Nate Rohnert leads the University of Denver men’s basketball team in nearly every statistical category, including points (15.3), rebounds (5.3), assists (4.6) and steals (1.35). The gritty, 6-foot-5 guard/forward holds the records for career points, assists and steals at Chaparral High School in Parker, and he is becoming one of DU’s best players this decade.
Rohnert is the Pioneers’ only upperclassman to have played in more than one game this season (he’s one of two juniors on a squad with no seniors). He recently visited with Denver Post staff writer Mike Chambers.
Q: You have been dubbed a prototype player for coach Joe Scott and the so-called Princeton style. That has to make you feel good.
A: It’s a good feeling. Coach Scott likes well-rounded players that can shoot, dribble, pass — try to do everything on the court. Because of my size, I can play multiple positions, and I think that really helps with the style we play.
Q: You guys are like Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to home versus road games, going 9-2 at home and 0-11 on the road. How close is this program to contending for the Sun Belt championship and make an NCAA Tournament appearance?
A: We’re definitely close. Look at our last four games (before Saturday): we beat Western Kentucky, (which) made it to the (2008 NCAA) Tournament, beat South Alabama, and in our last (home) game we beat Middle Tennessee, which was picked to win our league. And we handled them pretty easily. We’ve shown we can compete with anybody in this league, so anything can happen.
Q: This road losing streak (42 after Saturday’s loss to Arkansas-Little Rock, the longest active skid is the country) seems almost funny, considering you guys have come so close, so many times, to snapping it lately. What, two of your last four road games (before Saturday) were decided in overtime?
A: We’ve played great on the road until the last few minutes. We’ve had big leads in every single game. We just need to take care of the ball in the last few minutes, which is what we’ve done at home, but we know we can win on the road and put an end to this thing.
Q: Let’s go back to your freshman season, when then-coach Terry Carroll took a leave of absence midway through and never came back. That had to be a tough way to begin college, huh?
A: I can’t even really compare now to my freshman year. It’s so much different, a lot better. When you have a coach like Coach Scott, who demands so much out of you every day, you can see us getting better. When there is no trust and a coach walks out on you, you pretty much have a plague with the program. It was a tough thing to get through.
Q: I remember the high school rivalry you had with former ThunderRidge star Matt Bouldin, now playing for Gonzaga. Tell me about that friendship.
A: We’ve been playing baseball, basketball and football since we were little kids. We were rivals in every single sport, and played in conference championships in high school. Off the court, we hang out all the time in the summers. He’s pretty much at DU every day, working with me. I’m proud of him. He’s having a great season.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Top five
Nate Rohnert’s favorite video games:
1. Madden NFL
2. Halo Three
3. Call of Duty 5
4. FIFA Soccer 09
5. NBA 2K9
