Tag Archives: Doc Rivers

BDN gets answers to burning questions from Austin Rivers during our coverage of the Nike Peach Jam

Austin Rivers talks with BDN's Mark Watson at the Nike Peach Jam - photo BDN

Austin Rivers was the morning's high scorer with 29 points during the first day of the Nike EYBL Peach Jam in Augusta, South Carolina,  Recent diary entries brought about a lot of questions and Duke and UNC fans wanted answers.  Well, BDN wasted little time in acquiring them right away.  Check out the following lengthy interview and stay tuned to BDN for real time updates on our premium members message board.  With Andrew Slater's in depth Shabazz Muhammad interview and now this one, BDN is quite simply the place to be for the best coverage out there.  Check out our trial offer which last just 24 more hours or go ahead and get the best value by joining for a year.  Check out our coverage of the prospects you want the hear from and our in person analysis of the events.  After all, you have to get out here and see the prospects to be able to talk about them, right?

So, what is your list of schools?

Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Kentucky.  Those are the five I had and those are the ones here watching me right now.

You decided to push your decision back ...

Basically I just want to see how people do this year at the schools I'm looking at.  I'm just going to wait for the college season to start and watch a little bit of the ball and after a couple of weeks or so, make my decision.  I feel like it is important to me to just wait a little bit longer.  I'm looking for playing time and want to come in and impact the team.  I want to play for a team that goes up and down and attack.

Have you talked with UNC lately?

I talked to [private] Roy Williams a couple of times but it's been a couple of months since he called but when I was playing for Team USA I was out of touch.

You mentioned Harrison Barnes and Kyrie Irving in your latest diary entry, can you speak of those two?

Well, I'm friends with Harrison Barnes but we don't talk on the phone or anything like that.  I'm real good friends with Kyrie but not because he goes to Duke.  I've been playing with him at these camps from the start, so I have developed a good relationship there.  I'm also friends with Kendall Marshall and my best friends are Marshall, Kobongo and Irving.

Your Dad said you would slow down in the AAU tournaments and take in the Showcase but not the AAU Nationals.

Yeah, just the Nike Showcase.  I just felt like I needed a break and just want to get stronger but after being in LA and with Team USA for 13 days and here ... that should be enough for the summer.

So, there really isn't a timetable.  Will you just make a decision when it feels right?

Basically, yeah.  When it comes to mind and I feel like it and know that this is the school for me I will make the decision.

Do you plan to take a visit to UNC?

I do plan on taking a visit North Carolina in late August right before school starts because I haven't been up there and later on that year we'll see if they get another visit.  I might then go to Kentucky.

Will you vist Duke as well on that trip?

Probably, because they are eight miles apart and it's the right thing to do.  I went to Duke a couple of months back but not North Carolina, so this will be like a double header.

Does it upset you that some coaches are not here to watch you from the five schools you mentioned?

I don't like them less or more because of this.  I like them and I hope they feel the same way because I am interested in them.

What is it like playing in front of coaches?

I try to block it and not try to change my game when they are here.  I'm just trying to win

Do you like it when coaches come to watch you?

Yeah, it shows that they are interested in me and that they want to recruit me.  I don't know who was here today.

The Duke coaches were the only ones here.

Really?  I like that Coach K was here to see me.

A while back people considered Duke to be the favorite.  Some are saying that has changed and that you have cooled a bit on them.

I have an interest in a lot of schools right now.  I have the best relationship with Florida and Duke because I have been recruited by them the longest, but Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas are in the picture and I am not favoring anybody right now.  I really haven't even talked to my father about it and he doesn't even know.  I really don't know where I am going yet.  Right after AAU starts that's when I will sit down with my family and coach and figure out whats best for me.

Do internet rumors bug you?

I just laugh at people who tell me like I am going overseas to play and stuff like that.  The internet really confuses people sometimes.

Your parents are here to support you ...

Yeah they do a lot to support me, especially my mom.  She is the person that keeps the family together and my Dad really keeps busy with his job.

So, mom is the rock?

Yeah, shes the rock, the man of the hours really.

You mentioned relationships with other coaches, would you like to build more of them?

Yes, yes.  I would like to build relationships with Coach Calipari and Coach Self.

You do not seem as dependent on your outside shot in game one like you have in the past.

Yeah, I've tried to mix it up a little bit.  I have a really good right hand floater and a left hand floater, I've been working on that.  You will see me use that throughout the tournament.

Which school has been recruiting you aggressively in the past two months?

Duke is the most aggressiveness.  We have a good relationship that is building and we talk once a month and have a good conversation of about 45 minutes or better.  They really show that they care.  North Carolina sends me a lot of letters that Roy Williams writes and stuff like that, so it's all good.

When did you first hear from UNC?

Three and a half or four months ago when I first talked to North Carolina, at the end of my school year.  I talked with Coach Williams after the initial contact.

In your diary you mention Kyrie possibly turning pro early and it seems as if that was a major concern.  Is it?

Yes, to be a championship team I want to have some good players.  Kyrie is that good and he may go to the pros after one year but how will it affect me?  It wouldn't keep me from going to Duke.  They are always going to have good players and they are building their program and they will be ranked number one this year so we'll see how they do.  Duke will always be in the spotlight.

And what of those banana yellow Nikes?

Yeah, they're terrible.  They sent us a fluorescent pair.  What can you do? [/private]