July 19, 2006

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina head coach Dave Odom and former Gamecock forward Renaldo Balkman met with the Columbia media on Wednesday afternoon. Balkman is back in Columbia after being selected in the first round (20th pick overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft.

Renaldo Balkman

“It’s been a childhood dream (to play in the NBA). It was shocking when they called my name. I was crying, everything. When the No. 20 pick (Knicks) came, I was eating a plate of food and I dropped it all over the floor. I woke up the next day, it felt like I had won the lottery.”

“Throughout my career, a lot of people have doubted me for a lot of things. I really won’t talk about (what other people think). I just come out on the court and try to prove people wrong. I can do that and control my game on the court.”

“I’ve worked hard to reach this point. Time will tell everything. (New York Knicks head basketball coach Isiah Thomas) tells me just `Work Hard, be a workhorse, keep going.’ I’m resting up and will work with Knicks assistant coach George Glymph. He’s assigned to work with me before training camp.”

“They say I’m a high-energy player who goes out, runs the floor and gets after it. As far as things I have to work on, I would say my jump shot. I can shoot a little more than people think, but off the dribble I need to square my body better with the basket.”

“I’ve played there (Madison Square Garden), four or five times, so I’m confident when I play there. I was born in Staten Island, New York. I grew up a Knicks fan. I remember being 7-8 years old watching the Knicks. (I was) a fan of Patrick Ewing, John Starks, all of them.”

SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH Dave Odom

“This is a very happy occasion for me as the head basketball coach at the University of South Carolina. We are all happy for Renaldo and it is always great to experience one of your players going on to do great things or having the opportunity to do great things in part as a result by the experience they have had at the university and part of our basketball team.”

“I have been coaching a very long time and I don’t know if there are many cases or players that I have coached, who I am more proud of, than Renaldo Balkman, for what he has accomplished, as a basketball player, student and as a person. I am very happy for him, for his family and those who have helped him through the years and shown so much faith for him. I’m happy for our coaching staff, his teammates and the University of South Carolina. It’s a real pleasing time for me to say congratulations to Renaldo to let him know how happy we are for him and proud we are. We look forward to following his career in the NBA with the Knicks for as long as it lasts. I want to say I have a world of confidence in him as a basketball player. As I’ve told him many times, he has some work to do but he has time to do it. He can be extremely good and I think he will be a very good basketball player in the NBA, I know that has been his dream.”

“It certainly ranks up with the very best. We have another player right now, Tarence Kinsey, who I’m equally pleased with and proud of. They both came in different years but from the same place (Tampa, Fla.). Tarence has also done very well and was invited to camp with the (Memphis) Grizzlies.”

“He (Renaldo) started talking about Orlando (pre-NBA draft camp). I had a flashback from (a few) summers ago when Barry Sanderson (USC assistant coach) and I were down at the Orlando 17 & Under National Tournament. I remember we were sitting on Court 4 and the Florida AAU team that (Renaldo) was on, the Tallahassee Wildcats, were playing and I saw this guy out here. I saw him jump, dunk and run. I punched Barry and I asked `Who is that? That’s the guy we need right there, find out who that is. Barry came back with the first answer `Nobody knows who he is.’ I said, `Find out who he is.’ (Barry) came back with Renaldo’s name. That’s the first place we saw him. The irony being that the NBA pre-draft camp was held in that same building. He was playing on the main court this day. In a sense, his Carolina career began in that building when I saw him. His Carolina career ended in that building when he played so very well in front of the NBA scouts. That’s been a very good building for him just as Madison Square Garden has been.”

Contrary to what Renaldo said, I was not (shocked that the Knicks selected him). I was shocked that he went 20th but I did have a very lengthy conversation with Isiah Thomas on the Friday of the pre-NBA draft camp. It was pretty close to a half-an-hour and I could tell the directness of his questions and I’ve known him for a long time, I could tell he was very serious about drafting him. I did think that if he was going to draft him it would be with the second (Knicks) pick in the 1st Round. I did not know he would go 20th. You could tell that Isiah was interested in Renaldo.”

“Renaldo Balkman has the ability to make people like him. Despite of all the things that you can pick apart, at the end of the day, people like and embrace him. When all this to-do broke out about the New York media, ESPN, New York fans and all of that, I was saying `They got the perfect guy because Renaldo Balkman doesn’t care.’ He doesn’t worry about it at all. All they have to do is sit tight and let him do his deal and they will end up liking him. They will like him as a player and as a person. When you look to our team next year, we are going to miss all of his athleticism and his electricity but the thing will miss the most is his personality. He gave us great personality. We will miss that the very most.”

“I think one of the things that our staff has done best is finding guys that are in the rough and bring them along. I think the first thing you do, is that you gain their trust and they lean on you. If they stick with us long enough, we can teach them how to play hard, respect the game and bring the game every night. (Renaldo) told me right outside that his only regret was that he would not be able to finish his career with Tre (Kelley) and Brandon (Wallace). He came in with those guys and they have been close throughout the years here. That is his biggest disappointment but when you look at the big picture he certainly made the best decision.