Everything Will Tschetter said on the Defend the Block podcast
On a busy April for him
It's definitely super important to have that extra time towards the end of the semester being able to catch up, not being there at the beginning of the semester and missing a lot of class can definitely take a hit on some of your academic progress. Being able to spend a lot of time whether it's in the library or the computer labs or anything like that is huge in order to be able to catch up and get to where you want to be.
On being named Academic All-District
I pride myself on it's not how you do one thing, it's how you do everything. Working hard in the classroom, working hard on the floor, it's all about the carryover in both. To get recognized for my academics was super cool. I love what I do in the classroom, I enjoy it. I like going to class. For that to come out is pretty cool.
On playing in front of fans again
It was really weird coming into those first couple of games that I played. Being able to play in front of thousands of people, I've never really done that before. We maybe had a few hundred people in the gym at most. Even coming from junior year when we were playing a quote, unquote, packed crowd, it was nothing compared to playing in front of crowds that were three times as big as my home town. It was super cool to have that opportunity. Really feel the energy. Obviously, hope to do the same thing next year.
On how he would describe playing at Crisler
I think it's super cool. Watching these games growing up and as I committed, to see myself in this spot and actually getting here and being able to experience the energy. Playing on this floor, it's really hard to put a couple words to it. It's super special though.
On whether he is able to fully appreciate the moment
After it happened I think I really could appreciate it coming full circle. In the moment, you're kind of numb to it, to be completely honest.
On where he's made the most strides on the court
I think the most strides I've made was my confidence. I think I gained a lot of confidence throughout the year. Learning experiences, being able to know where I fit in, know how I can help the team. Energy off the bench, getting offensive rebounds, stuff like that. I'm not necessarily where I thought I was this year with what my role was but I would say that stepping into the role that I had, I did the best I could.
On areas he need to grow his game
I've gotta improve ball handling, being able to handle the ball under pressure. Already been working on that for the last couple of weeks. Keeping my confidence in my deep shot, my three-pointer, obviously, only shot 25%. I know I'm a better shooter than that. Need to regain my confidence in that aspect. I would say my defensive rebounding. Needs to be a little bit better, making sure I can close out possessions. We guard our butts off for 30 seconds, making sure we can seal that and get back onto the offensive end. Just overall, looking to put on about 10 more pounds this offseason just to physically develop some more to become ready for next year.
On how he gains confidence
Just things that I've been talking about. Playing. Playing one-on-one, playing two-on-two. Playing pickup in any shape, way or form. Whether that's going to the IM and playing. Obviously not going to be great competition but you're getting confidence whether it's playing one-on-one against someone in a workout, getting confidence there. Finding ways to play, getting in competitive situations and then just trying to replicate to the best of your ability with the resources that you have here.
On what the early stages of the offseason has looked like
I took about a week off to decompress. I really needed to get my academics in order so I took some time to do that. Got back to it the first Sunday after the season ended. We lift about three, four times a week and then I try to get into the gym twice a day with one off day in there to let my body heal up.
On the Camp Sanderson process
People talk about how great he is but, really, what it comes down to is how much time and effort you're willing to go up there and invest in getting bigger, faster, stronger. From high school to now, I've definitely seen development in how my body is built and how much stronger I am. Even sometimes you're just benching for instance and you'll be like, oh, wow, I remember when I was a sophomore in high school and I was dreaming about lifting this much weight or something like that. It's super cool to be able to see the progress that's made in the weight room.
On being a leader in his third year
I feel like now it's kind of a transition from leading by example to more of being what people call a servant leader. Helping other people out and living through how you want things in your own sense brought out in others. Took me a while to get there. I feel like this year, staying vocal through the highs and lows. Obviously, success isn't just straight up, there's bumps in the road. Being able to try and level out those bumps and make sure that we're going in the right trajectory. Obviously, been here through some highs and some lows. I've kind of been through a little bit of both. I've seen what it takes to win and obviously some things that we can correct. Making sure that we learn from our mistakes, really taking on the mentality of either you win or you learn. We've really got to learn.
On how much not making the NCAA Tournament motivates the team
Personally, my goal coming here was, yeah, I want to play in the NCAA Tournament every year. Not making it this year, first year playing, really, really hurts. I think just program-wide, you see dudes are super frustrated. A lot of guys took a look in the mirror and said what can I do to be better? How can I make the team better? We've definitely had those conversations. From one-on-one to just team group chat kind of settings. What we can do to really turn this ship around and make it into a super successful season next year.
On why there is optimism that last year was a one-off thing
Really, when you take a look at it, there were many games that we were losing by one, two possessions. We weren't getting blown out of the water. Knowing that we were just that close so many times this year really creates a sense of we are right there. We really can do it. Going forward, we know that one or two plays in a game really can determine whether we're in the tournament or we're in the NIT or we're sitting at home and other teams are playing late into March, into April. Being able to, as I said, take a look back and what goes into those few plays that are game-winning plays is going to be huge for us making sure we learn from each other's mistakes.
On the freshmen class and how key they are for the team
I think that group's optimism, positivity and the sense to learn and get better is huge. a lot of times you can see freshmen come in and they don't play, they're like down and be like, oh, man, I wish I could be playing. There was never really that sense. There was always a, OK, what can I do to get better? How can I do this in practice? How can I run scout team to the best of my ability? How can I learn from others that are "ahead" of me right now? Things like that, I am super impressed with how that group handled this year, how they learned. Dug stepping into a huge starting role and performing the way he did was amazing. Super proud of him. T-Reed playing like that. Yo-Yo. Super proud of them of the way they did things this year.
On the non-basketball things this offseason
I'm actually doing an internship in Montana for the month of May to fulfill one of my credits for a class. I'll be out there working out, being outside, hopefully doing some fly fishing out there.
On the internship
I'm working on a conservation ranch with an emphasis on regenerative farming. Basically just going to be working outside with bison on a ranch. It's going to be super cool. I have to write a paper on my experience, what I learned and stuff like that for one of my field credits for my major.
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