Drew Timme joins the Zoom name from his residence in Spokane, WA. We’re speaking about his favourite gamers—the fellows who’ve impressed him, those he’s modeled his sport after and whose careers he’d like to emulate. The Gonzaga massive man grew up in suburban Dallas, so at the least one identify is a no brainer. “I’m a Mavericks fan, an enormous Dallas man,” he says, “so, in fact, Dirk’s my favourite participant of all time.”
Trying on the trendy NBA, one other participant is sort of as clear-cut a alternative. “Clearly Jokic—he’s loopy,” Timme says of the reigning MVP. “He’s not the flashiest or most athletic, however the best way he sees the court docket, it looks like he can rating any manner he needs.”
He’s a fan typically of versatile massive males, becoming position fashions for a 6-10 low-post wizard working to increase his personal vary and talent set. However there’s one other man who Timme mentions, a reputation that’s a bit much less apparent coming from a 21-year-old white dude. “Allen Iverson—I like his swagger, and , I put on a scarf,” he says with fun. However on this, it’s clear he’s honest.
“What I actually liked about him was how he was simply himself, each time he stepped on the court docket. I actually regarded as much as him for that; I feel it’s essential if you wish to be the perfect.”
Timme’s trademark March Insanity mustache won’t ever rival Iverson’s braids for icon standing, however his admiration for AI’s unapologetic realness is real—as is his dedication to maximizing the impression of his personal sport as he chases a nationwide championship, nationwide POY honors and a potential NBA future. The following few months will decide the primary two of these targets, however within the midst of his third faculty season, Timme’s legacy as one of many trendy sport’s most entertaining throwbacks is already a lock—and nonetheless arguably the most important motive Gonzaga can have one other shot at a chip this spring.
Once we caught up with him in December, Timme was nonetheless getting used to the return of followers at video games after the empty gyms of the pandemic-limited 2020-21 season. “I like the vitality the group provides, whether or not it’s good or unhealthy,” he says. “It’s further gas for me.” Not that he or the Bulldogs ought to want further motivation: Everybody remembers Gonzaga’s good run to the 2021 nationwide title sport and the way that turned out. What’s simple to neglect is that the Bulldogs would possibly’ve received a title the 12 months earlier than, if not for the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Event attributable to COVID-19. Timme got here into his junior season because the chief of the preseason No. 1 group and with a mixed faculty file of 62-3.
“We maintain ourselves to the usual of being the perfect model of ourselves we might be, which is being [the] finest group within the nation,” he says. “We see stress as a privilege.”
He positive doesn’t play prefer it bothers him. He averaged 19 ppg as a sophomore final season, doing a lot of his harm with an array of up-and-unders and put-backs and looping runners that make the sport look enjoyable. He returned this 12 months to preseason nationwide POY acclaim, trying to attempt to lastly safe that elusive nationwide championship, to mentor younger stars like freshman teammate Chet Holmgren, and to show that he himself is prepared for the following stage.
Assessing his progress, Timme says, “My capability to learn the sport has improved lots, and my protection has gotten lots higher. I’d say I’m nonetheless engaged on my exterior shot, and my perimeter protection on guards—it’s gotten lots higher, however there’s nonetheless a protracted strategy to go.”
Whether or not his sport will translate to the NBA is, for the second, inappropriate. “I got here again to win a championship and get higher,” he says. “That’s all I’m centered on.”
Images through Getty Photos.
