Photos: Luke Nankivell

Junior Gary Ricks Jr., a Los Angeles native who spent his last two years playing basketball at Indian Hills Community College, sat down with The Times-Delphic to discuss his high expectations for this year, his love for baseball and to reveal his guarantee for this season.

The Times-Delphic: Tell me a little bit about where you were before coming here to Drake.

Gary Ricks Jr.: Before I came to Drake, I was at Indian Hills Community College. It’s a community college down in Ottuma, Iowa.  I think it’s about an hour and fifteen minutes away from here, so not too far. So that’s where I was before.

TD: How did you end up there from California?

GR: I attended a prep school/boarding school in Connecticut called Kent. Went there, came back and I didn’t really like the schools that were talking to me so I decided to go in the JuCo route and contacted Indian Hills and they offered me a scholarship. So I went there and played for two years.

TD: Who contacted you from Drake?

GR: Stan Johnson, Coach Johnson, he talked to me. In the summer, going into my sophomore year at junior college, we talked and we built a great relationship. He’s a really, really nice guy. I got to meet Coach (Mark) Phelps and Coach (Brett) Nelson. I really liked how they talked to me. I liked how they stayed with me all year. They were consistent. I like people that are loyal, so I decided to come here.

TD: Do you miss going back home? How often do you go back to California?

GR: I go home when I can. I mean I’ve been doing this for three years now, so it’s not too hard. Playing basketball and going to a school like Drake will keep me busy. So my mind isn’t really thinking about home. But I mean, it’s nice, California weather is usually better than Iowa’s, but, it is what it is. I like it out here.

TD: Obviously, you guys have a lot of new guys, it’s basically a brand new team, how do you think this team will do?

GR: I think we are very underrated. I mean we lost some guys last year and I feel like this isn’t a rebuilding year. We’re ready. We’ve got two juniors, with me and Richard Carter, another junior college transfer. We have a fifth-year senior in Chris Hines who came in. And then we have five freshmen I believe, and then the five guys that are back all started last year, so I feel like we have a good, eight guys who are upperclassmen. So I don’t think we are young. I think we are ready and we are going to surprise a lot of people this year.

TD: You guys have a lot of experience, what do you think are going to be some of the team’s strengths and some of the weaknesses for this team?

GR: Strengths, as we just said, I think we are older. I think it won’t be as hard (to adjust) to Division I grind. Weaknesses, I mean we do have five freshmen that are brand new so we haven’t really faced adversity yet, so we don’t really know how we are going to react. But I feel like we’ll be fine.

TD: When you first get to Drake do they give you a list, like, these are the teams you are supposed to hate or how does that work?

GR: No, they don’t tell us who we are supposed to hate. Since going to school in Iowa I’ve gotten a pretty familiar feel for who Drake doesn’t like in our conference, like Creighton and Wichita State and UNI. I don’t really hate anybody. I know who we have to beat and that’s just how it is.

TD: Who impresses you the most from your Drake teammates, or who stands out the most so far?

GR: They’ve all impressed me, I like a lot of guys’ games. Richard Carter, the junior college transfer, he’s really fast, he’s really quick. He’s a small guard, but he’s pretty fast and he gets where he has to go and Ben Simons can really shoot it. I always knew he could shoot but I’ve never really seen it in person, and now I know he can. JJ, Karl, all those guys, I’ve watched games on them and I know how they play. I really am impressed by everybody’s game, but I expected that in Division I play.

TD: When you first get to Drake do they give you a list, like, these are the teams you are supposed to hate or how does that work?

GR: No, they don’t tell us who we are supposed to hate. Since going to school in Iowa I’ve gotten a pretty familiar, feel, for who Drake doesn’t like in our conference, like Creighton and Wichita State and UNI. I don’t really hate anybody, I know who we have to beat and that’s just how it is.

TD: Who’s your favorite NBA player?

GR: Oh, Kobe Bryant. He’s like the king of LA. I mean I know a lot of people that hate him but you have to respect his ability to play the game. He’s definitely my favorite player. I mean, I don’t mold my game after him because I’m not 6’6, but he’s definitely my favorite player.

TD: That was going to be my next question, who do you mold your game after?

GR: Umm, I mean, I don’t know. I don’t really mold my game. I just take pieces from a lot of places and learn and watch and try to put that in my game. So I don’t really mold my game after anybody. I just try to pick out parts that I like from people’s games and I know what I can and can’t do, so I just try to use that to my abilities.

TD: If you weren’t playing basketball, which sport would you be playing?

GR: Baseball. Actually, baseball was my first love. I started baseball when I was four and I stopped at 13. And I loved it, but I was playing basketball and baseball and I had to give one up, so I gave up baseball.  It got a little too slow for me, a little slow-paced. But if I wasn’t playing basketball, I’d definitely be playing baseball right now.

TD: Are you a Dodgers fan?

GR: I am. We are doing really good right now. We picked up Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez and we’re looking good, so I’m excited.

TD: Give me one guarantee for this season. It can be individual, it can be team-wise, something you guarantee.

GR: Umm, guarantee? I guarantee we will win more games than we did last year.