ZS: What was your experience like at Arcadia (Az.)?
JF: It was good for me, getting out of the way of Chicago. All of the bad vibes there and all of the tough times, sometimes you need to get away and appreciate it. As much as I love home, it was good to get away from that environment. It allowed me to get my grades right and just focus on hooping. It helped me a lot.
ZS: How would you describe the experience of growing up in a basketball-crazed city like Chicago? What is the basketball culture really like out there as you know it?
JF: Man, I’ve been through a lot of cities. There ain’t nothing like Chicago basketball. I been a lot of places, there is nothing like it. It’s all love. It’s family oriented. It’s gritty, toughness. A lot of tough guards have come out of there. I’ve seen D-Rose when he was coming up. I’ve seen Jabari Parker, Sherron Collins growing up. It was just crazy, because I knew them before they even went off to college. They were like my big brothers. We grew up in the same neighborhoods. South Side Englewood Park, I remember they were always there. I used to work out with them on the regular as a young kid. Everybody in the city knows this.
ZS: Tell me about your relationship with Derrick Rose and his family. How did the bond get started between you guys? Are you still in contact to this day?
DR: It started when I went to his camp back in the day. He hosts a camp annually. I played good and he actually came up to me and he told me ‘you remind me of me a little bit.’ I was pretty star struck. I was like ‘that’s crazy.’
He was in college then, he was at Memphis. He told me, ‘when I come back home for Christmas break, we’re going to get in the gym.’ Reggie Rose and my Pops have a good relationship from back in the day, so it all worked out.
Whenever D-Rose is free or in town, and I happen to be in town, we go and workout. It’s tough because he always changes his number (laughs). He keeps me posted with everything, we chop it up. He tells me how he’s doing. I tell him what’s going on with me and how I’m doing.
ZS: Being a drive-first guard who is adjusting to the role of playmaker/facilitator, what’s your role this season now? How does being surrounded by more talent change your mindset?
DR: This year, Coach (Chris) Chaney wants me to bring the toughness, he wants me to bring that defensive energy. I know coach Chaney always says if you can’t play defense, he can’t play you regardless of how many points you score or what you do on offense. I know his teams have traditionally been good on ‘D’ so I want to help keep that alive with my performance and how well I pressure guards.
With more talent out there, I’m going to try and create plays for everyone. Lead. Do the best I can and play my role.
