November 11, 2022 • 18 mins
On this episode, KJ had a chance to speak with 4-star University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Men's Basketball commit Dennis Evans about his college decision, what he needs to improve upon and his mindset headed into his senior season at Hillcrest High-School in the Inland Empire. #allball #fsr
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is kJ Live with Chris john S. Allen and
Chris is having conversations with influencers in the sports world
and entertainment industry. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned
in to kJ Live. I'm your host, Chris Johnson. Today's
(00:25):
guest on the show was one of the top young
basketball prospects in the world. He hails from Riverside, California,
stands around seven ft two, attends Hill Chris High School
in the Inland Empire, and next season he will be
joining coach Ben Johnson in the University of Minnesota Golden
Gophers men's basketball program. Let's welcome in Dennis Evans to
(00:47):
the show. What's happening, Dennis? Not much? How's everything going? Man?
You have you have practice today? How did that go?
I want really? Will? Yeah? What sort of stuff is
coach Jack's coach would? Right? Yeah? Is coach would putting
you guys through? I know we're in November. I'm sure
(01:08):
the season is about to start and kick off. What
are some of the stuff that you guys have been
doing in practice and what are some of your goals
as far as going into your senior year? Wrong this
time during podcast we're making sure that everyone knows sets,
some plays and you know what to do in different
situations and all that. And my goal for my senior
(01:28):
years just hopefully once if CIF before I leave and
do as much as possible to get everyone around me better. Man.
That's a great goal, man. I want to c I
F championships defeated modern day uh and both of them
to go to the States. So I know that feeling, man,
And that's the heck of a goal. And with your
skill set, your ability to really control and patrol the
(01:49):
painted area and dominate on that side, man, it's gonna
be tough for people to beat you. Guys. Man, I
want to back up a little bit, man, I want
to find out sort of the beginnings and the foundation
of of which Dennis Evans was built up. Where are
you from the Riverside area originally? Yeah? I was. I
was born around here, moved up to victor Ville for
(02:12):
a few years, and then came back down when the
team to high school. Yeah, did you play like growing
up when you was a youngster? Did you play other sports?
And were you always a hooper? I didn't really play
too many sports growing up, you know. I got into
sports when I got into middle school, because you know,
that's my first time seeing you know, and what made
you fall in level the game? Like who was your
(02:34):
favorite player around that time? Growing up? Around that time?
First growing up, I was watching like a lot of
really old footage. So first few players I've seen it
was like a team Kareem and those players, and I
really like the way they played. What what are some
of the things that you really enjoyed about a team
Elijah one, because he's one of the greats of the game.
(02:54):
Incredible footwork, my man. What what was some of the
stuff you observed a by the key? Well, I started
to pick up too much offensively, but first thing I
did see it was his defensive presence. You know, his
always wanted to go after a shot and really good
at being there to block it and get it out
the way. Yeah. And so I'm sure you're pretty tall
in middle school. How tall were you like around the
eighth grade? Eighth grade, I was about six seven six seven,
(03:19):
And at that time, were you playing primarily on the
inside or where your coach is kind of trying to
put some skills in you to make you have that nice,
sweet jumper that you've got today, I'll primarily play inside,
you know, clean up job, trying to get to the
rim as much as possible. Yeah, yeah, that sounds about right. Man.
When you look at where you were in the eighth
(03:41):
grade and you look at where you are now, like,
what do you think when you think back to that?
Do you feel a sense of satisfaction? Or is it
like jobs not finished like Kobe says, or what's your mentality?
I feel like it's definitely been a really good progression,
but there's definitely somewhere else to go. I mean, seeing
how far up coming this little amount of time makes
me wonder how far I could Yeah? Absolutely. I mean
(04:02):
the how do you handle all the sort of the
success and the adulation. I mean, you shot up the rankings.
I believe you're ranked somewhere around the one forty something
one fifty. The shot up to top twenty, like in
less in a couple of sessions of playing. How do
you handle that new found notoriety and how do you
stay grounded and keep the main thing the main thing?
