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SEATTLE — The members of Houston's 2021 state title basketball team are doing pretty well for themselves.
TJ Madlock, Mason Miller, Mavrick Miller, Ahmad Nowell and Zander Yates are all playing in the NCAA tournament this week. And they still keep in touch. Yates, who plays for Liberty, texted Madlock after he helped the Hornets to their first ever NCAA tournament win on Tuesday.
"Honestly just the camaraderie of it," Yates said Thursday. "It's been four years since that team and we still all keep in touch with each other."
Yates started his collegiate career with Mason Miller at Creighton, but he transferred to Liberty and has played the last two seasons for the Flames. He's averaging 3.2 points and 1.2 rebounds per game this season for No. 12 Liberty, which will face No. 5 Oregon on Friday (9:10 p.m. CT, TruTV) at Climate Pledge Arena. He also gets to play at the same site as his hometown team, as No. 5 Memphis will square off with No. 12 Colorado State earlier on Friday.
Though he was part of a loaded Mustangs team that also had Arkansas-Little Rock's Johnathan Lawson and SMU's Jarrell Colbert, Yates said the adjustment to college basketball was difficult when he first got to Creighton.
"When you come from high school, the physicality and pace is on a whole other level," he said. "Physicality is the main thing, especially now because you've got a lot of older guys that are still in college. That was my big eye-opener that I had to get used to."
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Yates played 11 minutes in Liberty's Conference USA title game win over Jacksonville State. The Flames (28-6) have won 10 games in a row and have plenty of confidence heading into the matchup with the Ducks (24-10).
Yates, now three seasons removed from high school, believes he's in the right place to play a role for an NCAA tournament win. That's the biggest difference he sees in himself from the kid who left Houston and went to Creighton in 2021.
"Honestly, the mentality portion of it," he said. "Getting older, just understanding more and getting outside of yourself more, being more confident and not worrying about mistakes and what other people think has been the main thing that's helped me."
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at [email protected] or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Catching up with Zander Yates about state title, Liberty basketball
Continue reading...
TJ Madlock, Mason Miller, Mavrick Miller, Ahmad Nowell and Zander Yates are all playing in the NCAA tournament this week. And they still keep in touch. Yates, who plays for Liberty, texted Madlock after he helped the Hornets to their first ever NCAA tournament win on Tuesday.
"Honestly just the camaraderie of it," Yates said Thursday. "It's been four years since that team and we still all keep in touch with each other."
Yates started his collegiate career with Mason Miller at Creighton, but he transferred to Liberty and has played the last two seasons for the Flames. He's averaging 3.2 points and 1.2 rebounds per game this season for No. 12 Liberty, which will face No. 5 Oregon on Friday (9:10 p.m. CT, TruTV) at Climate Pledge Arena. He also gets to play at the same site as his hometown team, as No. 5 Memphis will square off with No. 12 Colorado State earlier on Friday.
Though he was part of a loaded Mustangs team that also had Arkansas-Little Rock's Johnathan Lawson and SMU's Jarrell Colbert, Yates said the adjustment to college basketball was difficult when he first got to Creighton.
"When you come from high school, the physicality and pace is on a whole other level," he said. "Physicality is the main thing, especially now because you've got a lot of older guys that are still in college. That was my big eye-opener that I had to get used to."
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Yates played 11 minutes in Liberty's Conference USA title game win over Jacksonville State. The Flames (28-6) have won 10 games in a row and have plenty of confidence heading into the matchup with the Ducks (24-10).
Yates, now three seasons removed from high school, believes he's in the right place to play a role for an NCAA tournament win. That's the biggest difference he sees in himself from the kid who left Houston and went to Creighton in 2021.
"Honestly, the mentality portion of it," he said. "Getting older, just understanding more and getting outside of yourself more, being more confident and not worrying about mistakes and what other people think has been the main thing that's helped me."
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at [email protected] or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Catching up with Zander Yates about state title, Liberty basketball
Continue reading...
