:10 Seconds with Curtis Arsenault

I am pretty particular about who I like to feature for my ":10 Seconds" feature. One of the general requirements that I've had is that they have to be an upperclassman. Upon going to a couple of Men's Basketball games this season, I've watched freshman Curtis Arsenault give it his absolute all EVERY TIME he is running up and down the court. Aside from watching him play, I have had a number of people in the athletic department state that he is a "program changer," and that he will lead this program to many great things down the road. Upon hearing all of this, I thought to myself "there is no way that this kid is as good off the court as he is on the court."

I was wrong. Not only is Arsenault a fantastic player on the court (12.1 points per game), but is as equally good off the court as well. After you read this edition of ":10 Seconds," I feel confident that you will agree with me.

1. How long have you been playing basketball for?

I have been playing basketball since the 2nd grade.

2. How does the basketball team look for the rest of the 2013-2014 season and the LEC playoffs??

We look good. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think lately we are making strides. I don't think we have played one complete good game which is scary for rest of our conference because we only lost to East Conn (9-0 in conference play) by 3 when we didn't show up to play first half. Sky is the limit for us, so I am excited to see how we finish up the season.

3.What is your most memorable moment in your basketball career?

My senior year at Berlin High, we won the State Championship and it was the first time that happened in 72 years.

4. Do you have any superstitions on game-day?

Have to listen to my Christian music before the game to help settle me down and relax my mind.

5. What was your "Welcome to basketball" moment in your career?

Freshman year of high school the first game I played I took an elbow from a 6'6", 240 pound kid and broke my nose.

6. If I were to look at you Ipod/ITunes/etc. what would be the five most played songs?

I don't have either so I couldn't tell you. I just listen to a lot of country music on Pandora.

7. You seem to have adjusted quite well to the college game. What has allowed this transition to be smooth for you?

It has been a really easy adjustment for me this year because I did a Post Graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy. At PEA, night in, and night out, I played against D-1 basketball players. If I weren't blessed with the opportunity to do the postgraduate year, it would have been a much tougher adjustment.

8. Up to this point of the season, this is the most successful team in quite a while. Who/What has led to this?

We have a great Senior Captain and floor general Petey Skevas. He has done a great job leading the team. Coach Novak is now in his third year here and is starting to impose his will on the program and change the culture. I have nothing but good things to say about both those individuals. They lead our team. Also, we have a core of talented returning players off last year's team blending with some very tough nosed/hard working freshman. This has all led to our success so far but I feel like we have so much more to accomplish.

9. Having just played East Conn in a very close game, how big of a confidence booster was it for the team to see that they can beat the best in the conference?

I don't think it's a confidence booster at all. We have known for a while that we can beat anyone in our conference. Like I said earlier we did not show up in the first half against East Conn. When we play like we are capable we WILL beat any team in the conference. So at end of the day we just worry about our game and imposing our will on the opponent, not so much who our opponent is. We have showed flashes of great basketball and flashes of awful basketball so if we ever get consistent we will make a run at the LEC championship. 

10. Being only a freshman, where do you hope to see this team over the next three years?

Honestly, the way I play I know that any game could be the last game of my career if I suffer a bad injury. So in sports, I don't like to think about the future because it may never come. I plan on winning the 2013-2014 LEC championship this year and we will figure out the next three years when that time comes.