1 ON 1 CONVERSATION: Faith Christian's Christian Mills

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 18, 2015 1:48 PM

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Faith Christian senior Christian Mills is an avid North Carolina fan and chip off the old block. Mills' father, Kenneth, played basketball -- ironically, the post position -- when he attended Faith Christian in the early 1980s. Mills has gained a wealth of knowledge from his dad and is averaging nearly a double-double for the Conquerors this season.

Q: (Faith Christian) Coach (Stephen) Hardison said that you don't mind fighting for the rebound, muscling your way around the basket and make something happen. Is that an accurate description?

A: Yeah, that's how I like to play. I'm the guy they depend on this year to rebound, play in the post and be a physical leader. I played high post last year and moved to low post this year. You're more involved. We depended on Richard (Sasser) to score a lot last year, so they're depending a little bit to kind of take some of that load off of his back.

Q: You have adjusted well to that role well this season and are nearly averaging a double-double. How are you able to keep that consistency on the court?

A: You've got to be tough to get rebounds and that's what I try to do, score, be a physical leader.

Q: When Coach Hardison took over as head coach last year, how did he help you adjust to playing down in the post?

A: We worked on it during practice. I used to be a guard in the eighth, ninth and 10th grade. As they graduated other seniors, they put me in the post and depended on me since I was the tallest guy.

Q: What is it like to be underneath the basket and constantly battling two or three defenders for the ball?

A: It's tough. You've got to be strong because I'm not really that tall. I'm six foot and sometimes you're playing against guys who are 6-4 or 6-5, so you've got to do the fundamentals, box out, jump for the rebound and be stronger than they are.

Q: Where do you think you have improved as a player?

A: I've improved my mental toughness, not getting frustrated during the game and being tougher down low. I worked out over the summer a little bit ... bench pressed, worked with some dumb bells and came to the gym to work on my post moves instead of shooting outside.

Q: How would you describe the team you play on this year?

A: We're more of a team than we were last year. There's more movement on the ball, not one-on-one basketball. We run an offense that moves the ball and whoever has the open lane goes to the hole. We can shoot the ball a whole lot better and we're not as selfish as we were last year. We're making the extra pass to get the shot.

Q: This team reached the N.C. Christian Schools Association 2-A elite eight two years. What kind of goals did you guys set for yourselves this season?

A: We would like to compete, make games a lot closer than they were last year and just work on everything. We've got a lot of improvement to do as a team and become more disciplined. I think we could make it to the state tournament if we played good, played together and played hard.

Q: What is the one thing Christian that you like the most about basketball?

A: I love it, have grown up playing it my whole life. It keeps me involved in something and keeps me out of trouble, too.

Q: Tell us about Christian when he's not at school and not practicing in the gym.

A: I like to hang out with my friends and talk about sports. There's really not really much to do in Goldsboro.

Q: Who has been the biggest influence on you and why?

A: Probably my dad. He pushes me to play hard every game, tells me what I did wrong and tells me what I need to do better. He played the post and wasn't really tall, so he told me how to play and how I need to do it.

Q: If there were three people, living or dead, that you could sit down and have dinner with them, who would they be and why?

A: Michael Jordan because he was mentally tough, a great player all around. Kevin Durant because he's a smooth player, he can play inside and outside kind of like I can. (North Carolina coach) Roy Williams. He's a great coach, gets his players to play hard and rebound because they crash the boards -- one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. I like how they play.

Extra notes: Avid UNC fan, 1B/P in baseball