Kevin Ollie: 'They better not come in here with any of those junk zones or any of that stuff'

A few quick notes from after UConn's practice today at Gampel (which was attended by Mamadou Diarra), in advance of Sunday's exhibition opener vs. Tampa:

KEVIN OLLIE:



“We’ll experiment. It doesn’t count, but it does count, you know? We’ll experiment with some different lineups. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to play everybody. That’s the beautiful thing about a close scrimmage, that’s one of the things I want, because you can really experiment -- go zone, play a lot of people a lot more minutes.”

“Steve Enoch is real talented. He’s got poise beyond his years, just like Jalen (Adams). He’s a real good basketball player, he’s a sponge, he wants to get better. And he’s huge. He’s more athletic than I thought. I didn’t know he was that special an athlete. He gets up and down and really goes after the ball. He wants to get better, and he’s got skills beyond his years. He’s gonna be a really good player for us.”

“I’ve been an admirer of (Tampa coach Richard Schmidt) for a long time, he’s been there for 33 years. He’s just a great coach. They allowed us to come down to their practice facility, so we’ve got a nice little relationship. They better not come in here with any of those junk zones or any of that stuff. But coach is real good friends of ours, and Coach (Justin) Pecka (a South Windsor native) has been a real good friend of the program.”

RODNEY PURVIS:

“I’m definitely one of the leaders, one of the older guys on the team. The guys feed off my energy. Coach is looking for me to be a leader. I’m taking that role. It’s pretty hard sometimes -- the ups and downs and learning curve of preseason. But it’s all worth it.”

(on UConn's overall depth)

“It’s definitely gonna make our team better. Everyone’s coming in focused. There’s a guy on the bench that plays the same position, so you’ve got to bring it each and every night if you want to be on the court.”

(on Steve Enoch)



(his teammates' reaction to Enoch dunking on Brimah?)

“Everybody’s, ‘Whoa!’, because we’re never used to really seeing it. We’re used to going to get the ball out of the stands anytime somebody tries to dunk on Amida, so it’s a little different when Steve caught him a couple of times.”

JALEN ADAMS: