Jacob Gilyard on what it will mean to become the NCAA's new steals king

RICHMOND, Va. -- With his next steal, the 385th of his storied college career, Jacob Gilyard will share the record for most career steals in the history of NCAA Division I basketball. With the one after that, the title of NCAA Steals King will be his alone. On the verge of his historic achievement, Gilyard spoke to SpiderTV.

(On his mindset now that he's so close to the all-time steals record): "Don't be ambitious. I feel like come Wednesday, I'm probably going to try and take a couple more chances than I usually do. But I gotta stay the course. I got to let the steals I usually get just come to me and just go from there."

(On what it will mean to set the record): "It's crazy. I haven't really thought about it too much. I try not to think about it as much as I probably should but to be a top 50, top 25, top 10 -- a leader in any statistical category is pretty crazy. I think it's going to be a lot of emotions, but it'll be cool just to get a win. That's the goal for me always. As long as my steals help, that's all that really matters."

(On when he realized he could set the all-time steals record): "There was never any thought about a record. I think in high school, I always thought I was pretty good at defense and stealing the ball. I think my freshman summer here, our first live period or live segment, or when we got to play pickup, whatever it may have been, I did pretty well on defense and ended up with a couple of steals that I think most guys weren't used to seeing. So from there, I felt like that I had a knack for it. I never thought to record would come out of it or anything like that, but I knew I was pretty good at it."

(On how much the element of surprise helps him get steals): "Yeah, I think the surprise has a lot to do with it, just guys not really knowing where you are at, trying to play mind games with the guy who has the ball or whoever has the ball. I think that's the best part about it. To get the reaction that you see sometimes is always fun. I think the element of surprise is really what makes it the most fun."

(On if he remembers his first steal at Richmond): "I couldn't even tell you the first steal. I'd imagine it was Delaware? If I had to guess, I have no idea. But if I had to guess it wasn't on my man. It was probably just me being in the lane line or gap, maybe? Somebody was probably driving toward my side, and I probably got in there if I had to guess. I probably couldn't remember my last steal from the Mississippi State game, to be honest with you. Not to say that I've had so many of them, but it just happens in the games. There are so many other elements to a game that you just forget about them."

(On his favorite steal or steals at Richmond): "My freshman year, I think a lot of people talk about my steals, so I remember a lot of my freshmen steals. My favorite is probably the JMU one. It's like a lane line out of bounds, and it leads to a layup. I think it may have put us up one or may have cut the lead to a tie game. I just remember thinking it was a tough steal. I remember trying to set it up to where I was going to be able to get it the whole time they were taking the ball out of bounds. Luckily, the guy threw a lazy pass, and I ended up with it. That was probably my favorite one just because it was a really difficult steal for me trying to set it up, and it was a big-time steal for sure."

(On steals being only a part of what he does on the court): "I think a lot of people say I just steal the ball. I think if I had to solely focus on stealing the ball, I'd probably have more than 384. I play a lot of minutes. I try and do a lot of things for the team to help us win on the offensive and defensive side. If I had to just focus on just defense or just stealing the ball, I'd have a lot more. But that's not just who I am."

(On first person he'll call after he sets the record): "I think I'd probably call my dad first. I talk to my dad a lot about basketball. It would be him or my two best friends from back home. But I think I'd call my dad first. I think he would definitely be proud of me. He's already expressed how proud he is, but I think to have a record is obviously going to be crazy. I hope my family is proud of it."

(On how much his pursuit of the record influenced his decision to return this season): "To me, it wasn't about the record. Obviously, I think the record is cool, but like I said, to be top 10, top 25, top 50 in any category is impressive. I think with COVID, I lost probably 10 games over my junior and senior year, so I think it's a record that I would have had no matter what except for the pandemic. I think if the pandemic doesn't happen, I think the record's mine anyway. To come back for the fifth year was about playing with the guys. I felt like we had some unfinished business, and we're looking forward to taking care of it."

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Jacob Gilyard on what it will mean to become the NCAA's new steals king

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