(04:26):
You know? I always think about, you know, a long
term success, and I think about the short term, because
the short term could come and go as quickly as
it came. Wow? Wow, So where do you get that
sort of big picture that's a mature way of thinking this?
And you're still sixteen? Or did you turn seventeen yet?
I turned seventeen? Okay, okay, So when did you turn seventeen?
I was like July towards the beginning of summer, like
(04:49):
you around the middle. Wow, So you just turned seventeen
and you're already focused and locked into the long long term.
Do you have mentors, parents or I know you your
parents are or in your life heavily. Do you have
people that you count on to keep you grounded and
keep you on the right path. I definitely. My AU
(05:09):
coach is one of them, always telling me, like when
I was really bad at bousketball, that there's always a
bigger picture to it and just continue to keep working
and keep getting better. Absolutely. And when the college coaches
started calling Dennis and they started, you know, sending letters
and getting the calls from the house, how was that
process for you as far as your recruitment? What things
(05:31):
did you look for in a college basketball coaching staff,
in a college basketball program. I definitely was looking for
a program that was gonna, you know, give me an
opportunity to give me a chance to showcase the fact
that I belong there and then I'm gonna get better
at everything that I uh do. Who were some of
the like finalists that you had in contention for your services?
(05:56):
My two finance was Minnesota and TCU. And what put
Minnesota over the top versus TCU Because I know Jamie Dixon,
I know Coach Broussard down there, and that's that's a
good program, that's a good staff, They've got some stuff
going on. What made Minnesota so attractive for you? Den?
I felt like it would be an easier option to
(06:18):
come in and just put in the work and continue
to get better. You know, if there's always gonna be expectations,
but you know, just having that expectation here will definitely
help me improve my game and continue to focus on
what's the main goal is instead of the turn to
other things. Yeah, that and you're going into the Big
Ten Conference. Minnesota plays the likes of Michigan State in
(06:40):
Michigan and Indiana and Purdue in Illinois. I mean, did
that excite you? The allure of playing sort of out
of state and these like story programs for US West
Coast guys because we usually see them on ESPN. It's
definitely an exciting thing for me, you know, being able
to come in and play against those some programs like that,
and it's definitely gonna be you know, benefits with some improvement.
(07:02):
Are you excited about, uh reuniting with your former teammate
Jaden Henley up there. It's definitely gonna be exciting things
to me, you know, being able to play with alongside
him again. Yeah, man, you guys should do some good things.
But you guys are really, really, really talented, and there's
nothing like that camaraderie to help with the chemistry. Dentist,
(07:22):
If you're I asked one of your teammates right now,
I say, what type of teammate is Dennis Evans? What
would they what would they describe you as? They will
describe me as a really good teammate, you know, someone
who's always looking to try to push someone to go
a little bit further and make a few more shots
and trying to run a little bit harder. Yeah, okay, okay,
And so you push guys in practice? Are you first
(07:44):
in sprints? Are you? Are you vocal? In practice? You
seem like a quiet leader, I describe your style for me,
I am one quietly trying to beat everybody in sprints
and all that, and call people out when they are
messing up for something, or help somebody else if they're
messing up on them play. I'm not too welcal with
the offensive vent and something I'm still working on, but
a defensive vent. I'll really speak up to the guys,
(08:06):
let them know what they need to do and everything,
make sure that we're all together. Yeah, talking and communicating
is essential, especially for for for somebody like yourself. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
(08:26):
s R to listen live. When you played your A
U season, I saw you stepping out, I saw you
being on the floor and the perimeter. Um, I've seen
you hit threes. I've seen you, you know, do some
stuff out there. How much part, I mean, how much
of that part of your game do you work on
and how much of it is an emphasis? It's definitely
(08:50):
something I'm starting to work on a lot more, especially
with the way the game to play is played nowadays.
