January 5, 2023 • 28 mins
On this episode, KJ chops it up with Long Beach Poly guard Jovani Ruff, ESPN's #14 ranked 2025 High-School basketball prospect in the country. Jovani opens up about his recruitment, what he looks for in a university and what he needs to work on to become a complete player. Great conversation with one of the nation's top ballers. #allball
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is kJ Live with Chris john Sillen and Chris
is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and
entertainment in the Strait. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now
tuned in to K three Live. Today's guests on the
(00:24):
show was one of the nation's top sophomore basketball players.
He's a six five one and seventy five pounds shooting
guard at the legendary Long Beach Polly in Long Beach, California.
He is the number fourteenth ranked prospect in the country
by ESPN. Let's welcome in, Jovanni. Rough to kJ Live.
(00:45):
What's good, Jo, Vanny? What's up? Everything? Man? Everything you
on the show. Happy new year, brother, first ball, Yes, sir, Yes,
there's a new year man. New beginnings is a chance
to start at the top of things. Man. But we're
in the middle of the basketball season. Yeah uh, and
you guys Long Beach Polly have played a hilicious schedule
(01:05):
to start it out. Man, talk about talk to me
about how this season has gone so far. Do you
feel like there's been a bull's eye sort of a
target on you that wasn't there last year as a freshman? Yeah?
It definitely is a target because of my rank and
who I am right now. But our coaches and our
team are trying to keep me level headed. Is now
that winning is you know the main goal? Yeah? And
(01:26):
when you talk about winning, you you're playing at a program, man,
that is notoriously one of the current your current coach
as well as Shelton Diggs as well as the coaches
from the past. I mean, I know, I went to
creat high school. We played Long Beach Polly and it
was always, you know, one of the biggest games of
the year. Do you feel that pressure or that legacy
or is that something that this generation the ballplayer just
(01:46):
really isn't tuned into. Nah? Me, personally, I feel the pressure,
but I don't think everybody else really realizes that. You know,
we go to Polly like everyone's really gonna for us.
Me personally, I kind of feel of it, and I
feel like our coaches are trying to like let us
know that, you know, like you're at Polly like lock in, Yeah, man,
(02:07):
you are. And and you guys got um a lot
of opportunity to play against some of the top talent
not only in southern California but in the country. So
far if all the players that you have faced because
you faced bad like a murderous row. You're going against
guys this year who has been who has it pressed
you both so far? Uh? Sat Bernards Definitely, they gave
(02:28):
us the hardest, the toughest match up. They were just
good all around. I like Tony Bland and how he
coached this team. I really like them. Yeah. Bernards is
a nice little crew, uh, Tiger reasons and they got
some upperclassmen that are very very good basketball players. What
is it about this season that feels different than last season?
(02:51):
Last year, you guys had senior leadership. This year it's
a young team. You're pretty much the senior leader, if
you will, quote unquote. It's been the biggest difference between
this year's Polly and last year. It's just this year
we're young. Last year we were all, like you said,
it was senior whatever. We don't have that. This year
we have two seniors and one of them plays the
(03:12):
other ones kind of you know, just there. But it's
definitely that I feel like we're not as maturity were
last year, but hopefully we can get on track. How
important is that maturity? Giovanni is somebody that's been a
part of a team and played a major role. How
important is maturity on the high school level for your
team's success? Now, it's super important because if you're not
(03:35):
mature and you're just in it for yourself or whatever,
you're not gonna in nothing. And I feel like we
can get like that since we're young sometimes, but we
have some games where we're just rolling. Like we lost
some good teams, but they were good losses. But yeah,
the maturity means a lot. Now you're listed as a
shooting guard. Uh, it's my I'm of the opinion I
(03:58):
think that your natural well, you're position will end up
being more of a of a of a combo guard,
a guy that can handle the ball as well as
shoot it. Are you comfortable playing sort of the lead
guard maestro point guard position? Yeah? I just started doing
that a couple of games ago and practice, our coach,
Coach Shell, told me, I don't know, to start running
(04:18):
the point more. Last year he wanted me to do it,
but I kind of like backed off because I was
like nervous, like I was a freshman. I didn't want
to mess up my senior season, know whatever. So this
year I'm really taking on that combo guard role. Yeah no,
And I mean having the basketball in your hands, being
able to make decisions, especially at high speeds under durest.
(04:40):
I mean that's what gets you ready, and that's what
you're I think you're built for. I watched you play
in the E y B l U during the summer,
and I just noticed that you have a unique ability
to I think rise to the occasion. I think that's
something that I noticed about you. I think you you
rise to the occasion. You're able to step up and
turn it on when needed. Now, sometimes when you play
against teams that might not you know, bring the best
(05:03):
out of you. You may you have, in my opinion,
played to that level of competition. Now, how do you
become a guy that's just that one guy all the time,
no matter who you're playing with, you're going into absolutely dominant.
I think it starts in practice for real. Like I
feel like even if you are, like you're playing against
(05:23):
the second team or whatever, and you know that you're
better on the other team, you just got I like
still go at them the same way, because it's like,
if I don't do it in practice, when I get
in the game, we played like a league opponent and
we're playing like they have won a game. I'm just
started sucking. But yeah, it's really starts in practice. No,
it does, and it's it's your practice how you play.
(05:46):
And we were taught at U C. L A And
Crentshaw High School, both my alma manors, that practice was
like our most important part of our basketball experience. So
we had to give it all in practice. There was
no being late. There was we were always in to
everything the coach said, and we're pushing ourselves. I think
pushing yourself is is the one of the toughest things
(06:08):
you have to do, especially sometimes when you might not
necessarily have the level of competition around you that may
push you, but you have to take it upon yourself
personally to push yourself. Take have some pride each and
every day about how you go about your business. Man,
talk to me a little bit about your recruiting. Now.
I know that they're our team or schools that are involved.
(06:31):
How do you when you're looking at schools right nowadays,
how do you evaluate a program? It's a style of play,
is it the coaching staff? Do you look at the
number of guys that got in the league. Talk to
me it's really about their style of play and how
they coach. I'm not really worried about how many people
they put in the league because at the end of
the day, that's gonna be on me if I get
(06:51):
to the league or not wherever I go. But it's
really style of play because I know I play the
right way, So I want to go to a program
where like it's really all about fundamentals and they coach right.
