The beginning of Al Nolen’s career at Minnesota was built on hard work. Looking back on his senior year at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, the challenge for Nolen wasn’t really on the basketball court, as he had committed to play for Dan Monson and the Gophers years earlier and knew he had a spot waiting for him in Williams Arena. Nolen needed an assist in the classroom. The possibility of not qualifying academically to play college basketball motivated Nolen to study as hard as he played, and through his own determination and the help of those around him, he succeeded.

The resignation of Coach Monson earlier that season left Nolen’s basketball future in limbo, just as his academics had previously. As Nolen poured over textbooks, Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi studied the coaching landscape, searching for a big hire to revive a floundering basketball program. With the announcement that Tubby Smith had been chosen to coach Minnesota, Nolen’s hard work in the classroom seemed to take on an added dimension. Not only was he working to play Division I basketball, he was working to play for one of the sport’s premier coaches.

After spending his freshman year seeing spot action in relief of senior Lawrence McKenzie, Nolen took over the point guard position last season. Known for great quickness and tenacious on-the-ball defense, Nolen fit in well with Coach Smith’s desired style of play. With room for improvement on some of his skills, including his jump shot, Nolen knows this season will be hard work. Fortunately, Al Nolen has become accustomed to that.

GH: What’s one thing you learned playing so much time at point guard last year that you wish you could go back and tell yourself to look out for before the season began?

AN: I just learned that it was going to be a long, long season, mentally and physically. As a freshman, I was kinda able to hide behind Lawrence McKenzie since he was a senior. I didn’t really know what it was like. But as last year progressed, being the starting point guard, with Coach trying to tell you what he wants you to do, with trying to keep everybody happy and with trying to get wins out there, you just learn that it’s going to be tough on you – mentally and physically. If I’d have known that before last year, I woulda been better off.

University of Minnesota

GH: There are a pair of freshman joining the team this year from the Minneapolis area, just like you were two years ago. What do you see as some of the benefits of staying near home to play college basketball?

AN: They definitely have the benefit of playing in front of family, just having their family around them. Then there’s being from Minnesota and being able to represent Minnesota. Being from Minnesota overall is just a big help overall, in the classroom, socially, just everything.

GH: Rodney Williams and you had similar situations your senior years of high school, working on grades and making sure you could academically qualify at Minnesota. What’s some of the advice you’ve had for Rodney?

AN: I just told him to use it as motivation. Me almost not getting into school has really been a huge motivator for me to stay on top of my schoolwork here. I told Rodney to use it the same way, as motivation to stay on top of his schoolwork, and he’s been doing a good job so far. I just tell him to keep it up.

GH: You’re an upperclassman and a second-year starting point guard now. What do you feel like you have to do away from the court, as a leader, to keep this team focused?

AN: I definitely have to be a leader, on and off the court. Being a junior, I really think I’m going to step into that role and know what Coach Smith wants, what he likes, what he doesn’t like. Last year, I took my bumps and bruises, but now it’s time for me to step up.

GH: How can you describe the experience of coming out of the tunnel to a packed Barn to the freshman joining this year’s team? How was that first experience for you as a player?

AN: That experience was crazy. I was super nervous. Sweat pouring all over my body, heart pounding hard. I really couldn’t explain it to them better than saying that it’s going to be a crazy feeling. Those guys are just going to have go through it for themselves to really understand how it feels.

GH: Now, after two years, when you take the floor at the Barn, do you still get nervous or does it feel different?

AN: Actually, I do get nervous before every game, but it’s not like my freshman year when my palms were sweating. I kinda know what to expect now, but every game I still get nervous.

GH: How about for going on the road for these freshmen. Even if they played at a big high school there were maybe 2,000 people in the gym for big games. Now they’re going to East Lansing, West Lafayette, Champaign and they’re bound to see something crazy. How do you prepare them to play in those places as a team leader?

AN: You just have to tell them to be focused on basketball. It’s no different. You’ve been playing basketball since you were young. Don’t let fans say anything to you or let the way the crowd is discourage you from putting the ball in the hoop or helping out a teammate or playing defense. There shouldn’t be anything that scares them. It’s just playing basketball.

GH: What types of things did you work on this summer to get ready for this year?

AN: I worked on my jumper, trying to get that down so teams will play out on me more and we can get the ball down to Colton (Iverson) and Ralph (Sampson). Also just talked to Coach Smith and try to figure out what he really wants for this team this year. We’re really talented and if we get everything running, the motor running right, I think we can do a lot of things, especially this year.

GH: This looks to be one of the deepest Minnesota teams in quite some time. Does that cause everyone to raise their level of play with the heavy competition for time at every position?

AN: Yeah, it’s definitely going to make it more competitive, but being competitive isn’t a bad thing. It just makes you better as a player. If I was a person who didn’t have to work for my job, my spot, I feel like I might get comfortable and complacent. With Justin Cobbs being there to push me, me pushing him, Devoe (Joseph) also pushing us… everybody’s got a little bit of competition at their position and I think it makes everybody better.

GH: What do you expect from the team this year?

AN: Everybody’s goal since Coach Smith got here is to win a Big Ten title and take a team to the Final Four. I think with the team we have and the talent we have, we’re not going to lessen our goal. I think we’re looking to try and make a Final Four and looking to compete for the Big Ten title.

GH: The fans are expecting more from this team than last year’s team. Last year, the team kind of came from under the radar, but this year the expectations are there from the start. How do you respond to that level of expectation?

AN: It’s always more (stressful) when you have expectations on you. When you’re under the radar, nobody really expects anything from you. It’s more pressure with the expectations, but you know, that’s how it goes. People have been playing with pressure for their whole lives, so it’s really not a big adjustment. We set our own goals and we put pressure on ourselves for a reason. It won’t be that big of a difference. Guys will come out here and work hard as they always have. Having those expectations will give us more incentive to work harder and try to prove to people that we’re as good as they think.

GH: You said, like any team, the goal is to get to the Final Four. What did that NCAA Tournament experience last year teach you about postseason play that you could use in this year’s postseason?

AN: It taught us that, being the team that overachieved last year, playing Texas, a few things go our way we definitely could have won the game. It lets us know that we’re a team that can be there. We were there and we’re a team that could have beat a Texas team, which is a good team. It left a bad taste in our mouth. It gave us a little extra incentive to make it further.

GH: In your opinion, what makes this year a success for the Gophers?

AN: I think just getting all that we can out of what we got. I think expectations are to make a run at the Big Ten title and make a run in the NCAA Tournament. Just being the best we can be will make it alright with me.

GH: When Gopher fans pack the Barn this year, what can they expect from the team?

AN: They’re definitely going to see an unselfish team that’s going to work hard and hustle, giving it all they got every second they’re on the floor. They can expect a good show.


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