Good Morning, Illini Nation: More from Ty Rodgers | Sports
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team:
Ty Rodgers’ first media availability as an Illini yielded more than what appeared in the pages of The News-Gazette. Here’s some more of what the Illinois freshman had to say:
On winning a gold medal at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship
“It was amazing. I almost shed a tear. From Saginaw, Mich., it doesn’t happen often. It’s something that the little kids are going to look up to me and they’re going to smile. Hopefully, I’m giving them hope.”
On learning from his older teammates like Terrence Shannon
“I thank these older guys for coming out here and pushing us every day. They’re always on us because they want us to be better. Since I’ve been here Terrence has helped me tremendously. Just the little things like being in the right spot on defense. Closing out to a gap hard. He has so much experience, and me coming in as a freshman, it’s helped me a lot.”
On his toughest teammate to defend
“It’s probably a couple guys. Going downhill, I would say Terrence is the hardest. When he’s going downhill, it’s really tough to stop him. Skyy (Clark), he has a tremendous handle. He’s super shifty. I would say Jayden (Epps), too. Jayden is really shifty, and I feel like Jayden is really highly underrated. His ability to score and create for himself and others is crazy. His footwork is great. He really can shoot it. I’m probably biased, but I think Jayden is one of the best guards in our class. I would have said that before we came here.”
On Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green
“Draymond being from Saginaw, I watched him since I was little. Since his Michigan State days. Him being able to do everything, it’s something I tried to add to my game. Being a better on-ball defender. Being more athletic. Being able to score the ball more.”