Shooting Threes: Klee from Big Ten

-For Klee's (early) Big Ten predictions, click here.

College basketball writer Paul Klee spent Big Ten media day harassing some of the bigger names. We hit them with three pressing - and not-so-pressing - questions. Here's their take on the 2009-10 season:

GENE KEADY
Purdue coaching legend, Big Ten Network analyst
What's your take on this Big Ten?
"I think it's up. I like the way the league balances. It looks like it's going to be very difficult. I remember when we used to play games on the road and there was always a question whether you could win at that place. I think it's going to return to that this year."

In your mind, when was the Big Ten at its best?
"I think in '82, for me, when they (Indiana) had Isiah Thomas and Iowa was great and Illinois was great and Ohio State was great. We (Purdue) were competitive, but we weren't as talented as them. And, of course, when we had Glenn Robinson, I liked that year.

How does Bruce Weber feel about these Illini?
"He really likes his team. He's very optimistic. But he's not the type of guy that's going to get carried away with getting too unrealistic. He waits to see about how they develop, about injuries and all that stuff. He's pretty realistic about what can happen."

VERDELL JONES
Indiana sophomore, Champaign Central product
How would you compare Bloomington and C-U?
"I think it (Bloomington) has more of a tradition to it. It's an older town. Buildings are a lot older. I think it has an Ivy League feel to it. And the people, everyone knows who you are. Basketball is everything. Basketball is No. 1. Basketball is No. 2. And then basketball is No. 3. Basketball is God there."

I know you're still an Illinois football fan. Did you attend the (Illinois-Indiana football) game?
"Yeah, I got harassed when Juice and them struggled in that game. I was pretty upset, so I just said, 'Forget it.' They make fun of me all the time because I'm an Illinois football fan. I came into the season saying, 'Juice is a top-five quarterback in the country.' Then he comes in and disappoints me a little bit. So that's tough."

Fair for me to say Tom Crean is "naturally caffeinated?"
"I agree completely. I can't believe that he ever sleeps, really. Last night, he texted me at like 2 in the morning. I wrote back, 'Coach, it's 2 in the morning, aren't you asleep right now?' He's always awake. He's always on the go. He's thinking basketball all the time. Every time you see him he's drinking a Coke or a Diet Coke. When we have breakfast he's drinking cups of coffee left and right. I have no idea how he does it."

EVAN TURNER
Preseason All-Big Ten selection, Westchester St. Joseph product
You ate dinner with Demetri (McCamey) last night. Do you notice a change in him?
"Without a doubt. I said, 'You look like a man now. You look great.' One thing that I've always known about Demetri is how capable he was. He can do anything he wanted to when he wanted to. I'll text him and say, 'I just hit the gym and put up 500 shots. Go shoot that many. Have a big year. Let's represent St. Joe's. I know you can do it.' Talentwise, I think he's the best point guard in the Big Ten. It's all mental. If he wants to do it, he can do it. He's taking steps to do so. I'm so proud of him. I'm excited to see what type of year he has."

Will you leave for the NBA after this season?
"I don't think about it at all. I had the opportunity to leave once before and I didn't leave. I've just got to worry about getting better, making my teammates better, becoming a better player and taking things in stride. When you go out of order, that's when things get messed up. I'm putting a penny in the bank every day, you know?"

How close were you to attending Illinois?
"I was close. I was really close between Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin. I actually said, 'They're (Illinois) No. 1 on my list.' Then I went to Ohio State. I was extremely close. I really wanted to get pushed every day. That's when they (Ohio State) had Daequan Cook and Mike Conley and those guys. Coach Matta was bringing in big-name players. I figured if I could play at Ohio State and play well and be a star there, I could definitely play well in the league (NBA). They had a lot of big-name players there. Here, it was all about getting better every single day and playing with good players. It's a challenge."

CHRIS KRAMER
Purdue senior, three-time All-Defensive team selection
What do you expect from (Decatur Eisenhower's) Lewis Jackson as a sophomore?
"Now, being that point guard on your team, as a freshman, there's still some things you don't know. When to get the ball to certain people and when not to. He's a better decision-maker. He was called for a lot of charges (offensive fouls). He'd jump off one foot in the lane, get his shot blocked. He's making better decisions, kicking it out. I think he's going to be a more consistent shooter. And he's already a great on-the-ball defender."

How would you respond to people that say you foul too much?
"I foul all the time. It's just a matter of whether they call it or not. So you just try to do little things, try and sneak in there and do little things. Hand-checks at certain times to let yourself catch up on certain plays. Play hard-nosed, in-your-face defense and try to be as physical as I can, because some players don't like that."

You're going to be asked a lot about the Final Four being down the road in Indianapolis.
"We haven't really talked about it all that much. We know it's there. We watched Michigan State in Detroit last year. We know how great that was for them, how much that meant for them playing in front of so many Michigan State fans. It's something we would love to do. But at this point right now we are not a Final Four team. We have a long way to go, a lot of games to play before that. As long as we get better, keep winning basketball games, hopefully we can put ourselves in position to do that."

