The Bee: Jerry Brown, he's a guy who started to play a lot more over the last part of the season. He played 16 minutes or so over the last 12 games. Where does he fit?

RT: Jerry is a kid who is an athletic kid, who physically again is still developing, still continuing to work as a player, work on his skill set. He's a guy that you'd like to think a year or two from now will have better ball skills to possibly play on the perimeter a little bit. His ball skills limit him right now from being a guy that can play on the perimeter a lot. With that being said, him being an athletic undersized guy, he'd better have some energy. He better be a guy who moves around the floor a bit and plays with energy, because those are things that are strengths for him right now.

The Bee: He probably was more post in high school then?

RT: He probably was and sometimes with guys like that they don't get a chance to ... you see them potentially as perimeter players in the future with the thought process that they come in and you work with them, you have a good player development program and they got a chance to get better with their ball skills that he can play some perimeter in college.

But with that being said, too, I think not just from an offensive standpoint, I think defensively too, because when a kid has been put on the inside and played the interior in high school, he really struggles from play to play to play on the perimeter. A lot of times in high school you have one play and then you're done. On the perimeter you go from one play, you've got another assignment and you've got another assignment. That's the biggest adjustment for guys playing the interior, trying to understand the concepts defensively on the perimeter.

It's a lot tougher. Sometimes it takes those guys a lot longer to feel comfortable on the perimeter. But we need him to be an energy guy, guy that bring some physicality, being physical, rebounding, and kind of do the dirty work.

The Bee: In terms of developing those skills, though, how strong is that foundation?

RT: He understood real quickly since I've been here that's an important aspect of his growth curve and for him to continue to help us in this program, he needs to place a priority on that because the way we want to play and what we want to do, the guys at his position, they have to be able to do all those things. They have to be able to pass the basketball, dribble the basketball, shoot the ball. He's worked hard. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's tried to get better and he's still a young player so there's still room for growth.

The Bee: One of the new guys, Daquan Brown, I saw him listed early at 170 pounds. That's 6-foot-10, 170. Is that right?

RT: No, Daquan, he's about 205. But he's a chicken wing guy.

The Bee: Did he put that weight on since he's been here?

RT: You know what, he's probably put on eight to 10 pounds since he's been here. But, again, he's a guy that late in the game, you get a job and you lose a few guys who feel like they might be better served or a better fit somewhere else, and you need length, and you look at best available, and you're hoping that he comes in and gives you something of that resemblance in terms of what you're looking for. He's one of those guys. He has the length. Can he be physical and get some things done in his own way? I think he can. I think he can contribute and go after some tough rebounds for us and do some things.

But I think the biggest adjustment for him, obviously, is you're making a step up in terms of level of competition to Division I and a lot of times with junior college players it takes a few games, sometimes it takes a full year before they realize what they've got themselves into. He was a guy who was available late that possibly could give us a little length and that was something we were really lacking. We lost a lot of size now.

The Bee: That's one thing that really stands out. The lack of bigs. So how do you get him to that point, other than make him eat six times a day?

RT: I don't think there's any magic formula in terms of putting weight on that dude right now at this point. I think it's a matter of putting him in positions or situations where he can actually try to help us a little bit. We'll have to try to see again if he can be a guy who gives a little presence in terms of some rebounds and hopefully defending a little bit. That's what we're hoping for.

The Bee: Kevin Foster has some chops coming in, player of the year in his conference, started his career at George Mason ...

RT: Kevin Foster is not a stranger to Division I. He competed at the Division I his freshman year at George Mason and from that point transferred and went the junior college route. But Kevin Foster is a guy who is physically ready for this level. He's a guy who has gotten in better shape since he's gotten here over the summer and has a good skill set. Kevin can shoot the basketball. He can score the ball. He's a good solid player, a good player, with a lot of room still to grow in some areas.

You know, being an older player, he's still learning how hard he has to compete night in and night out, no different than sometimes younger players. He's a junior. But he still is figuring that out in terms of what it's going to take for him to maximize what the good Lord has given him.

But he'll be a guy that we count heavily on in terms of scoring. We're really trying to get him to figure out the defensive side of it in terms of guarding hard and being competitive, being a very competitive guy, to where he's a little mentally tougher. He's worked hard. He's made a lot of strides. But he's a guy that can for sure help us this year.

