Player Q&A: Race Thompson talks decision to return, season outlook

THOMPSON: Malik is a strong body. He already seems like he's ready to play in the Big Ten, talented big man, handle the ball, shoot the ball, and has a lot of moves in the post. He's really impressed me, especially in the past two days he's been doing really well, and I'm excited to get on the court with him.

He hit like a little shimmy one-foot fadeaway that was pretty nasty that kind of turned my head a little bit. I would say that's one move that he made in practice the other day. He had a Euro step yesterday on like two people that was really nice. I've been really impressed with him.

Q. On the talent level of the team…

THOMPSON: Definitely. We're already shooting the ball better than we shot it last year around this time. We have like warm-up drills where we keep track of how many makes we get, and we've already bested what we started at last year. Our first time we got like 25 and our first time last summer we got like 12 or something like that, so we doubled that on the first day.

I mean, it's just overall been very competitive. I think it's even more competitive than it was last year. We have a lot of talent, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun to just keep getting to know these guys and playing together.

Q. On the second summer with the coaching staff…

THOMPSON: I mean, that second question, I mean, just meeting with the coaches and then just having that relationship that we've built over this past year, I really trust them. I believe in them. They believe in me, and they're trying to make me the best player I can become.

That's one of the main reasons I came back. I think that if I can improve my game the way they say I can, I can go to where I have dreamed to go my whole life.

I mean, just having that second year under your belt with them, again, just keep building on that relationship, it's been a lot of fun being around them, coming to practice every day, and just talking to them, getting better with them, and then again, just continuing to push me to be a leader and they're teaching me and teaching me every single day, so it's a lot of fun to be around.

Q. On personal improvements to be made…

THOMPSON: I think it really comes down to being able to shoot the ball better and handle the ball. Then again, that's not getting away from bread and butter where I can post-up any time, but I think it really comes down to being able to shoot the ball.

I've really been working on it. They've been working with me on it a lot, showing me what I need to do, what I need to change about my shot, just little tiny things to make my shot more consistent. We've seen improvements already.

I think those are some of the main things.

Q. On the impact of NIL on his return…

THOMPSON: I mean, yeah, there's some little things, but I wouldn't say NIL was the reason I came back. It really was just about me becoming the player that I want to become, and then again, trusting in these coaches to push me to be that player. I wouldn't say it had anything to do with me coming back, it was just about me becoming the player that I want to become.

Q. On his legacy…

THOMPSON: I mean, just someone who came out and gave it all they had every time they stepped on the court. I'm not sure exactly what I want my legacy to be. Obviously, I want to leave a legacy here. I think I've set a footprint. Hopefully I can make another couple footprints this coming year.

I think if I keep playing the way I can play, and I play even maybe a little bit better and improve my game as I have every year, I think that will really show what a true Hoosier is, what it's all about to be a Hoosier.

I think that's really what I want.

Q. On Jordan Geronimo potentially playing small forward…

THOMPSON: I think for him it's just about decision making and being able to handle the ball better. He's an elite defender. Everybody knows that. That's not an issue.

Again, I think it just really comes down to being able to handle the ball and make good decisions. He's been doing well in practice, improving every single day, and it's fun to watch him from being a person who they didn't -- nobody really handled the ball to being able to make a move, get by a defender, pump fake, one-dribble pull-up and being able to do that just in one summer is very impressive, and hopefully he can keep building on that and he can help us a lot.

Q. On next season’s goal…

THOMPSON: That's something we talk about every single day in practice. Our goal is to win a Big Ten Championship and a National Championship. We talked about that last year and we almost got to the Big Ten Championship in Indy. We fell short and we don't want to feel that again. We kind of got that feeling where the ball started rolling our way in the Big Ten Tournament a little bit, and that's a feeling that we want to feel all year.

I mean, that's definitely something that we talk about every day. Me personally, I don't really pay attention to the preseason. It's like June whatever day it is, so it's really early to say. No one has seen anybody play or anything. It's just a prediction. We know we've got to put the work in and go out there and perform when the lights come on.

