Q&A with men’s basketball head coach

By Ryan, March 29, 2016

By Brooke Lazarus // Staff Writer

Campus Chronicle writer Brooke Lazarus had the opportunity to interview High Point University’s men’s basketball head coach, Scott Cherry. Cherry has been at HPU since 2009. HPU has captured three-consecutive regular season Big South titles under his direction.
Q: How has this senior class changed the program over their four years at High Point?
A: They have changed it tremendously. We went from a program that people kind of know about to now national recognition on TV. We’ve had guys who have been on Sports Center Top Plays. This class has the most wins in program history.
Q: What have you been covering in practices that you want the guys to execute going into the conference tournament?
A: Defend, we’ve got to play defense. We have guys who can score offensively, but just like in any sport to win the tournament and go on to the NCAA we have to defend. We are making little adjustments here and there and we have to rebound since we are not huge defensively. Offensively, we feel pretty good about being able to score points.
Q: Other than John Brown’s talent on the court, how has he affected the team off the court?
A: His personality. If you’ve been around him he gets along with everybody no matter who you are or where you are from. He’s one of those guys that are the face of your program. He engages with little kids, older people, anyone who he interacts with usually leaves with a positive impact from him. He’s smiling all the time and that’s what helps our program.
Q: How do you prepare the guys when a big game is ahead?
A: We mainly focus on basketball, but now we’re going to focus more mentally. Sometimes you want to do something differently on a day like this when it comes to the last game at home, but we just want these guys to have a positive mindset when they leave this court.
Q: How has the team progressed from preseason until now?
A: It has been up and down. We had a great non-conference portion of our season. We lost three really close games to high major programs. We started off conference great, 5-0 in conference and then we hit a rough patch where we lost five out of seven and a couple of games at home. It’s taken little adjustments and deciding who our top nine guys are going to be. Fortunately, it’s back in a good direction. It took a few losses unfortunately to get us back and centered on the right things. I think were headed in a really good direction right now.
Q: What would winning the Big South Conference and going to the NCAA tournament mean for the program?
A: It’s never been done- it would mean a lot to everyone including this community and everyone who has supported us, starting with President Qubein and everything he has done for this program and school. I’ve been to NCAA tournaments, finals fours, national’s championships, I’ve experienced that. I wouldn’t mind experiencing it again for the first time as a head coach, but I know what that is and what it’s about. I just want those guys to be able to talk about it for the rest of their life. There’s not too many “first evers” in this world and we would be the first ever team to go to the NCAA tournament in school history. I want them to have a legacy here and especially for the four seniors. All the great things they’ve done.
Q: Who has surprised you the most this season? Which player has shown the most improvement?
A: I think our freshmen have come along really well. You never know with bringing in a new group of guys. The guy that’s shown the most improvement would be Miles Bowman to just get back on the floor after not playing for almost two years because of three knee surgeries. He’s has a great attitude and mindset with his recovery on his knee. He’s not only back on the court, but he’s playing great. It’s really rewarding to see a kid like that come along way. You hate to see athletes end their career because of an injury. It’s fun to watch him and I hope it keeps going the way it’s going.