The Bee: The mental toughness, do you believe that you either have it or you don't, or is it something that can coach can develop in some guys?

RT: To me, just like I preach to our guys, what's really tough? Tough and mental toughness to me are guys that do what they're supposed to do and do the job. OK. If you're a guy that is supposed to put your body on somebody and screen, screen him. That's being a tough guy. You're executing what we're asking you to do. If you're a guy that's coming off that screen, V-cut the way you're supposed to, get separation, do your work early, do you job. That's being a tough guy. OK. To me, that separates guys.

I'm not asking a guy to stick a chicken wing out and knock somebody down, cheap shot, that's not being tough. Being tough is doing your job, doing the details. What's your responsibility on this play? Do it. That's being a tough guy. That's mentally tough. That's not beating yourself and that's understanding the team concept and what goes into winning. That's mental toughness to me.

The Bee: With Kevin then, how do you go about developing that?

RT: He's getting better with that. He's understanding concepts better. He's understanding that the good Lord has blessed him with a great body, OK. If he learns to screen, nine out of 10 times if I'm a great screener, I'm probably going to get great looks and great opportunities to score. It's a simple game. Not a hard game. But you have to understand the little things that go into being successful and I think doing those types things -- getting an extra possession, rebound for us, running the floor, defending, learning to play hard all the time ... hard. Sounds easy. It's hard to do. You know, at the level we want you to do it.

The Bee: That level is probably higher than every one of these guys have been at ...

RT: If you ask a guy to play 27 minutes, 28 minutes a game in a collegiate 40-minute game at the level that we want them to play at, peak level, it's hard to do. You take some of the greatest college players to play, and I'm talking playing on both ends, 27 minutes, not just one end. It's hard to do and you have to be a well-conditioned guy to be able to do those kinds of things and you better be a mentally tough guy to be able to do that. That's a premium, for guys to be able to do that.

Now, are you going to play perfect? We're not asking anybody to play perfect. Michael Jordan didn't play perfect. He's one of the greatest players of all time. You're going to make mistakes. It's how you make them and we want to make them on our terms, in terms of going hard, getting after it, and not selling yourself short.

The Bee: So fundamentally, with those things that we're talking about, he still has some ground to cover?

RT: Kevin has got some growth. But he can definitely, in terms of having an opportunity to be one of the better players in our league, he could. He's got to pay the price to do it. He's got the skill set to do it. It's just a matter of him really wanting it. We can want it all day. He's got to want it, you know what I mean?

The Bee: What's your sense on that? You say he has to pay the price ...

RT: When I say pay the price, it's in terms of putting the time in, putting the extra work in. We're going to be demanding already when we get you on the floor. We're going to push you. We're going to do our part. What are you going to do to make yourself better, to get where you want to get to? That's what I mean.

The Bee: Another new guy, kind of an interesting guy, is Grant Hefeng.

RT: Yeah. Grant is a kid who has a real good skill set. He's around 6-8, gives us a little bit of size and some length, a little bit. But he is a package of a guy who, if he wasn't in a situation this year where we really had to throw him in the fire, he'd be an unbelievable guy to redshirt and bring along. He'd be great, because he's going to learn so much this year in one year's time.

He's going to be a good player. But he's learning, obviously, the American game in terms of day in and day out, how physical he needs to be. He's learning to try to take that to another level. But his skill set package is going to be good enough. He's good. He's going to be a good player. Again, he's another young player. He's young. He's only a freshman, learning how hard he has to play on both ends. But he has a chance. I like Grant. Grant is learning.

The Bee: And you're in a position, with the lack of bigger bodies, he has to play now ...

RT: Oh, he has to. He has to play right now. We don't have the luxury of having guys with size to where he can get some tutelage and learn. He's got to go I the fire right now. But he'll be better for it in the future. He will. And he'll be a guy that probably continues to progress throughout the year.

The Bee: Where do you see him in terms of his development? Like you said, the game here has to be drastically different, speed-wise, everything ...

