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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: ALABAMA VS OKLAHOMADecember 27, 2018Deionte ThompsonMiami Gardens, Florida Q. I was wondering if you could talk a little about you weren't always a starter in your time at Alabama. I imagine there were other schools coming after you where maybe you would have known you would have started a little earlier. What was it about Alabama that made guys like you want to come here even though playing time was a little harder to secure because there's so many other talented guys? DEIONTE THOMPSON: I come from a winning background all my life, being in a winning tradition, from little league to middle school to high school, and there was just something about that Alabama was the place that I knew that I could play for championships, and that was very important to me. I didn't want to go to a school where I knew we'd be losing. I felt like I chose the right school, and coming in, I knew that playing as a freshman was possible, but at the same time, don't get your hopes up about it because this is a place you would have guys that have been here for two years, just waiting on their turn. It was just all about me buying into the process, and once I got in with the process and started buying in, things started working out for me. I didn't become a starter until my third year here, and I wouldn't trade it because I was able to grow so much during the time from not being a starter to me being a full-time starter now, and I look back on those days, and I'm thankful for them. I thank God for them; he's just blessed me in the position that I'm in. Q. When you're not a starter, you still get a ton of attention from the coaching staff? DEIONTE THOMPSON: Yeah, Coach Saban and the coaching staff, they watch every rep in practice. No matter what you do or what you think they're not doing, man, you just have to go a lot because they're watching every single thing. They do a lot. They watch him break it down. They'll be able to tell you immediately what you did wrong and what you did right. Just being in the midst of that, being a two and being a three at times, getting those reps, it built my confidence and helped me become (indiscernible). Q. Is that something they talked to you about in recruiting, like look, we know you're talented but you have to understand we're Alabama and we have a lot of talented guys and it may take a year or two? DEIONTE THOMPSON: They made it very obvious that you're going to have to compete for a spot. Nothing is going to be given to you. That was illustrated and outlined. That was one of the first things they told me when I was getting recruited. There were other places that I could have went to that I most likely could have played as a freshman. But was I ready? I came into college about 172, 173, so just normal (indiscernible) me getting a year under my belt, get stronger, get faster, that was the best decision. Q. Who recruited you? DEIONTE THOMPSON: Coach Burton Burns. Q. And do you feel like at Alabama where you can talk to guys, that changes the character of the team in a way? DEIONTE THOMPSON: I wouldn't say it changes the character because everything is competitive, so you know coming in that you're going to have to compete. You're going to have to get after it at all times. Q. Being a defensive back for Coach Saban, is there any special or not so special attention you guys get from Coach Saban? DEIONTE THOMPSON: We're with Coach Saban every day, so he knows our strengths and our weaknesses. He just wants us to be hard-working guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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