Jalen Bridges: Analytics, Hobbies, Goals, and why Baylor

Ashley Hodge:  
This is Ashley Hodge with the SicEm365 Athlete+ interview. I'm pleased to be joined by Jalen Bridges. He's a transfer from West Virginia. He's had three years of experience in the Big 12. And he's a new addition to the Baylor team, and we're excited about him and we're going to get to know him during this interview. And before we start the interview, I definitely want to give a shout-out to our sponsors that made this possible. First of all, James Perry has been very generous in supporting these NIL interviews with Baylor basketball, Vacations by Shannon.

Do you like to travel, Jalen? 

Jalen Bridges:  
Love to travel! 

Ashley Hodge:  
Have you been overseas?

Jalen Bridges:  
I think the only time we were out of the country was Cancun, my first year there.

Ashley:  
So, I want to ask you a bunch of questions about transferring to Baylor first of all. You made the decision to leave West Virginia, transfer inside the conference. You’ve talked about the reasons why, but I liked the fact that transferring in conference is a big advantage in some ways, because you've been through all the scouts for all these teams for three years, right? 

Jalen:  
Yeah.

Ashle:  
So you know what to expect, you know what these teams run, and that's an advantage. But then the flip side of that is they know your game. So you have that, but you're in a new system with new talent around you. So why did you decide to transfer to Baylor and what's your experience been so far?

Jalen:  
I would say it really just came down to the fact that Coach Drew and the other assistants just really know how to develop players. And that's, that's something I really feel like... I wouldn't say it was non-existent at West Virginia, but in my opinion, it could have been better. So I came here, I want to get better. And there are a lot of positive guys here. It's just that that attitude is just infectious. And it's hard not to be smiling and all that, but they've definitely blown away my expectations, honestly so far.

@Ben Queen

Ashley:  
That's awesome. So you've been here for two weeks, right? 

Jalen:  
Yeah. 

Ashley:  
And did any family come with you? I know Maddie, your girlfriend, came with you, right? So is it just the two of you?

Jalen:  
Right now, one of her best friends is down here. We were going to fly out here, but they wouldn't let my dog on the plane. So we had to make the 18-hour drive. So that was kind of tough. But her mom came down and helped us get set up. My mom's probably going to come down soon. I think my dad might come down in August. We get some time off after the Toronto thing.

Ashley:  
What kind of dog do you have?

Jalen:  
He's a miniature Labradoodle named Theo.

Ashley:  
Those dogs are pretty hyperactive. Does he have a lot of energy still?

Jalen:  
Oh, I'll say so. Yeah, he's crazy. Anytime I walk through that door. He's right there waiting on me. He'll give me attention for a couple of minutes, and then he'll go get his little ball and he just wants to play. Yeah, I swear. That's all I'm good for to him. Throwing the ball.

Ashley:  
That's great. So is Maddie a student at Baylor? Is she going to take classes or is she just working?

Jalen:  
Maddie is currently doing her capstone class at West Virginia. So she's about to graduate. I think in August.

Ashley:  
All right, I want to talk about efficiency numbers. Do you get into that? Do you look at KenPom, and Bart Torvic and some of these sites or does that even crossed your radar?

Jalen:  
I mean, I don't really look at it, but I hear stuff that they say. I see the numbers. We had analytics guys that would show us the numbers, and discuss the numbers with us. I don't really get into too much of that.

Ashley:  

I look at the efficiency numbers, and a lot of the forwards, a lot of the top 25 transfer lists, your name is not on them. And I'm like "this is kind of criminal" based on what you've already put on paper. And the fact that you're a two-year starter for a good power five team, a team that was one of the best teams in the country when you were playing as a freshman. I know last year was a down year for West Virginia, but even when you look at some of the top 25 players in college basketball this year, your analytic numbers stack up really well against other forwards. You shoot great from the free throw line. You've proven yourself to be a very effective three-point shooter. You don't turn the ball over. You're a good offensive rebounder, a good defender. All these things that the analytics guys look at.

Do you feel like you're getting slighted? Do you feel like you have a chip on your shoulder or something to prove to the nation this year?

