My Take on Wake - A Little Time with Travis McKie

A Little Time with Travis McKie

Headed home today to Franklin to hang out with my brother Joe and his family before snaking down through North Georgia and Northwest South Carolina into Clemson tomorrow for the game at Littlejohn. Always a great trip back in time.

But before I point my bumper west and step on the gas, I wanted to leave you with a few left-overs from the feature that will run on Travis McKie in tomorrow’s Journal. I hope you check it out.

McKie is one of the most impressive freshmen I’ve ever seen show up at Wake, both on the court and off. If he continues to progress at the rate we’ve seen this season, I’m convinced he’ll get plenty of consideration for first-team All-ACC before he’s out of here. He’ll get extra credit with the media because he’s already one of the most articulate and analytical players in the league. We talked about that and other matters, and here’s a couple of the questions and responses that didn’t make my story.

MTOW: What parts of you game do you feel you need to sand down before making a transition from power forward to wing forward?

TM: Offensively I need to work on my ball-handling. That’s one of the main things. My shooting has been subpar, mediocre at this point. It needs to get better. My lateral quickness – I’m not as quick as I need to be to guard the three, or switch one to three and guard the point guard as well. Also get stronger. I gained 10 to 20 pounds when I got here. I need to gain some more. It’s going to be a big off-season for me, and for everybody on this team. I think when people see me in summer school and in summer league in July I’ll be a much different player.

MTOW: You’re so comfortable around the media. Is that something that just came natural for you?

TM: I pretty much got used to it in high school. My Mom’s is a teacher, so I’ve always been an outspoken person. That’s how I was raised. So I got used to it in high school and AAU, so this is pretty much second nature to me.

MTOW: Do you expect to remain at Wake for four years?

TM: Pretty much. The NBA is the NBA. I’ve got a lot of work to get there. I don’t even think anybody on our team is NBA ready at this point. I think as far of the NBA goes, a lot of people just take potential. But you’ve got to have the productivity. But I know in my mind and heart I’m not an NBA player right now. I have a lot of work to do before I can even think about that. So I’m not going to say I’m going to stay four years. If the opportunity exists I’m definitely going to look at it. But as of right now I’m definitely not ready. A four-year player, there’s nothing wrong with being a four-year guy. Jimmy Fredette is a four-year guy. E’Twaun Moore and JuJuan Johnson of Purdue. Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Those are great players and they’re four-year guys. I think people out there, people in the media and people in the public are putting it out there that if you’re one-and-done, you’re the best. It’s a process. You just can’t jump into it. That’s one thing I learned. You can’t throw around the word NBA like it’s so easy to get into, because it’s not.

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 02/25/2011 (12:18 pm)

Comments

Assuming that the interview was not cleaned up, TM may be the most articulate Wake BB player in a very long time. Perhaps a budding politician. And, an extremely talented player.

gary on 02/25/2011 (10:46 pm)

Travis is one of the reasons that, in spite of the team’s struggles, it’s easy to say, “Proud to be a Deacon” ... and one of the reasons it makes sense to continue to support this team.

Rhenish on 02/25/2011 (2:47 pm)

Totally agree with everything Ken said. I’ve been very proud to have Travis McKie representing our team and school.

In this interview, I was particularly impressed by how critical Travis was when asked to assess the areas he needed to improve. That’s the mark of a great player - always aware of how he can and must improve. I only hope that his attitude is shared by the rest of the guys on the team. They all have significant potential that can be tapped with the right attitude and hard work.

DC on 02/25/2011 (2:18 pm)

Travis is an impressive kid. We enjoy watching him. If Wake needs a player to step up next year as their leader, I don’t think they could do any better than Travis.

Jim on 02/25/2011 (1:06 pm)

I will say that Travis Mckie is a very bright spot in an otherwise horrific season. What I like best about Mckie is that he is giving 100% regardless of the score. He is playing way undersized at the power forward with usually no other forward to help rebound, but he almost always leads Wake in boards. Most of this is hustle and determination. He is not the most talented freshman we have had recently, but he may end up making a bigger mark than most of the others. He reminds me some of Josh Howard. Josh was the only player I have ever seen to improve significantly every year. Mckie has a lot of those intangibles relating to desire, effort and basketball IQ. Hope he sticks around for a good while.

Ken Nowell on 02/25/2011 (12:48 pm)