Freshman Friday is a Q-and-A feature with new members of the men's hockey team. This is the third installment, featuring defenseman Reece Willcox. He was the highest pick among the three selections from the Big Red at June's NHL Entry Draft, but he'll also be one of the youngest players in ECAC Hockey this season while making the transition from Junior A. He talks about what he was doing on draft day, his experience playing for Canada in international competition, and his number selection.

Q: You're Cornell's only incoming freshman who got to hear his name called at the NHL Entry Draft this year. What were you doing when you heard the news?
A: I was actually on the ice when I got drafted. I was with a buddy of mine in the morning, and I had just gotten off the ice when I got a phone call from my parents. It was a pretty cool experience.
Q: Was it a conscious decision to be active at that time so you weren't just waiting by the computer or phone?
A: Yeah, exactly. I didn't want to be sitting around my house all day waiting for it. So I thought getting on the ice would get my mind off of it and it would go by faster.
Q: Did it work?
A: Yeah. It worked pretty well.
Q: One of the cool things about being drafted is that you usually end up going to a prospects camp a few weeks later. What was that whole thing like?
A: It was a good experience. Learned a lot of lessons from it and it was neat meeting all those guys and working with NHL players and scouts. It was a pretty neat experience.
Q: Was that your first time to the Philly area?
A: Yeah. Never been there before.
Q: What did you take away from that? Did they suggest you work on anything specific or give you any sort of feedback?
A: I guess the biggest thing I took away was just to take these four years at Cornell and really develop and work on your strength — that was one of their main focal points.
Q: How do you think you stacked up to some of the other guys that were there? Did you see any of the other ECAC Hockey guys there?
A: I have some work to do, but I don't think I was out of place for the most part. I got to meet a few of the guys I'll be playing against.
Q: I understand you were also looking at other schools in ECAC Hockey. What about this league stood out to you, and why did you pick Cornell in the end?
A: I guess it's just the academics first and then the hockey's still good. When I was making my decision, I wanted to focus on academics and a good hockey program and find a mixture of both. And with Cornell, it was the fan support that drew me over.
Q: Did you get to come to a game when you were here on a recruiting visit?
A: No, I actually haven't had a chance to see a game yet.
Q: Going back a few years, you were selected in a bantam draft for major juniors, but opted to go the Junior A route instead. Was that a tough decision?
A: At first, it was kind of my intention to play in the WHL. But after not making it my first year (at age 16) and then playing a year of Junior A, I just kind of realized that it would be more important to get an education first and then try to pursue my dream of playing in the NHL.
Q: How close is Merritt, your Junior A team, to your hometown of Surrey?
A: It's about two to two-and-a-half hours north of there.
Q: So did that proximity factor into your decision?
A: Yeah, because my parents were able to pretty much get up there for every game. They were there a lot. But I'm a little farther away now.
Q: And then you won a gold medal for Canada West at the 2011 World Junior A Challenge. What was that experience like?
A: It was a neat experience playing against international teams. Just being able to wear that Canadian jersey was a really, really neat experience.
Q: You made a pretty gutsy decision to wear the No. 3 here. Were you aware of who else has worn that number here — namely Mike Schafer?
A: No, I wasn't aware of that before. But a few guys have bugged me about it, so now I know. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Q: How would you describe how you play? What can fans expect?
A: I think they can expect a solid two-way defenseman, a good puck-moving defenseman that can chip in offensively but is reliable in his own zone, too.