Zack Novak, a sophomore guard, was recently named a CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America 2010 first team member and was the only Big Ten player to win the award. Currently studying in the Ross School of Business, Novak has played in all but two games since joining the team in 2008 and is averaging 7.4 points per game through 27 games this season. I sat down with Zack to talk about life off the court and finished by discussing a little basketball and this year’s team.
A: Obviously that takes out the majority of my time. Outside of that, I try to go out when I can, maybe go visit a school or something. In the preseason, we went to Mott’s a few times, basically just stuff like that.
Q: If you had to pick one thing, what else would you say you’re most involved with other than school?
A: I haven’t been able to do as much this year just because I’m in the business school now. But probably since I’ve been here, going around to different elementary schools and talking to kids.
Q: Is there a certain organization or group that you work with that carries the most significance?
A: We’ve got a guy we work with who kind of handles the public community service, so he’ll just tell us ‘Hey, we’ve got something going on. We’re going to this school.’ If I had to pick one that I think is doing a really good job, I’d say the Mott’s Children’s Hospital. We do a lot of work with them. I mean, obviously that’s a great cause.
Q: You’re currently the only player on the team at the B-School, correct?
A: Yeah.
Q: Do you have any specific career plans if basketball doesn’t work out?
A: I don’t know yet. It’s getting to be about that time to start making some decisions. It almost seems like I haven’t been able to take a step back and just think about that. I’ll probably have to evaluate it once the season ends, go talk to some counselors and see where I’m at. But as of right now, I’m up in the air.
Q: So what would you say is the most difficult class in the B-School? I’ve heard some bad things about accounting.
A: It was kind of the opposite for me last semester; I thought the B.E. class (Business Economics) was worse. The accounting came kind of easily to me but Business Economics kind of beat me up a little bit.
Q: In your life, who or what has been the greatest inspiration to you? Do you have a role model or anyone you grew up admiring as a kid?
A: Probably the biggest have been my parents. They’ve just taught me the right way to do things. They’ve taught me my work ethic and the importance of school and athletics.
Q: Switching to basketball, you’ve got a prestigious coach there in Coach Beilein, what’s it like playing for a guy like that?
A: It’s fun. Everyday you’re coming in and you know you’re going to get the best from the coaching staff and they’re going to put you in the right position for every single game. There’s not much more you can ask for.
Q: Talk a little bit about your relationship with the guys on the team. Anybody you’re particularly close to?
A: I mean we’re all pretty close. I live with Stu, so obviously we’re together a lot. But we all get along pretty well.
Q: Earlier this year at Michigan Madness, you pulled out some of the most ridiculous dunks
A: Just horsing around I guess. I didn’t think I could do most of that stuff, but I just tried it and it worked.
Q: If you had to pick your most memorable game in the Maize and Blue, would it be a safe assumption to say Duke in 2008? Do you have any others?
A: The Duke game’s got to be up there. Obviously the tournament games; both of them were right up there as well. But yeah personally, I’d probably have to say the Duke game.
Q: You guys came into the season ranked 15th and had big expectations. At this point, many people have considered the team’s performance so far to be somewhat of a letdown. How would you respond to fans that have started to quit on the team or are giving up on the season?
A: We’re still fighting everyday. We know there are opportunities in the Big Ten and the opportunities can multiply quickly or they can vanish quickly, so right now we’re just trying to make them multiply.
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