Questions for Crocker

Dec. 17, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - Before the season began, Oklahoma men's basketball head coach Jeff Capel said he hoped Tony Crocker could make the jump from being a good player last year as a freshman to a very good player as a sophomore.

So far, so good.

Crocker, a 6-6, 193-pound guard from San Antonio, Texas, who was born in Lawton, Okla., is averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and a team-high 2.9 assists per game this season while shooting .506 from the field and .500 from 3-point range (23-for-46). Those numbers are up considerably from a freshman campaign that saw him average 8.6 points, 3.7 boards and 1.8 assists, and shoot .450 from the floor and .357 from long range.

Crocker's ability to knock down the 3-point shot (he ranks second in the Big 12 in percentage) has come as a surprise to many fans who wondered who would serve as OU's primary perimeter threat this season. Crocker has already made at least three 3-pointers in five of the Sooners' 11 outings so far. He was 6-for-7 from long range in the first half alone at TCU on Dec. 2 en route to a career-high 24-point performance.

The hot-shooting Crocker recently sat down with SoonerSports.com for an exclusive interview.

Q: As a freshman last year, you started more games than anyone else on the team. What type of leadership role do you play with this squad because of your experience?
Crocker: "I have to show some of our guys some stuff to do and not to do. I tell them to just take their time because it is their first time playing in the Big 12. I just try to help them out with whatever they come to me with. I try to answer any questions they have about anything and everything.

Q: How do you feel the newcomers have impacted the team?
Crocker: "You have seen two of them who are starting - Blake (Griffin) and Omar (Leary). Omar starting is helping out a lot because we were able to move A.J. (Austin Johnson) to the number two spot so he doesn't have to play the point guard position all the time. Blake is really helping out down low. Some of the other guys come in and have big roles, too. They come in with a lot of energy and come in and pick it up when the starters get tired. They have all showed they can really play."

Q: How would you describe the team's chemistry?
Crocker: "We all get along and hang out on the weekends. We talk after practice and go out and eat. I think we have great team chemistry this year."

Q: Can you give fans an idea of your daily routine as a basketball player at Oklahoma?
Crocker: "I have to wake up around 9 a.m., sometimes a little before. I go to class and then go back home and grab something to eat for about 30 minutes or an hour. Next, I come to the gym about an hour before practice starts to get taped up and prepared. After practice, I go eat and then I just go home and do school work and relax."

Q: Do you like this time of the year, with Christmas break and getting some time off for the holidays?
Crocker: "Yes, it's a good time. I like that we get a break from school. We get to play against some teams that we really have time to prepare for. This is the time where everything comes together before conference play. Around this time you know the things you are good at and things you need to fix. I like this time a lot."

Q: How would your teammates describe you?
Crocker: "A goofy, country dude. I guess they would say I go hard in practice. I know when it is time to get serious in practice, but I also know how to make it fun."

Q: What is it like playing on the road in the Big 12 Conference?
Crocker: "It is a lot of fun, especially when other teams have a big crowd. Everybody is against you, so it is fun. I like it a lot. I like going to Texas A&M, Texas and OSU. All those places are a lot of fun. The students get on us everywhere we go. Sometimes it might get to you, but a lot of times you just have to laugh because it's just funny."

Q: Can you talk about your tattoos and what they mean to you?
Crocker: "I kind of have an obsession with tattoos. I don't have a lot, but it might look like it because they are in a lot of different places on me. I have Bible verses, my mom's name, as well as my brother's. I have a tattoo of my mom's face and one of Tony the Tiger because it is kind of a nickname. I would say my favorite is my mom's face on my chest. The first one I got was a cross on my left shoulder."

Q: What are your pet peeves?
Crocker: "I get annoyed at little things. I hate when people smack their food when they're eating. Also, before games when my teammates say 'come on, let's get going!' and then hit you. You don't have to punch me in the chest to tell me to get it going. Before the games when they are pushing each other to get pumped up, I stay away."

Q: If you could play another sport at OU, what would it be?
Crocker: "I would probably run track and field. I would high jump or long jump. My senior year in high school I competed in the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump."

Q: What characteristics make a good teammate?
Crocker: "Someone who knows when to get serious and when to play around and have fun. Someone who works hard and you can get along with off the court, because you don't want to be on a team with someone you can't stand. Someone you can get along with and trust."

Q: What is your favorite thing to do when you have free time?
Crocker: "I sit in my bed and watch television. That's what I do with my free time. I try to do nothing. I put it on BET or SportsCenter. I watch some of the college basketball games that are going on. I have never watched them that much, but once I got to college I began to enjoy watching good games."

Q: What Internet sites do you surf?
Crocker: "If someone walks in and catches me on the computer, I am either on my school E-mail or on Facebook. Facebook is kind of addicting, especially when you get new messages. When you don't have anything you just keep waiting and go back and check it and hope you get a message."

Q: Your teammates voted you best singer on the team, what and where do you like to sing?
Crocker: "I like to sing R&B. I like to sing slow songs. If something comes on and I am feeling it, then I go. I sing all of the time. I sing in the locker room, on the way to class, at home, in the car, anywhere. If I have a song in my head then I will sing it out loud. We can be at practice and I will be singing a song during drills."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors