Men's Basketball's Conor Neu

Conor Neu is a junior forward for the men's basketball team. He recently sat down with 'Prince' senior writer David Mordkoff.

'Prince': During the games I look over sometimes and see you and [sophomore guard] Pete Hegseth talking to each other. What are you guys chatting about during the games?

Conor Neu: A lot of times, it's stuff that's going on out on the court. Me and Pete are always trying to help out. Pete sometimes tells the coaches something that we'll see. A lot of the time we're yelling out to the court too — especially in the first half when the defense is at our end.

P: What was going through your mind during the last minute of the Harvard game?

CN: It was a mess. First of all we we're thinking, "Oh no, same thing as last night," because the night before we [lost on] a semi-last-second shot against Dartmouth. It was intense. I think there were two or three lead changes, and finally we had the ball with seven seconds left and called time out, and everyone was like, "do this, do that," and coach Thompson was like, "All right, get the ball, get it into Ahmed [El Nokali], and Ahmed take it up and just score." So we took the ball out and they completely covered Ahmed. Kyle [Wente] got open, got the ball and it was just amazing. He took it the whole way — he wasn't even looking to score, actually. When he picked the ball up he was looking to pass, but he got the shot off and it was impressive.

P: Did you guys mob him after he hit it?

CN: Oh yeah. We stormed the court — a mini-storm, I guess, because we were the only Princeton fans there. Well, there were a few Princeton fans there. But that was great, we tackled him. I just remember running back into the locker room and everybody was so happy.

P: It made for a more fun bus ride? CN: Yeah, definitely.

P: Who gets to choose the movies for the bus rides?

CN: No one really plans it out. In fact for that bus ride we only had one movie — "White Men Can't Jump" . . . or something. We were looking around; I think the bus driver had it.

P: If you had your choice, what would you watch on the way up to a game?

CN: I'd watch Braveheart, that gets you pumped up for anything. I used to do that in high school.

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P: How did you end up coming to Princeton? What made you choose Princeton?

CN: It was by far my best option, I think. I was choosing between Columbia and MIT, and then as soon as the coaches called me, [they asked], "would you be interested?" I was like, "of course." Once I came and visited — that was what hooked me. Once you come visit here, it's hard to turn it down.

P: You had Thompson as a coach when you played JV. How does coach Thompson the JV coach differ from coach Thompson this year?

CN: Even as the JV coach he would get really upset and get on us when we'd lose or play bad. Obviously, this job is a lot more important. He's working hard this year — he's doing a great job. It seems as though he's been the same. He knows what he's doing when he's coaching and he's been doing it the right way since the start.

P: What been you personal highlight thus far this season in the time you've been on the floor?

CN: I got in at Madison Square Garden and hit a three. That was the coolest thing that I've gotten to do.

P: How about your block against Columbia?

CN: Oh yeah, I forgot about that. That was great; I got in for 20 seconds and got to block my stepbrother's [Jamie Irvine] shot. After the game coach Thompson said something like, "now you can talk trash at the dinner table." That was fun. And my mom was there too, so after the game she was giving us both a hard time.

P: What was it like going down to the Palestra?

CN: That's crazy. That's the loudest place we've played. They're yelling at you . . . it's fun though. When we went down last year it was the first time I went down. I was almost scared because it was so intimidating. But this year, it was to take control of the league. Before the game, they're yelling at us, but it was just pumping me up. I had a lot of energy. And then we just killed them, too. It was a lot of fun . . . and they quieted up too.

P: What was the harder place to play, there or Duke?

CN: I'd say there, the Palestra. Duke was very impressive just because I've never seen fans like that, so coordinated. They have every single chant and they were there early before the game too, yelling at us. But it gets so loud at the Palestra; it's hard to phase that out.

P: Are the Penn fans less coordinated?

CN: They're a little less coordinated, but they're more vulgar, I guess. They're swearing at you, and talking about your mom and your family, while at Duke they're a little more polite, I guess.