They don't just let people do whatever. They're gonna get
on you, but they're still gonna show you love here
and there. You know, Yeah, No, I do know. Um
U c l A was a place that I love
(07:14):
because it fits the mode of that what you were saying.
I also took an official visit to Duke University in
nine so they had just won a national championship. Yeah,
I'm hanging out with Grand Hill and them guys. Coach K,
I'm saying, the Coach K's office. I'll tell you what,
it was one of the great experiences of my life.
They No, Coach K wanted me to walk on. He
(07:34):
didn't want me. He wasn't gonna off for me a scholarship.
He's gonna give you a preferred walk on. He said, hey,
the next season, you know, you can earn a scholarship,
because you know scholarships Joe Vannier a year to year.
So he was telling me that the next season, I
can earn a scholarship. I was just kind of like, coach,
you know, you played me to the left up top
fifty like I've got roblic Okay, I'm going to u
c l A. But that experience and when you when
(07:54):
you say programs that are fundamentality sound, those two come up.
What programs have reached out to you or have shown
some early interests in your high school career. Um, right
now at the moment, it's Illinois, U c l A,
USC Arizona, Stanford, Arkansas, a little bit of Virginia. Longby
(08:16):
State offered. LMU offered. It's just schools like that. It's
really West coast right now. Congratulations on the l m
U and the Long Beach State offer. I mean, I
remember my first offer. I believe it was you CSB,
and I felt like a million bucks because it's nothing
like knowing that there's a Division one or even a
collegiate opportunity ready to take you on. That's a big
(08:38):
responsibility on them, and they're they're putting a lot into that.
So you know, I'm gonna give you kudos, man for
working this hard so far. Trust me, I know more
offers are gonna roll in for you. Let's talk about it,
no question, man, Let's talk about a couple of those
programs that you mentioned. UM. Arkansas is a program that
I I love. I've I've we um, I've watched them,
(08:59):
followed them for years. UM when coach Musselman got the job,
I definitely was paying a lot of attention. I know
the last couple years they've got some players. What is
it about Arkansas style of play that is attractive to
Giovanni Rock? I feel like they let their guards go,
Like you see this year Nick Smith, Anthony Black. Athney
Black is someone I watched a lot. These are like
(09:21):
eight point guard. A lot of him. People told me
put me on him. I like how they let him
go and like he's not selfish at all, He's just
he's mainly a pastor for real. So yeah, I was
like to let him go. Yeah, No, that's key man,
letting you go, letting you play through mistakes. I think
that's one of the big things that Uh, athletes always
(09:41):
want out of a coach. Just let me, you know,
don't pull me out when I messed up, man, just
let me play, let me go, and the freedom to
create and do some things. What is it about, say
Illinois that picture interests as well as Big Tends on
the East Coast, It's a whole different environ I mean,
the coaches show love lies, so I like that. I've
(10:03):
been watching teams. They're doing pretty good this season. They
have a couple of losses, but in general it's like
the same let their guards go, but they let them
go to a certain extent, like they you don't want
to like, you know, what's it going? Just let them
mess up and stuff. You know. Well, yeah, this run
run rampant. I had a chance to watch Illinois a
(10:24):
couple of times this season. They smacked my U c.
L A Bruins out in Vegas. Yeah that was a
good game. Yeah it was. That was a good game. Man.
I like I like that that one of the lefty.
They got a lefty that is like nice nice and
were shooting it. And I'm familiar with the sky Clark
as well. Yeah. I had a question about how you
know someone in your class views and local. Being from
(10:49):
the city of Long Beach, how do you view the
fact that U C, l A and USC are bouncing
to the Big Ten Conference? How does that resonate with you? Uh? Yeah,
I mean it's not like a big deal to me,
But I feel like competition wise, it's a good thing.
But maybe I wish they could have stayed out here
a little longer. But competition wise, I feel like big talents, right,
(11:13):
would that be something It's like location or where in
who people are playing? Is that something that matters to
you a lot? Or are you focused on what is
this coach and coaching staff and school are gonna do
for me? How can I leverage this situation? I'm not
worried about who I play. Yeah, I'm not really worried
(11:34):
about who I play. I feel like location doesn't matter
because basketball can take you around the world. I'm trying
to see everywhere. So it's really the coaching firm. Now,
that's a great that's a great way to view it, man,
because there's a lot of l A guys that just
hate the code. I'll keep it real so they'll turn
down opportunities if it's cold and this and that. You know, brothers.
K just go put on, you know, a big bubble
(11:55):
jacket and get a beatie. You know, it's easy later
up with dude, want to be like, No, man, too colde.
I'm not messing with that. I'm like, all right, bro,
so you're not like that Javan. I like the rain
all that? Okay? Cool? Cool, that's uh, that's good to know.
Um in the era nowadays of the n I L
the name image and likeness, which is something that is
(12:16):
so kind of brand new to my generation because it
was always illegal to get that off. So you know,
it was you know, it was never legal to really
get this off. Now it's legal. How does someone at
your age look at that? Are you actively like worried
about that, or you're worried more about just being the
best basketball player you could be and then the n
I L will come? Or you like, do you even
(12:38):
think about the n I L. No, I don't think
about the n I L. I have people hit. My
parents are talking about n I L s. It's it's
a blessing, of course, But I'm just focused on the
basketball park getting better because I know, like one day
the money will come, you know, But it's a blessing. Yeah,
it is. It is a blessing. I think, Um, we
live in an era now with social media and you know,
(12:59):
you have following ing and there's ability to like make
money because you have followers. So a guy that stands
out for me is Jared McCain out at Corona Centennial. Uh,
you know, he's got like a million TikTok followers. You
know he's going to duke. He's out here doing his
thing and he's balling and so so the key is
it's always you gotta ball. Also, it's not just n
(13:20):
I L talk and getting bags. I need thirty pieces.
I need you know, triple doubles. I need a championship.
I mean that's to me. I come from that era,
like you know, you gotta actually produce. But I love
the opportunity that it gives the young athletes today to
maximize off their talent. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
(13:41):
shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
When you look at your game, Rovini and you evaluate yourself,
what does that process look like? Do you watch filming
yourself are you revisiting the game and thinking play by
play and what you could have did better? Give me
(14:02):
some insight into how you break down your game. I
really watched the losses because really this year, all of
our losses, I haven't really performed, you know, to them
my best. But I look at what I what I
could have done, what I did. You always want to
look at the good stuff, you know, you want to
put yourself down. But I feel like it's just all effort,
(14:24):
Like rebounding. He was talking about triple doubles and stuff.
