Welcome back to our offseason Q&A, where we catch up with a few Oregon State athletes who are hanging around Corvallis this summer. In case you missed it, we started this series with running back Storm Woods.

Today we go inside Gill Coliseum to chat with senior guard Roberto Nelson of the men's basketball team, who stopped to talk just as the Beavers were wrapping up kids' camp.

Lindsay Schnell: Well, what do you think of the practice facility? Have you gone in and put up some shots yet?

Roberto Nelson:

Oh yeah, I snuck in there when we weren't supposed to, I probably shouldn't even be saying this but yeah, I did go in and get some shots up. I wanted to be one of the first people to make a basket in there, and I brought Eric Moreland in with me. We had a shoot-off -- I would shoot at one basket and he would shoot at another, and then we'd compare. I won at 4 of the 6 baskets. The main ones are mine, and a couple of the side ones are, too.

LS: So (men's hoops SID Shawn) Schoeffler was telling me that you consider yourself the most competitive guy on the team, and one of the most competitive guys at OSU. He told me you hate to lose so much that you'll practice the most random things to make sure you never get beat at something. Knowing that, what are some of the most obscure, random things you've practiced?

RN:

I don't like losing, but there are a lot of things I could lose at, so I'll work on everything. Ping pong. I'll cheat in Monopoly before I lose, and I hate losing at pool. Even if we're doing something like ultimate frisbee and I'm not as good as somebody else, I'll stay out there until I figure out how to throw it. I won't stop until I get it right. I can't.

LS: Is there anything this summer you've been working really hard at?

RN:

Nothing random, I've just been in the gym. I've been working on my ball handling a lot, trying to perfect it and make it better.

LS: Coach (Craig Robinson) has already put it out there that he wants and expects you guys to go to the NCAA tournament next year. For that to happen what, as a team, do you have to work on the most this offseason?

RN:

I think the NCAA Tournament is a great goal to strive for, but I feel like we need to accomplish the little things first, have little goals for our team and as individuals and accomplish those first.

LS: Give me an example.

RN:

Just things like making sure we're maintaining effort throughout the whole game, focusing on our assignments throughout the game -- the little thing that make the big stuff happen. I feel like once we get those in order that we'll be able to have the big stuff come our way.

LS: Ahmad Starks is gone, so now you're the veteran guard, the senior leader. How does your role change with him gone? Do you have to take on more leadership?

RN:

As far as leadership, the younger guys look up to me and I know that. But definitely, having Ahmad gone, it's going to be different. He did a lot of things for us and opened a lot of things for us with his ability to shoot and being able to create as a point guard. We're going to miss him, and we've gotta try to find ways to patch those pieces together.

LS: Jared Cunningham has been in town on and off the last couple months. In the time that you've seen him, talked to him, what have you learned about the next level?

RN:

Nothing really, but everybody's athletic there. You have to work hard and try to perfect something. All those guys are perfectionists at something. The guys who are in the league, that's why. You've gotta put the time and work in, and hope that one day you get a shot to do the same.

LS: For high school basketball players, summer is all about AAU tournaments. It wasn't that long ago that you were in high school -- what's your favorite AAU memory?

RN:

My favorite AAU tournament was always the one in Vegas. I liked it because EVERYBODY was there -- all the good teams, all the big coaches. You'd be playing against the best talent. Even as a young guy, watching O.J. Mayo go up against Greg Oden, stuff like that is so fun, They'd pack the gym and you'd love being a part of that atmosphere and playing in front of a packed crowd. It's like a college crowd.

LS: What's the most interesting and/or hardest class you're taking this summer?

RN:

Spanish is pretty interesting to me. I want to learn another language. Having a Hispanic background, it's a little easier for me. I've been around it and heard it a lot, and it's definitely something I want to perfect so that when I have children someday, they can be bilingual.

I want to learn sign language, too, that's the next thing I want to do. I was just sitting down the other day watching a mother and son talk in sign language and it was amazing. I want to learn that so badly.

LS: Have you been able to take any vacation this summer, or are you just living in the gym?

RN:

No, living in the gym. This is my house. I was here at midnight last night. You have to be, you know? If you're just doing the regular stuff, you're going to be a regular player. You have to put in more work to get to the next level, so I'm just trying to prepare myself.

LS: Ok, this is random, but Schoeffler told me I had to ask this. Evidently Coach has made some comments on the record about you being first team all beer league … I'm curious what your response was to that?

RN:

(laughs) OK, so I don't have a six-pack, and I'm not built like the traditional athlete, like a Russell Westbrook or something, I'm more of a Paul Pierce, so they say I'm all beer league.

But hey, it's cool. I've embraced it. And in the finals, (San Antonio Spurs guard) Tony Parker was walking off the court and he lifted up his jersey to wipe sweat off his face and he didn't have a six-pack either. Luckily I had rewind on my TV, so I rewound it, paused it and took a picture of it and sent it to everybody. Clearly, I'm not the only one.