Buccaneers share wisdom with Hampton Jr. ‘Dogs
Published 2:59 pm Thursday, October 4, 2018
- Star Photo/Bryce Phillips ETSU basketball players Jeromy Rodriguez, left, and Bo Hodges takes a picture with a Hampton elementary student.
With the basketball preseason in session, the East Tennessee State University men’s basketball team is hard at work in preparation for the 2018-19 season.
Three Bucs, however, with a busy schedule of practices and school work, made some time Tuesday to visit and speak with Hampton Elementary teacher Tim Hall’s seventh-grade students.
ETSU basketball players Jeromy Rodriguez, Bo Hodges, and Patrick Good fielded questions from the group of eager Jr. Bulldogs while also passing along some wisdom about life as collegiate student-athletes. Also on hand from ETSU was Chris Forbes and Bryan Forbes, who both work with the basketball program.
One of the biggest pieces advice came from Good, who is a guard for the Bucs. Good, before transferring to ETSU, played a year at Appalachian State University as a freshman. In high school, Good was a standout player for the David Crockett High School boys basketball team and was the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,716 points and also held the team’s all-time assist record with 780.
Good alluded to his first year at App State before his moved to ETSU and told the Hampton students that he was respectful to everyone he encountered.
“Always be respectful with everyone you work with,” said Good to the class. “No matter the situation, you should always show everyone respect.”
The players always touched on the difference of being in high school and college.
“It is a big difference,” said Hodges. “You are living on your own. You have to make sure you’re always on time. You have to mature a lot quicker. You have to learn to stay on top of everything.”
While talking about the changes students encounter in the classroom, the players also spoke about the changes players face on the basketball court, mentioning the faster pace of collegiate basketball in comparison to high school ball.
“You have to learn to shake off mistakes quickly,” said Good. “In college, one mistake can become ten if you don’t move on and have a short memory.”
During the 2017-18 season, the Bucs went 25-9 overall and finished 14-4 in the Southern Conference. ETSU finished runner-up in the SoCon Tournament after falling to UNCG 62-47.
At the end of Tuesday’s Q&A, the Bucs took a moment to take pictures with the students and sign autographs.
ETSU will tip off the 2018-19 season at Georgia State on Nov. 6.
