September 11, 2009

"I'm a Hard Worker, and Want to Win"

In a recent interview with the Charlotte News-Observer, Rashad made his professional goals clear: He wants to be part of a winning team, and is willing to put in the work to get there.

As he explained to Robbi Pickeral:

I’m not a guy who thinks he’s better than anybody else. I’m a winner. I know what it takes to win; I’m confident in my ability to win. I do whatever it takes to get the job done.

The article covers a number of topics, including Rashad's affection for North Carolina and coach Roy Williams.

I think the Carolina fans are amazing. Even going back, I just get teary thinking about the times I had at Carolina. I feel like, personally, there aren’t a lot of other college basketball players that embraced the fans like I did. I took control over the fact that fans can give you more juice than anything. My interactions with the fans, even today, keep me motivated to just keep playing.

Roy Williams, to me, is a person who really helped me change [my] perception when he got there; he gave me a fresh start. He actually gave me a lot of confidence my sophomore year; I averaged 20 ppg that season. … Coach just told me to be aggressive, and he had confidence in my ability to take over games, and to help my teammates. He put my scoring ability out as a strength, and a powerful strength, for me. I’ll always honor Coach Williams for that, and the fact that he told me to my face, ‘I’m here this year, and we’re going to make the tournament. We’re probably not going to go all the way, but next year, we’re going to win it all.’ And that’s what we did.

RELATED STORIES
McCants wants to change perception (Charlotte News-Observer, Sept. 10, 2009)
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/mccants-wants-to-change-perception