Hometown: Marysville
What he did: Hit nine 3-pointers, including a 5-for-5 performance in an upset of UCLA, over three games as the Pilots advanced to the championship game of the 76 Classic in Anaheim over the weekend
What’s next: The 25th-ranked Pilots (6-2) play at Idaho on Sunday night and go to the University of Washington two weeks later
THE TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Your Pilots cracked the Top 25 for the first time in 50 years. So what the heck took so long?
It’s just the experience and hard work we’ve put in over the past couple years. We had a tough start at the beginning, but we had two summers to put in the work, and everything is coming together right now.
You actually found a way to bump the Trail Blazers off the front page. Remind us what it’s like to have an NBA team in town.
It’s nice. Guys come to watch our games sometimes, like Brandon Roy and Martell Webster. And sometimes guys from the team will play with us over the summer, like Steve Blake and Channing Frye and Dan Dickau. I haven’t seen Brandon Roy out here playing yet, but it’s been nice to have some of the top guys here.
In your upset of UCLA last week, you hit all five of your 3-point attempts. Where did you learn to shoot like that?
I learned everything from my dad (Eric) at a young age. He played community college basketball, at Peninsula. He’s been teaching me how to shoot since the second grade. All through middle school and high school, we’d do shooting drill after shooting drill for hours and hours. He’d have me on the gun, which is one of those machines that feeds the ball back to you, in the gym all day, shot after shot.
During that tournament, the 76 Classic, you faced teams coached by Ben Howland, Tubby Smith and Bob Huggins on back-to-back-to-back nights. Did you ever get star-struck?
Before we played them, I definitely looked over there. It’s just an honor to play against those guys. I felt like: this is what I worked all my life for. This is what it’s all about, playing against guys like that.
Speaking of big names, Sikma and Raivio are pretty big ones in basketball circles up here in Washington. You’ve got one of each on your roster. Have you gotten to know Luke Sikma’s father and Nik Raivio’s older brother at all while playing down there?
Derek (Raivio, a former Gonzaga star) comes by a lot in the summer and plays with us. So, yeah, I’ve seen him a lot. And Luke is my roommate, so I’ve met his dad (former Sonic Jack) a few times. Jack, he’s still got the post moves. And Derek, he can still play with the best of them. He’s an awesome kid.
Do the Raivios ever go head-to-head?
They’re usually on the same team.
How about the Stohls? Do you and your dad ever play against each other?
We used to spend hours going 1-on-1. I finally beat him in the sixth grade. He never, ever let me win. So when I beat him, it was for real.
There’s another pretty famous basketball son on your team as well. Nemanja Mitrovic is the son of a Europeon star who played in Yugoslavia. You’ve also got players from Japan, Germany and Canada on your team. Is this the Portland Pilots, or the 2003 Dallas Mavericks?
(Laughs) It’s a very diversified team, that’s for sure. Whatever it takes.
Where does Marysville fit into all this?
They all tease me. They think Marysville’s a farm town. I keep telling them it’s not.
And as long as we’re talking about teams with international flavor, there’s a team in Spokane that might have noticed your fast start. Gonzaga has beaten Portland 12 consecutive times. Is this the year you finally get them?
Gonzaga’s still a great team. But we’ve got a great shot this year of giving them a run for their money. We’ll see.
There’s also a game up here in a couple weeks against Washington. Do you think the Huskies have had that game circled on their calendars after you upset them last year?
You know it. You know they’re going to come after us with fire. They didn’t like losing to us last year, so they’ll be ready.
You know, the Huskies are the only Pac-10 team in the Top 25 right now, while the West Coast Conference has two ranked teams. Has there been a shift in power out West?
The Pac-10, judging by the previous games, has gotten off to a slow start. It’s early in the season, though. But the WCC is a very good conference, and we’ve proven that. We’ll see.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
