TJ's Take

Copperas Cove standout and Oklahoma Sooner freshman, Rashard Odomes recently had a sit down with soonersports.com to talk about the challenges making the transition from high school to college hoops and the day-to-day life of a freshman at the University of Oklahoma. Below is that interview.

On the school year:

“It’s been really good. I am trying to prepare myself a lot better, with studying and things like that. It’s a lot different than high school, but I feel like I have been adjusting well. Probably just a lot more studying and putting more time and effort into all the work. I’m getting used to it.”

On his daily routine:

“I wake up around 8:30 a.m. Sometimes I get out of class at 1:30 p.m. and come right to the Lloyd Noble [Center].  Some days, I have an hour break between class and practice.  After practice, I go home and it will be about 6 p.m. I come home and shower and take a long nap until about 10 p.m. I wake up and I get all my work done, then after that I go back to sleep.”

On how practices are going:

“It’s been really good. I am starting to adjust to the pace of the game and learn the plays, but we have a lot of people that are helping us out like Spang (Spangler), Buddy, Isaiah and Jordan (Woodard). They really help us (freshmen) out and help us through it all.”

On the biggest difference between high school and college basketball:

“Executing plays, really. In high school we just really did what we wanted to – we didn’t really have to do too much. [We had] more skills than [other teams] and we were just better than everyone. Now, everyone has the greatest skills in the world, so you really have to execute plays.

On what his expectations are for the team this season:

“My expectations for the team are for us to make it back to where they were last year [Sweet 16] or do even better. I think anything less will be a disappointment for us.”

On his game and playing at OU:

“My game is real up-tempo. I’m like a nice motor and I feel like everyone on the team brings that. I really get going after the defense does well.  We are a really big defensive team and it just gets us all going.”

On his favorite part of being a student-athlete at OU:

“The fans. Also everyone is really supportive anywhere you go around campus and in Norman.  We have people who attend practice daily that are just real supportive of everything.”

On what he’s learned from Coach Kruger:

“I’ve learned a lot of things. He’s a smart guy, he gives me tips about everything. Most coaches you think would really get on you, but when you mess up he will help you continue to do the right things. He doesn’t make you feel bad about the mistakes that you make as long as you make them going hard. I don’t like to make mistakes, but he makes it to where if I make one I am not really scared to talk him about it because he just helps me out and makes me correct it.”

On why he decided to attend OU:

“The feeling I got from everything when I came up. I liked the coaching and playing style and stuff like that. My mom [also helped]. For some reason she always seems to be right and she just has a real feel for people. She’d be like ‘nah or yeah’ and it kind of persuades me. She really liked the coaching staff at Oklahoma from top to bottom and I did too. I liked the playing style and everything about it.”