Summer Sessions: Jesus Carralero
Over the next few weeks, we'll run a Q&A with every player on the Mizzou basketball roster for the 2023-24 season. We continue today with graduate senior forward Jesus Carralero, who transferred from Campbell.
What have the first couple of weeks here been like for you?
JC: It's been smooth. The coaches help me a lot, especially getting used to the terms. Because where I come from, Campbell University, we play a very similar play style, very similar to the one we play here. So I've been using different terms, so that's been messing up a little bit with the other players. But I'm getting used to it, like, I'm getting the feel of it because the play style that we play in Missouri is pretty much all feel, like pretty natural playing, you know what I'm saying? And I feel like I'm really good at that, I just gotta get used to the chemistry with the other guys and the newer guys and all that.
How does the Missouri weather compare to Spain?
JC: The weather, it's a little dry here. I'll say a little more hot, a little hotter here. But it's kind of similar. I mean, I come from Malaga, Spain. So that's all the way up — I live like 10 minutes walking from the beach. So I'm definitely gonna miss the beach but we've got a few lakes here. I know Noah (Carter’s) got a boat.
Well, and y'all are going to Jamaica next week.
JC: Yeah, we're going to Jamaica next week, so I'm not gonna miss the beach for long.
Do you feel like it's been a bigger adjustment for you kind of on the court, learning a new system or more off the court, trying to get used to a new town?
JC: I feel like on the court, I don't think I've been struggling as much. But since we are a little smaller town, like Columbia, we don't have much outside of the town really, you need to drive everywhere — in Malaga, you literally walk down the street and you got everything there. So that's probably the little adjustment I gotta do, getting used to the city, I feel like. But the play style and the way we play here, I feel like I'm getting used to it pretty quick. I feel like it's coming up pretty natural for me.
Well, you mentioned you guys played kind of similar Campbell. For people who haven't seen you play before, how would you describe your game and how do you think it fits in with what Missouri does?
JC: I feel like I'm very versatile guy. You've seen me out there, you'll see me getting a ball screen, coming off a ball screen, creating off of that, hitting off the roll. You'll see me shooting from 3, you'll see me posting up. So I feel like that's the good part for me, like, what I'm best at, that's my talent. The best part of me as a player is that I can do a little bit of everything. And also, since I told you already, coming from Campbell University, I'm coming from a pretty similar play style. Also, I've been playing pro overseas since I've been 16, so I bring a lot of experience to the rest of the guys. We've got a lot of young talents out there, we got Ant (Anthony) Robinson, we got JB (Jordan Butler), we got Trent (Pierce). You got a lot of guys that, they're super talented, they've just got to get the right feel of the game. So that's something that I bring to the table, I bring to the rest of the guys, my experience and my way of seeing the plays in basketball in general.
Those ball-handling, kind of guard skills aren't really common for guys your size. How did that start for you?
JC: Oh, well that comes all the way back to when I started playing. I played for CB El Palo, that was a small club. I was pretty much the best guy on the team, so I was playing pretty much one through five. And also, if you combine that with, in Spain, we all play soccer. So like, your feet gotta be quick. If not, you're fucked. Sorry, by the way.
No, you’re good.
JC: But like, yeah, it comes all the way from back there. Like, you play soccer, you gotta be quick with your feet, so that kind of represents my defense. I can guard one through five pretty much, I can guard out on the perimeter. And like my ball skills, my dribbling and all that, yeah, that comes from playing overseas. We play a little bigger, so I grew up playing two, three, four. I wasn't really playing the five but obviously, with my size here and nowadays in the U.S., we all play small ball and switch one through five, so I can play even the five. So I feel like that comes all the way from Spain when I was little, when I was playing the two, three, four, five.
Is this your last year of eligibility or do you have one more?
JC: I've got one more. Because last year, I had the wrist injury. I think I played five games and broke my wrist, I got my surgery and I sat out for the rest of the year. So I got that year back, so I've got two more. But I'm taking them one at a time.
So what are some of the things that you're wanting to improve on heading into this season?
JC: My mind. I gotta fix my mind. I can be a little inconsistent sometimes offensively. Like, my confidence in myself of like shooting the ball or creating for myself. So maybe that, like talking to myself a little bit sometimes or I maybe talk to myself a little too much and need to just trust my work, trust Coach (Dennis) Gates. And I feel like that's what I gotta work on moving forward.
How are you feeling about Jamaica next week?
JC: I'm excited, man. I've been — where have I been? I've been only to Argentina in South America. And like, I know it's Central America, Jamaica, but I've never been to any country, like, tropical. So I'm excited. Actually, I've been to the Bahamas this past summer, but that was on a cruise. But I'm really excited about Jamaica, really excited, I'm looking forward to it for sure.
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