Other Side Drive: Friday

Player Spotlight

By: Tyler Gaudin

Episode 1

In this segment Tyler Gaudin will interviewing and giving a background profile of a bobcat athlete he has determined to be outstanding in the past week. This week he will be speaking with Texas State women’s basketball player Diamond Ford.

Player Spotlight-EP1

Tyler: This week’s player spotlight is Texas State Women’s basketball player, Diamond Ford.

Diamond had a fantastic game last weekend against the University of Texas in Arlington as she scored 18 points had two rebounds and recorded one steal. As a result, Diamond is now 6th all-time for most points scored in a career by a Texas State Women’s basketball player.

This past Thursday, I caught up with Diamond and asked her about this record changing game:

Tyler: I’m Tyler Gaudin here with Diamond Ford of the Texas State Women’s basketball team, How are you doing today Diamond?

Diamond: I’m doing good

Tyler : Alright, are you excited to be back for your senior season of women’s basketball?

Diamond: Yes I’m excited to be back I mean, this is my last season and I’m just trying to make the best of it.

Tyler: Alright, and great game on Saturday, I mean big win, first WAC win, how does it feel to get that first WAC win off your chest?

Diamond: I think it feels good, I think by us getting that win it’s going to really boost our team confidence up and get us started to like  be where we wanna like, be.

Tyler: Okay perfect, and then, well you also had a good game statistically, scoring 18 points, getting two rebounds, and recording a steal what do you think clicked so well that kinda helped you play that way?

Diamond: I think just being aggressive and attacking on offense and getting all our teammates involved really contributed to us getting that win on Saturday.

Tyler: Okay, and then obviously you know you stayed pretty aggressive pretty much the whole season what’s interesting is that this kind of statistic is kinda commonplace for you as you average about 21.1 points per game and are actually 12th nationally in scoring, does it feel weird getting that kind of recognition?

Diamond: No, it doesn’t really feel weird I think it’s like a really big accomplishment for me and I think that it’s a good look for me, and not only for me but  also for Texas State Women’s basketball .

Tyler: Alright and then after this Saturday you moved into 6th all-time scoring , how does it feel to be one of the top 6 greatest scorers of Texas State Women’s  basketball history?

Diamond: I think it’s a great feeling, I mean it’s a big accomplishment for me and I feel like, if I continue to work hard before my season’s over, I can eventually move up into the top 5 I guess.

Tyler: Alright perfect, well thank you very much Diamond I really appreciate you talking with us.

Diamond: Thank you.

Diamond was born April 28th to Wilbert Ford, II and Monique Nichols, and is from Houston Texas.

She played her high school ball for Hightower high school in Houston where she was awarded first team all-district, All-state, and was named a TABC All-star.

Well that just about does it for this week’s player spotlight we wish Diamond good luck, and hope she can move even farther up in the record books as the season goes on.

Episode 2

In this segment Tyler Gaudin will be interviewing and giving a background profile of a bobcat athlete he has determined to be outstanding in the past week. This week he will be speaking with Texas State men’s basketball player Reid Koenen.

Player Spotlight-EP2

Tyler: This week’s player spotlight is Texas State Men’s basketball player, Reid Koenen.

Reid had a fantastic game last weekend, as he helped lead the bobcats to victory against their always dangerous I-35 rival, the UTSA Roadrunners. He had a career high 23 points as well as recording a rebound and an assist.

This past Thursday, I caught up with Reid and asked him about this highly impressive game:

Tyler: This is Tyler Gaudin I’m here with Reid Koenen bobcat basketball player, thank you for joining us. I’m going to go ahead and ask you a couple questions. So, you had a great game last week scoring 23 points, one assist and had a rebound. What fell together so well that helped you have such a good game?

Reid: Really in that game a lot of it had to do with how the whole team was sharing the ball, we kept moving it around. Honestly everyone was getting open looks, I got quite a few open looks and when I was open I just had to knock down the shots.

Tyler : So how does it feel to finally have that first WAC win of the season in the books?

Reid: I mean it was a great feeling, especially since it was against our rivals, on the road also. I mean it was a huge win, both of our teams were kind of in the same hole, both having no wins in WAC play, but it was really a great feeling to be able to do it down in San Antonio against our big rivals.

Tyler: Was it a little bit intimidating to go down there to that big stadium?

