1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Isaiah Roby (Former Nebraska Basketball Forward, Current OKC Thunder Forward): May 11th, 10am

Episode Date: May 11, 2022

How far did your mom go to help you reach your dreams?When did you recognize that you belong and that you would need to work for itHow important is who you work withHow did you get through all the adversityYour final two months this last season in the NBA were amazing, how did that come about?Tell us about your basketball camp that will take place in LincolnAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, presented by Beatrice Bakery, on 937 The Ticket and The Ticket FM.com. Let's bring it in on Wednesday one-on-one here on 927 the Ticket, The Ticketfm.com. The app is up and flowing, so you can jump on there. The starter hammered text line if you want to text in for,

2464-6-4-6-8-5. Later in the show, you can use the Honda-Lincoln Hotline. Same number, you can do your thing. The live video streams are up. Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and we are live on Twitter. So you can follow in several different ways and be a part of the conversation. I add to you are appreciated in advance. Special one-on-one here, I think there's certain players that when you talk Nebraska basketball,

that people, especially recently, they start to glow. And then there's a pride that gets on their face when they talk about this young man. And so it was interesting to me that when you find out that he's doing his camps here, to bring him in and have his voice be a more ready. There's zero chance that I can ask him all the questions I need to ask him in one sit down. So I'm going to apologize in advance. But Rico, if you would, please, hit this man's music. Hope to win.

Live for three-point play. Uh-oh. On the three, as we have seen anybody go. Oscar's not done yet. That's seven. Whoa. Let's bring him in, one of Dixie's finest. Dixie High's finest.

Let's bring in Isaiah Roby. Isaiah, how you doing this morning? Thanks for doing this. Hey, that was nice, man. I'm doing great. I'm doing great. I appreciate you guys having me on. There's so much to your story that as I just apologize to the listeners

because there's zero chance that I can cover everything I want to with you in an interview. It's just not going to happen because there's, you, you have such a great story and such a great mission that there's zero chance we can get it in and all this time. But I'm going to start with what I found out recently about most Husker athletes is that the story of sacrifice for parents from their parents to get them to where they get to is consistent. And your story, your story falls directly in that.

I'm going to ask you to talk about your mom and what she did for you to help facilitate the greatness that is Isaiah Robey. For sure. For sure. Let's get into it. What we find out is that outside of the local community,

that sometimes you have to go and get assistance and help coaching from outside of your immediate neighborhood and community. That was the case. You guys, You had to drive. How far did your mom have to drive you just to get you the work that you felt like you needed

to improve in basketball? Yeah, so I grew up in a small town, about 15,000 people, which, you know, in Nebraska, maybe it's not as small of a town, but in Illinois, that's pretty small. So for me, I was driving for AAU practice, you know, I was driving about hour, 15 both ways. So on a week night, you know, after my mom gets off work,

You know, she's working a nine to five, and then she's got to drive me, you know, two and a half hours just for, just for practice. Not even counting, you know, the weekends where I have to, you know, we had to get a hotel, we travel to big cities around the country and whatnot. So, you know, it definitely took a village. You know, I had, you know, my mom, obviously, she worked very hard and, you know, picked up two jobs for me to be able to do that sometimes. And, you know, I had teammates who had to come and pick me up, you know, it really takes a village, you know. through that there has to be some accountability or some personal acceptance that if people are going to do this for you that you have to represent that in the work that you put in how much of that is true for you for sure i mean yeah i had you know i had friends or family members who also helped you know we would do fundraisers

and whatnot and like you said it's kind of like you know you represent them now like without them they wouldn't you wouldn't be in that position you wouldn't be able to to have these that you have. So, you know, I kind of always carried that with me, especially, you know, just knowing, like, the hard work goes into it, you know, it's, it's, it was a blessing for me, you know, not everybody could, could afford to play AAU. Some guys, you know, their teams are, you know, sponsored by shoe companies. So, you know, they, they don't really have to, to worry about the funding. But, you know, you know, I played for a pretty local team. And so, you know, it was just a little different for me. But, you know, I was definitely

blessed to be put in that position by, you know, everybody that helped me out. You've talked before about that it wasn't traditional and that your basketball story isn't the same as a lot of people that you're currently in the vacuum with, like just a different reality. When did you recognize that, one, you might belong in that space and two, that it's going to require different work for you to get there? Yeah, I would say, honestly, my time in Nebraska, that's, that's. I think it was my sophomore year or either my freshman or sophomore year.

