April 7, 2003

Chuck Eidson Talks about Portsmouth

Q: Do you know how all this came about (Chuck playing in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament)?

A: I am not really sure. It’s an invitational. I have known guys who have been getting invitations for a long time. It just depends on where you fit in and if they think you can compete there.

Q: Is this the first step to reality that ‘Hey I am done playing college basketball and know I have to make my living playing basketball’?

A: A little bit. I am not going to put everything into just this tournament. This will be the first time that I will be doing something that will not be USC-related in 4 years. It is something for myself and I look forward to it being a good experience.

Q: Do you feel this is a great opportunity to showcase your talents since the team did not meet expectations and as much written about USC?

A: It is a great opportunity because everybody is going to be there. If I can do anything to shine there it can only be good for me. It is just a wonderful opportunity.

Q: Have you spoke with any NBA personnel and if so do you know how they feel about you going into this tournament?

A: It is the same old same old. Good passer, good one-two, but needs to work on his shot. This is something that I have been hearing for a long time so I have to get a little bit bigger and work on my shot.

Q: I heard a rumor towards the end of the season that you had a shot at going in the second round have you heard anything about that?

A: Not really. It is so wide open I can’t tell, but that is what this tournament is for: to showcase what I can do.

Q: Have you talked to anybody who has gone there before to find out what it is all about?

A: Not really. I have talked to Jo Jo English and guys like that who know about the camp and they have told me it is a great opportunity to go and showcase your skills.

Q: What is your game plan going into the tournament?

A: I don’t want to concentrate on my shot the whole time, trying to prove that I can shoot. I am not going to try and wow them. I am just going to go out there and make easy plays and try to be a little more selfish than I usually am because it is all about points out there.

Q: Is it going to be hard to go out there and not be so unselfish?

A: Well, I have never been able to do it in all the all-star games I have been in, but that was because I was always playing trying to impress a coach to get into a school. This invitational is basically for me. So you have got to do what you have got to do.

Q: Do you have an agent yet?

A: No, I was waiting until after this tournament.

Q: Have you talked to anyone who is going to go to this tournament?

A: Not really. I have played against Erwin Dudley (played at Alabama) here at USC and Steve Blake (played at Maryland) in AAU games, but I have not talked to anyone recently who is going.