George Washington University Athletics
Q&A with Men's Basketball's Tyler Cavanaugh
10/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Oct. 28, 2015
WATCH: RaiseHigh.tv Interview with Cavanaugh
After sitting out last season, redshirt junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh will play a big role for the George Washington men's basketball team in 2015-16. The native of Syracuse, N.Y., who transferred to GW from Wake Forest, stayed busy in his year out of game action by transforming his body in the weight room and is expected to be in the starting lineup when the Colonials open the season vs. Lafayette on Nov. 13. GWsports.com recently caught up with Cavanaugh as he readies himself for his first playing season in Foggy Bottom.
What's this last year been like for you and how excited are you to get back in game action?
It's been a long year away but it's been great to step back and just work on my game. The year was difficult and tough, but I got close with [Strength & Conditioning Coach] Matt Johnson and really was able to change my body. Matt Hart went through the same thing so it was really helpful to have someone doing the same thing as me.
Matt Johnson has mentioned you as one of the hardest workers in the weight room. Where does that work ethic and drive come from?
I've just always prided myself in that and my parents instilled it in me at a very young age. Just giving it everything I have and maybe not being the fastest or most athletic guy on the court, but if you work the hardest that will get you places. There are some great guys on this team with great work ethic, so if I'm not putting my best foot forward I almost feel like I'm failing my teammates.
Describe your game for someone who hasn't seen you play.
I'm what they call a stretch-four so I'll play inside and outside. I can extend out to shooting the 3, I can play in the post. One of my biggest things at Wake is I was able to take opponents off the dribble. I need to continue to improve my rebounding and my post defense, but I think that will improve based on how I've gotten stronger over the past year.
Better basketball player... you or your dad?
Me, of course [laughs]. He'd admit it - he's just worried about the golf game now. He went to Hamilton and he's been great throughout my whole life. When I grew up he coached me and he would push me but also let me figure it out on my own, which was great. He's been there to guide me along and help me in my career.
This team has a unique blend of veterans who are old and new to the program. How do you see them meshing?
I think it's been good. Obviously Joe [McDonald], Patricio [Garino] and Kevin [Larsen] are veteran guys who have been with Coach Lonergan for four years. This is the second year for Matt [Hart] and I, as well as Paul [Jorgensen] and the sophomores, but Alex [Mitola] and Jaren [Sina] have been doing a great job along with Jordan [Roland] and Collin [Goss]. They've had a great presence, they're always listening and we do have a good chemistry. The guys are meshing together well, but we won't really be able to tell until we get into those adverse situations on the road in January and February, but I think we're building the leadership and togetherness now that will help us be better in those situations this season.
In your experience, how vital can all the experience this team has be?
It's so important. In high school you never really know - home game, road game - same thing. But at Wake I was 1-17 being on the road in two years in ACC games. We went through a lot of ups and downs but here, these guys have been to the tournament. They know what it takes. Experience is so important to be able to win those conference games on the road, stay mentally tough and together as a group because Coach isn't out there on the floor. We have to do it ourselves.
You're part of what could end up being a very big starting 5 in terms of height and length. How have you seen that first unit working together and what are its strengths?
Obviously that unit has some size, but I think we'll be able to throw a lot of different looks at people this year. Coach will be able to mix it up. We have a lot of guards that can really shoot the ball. But we are big, we're physical, we have to get tougher and rebound the ball because I do think we'll be able to score on people - whether that's our guards from the outside or Kevin on the inside. I think we're very versatile; Yuta has really improved after a great freshman year. I'm just excited we have a lot of different looks we can throw at people offensively and defensively.
It's tough to say before you've played a game, but do you see an identity developing with this team?
I just want people to not fear us, but just respect our toughness. It's something Coach has told us about, for instance a Rhode Island that has established itself as a tough team and has prided themselves on it. But I think we can be a tenacious team and rebounding team, which will create our offense, and I don't think we'll have as much of a problem scoring as we did at certain points last year.
And that's something you guys really targeted with offseason conditioning, right?
Yeah, Coach Johnson really prided our offseason on bringing us all together and putting us in tough mental situations, whether it was our early morning runs at the National Mall, or just strength training in the weight room, it's been all about being together as a unit.
There are some rule changes in college basketball this season, most notably the shot clock. Has that been an adjustment for you guys at all?
I think I'll start noticing it more in a game when we're going up and down. I think it's going to help the game with there being more scoring and I think it'll help us. It should favor defensive teams who like to do three-quarter court presses to speed teams up, and then they only have 20 seconds instead of 25 when they cross half court. So I think it will be beneficial to speed up the game.
What are your thoughts on the difficulty of the non-conference schedule?
It's great. None of us would want it any other way. We have a lot of these big-name teams at home which will be great, and I think the Barclays Center Classic is a great set of teams. We'll get two good, RPI-building games there. We just have to go into it and win as many games as we can while improving each day so that when conference comes around, we're ready to go.