I feel I can average triple double if I just
put in the effort to go rebound on the offensive boards.
You and my teammates involved stuff like that. Yeah, you
know those are things that it's It's definitely the first
part of it all is just recognizing things you can
do better as basketball As basketball players. Sometimes, you know,
(14:45):
we don't we get sensitive about ourselves our game. You know,
we don't want to watch film because of how we
might look. But it's the best move is to be
brutally honest with yourself at all times and listen to
those people close to you, around you that have known
you for a long time and that are telling you
things that that you know you you don't want to hear.
I know, I never used to want to hear nothing.
(15:05):
My my dad had to say, I never wanted to
hear nothing, my mom, I don't want to hear nothing, like,
don't tell me nothing. And my dad played in the league. Bro,
if my dad was in the league and all types
of stuff, and I did my dad like that, like, no,
you don't know what you're talking about. Man. You played
ten years ago, twenty years ago. Man, So but the
reality is he did, and the reality is I should
have lifted. But back to you, um, the E y
(15:28):
b L. I wanted to talk about that because I
coached on the E y b L in sixteens several
years ago. With the truth, did you feel like, did
the E y b L experience for you didn't give
you uh confidence going into this season or was confidence
already there from the freshman year? No. Confidence was definitely
there from the freshman year. But when I came back
(15:48):
from the y b L, I nobody in this area
really was playing y b L. So I was like,
if I can hang over there, when I come back there,
I should be dominating. So it boosting me up. Yeah.
Are you looking forward as far as um we talked
about college. Are you looking forward to like locking in
a major? Um? Do you have like interests outside of
(16:11):
basketball as far as you know what you're gonna do?
Is it business? Is it you know? Law? Maybe history?
I don't know. Talk to me about your interests outside
What is your long term kind of thought process on
what you want to be after the ball stops bouncing,
after the ball saws bouncing. I feel like I want
to stay in the basketball room, even if it's like
a now scene, you know, doing what you you interview
(16:31):
people like this is cool? Yeah, I like stuff's history
is cool too. I don't know if I can see
myself as a historian. I want to basketball circle. Yeah. Sorry,
what's your favorite subject in school? Oh? It's history? You're
like his what what I wanted? Saw? I was a
history major U. C. L A. And I'm fascinated with history.
What is it about history that you like so much? Like?
(16:54):
Why history? It's you're learning about at the path us
to why certain things and today's day happens. But it's
really my teacher, Like it's all about the teacher. The teachers,
cold cold everybody, and he teaches. Well, you're gonna like
to subject. I don't good teachers this year. Shout out, shout,
what's your teacher history teachers name? Give him shout out.
He might be listening, Mr Scott, what's something? Mr Scott? Uh,
(17:17):
you know he'll be listening. Um. When when you look
at the NBA, when I was coming up, when I
was your age, I did not think about the NBA.
The NBA was not something that I'm just like, look
so far away from me. It's a lot closer to
guys nowadays. It's a lot more reachable and attainable, in
(17:40):
my opinion, When you look at the n B A,
what are your thoughts on it? How do you view it?
Is it something I know it's obviously the place you
want to play, but is it Is it one of
those things where it looks like something that is almost
an impossible dream? Or do you feel like you have
the confidence that if you work hard enough, you can
attain it. No, feel like the NBA for me is
(18:01):
very possible, but I'm very far right now. But if
I keep working hard, I feel like one day I
was seeing myself. Who's your favorite player and team right now?
Boston Celtics. This is you ain't there from you from
Long Beach. Hold on, you talk about Jason Tatum Tatum?
(18:22):
What about j J. Tatum's game is so nice right now?
The way he gets to his spots and I feel
like he's a little inconsistent here and there. But when
he's on, he's like unstoppable. It feels like but Luca,
Luca might might have got him. Yeah, that's interesting. But
Da Donovan Mitchell has seventy one the other night. It's
it's been some crazy stuff going on. Do you think that?
(18:46):
And he obviously you you weren't. You weren't born when
the league was more of a physical league and there
was more of an emphasis on physicality and big men
that were true big men and stuff like that. Do
you feel like the nb A right now do you
feel like if you could have, if you could look
back on the eighties and nineties and on YouTube, do
(19:08):
you feel like the NBA right now is less physical
then it was back then. In your research and the
things that you have watched and seen, talk to me.
I need to hear your perspective, man. I feel I
feel like it's still physical to a certain extent, but
I feel like back then it was physical and like,
I don't know how to explain it, the players wanted
(19:30):
everyone to see how physical it is. I feel like
it's these days, like it's still physical, but it's like,
you know, don't do that type stuff now. That's a
great point when you say when you said the players
they wanted to know everybody, Hey I'm physical, Hey man,
I'm out here the boy. Yeah, because it was it
was it was all about intimidation and nowadays it may
(19:51):
be just as physical. But I think the intimidation, bullying,
trying to punk dudes aspect has been kind of taken
out of the game. Now. Dudes are actually folk ist
on basketball like it should have been. Yeah, when you
watch them old days and you look at guys in
our era, I mean in the current era, do you
(20:11):
ever do the comparison thing? Man, when you look at
like Michael Jordan's or Kobe and like he says, you know,
Lebron now or anybody like that, do you ever compare
players from different eras? Do you ever think about that stuff?
I think when I'm talking to my friends, you know,
it's always you know, who's better Michael or Jordan's or
not Michael Michael Lebron, but me personally, I never compared
(20:33):
because I was I wasn't alive to see it live.
I didn't see none of that, So I just stay
in the present time. So that's key man. And you've
seen a lot of basketball. You've been to a lot
of a few programs, and you you know you'd be
in the You be in the mix since you've been young,
which is great. It's a great experience to be able
to see that stuff up close. Uh impersonal. So you
(20:54):
so when you but you don't have a goat, you
don't have the greatest all time that you just say, hey,
he's the greatest for me, it's Lebron right now. Yeah,
And why I haven't seen enough Jordan to say it's
Jordan's so, but why is it Lebron? Just just breakdown?
