Spencer Sanders Q&A (Part 1): On Kevin Durant, OU and Why He’s Looking Forward to Handing off to Justice Hill

I sat down with Spencer Sanders this week before he heads off to Stillwater at the beginning of next month for what should be a fascinating career. I wanted to get a better sense of who he is as a person, what he’s all about and what OSU fans can expect from him. We talked about a lot of different things, including OU, KD, social media, passing concepts and fishing at Mike Gundy’s pond. He was really gracious with his time, and I had a lot of fun talking to him.

We will run this interview in two parts. Today is Part 1, and on Monday we will run Part 2. The second part includes reader questions (which he answered), and I think you’re going to like both of them.

Kyle Porter: I want to start you off with an easy one just to get you going here. What did you eat for breakfast today?

Spencer Sanders: I ate a muffin with two sausages, some bacon and some eggs.

KP: Is that pretty typical of what a Spencer Sanders breakfast looks like these days?

SS: Kind of. Sometimes I don’t eat breakfast. It just depends on how late I get up, but if I’m up and moving around well, I’ll make myself something

KP: How much do you think about nutrition and sleep?

SS: If I was being honest with you, probably not as much as I should. Sometimes I do eat bad, but I make sure I go to the gym, go play basketball or something and kind of burn off that fat that I don’t need. Keep my cardio there. The sleep, my sleep schedule is all kinds of messed up, but I make sure I get at least 8 hours of sleep. I like to sleep a lot. I can fall asleep at 9 and probably still wake up at 1 or 2.

KP: I have 3 kids so that sounds amazing right now. You’re in this in-between phase of high school and going to Oklahoma State. What does your typical day look like right now? 

SS: I work out in the mornings, and then I go to school at 11:20. My first class doesn’t start until 11:20, and then I get out at 3:09. After that on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I have training at 7:30. I’m working on my skills, my footwork. just getting faster and stronger. My free days I just go hang out with my friends before I leave because I’m not going to be here long. I just try to have fun while I can.

KP: What are you doing off the field when you’re hanging out with your friends?

SS: Usually I play basketball or ride my 4-wheeler. As you know the game that’s big out right now that I play is Fortnite. I like to do something. I don’t like to just sit there and talk or sit there on my phone. I like to go out there and do something every chance I get, every chance I’m free. My parents are always bothering me about how I need to stay home and focus on this and work on this. I just try to get most of my work done and go about my business and have fun.

KP: Who’s more nervous about you going to college you or your parents?

SS: Definitely my parents. I’ve been up a couple weekends. I’ve seen what it’s like. I’ve had fun. I know what to do I know what not to do. I’m kind of prepared.

KP: How into the NBA Playoffs have you been?

SS: Not that much. I only watch one player. I’m a really big Kevin Durant fan. I don’t really care what team he’s playing for. I could care less about his teammates or the team. I care about him individually. I just like how he plays and feel like he’s a very successful player.

KP: I feel the same way about KD. I’ve loved him since he was at Texas. You were probably pretty young when he was at Texas, but what is it about him that drew you to him.

SS: Just all the negativity that he gets, especially when he left OKC. He still looks at it in a positive way, and he’s still just doing the best he can and plays the game he can. He’s surrounded by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, he still plays to the best of his ability which I believe is better than those two.

The fact that he can take his talent to another team and play better than some MVPs and some runner-ups and some finals championship winners, the fact that he can compete probably just a little bit better than them shows that he didn’t just leave for a stacked-up team, he left for himself. He’s not over there just getting 10 points a game. No, he’s over there getting 45, 38, 40, 42.

KP: As an athlete and somebody who has been in the spotlight and presumably will be in the spotlight, how much do you study guys like KD in terms of how they handle things off the court or how they handle the media?

SS: I could care less. I understand that everybody has that moment when they’ve had enough. Everybody gives KD grief when he comments back on negativity, and honestly I think it’s funny because people nowadays they can’t take negativity. They can’t take a comeback, and they feel like they have to have the last word. (They say) he’s supposed to be a good guy or he’s not a human being, he’s supposed to be a robot and follow these rules and do this and always do this.

I kind of like it because sometimes KD does respond to negativity because he’s human, he’s down to earth. He goes about his business and gets the job done, and it’s not the fact that he’s an NBA player, it’s the fact that he’s himself as a NBA player. He doesn’t pull the whole “I’m the big shot kind of guy.” I kind of like that out of him. He pulls the whole, “look I’m me, I’m human just like you. You make mistakes, I make mistakes too. You make decisions that are hard, and so do I.”

KP: I agree with you. I don’t know how we started talking about KD for like 10 minutes, but I don’t know what it is about him. I’m certainly drawn to him. I’m sure that you’ve experienced some of that negativity just from being in the spotlight and maybe will so even more in the future. How have you handled that and what is that taught you about yourself?

SS: It just kind of teaches me how to react to things, and if I am going to react what’s the appropriate way to react? What’s the thing that when a little kid is looking up to me, and he does the same thing, I want him to make the right decision. So I’m always thinking if there’s someone watching me like I’m watching KD, I want to make sure they do the right thing when they get older. I’m always trying to set an example to the best of my ability.

