One-on-One: David Sloan

Hear from junior college transfer point guard David Sloan for the first time on K-StateOnline.

KSO: From your experiences so far, explain the difference between the JUCO level and D1 basketball? Also, what K-State coach did you talk to the most when being recruited?

David Sloan: It’s much different, but at the same time it’s not. It’s just more conditioning and guys go harder at all times. At the JUCO level you can take plays off, but I learned at this level that even just in workouts everybody is giving 110 percent every time they step on the floor.

The coach that recruited me was Coach Chris Lowery. He did a good job and talked to me on a daily basis, asked how I was doing, and just had some deep conversations with me and grew a deep relationship.

KSO: What’s your backstory?

DS: I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. Where I was born and raised at, its not really a safe place. A lot of violent crimes. Close friends passing away. Getting away from there and coming here is definitely a blessing for me. It feels good to be away from there, but I also don’t forget what I come from.

I’ve been playing basketball for as long as I can remember. My dad put the basketball in my hands at a young age. My mom always supported me. My brother talks to me almost on a daily basis and tells me to watch certain players in the league to model my game after and giving me tips just as a big brother should do.

KSO: What players do you model your game after?

DS: I try to model my game after Kyrie Irving, Rajon Rondo, and Deangelo Russell, but I can only put certain parts of their games in my game. I can only be the best David Sloan I can be.

KSO: What was it like coming out of High School and starting at the JUCO level knowing you always wanted to end up at a D1 school?

DS: My brother helped me out a lot. I looked at it as a different route for me. You rarely hear about kids that get recruited at a high level and then end up going JUCO, making it to where they wanted to be at. It is definitely a blessing, and I feel like I worked hard enough to be on this level.

KSO: What did you do well on the court in JUCO?

DS: My game is just what I’ve been my whole life, a true point guard. Getting my teammates involved, making open shots as a point guard should do, scoring in transition, or passing the ball when I have to. For me I would definitely say I would rather get an assist than score, because I like to see my teammates get going. Getting my teammates going, gets me going. That’s what I would say I do best.

KSO: What was it like to see K-State get the Big 12 championship last season?

DS: It was definitely exciting to see when they first started recruiting me. I tried to catch every game. When I watched them play against Kansas; it caught my attention a lot. I was like, ‘Maybe I can be on that stage one day’. And then Coach Lowery kept recruiting me harder and harder. Other schools were recruiting me, but Coach Lowery took it to another level, so I felt like this is where I should be at.

KSO: Who do you vibe with most on the team so far?

DS: I get along with everybody. I get along with Levi (Stockard) very well. We played AAU together in high school along with X (Sneed). I have gotten close with DaJuan (Gordon) since the summer. I got close with Shaun (Neal-Williams), Mike (McGuirl), mostly everybody. Obviously my roommates, Joe (Petrikis) and Mak (Mawein), we play around a lot.

KSO: Take me through the wrist injury you went through earlier this year?

DS: Right now I’m just doing workouts and limited contact stuff right now. It was definitely a set back that I didn’t want to have happen. It happened at our last JUCO open gym before we were all about to go home. This was a week after I committed. I went up for a layup and my teammate tried to block it, and at the last minute I tried to reverse it. His body hit my shoulder and I started spinning. I put my hand down and it happened from there.

KSO: What was it like playing in the JUCO All Star game back in may?

DS: I actually went up there like four days after I did that to my wrist and I still played. After that I went home and kept playing and then someone hit my wrist really hard and I was like ‘Something is definitely wrong with my hand.’ So I went to the doctor and found out I had a scaphoid fracture.

KSO: What do you hope to accomplish in your two years at K-State?

DS: I definitely want a ring that everyone got during their ring ceremony. I would like to experience my own big run that I can be apart of. I want to lead the country in assists for the next two years. I set a goal when I came into college that whatever level I was on to lead the country in assists. So I think that is what I want to do, and possibly win a national championship.

KSO: What do you think of Coach Weber?

DS: He’s a great coach. The way he runs his offense and how he likes to get out and run, it’s similar to my JUCO coach, and I was very close with him. I feel like once I get in the flow of things, me and Coach Weber will be very tight. There’s going to be up and down and times where he is not going to be so happy with me, but as a point guard I’m going to have to toughen up and just take what he says and learn from it.

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