Marcus Camby. DeMarcus Cousins. Anthony Davis. Nerlens Noel. Julius Randle. Kentucky coach John Calipari has a track record of developing the best young big men in the game before sending them off to greener pastures in the NBA. Yet somehow his teams haven’t featured a big man quite like Karl Towns Jr.
A 7-0, 250-pound forward/center with range extending out beyond the three-point line, and possessing great court vision and passing skills, Towns is really a one-of-a-kind player. Seriously, does that sentence describe your typical 250-pound center? Averaging 22.1 PPG, 14.6 RPG and 5.0 BPG for New Jersey’s St. Joseph High School, Towns is a member of the quadruple team of All-Americans taking their talents to Kentucky next year.
Before taking part in the McDonald’s All-American Game, Towns and I talked about Kentucky’s tournament run, his goals for next season, his game, and his life off the court.
[RELATED: Duke-Bound Tyus Jones Speaks On Emulating Chris Paul]
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Dime: What were you looking for in a college, and how did Kentucky come about?
Karl Towns Jr.: I think that Kentucky offered me the whole package. You know, we don’t even have to talk about the tradition–Kentucky is one of the best at what they do in basketball. You put that with the major that I want to do in kinesiology, and they’re like top five/top three in the country. So you want to talk about everything; people tend to forget Kentucky is also a great educational school. So, they had the whole package for me. They had what I wanted to do after the ball got flat. They gave me the whole package to refill that ball with air, to live my life the way I want to.
Dime: What are your expectations for next season?
KT: You know, for me in my own mind I just expect us to be the best team that we can be, and I just expect us to make a nice run to the NCAA title. As far as expectations that should be my only one. If I expected anything less I would be letting down people.
Dime: Is it fair to expect you guys to want to say you want to win an NCAA title as an 18-year-old?
KT: It’s confidence; for them, last year’s team (the stellar Kentucky class, led by Julius Randle, that features six All-Americans) had confidence in their abilities and in what they could do. I respect them tremendously. I mean they didn’t go 40-0, but they’re really making a great run right now in the Final Four. So, I’m not going to make any promises, but I can definitely promise that we’re going to go out there and we’re going to work hard and do anything we can to be every single thing we can be.
[RELATED: Raging Against The Machine–The Karl Towns Jr. Story]
Dime: What about that run this Kentucky team is on. What’s your prediction?
KT: Oh, man! I mean you’ve got me, Trey (Lyles), Tyler (Ulis), and D-Book (Devin Booker) going crazy at McDonald’s. You know the games just keep getting tighter and tighter, and I mean March Madness is just all about survival. I predict them doing really well, I think they have a great chance. They have the talent; we never doubted them on the talent, we always doubted if they could come together at the right time and right now they’re doing it.
Dime: Is there a lesson learned from this year’s team for you guys?
KT: I mean the lesson is you just keep fighting until the last dribble. You can’t let media bring you down. You can’t let anyone bring you down. You can’t stop when you see you might not make it. You just got to keep working, and they kept working just to be in the spot to be in the NCAA tournament–they’re making every dribble count.
Keep reading for more on why Towns always studied Len Bias’ game…
Dime: Who’s your favorite player to watch on this team?
KT: They’re all great. Probably for me it would be Julius (Randle); I just love Julius. Julius is like a tank when he goes inside; he runs over people and he gets to the rim. I just think that the fire and the big LeBron-type body–it’s crazy to see him go out there and dominate.
Dime: What’s your reaction to Orlando Antigua leaving? (Antigua took the head coaching position at USF.)
KT: I was surprised, I was really surprised. It hurt me a little to know that when I step on the Kentucky campus, Orlando won’t be there with me. But you know I wish him all the best. We talked about it and I can say that USF just got the best person in the business right now. I think they got one of the best coaches the country has to offer–maybe even the world–so I think USF did a great job of snaggin’ him.
Dime: You seem like such a nice guy, yet I see you out there dunkin’ on people. I kind of underestimated how physical you would be out there. Do people kind of underestimate you in that sense?
KT: I think so since people haven’t seen me play a lot overseas. It seems like I’m out there playing wrestle ball. I’m really physical. I don’t think people recognize how really physical I am out there until they see me in person. I’m very hands on; that’s the way I like to play. I love to play the “beat it up”-type of basketball, and that’s why I think when I’m at Kentucky I should bring that also. The physicality I try to bring to the court, the toughness. Just like we have the other three recruits, we just love to win. So you put that toughness, that competitive spirit and you can do anything.
Dime: Where are you most comfortable at on the court? I saw you shooting threes and still also playing down in the post.
KT: For me, I’m really comfortable wherever I am. I really feel comfortable inside. I do a lot of my work inside but people usually know me for shooting threes. But I really enjoy the physicality, I love being physical, playing that hands-on basketball. So for me I feel comfortable everywhere on the court. If you need me to dribble as a point guard I really feel comfortable doing that. If you need me on the post getting rebounds, playing I guess you could say dirty, then I’m down there. There’s really no uncomfortable spot out there for me on the court.
Dime: Do you watch any player and try and take away parts of their games and add it to your own?
KT: My favorite player has always been Len Bias so I always try and take something away from him. Obviously Hakeem, Magic, Tim Duncan, you’re talking about Kevin Durant. I just try and get the versatility from everybody and try to implement it into my own game and also use kind of my own style.
Dime: Who are you listening to currently?
KT: For me, I’m a hip-hop guy. I’m all hip-hop. Just always on the new music that’s newly launched.
Dime: Outside of basketball what are you passionate about?
KT: I’m just passionate about education; I take pride in what I do in the classroom. I mean I have passion in just learning the game, I love learning the game, I love trying to upgrade my game from a mental standpoint, trying to make sure I do everything I can to make sure that I’m the best player physically, mentally and emotionally.
What do you think?
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