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Maryland guards Selton Miguel, Ja'Kobi Gillespie talk plan against Florida guard Walter Clayon, first Sweet 16 appearance

Writer: Ahmed GhafirAhmed Ghafir

On what makes Julian Reese a good rebounder

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “I think he uses his body well. He's tall. He's strong. So I feel like he just knows how to use his body and he wants to get rebounds.”

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “Same thing, he's always right there. The ball just goes into his hands.”

 

On their Sweet 16 experience

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “It's been fun just hanging out with our teammates, just team bonding. A lot of us have never been to Cali, so it's been fun to get out here and see it.”

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “The same thing. The weather is nice. The food is nice. Yeah, we're in Cali.”

 

On the team’s off-court activities during their time in San Francisco

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “We had a lot of time to walk around where we're at. We went to eat at little nice places. Just enjoy each other, every moment we can, without the basketball.”

 

Miguel on the feeling of no Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament

 

“I think so. All the 16 teams are good enough to win it all. Anything can happen at this point.”

 

On the ‘Crab Five’ nickname picking up steam nationally, drawing Fab Five comparisons

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “It's cool to be mentioned with the Fab Five, and they kind of made us -- Crab Five is cool. We have a whole team. I feel like it's cool, like, everybody's saying it, but I feel like we also have a whole team.”

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “Same thing. It's pretty cool. At the same time, you've got like 15 guys, 13 guys here. So it should be like the Crab 15. But we embrace it. We're happy for it, and, yeah, it's been fun.”

 

On Florida guard Walter Clayton

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “You've got to guard him. You can't give him no space. He gets the 3 off really quick. So we've just got to make sure he can't get to his spots.”

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “Yeah. He's a really good player. We've just got to be on him all night.”

 

On playing in the Chase Center

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “It's the best arena I've been in, yeah.”

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “I'll say the same thing. We're excited to be here. It's a big dream come true playing in an NBA arena, especially the Warriors.”

 

On the experience playing high major college basketball after transferring in 2023-24

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “It's been pretty fun. Been pretty fun. Just because it's a group of guys that came from different schools, and we all got together to be here. We had this goal since June that we'll come together and try to make the tournament. So it's been fun. We're not satisfied at all because we want more, but it's been really fun. We're grateful for it.”

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “I mean, it's been fun just coming here with a whole bunch of -- because there was a lot of transfers coming in together. I feel like we all came in and had the same goal to play deep in the postseason. So I feel like we're finally here doing that. So, yeah, it's been fun.”

 

On Derik Queen in the NCAA Tournament

 

SELTON MIGUEL: “I would say on the court he's been considered as any top freshman in the country. He's never high, never low, always the same, even off the court. He's a really good kid. Good kid to be around. He's fun to be around. He's just Derik. Whatever we're going to get on the court we'll get off the court. He doesn't change.”

 

JA'KOBI GILLESPIE: “I feel he's just a really confident player. He's not going to shy away from any big-time moment.”

 

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