I can't remember right up top of my head, but one of my teammates, Anton Gil, he was just, I figured what I did. I might have like did like a Eurostep dunk and dunk on my left hand. And he was just like, that's not, you know, that's not, this isn't a normal thing that people do every day. You know, like, every once in a while I would just make a play and he would be like, that's, you know, that's a league play that you're doing. And, you know, he was somebody that I had a lot of trust in and a lot of, um, uh, Like, his word met a lot to me just because I know he's played against those guys that are in the league.

He was a five-star recruit out of high school. I remember watching him before I got to Nebraska and his thinking, like, man, this dude, like, now he's a killer. Now he's telling me that, you know, I can do these things also. So, you know, he was kind of one of the first people to really instill that confidence in me. And then, as you said, like, you know, the work always has to change. You know, you always have to keep on getting better. I know a lot of coaches talk about getting 1% better every day. You know, there's a lot of truth to that because, you know, people can get complacent.

But especially in the field that I'm in now, as a professional best football player, you know, there's people coming for your job every day. So, you know, you always have to just keep on striving to get better. We're talking to Isaiah Roby, former Husker currently with Oklahoma City Thunder, and that evolution has just been remarkable to watch. And it has to be kind of surreal for you. Yeah. Right?

To go through and say, listen, kid from a small town. didn't have all the resources that other people had, but the accumulation of good people around you is the result, right? Like that's how you get there as a good people. So let's talk about, we've talked about mom, and I want to go into great detail about mom, but I also want to talk to high school coaches Dixie and then Tim Miles and what happens along the way.

How does this happen for you? Yeah, so, okay. So, yeah, I grew up in Dixon. So Dixon is a real small town. The basketball program there, not traditionally very good. And we had a coach, I had a high school coach who probably was the most, probably the most important person for me in my basketball career, honestly, just because he was the guy who, you know, I came in as a freshman and I expected to be on varsity.

And, you know, I wasn't quite ready for that. You know, like I remember Summer League of my freshman year, my coach, We were playing really bad. We were getting blown out, which is normal for us that year because, you know, we were a fresh off team playing all varsity because, you know, we didn't have any older guys. But I was on the bench. I remember him getting on me about my body language. And I was like, you know, my body language, why does my body language matter? Like, we're getting blown out.

What's on my body language? And just things like that. He would always instill those things in me. Like, he kind of had me training as a professional in high school. He took the game so serious that he kind of instilled that in me. So he was definitely the most instrumental in my basketball career. his name's Coach Mead. And, you know, we have a great relationship still.

Me and all my teammates, he still text him all the time and reach out. And he watches all my games. So, you know, he's been great. But, yeah, like you said, like, it's not very traditional. Like, you know, my team, my high school team, I'm the only guy to play college basketball off that team. My AAU team, there was two of us that played Division I basketball. So, you know, I've kind of always had that underdog feeling about me.

And that's kind of always been, you know, part of my motivation, honestly, is just proving people wrong. And if somebody doesn't even know who I am, then just, you know, represent myself the right way. And just, you know, I feel like there's always somebody new who's watching my game and, you know, learning who Isaiah Roby is as a basketball player. You do a ton of individual work away from the bright lights and away from media that helps you elevate and helps you change your place in this game.

How important is that, is that, is the Detroit. of who you do that work with and then how you go about doing that work. Yeah, I mean, that's huge. You know, that's, you know, you got to learn, like I'm still learning now. You know, this is a different type of offseason than I've had all, you know, all throughout my professional career, you know, your rookie season is really long because you end college basketball and then you immediately start getting ready for the draft workout, you know.

This is my first off season where I'm no, I'm not in the city of, you know, I'm not in Oklahoma City. You know, all the younger guys, the rookies and the second year, third year guys are back in Oklahoma City right now training as a team. And, you know, us older guys, you know, the team kind of has trusting us that, you know, we're going to get our work done. We're going to stay in shape. We're going to make those strides. So, you know, I'm back home right now. So like you said, you know, you've got to continuously figure out what's best for you. You know, I had to learn the hard way of, you know, dealing with pain and injury because I was doing too much outside of practice. my rookie year.

