I sat down with Mizzou junior forward Ryan Rosburg for an exclusive Q&A about beaches, basketball and babes.
**Daniel Schmidt**: _Ryan I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me. I know we’re both busy, what with me catching up on freshman gen ed’s and you having to go to Nashville for the SEC tournament._
**Ryan Rosburg**: Happy to do it, Dan.
**DS**: _As we know, the team struggled this year and failed to make it to postseason play. That said, do you have any plans for Spring Break?_
**RR**: I plan on stopping in St. Louis for a few days before heading down to Gulf Shores with some buddies. Should be a relaxing trip that gives me a chance to clear my head.
**DS**: _Speaking of buddies, who are some of your friends on the team?_
**RR**: I get along with everyone on the team, but I’m closest with Keanau Post, Namon Wright, Hayden (Barnard), Jimmy Barton, and J3. I’m good friends with Namon Wright because he has swipes, and swipes me into Dobbs all the time. That’s the extent of our friendship.
**DS**: _What’s been your favorite game in your three years?_
**RR**: I would say freshman year at home when we beat Florida. I don’t know what they were ranked at the time but it was something crazy, and we had a sold-out crowd.
**DS**: _You had a great tweet after that game._
**RR**: What was it?
**DS**: _Something about how you wanted fans to expect you guys to win those games and not storm the court._
**RR**: Factual, got a lot of love on that one.
**DS**: _What’s the funniest thing a fan has said to you on the road?_
**RR**: Get hair jokes, mean hair jokes all the time. People telling me I need to start Rogaine. We were at Auburn last year and these guys were talking to me all game, and I was just kind of brushing it off. Then after the game one of them came up to me and said, “Hey I know we were saying a lot of stuff to you, but you’re actually a pretty cool dude.”
**DS**: _Anything besides hair?_
**RR**: Occasionally I hear stuff about ex-girlfriends and things like that. But that was only at Arkansas, I guess because so many St. Louis people go there. Also at Arkansas I guess they got my phone number and Snapchat and they were sending pictures of their dumps or mirror selfies. Then, after the game at Arkansas last year, they kept calling me, and eventually Tony Criswell answered instead of me. They didn’t call back after that.
**DS**: _There’s a perception out there that Division I athletes have girls all over them in college. How has the fairer sex treated you since you’ve been on campus?_
**RR**: A lot of people say that girls come up to you and flirt with you and stuff like that. But I think it makes it easier to be approached and break the ice. I can’t tell you how many girls have come up to me and asked, “Oh my gosh, how tall are you?” “Are you really on the basketball team?” “Can I get a picture with you?” You just have more girls come up to you because they want to ask you questions.
**DS**: _Your current girlfriend is a Golden Girl, correct?_
**RR**: That is correct (Megan Brillos).
**DS**:_ Some people are saying you guys are the poster couple of Mizzou. Would you agree?_
**RR**: (laughs) Um, you could say that, sure. Just because it’s very stereotypical. Basketball player dating the dance captain. We’ve known each other for a long time, and it’s cool to see her at all the games. Took us a long time to acknowledge each other at all the games, even after we started dating. But now we wave to each other during the games.
**DS**: _Switching gears, what was you reaction when Coach Frank Haith left?_
**RR**: It happened really fast. I actually got a text from my high school coach saying that he saw a rumor Haith was leaving. Couple minutes later, I got a text from one of our assistant coaches that we had a team meeting, which never really happens out of the blue like that. I never really thought that was going to happen. So my initial reaction was shock, but I completely understand what you have to do for your career and for your family.
**DS**: _What’s the transition been like from Haith to Anderson?_
**RR**: Definitely certain aspects are emphasized more than others. Just going hard all the time and being defensive-minded and toughness. It’s just a different style, as opposed to Coach Haith, who was more modern and — I don’t want to say offensive-minded — but he preached skills. Coach Anderson demands a lot of effort as opposed to skills.
**DS**: _Does Coach Anderson’s voice weird you out?_
**RR**: (laughs) We went to the Central Missouri camps in high school and I remember when I first heard his voice I was like, “Does he actually talk like that?” “Is he trying to impersonate someone?” You didn’t really know. So when he got here, I knew what to expect. It was funny, though, because some of my teammates were like, “He has a really deep voice” and we just laughed about it, and it was funny to hear different guys imitate him. After a while, you get used to it and he sounds like any normal person, but it catches you off guard at first.
**DS**: _What was the coolest thing that happened to you on a recruiting trip?_
**RR**: When I visited Tennessee, I went to a football game and a lot of the fans had signs with my name, which was awesome. On visits, a lot of players would see girls they knew and have them come over and say hi to me. That was pretty cool too.
**DS**: _What’s your favorite part about going to Mizzou?_
**RR**: I would definitely say having friends here, and a lot of people I know from high school and the St. Louis area. So I already had a little support system intact coming in. And then those friends have made friends, and I’ve made friends, and we have all become friends.
**DS**: _Alright, Ryan, thanks again for the time. I think this might turn out to be one of my best pieces. Anything else you want to add?_
**RR**: Just that I beat you in the dunk contest senior year.