Q. On his shot mechanics…

THOMPSON: Well, the first really just shot preparation, having my hand behind the ball ready to shoot the ball when I catch it, not having to make a lot of movements with the ball when I shoot it. That's something that has helped my shot, just not go left, right, just keep it either long or short if it's a miss, and I notice that I've made a lot more shots that way.

Then again, it was just kind of like the question of I don't really know where I would go, the question of if I was to go pro, where would I be. I don't know. I felt like if I came back here, I was able to keep building on what I've built the past two years of really playing real minutes, and hopefully with that, I can hopefully get some type of contract in the next year.

Q. On the impact of the end of the season on his decision to return…

THOMPSON: Yeah, definitely. It was one of the reasons I came back. Me and Trayce and Coach Woodson, when he first got hired, he said that we were trying to change the culture around here, and I feel like last year we kind of turned the corner a little bit, and I think that we have more corners to turn.

I think that with the people we've brought in and then the people that we kept that we can really come and do something special this coming year if all our pieces come to full. We've obviously got to play when the lights come on and everybody is going to come out to play every single night.

I think that unfinished business is definitely something that we talk about, and we kind of just made one step on that stepping-stone and we need to continue to make more steps there.

Q. On Malik Reneau…

THOMPSON: My early impressions of him are that he's a great player. I have not seen a lot of film of him in high school. When he got here, he was bigger and stronger than I had expected him to be, and he's just, like I said earlier, seems like he's already ready to play in the Big Ten. In the weight room he's strong, on the court he's strong, he's athletic, and he's skilled.

He's definitely going to be an exciting piece for us. I think he can help us out a lot.

Q. On staying focused through the hype…

THOMPSON: I think really with me, Xavier Johnson and Trayce Jackson-Davis coming back, we've got to be leaders and we've got to show people, our teammates basically, the ropes. Kind of showing them what we did last year, how it worked for us, why it worked for us, film, things like that just really help show the younger guys what it's about because it's definitely a faster pace, it's definitely stronger guys, better players.

I think with the freshmen we brought in they're going to really be able to help us there. I just think it comes to us three really being leaders and showing them how it's done because we've done it, and we're trying to be better so we can get those guys, everybody else kind of on board with us and really just bought into the whole program and Coach Woodson and all our other coaches, I think we can do something special.

Q. On Jordan Hulls coming back…

THOMPSON: He's obviously a great IU player, from Bloomington, he's bonded a lot with Anthony Leal and I've bonded with Anthony, so I kind of feel where Anthony comes from and where he looks up to Jordan a little bit. I mean, he just got back, so I don't know him that well yet, but I do know that he knows how to win and what it takes to win, so I think that having him around will definitely help us out as a team, and I think he'll be a great addition for us.

Q. On mentoring the young players…

THOMPSON: Just continuing to try to build relationships with them before anything. If you don't have a relationship with your teammates you don't really have anything. I'm really just continuing to get to know them, get more comfortable around them, make them more comfortable around everybody, around me, just getting everybody together, just so that we can get to know each other because if you have a team that really feels like a family, that's like the recipe for success.

Again, I think it's really just about continuing to make them feel comfortable, make them feel at home, and just making it like a big family here.

Q. On Kaleb Banks…

THOMPSON: Kaleb is a great player. Again, didn't really see him play in high school, didn't really know what to expect when he got here. He is very talented, big, big wing that can defend, can really shoot the ball, score the ball at all three levels. I think that he'll be a really fun player to watch, and he's going to be really fun to play with because he can make shots and he can make plays for his teammates. I think that we've got something special with all the freshmen coming in, even Jalen, CJ. I think that's all of them.

But Kaleb, he's really impressed me a lot just how comfortable he is, how confident he is in himself being able to make plays, so I think he'll be a lot of fun to watch.

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