CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina forward Justin McKoy met with media Wednesday afternoon for the first time since transferring from Virginia in April.
McKoy played 298 minutes in 31 games in two seasons at UVA, appearing in 19 games last season while starting four times. He shot 48.3 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent (3-for-9) from three-point range. He averaged 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest for the season.
He was 28-for-58 from the floor last season for the Cavaliers and handed out 10 assists against 10 turnovers. He played 11 or more minutes in 10 of the 19 games in which he appeared, with a high of 22 minutes versus Towson followed by 21 minutes in a win over Miami on March 1.
In fact, McKoy averaged 17 minutes over the last four games he played at Virginia, including an ACC Tournament loss to Syracuse, totaling 18 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the stretch. But McKoy missed the NCAA Tournament game versus Ohio University because he tested positive for COVID-19.
McKoy scored in double figures once last season, netting 11 points in a surprising early loss to San Francisco on a neutral floor. He had eight points and six boards in the previously noted win over the Hurricanes, went for six and six in a win at Notre Dame, and had four and six in a big win at Louisville late in the regular season.
Below is video of McKoy’s Q&A session as well as the complete transcript of what he had to say:
Complete Justin McKoy Transcript
Q: What was it about Carolina that convinced you to transfer there?
MCKOY: “Part of it is the traditions that Carolina has, being successful, being a top program in the country, they contest for a national championship every year. I think another part of it is the amazing job (UNC) Coach (Hubert) Davis did not only as a recruiter but as a coach. He’s a real people person, he connects with all his players. I’ve seen it with his recruiting. He’s just a special guy, you can sense that when you meet him. And I think that’s another big part of it as well.”
Q: How cool is it going to be to play so close to your hometown in Cary?
MCKOY: “It will be awesome. I know the last two years there were times I wasn’t really able to go home – a little further away. My mom, my brother, my sister, it was hard to get out to my games. It will be a lot easier for them, which is probably the best part about that.”
Q: Curious about what position you will play since you have a variety of skills?
MCKOY: “I think that’s a question more for the coaches just kind of how that shakes out. I can give you what I kind of know: I know I’m looking to play more the three and the four this year with this squad (with) the way our roster shakes out and the way I’ve been playing. Don’t know where (the) minutes or where I’ll be at in terms of that, but also wherever our coaches need me to play I’ll play.
“I played the five some at Virginia the last two years. I’m playing the four up here, I’m playing the three. It doesn’t matter, I just want to be on the floor, I want to compete, I want to win games.”
Q: Have you given any thought to what it might be like when you face Virginia this season?
MCKOY: “It will be fun to see familiar faces. Of course, I’ll want to win, that’s no doubt. But also, the biggest part about that is the relationship I had with those guys and the mutual understanding we had when I said I wanted to leave and how understanding they were. I think it will be really cool. There’s no bad blood. Of course, it will be competition like always.
“They’re very professional over there. I appreciate everything they did for me the last two years. But I’m definitely looking forward to playing and seeing familiar faces.”
Q: UVA Coach Tony Bennett said at times last year McKoy gave his team needed toughness and rebounding, and that’s why he played him in certain spots, and last week Armando Bacot said McKoy was the surprise player to him and noted his competitiveness and toughness as standing out. What is it about that as an intangible for McKoy that makes it a big part of his game?
MCKOY: “For me, those things are natural. To be a competitor, to be what I would call an ultra-competitor, I want to win at everything, it doesn’t matter what it is. Sometimes we play pool in the lounge, and I want to win every game. It’s little stuff like that and it carries onto the court.
“It’s just natural. I want to do all of the little things. I feel like sometimes you get guys that don’t really have the ability to do those things naturally, and I think that’s where I come in and I can be special. That along with I’ve been really grooving my shot, my handle, keeping everything tight, performing at a high level this summer. I just want to continue that and keep that going throughout the season.”
Q: What skill do you think you’ve improved the most since last season?
MCKOY: “It’s probably hard to say. As a player you work on everything, but I feel like one thing that has been monumentally better is my shooting. I think I shot it well, just didn’t really display it in games last year. But just being able to continue to do that and do it better, I’m looking forward to playing in a system where I’ll be able to showcase that skill more.”
Q: What do you think this means to your family, and what do you think your father would think if he was here to see you now?
Note: McKoy was just one year old when his father passed away.
MCKOY: “I think it’s awesome. I think they’re very proud. It’s crazy because growing up I always mimicked playing mini basketball in the house with my brother, and it would be like, “Justin from Carolina playing against his brother from Duke.’ Stuff like that; it’s almost like a dream come true. But it’s also not super surreal now that I’m here and I’m in it because I have to perform.
“I think my dad would be really proud. My screen saver is actually my mom and my dad when he was wearing a UNC hat. And it’s just a reminder that he would be proud of me, and I always keep that with me. My phone is something I look at every day as a reminder.”
Q: You had a chance to go to UNC out of high school, why is it different now that you decided to go to Carolina after all?