While Lebron is the greatest of all the time. I
feel like he's a winner. People want to bring up
his finals record or whatever, but I feel like he's
(21:15):
a winner that can get his teammates better. Yeah, I mean,
I think the fact that he's six eight, two sixty
and you know play, Yeah, it's it's pretty crazy. I
was around for Michael Jordan's I. Uh, you know, I
came up, you know, loving Mike. I met Mike first
(21:36):
time probably I was ten, ten years old at All
Star Game. Uh. And then I had like a lifetime
of between the ages of life, fourteen and twenties five
where you know, I'm bawling against him at the Space
Jam Jordan's dome, or I go up to his camp
and uh, we're you know, we're hooping against each other.
You know. So I've guarded Mike, I've played against Mike. Um.
(21:58):
I definitely think Mike is you know that guy. I
think he transcended basketball. I think it was much more
than just stuff on the floor with Mike. It was
his swag, it was his flair. It was the first
time our generation had ever seen anything like that. Uh.
And so that's what kind of made it Mike. But
also I think a guy that doesn't get a lot
of well he does in certain factions, Kobe Bryant. I
(22:22):
think Kobe for me, it's it's pretty crazy how unstoppable
Kobe was at his peak. Um. And how if you
watch Kobe, you should watch a ton of Kobe because
the way he's he's able to he was able to
adjust his body in the air and the shots I think,
I don't. I never see anybody hit more difficult shots
(22:42):
on a consistent level in Kobe, you know them threes
with like four or five hands up. I mean, dude
would be doing crazy stuff. So for me, and then
to go through what he went through, and and at
the peak of his career, and to be faced with
the pressure of of personal and private type things in
a public way and still to be able to perform
(23:03):
and to steal average thirty something throughout all of that.
That just spoke to his level of mental fortitude. Man,
And I think that his name definitely is somebody that
needs to be, you know, talked about. Um Man, I
want to talk about something that ain't got to do
with basketball, Man, I want to talk about what's your
(23:24):
favorite shoes to rock off the court? Man? Were you
chilling at the house? Bro? Because look I just look,
because look when I was coming up, man, we had
flip flops. That was our leisure attire. Right nowadays, though
I see the ugs, I see like all kind of
with the fur in them. I see these little crazy
furry shoes. Talk to me about the shoe retired man
off the court man. What's your what's your favorite shoes
(23:46):
to chilling Bro? Now, it's definitely the ugs. Like you said,
I didn't actually what our inside. Yeah, I'm not a
big you like Jordan's stuff. I'm not big on that.
I never asked for that. Everyone knows me knows I'm
not a big shoe guy. But I like, I'm like
flip flops stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's
(24:07):
always good to take care of the puppies. Man. If
your feet got to be comfortable because we all need
feet all the time and they hurt, I saw, I
totally get it. Music. Music is a big part of
what we do. Now. What type of music do you
listen to? And who are some of them? If I
found you in the locker room at Long Beach, probably
being pre game listening to music, what is playing in
your AirPods? Bro? And rap? All straight? If I wrap
(24:32):
but old school old school rap, m w A like
gotta rap, new new age baby face Rade King von
a little baby king Vid Okay, so what kwando Rondo? Okay? Sorry, sorry,
bad joke, bad joke. I just read up about it. Yes,
he straight faced me. I know, a bad joke. No,
(24:53):
but King Von my son put me on King Von
years ago. He was all on King Vaughan and just
Von this and vines that. As I finally listened to
Von Vond was that dude, Man, I gotta keep it real.
He had that er, he got that energy about it
that it gets you just you just get turned up.
And I'm an old man, so I told you can
understand what you're going through about it as well. Man Um,
(25:15):
we talk a little bit about just your dad or
your dad played he was city playered the year he
played college and bro I had the same thing with
my pop, my pop hoop and I went to the
same high school as him. Is there any pressure as
far as from a legacy standpoint? Do you ever feel like, man,
I gotta you know when you wake up, man, I
(25:35):
got a ball, I got a hoop. But does that
stuff kind of just not even registered to you. No,
I don't feel no pressure. I feel like my my
pops he lets me know like there's no pressures. You know,
whatever you want to do in life. But I still
just want to be into the ones for real. That's
all I think about. Now, when's it lot? Have you played? So?
Have you played him? And once recently and not recent, okay,
(25:57):
because you know your dad could go. I don't know
if you know, but your dad, you know, he used
to raise y'all both raised up on y'all jumper the
same kind of way, like get all like this high
off the ground. No, seriously, I see, I'll see a
lot of similarities. I didn't beat my dad in one
on one till I was nineteen years old and I
was a freshman at U c l A. And I
have been playing him since I was twelve, and so
(26:19):
he uh, he didn't let me win. Man for like
seven years. Bro, he was like a thousand and two
hundred and old against me, and then I finally beat him. Man,
trust me when I tell you it definitely made me
feel like, you know, I was doing something when you
finally beat him. Man, Um, what about your mom? Man?
How about how much is your mom meant to everything
that you've been doing? Man? As far as just from
(26:41):
from everything, how how much does she mean in your
life now? My mom meets the world to me. You know,
she's in that basketball world too. Sometimes she'd be trying
to tell me, like stuff I need to work on.
I kind of just I gotta go back to my
room and remember like she's actually like in the world too.
So yeah, she does everything for me and my little brother.
That's great, man, that's great. Always you know, respect moms man,
(27:03):
because that was the sacrifice and the and the love
that they do. Man, It's it kind of goes unseen
and unheard, but it's that stables every single day. You know,
we were putting up, running our hard hat, grabbing our
lunch pail, and we're checking in and checking out. So man,
that's that's really dope. Man. It reminds me of when
I think about k D. I don't know if you've
ever seen Kevin Durant at the m v P acceptance
(27:24):
speech when he kind of lost it. But it just
that's what it's all about, man, That's that that moment
in life is really what it's all about. What Jovanni,
I had you on man for a while. Man, I
appreciate you stopping you bro. Now are you about to
go work on your game right now? It's raining outside
right now. I was gonna go out like it's Josha,
(27:44):
but I I just gotta go to the gym later,
probably like eight o'clock. I'm waiting for I live back
to school. Okay, okay, yeah, Man, keep that up. Man,
stay locked into the gym work. Bro, keep getting it
in and keep doing what you've been doing. Man's it
was really exciting to have you on the day and
chop it up with you. Bro. I appreciate it. Ladies
and gentlemen, Giovanni Rough
This is kJ Live with Chris john Sillen and Chris
is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and
entertainment in the Strait. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now
tuned in to K three Live. Today's guests on the
(00:24):
show was one of the nation's top sophomore basketball players.
