Adetunji Adedipe is a member of the Ohio Bobcats team that won the MAC tournament and upset Georgetown in round one of March Madness.

He has an interesting story, because he didn’t start playing basketball until middle school when his gym teacher forced him to play, and he has been a walk on at Ohio in both basketball and football.

He also happened to have gone to high school with me, so I interviewed him about the Bobcats exciting victory and what its like to play in the tournament.

(And, in celebration of March Madness, Juiced Sports Blog is giving away a VTech wi-fi internet radio, Seth Davis’ book When March Went Mad, a personal body wash kit, a treasure chest of snacks, and more! Click here to sign up to win! Just two days left.)

On defeating Georgetown
“We knew we could play with Georgetown. We had played against big time teams, and we’d played against teams that ran the Princeton style offense. We kind of were accustomed to it. We played Eastern Kentucky the last two years. Coach Groce came from Ohio State, and they played Georgetown in the Final Four. It was a really great feeling, but it wasn’t like we were super psyched, because we expected to win.”

“Hard work and determination gets you anything in this world.”

The Tournament Experience
“The experience was amazing. When we went back to Ohio after we won the MAC tournament, they had a parade for us, and the whole school was there for the selection show. It was crazy with all the cameras and with all the alumni calling you. It really meant a lot.

When we first went to Providence, we didn’t really have a whole lot of people eager to see us, because we came out from a little mid-major conference, but then after we beat Georgetown, we really got to experience the whole effect. People from Providence really showed us a lot of love. We really got to soak it in. When people saw us on the street, they would stop us and talk to us and say how proud they were of us that we beat Georgetown.”


“When you make it to the NCAA tournament, the NCAA takes care of you.”

Winning the MAC tournament
“Right after we won the MAC tournament, I wasn’t even thinking about the NCAA tournament. I was just thinking about spending as much time with my teammates as possible. We weren’t thinking ahead; we were just thinking about the present, enjoying each others’ company and enjoying Bobcat Nation’s company. We didn’t really care too much who we were playing. As soon as we got that trophy, we were just eager to take it back to Athens [OH] where it belongs.”

What was Providence like?
“Providence is one of the most scenic cities that I have ever been to. The water is extremely blue. The people are so relaxed. It feels like a more affluent society, but it has a laid back feel. The people are beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, it has a great history.

I was kind of not really looking forward to it. I was hoping to go to San Jose, California, or Tampa Bay, Florida, but looking back on it, I’m glad we went to Providence.”

Being a walk on
“[After starting in football,] the switch to basketball wasn’t my decision. If I had the choice, I’d still be playing football. I played one year of football in high school. I just wasn’t polished. I had to walk on twice, but we had a very deep wide receiver pool junior year.

Unexpectedly, I had to make a move to basketball. One of my teammates, DeVaughn Washington, asked me to come to open gym. I came in one day, wasn’t expecting much, and I did all right. Coach Groce asked me to come in. I wasn’t expecting much. I worked my way in and starting getting a couple of minutes a game, then I got a few starts. There was great senior leadership from Mike Allen and Justin Orr.

This year, I had surgery on my wrist–I had a blood clot and a tumor in my wrist–and it kind of set me back. I fell behind some. I lost some of my minutes from the year before, but I became more of a leader.

So I had a pretty crazy ride. But I wouldn’t trade my story for anything. It just shows you that hard work and determination gets you anything in this world.”

Leadership Roles
“I always wanted to mold my game after guys who found other ways to be factors like Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace. My two favorite players of all time, Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber, were always showing emotion all the time, always celebrating, always happy. Kevin Garnett is the most passionate guy in the game.

When you get into the game, you show emotion, you get excited, you have people who feed off of you. When you have five guys on the court showing passion, you can’t be beat. So that’s just what I bring, even when I’m on the bench.”

Tunji on the left celebrating.

How he got started playing basketball
“I probably started playing basketball when I was about 14. Mr. Mental, my gym teacher, told me if I didn’t start playing basketball, he would fail me. My parents wanted me to play soccer. But I kind of got a little too tall for that. Mr. Mental thought I had long arms, so he told my mom and dad, who were all about grades–they didn’t want me to play sports–that I should play basketball. He made me play basketball, and he made me wake up at 7:30 and take his first period gym class and run a mile every day and do 100 right hand and 100 left hand layups, so I really owe him a lot.

Also, my uncle really got me loving basketball as a little kid. He showed me video of the Houston Rockets back-to-back championships called Double Clutch. So, he got me loving basketball, but it didn’t really find realization until middle school.”

—

If you would like to win a VTech wi-fi internet radio, sign up here

, or subscribe below on the JSB newsletter subscriber form. Where ever you subscribe, you are entered into the contest to win.

Popularity: 6% [?]