University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooner Profile: Willie Warren
December 08, 2008 | Men's Basketball
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And while he came to Oklahoma as one of the most highly touted recruits in program history, he knows that it's what he does going forward which will determine how he is remembered.
With only a handful of college games under his belt, the supremely skilled guard has already displayed his knack for saving his best for the biggest games.
That's something Warren, Coach Capel and the rest of the Sooners hope will lead to big things at the end of the season.
We recently sat down with Warren to discuss his transition to college so far and what his expectations are going forward.
On the transition to college so far:
"Despite the first two months of summer school, with all the hard workouts and different stuff they put us through that we really didn't go over in high school, I would say the transition has been about exactly what I thought it would be. I really have to focus on playing defense more, sprinting and not really taking any possessions off."
On how much it helped getting here early:
"It helped me a lot, especially playing in open gym against guys like Crock, A.J., Juan, Cade and all the other guards, it really helped show what I would be going against in the Big 12. It gave me a real heads up about the physical features of the guards and their quickness."
On how his teammates have welcomed him:
"They've welcomed me with open arms. We're a family now. There were no hard feelings coming in and they expect just as much from me as they expect from themselves and the other upperclassmen."
On what has been the biggest adjustment on the court:
"I would say the speed, just the up-and-down tempo. There's constant movement. You're always in a defensive stance or moving from sideline to sideline on the offensive end."
On the one aspect of his game he feels is overlooked:
"My passing ability would be the biggest thing."
On if that's something he's tried to focus on at OU:
"No, Coach Capel also told me not to focus on being a pass-first person because that's not the type of person he recruited. He recruited a playmaker, someone who looks to score and take his man off the dribble. If the defense comes over to help, then I'm able to see the court and find other offensive players."
On his relationship with Coach Capel:
"We developed a relationship that I wouldn't have expected because I didn't know him as long. Oklahoma didn't really recruit me when Sampson was here. Coach Taliaferro recruited me early on when he was at Arkansas, and when he left I told him I was going to follow him wherever he went.
"When he ended up here, I sent Coach Capel a text one night and just asked why he wasn't recruiting me. He had heard I was committed to Arkansas, so once he found out that I wasn't we really just started bonding. We didn't talk only about basketball and that's what really attracted me to Coach Capel."
On if he thinks Coach Capel is happy that he recruited him:
"Oh yeah, I hope so."
On how he feels about his decision so far:
"It's more than what I expected. I knew we could be good and that's the reason I came here, but I didn't think we'd be this good this early. There's a lot of stuff we're doing right now that we can do better. That scares me, as well as it should scare other teams because we're not even playing to our full potential yet."
On guarding against getting too high too early:
"I don't feel we have to with this team. Everyone is focused. We have our ups and downs in practice, and so do other teams, but I feel like this team handles it the right way. We're getting all the hype that we wanted, but we know it's the first time in four or five years and we just want to keep it going."
On his goals for the rest of the season:
"Our team goals are to win the Big 12 regular season championship, then the Big 12 Tournament, and every team wants to win the National Championship so that is also one of our goals. If we're not blessed enough to get that, at least making it there or getting to the Final Four."
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