He's a six five one and seventy five pounds shooting
guard at the legendary Long Beach Polly in Long Beach, California.
He is the number fourteenth ranked prospect in the country
by ESPN. Let's welcome in, Jovanni. Rough to kJ Live.
(00:45):
What's good, Jo, Vanny? What's up? Everything? Man? Everything you
on the show. Happy new year, brother, first ball, Yes, sir, Yes,
there's a new year man. New beginnings is a chance
to start at the top of things. Man. But we're
in the middle of the basketball season. Yeah uh, and
you guys Long Beach Polly have played a hilicious schedule
(01:05):
to start it out. Man, talk about talk to me
about how this season has gone so far. Do you
feel like there's been a bull's eye sort of a
target on you that wasn't there last year as a freshman? Yeah?
It definitely is a target because of my rank and
who I am right now. But our coaches and our
team are trying to keep me level headed. Is now
that winning is you know the main goal? Yeah? And
(01:26):
when you talk about winning, you you're playing at a program, man,
that is notoriously one of the current your current coach
as well as Shelton Diggs as well as the coaches
from the past. I mean, I know, I went to
creat high school. We played Long Beach Polly and it
was always, you know, one of the biggest games of
the year. Do you feel that pressure or that legacy
or is that something that this generation the ballplayer just
(01:46):
really isn't tuned into. Nah? Me, personally, I feel the pressure,
but I don't think everybody else really realizes that. You know,
we go to Polly like everyone's really gonna for us.
Me personally, I kind of feel of it, and I
feel like our coaches are trying to like let us
know that, you know, like you're at Polly like lock in, Yeah, man,
(02:07):
you are. And and you guys got um a lot
of opportunity to play against some of the top talent
not only in southern California but in the country. So
far if all the players that you have faced because
you faced bad like a murderous row. You're going against
guys this year who has been who has it pressed
you both so far? Uh? Sat Bernards Definitely, they gave
(02:28):
us the hardest, the toughest match up. They were just
good all around. I like Tony Bland and how he
coached this team. I really like them. Yeah. Bernards is
a nice little crew, uh, Tiger reasons and they got
some upperclassmen that are very very good basketball players. What
is it about this season that feels different than last season?
(02:51):
Last year, you guys had senior leadership. This year it's
a young team. You're pretty much the senior leader, if
you will, quote unquote. It's been the biggest difference between
this year's Polly and last year. It's just this year
we're young. Last year we were all, like you said,
it was senior whatever. We don't have that. This year
we have two seniors and one of them plays the
(03:12):
other ones kind of you know, just there. But it's
definitely that I feel like we're not as maturity were
last year, but hopefully we can get on track. How
important is that maturity? Giovanni is somebody that's been a
part of a team and played a major role. How
important is maturity on the high school level for your
team's success? Now, it's super important because if you're not
(03:35):
mature and you're just in it for yourself or whatever,
you're not gonna in nothing. And I feel like we
can get like that since we're young sometimes, but we
have some games where we're just rolling. Like we lost
some good teams, but they were good losses. But yeah,
the maturity means a lot. Now you're listed as a
shooting guard. Uh, it's my I'm of the opinion I
(03:58):
think that your natural well, you're position will end up
being more of a of a of a combo guard,
a guy that can handle the ball as well as
shoot it. Are you comfortable playing sort of the lead
guard maestro point guard position? Yeah? I just started doing
that a couple of games ago and practice, our coach,
Coach Shell, told me, I don't know, to start running
(04:18):
the point more. Last year he wanted me to do it,
but I kind of like backed off because I was
like nervous, like I was a freshman. I didn't want
to mess up my senior season, know whatever. So this
year I'm really taking on that combo guard role. Yeah no,
And I mean having the basketball in your hands, being
able to make decisions, especially at high speeds under durest.
(04:40):
I mean that's what gets you ready, and that's what
you're I think you're built for. I watched you play
in the E y B l U during the summer,
and I just noticed that you have a unique ability
to I think rise to the occasion. I think that's
something that I noticed about you. I think you you
rise to the occasion. You're able to step up and
turn it on when needed. Now, sometimes when you play
against teams that might not you know, bring the best
(05:03):
out of you. You may you have, in my opinion,
played to that level of competition. Now, how do you
become a guy that's just that one guy all the time,
no matter who you're playing with, you're going into absolutely dominant.
I think it starts in practice for real. Like I
feel like even if you are, like you're playing against
(05:23):
the second team or whatever, and you know that you're
better on the other team, you just got I like
still go at them the same way, because it's like,
if I don't do it in practice, when I get
in the game, we played like a league opponent and
we're playing like they have won a game. I'm just
started sucking. But yeah, it's really starts in practice. No,
it does, and it's it's your practice how you play.
(05:46):
And we were taught at U C. L A And
Crentshaw High School, both my alma manors, that practice was
like our most important part of our basketball experience. So
we had to give it all in practice. There was
no being late. There was we were always in to
everything the coach said, and we're pushing ourselves. I think
pushing yourself is is the one of the toughest things
(06:08):
you have to do, especially sometimes when you might not
necessarily have the level of competition around you that may
push you, but you have to take it upon yourself
personally to push yourself. Take have some pride each and
every day about how you go about your business. Man,
talk to me a little bit about your recruiting. Now.
I know that they're our team or schools that are involved.
(06:31):
How do you when you're looking at schools right nowadays,
how do you evaluate a program? It's a style of play,
is it the coaching staff? Do you look at the
number of guys that got in the league. Talk to
me it's really about their style of play and how
they coach. I'm not really worried about how many people
they put in the league because at the end of
the day, that's gonna be on me if I get
(06:51):
to the league or not wherever I go. But it's
really style of play because I know I play the
right way, So I want to go to a program
where like it's really all about fundamentals and they coach right.
They don't just let people do whatever. They're gonna get
on you, but they're still gonna show you love here
and there. You know, Yeah, No, I do know. Um
U c l A was a place that I love
(07:14):
because it fits the mode of that what you were saying.
