Mississippi State senior wing RJ Melendez striving to be elite defender

In today’s landscape of college basketball, most players relish in their opportunities on the offensive end of the floor. But for former Georgia transfer RJ Melendez, his college basketball journey brought him to Mississippi State because of his desires to be an elite defender.

The senior wing, who begin his college career at Illinois, averaged 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds last season at Georgia and did so while averaging 20.6 minutes a game. During his recruiting process after entering the transfer portal, Melendez was quickly drawn to head coach Chris Jans’ reputation for being a defensive coach. And Jans told Melendez often that there’s a lot more Melendez can do on the court and Melendez believes Jans is the coach to get the most out of his game.

Earlier this week the Puerto Rico native sat down with local media to discuss his time at Mississippi State thus far:

Q: Chris Jans said this offseason that he thinks you have a lot to offer on the floor and that you haven’t played your best basketball yet. In what areas do you think that refers to?
Melendez: When I came on a visit and since the first day, (Jans) was telling me I can play defense and he’s seen me play it. But he said he can make me much better than I am and make me a better player. He sees something in me that a lot of people don’t see and I may not even see it. But he believes in me and wants to make me an elite defender and I know I can do it under his hands.

Glory to God, just putting it in his hands and the coaches pushing us every single day to our limits. It might be the simplest mistake but (Jans) is going to make it the biggest mistake in practice so he can see how you respond. And stuff like that is going to happen in games. It’s the way you respond to it. If you respond positively, it is going to benefit you in the game. He is coaching me every day and saying he wants this for me. It boosts your confidence and makes you feel better as a player. It makes you feel at home and he’s making everyone better in practice every single day. Everybody is trying to push each other. Coach Jans has a great vision for me and I’m willing to follow his path.

Q: How’s the process of trying to embrace that role as a defender moreso than a scorer?
Melendez: There’s a lot of NBA players that have made millions of dollars just by being defender. Offense comes and goes but if you are a defender every single day, it gives you a step over other people that can handle the ball really well and shoot really well. But when it comes to the defensive side, it’s an advantage. Just being on top of your defense, with your defense you can impact the offense because being able to stop the other team frustrates them and boosts your confidence to do whatever you want to on offense.

Q: What position do they have you working at now?
Melendez: As of now I’m just at the wing, the two or three. If anything happens like Mook (Cameron Matthews) gets in foul trouble and we got to go small ball, I can play the four in certain games. But I’m mostly focused on the wing part.

Q: How competitive are those practices in the backcourt?
Melendez: The most competitive practices I’ve been through in my college career. Every single day and there’s no off days. Defensive-wise, they’re looking at every single detail and point you out in practice even if you are doing the right stuff. They will point you out because they know there’s more you can do to make the team better. So it’s being able to accept his challenge and accept the way he coaches. You just got to know how to respond. If you respond the right way he’s going to help you.

Q: How was it playing in The Hump environment against Mississippi State last year?
Melendez: Wow, it was pretty difficult because I was just coming off the Florida game where I had 35 (points). I was talking with the guys and asking them what was their scouting for me in that one game. I couldn’t get anything open. They said they were going to faceguard me the whole game and not let RJ touch the ball. It was crazy to me the way they guarded me. I saw the way Mook guarded me and the energy that they brought. They weren’t a great shooting team but they were getting wide-open looks and whatever they wanted because they were exhausting us on the offensive side because of their defense. When I saw that and then entered the portal, I was immediately interested.

Q: The really only unknown about this team is the center position. Your thoughts on Michael Nwoko and Jeremy Foumena in practice?
Melendez: Very improved. They learn every single day. Like I said, Coach Jans is pushing them every single day on any little mistake so they can get better and get ready for the season. Coach Jans is going to be on them for little mistakes so they can get better and make us a great team. We don’t have a dominating five like Tolu (Smith) but we got a stretch five and Mike (Nwoko) and Jeremy (Foumena) can shoot. So it’s just a completely different setup. We can manage them to where we can keep playing the way Mississippi State plays and their culture. We can just keep playing hard.

Q: Looking forward to the trip to Athens, Ga., this season?
Melendez: Absolutely, no doubt. That is something already on the calendar.