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Ben Handlogten spent last season with the Utah Jazz and is currently in training camp with the New Jersey Nets, hoping to get signed to a season contract. The 6-10, 240-pound center spent both of his two NBA years with Utah and has a career average of 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game on 52.3% shooting. For college, he attended Western Michigan. InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner recently met with Handlogten at a Nets game for an exclusive interview early in the preseason period.

InsideHoops.com: Who was your favorite player growing up?

Ben Handlogten: I can't really say I had a favorite player. I was growing up when it was the Bad Boys, the Detroit Pistons. I enjoyed watching them growing up. They had a couple championships. That was a good time.

InsideHoops.com: What was the highlight of your college career? A game, a shot, an experience, anything.

Ben Handlogten: I just enjoyed college. I had fun there. I had one game where I went 12-for-12 from the field. That was, I think, against the Univeristy of Toledo, but I can't remember for sure. It ended up being my career high for points and everything. That was pretty fun.

InsideHoops.com: And how was your experience in Utah? What positives do you take away from there?

Ben Handlogten: Any time that you can spend playing under Jerry (Sloan) and the coaching staff out there, you're going to learn a lot. Utah was a very classy organization, and I have a lot of respect for that. I just enjoyed my time out there and was thankful for the opportunity.

InsideHoops.com: What have you been up to between the end of last season and before this training camp?

Ben Handlogten: I was just working out.

InsideHoops.com: Where were you working out, mostly?

Ben Handlogten: In Boston. I live in Boston, so I was just playing, lifting, staying in shape. Just trying to work on my game and getting ready for whatever training camp I might get invited to.

InsideHoops.com: Were you working out with other NBA players?

Ben Handlogten: Yeah, I worked out with a couple of guys in Boston that are in the NBA and some guys that play in Europe. It was good competition. It's up to those guys if they want to [say who they are].

InsideHoops.com: So now you're here with the Nets training camp, trying to convince them to sign you. Talk about the whole general training camp experience.

Ben Handlogten: Training camp for a guy with a nonguaranteed contract trying to make a team is just not an easy situation to be in. Every day you're being judged, and you almost feel like your life is in limbo just a little bit.

InsideHoops.com: It's an audition, basically.

Ben Handlogten: It is an audition. You just try to show as much as you can, and try not to give a team an excuse to release you. You concentrate as well as you can and do the best that you can, and at the same time you try to take as much pressure off yourself that you can, so you can actually enjoy the game, the playing, the experience in itself.

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