Georgia Tech guard Mfon Udofia, who plays his final home game Sunday, has seen a little bit of it all. A highly-touted recruit coming out of Miller Grove High, Udofia helped the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA tournament as a freshman, endured the end of the Paul Hewitt era as a sophomore, was molded into new coach Brian Gregory’s point guard as a junior and as a senior has been at the forefront of Tech’s improvement as a senior.
“I think sometimes, and this is unfortunate for a kid like Mfon, all the things that he’s done over the last two years, you may not see the fruits of that labor until later,” Gregory said. “That’s hard for young guys to not only understand, but be O.K. with. He’s done a great job of that.”
Udofia met with reporters Friday to talk about his final home game and the conclusion of his career.
Q: What will it be like Sunday for senior day?
A: A lot of emotion. It's my last home game here. It's been a long journey. It's been short, but it's felt long, but it's been short. It's crazy because it goes by real fast. I'd have to tell those guys throughout the season that it does go by fast. When guys tell you that, you kind of blow it off, like whatever,. But at the end of the day, it really does.
Q: What do you think about having played home games in four different arenas?
A: It's cool. I got a chance to play in every arena that we've played in – Thrillerdome, Gwinnett Arena, Philips and now McCamish. That's a good feeling to be one of the people that have played in all the arenas.
Q: Who's going to walk on the floor with you?
A: My mom.
Q: How have you and Pierre (Jordan) tried to provide leadership as seniors?
A: Just trying to carry on something after we leave. Hard work, dedication, the meaning of bringing it every single day to practice. That's pretty much it. So when we leave, those guys will carry it on for the next group.
Q: How have you felt about the development of the freshmen?
A: I'm happy with the way Marcus (Georges-Hunt), Chris (Bolden), Rob (Carter), those guys have been playing really well for us. Those guys start for us. To say that, that's big. The way these guys have progressed, that's big.
Q: Obviously, the last few years haven't gone the way you'd want from a win-loss standpoint. How do you accept that or view that?
A: Everything doesn't go the way you want it go in life. Sometimes you might go through situations where it's going to be tough, where there's going to be struggle. And we've been through that. I've been through that. It's made me a stronger person. Dealing with the whole culture of the coaching change and things of that nature, I had to go through stuff like that. It's made me a stronger person at the end of the day.
Q: Coach Gregory had mentioned that the fruit of your work may not be seen until later, after you've graduated. What do you think about that?
A: I want to see these guys succeed. Even next year and the year after, if these guys go deep into the tournament, I'll be so excited, like I'm still on the team. Those guys are my roommates. Those freshmen are my roommates. To see those guys flourish and for me to have taught and led those guys, it's going to be big.
Q: I know you room with Chris. You room with all of them?
A: I room with all the freshmen – me, Rob, Marcus (and Bolden). I'm like the dad in the room. When I come back I come to the room, I feel like everybody's sitting there waiting for me, happy for me to come home and talk to those guys and just things of that nature. They keep it interesting. Those guys are always playing around with each other like little kids.
Q: Did you choose to do that?
A: I think Coach made those choices to have those guys room with me. At first I was like, Man, what? All freshmen? (But) for me to teach these guys and be around those guys every day, it's fun.
Q: What has been the most memorable victory of your career?
A: My freshman year, we played Duke here at home. The first time for me ever playing against those guys and we beat 'em here at home and that was a great feeling.
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