You know, I'm still working on developing inside outside skills.
But how good outside i Q as well as inside
post work were really good because if they start to
double b outside or inside, I could step outside and
also look be able to look and make the reason
(09:11):
cuts that it's necessary being a weekler as well. So
now you sound like you you're a student of the game.
You study the game a lot, dentist, Yeah, YouTube film
or you in film sessions with coach. I mean, what's
your process when you're trying to learn and and really
just you know, develop more and get a little better
(09:32):
on that side of things. You know, it's definitely like, yeah,
watching film, watching old games and all that, and also
watching some of the you know, some some of the
film from other players and all that, seeing how they move,
how they react to things. That's a smart thing to do. Man,
you should watch as much film as you can. That's
how you that's in mimic, you know, and try to
copy off of those guys, because at your side, your
(09:54):
frame and if you're able to, you know, mimic some
of those movements and some of those things. I mean,
the sky is absolutely delimited. You won a gold medal
for the Team USA under eighteen team in Spain. What
did you learn about yourself during that trip? I learned
(10:15):
a lot about myself, you know. I learned that um
a voluable I said, you know, as a player, not
only in my little team, but also you know nationally,
I proved some value and also help me learn a
lot more about myself being in that type of situation
outside of the country. You know, don't speak the same
language as everybody else. Yeah, No, it's always an interesting
(10:38):
experience when you're international. I got the chance to play
in the Middle East and Russia and Turkey and all
over the world. But the one common theme, uh, the
game of basketball. They spoke the language of basketball. Man,
It's spoken everywhere. Uh. In't that cool though? When you
when you see someone that's thousand miles away and they're
kind of have the same swag or they're on the
(10:58):
court doing stuff, You're just like that, Man, where do
you get that from? It's definitely something you know, exciting
to see, you know, uh, seeing what other players do
while you're out there, seeing the different things that they
pick up with their game, definitely something different. Did you
get close with any of your teammates? You still keep
in contact with any of those guys, anybody you know
(11:18):
you cool with. I talked to a few of the
guys on the team. You know, we don't talk a
whole lot because you know, we're go to different schools,
a little bit harder to communicate. Well, I've definitely spoke
with a few of them. That's we're going on. Yeah,
I want to find some some things out about you
on the off the court stuff. As far as your
academic goals, I'm very interested in that. Man. What is it?
What's your favorite subject in school and what do you
(11:40):
plan on majoring in at Minnesota. My favorite subject in
school right now is definitely math. I find it a
lot easier to deal with numbers. What what are you as?
Statistics are? Calculus? And me? What what bath class are? Year? Bro?
I'm in I'm in stats right now. Stats is killer.
So how you doing in it? I'm doing pretty well? Yeah? Alright,
(12:02):
but pretty well? What's that? A B plus A minus
the C? Talk to them. I haven't gotten lower than
a nine D on the test yet. Oh okay, alright, alright,
what are you gonna major in college? Uh? Probably major
economics or business. Okay, okay, And let's say twenty years
(12:24):
down the line, after twenty five years down the line,
after you've you know, hooped and you're you've hung it
all up, what do you envision yourself doing with your
business or economics degree after basketball? I definitely want to,
you know, continue to make some connections and hopefully have
enough going from either way. I can still you know,
assist in the game of basketball. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's
(12:47):
that's the player. Man. Let's stay today. Let's talk a
little bit about what you envisioned your role at Minnesota
and what you're short your short term and long term
goals are for college. I know when I went to school,
I wanted to win a championship. We got lucky and
won a national championship my first year. Now, with your addition,
(13:08):
there's no question the Golden Golfers can be a contender. Now,
winning a championship is a hard thing to do. Is
that something that you think about, Dennis, that's definitely the
gold of course, it's always gonna be the golden pushtion
to go as far as possible. Absolutely, always shoot for
the stars. Man, Uh, that's dope. Who's your favorite NBA player?
