The Sam Vincent Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, May 15th,
2006
You
signed to play collegiate basketball at Michigan State. Please take me back to
the recruiting process, and the factors that led you to sign with the Spartans.
I
was heavily recruited coming out of Eastern, and by a lot of different
programs. I took the time to go out and visit a few – Wichita State and the
University of Hawaii, for example – because I wanted to get some kind of balance
in the recruiting process. I think that Michigan State was always the favorite
and the frontrunner – my brother Jay went there, and I was pretty close to Magic
[Johnson] at that time. Staying home was also something that I really wanted to
do, and visiting the other schools helped to solidify that in my mind. So even
though I had a chance to run around and see a bunch of different programs, and
to get a feel for a lot of different campuses in the process, it all boiled down
to two factors – Michigan State was close to home, where I would have the
support of my family, and it was also the school where my brother won a national
championship.
In 1985,
you earned
Sporting News
All-America
honors. How big a deal was this for you?
Back
then I was really caught up in the moment – I was playing hard and working
hard, and I really didn’t truly appreciate what I was doing. Now, as I look
back on those accomplishments all over again, they mean even more. I’ve had
a number of years to be removed from all of the hoopla, and I’ve also had a
chance to become a basketball coach – and that in itself has helped me
understand what goes into becoming a pretty good basketball player. So now
I have a higher level of appreciation for it all.
You were
also recognized with the George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year award.
How were you able to keep a level head, and not succumb to the ‘Big Man on
Campus’ mindset?
A
big part of it was focus. I realized that I wanted to become the best
player possible, and that I had to stay focused in order to do that. I also
knew that I had to maintain a level head. So my main objective throughout
that period was to work hard, and to continue doing the things I needed to
do in order to become a pretty good collegiate player. And I also wanted to
stay away from anything that was detrimental to that goal. I stayed out of
trouble, went to class, and went to basketball practice. Those things kept
me very busy, and naturally kept me pretty focused.
The
Boston Celtics selected you with the 20th overall pick in the 1985 NBA
Draft. Please take me back to that experience. And how has draft changed
since then?
Going
back to draft day, I remember sitting around the living room waiting for my
name to be called. I remember thinking that I should have gone earlier in
the draft – there was a lot of talk that the Chicago Bulls were going to
take me at No. 11, because they had just drafted Michael Jordan the year
before and needed a point guard – and then kind of feeling disappointed
because I slid a little bit. I wasn’t disappointed to be drafted by the
Boston Celtics – it was just the fact that I had slipped to the twentieth
overall pick in the draft. As far as Celtics went, I knew their history and
I knew about all of the legends who had made that franchise so great. I had
heard about Bill Russell and John Havlicek. I general, I knew who they were
and some of the things that they had accomplished. It was exciting from
that standpoint. But growing up, the Boston Celtics really weren’t the team
that I fantasized about. As a young kid, I didn’t step onto the court
imagining myself as this guy or that guy – I don’t ever remember pretending
to be Nate Archibald, or M.L. Carr, or any of those guys. But I do remember
being excited about my it on draft day, once I got over the disappointment
of slipping so far down in the order. I was thrilled to be picked to play
in the NBA, and thrilled to join a team like the Celtics.