I also took an official visit to Duke University in
nine so they had just won a national championship. Yeah,
I'm hanging out with Grand Hill and them guys. Coach K,
I'm saying, the Coach K's office. I'll tell you what,
it was one of the great experiences of my life.
They No, Coach K wanted me to walk on. He
(07:34):
didn't want me. He wasn't gonna off for me a scholarship.
He's gonna give you a preferred walk on. He said, hey,
the next season, you know, you can earn a scholarship,
because you know scholarships Joe Vannier a year to year.
So he was telling me that the next season, I
can earn a scholarship. I was just kind of like, coach,
you know, you played me to the left up top
fifty like I've got roblic Okay, I'm going to u
c l A. But that experience and when you when
(07:54):
you say programs that are fundamentality sound, those two come up.
What programs have reached out to you or have shown
some early interests in your high school career. Um, right
now at the moment, it's Illinois, U c l A,
USC Arizona, Stanford, Arkansas, a little bit of Virginia. Longby
(08:16):
State offered. LMU offered. It's just schools like that. It's
really West coast right now. Congratulations on the l m
U and the Long Beach State offer. I mean, I
remember my first offer. I believe it was you CSB,
and I felt like a million bucks because it's nothing
like knowing that there's a Division one or even a
collegiate opportunity ready to take you on. That's a big
(08:38):
responsibility on them, and they're they're putting a lot into that.
So you know, I'm gonna give you kudos, man for
working this hard so far. Trust me, I know more
offers are gonna roll in for you. Let's talk about it,
no question, man, Let's talk about a couple of those
programs that you mentioned. UM. Arkansas is a program that
I I love. I've I've we um, I've watched them,
(08:59):
followed them for years. UM when coach Musselman got the job,
I definitely was paying a lot of attention. I know
the last couple years they've got some players. What is
it about Arkansas style of play that is attractive to
Giovanni Rock? I feel like they let their guards go,
Like you see this year Nick Smith, Anthony Black. Athney
Black is someone I watched a lot. These are like
(09:21):
eight point guard. A lot of him. People told me
put me on him. I like how they let him
go and like he's not selfish at all, He's just
he's mainly a pastor for real. So yeah, I was
like to let him go. Yeah, No, that's key man,
letting you go, letting you play through mistakes. I think
that's one of the big things that Uh, athletes always
(09:41):
want out of a coach. Just let me, you know,
don't pull me out when I messed up, man, just
let me play, let me go, and the freedom to
create and do some things. What is it about, say
Illinois that picture interests as well as Big Tends on
the East Coast, It's a whole different environ I mean,
the coaches show love lies, so I like that. I've
(10:03):
been watching teams. They're doing pretty good this season. They
have a couple of losses, but in general it's like
the same let their guards go, but they let them
go to a certain extent, like they you don't want
to like, you know, what's it going? Just let them
mess up and stuff. You know. Well, yeah, this run
run rampant. I had a chance to watch Illinois a
(10:24):
couple of times this season. They smacked my U c.
L A Bruins out in Vegas. Yeah that was a
good game. Yeah it was. That was a good game. Man.
I like I like that that one of the lefty.
They got a lefty that is like nice nice and
were shooting it. And I'm familiar with the sky Clark
as well. Yeah. I had a question about how you
know someone in your class views and local. Being from
(10:49):
the city of Long Beach, how do you view the
fact that U C, l A and USC are bouncing
to the Big Ten Conference? How does that resonate with you? Uh? Yeah,
I mean it's not like a big deal to me,
But I feel like competition wise, it's a good thing.
But maybe I wish they could have stayed out here
a little longer. But competition wise, I feel like big talents, right,
(11:13):
would that be something It's like location or where in
who people are playing? Is that something that matters to
you a lot? Or are you focused on what is
this coach and coaching staff and school are gonna do
for me? How can I leverage this situation? I'm not
worried about who I play. Yeah, I'm not really worried
(11:34):
about who I play. I feel like location doesn't matter
because basketball can take you around the world. I'm trying
to see everywhere. So it's really the coaching firm. Now,
that's a great that's a great way to view it, man,
because there's a lot of l A guys that just
hate the code. I'll keep it real so they'll turn
down opportunities if it's cold and this and that. You know, brothers.
K just go put on, you know, a big bubble
(11:55):
jacket and get a beatie. You know, it's easy later
up with dude, want to be like, No, man, too colde.
I'm not messing with that. I'm like, all right, bro,
so you're not like that Javan. I like the rain
all that? Okay? Cool? Cool, that's uh, that's good to know.
Um in the era nowadays of the n I L
the name image and likeness, which is something that is
(12:16):
so kind of brand new to my generation because it
was always illegal to get that off. So you know,
it was you know, it was never legal to really
get this off. Now it's legal. How does someone at
your age look at that? Are you actively like worried
about that, or you're worried more about just being the
best basketball player you could be and then the n
I L will come? Or you like, do you even
(12:38):
think about the n I L. No, I don't think
about the n I L. I have people hit. My
parents are talking about n I L s. It's it's
a blessing, of course, But I'm just focused on the
basketball park getting better because I know, like one day
the money will come, you know, But it's a blessing. Yeah,
it is. It is a blessing. I think, Um, we
live in an era now with social media and you know,
(12:59):
you have following ing and there's ability to like make
money because you have followers. So a guy that stands
out for me is Jared McCain out at Corona Centennial. Uh,
you know, he's got like a million TikTok followers. You
know he's going to duke. He's out here doing his
thing and he's balling and so so the key is
it's always you gotta ball. Also, it's not just n
(13:20):
I L talk and getting bags. I need thirty pieces.
I need you know, triple doubles. I need a championship.
I mean that's to me. I come from that era,
like you know, you gotta actually produce. But I love
the opportunity that it gives the young athletes today to
maximize off their talent. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
(13:41):
shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
When you look at your game, Rovini and you evaluate yourself,
what does that process look like? Do you watch filming
yourself are you revisiting the game and thinking play by
play and what you could have did better? Give me
(14:02):
some insight into how you break down your game. I
really watched the losses because really this year, all of
our losses, I haven't really performed, you know, to them
my best. But I look at what I what I
could have done, what I did. You always want to
look at the good stuff, you know, you want to
put yourself down. But I feel like it's just all effort,
(14:24):
Like rebounding. He was talking about triple doubles and stuff.