(13:29):
Every NBA player, Yeah, i'd said, Joel. Why why you
like his game. That's the way he's been able to
change the adopter being a low post player to be
an inside outside th Yeah. Now, his his development on
both sides, on the side of the game has been
It's been amazing to see he does stuff out there. Now.
(13:49):
I'm just like that where he get that at I
could see some similarities there. I could see you being
able to do it. You're what side you you are?
I saw somewhere you had on some seventeen crops, some
seven teens and some crops and something may called you
out on TV? Was that true? Yeah? Oh? Man, So
you gotta get custom shoes or like, what's your favorite
(14:09):
pair of shoes? If you could pick one pair of
shoes that you you could wear every day for the
rest of your life, Bro, which ones would it be?
That's hard? Dang one pair of shoes. There's my pair. Like,
if I'm going for own court style, going Kyris, okay, okay,
(14:32):
off court, of course, I'm usually gonna go with something
a little bit more comfortable. Yeah, okay, yeah me too.
I'm I'm the same way. I got some ugs with
the fur in them, man, that I just love. I
mean that comfort is you know that comforts a well
when you hoop and you're all your feet. People got
that don't hoop. They don't understand what it's like for us, bro.
They don't understand what the what the hoopers go through.
(14:54):
But take care of those feet, man, take care of
those puppies. Um. As far as like the number one
thing you you say you can improve upon, this as
far as your game on the basketball, for something you
think about, something you work hard towards every single day,
what is it? I was definitely building the offensive edge.
(15:16):
My defense is out of my offense right now. And
if I can get them leveled out and continue to
both you know, keep them both going, obviously something that
I'll really helped me. Do you have like a go
to move that you the one move that you love
more than others? I mean, I'm not trying to give
everybody the scout a report on your game, So if
you don't feel comfortable telling everybody right now, that's cool.
But because I noticed you got one time I saw
(15:38):
you cat you did a shimmy A yah yah y'all.
And then the pivot I see you like the up
and under pivot game. Is that stuff that you like
to do a lot well. At first my goal to
move was the hook shop, but after the first year
I realized that it's gonna have to go to the
up and under. So they pretty much changes each year. Yeah,
it seems like because the defenders are trying to beat
(15:59):
you in the air and get you know, jumped before
you do, so they always go go for that pumping
because everybody's trying to jump quick because they know they're
gonna get banged on if they don't. Something else that
does about you too, man, When you blocking shots, Man,
I see you always talking to dude, not talking, but
kind of giving them the little scalt. What is that from? Man?
(16:20):
Is it? Are you hyped at that moment or what's
up with that? I'm definitely hyped to them over. Yes,
you know, I find a lot of fun blocking shots,
and it's definitely something that I've always been really good
at and eventually I started showing a bit of motion
with it. No, man, it's a great thing to see. Man.
That fire, that passion shows that you know you're taking
this this defensive thing seriously. I saw you block three
(16:40):
four shots in the road and just doing the same thing.
I was like, Okay, he's ready. He's ready. He's gonna
need that energy in the Big ten conference. Um. Then
there's a couple more questions. Man, then I'm gonna let
you go. I kind of wanted to find out what
is it in your life? I don't know. It might
be spiritually, it might be you know, your parents. What
(17:02):
keeps you like locked in on a daily basis? All
it say, it's my love for the game and my family. Yeah,
families everything, man, Families inspirationals, motivational man. Family and love
will help you get up when you don't really want
to get up and do the things that that you
(17:23):
don't feel like doing, and you gotta do it. And
whatever it is that you've been doing, young man, continue
to do it. UM. Is an honor to have you
on the show. Man. We'll be looking forward to watching
you play at Minnesota UM, and excuse me this year.
I'm looking forward to seeing you play and then in
the future at Minnesota. UM. Thank you so much for
(17:46):
joining the show, Dennis. We appreciate you. Got any shoutouts
you wanted to give, bro I got no shout out.