KALIN LUCAS
Michigan State junior, Preseason Player of the Year
As a Detroit guy, what was the feeling when you walked onto the floor at the Final Four?
"The first thing I did was look up to the sky and thank God for letting us be there. We were blessed. That was the first thing I did. It was a fun run. It was fun playing down there in Detroit. There were a little goosebumps. You had your friends and family there. Plus, it was like five minutes from where I stay (lived). A lot of people were calling me, trying to text me. I had like 200 ticket requests. It was a lot. When we beat UConn, I had like 160 text messages, just when we played UConn. It was crazy. That whole Final Four was crazy."

Alex Legion told me (that) you've known each other since you were little kids.
"I think we started playing together when we were 10 or 11. It was fun playing against him. At that time we were both playing shooting guard. I wasn't even playing point guard at that time. I think we played one-on-one against each other when we were younger. He's a good player. He's bounced around a couple times. But hopefully he'll have a good year. I want nothing but the best for him. Hopefully he'll play good, except for when he plays us."

How much do you think about leaving for the NBA after this season?
"Coach (Tom Izzo), he wants us to play in the NBA. At the same time I think if you're thinking about that, you're going to have a bad game or you won't achieve your goals. That kind of happened to me last year a little bit. We went to Florida (for the Old Spice Classic) and I was kind of thinking about the NBA a little bit. Me just thinking about it, I didn't have a good tournament in Florida. After that I sat down with Coach and my dad and they told me, 'Don't even think about that.' That's when I started playing better."

JOHN BEILEIN
Coach led Michigan to first NCAA tournament in 11 years
You arrived with a stigma that maybe you wouldn't be able to recruit Detroit. Manny Harris said that perception has changed.
"I look at the whole state of Michigan. That's where we want to recruit young men that love Michigan, that really want to go to Michigan. When you're at a university like Michigan and you also have a great national appeal, that's a great thing. I think we're making inroads in recruiting everywhere. Hopefully down the line people will be able to see that as our program continues to grow."

When a Detroit product like Manny Harris develops the way he has - how does that affect recruiting the city?
"Guys like Manny and DeShawn (Sims) have really flourished with the way we've played. You never saw my Richmond teams or my Canisius teams, but we had guys like this that were tremendous players. They didn't play in the pros, they didn't play in Europe. But for that level they were very good. When you get to this level, these kids can really flourish. That's what we're trying to do: find the right kid that can really flourish. He's got to be able to shoot it, he's got to be able to pass it, he's got to want to continue to get better. There's plenty in Michigan and all over the country. We've got to find them."

How much counsel do you give Manny Harris on possibly leaving for the NBA after his junior season?
"When the year was over, when we lost to Oklahoma (in the NCAA tournament), we got home and the next day I had both of them in my office. I said, 'We haven't talked about it, let's get educated right now. Here's what we need to do.' We contacted the league office and found out where they would be (in the draft). We put that information in front of them, so they knew it. We were proactive, as opposed to letting other people tell them what they should do. We didn't tell anybody what they should do. We just gave them that information."

TOM IZZO
Michigan State coach, dean of Big Ten coaches in his 15th season
On getting to Detroit last season.
"There was great pressure on the team. In our fans' mind, you have to get there. You're a team that could be there. I say there's 15 teams a year that have a chance. Some years there's one or two that - North Carolina last year, you almost wrote them in. Kansas this year I don't think is quite in the same boat, but they're closer to writing them in. To be really honest with you, we're in that 2 through 15 teams right now. Could you flip-flop most of them? I think you could flip-flop all of them. I think we're a Top 20 team right now, hopefully working our way down."

Are you still having fun?
"You know, I am having fun. The old adage is true: It's harder to stay there than it is to get there. The outside distractions get to you. Not the media. The players, the agents, the different things they deal with. That's harder. And I think recruiting's getting harder. I think there's more cheating. I think it's getting worse again (because) we make more money, to be honest with you. So there's never an offseason. You talk about when do you recharge your batteries, I don't think there is one. ... I think that's my next step. I think I have to learn to enjoy what we've built."

Do you take it easier because maybe you're on that (elite) level now?
"No, and I'll tell you why. The school does not recruit to itself. I don't know if it ever will. We're only talking four or five or six programs that have ever done that. Do I think we're in that next tier? Yeah, I do. If I'm not out every day in the summer... I think I missed two days in 14 years. Those programs, they work, they have to be out 10 or 12 days in the summer. That's never going to change in my era. What I'm trying to build, it's what Kentucky and Carolina built over 50 years, 70 years. I'm not going to see that in my time. What I'm hoping to do is get it to that point where the basement is so good, and maybe part of the first floor, and maybe one of my guys comes in and takes it to another level from there."

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