Senior Wichita State forward and Bronx native Cleanthony Early, who leads the undefeated Shockers into the NCAA Tournament this week, took a shot at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Is being undefeated heading into the tournament or a burden?
A: I don’t think it’s a good thing, and I don’t think it’s a burden. At the end of the day, it is what it is: undefeated. Going into the tournament, it doesn’t matter if you’re undefeated, or if you won 20 games and you lost nine of ’em. You go out there and you play every single game like it’s your last, or it could be . If you’re focused and you’re diving on the floor for loose balls, you’re making more winning plays than you are turnovers or taking bad shots, you have a high chance of winning that game, especially if you have some high-level athletes. You understand that.
Q: Have you dreamed of cutting down the nets on the final night of the season?
A: I think everyone dreams about cutting down nets. If you haven’t, what are you playing basketball for?
Q: Do you think there’ll be a bull’s-eye on your team’s back?
A: There might be. People might get excited just to think that we’re 34-0, and they might take that lightly, but I’ll know for sure if you disrespect us and don’t respect us, you’ll have to be ready to fight when it comes down to it.
Q: Do you feel like your school and your team has gotten enough respect?
A: I feel like we got respect, yes. I feel like there are haters out there that are simple-minded and don’t use enough logic. But at the same time, I think we have gotten enough respect, especially from respectable people.
Q: What is it like on campus these days?
A: Wherever we go, we get noticed, and they ask you to take pictures and sign autographs and stuff like that. I try to embrace it as much as possible.
Q: How would you describe your on-court mentality?
A: I’m focused. I’m ready to rip your heart out. We could be the best of friends, we could be Twitter buddies, but when we’re on the court, I want your heart, you know what I mean? It’s a dog-eat-dog [environment]. If you’re on the other team, I’m going for mine, and your standing in the way of something that can be mine.
Q: Why do you think you’re that way?
A: The way I grew up, the way I was raised. Being in the city parks, I think that’s the attitude a lot of guys have. When they get on the court, they’re fighting and they’re shoving, they’re pushing each other down. You would think if you were a person watching them, you wouldn’t know that they’re friends, you would think they weren’t friends.
Q: The city parks where?
A: I’m a New York kid. I grew up in The Bronx. I’ve been in Brooklyn, I’ve been in Queens, I’ve played basketball a lot of places in New York. It’s pretty much the same, it’s that gritty attitude, that New York City swag.
Q: Give me an example about your coach Gregg Marshall’s intensity.
A: In practice, there’s no foul calls. It’s a dogfight. You would think we’re out there just practicing going crazy, like oh my god! We’ve been in games where we’re up 30, and we still got guys diving on the floor for loose balls. That’s an example for how we practice.
Q: Why didn’t you go to St. John’s?
A: They hit me up, but I think they hit me up a little bit late. [Wichita State assistant] Greg Heiar and all those people, they were on me since I was at prep school. He was trying to get me at a junior college [Chipola, in Marianna, Fla.] where he was at. … I’m a big guy with loyalty, and those people who believed in me since Jump Street, not hop on board when I’m kinda getting hot, you know? People that showed that interest since Day 1, especially at this level. And I understand the business and I know how it goes, but I seen his program the Shockers [have] and it was kinda parallel what I was doing with myself, on an incline and read to shock the nation in a great way.
Q: What makes Cleanthony Early unique on the court?
A: I feel like I have the ultimate passion, the ultimate love and love for the game, the ultimate swagger. I feel like, at the end of the day, I understand the bigger picture. I’m very versatile. I can take you inside and do work, I can bring you outside and do work. I’m fast, I’m athletic, I could block shots, I could defend. I pride myself in doing everything, and not just doing everything just to do it, doing it better. And I’ve been blessed with raw talent that I’m working my butt off to harness. It’s like it’s gonna be something that’s very, very special if I can continue to just work hard and stay healthy by the grace of God and do what I gotta do.
Q: Do you trash talk on the court?
A: Of course. Who doesn’t?
Q: Are you good at it?
