Kennedy, Blair forecast 2014-2015 season

Billy Kennedy

"It's really weird, this being my 18th year as a head coach, to start basketball this early. We're further along than we've ever been and really excited about the new guys and the energy and effort they've brought to us already in a short amount of time."

On which returning player has made the most progress...

"Alex Caruso has made some big strides in his ability to score and just his body. He's gotten a lot stronger. Him, right off the bat, when I think of answering that question. But really, we've made great strides with all our guys. We have seven guys back from last year. Davonte Fitzgerald, from when he tore his ACL last February to where he is today, he's better than he was last year before he was injured. Those two guys come to mind right away."

On the non-conference schedule...

"It's definitely going to help us from the standpoint that we've got more experience, we're more equipped, we're deeper. It'll prepare us for the league. Whereas before I wasn't as confident in our roster to play this kind of schedule. I wouldn't step out and do it as aggressively as we did. The SEC wanted our schedules to be tougher than it's been in the past, as a league. I'm very confident in the group we have and think it'll mature us real fast for conference play."

On this being the first team that's all his players...

"For me, it's been a lot more fun. Knowing these guys and having a relationship with his guys, having recruited them all ... we've got the right pieces and the right character in place and we've got to go finish it off with a great season."

On Kourtney Roberson...

"The great thing about Kourtney is it's his fifth year. So many guys, you talk about the one-and-dones, guys who leave after two years, transfer; Kourtney's been in the system for five years and that usually equates to a great year. He's been through the grind, had the heart issues twice, the ankle, his improvement has been tremendous. The confidence of getting his Aggie Ring, getting his degree, has made him better off the floor but I think it's going to help him also on the floor."

On the assistant coaching changes and whether the players are buying in...

"You do that when you need to improve your program. We were doing some good things, but I thought we needed to do some better things. We added three new coaches, most recently Alex Lloyd. Amir Abdur-Rahim played for me, coached for me nine years. I thought it was important to bring somebody who could relate to our players, played for me, could do some things on the floor that add energy. He's been a big addition.

"Then you have a former head coach in the SEC for 14 years, a tremendous recruiter and tremendous basketball coach who's had success in the SEC. I couldn't ask for a better three guys to come in and give us a lift over the top."

On Danuel House and Jalen Jones' eligibility...

"Those two guys, it's ongoing. We don't really have a complete status on House and Jalen Jones. We know for a fact Jalen will be eligible as early as December 20, our first game right after the exams. But his situation, in my opinion, I'm hoping we'll get approved. There's so many guys getting waivers by the NCAA that played in games last year; Jalen didn't play in any games last year. We've got great support from SMU. That's ongoing. We hope he doesn't have to miss any games this year.

"Danuel House, we won't know until November. That's ongoing."

"Tonny Trocha, I expect to be in our top eight. He hasn't played basketball in two years but we were able to get him enrolled in the May mini-mester and he's been here. It may take him longer to make an impact in the fall, but his length and his talent offensively is something we haven't had in this program the last couple years. He's a freshman. But I think he's a talented freshman we'll have to rely on. He can help us, but you may see more of a January type thing. I hope it's tomorrow, but it may be a bit later."

On what he's most excited about with this team...

"Just their love for each other and their love for being here. These guys love A&M, they love each other, hang out off the court. We've got great leadership in Jordan Green and Alex Caruso, they do a great job of representing our staff and what we (believe) and it's trickled down through our roster. It's led to more unity than we've had since I've been here."

On Alex Robinson and the new guys...

"Alex Robinson is a tremendous player. I like playing him and Alex Caruso together at the same time already. It helps us to have two ballhandlers/playmakers on the field at the same time. He's going to have some freshman moments, but nowadays freshmen at his level have so much experience playing year-round that he'll make an easy transition for us in his ability to play the point guard, something we've really lacked. Caruso had a tremendous year, but this is something that will help our team.

"Avery Johnson, Jr., he's Avery Johnson, Jr. and that's who he is. He's ready to make a niche and his own name and has great humility and just wants to be a part. He backed up Alex Robinson in AAU and they played together at the same time. He wanted to come to A&M because he wanted to come to A&M. He wasn't concerned about who was in front of him, he wanted to come for the right reasons and be a piece of hopefully a championship-level program over the next few years."

On increased depth up front...

"We're really deep at the three and four, especially if we're able to get waivers for all the guys, which we're hoping for. We'll be big. We've got a long team. You can go Alex Caruso, 6-5, Jordan Green, 6-5, Jalen Jones, 6-7, Tonny Trocha, 6-10, Kourtney Roberson, 6-9. We can go big or small and we haven't had that kind of luxury on our roster like we do now."

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Gary Blair

"We have Duke coming in on Thanksgiving Sunday. I know that's not a great time for the crowd because we have a football game on Thursday, but it's still a national TV game. We return to them the following year. A few years ago we beat Duke here by 18 points, then went to their place and lost by a close three. Those are the type of teams, we want to bring you at least one top-10, top-15 team every year.

"Our schedule, we're all over the place. We've got the hardest conference schedule, all the top teams on the road. ... We've got a double-header with the men, we play the University of Houston in the afternoon game and they play, I think, Youngstown State later on."

On the leaders on his team...

"Last year Karla (Gilbert) was sort of our quiet leader. She was sort of the mother hen. She gathered everyone around and with her pleasing personality, everyone flocked to her. But Jordan Jones was the emerging leader. This year she has to be the leader. She's been in the gym more than any other kid that's on our basketball team, working on her shot. She was voted first-team All-American and the two Courtneys (Walker and Williams) were second-team. Obviously it's preseason ... but it's a credit to her and what she's done since she's been here.

"The question is going to be how good we'll be at the post position. We've got a three-headed center. I've never had a guard combination as good, ever, as the eight guards we have on this team."

On heralded freshman center Khaalia Hillsman potentially taking over the post role...

"I don't hope that that happens; if that happens, that means Rachel (Mitchell) has failed. I don't like that term of her walking in and a freshman taking it over when you've got a kid in her fourth year here. I want her to live up to her potential. We had a stable force in Karla who had limitations, but we knew what we were going to get in every game. But Khaalia is going to be a force for us."