In this, his senior year, Garrett Sim is the lone remaining member of Oregon’s 2008 recruiting class. Josh Crittle, Michael Dunigan, Matt Humphrey, Drew Wiley, Teondre Williams — they’re all gone. When Ernie Kent was fired in the spring of 2010, most of the 2008 recruits followed their head coach out the door. Sim remained, and he has emerged as a leader both on and off the court for the Ducks in 2011. His 14 points per game lead the team, and his season-high 20 points were instrumental in Oregon’s 83-76 victory on the road at Nebraska last Wednesday. The Emerald sat down with Sim before practice last week to talk about basketball and life off the court.@@http://bleacherreport.com/articles/507503-pac-10-hoops-preview-dana-altman-takes-on-a-huge-challenge-at-oregon@@
ODE: So this being your senior year, do you feel more comfortable on the court — more like a leader on the floor?
GS: Yeah, I just definitely feel more comfortable and confident. You know, it’s my last go-round,@@m w@@ so there’s a sense of urgency I think, just trying to step up and be a leader on the team.
How’s the team doing? Do you feel like you’re coming together a little bit as time has gone along?
Yeah, I think we’re definitely coming together game by game and practice by practice. We’ve just got to keep progressing and keep focusing on defense and taking care of the ball, little things like that, and I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
Going to some off the court stuff, are you still a sociology major?
Yeah, sociology major with a business minor.
Do you have any idea what you want to do with that after basketball?
I’m not sure, no. It’s a question that, especially as we get closer to the end of the year, I keep getting asked. But I’m just focusing on my senior year of basketball, and I’m gonna let the rest take care of itself after that.
So when did you add the business part to that?
I wanted to do business as a major, but it was a lot of time with this and basketball, so I saw the business minor, and I thought that would be fun. So I went for that and it wasn’t too bad.
So what are your hobbies off the court?
I’m pretty mellow. I like to just hang out with my friends at home. Play some video games — Madden or 2K and just hang out.
You have any go-to teams in Madden or 2K?
Not really. We always play with random teams in our house, so you constantly have to play with different teams. It makes you better.
Who’s your favorite team to play as in Madden?
The Lions are pretty exciting, because you can just throw it up to Calvin Johnson (laughs).
What kind of music are you into these days?
It’s pretty contrasting — I like rap and country. I like all the new rap, but country … I really love listening to country music.
Who are your favorite country artists?
Oh man, I like them all, really. I like Kenny Chesney, I’m big on Rodney Atkins right now. Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band — I love that kind of mellow country.
What about hip hop? What kind of hip hop are you into right now?
Obviously I like Lil’ Wayne, Drake, just kind of the main rap that’s out there.
Have you heard Drake’s new album yet?
Yeah, yeah definitely. It’s all right. It’s a little bit softer, but there’s still some good songs. “Over My Dead Body” — I like that song a lot.@@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-OMhv8BwnU@@
Out of curiosity, do you have an NBA team?
Well, I’m from Portland, and I’ve always grown up in Portland, so I’m definitely a Portland Trail Blazers fan.
Generally do you get a chance to watch a lot of NBA games?
Yeah, definitely. When I’m home, to be honest I like to watch any basketball that’s on. College or NBA, and TNT has a lot of good games with Charles Barkley — he’s always entertaining to listen to. So yeah, I like watching NBA games. It’s different, but it’s still basketball.
Have you gotten a chance to watch any of the upper-echelon college teams play yet?
Yeah, the Maui Classic’s been on this week. There’s a lot of tournaments going on this time of year, so it’s entertaining to watch and to kind of follow teams and see how they do, follow the teams in your league — just kind of get a feel for what each team has to bring and where we need to get to.
Anyone who’s popped out at you?
Not necessarily. Certain teams have shown good flashes, but it’s really early in the season so it’s hard to tell. But it’s fun to watch the high-ranked teams — Kentucky, Duke — and just kind of see, pick up on certain things that they do that make them at that top tier, and we wanna make it to that level.