The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Guard Keith Carter Talks About Making Team USA
6/21/1999 | Men's Basketball
July 16, 1998
Q&A with Ole Miss guard Keith Carter on making the USA Men's Goodwill Games Team.
Q: How does it feel to make the 12-man roster and represent your country?
A: I feel good. (The team) has been through a lot, we've really worked hard and I think we got the best 12 representatives on the team. We had a good work out (Thursday night) and we just got to keep at it.
Q: Have you talked with Ole Miss head coach Rod Barnes?
A: He came to Chicago on Monday and Tuesday and we talked for a while. He's busy recruiting right now and he said he was going to come to New York on Friday. He said he's really proud of me.
Q: Have you thought about what it will be like to play in Madison Square Garden?
A: It should be a lot fun and it has a lot of history. Hopefully we can go there and play well and bring back the gold for our country.
Q: Can you talk just a little bit about the trials?
A: We went up to Minneapolis (July 6-12) and went through two-a-days up there, going about two hours each session. We then went down to Chicago for a couple of days and we scrimmaged against the team that will be going to Greece for the World Championships. It was some great competition for us to see if we could play at that level. They took it to us pretty good the first day but the second day we went back it at and gained a lot of confidence from that experience.
Q: What is probably the main thing you add to this team?
A: I've been shooting the ball really well and Coach (Clem) Haskins wanted several shooters on the team since that's a big thing in international ball. I also think my passing and I can help the point guard run the offense and find the open shooter. It'll take a total team effort.
Q: Have you seen any tape of the teams in your pool or have you read any advanced scouting reports?
A: We watched a little bit of Puerto Rico on tape and they have a nice team. They're the defending gold medalists from 1994 and they'll be out to defend their title. Hopefully we'll play well.