Reid: Not really intimidating, I mean this is my third year, third time going out there. We knew it was going to be a big crowd; it always is between our team and their team. We knew there was going to be a lot of energy in the stadium, and we were just going to have to play through the noise, and the crowd.

Tyler: So your game Saturday was actually a career-high for you, how does that help going forward into the rest of the season?

Reid: Well it gave me a lot of confidence to that point I wasn’t really shooting the ball well, or playing well offensively. It gave me a lot of confidence. Going on, playing other teams I think it will really open up the floor for our post players like Matt, Joel and Corey playing inside. Teams shouldn’t be able to help down on them as much anymore.

Tyler: Thank you very much Reid we really appreciate your time. Good luck with the rest of your season.

Reid: No problem, thank you.

Reid was born June 20th in Racine Wisconsin to Mike and Lisa Koenen and began playing basketball when he was only five years old.

He played his high school ball for Prairie High School where he was All-State honorable mention, All-county and was named to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s all-star team.

Well that just about does it for this week’s player spotlight we wish Reid good luck, and hope he has many more career high games to come.

Episode 3

In this segment Tyler Gaudin will interviewing and giving a background profile of a bobcat athlete he has determined to be outstanding in the past week. This week he will be speaking with Texas State men’s basketball player Joel Wright.

Player Spotlight-EP3

Tyler: This week’s player spotlight is Texas State Men’s basketball player, Joel Wright.

Joel had a fantastic game last Thursday, as he helped lead the bobcats to a 78-73 victory over the Idaho Vandals. He had a career high 37 points as well as recording 5 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals.

This past Tuesday, I caught up with Joel and asked him about this highly impressive game:

Tyler: I’m Tyler Gaudin, here with Joel Wright of the Texas State Men’s Basketball Team. You’ve had some great games in the past week helping lead the bobcats to three straight wins after three straight road games, all in conference games, does this help with your confidence going against future WAC opponents?

Joel: You know I always have confidence, confidence is never something I lack. I’m a confident player that’s what I go on, I’m not scared of too many mistakes. I’m not scared to mess up because I’m human and it happens and I got a great coach that, because he allows us to make mistakes, we don’t really mess up so confidence is not a big issue with me.

Tyler : You played especially well against Idaho, recording 37 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. What clicked so well that allowed you to play so well?

Joel: I knew going into that game we needed some wins, I knew it was time to play basketball to the best of our ability but lately we haven’t been playing to the best of our ability. We got great recruits here, we got a great team, and we got a great coach. I knew it was time for us to get back on the map and start playing like the team we should be, and stop losing games because we got a way better team than people out there think; and that’s what we’re proving now.

Tyler: You’re the first player to score over 35 points in a single game for Texas State since J.B. Conley in 2010 and have been named WAC player of the week. How does it feel to get that kind of recognition?

Joel: It’s great but that kind of recognition don’t come without winning games, you can’t win games without your team so I give it all to my team and the coaching staff for allowing me and giving me the confidence to do what I do. So that WAC player of the week, that goes to our whole team because all of us stepped up and all of us accomplished something. And that’s got us on a three game winning streak, now we’ve got to keep the ball rolling.

Tyler: How do you think you can make sure that this positive trend continues moving to the rest of the season?

Joel: We just got to keep improving on what we’re doing right now. We just got to keep working harder every day, keep getting to know each other better every day, and keep staying together as a family. I think the adversity part we’ve already gotten over, I think us loving each other and us staying together, I think that’s gone. I think that was first semester and I think that was something we was lacking, that’s why we was losing games, and now we’ve gotten stronger at that. I think now we’re doing fine.

Tyler: Thank you very much Joel, we really appreciate you talking with us.

Joel: No problem.

Joel was born January 14th in Brooklyn New York to Diana Wilson, and began playing basketball when he was in the eighth grade.

He played his high school ball for Thomas Jefferson High School where he was rated the eighth best fifth player in the nation by hoop scoop after scoring over 1,500 points and pulling down over 1,000 rebounds in his three year high school career.

Joel first played college basketball at Duquense University, but transferred the next season to Blinn Junior college, where he earned all-conference and all-region first team honors.

Well that just about does it for this week’s player spotlight we wish Joel good luck, and hope he has many more career high games to come.