Thank you for inviting me here. You know, tremendous opportunity.
Absolutely thank you for coming on, ladies and gentlemen. Dennis
Evans
This is kJ Live with Chris john S. Allen and
Chris is having conversations with influencers in the sports world
and entertainment industry. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned
in to kJ Live. I'm your host, Chris Johnson. Today's
(00:25):
guest on the show was one of the top young
basketball prospects in the world. He hails from Riverside, California,
stands around seven ft two, attends Hill Chris High School
in the Inland Empire, and next season he will be
joining coach Ben Johnson in the University of Minnesota Golden
Gophers men's basketball program. Let's welcome in Dennis Evans to
(00:47):
the show. What's happening, Dennis? Not much? How's everything going? Man?
You have you have practice today? How did that go?
I want really? Will? Yeah? What sort of stuff is
coach Jack's coach would? Right? Yeah? Is coach would putting
you guys through? I know we're in November. I'm sure
(01:08):
the season is about to start and kick off. What
are some of the stuff that you guys have been
doing in practice and what are some of your goals
as far as going into your senior year? Wrong this
time during podcast we're making sure that everyone knows sets,
some plays and you know what to do in different
situations and all that. And my goal for my senior
(01:28):
years just hopefully once if CIF before I leave and
do as much as possible to get everyone around me better. Man.
That's a great goal, man. I want to c I
F championships defeated modern day uh and both of them
to go to the States. So I know that feeling, man,
And that's the heck of a goal. And with your
skill set, your ability to really control and patrol the
(01:49):
painted area and dominate on that side, man, it's gonna
be tough for people to beat you. Guys. Man, I
want to back up a little bit, man, I want
to find out sort of the beginnings and the foundation
of of which Dennis Evans was built up. Where are
you from the Riverside area originally? Yeah? I was. I
was born around here, moved up to victor Ville for
(02:12):
a few years, and then came back down when the
team to high school. Yeah, did you play like growing
up when you was a youngster? Did you play other sports?
And were you always a hooper? I didn't really play
too many sports growing up, you know. I got into
sports when I got into middle school, because you know,
that's my first time seeing you know, and what made
you fall in level the game? Like who was your
(02:34):
favorite player around that time? Growing up? Around that time?
First growing up, I was watching like a lot of
really old footage. So first few players I've seen it
was like a team Kareem and those players, and I
really like the way they played. What what are some
of the things that you really enjoyed about a team
Elijah one, because he's one of the greats of the game.
(02:54):
Incredible footwork, my man. What what was some of the
stuff you observed a by the key? Well, I started
to pick up too much offensively, but first thing I
did see it was his defensive presence. You know, his
always wanted to go after a shot and really good
at being there to block it and get it out
the way. Yeah. And so I'm sure you're pretty tall
in middle school. How tall were you like around the
eighth grade? Eighth grade, I was about six seven six seven,
(03:19):
And at that time, were you playing primarily on the
inside or where your coach is kind of trying to
put some skills in you to make you have that nice,
sweet jumper that you've got today, I'll primarily play inside,
you know, clean up job, trying to get to the
rim as much as possible. Yeah, yeah, that sounds about right. Man.
When you look at where you were in the eighth
(03:41):
grade and you look at where you are now, like,
what do you think when you think back to that?
Do you feel a sense of satisfaction? Or is it
like jobs not finished like Kobe says, or what's your mentality?
I feel like it's definitely been a really good progression,
but there's definitely somewhere else to go. I mean, seeing
how far up coming this little amount of time makes
me wonder how far I could Yeah? Absolutely. I mean
(04:02):
the how do you handle all the sort of the
success and the adulation. I mean, you shot up the rankings.
I believe you're ranked somewhere around the one forty something
one fifty. The shot up to top twenty, like in
less in a couple of sessions of playing. How do
you handle that new found notoriety and how do you
stay grounded and keep the main thing the main thing?
