The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Q&A with Justin Mason
10.28.2006 | Men's Basketball
Combo guard Justin Mason was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at Amarillo Palo Duro High School. He was ranked as the No. 86 prospect nationally by Rivals.com following his senior year.
Mason averaged 24.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.0 steals per game while leading Palo Duro to a 27-3 mark and the 4A Region I quarterfinals as a senior. He earned Class 4A all-state honors last year and averaged 28.0 points per contest during his two state playoff games, including a 35-point showing in his final high school game. Mason's team went undefeated in district play (40-0) during his four seasons at Palo Duro.
How has your freshman year been so far? It has been hard at times. The hardest thing is learning to manage your time. After you finish with basketball, you have homework to do. Time management was something I needed to learn. I think summer school helped a lot. All of the freshmen took one class in each session, and that gave us a light taste of the real college experience.
What is the biggest difference between high school and college basketball? We have to work hard at both ends of the floor in college. A lot of the stuff doesn't come as easily on the college level as it did in high school. The athletes who have made it to the college level were all basically high school standouts, too, so the level of competition is elevated and more challenging.
What are some goals you have? As a team, I hope that we can make it to the NCAA Tournament and go as far as we can. As an individual, I just want to get in and contribute to the team's success.
Why should the team's inexperience (having seven freshmen) not be a huge concern? We have seven freshmen, but we all know how to play basketball. At the end of the day, it is about who puts the ball in the basket the most and who gets the most defensive stops. Everyone on the team knows how to do those things, so now it is a matter of learning to play together and improving during practice.
What is the team chemistry like? I think we came together really fast as a team right when we started summer school. Our team chemistry has helped us go beyond worrying about the "age factor" and helped us make lots of progress.
What is your favorite thing about Austin? The people are really nice down here.
What is your favorite sport outside of basketball? I used to play football in high school up until my sophomore year. I played quarterback, so that sport still remains close to me.
What do you look most forward to about the basketball season, aside from actually getting to play? I am pretty excited about all the traveling we get to do. We get to go up to New York for a tournament in November, and our schedule takes us to many different places around the country.
