Jan. 20, 2006

We sat down with Tre’ Kelley after the team won an exciting overtime game versus Vanderbilt.

Describe your game-winning lay-up and the last seconds of overtime against Vanderbilt.

It was just a press and release because that I knew that our defense had been playing so good. I knew that if I hit that shot, we would be up by two points and would have to stop them. We left them having to rush and we knew we could create a difficult shot for them to take. It was just a press and release, just knowing that we were three seconds away from getting our first SEC win.

You scored 29 points against Vanderbilt, going 10-15 from the field (6-8 behind the arc). All were career highs. Were you just feeling it that night or had Coach Odom talked to you about taking more shots?

I just took some open shots. I was getting open shots, getting my feet set and I wasn’t leaning or getting off balance like I sometimes do. I was just shooting. I was coming off of screens, the big man was backing off, and I was just knocking them down. I just took advantage of what they gave me.

The team finally got the monkey off their back with an SEC win. What can expect from this team for the remainder of the year?

You can expect us to give the same pressure that we give people on the defensive end. I think we just haven’t been scoring a lot offensively. We’ve been stopping guys, but at times we haven’t been. We haven’t been coming out and playing hard in the second half. I think the second half is really the difference. I don’t know what you will see the rest of the season, but we just have to come out strong in the second half like we did the other night.

You’re the only player to start every game this season and you started every game last season with the exception of Senior Day. Do you see yourself as the team leader on the court?

I try to be. I try to be as much of a team leader on the court as I can possibly be. I try to help the guys get them into their position and learn the plays. I just try to lead by example most of the time and if I need to verbally be a leader, I try to do that also.

Mike Boynton, Jr. mentored you before you took over the point guard position. What all did he teach you and how are you trying to pass down the knowledge?

When Mike was here, I played and had some time on the court. It was not just sit and watch. I got the chance to be on the court with him because when I subbed in the games my freshmen year, I didn’t really come in for Mike. Mike moved down to the 2 and I played the 1 and he just showed me the ropes. Almost everyday, if anything went wrong or I did something wrong, he would help me. He showed me the way to do it and gave me a lot of suggestions. He gave me a lot of examples. He had a great senior season and to cap off your career like that is really great to do it the way that he did. He helped me a lot and I’d like to go out like he did.