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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 25, 2017Keyshawn WoodsMitchell WilbekinCharlotte, North Carolina Q. Your intensity during the season is fun to watch; where do you get that fire from? KEYSHAWN WOODS: Something I was pretty much born with. You know, being a kid that always had to work hard and had to outwork everybody. When it comes to bringing that fire to the game and bringing the fire to practice, it`s just always something I've always had to do, something I've always enjoyed and had fun with. Q. Just what you can say about the effects that Danny Manning has had on this team; what is he doing to improve this team from your opinion? KEYSHAWN WOODS: Danny Manning wanted to change the culture of our team. He wanted to bring in good guys, wanted to bring in people that love being in the gym and love to get better. He did a great job with bringing in the right type of guys that we needed in order to win games. Q. As a redshirt junior, who do you look up to as a role model in the game of basketball, say in the NBA or as a competitor in the ACC? KEYSHAWN WOODS: My favorite player was Kobe Bryant, so competitive-wise, I'd take his type of fire and his approach to the game and try to take different things from him. Q. What is it about the environment of Wake that really motivates you as a player? KEYSHAWN WOODS: Our fans. Our fans bring a lot of energy, and we feed off our fans' energy. Our student section is wild and crazy, and they enjoy being at our games. The energy that our fans bring to our stadium is what as players we like to feed off of. Q. Describe Mitchell as a teammate. KEYSHAWN WOODS: Mitch is amazing, especially playing with him as guards. You find him anywhere around the perimeter. If he's wide open and by himself, nine times out of ten it's going in, so you might as well run back on defense and find who you've got to guard. But playing with Mitch, he's a good person. He's also a co-captain of mine. He's a great leader, as well, and he's got a great personality. Q. What makes your personality so great? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Well, first of all, I just want to thank Keyshawn for all the great things he just said about me, saying I'm amazing. But no, I just -- like he said, I'm a captain with Keyshawn along with Bryant Crawford, and I think us three are going to have to have a big voice this year on the court. So I'm looking forward to playing one last year with these guys. Q. Mitchell, just what you can say from your point of view, the mark that Danny Manning is leaving on this team and leaving on you. MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Yeah, coach Manning has been great since I got here. I have had a pretty good relationship with him, and I started in the recruiting process. He expects a lot of us as players, but that's something that we appreciate. He's been successful collegiately and also at the professional level, so we all respect that, and we're all eager to learn whatever we can from him. Q. There are many basketball programs throughout the country that go through transition when a new coach comes into play. Wake Forest has gone through a lot of personnel transition. What has it been like for you to figure out the chemistry and the bond with so many faces coming and going? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Yeah, well, I came in with Coach Manning, so that was really the only coaching staff I had known. We've had some players leave, and we've had an assistant coach leave. But that's just part of basketball at this level. People are always moving up, people are always coming in. So for us as players, we've just got to continue to do what we do, work hard every day, and just compete at 100 percent whenever we're on the floor. Q. Your older brother Scotty was an All-American at Florida; what are your takeaways from his game, and what do you two talk about to elevate your game to the next level? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Yeah, Scotty was a great player at Florida, got to go to a couple Final Fours. You know, growing up, we played a lot of one-on-one. We competed a lot. I think that helped me a lot, having him to look up to. If I'm struggling with anything, I can always call him and he can always give me that advice, so that's something I appreciate for him. Q. I meant to ask earlier and forgot, I caught you at the women's game last year, I think, playing the drums. Two questions: How good are you at the drums? How long have you been playing? And do you find yourself supporting many of the other Wake Forest athletic programs, as well? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Yeah, I like to support -- Wake Forest is obviously a small school, so I know a lot of people from the different sports teams. So we try to always support each other, and like you mentioned, I was at a girls' game and saw the band down there and asked if I could play the drums, and they didn't believe me, but I actually can play the drums. I was in the youth group band at my church back home, so it's something I enjoy doing whenever I get a chance to. Q. Are you any good at it? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Fantastic. (Laughter.) Q. (No microphone.) MITCHELL WILBEKIN: So when I first started out, it was just like Christian music that I would play like with a band, but I really can play -- how I started was my mom wanted us to play the piano, and it wasn't really my thing. So I started drums, and I was just naturally pretty decent at that. Q. What do you think your obligation is as a senior to make sure the program is in as good a position as it can be after you're gone? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: Yeah, I really just want to come in and do whatever I can do to help this team be successful and win basketball games. Like Keyshawn and Bryant, we're the returning players that have to have a voice on both sides of the floor, offensively and defensively, so I'm looking forward to my last year here, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to have a good year. Q. We've asked several other seniors this: How did it become that you got to be so old so fast? MITCHELL WILBEKIN: That's the best question I've heard all day. People say it's going to fly by, and you never really think anything of it, and next thing you know, I'm a senior, and it's really here. I'm just trying to take it day by day, just enjoy this last year, and really try to just make the most of my opportunity at Wake Forest. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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