Thursday basketball notebook: The transfers talk
Temple basketball coach Aaron McKie, guard Shane Dezonie and forward Jamille Reynolds spoke to reporters after practice Thursday at The Liacouras Center.
Khalif Battle, Dezonie, Damian Dunn, Zach Hicks, Nick Jourdain, Hysier Miller, Reynolds, Deuce Roberts, Taj Thweatt and Jahlil White all signed with the NIL TUFF Fund collective, it was announced Thursday. Kur Jongkuch and Emmanuel Okpomo were ineligible due to their visa statuses, and walk-on Ryan Sayers was ineligible since he isn’t on scholarship.
After McKie, transfers DeZonie and Reynolds spoke to the media. You can listen to the full interviews here and read excerpts from the interviews below:
McKie on players signing with the TUFF Fund:
“It’s where we are in college sports now. I think it’s good, hopefully not a distraction. I’m happy for those guys.”
McKie on improving Temple’s offense this season:
“Getting layups, getting to the free throw line and just trying to create as many easy buckets as possible. We’ve made it very difficult defensively… but on the other end and converting, we just weren't there. And to lose a guy that can create spacing for us like Khalif Battle really hurt us. I thought the guys toward the end of the year started to come into their own, and we’ve gotten a little bit more efficient.”
McKie on Battle returning to the lineup:
“You put a Damian Dunn next to him, a guy who can score the ball and make shots. You put Zach Hicks next to those guys… and you throw a guy like Jamille Reynolds down around the basket. Now, as a defense, you’ve got to decide who do you want to take the shots?”
DeZonie on his early impressions of Temple’s team after transferring in from Vanderbilt:
“So far, above and beyond, this is probably one of the best teams I’ve been on. Chemistry-wise, everybody just wants to win.”
Dezonie on his role:
“To be honest, I really don’t care if I'm starting, or sixth man or coming off the bench. I just want to win. When I get my opportunity to play, I just want to show I can hang with the team and I can help them win, so it doesn't matter if I start.”
Dezonie on the goal for 2022-23:
“It’s tournament-or-bust for us.”
Dezonie on how he and the other transfers have fit in:
“It feels good. It kind of feels like we’ve been here for a while now, it feels like we’ve been here for a year now. We just got here. The people on the team and the staff just make us feel like home.”
Reynolds on what he saw from Temple while at UCF:
“It seemed like they had some really good guards, they probably had the best guards in the conference. But they were missing that big piece, a big man in the paint. So, I feel like that’s the best spot for me.”
Reynolds on making the adjustment to Temple:
“It’s been great. My teammates love playing with you and my coaches gave me a bigger role than I had at my old school… This is my third year now, so I’m coming out firing.”
Reynolds on the difference between he and Jongkuch:
“He’s more of an energy guy, he’s not really a good scorer. But he’s gonna rebound, he’s gonna block shots, he’s gonna set screens, he’s gonna play hard the whole game.”