I feel I can average triple double if I just
put in the effort to go rebound on the offensive boards.
You and my teammates involved stuff like that. Yeah, you
know those are things that it's It's definitely the first
part of it all is just recognizing things you can
do better as basketball As basketball players. Sometimes, you know,
(14:45):
we don't we get sensitive about ourselves our game. You know,
we don't want to watch film because of how we
might look. But it's the best move is to be
brutally honest with yourself at all times and listen to
those people close to you, around you that have known
you for a long time and that are telling you
things that that you know you you don't want to hear.
I know, I never used to want to hear nothing.
(15:05):
My my dad had to say, I never wanted to
hear nothing, my mom, I don't want to hear nothing, like,
don't tell me nothing. And my dad played in the league. Bro,
if my dad was in the league and all types
of stuff, and I did my dad like that, like, no,
you don't know what you're talking about. Man. You played
ten years ago, twenty years ago. Man, So but the
reality is he did, and the reality is I should
have lifted. But back to you, um, the E y
(15:28):
b L. I wanted to talk about that because I
coached on the E y b L in sixteens several
years ago. With the truth, did you feel like, did
the E y b L experience for you didn't give
you uh confidence going into this season or was confidence
already there from the freshman year? No. Confidence was definitely
there from the freshman year. But when I came back
(15:48):
from the y b L, I nobody in this area
really was playing y b L. So I was like,
if I can hang over there, when I come back there,
I should be dominating. So it boosting me up. Yeah.
Are you looking forward as far as um we talked
about college. Are you looking forward to like locking in
a major? Um? Do you have like interests outside of
(16:11):
basketball as far as you know what you're gonna do?
Is it business? Is it you know? Law? Maybe history?
I don't know. Talk to me about your interests outside
What is your long term kind of thought process on
what you want to be after the ball stops bouncing,
after the ball saws bouncing. I feel like I want
to stay in the basketball room, even if it's like
a now scene, you know, doing what you you interview
(16:31):
people like this is cool? Yeah, I like stuff's history
is cool too. I don't know if I can see
myself as a historian. I want to basketball circle. Yeah. Sorry,
what's your favorite subject in school? Oh? It's history? You're
like his what what I wanted? Saw? I was a
history major U. C. L A. And I'm fascinated with history.
What is it about history that you like so much? Like?
(16:54):
Why history? It's you're learning about at the path us
to why certain things and today's day happens. But it's
really my teacher, Like it's all about the teacher. The teachers,
cold cold everybody, and he teaches. Well, you're gonna like
to subject. I don't good teachers this year. Shout out, shout,
what's your teacher history teachers name? Give him shout out.
He might be listening, Mr Scott, what's something? Mr Scott? Uh,
(17:17):
you know he'll be listening. Um. When when you look
at the NBA, when I was coming up, when I
was your age, I did not think about the NBA.
The NBA was not something that I'm just like, look
so far away from me. It's a lot closer to
guys nowadays. It's a lot more reachable and attainable, in
(17:40):
my opinion, When you look at the n B A,
what are your thoughts on it? How do you view it?
Is it something I know it's obviously the place you
want to play, but is it Is it one of
those things where it looks like something that is almost
an impossible dream? Or do you feel like you have
the confidence that if you work hard enough, you can
attain it. No, feel like the NBA for me is
(18:01):
very possible, but I'm very far right now. But if
I keep working hard, I feel like one day I
was seeing myself. Who's your favorite player and team right now?
Boston Celtics. This is you ain't there from you from
Long Beach. Hold on, you talk about Jason Tatum Tatum?
(18:22):
What about j J. Tatum's game is so nice right now?
The way he gets to his spots and I feel
like he's a little inconsistent here and there. But when
he's on, he's like unstoppable. It feels like but Luca,
Luca might might have got him. Yeah, that's interesting. But
Da Donovan Mitchell has seventy one the other night. It's
it's been some crazy stuff going on. Do you think that?
(18:46):
And he obviously you you weren't. You weren't born when
the league was more of a physical league and there
was more of an emphasis on physicality and big men
that were true big men and stuff like that. Do
you feel like the nb A right now do you
feel like if you could have, if you could look
back on the eighties and nineties and on YouTube, do
(19:08):
you feel like the NBA right now is less physical
then it was back then. In your research and the
things that you have watched and seen, talk to me.
I need to hear your perspective, man. I feel I
feel like it's still physical to a certain extent, but
I feel like back then it was physical and like,
I don't know how to explain it, the players wanted
(19:30):
everyone to see how physical it is. I feel like
it's these days, like it's still physical, but it's like,
you know, don't do that type stuff now. That's a
great point when you say when you said the players
they wanted to know everybody, Hey I'm physical, Hey man,
I'm out here the boy. Yeah, because it was it
was it was all about intimidation and nowadays it may
(19:51):
be just as physical. But I think the intimidation, bullying,
trying to punk dudes aspect has been kind of taken
out of the game. Now. Dudes are actually folk ist
on basketball like it should have been. Yeah, when you
watch them old days and you look at guys in
our era, I mean in the current era, do you
(20:11):
ever do the comparison thing? Man, when you look at
like Michael Jordan's or Kobe and like he says, you know,
Lebron now or anybody like that, do you ever compare
players from different eras? Do you ever think about that stuff?
I think when I'm talking to my friends, you know,
it's always you know, who's better Michael or Jordan's or
not Michael Michael Lebron, but me personally, I never compared
(20:33):
because I was I wasn't alive to see it live.
I didn't see none of that, So I just stay
in the present time. So that's key man. And you've
seen a lot of basketball. You've been to a lot
of a few programs, and you you know you'd be
in the You be in the mix since you've been young,
which is great. It's a great experience to be able
to see that stuff up close. Uh impersonal. So you
(20:54):
so when you but you don't have a goat, you
don't have the greatest all time that you just say, hey,
he's the greatest for me, it's Lebron right now. Yeah,
And why I haven't seen enough Jordan to say it's
Jordan's so, but why is it Lebron? Just just breakdown?
