Miami Hurricanes guard Shelton Henderson spoke with the media after the team’s first preseason practice. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On returning back to Miami for another season: Oh, it's been great. Brand new team, a couple returning guys, so we just build off last season. We've gotten close as a group, really close. I think we're gonna have a good shot this year going farther than we did last year. I'm just looking forward to it.
On what he has worked on this off-season: A little bit of everything, mostly shooting, a lot of ball handling, just working on all of those game aspects of my game, just to become better all around.
On improving his shot: I took my jump a little bit, but probably a thousand shots a day every day, just getting here with the guys, working, with Moran, doing him a lot, Dame, but he left and went to the Mavericks now, but he helped my shot a lot. I give a lot of credit to him.
On changing his release: Kind of lower release. I feel like last year I was bringing it back too far and just couldn't control what I wanted to control, but lower release just helped me a lot. I feel a lot more confident, a lot more confident.
On becoming a leader: The coaches have been pushing me to talk more, lead these guys, just knowing that I brought a lot to the table last year, just to keep adding on to that. So just playing my role, but also helping these guys out as much as possible.
On the experience from last year’s tournament: I think we have a good standard set, a good foundation. We want to do with the team, set our goals pretty high this year. We plan to achieve all of them.
On having a target on their back: Just a little added pressure just makes it a lot more fun, just knowing that a lot more people are watching us, a lot more opportunity that we have. So I'm just looking forward to it.
On Caleb Gaskins: Caleb is nice. I think he can win freshman of the year, ACC, but he showed me a lot that I didn't really know he could do, but he's a really good player.
On Jai Lucas coaching style: Just easy to connect with him. He's a player's coach. He knows what we go through on and off the court. So just being able to sit down, talk to someone face to face, on a personal level, just helps us a lot.
On why he stayed at Miami: Just the amount of trust I have in Coach Lucas. He's been with me since recruiting days, and we came from the same place, same background. So just being able to trust him on a personal level just helped me stay here.
On his versatility: Just playing all positions in high school, just being versatile really helped me get to where I am. So point guard, whether playing one through four, just whatever coach needs me, I'm ready to do it.
On building chemistry: We were with each other probably every single day after practice together, just being able to bond on and off the court. And it's a really good group of guys, good personalities, and easy to connect with.
On the biggest difference with this year’s roster: Definitely the depth. We have a lot more pieces that can come in the game and just keep the same level of energy. So, like guys like DeSean, Nick, Brent, all great players, and they're gonna help us a lot.
On circled games: Definitely the Duke game, going back to Houston, playing Texas, and those are the two main two right now. Florida, yeah. Florida game.
On preparing for Florida: I think we're gonna be a lot more prepared than we were last year. I feel like last year was a shell shock to most of us, but this year I feel like we're going in there to win. That's all we got to do.
On getting closer to the season: Just staying the course, not looking forward to anything that's ahead of us, just staying on our feet and just having fun and enjoying the process and just going along with it.
On helping prepare his teammates: Just prepare them for what's coming, what the coaches expect, how we can make it easier for all the guys, just come together as a team and just playing as one.
On playing against Florida's front court: Just physicality, just knowing that we kind of play the same, kind of match up size-wise with them. So just coming in the game, just playing our brand of basketball, but doing it at a very high level.
On offseason conditioning: Conditioning-wise, every Friday, we was here at 5 a.m. just getting ready to do whatever Zach had planned for us and trying to make it through most days, but some days got hard, but it really brought us together and just kind of trauma-bonded us.
On the added perimeter talent: It opens the court a lot. We have shooters everywhere, just able to space the court out for me, for Dante, for anybody trying to get to the rim. It's gonna help us a lot.
On returning back to Miami for another season: Oh, it's been great. Brand new team, a couple returning guys, so we just build off last season. We've gotten close as a group, really close. I think we're gonna have a good shot this year going farther than we did last year. I'm just looking forward to it.
On what he has worked on this off-season: A little bit of everything, mostly shooting, a lot of ball handling, just working on all of those game aspects of my game, just to become better all around.
On improving his shot: I took my jump a little bit, but probably a thousand shots a day every day, just getting here with the guys, working, with Moran, doing him a lot, Dame, but he left and went to the Mavericks now, but he helped my shot a lot. I give a lot of credit to him.
On changing his release: Kind of lower release. I feel like last year I was bringing it back too far and just couldn't control what I wanted to control, but lower release just helped me a lot. I feel a lot more confident, a lot more confident.
On becoming a leader: The coaches have been pushing me to talk more, lead these guys, just knowing that I brought a lot to the table last year, just to keep adding on to that. So just playing my role, but also helping these guys out as much as possible.
On the experience from last year’s tournament: I think we have a good standard set, a good foundation. We want to do with the team, set our goals pretty high this year. We plan to achieve all of them.
On having a target on their back: Just a little added pressure just makes it a lot more fun, just knowing that a lot more people are watching us, a lot more opportunity that we have. So I'm just looking forward to it.
On Caleb Gaskins: Caleb is nice. I think he can win freshman of the year, ACC, but he showed me a lot that I didn't really know he could do, but he's a really good player.
On Jai Lucas coaching style: Just easy to connect with him. He's a player's coach. He knows what we go through on and off the court. So just being able to sit down, talk to someone face to face, on a personal level, just helps us a lot.
On why he stayed at Miami: Just the amount of trust I have in Coach Lucas. He's been with me since recruiting days, and we came from the same place, same background. So just being able to trust him on a personal level just helped me stay here.
On his versatility: Just playing all positions in high school, just being versatile really helped me get to where I am. So point guard, whether playing one through four, just whatever coach needs me, I'm ready to do it.
On building chemistry: We were with each other probably every single day after practice together, just being able to bond on and off the court. And it's a really good group of guys, good personalities, and easy to connect with.
On the biggest difference with this year’s roster: Definitely the depth. We have a lot more pieces that can come in the game and just keep the same level of energy. So, like guys like DeSean, Nick, Brent, all great players, and they're gonna help us a lot.
On circled games: Definitely the Duke game, going back to Houston, playing Texas, and those are the two main two right now. Florida, yeah. Florida game.
On preparing for Florida: I think we're gonna be a lot more prepared than we were last year. I feel like last year was a shell shock to most of us, but this year I feel like we're going in there to win. That's all we got to do.
On getting closer to the season: Just staying the course, not looking forward to anything that's ahead of us, just staying on our feet and just having fun and enjoying the process and just going along with it.
On helping prepare his teammates: Just prepare them for what's coming, what the coaches expect, how we can make it easier for all the guys, just come together as a team and just playing as one.
On playing against Florida's front court: Just physicality, just knowing that we kind of play the same, kind of match up size-wise with them. So just coming in the game, just playing our brand of basketball, but doing it at a very high level.
On offseason conditioning: Conditioning-wise, every Friday, we was here at 5 a.m. just getting ready to do whatever Zach had planned for us and trying to make it through most days, but some days got hard, but it really brought us together and just kind of trauma-bonded us.
On the added perimeter talent: It opens the court a lot. We have shooters everywhere, just able to space the court out for me, for Dante, for anybody trying to get to the rim. It's gonna help us a lot.
