Evan Brauns Interview
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00:00 All right, questions for Evan.
00:05 A little of Lodgy out of the time.
00:11 Just do you expect to play a bigger role
00:13 coming up here Wednesday,
00:14 and what can you bring to the team?
00:16 Yeah, definitely expect to play a bigger role.
00:20 You know, I think just physicality, defensive presence.
00:25 I think that's kind of always been where my niche
00:27 was throughout my career,
00:29 and I think that's something that can kind of help the team
00:32 out in different areas.
00:33 So I think that's something that would be good.
00:38 What's the transition been like for you,
00:39 just obviously coming from Belmont, moving to the Big Ten?
00:42 What have been some of the challenges with that?
00:44 Yeah, you know, definitely been different,
00:46 just going from being a starter to playing a lot less minutes,
00:50 and so I think that that's been an unusual kind of thing
00:54 for most people in their career,
00:55 but it's been something I've embraced a lot,
00:58 and I really enjoyed being here,
01:00 and I think the challenges was just --
01:05 I mean, the teams are just better.
01:06 I mean, it's kind of just how it goes,
01:08 and I think the opportunities to just play at a higher level
01:13 has been great. They've been really exciting,
01:15 and I think bringing it every day
01:17 has been something that's been a challenge,
01:19 but it's been fun, too. It's been good.
01:22 Not ideal circumstances going in because Lodgy's hurt,
01:25 but pretty excited to get more minutes here?
01:27 Absolutely. Definitely excited.
01:29 I definitely feel like I'm ready, too.
01:32 Been working really hard with the coaches
01:34 on and off the floor, you know, just keeping me ready, prepared.
01:39 I mean, it's something that you never want to happen,
01:42 obviously, but they had always told me
01:44 that you just never know how a season goes,
01:46 and so they've always been really good
01:48 about encouraging me and believing in me,
01:50 and so I think that this should be
01:53 a really exciting time for me.
01:55 Talk about the importance of rebounding.
01:57 That's one of the things I know you do,
01:58 and that's where the team needs some help.
02:00 Yeah. I mean, even looking at last game,
02:02 just I know people are talking about the rebounding numbers,
02:05 and I think that that was disappointing for us as a team,
02:08 and it's just an area where, you know,
02:12 size and physicality might help,
02:14 and I think some games are better than others
02:17 when it comes to rebounding,
02:18 but just making that more of a focus
02:21 because, you know, I know that if I can provide that for a team,
02:24 then I can, you know, see more minutes on the floor.
02:27 You said the teams are better, of course, in the Big Ten.
02:29 How much more physical is Big Ten basketball
02:31 compared to where you were playing before?
02:33 Yeah.
02:36 You know, it is more physical,
02:37 but I think all college basketball
02:39 is physical to a certain extent.
02:42 You know, I think that's something that's kind of universal,
02:44 and I think guys are overall larger and stronger, I think,
02:49 but in terms of physicality,
02:51 I mean, it actually probably is quite similar.
02:53 I think no matter what level you play,
02:56 you kind of -- guys are going to bring it regardless, so...
02:59 That transition, has it made it difficult to,
03:01 I guess, not get in foul trouble,
03:04 the big difference between, I guess,
03:06 coming from the MVC to the Big Ten and adjusting that way?
03:09 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
03:10 I think, you know, the more I play,
03:13 the more you kind of feel it out.
03:16 I don't know.
03:17 It's hard in limited minutes to get a good feel,
03:20 a flow for the game, you know,
03:22 but, you know, as you play more games,
03:25 you get more comfortable with it.
03:26 I think early in the year,
03:27 I was just kind of trying to feel it out.
03:28 It's just so new.
03:30 You know, I think a lot of guys felt that way, too,
03:31 and so you kind of get into a groove as the year goes on,
03:34 so it gets a little easier.
03:35 Are games officiated different in the Big Ten
03:37 than they were in the conference you played previously?
03:40 Um...yes.
03:43 I think you get away with a little bit more.
03:45 I think the coaches are a little harder
03:48 on the refs in this conference.
03:50 I think they're in their ear a little bit more,
03:52 and I think that if they let stuff go, you know,
03:55 you would think, but it really depends, honestly,
03:58 on the crew you get and how the game's going.
04:03 It's, you know, every game's unique,
04:05 but I think for the most part, you get away with a little more.
04:07 I think it can be pretty physical.
04:08 I've seen them talk about the challenge
04:10 they bring on the front line.
04:11 Yeah. No, defensively, they're a great team,
04:14 really physical, you know, so good challenge, I think.
04:17 Obviously, you just being from here,
04:19 what has this been like to be a part of the Iowa program?
04:24 Yeah, it's been awesome.
04:25 I mean, you know, I went to high school here
04:28 and grew up in the area,
04:30 and so, like, obviously I was a big fan,
04:32 and so, you know, I have a great appreciation for it, too,
04:35 just being somewhere else
04:36 and getting the chance to come back as more mature and older.
04:40 You know, I think that was good for me,
04:42 and I think it's just really fun.
04:44 You know, I get to wake up and go to Carver
04:46 and practice and play with the guys,
04:48 and it's really been exciting, and I've really enjoyed it.
04:51 You played against a lot of guys last year
04:53 who were in this league this year.
04:55 One of them was Krooky.
04:57 What do you remember about your matchups with Valpo?
05:00 Yeah.
05:02 You know, Valpo didn't have a great year last year,
05:04 but, you know, Ben was always a tough guard,
05:08 just the way he plays.
