Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said his team has tried to improve its speed at the guard position to get ready for its first season of SEC play.
Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy:
On freshman performance, especially Reese and Caruso:
“Really pleased with both of those guys. You know, they’ve had up moments and down moments, but their work ethic, their ability to grasp what we’re doing, has been a lot faster than I thought. Both of them are going to play significant minutes. Physically, they’ve got to get stronger; but that’s most freshmen at this level. We’re really going to see a lot of playing time at this point, and [I] look forward to them having a great career.”
On having a fresh start in the SEC after having a rough last season:
Yeah, but, we got to work, we got to get it done. I was trying to survive the first two weeks last year, and I’m much further along obviously, but you get your priorities checked real quickly when your health is a concern. I’ve learned a lot about myself and [I’m] really excited about the opportunity to be at Texas A&M and represent a great school and a great league. It’s going to be a lot more fun, I promise you.
On the Turner twins as seniors and leaders of the team:
For us to be good, they have to have great years‐ not just average years, they’ve got to have great years. [I’ve] really been impressed with Ray Turner‐ he’s gotten into much better shape; his conditioning is better. Before yesterday’s scrimmage, he’s been scoring 10 feet and in; yesterday he shot a couple of jump shots we don’t want him to shoot. He thinks his name is Fadeaway Ray; I’m trying to get him to buy into Powerplay Ray. He’s done a great job of getting himself into better shape. Nelson Turner has got his body fat down, like 5 percent, so both of those guys are going to play a lot of minutes. They need to have great years for us.
Courtesy of SEC Digital Network