Shelton Henderson stepped on CIS for the first time this morning, and he had plenty to say. About his game. About the team. And about what’s next for Miami.
Before you listen, here’s a snapshot of what he’s done this season: about 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while shooting around 61% from the field.
LISTEN or read the transcript below.
On how Shelton's feeling...
I'm great. I'm looking forward to these type of games. I've been watching North Carolina play since I was seven years old, and just being a college basketball fan and player, this is something you dream of, and I can't wait to get on that court.
On how Miami's practice went before the game tomorrow...
Very detailed, going in, knowing that they're a really big team. They play two 6'10" guys, 7'2" guys. So just coming in, having different game plans for these guys, and just locking in on the little things, I would say.
On doing the little things...
I think just as a kid, being instilled like hard work and the little things, and the rest is just gonna come with it. Um, not trying to force anything, just uh let the game come to me. I think I, I think I do that really good at a high level, just letting it come. But other than that, just finding any way to impact the game, whether it's scoring, rebounding, guarding the best player, or doing anything to help win, I'm there for it.
How he feels on his confidence...
It's grown a lot. I know myself, I'm hard on myself at times, but these coaches put a lot into me, and it just gives me a higher sense of confidence knowing that they trust me out there on the court and let me play through my mistakes. So it's just gonna keep growing as these games go on, and I really put the emphasis on my coaches to help me with that.
On being compared to Justise Winslow...
Being from Houston, I used to, his high school, I used to practice every day, every day there. I would see him sometimes. But just being a bigger guard, I've learned a lot of things from him and just watching other bigger guards, how they impact the game, and being versatile, playing, I can play one through four, so just knowing what to do at different spots, I think that is a huge impact for me.
On where hid physical nature comes from...
I would say it's some genetics, I've been in the weight room a lot. I really started lifting probably my sophomore year of high school and just progressed from there. But I wanna say, like, I'm just eating weights every single day, but I know how to maintain my body and just do what's right for my body.
On if he played football growing up...
I played middle school, but I didn't really like getting hit every possession, so I gave up on that.
On maintaining his intensity if things aren't going to well in the moment...
That's how Coach Lucas built our team. We're hard-nosed, gritty. It's not gonna be pretty every single game, but it's just knowing that we're gonna, like, teams gonna come in here, they're gonna get beat up, bruised up. So just coming in here, we know that we have to maintain that throughout the game to really put our impact onto it. And it's just gonna help us. Teams not gonna wanna draw us. Teams not gonna wanna bump us. So it just opens up a lot of stuff for us.
On the final stretch of games...
Just taking it one game, one day at a time, focus on each opponent, and not skipping steps. We know what we have to do. We know where we are setting, like, seating right now, and like the tournament setting and seating, and just the ACC seedings. So just focusing on those little things and just grinding uh all these games out.
Before you listen, here’s a snapshot of what he’s done this season: about 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while shooting around 61% from the field.
LISTEN or read the transcript below.
On how Shelton's feeling...
I'm great. I'm looking forward to these type of games. I've been watching North Carolina play since I was seven years old, and just being a college basketball fan and player, this is something you dream of, and I can't wait to get on that court.
On how Miami's practice went before the game tomorrow...
Very detailed, going in, knowing that they're a really big team. They play two 6'10" guys, 7'2" guys. So just coming in, having different game plans for these guys, and just locking in on the little things, I would say.
On doing the little things...
I think just as a kid, being instilled like hard work and the little things, and the rest is just gonna come with it. Um, not trying to force anything, just uh let the game come to me. I think I, I think I do that really good at a high level, just letting it come. But other than that, just finding any way to impact the game, whether it's scoring, rebounding, guarding the best player, or doing anything to help win, I'm there for it.
How he feels on his confidence...
It's grown a lot. I know myself, I'm hard on myself at times, but these coaches put a lot into me, and it just gives me a higher sense of confidence knowing that they trust me out there on the court and let me play through my mistakes. So it's just gonna keep growing as these games go on, and I really put the emphasis on my coaches to help me with that.
On being compared to Justise Winslow...
Being from Houston, I used to, his high school, I used to practice every day, every day there. I would see him sometimes. But just being a bigger guard, I've learned a lot of things from him and just watching other bigger guards, how they impact the game, and being versatile, playing, I can play one through four, so just knowing what to do at different spots, I think that is a huge impact for me.
On where hid physical nature comes from...
I would say it's some genetics, I've been in the weight room a lot. I really started lifting probably my sophomore year of high school and just progressed from there. But I wanna say, like, I'm just eating weights every single day, but I know how to maintain my body and just do what's right for my body.
On if he played football growing up...
I played middle school, but I didn't really like getting hit every possession, so I gave up on that.
On maintaining his intensity if things aren't going to well in the moment...
That's how Coach Lucas built our team. We're hard-nosed, gritty. It's not gonna be pretty every single game, but it's just knowing that we're gonna, like, teams gonna come in here, they're gonna get beat up, bruised up. So just coming in here, we know that we have to maintain that throughout the game to really put our impact onto it. And it's just gonna help us. Teams not gonna wanna draw us. Teams not gonna wanna bump us. So it just opens up a lot of stuff for us.
On the final stretch of games...
Just taking it one game, one day at a time, focus on each opponent, and not skipping steps. We know what we have to do. We know where we are setting, like, seating right now, and like the tournament setting and seating, and just the ACC seedings. So just focusing on those little things and just grinding uh all these games out.