(04:26):
You know? I always think about, you know, a long
term success, and I think about the short term, because
the short term could come and go as quickly as
it came. Wow? Wow, So where do you get that
sort of big picture that's a mature way of thinking this?
And you're still sixteen? Or did you turn seventeen yet?
I turned seventeen? Okay, okay, So when did you turn seventeen?
I was like July towards the beginning of summer, like
(04:49):
you around the middle. Wow, So you just turned seventeen
and you're already focused and locked into the long long term.
Do you have mentors, parents or I know you your
parents are or in your life heavily. Do you have
people that you count on to keep you grounded and
keep you on the right path. I definitely. My AU
(05:09):
coach is one of them, always telling me, like when
I was really bad at bousketball, that there's always a
bigger picture to it and just continue to keep working
and keep getting better. Absolutely. And when the college coaches
started calling Dennis and they started, you know, sending letters
and getting the calls from the house, how was that
process for you as far as your recruitment? What things
(05:31):
did you look for in a college basketball coaching staff,
in a college basketball program. I definitely was looking for
a program that was gonna, you know, give me an
opportunity to give me a chance to showcase the fact
that I belong there and then I'm gonna get better
at everything that I uh do. Who were some of
the like finalists that you had in contention for your services?
(05:56):
My two finance was Minnesota and TCU. And what put
Minnesota over the top versus TCU Because I know Jamie Dixon,
I know Coach Broussard down there, and that's that's a
good program, that's a good staff, They've got some stuff
going on. What made Minnesota so attractive for you? Den?
I felt like it would be an easier option to
(06:18):
come in and just put in the work and continue
to get better. You know, if there's always gonna be expectations,
but you know, just having that expectation here will definitely
help me improve my game and continue to focus on
what's the main goal is instead of the turn to
other things. Yeah, that and you're going into the Big
Ten Conference. Minnesota plays the likes of Michigan State in
(06:40):
Michigan and Indiana and Purdue in Illinois. I mean, did
that excite you? The allure of playing sort of out
of state and these like story programs for US West
Coast guys because we usually see them on ESPN. It's
definitely an exciting thing for me, you know, being able
to come in and play against those some programs like that,
and it's definitely gonna be you know, benefits with some improvement.
(07:02):
Are you excited about, uh reuniting with your former teammate
Jaden Henley up there. It's definitely gonna be exciting things
to me, you know, being able to play with alongside
him again. Yeah, man, you guys should do some good things.
But you guys are really, really, really talented, and there's
nothing like that camaraderie to help with the chemistry. Dentist,
(07:22):
If you're I asked one of your teammates right now,
I say, what type of teammate is Dennis Evans? What
would they what would they describe you as? They will
describe me as a really good teammate, you know, someone
who's always looking to try to push someone to go
a little bit further and make a few more shots
and trying to run a little bit harder. Yeah, okay, okay,
And so you push guys in practice? Are you first
(07:44):
in sprints? Are you? Are you vocal? In practice? You
seem like a quiet leader, I describe your style for me,
I am one quietly trying to beat everybody in sprints
and all that, and call people out when they are
messing up for something, or help somebody else if they're
messing up on them play. I'm not too welcal with
the offensive vent and something I'm still working on, but
a defensive vent. I'll really speak up to the guys,
(08:06):
let them know what they need to do and everything,
make sure that we're all together. Yeah, talking and communicating
is essential, especially for for for somebody like yourself. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
(08:26):
s R to listen live. When you played your A
U season, I saw you stepping out, I saw you
being on the floor and the perimeter. Um, I've seen
you hit threes. I've seen you, you know, do some
stuff out there. How much part, I mean, how much
of that part of your game do you work on
and how much of it is an emphasis? It's definitely
(08:50):
something I'm starting to work on a lot more, especially
with the way the game to play is played nowadays.
You know, I'm still working on developing inside outside skills.