While Lebron is the greatest of all the time. I
feel like he's a winner. People want to bring up
his finals record or whatever, but I feel like he's
(21:15):
a winner that can get his teammates better. Yeah, I mean,
I think the fact that he's six eight, two sixty
and you know play, Yeah, it's it's pretty crazy. I
was around for Michael Jordan's I. Uh, you know, I
came up, you know, loving Mike. I met Mike first
(21:36):
time probably I was ten, ten years old at All
Star Game. Uh. And then I had like a lifetime
of between the ages of life, fourteen and twenties five
where you know, I'm bawling against him at the Space
Jam Jordan's dome, or I go up to his camp
and uh, we're you know, we're hooping against each other.
You know. So I've guarded Mike, I've played against Mike. Um.
(21:58):
I definitely think Mike is you know that guy. I
think he transcended basketball. I think it was much more
than just stuff on the floor with Mike. It was
his swag, it was his flair. It was the first
time our generation had ever seen anything like that. Uh.
And so that's what kind of made it Mike. But
also I think a guy that doesn't get a lot
of well he does in certain factions, Kobe Bryant. I
(22:22):
think Kobe for me, it's it's pretty crazy how unstoppable
Kobe was at his peak. Um. And how if you
watch Kobe, you should watch a ton of Kobe because
the way he's he's able to he was able to
adjust his body in the air and the shots I think,
I don't. I never see anybody hit more difficult shots
(22:42):
on a consistent level in Kobe, you know them threes
with like four or five hands up. I mean, dude
would be doing crazy stuff. So for me, and then
to go through what he went through, and and at
the peak of his career, and to be faced with
the pressure of of personal and private type things in
a public way and still to be able to perform
(23:03):
and to steal average thirty something throughout all of that.
That just spoke to his level of mental fortitude. Man,
And I think that his name definitely is somebody that
needs to be, you know, talked about. Um Man, I
want to talk about something that ain't got to do
with basketball, Man, I want to talk about what's your
(23:24):
favorite shoes to rock off the court? Man? Were you
chilling at the house? Bro? Because look I just look,
because look when I was coming up, man, we had
flip flops. That was our leisure attire. Right nowadays, though
I see the ugs, I see like all kind of
with the fur in them. I see these little crazy
furry shoes. Talk to me about the shoe retired man
off the court man. What's your what's your favorite shoes
(23:46):
to chilling Bro? Now, it's definitely the ugs. Like you said,
I didn't actually what our inside. Yeah, I'm not a
big you like Jordan's stuff. I'm not big on that.
I never asked for that. Everyone knows me knows I'm
not a big shoe guy. But I like, I'm like
flip flops stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's
(24:07):
always good to take care of the puppies. Man. If
your feet got to be comfortable because we all need
feet all the time and they hurt, I saw, I
totally get it. Music. Music is a big part of
what we do. Now. What type of music do you
listen to? And who are some of them? If I
found you in the locker room at Long Beach, probably
being pre game listening to music, what is playing in
your AirPods? Bro? And rap? All straight? If I wrap
(24:32):
but old school old school rap, m w A like
gotta rap, new new age baby face Rade King von
a little baby king Vid Okay, so what kwando Rondo? Okay? Sorry, sorry,
bad joke, bad joke. I just read up about it. Yes,
he straight faced me. I know, a bad joke. No,
(24:53):
but King Von my son put me on King Von
years ago. He was all on King Vaughan and just
Von this and vines that. As I finally listened to
Von Vond was that dude, Man, I gotta keep it real.
He had that er, he got that energy about it
that it gets you just you just get turned up.
And I'm an old man, so I told you can
understand what you're going through about it as well. Man Um,
(25:15):
we talk a little bit about just your dad or
your dad played he was city playered the year he
played college and bro I had the same thing with
my pop, my pop hoop and I went to the
same high school as him. Is there any pressure as
far as from a legacy standpoint? Do you ever feel like, man,
I gotta you know when you wake up, man, I
(25:35):
got a ball, I got a hoop. But does that
stuff kind of just not even registered to you. No,
I don't feel no pressure. I feel like my my
pops he lets me know like there's no pressures. You know,
whatever you want to do in life. But I still
just want to be into the ones for real. That's
all I think about. Now, when's it lot? Have you played? So?
Have you played him? And once recently and not recent, okay,
(25:57):
because you know your dad could go. I don't know
if you know, but your dad, you know, he used
to raise y'all both raised up on y'all jumper the
same kind of way, like get all like this high
off the ground. No, seriously, I see, I'll see a
lot of similarities. I didn't beat my dad in one
on one till I was nineteen years old and I
was a freshman at U c l A. And I
have been playing him since I was twelve, and so
(26:19):
he uh, he didn't let me win. Man for like
seven years. Bro, he was like a thousand and two
hundred and old against me, and then I finally beat him. Man,
trust me when I tell you it definitely made me
feel like, you know, I was doing something when you
finally beat him. Man, Um, what about your mom? Man?
How about how much is your mom meant to everything
that you've been doing? Man? As far as just from
(26:41):
from everything, how how much does she mean in your
life now? My mom meets the world to me. You know,
she's in that basketball world too. Sometimes she'd be trying
to tell me, like stuff I need to work on.
I kind of just I gotta go back to my
room and remember like she's actually like in the world too.
So yeah, she does everything for me and my little brother.
That's great, man, that's great. Always you know, respect moms man,
(27:03):
because that was the sacrifice and the and the love
that they do. Man, It's it kind of goes unseen
and unheard, but it's that stables every single day. You know,
we were putting up, running our hard hat, grabbing our
lunch pail, and we're checking in and checking out. So man,
that's that's really dope. Man. It reminds me of when
I think about k D. I don't know if you've
ever seen Kevin Durant at the m v P acceptance
(27:24):
speech when he kind of lost it. But it just
that's what it's all about, man, That's that that moment
in life is really what it's all about. What Jovanni,
I had you on man for a while. Man, I
appreciate you stopping you bro. Now are you about to
go work on your game right now? It's raining outside
right now. I was gonna go out like it's Josha,
(27:44):
but I I just gotta go to the gym later,
probably like eight o'clock. I'm waiting for I live back
to school. Okay, okay, yeah, Man, keep that up. Man,
stay locked into the gym work. Bro, keep getting it
in and keep doing what you've been doing. Man's it
was really exciting to have you on the day and
chop it up with you. Bro. I appreciate it. Ladies
and gentlemen, Giovanni Rough
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