I would, you know, when I was with Dallas, I would practice in the morning, go to our team practice in the afternoon, then I would go in and practice that night. And I remember my body would just beat up before the season was even at the halfway point, you know? So there's definitely a learning curve to that. And Isaiah, it's interesting, right, to make the choice to go into the draft, you get drafted by Dallas, having to be in several different situations and circumstances, then the foot injury that could have derailed all of it, right?

It could have not only physically but emotionally. Like to get in it, how did you get through? Where did the patients come from for you to get through, get healthy, get healed, and then get back on the floor and get to work? You know, I would say just my support system of, you know, loved ones, family, friends. You know, I have a really good circle of people. around me, I think. You know, I think that's really important, especially, I mean, I think we've all

kind of gone through it with COVID. You know, it's, um, it's even longer than normal right now. You know, people are, um, you know, people have been in the house for, you know, two years or whatnot. And, um, yeah, I think just having a strong, strong, uh, circle of people around you that just support you and, um, you know, give you motivation. It is really key. And then obviously, you know, um, having faith to, um, you know, reading, read my Bible and, you know, um, just finding the strength and sometimes where you need a little extra push, you know. Is it, is it fair to say that you've had your I belong moment? No doubt.

No doubt. Right? Like, and I can hear the relief in your, in your, in your body. Well, I mean, I mean, the thing about that is like, yes, I've had like, I feel like I've had some pretty good success in the NBA, you know, obviously the average NBA careers is four years, and that's where I'm at right now. Yeah. I'm definitely, you know, I'm blessed to be in this position, and I think that I've done a pretty good job in this position already.

But, you know, it's always a blessing to be in this spot, you know. It's, like you said, you know, a foot injury could have, could have derailed everything. I couldn't have, I could have not gotten an opportunity I got in Oklahoma City, you know. So, you know, I'm definitely thankful for it every day. and I'm looking forward to just growing each season, each month. That's kind of what drives me is just being a better player each time out. Have you thought back in your time at Nebraska? Is there a moment that sticks out as your favorite Nebraska basketball moment?

I would have to say, that's tough. It's tough to just boil it down to one just because, you know, I had such a great time. You know, obviously missed out in the tournament. That's something that will haunt me for forever. But I would say probably the most fun I had at Nebraska was at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago, my sophomore year. You know, it was, you know, I grew up two hours away from Chicago,

so I had a lot of families there, a lot of friends there. And, you know, just the kind of run we made, it was just like, you know, we were out there just playing. It was, you know, the stress when the season was going, you know, whatever happened in the regular season, it had happened. You know, we had our seating. And, you know, we felt like that season kind of slipped away from us, you know, due to injuries, due to games that we lost by, you know, five or less points.

So, you know, the fact that we were just able to go out there, play, just kind of forget all that. And, you know, we had guys step up, like Johnny Trueblood stepped up out there. You know, he kind of became a fan favorite. I actually have the G-League coach for Oklahoma City. He is Grand Gives. you know, he played that at Creighton. And so we always kind of talk about that.

He's like, Johnny True was a legend. He kind of made a name for himself in that tournament. So, you know, that was definitely one of the most fun times I had. Did you talk about Coach Miles and what that was for you? Yeah. Yeah, me and Coach Miles, we actually was just talking earlier this week, or last week. You know, Coach Miles, he, I mean, I don't know what it was about Coach Miles. that just it just drew me to the school, you know, because when I was getting recruited, like,

when I was getting recruited and he kind of stepped into the picture, it was at a point where, like, you know, my offers were like northern Illinois, northern Iowa, St. Louis University. Like, you know, he was pretty early on me in respect to Power 5 schools. And just the way he was at my game, I remember there was one game in Milwaukee where I got a block and he's in the stands like cheering. And I'm like, I'm like, I've never seen this before. Like, this coach is having a great time. Like, you know, he's live in the stands.

Like, so that's kind of how Miles has always been. And, you know, I think he put together some really good teams in my years in Nebraska. So, yeah, we talk every now and that still. Isaiah, it's got to be, I have to ask this, through the recruiting process, so Nebraska is kind of the big, big fish in the small pond, and they make a splash and you kind of decide. you want to do this. How much of the conversation happened

between your mom and Coach Miles? A lot. You know, he, him and Coach Molinarie, that was my head recruiter. They did a really good job of, you know, not only reaching out to me, but also reaching out to my mom. And even my dad and my grandma,

you know, they had a pretty good relationship with them. They came out to Dixon and visited with me in my home, you know, so, you know, they did a pretty good job of that. I think that was big, and my mom, she's pretty protective over me and my brothers. So, you know, the fact that he was able to make her feel comfortable, you know, that was huge and, you know, easing her mind as well. I'm hearing a bit of ownership of the thunder situation and circumstance.