A: Yeah, I don’t just start it, though. Most of the time, someone usually says something, and I’ll say something back, but I’ll shut that down real quick, or we’ll shut that down real quick. Most of the time guys start trash talking when they’re losing and things are not going their way, and I’ll just shut ’em down by saying something real fast, and I’m pretty clever with the things I’ll say, and there’s no way he could retaliate or say something back. They could try, but at that point I understand they just talking.
Q: What’s your favorite memory from last year’s Final Four?
A: I can’t point out just one. The whole journey, the whole ride, was pretty fun in itself.
Q: Your older brother Jamel was 32 when he drowned 3 ¹/₂ years ago. How did that change your life?
A: It affected me a lot, because he was someone that I could count on. He was someone that protected me, always had my back. He was kinda like that father figure. He was someone that has always been a rock for me, has always been a foundation. … At that point, I had to wake up. That’s when I had that point of epiphany in life that everything’s on me … and you have to step up and do what you need to do. It was more so not having as much fun carelessly but being aware of what you actually have to do now and going out and doing it the right way rather than being a little bit carefree at the moment.
Q: Tell me why your mom, Sandra Glover, means so much to you.
A: I would expect everyone’s mom to mean so much to them — the fact that she raised them, she gave birth to them, put food on the table, roof over my head. If I did something wrong, she was on my butt (chuckle). … I love her more than anything for everything she’s done. … There’s so many people that shun their parents for doing certain things, and I really don’t understand ’em, because I ultimately believe that she had my best interests at heart and she actually believed in me. … She wanted me to do the right thing and she was gonna get that across that, “Hey, you’re not gonna be this type of way, you’re not gonna do these type of things.”
Q: Does she still work as an office manager in Brooklyn?
A: Somewhere in the city. She commutes from upstate to the city. I’ve seen her work every day of my life — hard, every single day, commuting — just to do those things for me and my family. My definition of hard work is just seeing her work for 22 years strong to be able to provide, whether it’s paycheck-by-paycheck, and nothing too crazy, but it means the world to me, it means everything to me. She’s my queen. She gave me the right type of guidance. She kept me in church. … There’s just so much that I could say.
Q: Did she raise you by herself?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you know your father?
A: Yeah.
Q: Is he part of your life?
A: He is, but I would say the relationship is a little different. I felt I view him more a a friend I love, and I’ve been working on that with him recently, just talking to him ’cause his health isn’t doing too good, and sometimes you just have to realize that, hey, some people make mistakes and they don’t do it the right way , but at the same time, if you still have that chance to redeem that … that’s what you should do, because you would have a whole laundry list of regrets if something happened and you didn’t get to.
Q: Where does he live?
A: In Connecticut right now.
Q: And how often are you in touch with him?
A: Well, recently, like every day, every single day.
Q: And when did that start, and why did that start?
A: I had a dream that he had passed like 2-3 weeks ago. They way it was set up was so real, and I didn’t think I would act the way I did in the dream. I was literally bawling my eyes out and had so many regrets, and before that I didn’t think I’d feel that strong. It felt so real, and I don’t want to feel like that. After I acknowledged it was a dream, when I woke up and I realized like, hey man, if that was to happen, I wouldn’t want to feel like that, don’t want to feel like that ever. So I was blessed to have asked and prayed and to have seen and felt that, and I did and do have an opportunity to change my relationship with him and communicate with him daily, and see how he’s doing and take a different more mature approach.
Q: When did you first call him?
A: We’ve always communicated. We’ve always been talking. But I would say, for the past month, it’s been daily, ’cause his health isn’t doing too good. He’s been in the hospital getting surgery, and things like that. I’ve been reaching out extra. I never really was a worrisome guy about anything, but that’s a man that I love, but I think I kinda shied back from that or kinda acted like those feelings were basic, just because of being aware of our relationship in the past, and … even though he wasn’t there as much as I felt he could have been there. … It’s just a part of true forgiveness, maturing and growing up.
Q: In other words, you resented him for a while?
