Five questions with new Lobo J.T. Rock

J.T. Rock, a 7-foot-1 transfer from Iowa State on Tuesday announced he has committed to transfer to New Mexico to play this coming season for new coach Eric Olen.

He is the eighth player to commit to play for UNM, which doesn’t have a single player remaining from last season’s team.

Rock, who made an official recruiting visit to Albuquerque over the weekend, was rated in the Top 100 by three national recruiting services in high school, where he left after three years to join Iowa State a year early as a 17-year-old. He spent one season sitting out as a redshirt season, and played in nine games this past year for the Cyclones.

The new Lobo answered a series of questions from the Journal through text messages on Tuesday:

JOURNAL: What made UNM and playing for Eric Olen the right fit for you?

ROCK: UNM was the right fit for me because of the style of play. Coach Olen and the staff expressed how they saw me fitting into their system very well, and being able to make an impact.

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JOURNAL: Did you know much about UNM or the Pit before this process and your recruiting visit?

ROCK: I knew the Pit is an iconic college basketball arena before coming to visit, and I had also heard about how loud it gets.

Getting to see it was very nice. Walking down the tunnel and into the Pit was exciting and I could imagine the energy in the building for a big game.

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JOURNAL: Is there a player you think you play like or try to model your game after?

ROCK: A player that I try to model my game after to a degree is Dirk Nowitzki. I think the way that he was able to utilize his positional size and be multidimensional using his shooting touch in the midrange and from 3-point range to make himself hard to guard is something that I definitely try to implement into my own game.

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JOURNAL: What did you gain over the past two seasons at Iowa State that fans wouldn’t have seen because you didn’t play games during your redshirt season (2023-24) and didn’t play many minutes this past season?

ROCK: I would say something I’ve learned the most in my time at Iowa State is perspective. I learned a lot about how to cheer on my teammates and pour into the team. I have been working hard in the weight room as well to make sure my strength is where it needs to be. I would say I have also adjusted more to the speed of the college game, I am able to see the floor better than I had previously and I would say I have developed a better feel for the flow of the game at this level.

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JOURNAL: With a name like Rock, you’ve had to have some nicknames or people playing off your name in newspaper headlines and things like that. Any memorable ones?

ROCK: One that stood out to me was in high school when I broke a rim with a slam dunk during a game. The headline read something along the lines of JT’s Rim ‘Rock’-ing jam breaks the rim.

One more I’d say is I’ve heard of people counting shots that I blocked and naming it a ‘Rock Block’ or if I would have multiple blocks they would call it a ‘Rock Block Party.’

Geoff Grammer covers college basketball for the Journal. You can reach him at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.