Catching up with Milton Jennings

Had a chance to sit down with Milton Jennings last week for a one-on-one interview.

Actually, we didn't sit down. We stood up, and he's slightly taller than me.

But anyway, here goes:

TI: Coach Brownell is expecting you and Devin Booker to really elevate your play this year. Can you reflect on that and how much that expectation drove you in the offseason?
JENNINGS: "Personally, I decided to stay here both summer sessions this school year to work on my grades and stay in the weight room and try to increase my weight and strength. Personally, I just worked on a bunch of skills on the perimeter, and also my physicality with the coaches. Coach Brad does a good job of allowing us to do two-man workout sessions. That allows us to work on skills, so when we get together on 5-on-5, we can play with the ball and being 6-9 you can do different things."

TI: Do you have a pretty good grasp of how important it is for you and Devin to make the impact Coach Brownell desires?
JENNINGS: "It's huge. We've got six new freshmen. We've got four seniors. So we're a young team if you ask me, as far as experience goes. For me and Devin to get to the rim and really control the inside is probably the key for this team."

TI: So it's mainly the inside where y'all's presence is going to be needed the most?
JENNINGS: "Oh yeah. You've just got to look at our team. We've got freshmen coming in with big bodies, but they've got to get used to the physicality and stuff. So we've got to do a really good job of boxing out as a team this year and doing team things."

TI: When you think back to last season and evaluate how you did, what do you look back at and say: "Man, I've got to get better at that?"
JENNINGS: "Turnovers were probably my biggest thing, my assist-to-turnover ratio. A bunch of turnovers and whatnot. And then getting those and-ones and really finishing at the rim. Those are the two things they really wanted me to focus on."

TI: And what are you happy about from last year in terms of your progression?
JENNINGS: "I progressed from my freshman year. I was a whole lot more physical as a sophomore. I got more offensive rebounds. I got more minutes. So I was able to score more points and get more confidence."

TI: Who has stood out to you the most among the freshmen?
JENNINGS: "T.J. Sapp probably has the best mindset out of all of them as far as defense goes. He really understands it. And even if he messes up, he is very active and loud. So that allows him to get by, even if he maybe forgets that he's supposed to be in a particular spot. He talks to the other players and is vocal. That's probably the biggest thing.

"The biggest thing with Coach Brownell is, you play defense. And to play defense the way we do, everybody has to talk. And you really hear him all the time, and you really see him active."

TI: Are Andre Young and Tanner Smith what you would call the leaders of this team?
JENNINGS: "Yeah. They're our seniors. They've earned it. They've played their games. They've got the experience. They've won many games. So yeah, they're our leaders this year."

TI: Even though that's the case, do you and Devin feel like you have to be more vocal and be leaders?
JENNINGS: "Oh yeah. Pretty much the seven returning players are your leaders in that sense. The freshmen look up to us. If they don't understand something, it's up to us to tell them. Because we should know. We already did it. We've already been through this.

"Another one of coach's philosophies is: 'Don't come ask me. Come ask the team.' If you know your teammates, that builds a better team and leads to leadership."

LW