adidas May Classic Q & A: Hanner Perea
Hanner Perea became Tom Crean’s first five-star recruit at Indiana last fall when the Colombia native gave a verbal pledge to the Hoosiers on Halloween.
Perea met with reporters after a pool play game at Assembly Hall on Saturday and talked about the AAU season to-date, playing with Yogi Ferrell, his developing confidence and more. (Photo credit: Jamie Owens of J. Scott Sports.)
On Indiana Elite Team Indiana’s spring thus far:
“This is our fourth or fifth tournament and we haven’t won any yet. Everybody knows that we just need to play hard and get through these games. We need every game so we can get our first tournament.”
On whether it will help Indiana Elite having more depth on the bench:
“Oh yeah. I mean, right now, everybody’s getting to know each other much better. Our defense has gotten much better. Our offense has gotten much better because we’ve been spending a lot of time together. Everybody knows each other pretty well.”
On how tough it is to play eight or nine games in three days in an AAU event:
“I don’t think people realize that (how tough it is). Playing seven, eight games like this is pretty hard. These are good teams that run a lot so this is hard for us. To try to win four games in one day is pretty hard. It’s going to be tough for us.”
On building chemistry with Yogi Ferrell:
“I love playing with him now. We used to know each other but now he knows me much better. I tell him a lot of times he’s not used to playing with big guys on his high school team. With me and Big O (Obij Aget) he needs to get used to that stuff.”
On building confidence and becoming more sure of himself on the block this spring:
“I’ve been thinking a lot and I just need to start getting better in every game no matter who we’re playing in the game. Just need to start doing everything I can.”
On where his game has improved the most over the past year:
“My timing. I used to rush to everything. Right now I’m taking my time with the ball and thinking about what I’m going to do with the ball. I’ve gotten a lot better with that.”
On where he still needs to improve before college:
“My dribble and my shot. That’s the main things I need to work on.”
Filed to: Hanner Perea