A: I wouldn’t say resented him, because that’s a strong word, but I kinda didn’t fully understand like … “Why weren’t you around? Why did you do more things for my older brother than you did for me?” Like, “Why didn’t you make it work with my mom? Why didn’t you guys get married?” I stay in deep thought, and I need to get answers, you know? And he gave me answers certain answers, but … that’s how he felt, from what happened, and I gotta understand that regardless if I fully really don’t understand it yet, I’ll make sure I’ll do better. Maybe I’ll understand it more when I guess I have a kid and certain things happen, you know what I mean? Just based off of that dream, I would never want to see that happen or have to happen, to have to go through that feeling of what happened with my brother and things like that, or regretting not saying certain things to him, or asking him certain questions so I can learn to be better.
Q: What kind of surgery did your dad have?
A: He has lung cancer, and they always find something new. … Supposedly there’s something with his back now that’s laying on his spine. It’s just so much to keep up with.
Q: You were born in The Bronx. What part?
A: Fordham, that’s where I kinda grew up. I was born in Our Lady of Mercy Hospital.
Q: You moved to Middletown when you were how old?
A: I was like 14, 15.
Q: Before Mount Zion and Sullivan County Community College, when and why were you kicked off the Pine Bush H.S. team?
A: My 11th grade year. I had missed a practice or two, and then we had a scrimmage, and me and my friend couldn’t find a ride to the school. Actually, our school is about 20-25 minutes away from where we actually lived. There’s actually a closer school in Middletown, and that’s like five minutes away, but I kinda live on the borderline of a district, you know how that goes? I played football and I did track so … I still was playing basketball, just not for the team.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Socrates. … There’s so many other people that I would include. … Only three?
Q: Favorite movie?
A: Oh man, that too, you’re killin’ me here (laugh), there’s so many different type of movies that I like.
Q: Hobbies?
A: If I think it’s fun, I’m gonna do it.
Q: One of your tweets: “If I’m not feeling it, I’m not faking it.”
A: Yeah. That’s perfect. If I feel you, and you’re 100 percent, I’m gonna be all for you, you know? If I feel like you’re a little bit shaky, or a little bit shady, and you have your own personal agenda, I’m not gonna give you that much attention. I’m not gonna be up in your face and try to pull something out of you.
Q: Another tweet: “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”
A: There’s so many disabilities out there that people try to use or a reason why they can’t accomplish things. And I’ve been seeing people with Down syndrome, autism, be out and do things that don’t have to be compared to someone without those disabilities or whatever it is, you know? But, they find a way. I’ve seen a video of a guy with no arms that works for NASCAR, and people questioned his ability to be able to get the job done. I feel like the only disability is a bad attitude because of you got the right mental attitude and the right approach, there’s always a solution to every problem, and that solution lies within you and your faith in God, and your ability to overcome adversity and make rational decisions that will lead to your success.
Q: One more tweet: “Almost everyone has had that pain of not knowing when it’s going to stop.”
A: Coming from where I came from, and most people, I would say, in life have been through a struggle. They haven’t had the privilege of having a silver spoon in their mouth, and knowing when they’re gonna get that next meal, or knowing when better days are gonna come. I know there’s certain people that have been in that position, to have that hope or that belief that eventually it’s gonna stop, or eventually it’s gonna be better. And I’ve been, or I’ve seen people that are at that position at the bottom, that don’t have that hope, that don’t have that belief. You have to believe in something, or you’ll fall for anything, you know what I mean? If you have nothing, then why aren’t you not being optimistic, you know? And there’s certain people that believe differently than I believe. But I feel everyone, or damn near everyone, has had that pain of not knowing when it’s gonna stop. But you can’t let that get the most of you. … You have to keep pushing.
Q: When did you feel that pain and didn’t know when the pain was going to stop for you?
A: I would say around the time my brother had died, because that was when I got that epiphany to where I was like, “Man, like what next? What now?” Seeing my mom that hurt. You’re afraid of death, for you or your family, you think about certain things, and people dying around you … being afraid, and letting that fear actually cause you to feel something, ’cause you’re just thinking about the worst. I think I did that at a young age, really young age, to where I was like, “This is not what I want to be. This is not who I want to be,” I’m not a person that is gonna feed my fears. I’d rather feed my faith and let my fears starve.