adam BB

@BoilerBurner1 @PaulSmith248 @NivBin12 He never had a drink in his life, said that he might have his first one after they win the natty. From the same interview…

FULL Omer Mayer (OM) interview transcript with interviewer @NivBin12 (NB). A LOT of good stuff in here: NB starts out by telling OM he’s gonna have a lot of interviews. OM asks what a lot is, “2 or 3?” After being told “around 6” Mayer immediately recommends playing NBA 2k instead. They talk about the state of Indiana having the most basketball arenas in America and how important basketball is here. And then it picks up: NB: why did you choose Purdue? OM: Because of the system and coaches. Mayer then brings up two small details, in addition to his answer above, that contributed to him signing with Purdue. 1: Mayer was asleep after Purdue lost in the Sweet 16. Two hours after losing that game, Purdue was on the phone with Mayer’s agent. They ended up reaching out to Omer the next day and talking with him. They talked to him about Braden Smith being the best guard in college basketball. Mayer’s first thought? “You have the best guard then why do you need me? I want to play.” This was Mayer’s first doubt with Purdue. But Purdue sold him on being another playmaker alongside Smith. They told him their team is full of good players but they needed one more playmaker to pair with Braden. 2: Omer still had his doubts. Why would he go to Purdue if the best player in college basketball was playing his position there? That’s when Braden Smith reached out to him with a message. Mayer talks about how impressed he was by this and realized how badly Purdue wanted him. Omer talks about how cool Braden is and how they have similar games and personalities - he mentions how they are both ultra competitive and their goal is to WIN IT ALL THIS YEAR. OM goes on to talk about how he’s a better player now than at the beginning of the summer. ON HIS DEAL WITH PURDUE Mayer did not know how much money he was going to make at Purdue. Mayer’s agent closed the Purdue deal with Mayer’s father. OM’s other two offers were from Duke and Auburn and both offered more money. Apparently Jon Sheyer even played professionally for Maccabi. Still, OM preferred the situation at Purdue. OM’s stated goal is to play 2 years at Purdue and then go pro. He adds that if his nba dreams come faster it could go differently. MAYER’S MAJOR OM states that he thinks he’ll start out in Purdue’s undecided class and then choose something to focus his studies on after that. He is comfortable with online classes/learning having spent most of his senior year of HS on zoom from Serbia. MAYER OFF THE COURT NB brings up Ethan Burg (ISR), a TN commit who told him TN has the #12 best party school in America. OM: Purdue has 50k+ students. Statically, there are going to be some good parties. OM then talks about how he is learning how to ease his basketball-tunnel-vision so he can get out of his comfort zone and enjoy other things. He says he loves being devoted to basketball but his fear is being so locked in that he doesn’t get the full college experience. Mayer says he is 6’4”. OMER MAYER THIS SZN OM: I’ve talked with Purdue’s coaches (I assume PJ when he went to visit him at u19 in Switzerland) on working on my first step and lateral quickness. We also talked about my turnovers and shot selection and they see both as easily fixable and byproducts of the load I carried with Israel. Mayer will get a handful of weeks (same as every player gets, whatever that amount is) of practice with Purdue’s coaches when he arrives. OM “will be (at Purdue) in a couple days”. *FWIW BB was told his flight is Friday, landing Saturday (10 hour flight)* MAYER AND CRITICISM OM: Thinks he handles criticism very well, both good and bad, because he’s always reminding himself why he plays basketball. He plays because he loves it, not to hear what others have to say. Omer’s dream is to play in GS because of Curry. NB asks OM to close with a message to his future-self (‘26-‘27 version). OM: I hope after this season I am an NCAA champion and in NBA draft talks. 1️⃣7️⃣🚂