» Audio: Trivia | 1-on-1

Number: 21

Class: Senior

Height: 6-9

Weight: 207

Hometown: Lafayette, La.

High school: Northside

How do you think the arrival of freshmen Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins affects your playing time as a senior this season? Just makes the team better. ... If a guy deserves to play, then I think he should play.

How do you feel about having to impress a new coach for the third time in four seasons? I like it. It's still basketball. Nothing too hard about it.

What approach do you take to impress Coach Cal? Just try to do everything right. I know that's not possible. Try for it. That's all a coach is looking for: a player's best effort.

You're on schedule to graduate in the spring. What's your major? Community leadership development. I'm hoping to use it. I want to continue to play basketball. Maybe after that.

What expectations do you have for this coming season? I think we can do a lot. We'll be really good. We'll be young, but the same amount of players will return.

How good are the freshmen? You can just tell on the court. They're wise beyond their years in basketball terms.

Is it fair to say the team set a goal of winning the national championship? Oh, yeah. That's the goal of every college team. It just starts in practice. It starts when nobody is watching.

What kind of impression has Coach Cal made? He seems like a great guy. Just passionate about his job.

How can you tell he's passionate? Just the résumé he has. The way he talks to us. He says it's all about working hard. He doesn't talk about the games. It's all about getting better in practice and it'll show there.

How do you compare Coach Cal and Billy Gillispie? They have the same hard-work approach and getting stuff done in practice and it'll show in games. They're both pretty passionate about the job. That's all we're seeing.

CAREER HIGHS

Points: 20 (VMI, Nov. 14, 2008)

Rebounds: 14 (twice)

Assists: 4 (three times)

Field goals: 8 (twice)

Field-goal attempts: 12 (VMI, Nov. 14, 2008)

Free throws: 10 (Alabama, Jan. 24, 2009)

Free-throw attempts: 13 (Alabama, Jan. 24, 2009)

Three-point field goals: 1 (three times)

Three-point field-goal attempts: 3 (Appalachian State, Dec. 20, 2008)

Steals: 5 (Vanderbilt, Jan. 12, 2008)

Blocked shots: 7 (Miami, Ohio, Nov. 15, 2006)

Minutes: 40 (VMI, Nov. 14, 2008)