Q&A with All-American Willie Warren

Posted on 06. Jul, 2009 by Nolan Shulman in Interviews, nba-draft

I'm here at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio. It's Day 2 and one of the smoothest, most complete players in the Gym thus far has been Oklahoma super soph Willie Warren. After a grueling workout featuring 20 of the top collegians in America, I had the opportunity to sit down with the pre-season all-american and pick his brain.

Q: You were projected as a lottery pick in this years NBA Draft. What was the biggest factor in your decision to come back to school?

Just another year of experience. I feel like if you want to be a league player, a real league player, than you have to accept the role of being the face of a program. This year at Oklahoma I'm going to have to carry the load, get the guys rolling and make sure they got their A game every night. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it. I been through it with team Texas (AAU) since fourth grade and we had our ups and downs. Been through it in high school. We got kicked out of the playoffs two years in a row, but I finally picked the team up and we won the championship my senior year.

Q: With the Griffin brothers leaving for the NBA, and Tiny Gallon coming in to replace them, how do you see the offense changing in the upcoming season?

We're going to be more run and gun, play like Villanova, play like Memphis. We're going to get up and down, set alot of ball screens, really just alot of pro style offense next season.

Q: Are you planning on being a more vocal leader this year with Blake gone?

Oh ya, of course. That's what I'm going to have to do. I'm going to have to be like a general on the court. I'm going to have to be like D Will, like Chris Paul, and all the other great point guards.

Q: When you do declare for the draft and join the NBA, do you see yourself as a pure point guard, a combo guard or a scoring guard?

I see myself as someone who can bring the ball up the court and help relieve pressure, but than also on the offensive end I can shoot and get the ball to the rim. I can also guard both the point and scoring guard.

Q: So you made a pretty deep run last year, beat Syracuse in the sweet 16 and put the clamps on Eric Devendorf defensively.   Anything to say to the fans of Syracuse?

Ahhhhh, Thank You (hard laughter). Nah, we got the the elite 8 this year so we're going to come back more focused and see if we can get to the Final Four and win the championship this year.

Appreciate your time Willie, good luck next season and stay healthy !!!

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