Montana junior guard Will Cherry is on pace to become in the Big Sky’s all-time leader in steals. His first, goal, however, is leading the Grizzlies back to the NCAA Tournament. The native of West Oakland was a key member of Montana’s 2010 Big Sky Championship team which lost to New Mexico in the NCAA Tournament. Cherry and the Grizzlies enter this year’s tournament as the No. 1 seed, host, and riding a 12-game winning streak. Cherry ranks among the Big Sky leaders in scoring, assists and steals. The Grizzlies take on No. 4 seed Eastern Washington in a semifinal game Tuesday at 8 p.m. The game can be seen live on Altitude and Big Sky TV. Cherry was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky. Before the championship, Cherry spoke with Big Sky Conference Intern Alyssa Askew. Let’s get to know Will Cherry.
Q: Why/when did you start playing basketball?
A: I started playing basketball when I was about 6-years old and it instantly became my favorite sport beating out football. I can’t really recall why I started playing basketball I guess you can say it was just one of those things that I fell in love with at first sight.
Q: What has been your best memory of playing college basketball at Montana?
A: My best memory as of right now would have to be making the biggest play in tying up Weber State’s Damian Lillard for a jump ball that went our way with only seconds remaining on the clock to give our team a NCAA automatic bid to the tourney. That was my freshman year and I was a part of one of the greatest comebacks in Big Sky Tournament history after being down 20 points at half time and witnessing my teammate Anthony Johnson score 42 points to get us the victory and make the tournament. When I made that play I felt like I was on top of the world and it showed with the celebration we had as a team when that final buzzard sounded.
Q: How did you and your team prepare for the last game of the regular-season against Weber State?
A: We prepared for it like it was a normal game and we didn’t really change up anything. We kept it the same and like the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and that’s what we did. We approached it like a regular game knowing the implications the game had, but we didn’t get too high or too low. We stayed within ourselves and in the moment.
Q: What was it like playing in front of a sold-out crowd? Did this help your team in that game?
A: Playing in front of a sold out-crowd was really fun and great. It helped energize our team at times when we were really stagnant and it helped us get key stops defensively when needed. Having a sold -ut crowd lets us know as players that people are really paying attention to a great basketball program that we have up here in Missoula and not just the football team.
Q: This is the first time Montana has hosted the Big Sky Championship since 2000, what are you and your teammates most looking forward to while hosting the tournament?
A” We’re looking forward to advancing on to the NCAA tournament without question. I mean hosting and being conference champs was a great way to end the season and it is really great to have done it in the fashion we did, but at the end of the day hosting wasn’t our main goal. Our ultimate goal is to win the conference tournament and get back to the NCAA tournament.
Q: You played in the NCAA tournament as a true freshman. What was that experience like and how badly do you want to get back?
A: The feeling was great; I mean to have that type of an experience as a freshman is really nice. Just to be able to walk on the court to practice and touch the logo is a dream come true for anybody that has played college basketball. The actual game was on a whole other level when it came to playing in front of millions of fans and being on national television where everybody is watching you. Being able to perform under those types of bright lights is an indescribable feeling that you can’t even put into words. I really, really, really want to get back to the tournament no matter if I have a good or bad game leading into it. At least I know I have given my all and it was enough to get us back to the tourney.
Q: Has your career been what you expected? Why or why not?
A: It’s been all that and more because I’ve already made it to the tourney as a true freshman and I have been in the position to get back there every single year since. So I couldn’t have asked for a better career so far and not to mention I’m going to break the record for steals in Montana history and I’m chasing the all time record with another year of eligibility in front of me. I’ve made the thousand points club here at Montana already as well and to be able to pin your name up in the history books at any college is always a great sense of accomplishment period.
Q: You’ve made amazing strides in your 3-point and free-throw shooting from your freshman season. How much work has gone into that? Is there anyone else you credit with your improvement?
A: A tremendous amount of work has gone into improving my shooting on all levels. I made a huge decision to stay here in Montana and not go back home before school started and it paid big dividends in the end. I worked on the shooting gun everyday of the week and didn’t leave the gym until I made 500 or more jumpers and sometimes it took me two-and-a-half hours maybe three to get it done but so be it. I stayed in the gym all the time no matter what and then came along my new assistant coach Jonathan Meltzger-Jones who worked with me every day after practice to get my shot right. His exact words were, “Will do you wanna get better? Because if so I’ll help you get your jump shot right and you’ll elevate your game ten times what it is”. The answer I give was simply, yes” and we went from there, but the key was I couldn’t leave the gym from that moment forward every time we shot without a perfect swished shot.
