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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 26, 2016Davon ReedKamari MuphyCharlotte, North Carolina THE MODERATOR: We round out our third and final session with our last school this morning, it is Miami. Davon Reed and Kamari Murphy will be our two student-athletes. Questions for Davon Reed. Q. Just what you can say about the transfers to this program, what they mean to this team, and what the environment is like going into the season? DAVON REED: For transfers, are you talking about Kamari as well, or are you talking more about Rashad? Q. Just talking about overall the roster right now. DAVON REED: Well, transfers are a big part of college basketball right now. Kamari being a transfer had a huge impact on our season. And we had a transfer in Rashad Muhammad last season, and he'll definitely be able to be an impact to us, especially on the offensive end. What was the other part of your question? Q. What you see from the environment and the culture of this year's team? DAVON REED: This year's team is a team full of workers, I can say is the biggest thing I've seen so far. Guys have been in the gym since the summertime. That's always been part of our culture, especially for guys like myself, Sheldon and Angel in years past. You've got guys in the gym that's been living in the gym now. And Kamari, and Ja'Quan, and Anthony Lawrence and all of our freshmen have been living in the gym. So I think that's something that will add a little bit of confidence and edge to our team, and it will carry over through the season. But this team is a hard-working team. What I see right now is not a lack of effort, which is the best part. It's just a little bit of a lack of experience. But the guys will pick things up along the way and be ready to learn and work. Q. Last time there was a mass exodus of seniors was after Coach L's first Sweet 16 season, those guys left, Shane Larkin, and Julian Gamble and those guys. Now you lose Angel and Sheldon, another departure, a lot of seniors. But instead of having another .500 season, you're picked in a lot of top 25 polls. What's it like for you to go through that rebuilding process, and be on a team that's managing to do just fine, despite losing a lot of seniors? DAVON REED: Like I've been telling everybody, I've seen it all. I've been on that team, the rebuilding team my freshman year where the team prior won the ACC and has been to the Sweet 16. My freshman year we had a lot of ups and downs. So I've been in the middle of the pack my following year, and last year we were at the top of the pack, a game away from winning the ACC regular season. So I think the biggest difference this year for my freshman year is we've got guys that returned and myself, and Kamari, and Ja'Quan that played a lot more minutes than maybe the guys returning my freshman year. We've also got a lot of talent that came in this year. Bruce Brown, Dewan Huell, Dejan Vasiljevic, and Rodney Miller. So talent is definitely here still. These guys are willing to work like I said before. So despite not having the most experienced team, we've got a team full of guys that have experience, some don't have experience, some transfers. We've got a little bit of everything. But these guys are willing to work, and we've got Coach L on our side, so that's always a great thing as well. Q. Last year you had 388 points, 143 rebounds, 42 assists, 27 steals. Seems like a good season. What did you do during the off-season to either stay at that level or to ratchet it up a notch? DAVON REED: I've taken pride in putting in work and adding more and more to my game every off-season. This off-season I just continue to shoot the ball and finding different ways to score on different spots on the floor, picking my spots better, finishing around the rim. Other things that don't require skill, like being a good leader to the guys and pushing them, and making sure that I'm in the gym and trying to drag guys along to get in the gym with me as well, and continue to work. So I look forward to having another good season, personally. But that means nothing if I don't go out the right way with my team. Like I told everybody earlier, we're here to win the ACC, not, you know, not trying to make any predictions, but we play to win. So that's what we're looking to do this year. Q. Do you and Kamari talk about leadership? Do you have to be strategic in being leaders? DAVON REED: Leading is a funny thing. I've been trying to figure it out since I've been in college. You can't communicate to everybody the same way. Certain guys you can't yell at, certain guys you can be a little tougher on. The challenge has been fun with each player in how you relate and connect to each player. It's still a learning process. I'm still learning. I'm sure Kamari's still learning how to do so as well. But I think finding that line will be a big deal with our success this season, knowing when to be tough on guys and knowing when to be a little bit more reserved and let them find their ways. So we're both learning, Kamari and myself, still how to be leaders of this team, but I think we're doing a pretty good job so far. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Kamari Murphy. Q. Describe Davon for us. KAMARI MURPHY: Oh, man. We like to call Davon the old soul of the team. He listens to all the classic, old school music. Even last year as one of the younger guys, he was the old head of the team that we call him. But now that he's a veteran on the team, he's a great leader, leads by example. Great in the books, he's a great friend as well. He's just one of those guys you want to have in your corner. Q. When you say old school music, give us an example how old the music is? KAMARI MURPHY: Like Earth, Wind and Fire, Mary J. Blige, like that old school. Q. Kind of going off that a little bit, describe the environment, the personalities on this year's team. Leadership was spoken about. But personality-wise, the team as a whole, and kind of the other personalities like Davon that stick out? KAMARI MURPHY: Yeah, personality-wise, I think Coach L does a good job in recruiting good guys. I think all of us mesh well on and off the court, which translates better on the court where we can get along with a guy. So I think personality-wise, we all have different ones, but we all seem to find some common thing that we like together. Then off the court, we always hang out with each other, whether it's in the dorms or in our apartments and stuff like that. So I think we have a great personality team, and we all get along. But we all have one common goal, which is to win. So that's the great thing about us. Q. Did you have the type of season you wanted to have last year? KAMARI MURPHY: Personally or for the team? Q. For yourself. KAMARI MURPHY: I think I could have done more. I think my role, I played it to the T as far as what Coach L wanted me to do. I had more personal goals that I wanted to accomplish that I really didn't get to, so thankfully I have another year to do so. So just going to take advantage of the opportunity in my last year in college basketball and try to accomplish those goals as well. Q. I wanted to know, you played with Marcus Smart, Le'Bryan Nash, guys like that, also, last year McClellan and Rodriguez. You played with explosive players. Who can we look forward to your team in terms of offense? Who can be an explosive player and just get you points when maybe the play didn't work or things break down? Who can just go out and get you a bucket? KAMARI MURPHY: I think as you guys seen last year, Ja'Quan is definitely a great scorer. He's going to have a lot of opportunities to get in the lane and either finish or create shots. Davon Reed has shown since summer that he's going to be one of our main scorers, if not our best scorer. So I see a lot of guys that have the potential to be that. And our young guys, Bruce Brown is very aggressive on offense as well. You can see him attacking, dunking, and doing stuff like that as well. So we have a lot of weapons. I'm excited to see it this weekend in our scrimmages who is going to be who, and what roles are people going to take. So I'm just excited for the year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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