Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The University Daily Kansan sat down with Tyrel Reed to see where his head was at as he enters a pressure-filled season.
Your role will likely change with being a leader and also with some new players coming in to fill different spots on the team. How do you handle those changes?
Tyrel Reed: It’s going to be a different team this year. I mean, we’ve got a ton of returning guys that already know the system, but we’ve got some new guys coming in who are going to fit in well. You just have to know your role. I think the biggest key to being a leader is to just know what your role is and be able to help the young guys out when they need it.
Have you had a chance to play with the new guys and see what they bring to the table?
TR: Thomas and Elijah were there all summer. They’re both going to be great players. They’re both extremely athletic and Thomas is a work horse and he’s just going to be big in there for us this year, and Elijah is just a great athlete who’s going to distribute the ball and just do whatever Coach asks.
What has it been like with the Henrys when they almost quit and all the drama? With the guys on the team already here, did it affect you at all not knowing whether or not they would join you?
TR: Not at all. We can only control what we can control. They had some stuff going on and we understand that. They’re going to be good players regardless. We just can’t let them being away affect us as a team and it didn’t.
It looks like you guys are going to be preseason No. 1 pick coming into the year. What’s the pressure like dealing with that?
TR: For some of us we’ve dealt with that before. My freshman year when we had a great team, won a national championship. We kind of dealt with that pressure. We’ve experienced it before. We know we’re going to have a target on our back, but, being Kansas, you always do. It’s just a little bit higher and more expectations when you’re No. 1.
Like you said, you guys have a target on your back. Are there any games that it goes the other way, that you have circled on the schedule?
TR: There are certain games that are looked at as the bigger games. We play Memphis one of our first regular season games, so that will be big for us. Any game during our conference is big because we’re trying to win a conference title, but I don’t think we have any games circled right now. We just have goals of winning a Big 12 Championship, a Big 12 Tournament Championship and then, hopefully, a National Championship.
Are there any games from last year that still sting? Is there still motivation that you take from those?
TR: We were undefeated in the league and losing to Missouri at their place, that really stings. We play them the last game of the season at their place and that’s always a big game for us with Missouri being our rival. Then Michigan State last game of the year, in the Sweet 16 we just kind of gave it away at the end. Those two don’t sit well with us.
You didn’t play a huge role a couple years ago on the national title team, so if you guys advance to the Elite Eight, Final Four, it’ll be the first time you’ve done so playing a major role. What’s that like for you looking forward to that?
TR: That’s why you come to Kansas, to play in big situations—you want to make it to the Elite Eight, Final Four and be a part of that. My freshman year we had some great guys that I was able to play behind, sit on the bench and really learn from them. Hopefully this year I’ll have an opportunity to play, and I’m just looking forward to it. That’s what you dream about as a kid.
— — Edited by Megan Morriss
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