I had a Q&A with Justice Sueing and Paris Austin during lunch. We talked about classes they are taking, why they chose their majors, and what they hope to accomplish this season.
Question: Can you just talk about what made you want to major in Public Health?
Justice Sueing: “Public Health, I’ve always been really interested in the whole medical field. Growing up in Hawaii, I’ve seen how people grow physically with eating coconuts, rice a lot. I’m just interested with the whole community idea and eventually I want to end up having my own practice in health or even, I’m not decided yet completely in what I want to do with it, but I just know that the whole human body is something that really interests me.”
Q: At what point did you know that was something that you wanted to do?
Justice Sueing: “It was my junior year at Mater Dei. I took a class, I think it was anatomy. That really just glued me to it. I was always trying to learn more because the human body doesn’t change and there’s always ways to improve it, so it’s just something that fascinates me to be honest.”
Q: And then with you with media studies, what made you want to go in that direction?
Paris Austin: “Well originally I was a communications major, so once I got to Cal, their major for communications was basically media studies. So since I’ve gotten into media studies, I’ve just been learning more about how the media works. And so I think that was the big thing for me is just learning how everything works. The different opportunities that comes out of media studies, just having that degree and I felt like that was something that I was interested in.”
Q: Any classes you’re taking that you find to be particularly interesting? It doesn’t have to be related to your major.
Paris Austin: “A class that I’m really taking right now is oceans. So the class oceans, people just think it’s about literally the ocean, but it’s not. I’m actually learning a lot about the earth. Different earthquakes, the way the world moves, the different navigations of the world, obviously learning more about longitude and latitude and things about that, so that’s a class that I’m really interested in so far.”
Q: Talk about media day so far. How has that gone? What are some of the things that you guys have done so far?
Paris Austin: “We did the radio interview, we also went in the game room. We had fun in there, played at different games with a lot of bunch of players, a bunch of interviews actually, really.”
Q: You had a big freshman year last year, talk about that and also areas of your game you have focused on this summer as you get ready for your sophomore year.
Justice Sueing: “Last year the coaches and my teammates did a great job putting me in spots where I can really succeed and put me in positions to score and create plays. So, I’m very grateful for that and I gained a lot of experience from that so this year I’m looking forward to using that onto the court and as far as over this summer I’ve really focused on my jump shot, making sure it’s a lot more consistent and a little quicker, and what comes with that also my defense. I really want to be known this year as a defensive specialist. Not “specialist”, but someone that really can step up and guard positions from one through five. And that’s just been my main focus really everyday. Just trying to get better.”
Q: Is there anybody who you model your game after in the NBA who you see a lot of yourself in?
Justice Sueing: “I don’t think I necessarily model my game off of one player, but some players I do watch a lot is Kawhi (Leonard), I watch some James Harden for a little lefty. There’s a lot of other players that I compare my game to, but those two guys especially I just feel like taking traits out of there as far as Kawhi’s defense, his footwork, and James Harden’s iso game and I think that really compliments me.”
Q: I think a lot of people were probably surprised about how well you played last year. Did you surprise yourself with how well you played? Just talk about your breakout season and reflect on that.
Justice Sueing: “I wasn’t surprised at all. I know if the coaches put trust in me and my teammates put trust in me, I’m going to get the job done. My whole life I’ve kinda been the under dog. Especially being born in Honolulu. I’m not supposed to be here, really. I’m extremely blessed and it was a very great experience for me to really exemplify what I can do on the court and hopefully this year I can even add more.”
Q: Last season was obviously a rough season for you guys. You guys lost a lot of games. Talk about how that maybe refined you as a player, as a person, and what experience you can take from last year.
Justice Sueing: “That adversity that hit us last year, obviously the season didn’t go the way we planned, but we gained a lot of experience. Especially with the guys that are returning this year as far as Darius, Juhwan, Grant. It’s really helped us grow. It really improved our toughness I think. So this year I mean, we’re going to be a lot stronger, mentally especially, and be prepared for games like that because we’re going to run into tough times, but as long as we push through we’re gonna be great.”