KP: You seem to be very self-aware and mature and aware of social constructs and how things work. Where did you learn that?

SS: From watching it. I got social media when I was in 7th grade, and I’ve just kind of grown up being on it and watching what people do. It’s funny, a lot of people want attention but the number one thing that’s going to make them mad is if you ignore them. Even though they think they won the argument. What’s going to drive them up the wall is if you ignore them. They want a reaction out of you. They want something out of you. They want you to fire back. If you don’t give them what they want, that’s going to drive them crazy than coming back with a better comeback or a better negative comment.

It doesn’t have to be negative. We can still be positive. You can respond in a kind way, and I might still drive somebody up the wall. My number one thing to do is to probably just ignore.

KP: What’s your relationship with our website? How have you consumed Pistols Firing over the last few years?

SS: I like that it’s all about the college. It’s not just about football and it’s not even about sports sometimes. It’s about people and what’s going on in society. It’s not just dead set and focused on ‘Hey Pokes, go Pokes” … it’s more of like a social media website for everybody. Granted, there’s going to be a lot of Pokes stuff, and I’m not saying I don’t like that. But it’s more down to reality. You don’t have to be just a die-hard Pokes fan and nobody else. You can like other teams and have respect for other teams.

KP: Did you have any relationship with OU in terms of recruiting or talking to them? What is your perspective when it comes to OU?

SS: They’ve got a great team, and somewhat of a great staff. I don’t like some staff members, and sometimes I don’t kind of like their demeanor and attitude. But I can’t judge them off of that. Everybody’s human, everybody has mistakes. I’m not just going to hold a grudge.

They’re great team. They have a great athletic facility. They have great athletes. You can’t hate on somebody just because they’re good.

KP: What are you going to miss most about high school Spencer? It probably feels like it went by fast. What’s the thing that you feel like right now you’re going to look back on and be like “wow I’m really going to miss that?”

SS: Just about everything. I love football. I love basketball. All my sports. My friends are not going to be a call away, they’re going to be 3 hours, 5 hours. Keeping up with them is going to be hard. It will be missed, and hanging out with my good buddies that are still here in town. Stuff like that.

KP: Who’s the best high school player you’ve ever gone against in basketball or football?

SS: Probably the best linebacker I ever came across is DaShaun White. He played for Richland. He kind of gave me a rude awakening of what college is going to be like. He got me good one time. But then I got him back some other plays. It kind of gave me confidence that if I could do that to him — he’s a very talented kid, he’s got big things ahead of him and he might go to Texas A&M — to know that he’s so talented and I could do that to him …

I’m not saying I just out-worked him. No, he got me too. But I got him back. What I’m saying is I can take that courage on to next year and know that, look these guys were in high school too. They make mistakes. They’re not perfect. So if I can make somebody miss, I can make somebody miss. If I can read a coverage, I can read a coverage.

KP: You sound like you just love the competition at a high level. The way that you just spoke about it sounds like you just crave it. Like you just love going at guys and knowing that sometimes you’re going to fail and sometimes you’re going to succeed.

SS: I’m always going to go at the best target. If I’m going to the gym and there’s the hot shot there that thinks he’s the best at basketball, I’m probably going to challenge him one-on-one. I’m going to play the best I can. I’m going to give him his credit. I’m not a sore loser. Congratulations, good job man you’re a great basketball player, there’s not really much else I can say about it.

I’m just going to keep doing me and that’s going to get me better. Eventually I don’t want to be the hot shot at the gym, but I’ll be able to beat probably everybody at that gym, and I’ll go to the next level and just do the same thing. It’s kind of working up and making myself better but not only just me people around me so I can play with the team and make them better as a team.

KP: Why do you wear number 3? And do you plan on continuing to wear it at Oklahoma State?

SS: I kind of switched around with numbers. My freshman year I wanted a single-digit number. I just felt like three is kind of a number for me. It’s a nice number to have. I’d either go at 3 or 1 or 7. I feel like three really fits me gives me confidence now and I’ve got three on my back.

KP: So there wasn’t any particular reason you just wanted single-digit and those kind of popped?

SS: My original favorite number was 32 but I had to give that up when I started playing quarterback. That was my family number, and my mom was 32 my dad was 32.

KP: You had family that was from Stillwater or lived in Stillwater?

SS: Close to Stillwater. They stay in Kingfisher. My mom’s original hometown is in Watonga, but nobody knows it so I say Kingfisher because it’s right outside of Watonga. It’s a little bit bigger, it’s more known.

KP: My wife is from Hennessy which is right by Kingfisher.

SS: Yeah that’s not too far down the road.

KP: What Oklahoma State player are you most looking forward to playing with?

SS: I’d have to say probably the offensive line. I’d love to play with some guys — not putting it this way, I had a great offensive line at Ryan — but some guys that are bigger than me. I look forward to it and just seeing what they can do.

Also Justice Hill and handing off the ball and knowing that he can go get his money if he wants to go get it. He’s going to do him. He’s going to ball out and give it all his all. I kind of look forward to playing with them and just kind of playing with everybody on the next level. Just to see what it’s like and compete and get better as a athlete and as a person off the field.