But how good outside i Q as well as inside
post work were really good because if they start to
double b outside or inside, I could step outside and
also look be able to look and make the reason
(09:11):
cuts that it's necessary being a weekler as well. So
now you sound like you you're a student of the game.
You study the game a lot, dentist, Yeah, YouTube film
or you in film sessions with coach. I mean, what's
your process when you're trying to learn and and really
just you know, develop more and get a little better
(09:32):
on that side of things. You know, it's definitely like, yeah,
watching film, watching old games and all that, and also
watching some of the you know, some some of the
film from other players and all that, seeing how they move,
how they react to things. That's a smart thing to do. Man,
you should watch as much film as you can. That's
how you that's in mimic, you know, and try to
copy off of those guys, because at your side, your
(09:54):
frame and if you're able to, you know, mimic some
of those movements and some of those things. I mean,
the sky is absolutely delimited. You won a gold medal
for the Team USA under eighteen team in Spain. What
did you learn about yourself during that trip? I learned
(10:15):
a lot about myself, you know. I learned that um
a voluable I said, you know, as a player, not
only in my little team, but also you know nationally,
I proved some value and also help me learn a
lot more about myself being in that type of situation
outside of the country. You know, don't speak the same
language as everybody else. Yeah, No, it's always an interesting
(10:38):
experience when you're international. I got the chance to play
in the Middle East and Russia and Turkey and all
over the world. But the one common theme, uh, the
game of basketball. They spoke the language of basketball. Man,
It's spoken everywhere. Uh. In't that cool though? When you
when you see someone that's thousand miles away and they're
kind of have the same swag or they're on the
(10:58):
court doing stuff, You're just like that, Man, where do
you get that from? It's definitely something you know, exciting
to see, you know, uh, seeing what other players do
while you're out there, seeing the different things that they
pick up with their game, definitely something different. Did you
get close with any of your teammates? You still keep
in contact with any of those guys, anybody you know
(11:18):
you cool with. I talked to a few of the
guys on the team. You know, we don't talk a
whole lot because you know, we're go to different schools,
a little bit harder to communicate. Well, I've definitely spoke
with a few of them. That's we're going on. Yeah,
I want to find some some things out about you
on the off the court stuff. As far as your
academic goals, I'm very interested in that. Man. What is it?
What's your favorite subject in school and what do you
(11:40):
plan on majoring in at Minnesota. My favorite subject in
school right now is definitely math. I find it a
lot easier to deal with numbers. What what are you as?
Statistics are? Calculus? And me? What what bath class are? Year? Bro?
I'm in I'm in stats right now. Stats is killer.
So how you doing in it? I'm doing pretty well? Yeah? Alright,
(12:02):
but pretty well? What's that? A B plus A minus
the C? Talk to them. I haven't gotten lower than
a nine D on the test yet. Oh okay, alright, alright,
what are you gonna major in college? Uh? Probably major
economics or business. Okay, okay, And let's say twenty years
(12:24):
down the line, after twenty five years down the line,
after you've you know, hooped and you're you've hung it
all up, what do you envision yourself doing with your
business or economics degree after basketball? I definitely want to,
you know, continue to make some connections and hopefully have
enough going from either way. I can still you know,
assist in the game of basketball. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's
(12:47):
that's the player. Man. Let's stay today. Let's talk a
little bit about what you envisioned your role at Minnesota
and what you're short your short term and long term
goals are for college. I know when I went to school,
I wanted to win a championship. We got lucky and
won a national championship my first year. Now, with your addition,
(13:08):
there's no question the Golden Golfers can be a contender. Now,
winning a championship is a hard thing to do. Is
that something that you think about, Dennis, that's definitely the
gold of course, it's always gonna be the golden pushtion
to go as far as possible. Absolutely, always shoot for
the stars. Man, Uh, that's dope. Who's your favorite NBA player?
(13:29):
Every NBA player, Yeah, i'd said, Joel. Why why you
like his game. That's the way he's been able to
change the adopter being a low post player to be
an inside outside th Yeah. Now, his his development on
both sides, on the side of the game has been
It's been amazing to see he does stuff out there. Now.