Like you're talking about it, like, no, what, I need to be out front now. I can't be in the back kind of waiting for things to develop. You need to have your own impact on this thing. and you're talking like a veteran who's going to help decide what the standard is going to be for that. Is that true, or is that conscious? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that this season, I kind of felt that transition from, you know, a young guy who's in this league and he's trying to find his way. And, you know, the coaching staff is going to let play through mistake after mistake.

You know, I think this year they really made that transition into, like, you know, we believe you can be a player in this league. and you got to do it every night. You know, that's the challenge of being professional athlete and being a, you know, a NBA player who stays in the league for a long time, and just being consistent in what your role is, you know, contribute into winning. So, you know, I think this past year I did a good job of that.

And, you know, I think that that's kind of the next step for me. Just being that consistent player, that veteran type player who, you know, really efficient. And so, yeah, I think that's where I'm headed next year. Let's talk about March because you had a march. That's got to be your favorite march. Because having the 38 and 4 and at a 26, 7 and 5 against the guy that would be the MVP, the consistency. Let's talk about the double, the game against the Blazers.

The facial, we talk about body language. The facial expression that you played with was entirely different. Like you watches and wait a minute. he just grew up in front of us. Talk about the night against the Blazers, man. That was an amazing night. That was a great night. And, you know, I grew up at Trailblazers fans.

You know, to have my career high so far against them, that, you know, that was a little extra special. But, you know, I don't know what it was about that night. I think we just, you know, that was a point in the season where we had a lot of injuries. And so, you know, we kind of had, you know, we kind of had, you know, We had lineups that just every night the lineup was a little different, you know. And it was a game where I just came out and I was hot. And, you know, they gave me two open threes to start the game.

And, you know, once you give a guy confidence, once you guys, he's two threes, go through the net, you know, he's going to have a good night. So that was a great, great night. And, you know, I'm looking forward to having more of those. You know, that was a big shot number. I mean, the play wasn't even drawn up for me originally. But, you know, I think that's one of the great. advantages of the way our team is built, honestly.

Like, you know, I played the four, the five, the three. Mostly the five, though. And it's like, you know, like you said, going up against guys who were seven foot, 280 pounds. Like, you know, they got to guard me. You know, so the fact that I'm able to, you know, play in the pick and roll and also pop and shoot threes, you know, that's a huge benefit for us.

We're talking to Isaiah Rovia, the Oklahoma City Thunder former Husker. Isaiah, I was just going to ask you about that. What was it like with the injuries that the OKC sustained that you had to play the five going up against seven-footers like Rudy Gobert and Nicole Okic, night after night? How did you have to change your game to deal with that? Yeah, I mean, it's difficult. You have to, it's difficult because obviously they play daily against guys their size, you know.

So defensively for me, obviously the toughest part is protecting the rim, getting them off the glass. But offensively, you know, I love it. You know, it's very fun getting guarded by these bigger guys because not only is it, do I have an advantage, you know, with my speed and whatnot, but it also opens up the lane for the rest of my teammates. You know, if I have go pair on me and I'm in the corner, you know, he can't stand in the paint, so I'm going to get a three. And if he's out with me, you know, the lane's open because he's the main anchor of their defense. So, you know, obviously there's some things I have to approve of all you. You know, I got to be better at the rim. And I just, you know, I think that comes with just watching film, knowing position better because, you know, after playing a couple years in this league, you know, I know I'm athletic enough to play with these guys strong enough.

I just, you know, it's just about positioning and, you know, and be in the right spot and they're playing with that physicality. One of the reasons why we reached out, the camp, your camp, the second annual Isaiah Roeby camp, here in Lincoln, August 6th and 7th, a couple of texts are texted in and said that their sons have attended, as a matter of fact, Sanderson says, my son attended Robes Camps last year, and Will again. He's so generous with his time, and it's a fabulous camp. Give the folks a little bit for the folks that don't know about your camp, give them a little bit of info on August 6th and 7th. Yeah, so we have a camp over at Speedway Village in Lincoln. It's for boys and girls incoming fourth grade through 10th grade. And, yeah, like you said, we had people there last year. I think we had over 225 campers last year.