Jalen:  
I feel like just being where I'm from, nobody really ever expects anything out of West Virginia kids. So I've kind of always had that chip. That's just something that we all have. So I would say, it just makes me want to go that much harder and show the world what I really can do. I was working out the other day, and they were like, "Wow, we've never seen you do this ever". Like "Nobody's ever seen you move like this, shoot like this." And I feel like there's a lot of stuff that the people ain't seen. There's a lot more to my game than just being a three-point shooter. So I'm definitely excited to get out there in a new system and really show what I can do to help us win games.

Ashley:  
I think Baylor fans are excited too. So tell us about you. What are you studying in school? What do you like to do off the court? What are some of your hobbies? What's a day in the life of Jalen bridges like besides basketball?

Jalen:  
I was in sports management at West Virginia. I can't think off the top of my head with the closest undergrad program that would help make the most credits transfer. But once I do that, if I'm here for another year, I'll probably go into sports management for my master's degree.

I would say my hobbies are... I like to play video games. I love video games. I like watching TV shows and movies. I love music. I like to fish a little bit too, I just don't like touching the fish.

Ashley:  
We’ve got some fishermen on this team. I know Adam Adam Flagler likes to fish, and Scott Drew is a really good fisherman. So they may take you fishing one of these days. 

Jalen:  
I'm down. I'm ready to go. 

Ashley:  
So you like to pull the fish in and you just want somebody else...

Jalen:  
I just need someone else to take it off the hook for me.

Ashley:  
What about video games? What do you like to play war games? Or is it like some NBA 2K?

Jalen:  
I always get 2K just because I'm a basketball player, but I'm definitely more into Call of Duty and stuff like that. I'm super excited for the new one that's coming out. I would say there's this one game right now that I'm super into. It's a racing game that is only on PlayStation. It's called Gran Turismo. It's so fun.

@Ben Queen

Ashley:  
Do you play with a lot of people from back home, guys you grew up with in high school? Or do you play with your teammates? Or is it just random people that you've met along the way?

Jalen:  
I would say it's just whoever's online at the moment. 

Ashley:  
I asked Adam Flagler "Do you try to get eight hours of sleep? Seven hours of sleep?" You mentioned that this interview is pretty early for you. We're doing this early morning. You've got individual workouts right after this. But you typically will sleep in a little bit, if given the choice, right?

Jalen:  
For sure. I would say I'm a night owl, so I really only need five or six hours of sleep and I'm good. Sometimes I can get away with four, like in high school, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I used to stay up all night playing the game, and not even go to sleep before school the next day. 

Ashley:  
Could you function? Just like, practice and play well? You didn't notice any drop-off if you don't get any sleep?

Jalen:  
I mean, no I wouldn't say so. I would say, I always used to come home right after school and lay on my couch and go straight to sleep for a few hours until my dad woke me up to get in the gym.

Ashley:  
Yeah. I think that's going to change as you get older. I'm always curious because I hear different things like Adam said, "I gotta get eight hours." But other guys say "I can function on three hours or four hours." So just curious about that.

All right, I want to hear key influences in your life. Do you have some coaches, relatives, or friends who have really made a big impact on your life as far as developing who you are so far?

Jalen:  
I would say the main person would really be my dad, just because when I quit playing all my other sports it was at a young age, probably fifth or sixth grade. He sat me down. He was like, "What do you want to do?" I said, "I want to be in the NBA." He said, "Well, we're gonna have to work really hard. There are people that are going to be way better than you. You're just going to have to prove yourself. You're going to have to be in the gym. You're just going to have to do everything you can do to get on that same level as those other people." And that's basically what we did. So I've kind of always had that chip on my shoulder. 

@Ben Queen

Caption

Ashley:  
Did he play basketball? 

Jalen:  
He played at Fairmont State. He went to JUCO first in Michigan or something, and I think the University of Miami Florida wanted him to walk on and they didn't have the means to do that. So he just stayed home.

Ashley:  
So you have some familiarity with guys on the Baylor roster. I know you played AAU ball with Flo Thamba, right?

Jalen:  
Way back in the day, like five or six years ago, I think we were the 15U team playing 16U and I think Flo was on the 17U. I played with Zach my last season of AAU. Zach was my center. And then Dale went to Fairmont State, so I'm obviously super familiar with Dale.

Ashley:  
In the summertime, did y'all have a lot of pickup games? Did you play pickup ball together?

