Interview with Louisville Basketball Recruit Stephan Van Treese

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Lawrence North High School’s powerhouse, Stephan Van Treese. Weighing in at 200 pounds, Treese is a 6-foot-9 power forward headed to Louisville University next year. Van Treese has outstanding athleticism, which will help him tremendously in Rick Pitino’s up-tempo system.

We wanted to see what goes on in his head from day to day, being ranked one of the best/if not the best recruit in Indiana for the 2009 class. Besides basketball, what's this kid do for fun? Find out after the BUMP!

Indiana HS Hoops: Van Treese (VT), what’s up? Anything new going on with you lately? Introduce yourself.

VT: Hi, my name is Stephan Van Treese. My nickname is VT. I’m usually down for whatever.

Indiana HS Hoops: What do you do around Indy for fun, other than basketball?

VT: Other than basketball, I usual hang out with friends. In the summer I go boating and I love to go fishing, because I live on a lake. I do what every teen does usually. Play Xbox 360 online… I’m a beast at Madden. I also play Call of Duty online. I’m amazing. Go to parties…and I hang out with girls.

Indiana HS Hoops: Favorite food? Shoe size? Music, what gets you going?

VT: My favorite food is steak! My shoe size is 17. My favorite music is hip-hop. I listen to it before the games. It varies from old school (Biggie, Eazy-E) to new school (Lil' Wayne, Jeezy).

IHH: How young were you when you first started playing ball?

VT: I started playing basketball when I was 4 years old. We got second in my very first church league.

IHH: Who got you started playing ball?

VT: My dad got me started playing basketball. I’m from Indiana. Of course I’m going to play basketball.

IHH: What kind of numbers did you put up last season?

VT: I averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 assists. (guessing)

IHH: How’s the season going at Lawrence North? I see you guys fell to Terre Haute South, what’s up with that?

VT: Our season is going well as of right now. I feel like we are heading down the right track. We lost to THS because we tried to out-shoot them.

We went away from our bigs all night and they were playing a sagging 2-3. They dared our guards to shoot, and they didn’t hit a high percentage.

IHH: Excited for the T-Mobile Invitational? Pretty sweet.

VT: Yeah… I’m very excited for it because we get to play some high caliber players. I’m good friends with a lot of the guys on the teams there. I know Derrick Favors, Shawn Williams, and Roger Franklin. Its going to be fun playing against those guys.

IHH: Other than Louisville, who’s your favorite college team?

VT: Indiana University. Grew up a fan.

IHH: NBA?

VT: The Pacers. I loved watching the 2000 team. My favorite team ever. Reggie, Smits, Jackson, and the Davises!

IHH: Any favorite players?

VT: My favorite player right now is Dwight Howard. One Word: “BEAST”. He is a example of how to play powerful.

IHH: At Louisville, what will you be, still a power forward?

VT: I am pretty sure I will play the 3- 5 positions. I know they want me to be able to guard them.

IHH: What would you say are your best offensive and defensive skills?

VT: I run the floor very well for my size. And I rebound very well. I play hard.

IHH: You are considered the one of the best, if not the best player in Indiana for the 2009 class. How is living in the spotlight?

VT: I feel like I have had the spotlight on me since middle school. It's hard to be on top for so long. I have a lot of critics.

The thing with me is people want to see better statistics from me, but I just do what I can do for my team to win. I want to be Mr. Basketball. That is one of my goals.

IHH: Along with being the best, people hate and say you’re way over-rated. Any words for them?

VT: I’m used to people hating on me. I guess its a part of being good. I just want to win. I’m not a selfish player. People say I need to be more selfish and score more. I do whatever it takes to win.

I think my game has improved a lot. I also think people criticize me a lot is because I’m not going to IU. I just picked Louisville because it was the best fit for me.

IHH: There has been a lot of potential to come out of Lawrence North… How hard is it to fill the shoes set before you?

VT: It gives our team motivation. We work hard everyday not only because of the players before us, but because Coach Keefer pushes for perfection.

IHH: So what are your other interested other than basketball? I see you have Lil’ Wayne as your favorite artist on Facebook, you know he kissed Birdman on the lips, right?

VT: Lil' Wayne is the greatest rapper alive, haha! He is very creative… I like him because he works hard at what he does. He brings something different to the table every time he raps. I’m a big sports guy. I will watch just about any sport. I’m very competitive.

IHH: Any final words?

VT: I just want everyone to know I am very passionate about the game. I have been working hard to play basketball in college. I try every day to not take my abilities for granted. I want to be Mr. Basketball. Being Mr. Basketball for Indiana is a BIG deal. Everybody in Indiana loves basketball, it is life. I want my name to go down in history.

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