And, you know, it's something that I've always wanted to do. Like, ever since I went to an ex-NFL players camp, you know, I grew up playing football. So I went to an NFL player's camp. And I play quarterback. I won quarterback of the camp. And I just remember, just always remember, and like this camp was so fun for me because you get to meet new people.

You get to compete against guys. And, you know, ultimately, you know, that's what kind of, I don't know, like you kind of, if you really love sports and you love, you love competing, you know, it's always fun to just go out just meet new people and be able to compete against them. So that's always what drove me.

And then the fact that, you know, I'm able to host my own camp is just, you know, It's surreal. It's one of those things that doesn't even seem real almost, you know, especially from coming from where I come from and, you know, just, I just never thought it would be a possibility. So, you know, I have my good friend Thomas Villianco, who I train with in college. He has a pretty good, you know, base of kids and athletes that he trains in the Lincoln area. So, you know, he's able to help me put that together. And, you know, I think we just, it's not too competitive. You know, we don't have. You know, we don't have.

you know, we don't have scouts or anything there. It's just people I want people to come out, have a good time, meet some new people, and play basketball and have a good time, you know. Isaiah, are you going to have any other Husker alumni there? I'm going to try to for sure. I know last year we had Glenn Watson. He was in town, and he was able to come for both days and help out. You know, I saw him over there.

He was helping the kids out with their ball handling. And, you know, I asked him to come out again this year, so I'm expecting him to be there. he's the only one right now that I know for sure is coming. Well, I'm trying to get more guys to come out. I tell you what we can do, Isaiah. We can get you, Eric Strickland. Hey. Yeah, we can get you strict.

Jay Foreman, who was a low-key hoops fiend. He was at your event last year and spoke highly of it. And then some of the current Huskers. Those are guys that are kind of hanging around the program. I think there's some guys we can get you. right yeah last year we had you know um bryce and trey both came out coey came out um then we had a few more guys come out also yeah so we it's i mean that's that's another thing about Nebraska you know it's just great great support and it's um i mean i don't know it's special place i think i think

i think i talk about Nebraska too much and like my teammates they get on me a lot they're like they found it i don't know who i don't know who told them but somebody one of my teammates signed out that Nebraska's the only Power 5 school and not won an NCAA tournament, so I haven't heard the end of that. But, you know, I keep on time. It's coming.

We got some more, I'm excited to see some more Huskies around the league. You know, we got, obviously, myself and Delano and, you know, Bryce, he'll be there next year. So, you know, they can have it. They always want to talk about the NCAA tournaments, but, you know, we got some more Huskis coming to the league.

How about that? How about that? That's necessary. It is August 6th, August 7th, at the Speedway Village. Again, it's available to incoming fourth graders through 10th boys and girls. Let them know how they can register for this thing. So you can either go through my social media.

I have an image on my Twitter. You can go on there. You can go to the link on there. And also, that's where all the information will be. You can find that on my Twitter page or on Thomas Bigliankos. Twitter page. Isaiah, thank you.

As I said, there's zero chance we could get to everything I want to get through with you. But you know what? I'm going to bug you all the way up

into this camp and we'll do this again a couple of times to get folks registered and to get interest up. But there's so many stories that you have to tell and they deserve to be told.

Absolutely. And I would love to be back on. You know, if you guys have some free time and like you said, before the camp even, you know, that would be great.

But I really appreciate you guys have to have. me on. Isaiah, we'll do this again real quick. We appreciate you kind, sir. Awesome. Thank you guys. That is Isaiah Roby, again, his camp August 6th and 7th. And his development, growth and improvement in the NBA, especially over the last two months, his time in O.K. See, he, look, it's a step up. He went from being a prospect and a development to the real deal. I mean, the 30 burger he put up against the Blazers and 26 against the Nuggets and a win up there. and then his place within the organization.

So great young man, great stories. And again, the great camp, you can find his information, just track him on social media. And if you have a young man or a young lady that are interested in between fourth grade and 10th grade, get them over there, get them to it. It would be a great two-day event. So we'll throw the break. We'll come back with more one-on-one.

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