and having an expectation to do something big I think is huge.

Obviously we're going to carry that with a chip on our shoulder, but I think our team is hungry, and we're ready to get out there and play.

Q. Trayce, back in May, Coach Woodson shared a story about how he challenged you before the Illinois Big Ten game going up against Kofi. I'm not asking you to address that specifically, but you seem to find something going up against bigger guys, guys that have more length than you. What did you find in that game, and then going up against Hunter Dickinson, against Michigan, two of your best games of the year?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I think the biggest thing for me was just confidence. After the Michigan game, my confidence was at an all-time high. Beating them for the first time, especially at your own place in Indy where you're from I think was huge, and then me and Coach talked, and he said, Kofi has had your number and it's time to give it back to him.

That's what we did. First play of the game, I went right at him, scored, and it was a battle throughout the game, and then I got the upper hand. He's a terrific player, but I'm glad he's gone. (Laughter.)

Q. You talked over the summer, I guess you were just open about what your expectations were this season, and you talked about what you told Mike Woodson that you wanted the drug policy to be. I guess taking that sort of responsibility for the program, being open about the drug policy and what you wanted, why is that something you wanted to be open about?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: It's really just to hold everyone accountable. There's really nothing else to be said about it. I know our guys are going to do the right thing. When the season is going, we're going to be locked in and ready to go because we have really big aspirations, really big goals.

Q. Trayce, as a leader, as a fourth-year guy now, when you see all those four freshmen coming in, what do you do to build and establish a relationship with them?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Really just talk to them. Some of them are going through it a little bit right now with Coach, but I know they're going to all do great things here. We've just got to keep talking to them, just make sure that they're okay. It's kind of a hard adjustment sometimes being a freshman, but I know they're going to all do great things, and I can't wait to watch them succeed.

Q. Xavier Johnson, what kinds of changes have you seen, what kind of growth have you seen from him since he went through his situation?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Xavier has been locked in. He's been doing his thing. He's been in the gym working. He's being a leader. I know he's going to do great things this year, and he's going to be a huge piece for us, and he's going to be a huge leader on the floor.