05:10 He's more of a, you know, face-up five-man
05:12 and shoots it really good,
05:13 and so that was a little different for me last year.
05:18 But, you know, it was fun to go from being the guy
05:21 you play against to, you know, he's my roommate now,
05:23 and so it's just --
05:24 it's been kind of nice to build that relationship,
05:27 and it was a little easier, you know?
05:28 When I came here, we both kind of knew of each other before,
05:31 and so I think that was good for both of us,
05:34 and it's been fun to see him have success
05:36 and obviously the other guys
05:38 that I've transferred into the Big Ten,
05:39 so it's pretty cool to see.
05:41 What's he like as a roommate?
05:43 Good. Quiet. Yeah.
05:45 Quiet guy, but, no, he's great.
05:47 It's been nice living with him. It's been fun.
05:49 Like, is he clean? Very clean.
05:50 Yeah, clean, very organized.
05:52 He's very routine. Yeah.
05:54 How about you? You clean?
05:56 I'm very clean. Okay.
05:57 Yeah, no. Just checking.
05:58 I keep my house in order, man. Yeah.
06:02 I'm curious, from a player's perspective,
06:04 like, court-storming has kind of been a little controversy,
06:07 especially with what happened with Kaitlyn.
06:09 Do you just -- what's your take as a player of court-storming?
06:12 Yeah. I mean, if you're the team that wins,
06:14 I'm sure it's great. You know, I'm sure it's a great time.
06:17 Obviously, what happened with Kaitlyn is --
06:20 it just raises a lot of questions.
06:21 I mean, I think, you know, Matt Painter from Purdue
06:24 brought it up when they played Nebraska,
06:26 and I think, as the team that loses,
06:30 obviously, it just makes it hurt even worse,
06:33 and then, obviously, now you have fans.
06:35 I mean, I've been a part of teams
06:38 that have had their court stormed on us,
06:40 and, you know, fans run up
06:42 and yell all sorts of stuff in your face,
06:43 and you kind of have to take it on the chin,
06:45 and some guys kind of lose their cool,
06:47 and so I think it's -- I don't know.
06:50 It's fun. It's, like, a fun part of it, and I get it,
06:53 but I think that they could probably be done more
06:56 to protect the players a little bit, too.
06:59 You were playing against Ben for the past couple years
07:01 in the conference, and you're getting
07:03 a certain procession on him.
07:04 How is it different now that you're his teammate
07:06 and his roommate?
07:07 Yeah. Yeah.
07:09 I would say, you know, when you're going up against a guy,
07:13 you don't know anything about him, like, personally and stuff,
07:15 and so you try to just take the basketball part for what it is,
07:19 but he's a great guy off the floor,
07:21 and he's been really nice to get along with and get to know,
07:24 and so I think, like, you kind of build
07:26 a certain perspective of people in your head,
07:28 like, when you play against them.
07:30 He's really quiet when he plays.
07:31 Like, he's not really a talker, and so, like, you're --
07:34 he's not the kind of guy that you're going to say
07:35 what's up to at the free-throw line,
07:37 but, like, off the court, he's great,
07:38 and so I think it's been cool to just build a friendship
07:41 with him and, you know, get to know him like that.
07:44 And, I mean, just on numbers alone,
07:47 what he's done, what Mast has done,
07:50 Domask, Lyons-Jones, it would strike me
07:53 that maybe the Missouri Valley is pretty close.
07:57 Yeah, no, definitely, and I think all conferences,
08:01 the gap is a lot smaller than you might look at on paper.
08:05 You know, I think all Division I,
08:07 we talk about it a lot, just the talent gap,
08:09 you know, especially in non-conference
08:10 when you're playing different teams,
08:13 but you see it all the time.
08:14 You see big schools that, you know, should win games,
08:17 you know, they lose at home,
08:18 and people on social media are,
08:21 "Oh, well, you know, they shouldn't have lost
08:23 this game and that," but, you know,
08:24 all guys want to compete and play,
08:27 and, I mean, you see it with these transfers,
08:29 with, like you said, Domask-Jones, Rink, and Ben.
08:33 I mean, it's crazy to think that these guys
08:36 are all starters at really good Big Ten schools,
08:39 and, you know, they all played in the same conference
08:42 at different schools, and it's really cool to see,
08:44 and me and Ben talk about it a lot,
08:46 just how unique it is, and I think just
08:49 with the transfer portal and the way it's changed things,
08:52 like this is kind of now the new normal
08:54 for college basketball, but I think it's kind of fun to watch.
08:57 What do you all think of Tucker DeVries and Drake?
09:00 Yeah, he's an insane player, really good.
09:05 He just gets buckets, man.
09:08 I mean, he's a tough guy to guard,
09:10 and, you know, and they run great stuff for him,
09:14 and it was really fun to get to play at Drake.
09:16 They had a great team last year, and the coach,
09:20 his dad did a great job of, you know, preparing him,
09:22 and so, yeah, it was good.
09:24 Watch what your previous team did to Drake earlier this year?
09:26 I did, yeah. Impressive.
09:28 Very impressive, yeah. I keep up with it.
09:29 You know, some of the guys I talk to a lot,
09:31 and so it's nice to, you know, they just crushed Drake,
09:36 and then the next day they got, you know, it's just like it.
09:39 And they got beat pretty bad by it.
09:41 Yeah, it's -- every night's so different, you know.
09:44 You just never know what you're going to get, yeah.
09:47 All right, thank you. Appreciate it.
09:49 Yeah, thanks, guys.