RT: Oh, yeah. Coming from where we came from in terms of high-level programs, Grant would be a perfect guy. We all have said we would have loved to have a guy like that to redshirt and bring him along and play him against competition every day because he's only going to get better and better. But his development right now, he's understanding things concept wise, he's also working through obviously the language barrier and things, but he's picking things up quicker than people probably would have thought. He's a sharp kid. But he's also catching everything on the fly. Sometimes he understands what Coach Terry is saying, sometimes he doesn't. He's like, coach, you're speaking Spanish to me right now. What are you speaking? Because it's coming so fast, but he's picked up a lot and you show him one time, a time or two, he'll figure it out. But he's a guy, based on what we have and numbers and size-wise, he's got to play right now for us.

The Bee: Any sense the competition level will get to him at all?

RT: Oh, he's a kid that's played on the international stage. Basketball is a global game now. You're not just competing against American kids. It's global. Those guys in international competition, they play everybody. He's not walking out afraid of Americans. He's played against Americans. He's played against guys from Greece. He's played from guys from Italy. It doesn't matter. He's played them. On the international scene, he's played on his national team. Those guys, they play everybody. International competition, you go watch a FIBA championship and you come back and watch an AAU deal, it's like night and day. It's not even close, in terms of level of competition.

The Bee: Because they're actually playing defense there?

RT: They're trying to play defense and there are guys that have a chance to play for money. That's not to say that all AAU guys are not going to play for money, but it's different in terms of level of competition. If half of the Americans can see what goes on at the FIBA championships, it would blow their minds. It's a high level of competition. And he's already played that, so he's not going to be afraid of anybody.

He's played at that level since he was 10 years old. In China they get hand selected to get into the sports institutions and he's been in the institutions for a long time. Basketball has been a way of life for him for a long time, and he's not the typical freshman in terms of being away from home. Over there, when you take a guy out of his home, he's gone. He isn't back at home. He's been away from home almost his whole life.

The Bee: Larry McGaughy, more of a 2 or a 3 than a 4 or a 5 ...

RT: Larry is a kid who has good length on the perimeter. He's a guy who, again, late in the signing period was a guy who was on our radar based on him being a team guy, a guy who made other guys around him better in terms of he'd do whatever it takes for the team to be successful. He had some accolades, being a JUCO All-American and things of that nature, but his biggest asset is that if you need him to guard he can guard, if you need him to score he can score a little bit.

He's a guy that can do a little bit of everything for you and for us, in losing a couple of guys, we needed a guy who was kind of a utility guy who can get some things done in all aspects. We're hoping that he brings that to the table, being an energy guy, a guy who is a defensive stopper for us, a guy who plays hard every night. He's one of those guys who bring some intangibles to the table.

The Bee: So, when it comes to the 4s and 5s ...

RT: Do you have some out there you can bring me? Those are high premiums in terms of what we're looking for in the future. We just don't have a lot of them. We lost a lot in terms of what we lost from last year's team. We're going to have to have guys be very versatile. We are. We're going to have to have guys that can do a little perimeter work, a little bit of inside work. And you play with what you have. Guys have got to learn how to play hard and lay it all out there.

The Bee: On Saturday, though, you have an experienced 1 and you have Kevin at 2, you have some guys who can play on the wing. But the bigger bodies ...

RT: The 4s and 5s, it's by committee. Whoever wants to step up and bring it. Heck, if we have to play small, we'll play small. You know what I mean? I'm not opposed to that. We're going to play the best guys that play the hardest out there and give us the best chance to win. Nobody is guaranteed any starting spot. You earn your starting spot. You earn what you get by what you bring to the table day in and day out. The guys all know who should be playing and who shouldn't be playing, because they see it every day.

To me, we can play four guards and one big. We played four guards and one big at Texas. It's all relative to how hard you get guys playing. Guys play hard, size ... it's great to have size. Do you want size? Absolutely. But you want to play on your own terms. Size is not greater than not playing the way you want to play. I think we'll play to our strengths in terms of who is working hard and who has earned it and that's all open, that's all decided in practice and who is putting their best foot forward in terms of who is separating themselves to be on the floor. Nobody is given a right just because you're a 4 and you've got size. That doesn't mean you're going to play. You can be one of the tallest guys on the team but if you're not busting your tail and getting after it you're not playing. Bottom line. We're going to play hard. We're going to get after it. I don't care how big we are, how small we are. It doesn't really matter.

There are a lot of successful programs that are small. It's all relative. It all gets back to how hard you play, buying in to competing and really understanding what that means.