Episode 4

In this segment Tyler Gaudin will interviewing and giving a background profile of a bobcat athlete he has determined to be outstanding in the past week. This week he will be speaking with Texas State women’s tennis player Melissa Haddad.

Player Spotlight-EP4

Tyler: This week’s player spotlight is Texas State women’s tennis player, Melissa Haddad.

Melissa had a fantastic match last Sunday, as she helped lead the bobcats to a 6-1 victory over St. Edwards University. She won her match in two sets winning her first by a game score of 6-2 and her second by a score of 6-4.

I caught up with Melissa asked her about this highly impressive match:

Tyler: So you had a great match on Sunday beating your opponent in only two sets, what clicked so well that allowed you to dominate like that?

Melissa: Well first of all the experience that I’ve had in this team. It’s my fourth year already so I think that counts a lot. Being a senior now you have a lot of experience, playing a lot of matches so I think it’s just going after what you want, and just having a goal and winning. You just think about winning, and that you’re going to win, and just go for it and play the best you can; just fight till the end.

Tyler : You’ve now helped lead the Bobcats to 2 straight wins, how does this help moving forward in the season?

Melissa: I think it’s great it’s very important for the team I mean we have a great team and everybody gives a point and I feel really happy for helping the Bobcats and it’s just an honor being here, playing for Texas State Tennis so, I guess we’ll keep it up and conference that’s our goal.

Tyler: How do you think you can make sure that this positive trend continues moving to the rest of the season?

Melissa: Um, I think it’s just practicing hard, giving everything you have in the court, in the practice and, in the matches so it’s just knowing what you want and knowing what your goal is, and just going out and executing it. Practicing hard I think that’s the best I can say.

Tyler: Thank you very much Melissa, we appreciate you talking with us.

Melissa: Thank you very much.

Melissa was born December 31st in Cali Colombia to Luis Haddad, and Olga Lucia Garcia and is a business management major at Texas State.

She played her high school tennis for Jefferson High School where she was ranked in the top two singles and doubles players of Colombia in the 18 and under category.

Well that just about does it for this week’s player spotlight we wish Melissa good luck, and hope she has many more wins to come.

Episode 5

In this segment Tyler Gaudin will interviewing and giving a background profile of a bobcat athlete he has determined to be outstanding in the past week. This week he will be speaking with Texas State women’s basketball player Ayriel Anderson.

Player Spotlight-EP5

Tyler: This week’s player spotlight is Texas State women’s basketball player, Ayriel Anderson.

Ayriel, who is only a true freshman, had a fantastic game last Saturday, as she helped lead the bobcats to a 68-63 victory over the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. She led the team in assists with 8 as well as scoring 10 points and gathering in 2 rebounds.

I caught up with Ayriel and asked her about this highly impressive game:

Tyler: So you had a great game last Saturday helping lead the Bobcats to a 68-63 win, scoring 10 points dishing out 8 assists what clicked that helped you play so well?

Ayriel: The defense really, we knew we had to play really good defense on this team so all the energy and the hustle plays, then the defense really got me going and got the team going, so I knew we had a good chance.

Tyler : Just to recap, coming down the stretch there’s about 12 seconds left, you’re up three points you’re stepping to the foul line for two free throws, for what essentially was the two game-winning buckets of the night, how does a freshman like yourself come about the composure to knock those down?

Ayriel: We always work on it in practice, as far as taking our time and knocking down free throws no matter what the situation is, so when I stepped up there I knew to just take my time and knock the free throws down.

Tyler: How does it help moving forward into the season, especially being only a month out of the WAC tournament, to have a win like this especially against such a big team on your belt?

Ayriel: It felt good beating this team because they really gave it to us on their home court, so beating them really made us feel confident about ourselves knowing that we can go up to UTSA and get a win from there because they’re a good defensive team too.

Tyler: Thank you very much Ayriel, and good luck next week against UTSA.

Ayriel: Thank you.

Ayriel was born in Irving Texas to Kevin, and Jerrylyn Anderson and hopes to study Medicine.

She played her high school basketball for Irving MacArthur High School where she helped lead them to the state championship in 2011. That year she was named Offensive player of the year as well as being named a member of the 5A all-tournament team and was placed in the top 50 best players in Texas by Premierbasketballreport.com.

Well that just about does it for this week’s player spotlight we wish Ayriel good luck, and hope she has many more game-winning shots to come.