After missing the majority of the 2009-2010 season with a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot, Matt Roth, arguably Indiana’s best pure shooter, is 100 percent healthy.
Inside the Hall went one-on-one with the junior guard on Thursday about a variety of topics including offseason workouts, Cook Hall, competitiveness for playing time and more. The transcript of our Q & A is below:
On his individual progress this offseason and the team’s offseason progress:
“It’s been a real good summer. I took classes both summer sessions. I’ve been working out, trying to get back to playing like I did before my injury and playing much better. It’s been a good summer for me and a great summer for the team. We’ve really made a lot of strides and built a lot of good relationships within the team. That’s something you definitely need going into the season.”
On the competitiveness for playing time in the backcourt:
“I think it’s going to be very competitive and I think everybody kind of knows what they bring to the table and what they’re going to have to bring every day to practice. And that’s going to be a great challenge coming into practice knowing that we’re going to be as competitive as we are both in practice and certainly on the court when the games come around.”
On what he learned last season missing time with an injury:
“It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever gone through with basketball. It’s been such a huge part of my life and not to have it be something I could physically do was very difficult for me. But it also opened up a lot of great opportunities for me to learn and take different aspects and outlooks on life. It really made me cherish the game would be a way to put it. It means just as much now as ever, but it just kind of revamped my love for the game. I was able to learn a lot of things. It was very difficult, but it’s something I’m going to look back on someday and be grateful that I had the opportunity to recover, learn and move forward.”
Joe Eberhardt, the editor and creator of Indy Hoops Blog, was in attendance this past weekend at the ChicagoHoops.com End of Season Showdown in Merrillville, Indiana. Also in attendance: A trio of Indiana coaches: Tom Crean, Bennie Seltzer and Steve McClain. 
If Austin Etherington moved out of the national rankings as a result of missing significant time this past spring, perhaps his performances in July will prove his name belongs amongst the country’s elite high school players.
