After carrying Cardinal basketball on his back for the 2009-10 season, Landry Fields was rewarded on draft night, when he was selected by the New York Knicks in the second round. The Daily caught up with the recent Stanford graduate to talk about his preparation for the next level, applicable skill set and what the future holds. What follows is an edited transcript of the interview.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Can you describe the mood on draft night? Had you had interest from the Knicks before? Was this something you had expected?

Landry Fields (LF): It wasn’t really expected. It was a place that I knew I could be drafted at. I had spoken with my agent, and I knew that they had liked me, but nothing was official until then. It was a pleasure to hear my name called. It was definitely exciting. The mood was great afterward. The family was all screaming and stuff — it was a good feeling.

TSD: Going into draft night, were you expecting to hear your name called, or were you bracing for the possibility of going undrafted?

LF: It was kind of neutral. I didn’t really know what to expect out of it. Of course, I wanted to remain confident, since I did have a chance to get drafted. But at the same time, realistically, it might not have happened, so I tried to maintain a neutral mindset going in.

TSD: Can you talk a little bit about your preparation before the draft? What was your routine?

LF: A lot of workouts. There was early morning lifting four days a week, then afterward, some further training, then I’d head to lunch, come back and shoot around in the afternoon. That was all before the NBA workouts started. Once the NBA workouts started, you tried to get it in whenever you were home. I actually had to go to 15 different team workouts, so it was really busy throughout May and June. That was all leading up to the draft. You want to do as well as possible in those workouts, and I think because of them, I got drafted.

TSD: Where do you see yourself fitting in with the Knicks? Mike D’Antoni is known for that fast-paced offense. Is that something that you could see yourself fitting in well with?

LF: Definitely. With that kind of offense, given the player I am, with my versatility and all-around game, I think I could fit in real well.

TSD: Not a whole lot of people on the national stage, and certainly not locally in New York, seem to really know that much about your game. How would you scout yourself? Where do you think that you’re already set for the pro game, and where do you think you need to improve in order to make an immediate contribution?

LF: Going into the workouts, my focus was on my jumper. I wanted to knock down a consistent shot. In terms of scouting myself, I’d say that I play with a high basketball IQ, and I’m very versatile. I have a good feel for the game. I’m not one-dimensional. There’s a lot of things that I can do out there.

TSD: So the jumper has been the focus? Have you seen steady improvement in the off-season workouts and during your workouts for teams?

LF: Yeah, there was a big improvement when I was working out for teams. I shot the ball really well everywhere that I went. It was one of the things that kept me going throughout these workouts. I came out of a lot of workouts and people were calling me a shooter. Once that happened, I knew that the hard work I had put into my jumper had been paying off.

TSD: Going along with this theme: you’re a bit of an unknown commodity. Do you like that idea, that you essentially have a blank slate on which you can write?

LF: Yeah, definitely. It helps going in and being able to show people what you can do. But on the flip side, it is nice to have that confidence, and to have some people back you based on what you’ve done already. It is a bit less pressure going in. I can just go in and show people what I can do, as opposed to going in and having all these high expectations of myself and [from] people of me.

TSD: How do you feel that college prepared you for the pro game? Particularly last season, when you were Stanford’s focal point. Were there areas in particular that prepared you for what you’re about to experience?

LF: Being the focal point of the team, each team we faced would come in trying to shut me down. Me being able to put up the numbers that I did, even with that defense night in and night out, definitely prepared me well for this whole draft process and now for where I’m going. In the NBA you can’t just settle on one particular thing. Well, some guys can, but most can’t. You can’t settle on one aspect of your game. So this year, when people were taking away one thing, then I’d go to the next, then the next, then the next, and that prepared me really well.

TSD: Have you spoken to any other Stanford guys in the league? You were in the same recruiting class as Brook and Robin Lopez, and Brook is just across the Hudson River with the New Jersey Nets. Have you spoken with those guys?

LF: A little bit, but it was mainly for congratulations. When I was in New York I was trying to hook up with Brook, but I was working out so much and had a busy schedule out there. Before the draft, when I was working out in Phoenix, I knew Robin was out there, pushing hard for me with the coaches, which was nice. I still keep in contact with those guys, and I can always turn to them if I have any questions about the next level.

TSD: Five years from now, where do you think you are? Are you starting in the NBA? Solid rotational guy? Still in the league?

LF: (laughter) Well, in five years, hopefully I’m still there. However it works for me, I just see myself being someone involved in the rotation, but right now, it’s all about being there.