(13:49):
I'm just like that where he get that at I
could see some similarities there. I could see you being
able to do it. You're what side you you are?
I saw somewhere you had on some seventeen crops, some
seven teens and some crops and something may called you
out on TV? Was that true? Yeah? Oh? Man, So
you gotta get custom shoes or like, what's your favorite
(14:09):
pair of shoes? If you could pick one pair of
shoes that you you could wear every day for the
rest of your life, Bro, which ones would it be?
That's hard? Dang one pair of shoes. There's my pair. Like,
if I'm going for own court style, going Kyris, okay, okay,
(14:32):
off court, of course, I'm usually gonna go with something
a little bit more comfortable. Yeah, okay, yeah me too.
I'm I'm the same way. I got some ugs with
the fur in them, man, that I just love. I
mean that comfort is you know that comforts a well
when you hoop and you're all your feet. People got
that don't hoop. They don't understand what it's like for us, bro.
They don't understand what the what the hoopers go through.
(14:54):
But take care of those feet, man, take care of
those puppies. Um. As far as like the number one
thing you you say you can improve upon, this as
far as your game on the basketball, for something you
think about, something you work hard towards every single day,
what is it? I was definitely building the offensive edge.
(15:16):
My defense is out of my offense right now. And
if I can get them leveled out and continue to
both you know, keep them both going, obviously something that
I'll really helped me. Do you have like a go
to move that you the one move that you love
more than others? I mean, I'm not trying to give
everybody the scout a report on your game, So if
you don't feel comfortable telling everybody right now, that's cool.
But because I noticed you got one time I saw
(15:38):
you cat you did a shimmy A yah yah y'all.
And then the pivot I see you like the up
and under pivot game. Is that stuff that you like
to do a lot well. At first my goal to
move was the hook shop, but after the first year
I realized that it's gonna have to go to the
up and under. So they pretty much changes each year. Yeah,
it seems like because the defenders are trying to beat
(15:59):
you in the air and get you know, jumped before
you do, so they always go go for that pumping
because everybody's trying to jump quick because they know they're
gonna get banged on if they don't. Something else that
does about you too, man, When you blocking shots, Man,
I see you always talking to dude, not talking, but
kind of giving them the little scalt. What is that from? Man?
(16:20):
Is it? Are you hyped at that moment or what's
up with that? I'm definitely hyped to them over. Yes,
you know, I find a lot of fun blocking shots,
and it's definitely something that I've always been really good
at and eventually I started showing a bit of motion
with it. No, man, it's a great thing to see. Man.
That fire, that passion shows that you know you're taking
this this defensive thing seriously. I saw you block three
(16:40):
four shots in the road and just doing the same thing.
I was like, Okay, he's ready. He's ready. He's gonna
need that energy in the Big ten conference. Um. Then
there's a couple more questions. Man, then I'm gonna let
you go. I kind of wanted to find out what
is it in your life? I don't know. It might
be spiritually, it might be you know, your parents. What
(17:02):
keeps you like locked in on a daily basis? All
it say, it's my love for the game and my family. Yeah,
families everything, man, Families inspirationals, motivational man. Family and love
will help you get up when you don't really want
to get up and do the things that that you
(17:23):
don't feel like doing, and you gotta do it. And
whatever it is that you've been doing, young man, continue
to do it. UM. Is an honor to have you
on the show. Man. We'll be looking forward to watching
you play at Minnesota UM, and excuse me this year.
I'm looking forward to seeing you play and then in
the future at Minnesota. UM. Thank you so much for
(17:46):
joining the show, Dennis. We appreciate you. Got any shoutouts
you wanted to give, bro I got no shout out.
Thank you for inviting me here. You know, tremendous opportunity.
Absolutely thank you for coming on, ladies and gentlemen. Dennis
Evans
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