Jalen Bridges  
I don't think I ever played pickup with Dale. But we would work out a lot together because we both knew this guy that was really good at training. He really knew his stuff, so we ran into each other a lot though.

Ashley:  
So there is some familiarity. Yeah, that makes you somewhat more comfortable. Right?

Jalen:  
It made it a way easier decision, a way easier transition. I don't feel like I'm the odd one out.

Ashley:  
So far, you mentioned the player development at Baylor and I just would love to hear... Bob Huggins is kind of an old-school coach, and Everhart and some of the other guys on the staff... is their style of coaching just to be hard-nosed and on you, or was it a combination of encouragement and correction, or was it mostly geared towards just constantly driving you to a certain point?

Jalen:  
I will say it's more like the hard-nosed just get on you, get on you, get on you, but I will say there's a little bit of correction... But they try to put you on the treadmill, make us go on the baseline and run. It's just a different type of coaching style. That's them. That's how they coach and obviously for Hugs, it's been pretty successful for his career. He has what, 900 wins? You gotta respect it.

Ashley:  
Sure. So give me some funny stories! I played pickup ball with a guy named Mike Singletary, and he played at Texas Tech. He played under Bobby Knight his last year, and he had some great Bobby Knight stories. I think Huggins is probably a guy that's kind of larger than life like Bobby Knight. Do you have some funny moments that come to mind?

Jalen:  
I think the funniest thing was before I even got there... I was the local guy, so they just invited me up to practice. I think it might have been my senior year of high school. I don't know if you remember Lamont West... he says something and Hugs was like "Lamont, don't think. Let me think, because you obviously can't think." He's like "You're not very good at it. So just play." I was just sitting there like "Wow... that's crazy". It was way funnier in the moment, but it was hilarious because if you know what type of guy Lamont was, you would understand.

Lamont was tough. When I went up there and played open gym with them, I thought Lamont was easily their most talented player.

Ashley:  
Yeah. He was good.

So I've got some questions from Baylor fans here I want to ask you. What are some things that fans in the arena do that make the most difference for them as a home court advantage? Is there anything that you would love to see Baylor fans do that West Virginia fans did? Or when you went on the road what made an environment intimidating?

Jalen:  
I would just really say show up and show out. When we play games, and there really weren't that many people there, it was not intimidating at all. But when you play at Texas Tech, where it's sold out, every single fan is just heckling you the whole time... It's so hard to maintain your focus on the game. So, I would say just show up and show out. Be loud.

Ashley:  
Yeah. I mean, it's a big difference. Like even in Waco, you probably saw it. I don't know if you came here on a weekend, because a lot of the fans — probably similar to West Virginia — a lot of fans come from like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. So the weekend games are always sold out, packed. Then the weekday games are a little tougher of a challenge. West Virginia, coming from Pittsburgh or DC. So maybe not as big of crowds. But you're saying even those weekday games in places like Kansas or Texas Tech, are still rowdy environments?

Jalen:  
Still rowdy. Still Crazy.

Ashley:  
Next question: Are you a big goal setter? Do you set goals for yourself? Do you set goals for the team? What would you like to accomplish personally this year? What would you like the team to accomplish this year?

Jalen:  
I wouldn't say I'm too big into that, but I love being efficient. I don't like to take many shots to score many points. So I would say I'm trying to be 50/40/90 this year. I was so close to it my first year. I would have blown it out of the water honestly if I shot free throws better my first year. I think I shot like 70 something, 60 something from the line. But that was just me being a little nervous freshman at the free throw line. As far as team goals, it's definitely championship or bust, honestly. Cut down those nets.

Ashley:  
It's interesting, that first year at West Virginia you had three guards that could score. And that opens things up for you, right? And now you have that at Baylor. The backcourt is filthy this year. 

Jalen:  
It's crazy. 

Ashley:  
That's going to open up huge opportunities for you, because you've got guys like Keyonte, Adam, and LJ that are so proficient at scoring and can get to their spots. It's going to open up a lot of great looks for you. You're going to be able to show some things probably off the dribble. But do you think that was a big reason why your numbers were more efficient as a freshman?

