5 Questions with Weber State guard Damian Lillard

In Weber State's last few home games, fans have serenaded guard Damian Lillard with chants of "MVP, MVP." Earlier this week, the Big Sky made if official for the sophomore guard from Oakland, Calif., naming him conference MVP. Lillard became just the fourth sophomore in conference history to earn the Big Sky's MVP award after he averaged 19.7 points per game and led the Wildcats to their second straight regular-season conference title. With Weber State preparing to host the Big Sky semifinals on Tuesday, Lillard spoke with Deseret News sportswriter Andrew Aragon.

Question: Who have been the biggest influences on your basketball career?

Answer: "My brother (Houston), but that was before I got here. Raymond Young got me real serious about basketball. He's a guy from Oakland. When I was in the ninth grade, I played for him, but I didn't get in the games a lot. Going into the 10th grade, he said I didn't work hard. When people challenge me, that's when I just make something happen out of it. He challenged me. He told me if I wanted to get better, come see him every day. We started working out, and I came back the next summer and I was better than everybody, and I liked that feeling so we kept doing the same thing over and over and scholarship offers started coming and it just went from there. Just him telling me something that simple and being willing to work with me, that meant a lot to me. Now it's Phil Beckner, one of our assistants. He's the one always pushing me and always coming up with new stuff to get me going and make me want to get better. I think he's the biggest influence in my career right now."

Question: Anyone who's seen you play knows you can make it in any conference in the nation. Why Weber State and the Big Sky?

Answer: "When I came on my visit, I just watched because I wanted to see how they (the Weber State players) interacted with each other. Everybody was cool. Nobody put themselves ahead of the team. They were just having fun being around each other. The coaching staff, that was probably the main thing. Usually in the recruiting process, the coach says one thing and it's going to be this way, then you get there and it's completely different. Coach (Randy) Rahe, he told me just straight off, 'If you don't want to go to class, I'm going to send you home. If you don't work hard, we're going to send you home. We're not going to promise you this like other schools would and this, this and this and that.' I like honest people. My dad (Houston) taught me to always surround myself with honest people and be loyal to people, and he was somebody I could be loyal to."