Q: When you were young and living in West Oakland, did you ever play with or against Weber State’s Damian Lillard?
A: I didn’t play Dame until my junior year in high school after he transferred to a school in our conference from somewhere else. He had never beaten me in high school EVER and he didn’t until I got to college. It was a fun rivalry between our two schools but in the end my team was the one always coming out on top.
Q: What made you choose Montana?
A: I actually had no intentions on attending Montana and I had stereotyped it thinking it was a bunch of cowboys, with no city, no mall, and was in the middle of nowhere. My high school coach at the time convinced me of taking the visit and ten minutes on the freeway I saw that it wasn’t like anything that I had once thought it was. It was a nice college town and had a good college feel to it and I loved the atmosphere from the jump. The team was great, the football game days were crazy, the coaches were really nice, and last but not least the people here in Missoula were very friendly. I went home and within about a week or two my mother told me to pray on a decision and I chose Montana while we were on the freeway driving to school one morning.
Q: How have you adjusted to the weather in Missoula?
A: I would say I’ve done a pretty good job of adjusting to the weather in Montana. At first I came out here with my little California winter jackets and hats and found out quickly that it wasn’t going to fly here in Montana at all. My feet were frozen, ears felt like they were about to fall off, and my face hurt from all the cold wind. So the next day I bought me a nice big jacket, gloves, and hat to keep warm, now when I go home when people complain out the cold I just tell them that, “this is summer for me”.
Q: You are only a junior this year, but what are you plans in the real world once you’re done with school and basketball?
A: I really don’t know what I want to do after everything is said and done but I do know that I’ll have my degree to fall back on for sure. I have good connections with people when it comes to finding a job and what not so I think I’ll be o.k. in that department.
Q: What is something nobody knows about you? (Besides your love for Miley Cyrus)
I’m starting to like country music more and more now that I have been in Montana now for a number of years. I won’t listen to all of it but I do have an open mind about it now and my favorite song is “Barbecue Stain” by Tim McGraw
Q: Where is your favorite place to eat in Missoula?
A: I think my favorite place to eat in Missoula would have to be “Jaker’s” or “Johnny Carino’s” because they serve nice food and aren’t too expensive when going there.
Q: Who has the best arena in the Big Sky (other than your own)?
A” It pains me to say this but I think Weber State’s gym is one of the nicest gyms other than our own. The way the seating goes up in the arena makes it almost feel like an NBA type of deal and there floor is pretty nice as well. It gets loud in there when we’re there and it adds to the game so I love playing there.
Q: What is your favorite Big Sky trip and why?
A: My favorite trip is when we head out to Northern Arizona because it is the most tropical place in our conference to play at. It is always sunny each time we go out there and the weather is phenomenal, but the best part is being able to go shopping at the Nike outlet out there. They have tons of nice Nike gear for cheap that I can’t get out in Montanan stores, so when I go in that store I go crazy.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do besides playing basketball?
A: Just hanging out with my friends and family whether its social gatherings or just hanging in the house watching television. I’m a big jokester so joking around and being silly with friends and family is always a fun way to express love or friendship with one another.
Q: If you could have dinner with any three people in the world (living or deceased) who would they be and why?
A: Would be my uncle Mickey because he passed away when I was so young and I really didn’t get to know him how I wanted too. He didn’t get to see the man that I have become today or watch me play basketball so to get to do that would be great.
Would be my uncle Robert and he passed when I was a junior in high school. He was a great man in my life and he taught me ways to be a man, he actually taught me how to drive at the age of only 12 even though I wasn’t at al l that good I knew the basics of it. Being able to see that man again would bring me to tears.
I would have to say Nicki Minaj because I feel like she is an interesting person to me and plus she is very attractive to me as well. To have her on my arm going to dinner would make me feel like a million bucks even though I already feel that way with my current girlfriend but still
Q: Who is your favorite professional athlete?
A: LeBron James hands down. The man is so athletically gifted and talented that it should be a crime to bless one individual with that god given ability that he has. He is strong as hell, has great size (which allows him to play every position on the court), can shoot it fairly decent, has out of this world jumping abilities, just the whole nine.