Marcus Relphorde, the newest addition to the Colorado Buffaloes basketball team was gracious enough to sit down with us yesterday to talk about his game, the future of the Buffs and even a little NBA playoff basketball. Here is a full write up of Marcus' profile when he signed with CU earlier this week.
I was very impressed with him and think he is a great addition to the program. Definitely a Ralphie Report favorite.
Here is the interview:
The Ralphie Report (TRR): First of all, congratulations on committing and becoming a Buff. Hopefully you are as excited as we are.
Marcus Relphorde (MR): I am definitely excited. I am ready to get down there now.
TRR: Great. Are you still at Indian Hills Community College right now?
MR: Yeah, I am still at Indian Hills finishing up some classes. We get out next week.
TRR: Well we are excited to get you on campus. What should Buff fans know about you & your game and what do you hope to bring to Boulder?
MR: The best thing to know about my game is my versatility. I cause a lot of match-up problems because of my size. I can do a lot of things with the ball in my hands, I am big enough to play against the big defenders and I can pose mismatch problems for smaller guard players. I shoot the ball well and I am very unselfish. I think the coaches like me most because of my versatility and my ability to cause match-up problems.
TRR: I know you were heavily recruited by Arkansas and TCU as well as Colorado. What really separated Colorado from those two schools and what was the deciding factor to make you commit?
MR: What really separated them was the relationship I had with Coach Bzdelik and Coach McClain. They recruited me pretty hard the whole year and I just felt really comfortable with them. It is always great to play for a (former) NBA coach. Coach Bzdelik has a great resume from coaching in the NBA. Also I wanted a chance to play in the Big 12 and the recruits they already signed and the players they have coming back, they are real close to getting over the hump and make some noise in the conference.
see after the jump for the rest of the interview...
TRR: That leads me to my next question, you're a commit looking on the outside, you obviously know that there have a been a few tough years for Colorado basketball. Put yourself two years down the line, when you are a senior, what do you see happening with the program while you are here? What are your goals for the team and you personally?
MR: My goal for the team is to get the tournament BOTH years I am here. I feel like we can get to the tournament next year and by my senior year, hopefully we can get into the tournament and make some noise. I feel with the team we currently have and coach Bzdelik, we are set up to do very well. As far as individually, my goal is to be the best player I can be. Be an All-Big 12 performer by my senior year.
TRR: We know about your versatility, a 6'7" wing/guard combo is going to be great in a Buffs uniform. What are some areas that you feel you need to work on to be the best player you can be?
MR: I always feel I need to work on every aspect of my game. Maybe more around the defense end as far as staying with smaller, quicker point guards. I just want keep working on the details and paying attention to the little things like footwork.
TRR: What has coach Bzdelik told you about the position he would like you to play, the 2 or 3 spot, maybe a 4? Where do they project you?
MR: He is projecting me at the 2 and the 3, mainly the 3. I have the ability to get the rebound and bring the ball up the court as well. He basically wants me to use my versatility on the floor, whether it is posting up smaller players, basically doing whatever is needed in the system.
TRR: You first went to St. Louis University (out of high school), what caused you to transfer to Indian Hills?
MR: I committed to St. Louis out of high school because I wanted to be closer to home (Chicago area). I was playing prep ball out east and most of the teams that recruited me from the A-10 were on the east coast so St. Louis (to be closer to home) was attractive to me. Once I signed, the coach got fired, a week or two after. Originally I was going to take my letter back and then coach Majerus got the job. One of the old assistants was hired on to the new staff, we all sat down and originally, it was a good fit. But after I was there, it really didn't work out the way I wanted it to or how I planned it to. I decided to go to junior college because I didn't play as much as I wanted to and I didn't want to sit out a year by transferring straight to a division one (school). I opened my recruitment back up and decided on Indian Hills who was preseason #1 (in the junior college ranks). There I had the opportunity to play against great competition.
TRR: That was a great choice to play for Indian Hills and not sit a year out. It allowed you to get great game action against strong competition, making you more "division one" ready your first year at Colorado. How did your time at Indian Hills help you prepare for your career as a Buff?
MR: I feel like that experience is going to help me because of the competition we had on this team (Indian Hills), even in practice. We had nine division one players on last year's team. Everyday in practice, all the players were competitive, something that can compare to the division one level. There were no breaks playing at Indian Hills, you had to practice hard to play. We had a good coach who pushed us everyday in practice. It felt like I was playing at division one level everyday.
TRR: Moving on to some less serious questions. Have you been to Boulder yet and if you have, how did you like it?
MR: I was in Boulder the weekend of the 10th, April 10th. I really liked it and hadn't been to Colorado before so the mountains were crazy (to see). The players were cool. I liked how everyone got along and they were really close, kind of like a family. I also liked learning about the academics and everything. It just all clicked.
TRR: Favorite NBA player or a player you try to emulate your game after?
MR: That's tough question. My favorite player is Lebron James and I like Brandon Roy, a lot of people say I look like him.
TRR: Being from Chicago, you think the Bulls got a shot?
MR: I hope they do, they should have pulled out the last game (game 5). It has a been a good series so far.
TRR: Well, that's all I have, thanks for taking some time with us today and we look forward to seeing you on campus