Iowa basketball guard
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 All right, questions for Tony.
00:04 Tony, a lot of warm embraces after the game.
00:07 Can you kind of talk to us about the emotions you had tonight
00:10 and your great performance?
00:13 Yeah, before the game, I didn't really feel too good.
00:15 I had to warm up, so I kind of stayed in locker room
00:17 for a little bit, you know, get myself together.
00:19 And then when I came out,
00:21 just really basically trying to dedicate every game
00:23 to my grandmother, as you all know.
00:26 So, that's just really what it is now.
00:29 Do you talk about how special she is
00:31 and what she means to you?
00:33 Out of the world.
00:35 She was like my mom to me, so, you know,
00:38 whenever my mom had to work late or anything,
00:40 you know, she was always there.
00:41 So, regardless of what I needed, she would find a way.
00:45 How important was it for you --
00:50 Sorry.
00:53 How important was it for you, then,
00:54 to get off to that start the way that you did?
00:57 I mean, honestly, I'd zoned everything out.
01:01 It was just memories in my head as I was playing, you know.
01:05 Growing up, she had a basketball court in the front.
01:07 I wasn't really a big basketball player.
01:09 Growing up, I was a big football player,
01:11 so that's just what the memories was when I used to go out there.
01:14 And she used to rebound for me, so that was just my mom.
01:18 A lot of people talk about
01:19 Iowa's a very family-oriented program.
01:21 How have they shown, you know, the support for you
01:24 and how they've been there for you during this time?
01:28 They showed support the whole way.
01:30 As they found out, it was behind me.
01:33 In practice, they've been helping me with everything,
01:37 just sitting there for a holding hand I need.
01:39 So, they had my back, even the coaches, as well.
01:44 Do you feel like almost her spirit
01:46 was kind of lifting you up early in the game,
01:48 like helping those shots get in?
01:51 Oh, I mean, you can say that, but, honestly, like I said,
01:54 I was zoned in on the memories I had as a child
01:57 and the shots I used to shoot as a child
01:59 or things I used to practice as a child,
02:02 like, you know, last shot or contested shot or something,
02:05 you know, as a kid.
02:06 That was just what was in my mind.
02:09 You really provided a spark tonight.
02:11 Otherwise, the offense was kind of struggling.
02:14 I guess, could you kind of --
02:17 with all those memories playing back,
02:19 could you kind of feel yourself
02:21 that you were going to be scoring well tonight
02:23 in the zone, so to speak?
02:25 Yeah, I kind of felt like, as I was warming up,
02:27 I wasn't really missing.
02:29 As I was shooting around before warm-ups,
02:31 I wasn't really missing, so I was like,
02:32 "This might be a game where I don't miss.
02:35 Just let them fly, I guess."
02:36 Was there, like, a question of whether you were going to play?
02:39 Is that something you had to kind of decide?
02:42 Nah.
02:43 My grandma would never allow me to sit out a game
02:45 regardless of what sport I was playing.
02:47 She wouldn't care if I was hurt or if I couldn't walk.
02:50 She'd -- "You playing. You going to play.
02:52 I want to watch. You going to play."
02:53 So, no, I had no question I was going to play.
02:56 Was she here a lot at games?
02:58 She came to a few games.
02:59 Sometimes I just drove down here during the summer
03:01 and just stayed with me in my apartment or in the hotel
03:04 or helped me and stuff like that.
03:06 But, I mean, that's a little far drive,
03:09 so she wasn't really driving that,
03:10 but she got here as much as she can and as much as I wanted her to.
03:15 All right. Thanks, Tony.
03:16 Thanks, Tony. No problem.
03:18 (coughing)