Question: Can you just talk about what made you want to major in Public Health?
Justice Sueing: “Public Health, I’ve always been really interested in the whole medical field. Growing up in Hawaii, I’ve seen how people grow physically with eating coconuts, rice a lot. I’m just interested with the whole community idea and eventually I want to end up having my own practice in health or even, I’m not decided yet completely in what I want to do with it, but I just know that the whole human body is something that really interests me.”
Q: At what point did you know that was something that you wanted to do?
Justice Sueing: “It was my junior year at Mater Dei. I took a class, I think it was anatomy. That really just glued me to it. I was always trying to learn more because the human body doesn’t change and there’s always ways to improve it, so it’s just something that fascinates me to be honest.”
Q: And then with you with media studies, what made you want to go in that direction?
Paris Austin: “Well originally I was a communications major, so once I got to Cal, their major for communications was basically media studies. So since I’ve gotten into media studies, I’ve just been learning more about how the media works. And so I think that was the big thing for me is just learning how everything works. The different opportunities that comes out of media studies, just having that degree and I felt like that was something that I was interested in.”
Q: Any classes you’re taking that you find to be particularly interesting? It doesn’t have to be related to your major.
Paris Austin: “A class that I’m really taking right now is oceans. So the class oceans, people just think it’s about literally the ocean, but it’s not. I’m actually learning a lot about the earth. Different earthquakes, the way the world moves, the different navigations of the world, obviously learning more about longitude and latitude and things about that, so that’s a class that I’m really interested in so far.”
Q: Talk about media day so far. How has that gone? What are some of the things that you guys have done so far?
Paris Austin: “We did the radio interview, we also went in the game room. We had fun in there, played at different games with a lot of bunch of players, a bunch of interviews actually, really.”
Q: You had a big freshman year last year, talk about that and also areas of your game you have focused on this summer as you get ready for your sophomore year.
Justice Sueing: “Last year the coaches and my teammates did a great job putting me in spots where I can really succeed and put me in positions to score and create plays. So, I’m very grateful for that and I gained a lot of experience from that so this year I’m looking forward to using that onto the court and as far as over this summer I’ve really focused on my jump shot, making sure it’s a lot more consistent and a little quicker, and what comes with that also my defense. I really want to be known this year as a defensive specialist. Not “specialist”, but someone that really can step up and guard positions from one through five. And that’s just been my main focus really everyday. Just trying to get better.”
Q: Is there anybody who you model your game after in the NBA who you see a lot of yourself in?
Justice Sueing: “I don’t think I necessarily model my game off of one player, but some players I do watch a lot is Kawhi (Leonard), I watch some James Harden for a little lefty. There’s a lot of other players that I compare my game to, but those two guys especially I just feel like taking traits out of there as far as Kawhi’s defense, his footwork, and James Harden’s iso game and I think that really compliments me.”
Q: I think a lot of people were probably surprised about how well you played last year. Did you surprise yourself with how well you played? Just talk about your breakout season and reflect on that.
Justice Sueing: “I wasn’t surprised at all. I know if the coaches put trust in me and my teammates put trust in me, I’m going to get the job done. My whole life I’ve kinda been the under dog. Especially being born in Honolulu. I’m not supposed to be here, really. I’m extremely blessed and it was a very great experience for me to really exemplify what I can do on the court and hopefully this year I can even add more.”
Q: Last season was obviously a rough season for you guys. You guys lost a lot of games. Talk about how that maybe refined you as a player, as a person, and what experience you can take from last year.
Justice Sueing: “That adversity that hit us last year, obviously the season didn’t go the way we planned, but we gained a lot of experience. Especially with the guys that are returning this year as far as Darius, Juhwan, Grant. It’s really helped us grow. It really improved our toughness I think. So this year I mean, we’re going to be a lot stronger, mentally especially, and be prepared for games like that because we’re going to run into tough times, but as long as we push through we’re gonna be great.”
