Feb. 27, 2011

STANFORD, Calif.- Stanford has been receiving contributions from its freshmen all season long, with forward Josh Huestis one of the latest rookies to step up and provide the Cardinal with meaningful minutes.

Ever since the end of January, the Great Falls, Mt., native, has become a regular in the rotation and during recent stretches, has even been one of the first players used off the bench by head coach Johnny Dawkins.

Huestis shined in a Feb. 19 loss to USC, scoring a season-high 11 points on 4-5 shooting from the field while grabbing five rebounds in just 19 minutes.

Recently, www.gostanford.com caught up with Huestis, who figures to play a vital role on The Farm in the coming seasons.

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You are part of a highly-recruited freshman class. Without a single senior on the roster to provide veteran leadership, does that allow for the rookies to learn together and develop their games at a similar pace?

Huestis: "Right. Having other freshmen around definitely helps to take the pressure off. If you were the only freshman, you would feel more pressure to perform quickly. But having five other guys who are going through the same stuff I am, being able to make mistakes and know that they have your back despite those mistakes, really does help take some of the pressure off."

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Talk about that transition from high school to college. Especially from a state like Montana, maybe not as traditionally well-known as a hotbed for hoops.

Huestis: "The biggest difference I have noticed is quickness. The speed of the game at this level is just so much faster. So that took awhile to get acclimated to. Actually, still getting use to it. And just the size of the guys. I am coming from places where I was the biggest player on the court. And now I'm not even close to being the biggest player on the court, night in and night out. So that takes awhile to get use to but I'm getting better about it."

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At least you have some additional Montana representation down the hallway. Sophomore Joslyn Tinkle of the women's basketball team is a native of Missoula, Montana.

Huestis: "Yeah, we have to represent for the state of Montana. People give us grief about it, making jokes like `there's only like seven people who live there.' But we have try to give it a good name, so we usually team up when that happens."

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The 11-point, five-rebound performance against USC back on Feb. 19 was your best game to date. You managed to do it all in just 19 minutes off the bench. Despite playing limited minutes this season leading up to that contest, you didn't appear tentative at all in that game. Instead, it was a very aggressive and efficient effort.

Huestis: "In a team meeting, Jeremy (Green) had told us that when it comes to nerves, there's no reason to have them because we have spent so many hours in the gym and worked so hard that you know what you can do on the court. So there would be no reason to be nervous about it. I sort of took that to heart, and just went out there with the mindset that I have practiced so much, and there is really no reason to be nervous. I just need to do my thing. Not let my mind get in the way, and that really helps me."

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You are one of the team's most versatile and athletic players, able to play a number of positions. Not to mention a high-energy guy off the bench. Are you comfortable with that role?

Huestis: "Definitely. I want to try to be that versatile guy that teams don't really have an answer for. Be able to take bigger guys off the dribble and then post up smaller guys. I also want to be a lockdown defender for the team; the coaches have really talked to me about that. So I just want to be that guy who can do a little bit of everything and be able to contribute in a lot of different ways."

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You have displayed a knack for drawing contact and getting to the foul line, attempting 18 free throw attempts so far in limited playing time.

Huestis: "I think it just comes back to my entire life basically being a post player. You become comfortable finishing through contact, things like that. Practicing that, and being able to do that in games back home, kind of taught me how to finish through contact at this level. I think that really helped."

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Only seven turnovers in 249 total minutes. Especially for a first-year player, that's truly a remarkable number.

Huestis: "I just try to be smart with the basketball. Knowing there's no reason to ever force anything, because if you question a pass, you shouldn't even throw it. Because in the end you still have the ball. Coach Dawkins always tell us when you make that pass, it's not the person you are throwing it to who turns it over, it's your turnover. So I just try to be careful with it, make smart passes and do what I think is best."

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Finally, any insight on what area of study you might look to pursue in the classroom?

Huestis: "Right now I'm looking a lot into psychology. What branch, I'm not really sure yet. But I'll figure it out here soon enough."

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by Brian Risso, Stanford Athletics Communications/Media Relations