MCKOY: “I haven’t given it too much thought, but I would say sometimes going through this process, you’re just trying to figure out what’s best for you and your career, for you as a person, for your career, on the basketball court, education and all that stuff. And I had really good options in all three of them either way. I didn’t think I could go wrong educationally, I don’t think I could have went wrong with my life journey, but also with basketball.
“Trying to figure out what was best for me, maybe I made a wrong decision, maybe I didn’t. I think everything worked out how it was supposed to. I think I gained a lot of things the last two seasons; things I don’t think I would have been able to get necessarily if I was here, but I also think UNC has a lot offer me as well, and I’m really excited to be here.
“You can kind of think, ‘What if?’ But at the same time, I’m where I’m supposed to be, and I’m here now, and that’s the most important thing for me.”
Q: Do you remember what Roy Williams liked about your game when he recruited you?
MCKOY: “It was my versatility, my size, my skill set. I shot the ball really well in high school. I played kind of that point-forward position. I led my team to win a lot of games my senior year. I basically did a little bit of everything. My defense wasn’t as great coming out of high school, but that’s something that has significantly improved a lot since I’ve been in college. I really feel like I have a complete skill set and I’m a complete player on both ends of the court.”
Q: What changed defensively? You went to a school that emphasizes defense, but was it more of a mindset for you?
MCKOY: “Partially mindset, but part of it was you work on defense for almost an entire practice every day, and so naturally you’re going to get better at it. I sucked my first couple of months, even you can argue my first year I wasn’t the greatest. But then going into that second year, that mentality and everything, all that work came through and you start to see a lot of changes; changes for the better.”
Q: Another thing Armando and RJ (Davis) said about you last week was your energy, that they hadn’t had a guy like you there before. How much pride to you take in bringing a bunch of energy to the court?
MCKOY: “I think it’s important to have. Armando calls me the ‘Sparkplug.’ It’s a tremendous opportunity but it’s a lot of responsibility, as well. Being able to get guys going, I feel like the energy I bring can get guys going. Even if some days if you have those bad days, or maybe energy is off – it’s a rainy, cloudy day, no one’s really feeling it – having that spark to get everyone going I thin is really important.
“So I think that’s something that I can bring as well. That’s one of those intangible things you can’t really see on paper but is something you notice with your team.”
Q: Is that an Armando exclusive nickname or is anyone else calling you that?
MCKOY: “I haven’t really talked to too many other people about it. I know our strength coach (Jonas Sahratian) talked to me as well, and some other coaches mentioned it. But it’s not a Justin-Armando thing, but I think it’s something that’s known that I bring the energy, and that’s a responsibility I have to take on.”
Q: You could have been a starter at Virginia, was there some other issue there that led you to decide to leave?
MCKOY: “That’s a good question. There’s nothing wrong with the culture. I had no personal problems with anyone on the team, whether that be coach, some other faculty, or my teammates. You could argue maybe I wanted to play a little faster, maybe I wanted to get up and down more – you could argue that. I was looking to play less on the block and kind of 15 feet out and expand where I know my skill set can expand. You could argue that could happen at Virginia in the next year, you could argue that it couldn’t.
“I can’t really give you a clear answer, I guess. I don’t – it’s such a hard question to answer. There’s nothing wrong with Virginia. I could have stayed and had a great career, but I just felt like it was time for a change up. I needed a change of scenery. I needed to go somewhere where I felt like I would flourish more. And I feel like UNC and Coach Davis can offer that, and that’s ultimately the reason why I left.”
Q: How do you think UNC is going to play different this year under Coach Davis compared to how it’s played the last few years?
MCKOY: “This is another reason why I’m here right now is Coach Davis wants to play more spread out. Usually UNC – very successful, a lot of championships won with two bigs – but he feels like sometimes that can shorten up the floor for the guards. So, this new offense we have is gonna space everyone out. And with the bigs we have and their skill sets, we’re allowed to do that.
“We have Dawson Garcia, who’s different than Brady Manek who’s different than Armando and Armando’s different than me. We’re all different from each other, we all have different skill sets. Some of us can play more on the wing, some of us play more inside. We can all stretch the floor, we can all put it on the floor to an extent.
“Therefore, we can space the floor out a lot more, which ultimately will help our guards out be able to play their game at a more efficient level. And we’ll be able to do the same thing. It will allow the bigs to expand out more.
“There’s nothing wrong with how UNC played in the past, obviously, great track record. But also, this new way is more fitting towards our roster and who we have. And that was one of the most attractive things about UNC.”
Q: Speaking about that style, how much do you think it will help you prepare to maybe play in the NBA?
MCKOY: “I think they’re directly correlated. I think the way Coach Davis is playing is more of an NBA style of offense. So, I think it will not only prepare me, but everyone else as well because they’re going to have to get used to playing in this style of offense. We’re going to have years of prior experience doing it rather than if we didn’t.
“This is good for everybody, but definitely good for me, too, as well. To be a swing man who can go three, four, sometimes small-ball five, I feel like this is an awesome experience, because it doesn’t really matter what position you play, they’re all pretty similar. If you’re running four out, then one, two, three, and four are all in the same kind of spots throughout the entire offense. That’ll be fun, it will be intriguing, and I definitely think it will be a treat for Carolina fans.”
