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00:00 relationship wise.
00:01 We've had a really fun summer on and off the court.
00:06 Also we've got a lot of competitive dudes on the team.
00:10 A lot of people want to win.
00:12 Sky, you leave Illinois, you come here to coach family.
00:17 What are we going to see from Sky to be a better player,
00:21 better teammate?
00:22 I'm not saying you were bad at Illinois, don't get me wrong.
00:25 But what kind of player are we going to see?
00:27 I think since I turned my ACL, I haven't played a lot of basketball.
00:33 I played six games my senior year of high school.
00:37 And then I played 11 games, I believe, my freshman year of college.
00:45 People just haven't really got a chance to really see me in the ACL.
00:49 I would say it's a two-year process.
00:51 I feel like right now I'm back confident.
00:54 So really just seeing the dynamic player that I really used to be scoring,
00:59 facilitating, being a leader, super active, I just want to win.
01:05 I have to ask you about this with your tattoos.
01:08 Talk about that.
01:10 What does that bring for you?
01:12 What does it mean?
01:13 I'm a big believer.
01:15 Like I always say, God is the reason why I'm here today.
01:19 He's always got to make everything happen.
01:21 And so tattoos is a big way to express yourself.
01:25 And it's just another way to express my passion and my belief.
01:30 Thank you.
01:31 Good luck.
01:32 I appreciate it.
01:33 I was talking to JJ yesterday, and he said, you know,
01:34 having Scott Clark on the team on the floor,
01:36 he's comfortable when you're out there.
01:38 What's that mean when you hear a teammate go, okay, I don't have to stress.
01:41 I'm pretty comfortable.
01:42 He's got the ball in his hands.
01:43 That made me really happy to hear.
01:45 It just puts more confidence in me,
01:48 especially like in the way that my teammates think about me,
01:52 like as a point guard on the team.
01:54 So just being able to be that calm, steady person.
01:58 And when things are going crazy or, say, a team makes a run,
02:01 they can lean on me to pull everybody down.
02:06 Kenny has mentioned that despite you and Trey being two newcomers here,
02:10 you two have been some of the more vocal leaders on this team.
02:13 Where does that mindset come from in that approach,
02:15 that even though I'm a new guy here,
02:17 I still establish myself as one of the leaders here?
02:19 Yeah, really just honestly,
02:22 that's one of the biggest things K.P. has been harping on.
02:25 For me, I'm usually like a quiet, laid-back guy,
02:29 so he's always been on me to be vocal and be the leader.
02:32 And especially being a point guard, Nolan, he reiterates it to me all the time.
02:37 You've got to be the most vocal person on the court.
02:40 And me and Trey, we want to win.
02:41 We're both competitive.
02:42 So I think it's just something that naturally comes to us.
02:46 Kenny has also mentioned that in practice,
02:48 he's kind of pitted you and Trey against each other rather than with each other.
02:51 How does those one-on-one battles in practice,
02:54 iron sharpens iron, how does that make you guys better?
02:56 It's just like you said, iron sharpens iron.
02:59 We both want to be great at what we do.
03:03 We both know the goals that we have for each other.
03:06 And so every day, even off the court, we're talking to each other.
03:10 We already know what it is.
03:12 And after practice, it's all love.
03:14 Him and my roommates, so we're always joking and laughing together.
03:17 But when we get on the court, we both know we like each other.
03:20 Who typically wins those?
03:21 It's usually like, honestly, it's like back and forth.
03:24 It really just depends on the day.
03:26 But it'd be close a lot of the time.
03:28 It's just been fun.
03:30 For those who haven't had a chance to see you play,
03:32 whether in high school or at Illinois last season,
03:34 how would you describe your overall game and what you bring to a team?
03:37 I'm a super dynamic person, dynamic point guard.
03:41 I can do a lot, dribble, shoot, pass, score, defend,
03:47 which is something that I will be showing this year for sure.
03:51 ACL, you know, you got to get used to moving laterally and everything.
03:55 So that's something I worked on with Coach Pell,
03:59 with strength coach here a lot this summer.
04:02 But, yeah, really just someone that's super gritty, loves to compete,
04:06 loves to win, someone that loves to do it all.
04:09 Speaking of being super gritty, Kenny has mentioned several times
04:11 since he was hired that he wants this program to be more so defensive-minded.
04:15 Obviously fans, they'll see someone's offensive game,
04:18 they'll want to break down that.
04:19 But how would you assess yourself from a defensive standpoint?
04:22 Yeah, I'm super, like I say, super poised defensively.
04:30 I'm not going to be the defensive person that's going to--
04:32 obviously I'm going to pick you up on the court and everything,
04:35 but I'm not going to be the one that's trying to go for steals.
04:37 I'm more like just going to keep you apart and everything.
04:41 I love to shoot the passing lanes.
04:44 And, yeah, I just love to--stopping somebody on defense
04:46 is just as important as supporting them.
04:48 And last one for me, Kenny has mentioned several times
04:50 that he wants this team to not forget last season, to use that as motivation.
04:54 How do you use last season as motivation, despite being a newcomer
04:58 and not having played here last year?
05:00 Yeah, really just hearing people on Twitter.
05:03 I don't want that to be the thing for this team.
05:09 We want to flip things around.
05:11 Obviously, you don't want to go down as that team.
05:15 So if we can be the team that flips things around,
05:19 that would be amazing, for sure.