@Rob Ferguson

Jalen:  
I feel like Duece [McBride] was like, a perfect leader for us. He knew when he had to get us involved, but at the same time, he knew when he had to take over games. He did a great job at kind of finding that balance, where he wasn't really selfish at all. So he sees you open. He believes in you. He's gonna throw you the ball. Yeah. I would say Jordan McCabe was like that, too. Even though he really wasn't getting to play as much, he was still bringing that veteran leadership. Just making the right reads, making the right plays. So it was definitely way easier to play with those guys, I would say. Because I would say Kedrian [Johnson] is really not a point guard. He never really played point guard before West Virginia.

Ashley:  
And then Taz, so much the pressure fell on him. He was a tough shot maker, but he took a lot of really tough shots. If you're taking good shots in the flow of the offense, it opens up offensive rebound opportunities. If you're taking a contested fadeaway two, sometimes it's hard to get the offense flowing.

Jalen:  
And get in position, right.

Ashley:  
So do you have any opponents on your schedule that you're looking forward to playing this year? I mean, it's going to be a new dynamic playing West Virginia. Are you expecting a pretty hostile environment when you go back to Morgantown? Do you think there's going to be some extra juice for you when you play those guys? Or is there anybody that you have any rivalries with just because of some things that have happened in the last three years?

Jalen:  
I'm definitely looking forward to — I always like playing at Kansas for some reason. I'm definitely looking forward to the West Virginia game. It's going to be a crazy environment, but it is what it is. If I was scared of it, I would have gone somewhere else, honestly. I would have gone to another conference. I knew what I was doing. I knew what I was getting myself into. And it's just another game.

Ashley:  
When you visited Waco as a player, your freshman season that you played (you redshirted the year before) you came here. Baylor had a really good game. Matt Mayer made this spectacular baseline dunk. I think Davion and Jared went off in that game. So you had that experience. I think it was a Saturday game. And then you came last year. You had Baylor on the ropes. James Akinjo and Matt made some big plays down the stretch in Waco... but what was your impression of Waco and just in general, your impression of Baylor before you decided to transfer here?

Jalen:  
I really didn't get out in Waco too much. We're obviously at the hotel and stuff, but it was always warm. That's the one thing that stuck out to me. Basketball-wise, it was just so hard to guard some of their sets and their motion and stuff. So it's kind of hard as a basketball player when you're going through that portal process. It's kind of hard not to think back and imagine what situation would be best for you. And then, when they actually reach out to you, it makes that decision a little bit easier. Because they're just — the way they play on offense is crazy. You get so many guys so many open looks. At the same time, they guard. That'll carry over from West Virginia. So that'll be good.

Ashley:  
I know West Virginia places a huge emphasis on crashing the offensive boards, Baylor does too. A lot of teams in conference do. There are a lot of Big 12 teams in the top 20 in offensive rebounding efficiency. But when you say "a variety of sets", what's different? Can you explain that in a little bit more detail? Is it just a lot of counters? Scouting is so good in the Big 12, that you're going to shut down the five or six sets that teams like to run the most or at least make it difficult on them. But is what makes Baylor unique so many different counters off of those original sets? What's different between them and other teams in the conference?

Jalen:  
When other teams run their sets, they usually have the same guys in the same spots every time. But the thing that we noticed was when we were playing Baylor, you never knew who was doing what. And that makes it 10 times more difficult. You don't know if your man is running off the screen or setting the screen, so you have got to be on your toes at all times.

Ashley:  
Interesting. And defensively, I know a lot of the teams play this no-middle defense concept. Does Baylor do something different and unique in that regard? Or is it very similar to what Texas Tech does? And even West Virginia and Kansas have kind of moved to that as well, trying to keep the ball on the side. Is that pretty similar for most teams in the conference, or are there some new wrinkles that the Baylor does that you noticed?

Jalen:  
We haven't really worked on defense yet, but just from playing against them, they absolutely do not want you to go to the middle at all. And I would say, that's pretty uniform with everybody in the conference. Because if you know basketball, you know if you drive to the middle, that defense is collapsing, and you're either kicking it out to a shooter, one more to another shooter... It makes you have to rotate so much more than if you force somebody to the baseline for somebody to your help.

Ashley:  
Well, I think I've exhausted the questions I wanted to ask you today. So I appreciate you taking a few minutes and letting Baylor fans know about you and why you transferred here. 

Jalen:  
Definitely. I appreciate it. Thank you guys for having me. I'm ready to get it rolling in Waco.