Tony Wroten Jr. @ adidas Nations Experience
Words. HShoop
Tony Wroten Jr. (photo. adidas)
Before he’d even played a high school game, Tony Wroten Jr. was being called the best player in the Class of 2011 and was expected to bring longtime Seattle powerhouse Garfield H.S. back to prominence after some recent down years. As a freshman, the 6-4 guard lived up to expectations, dropping 20.8 points per game and leading the Bulldogs back to the state tournament. We tracked down the rising sophomore stud at the adidas Nations Experience in Dallas over the weekend.
High School Hoop: You had a lot of expectations going into your freshman year at Garfield. How do you think you did?
Tony Wroten: I think I did good for my first time playing high school ball. Playing against juniors and seniors and stepping right into my freshman year as the leader on the team, I think I did good, but I can always play better.
HSH: Was it strange for you automatically being that leader as a freshman when you had older teammates?
TW: It wasn’t. I’ve usually always been the leader, so I’m getting used to it. But when people always want to talk to me, like after a game, I’m like “Why me?” What about this teammate or that teammate? I always try to put my teammates in front of me, even if they do things that don’t show up in the scorebook. One person might have a lot of points, but everyone did other things to help get the win. We’re all the same.
HSH: In the offseason Garfield hired a new coach. How do you expect to adjust?
TW: I’m looking forward to it. He’s a good coach. It shouldn’t be too hard to adjust.
HSH: How has the adidas Nations Experience been?
TW: I think it’s going good. I’m meeting new people, playing against new people, and they’re just as good as us. It’s getting me better. Even though I’m the youngest here I always want to guard the best player on the other team to get myself better. The overseas teams, they run real fundamental sets; it keeps you on your toes on defense.
HSH: How has the competition been from the international teams?
TW: I didn’t know they’d be jumping as high as us, but some of them are jumping higher. They can do all the things we can do, and they’re taking it real serious.
