The 19-year-old clears his throat. He wants to politely explain his complicated college major.
"Kinesiology is the study of the kinetic movement of the body," he says, "I've had a lot of fun pursuing that career choice and learning more about the human anatomy. I continue to keep learning and be the best human being I can be."
Movement is fitting subject for Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns. He is projected to go to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the first overall pick in Thursday's NBA draft, and he is staying busy with other activities.
"Yesterday, I went bowling and hit some golf balls, so I'm extremely stressed," Towns jokes.
Towns would be the sixth consecutive one-and-done player to be the top pick. But the New Jersey native says he will continue his studies. In addition to kinesiology, he says he is interested in getting a business degree and possibly becoming a doctor after his basketball career.
"I'm looking forward to enrolling in classes as soon as I can for this summer and also this fall," says Towns, who had a 3.96 GPA at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, N.J., where he won three state titles in three years.
At St. Joseph he flirted with the idea of joining the baseball team where he could have teamed with Duke-bound pitcher James Ziemba to form a "Twin Towers" duo.
"I think I'm pretty good at golf," Towns says. "I was much better at baseball. I loved baseball. Soccer, I was OK. But you know what, it didn't matter. Soccer really helped me with my footwork and my pacing."
At 6-11 and 248 pounds, Towns has an obvious basketball frame but the decision to stop playing baseball was tough because his mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, is Dominican-born.
"It's like embedded in our blood growing up," he says. "My mom loved the game of baseball. My grandmother adores the game of baseball. My grandmother was extremely happy when I really was thinking about pursuing baseball. I know she was a little disappointed when I quit baseball, but I think she'd say I made the right career choice."
Once upon a time, Towns was a star first baseman and pitcher on the summer travel baseball circuit.
"He could've been a dominant pitcher like Randy Johnson," Towns' father, Karl Towns, told ESPN. "When he wound up and lifted that size-20 foot up, he could intimidate a hitter."
Towns' basketball blood came from his father. Karl Towns played at nearby Monmouth University, then coached Piscataway Technical High School, his alma mater, for 15 years. Karl-Anthony practiced with the junior varsity team as a fifth grader.
Karl-Anthony attributes his fundamentals to his father, thanks to his knowledge of the game as a player and a coach. Once Karl-Anthony showed he was committed to pursuing basketball competitively, his father showed him the way.
"He really never pushed me in basketball," Karl-Anthony says. "I really played a lot of sports. My love of basketball came more naturally. I came more in tune with basketball because I wanted to play basketball. The way he pushed me was he let me know I had to have a certain work ethic if I wanted to be good."
Although he ultimately chose basketball over baseball (and piano, another hobby), Towns kept his ties to the Dominican. At 16, Towns was selected to play for the Dominican national team in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
"What really made me pick that decision was the opportunity," Towns says. "You have an opportunity to play with the best players of a country -- professionals -- who already have an All-Star power forward in Al Horford. The most important thing was that I was able to represent my mother's country and wear her country on my chest and every game go out there and know my mother's on my side."
Towns' Dominican national team experience also served as his first go-around with an important figure in his life: John Calipari. The Kentucky head coach manned the sidelines for the Dominican team in 2011 and 2012. Towns says Calipari balanced his abilities on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, with an especial influence on Towns' pick-and-roll defense. By the time Towns arrived in Lexington, he fixed his holes to build his résumé.
But it was more than just Calipari. The whole experience let him test his high school freshman-level game against some of the NBA's best.
"I think the first moment it sunk in was when we played Team USA my freshman year and Anthony Davis had just been drafted," Towns says.
Davis played for the U.S. Olympic Team just after winning a national title for the Wildcats.
"I felt very comfortable on the court," Towns says. "I felt very comfortable with myself and I was having a lot of fun. I thought wow, you're playing against the team that they call better than the Dream Team and you're very comfortable. If you're not nervous and scared to play on the same court as those guys, you'll never be afraid of anyone on the court."
That's a mindset that served him well at St. Joseph.
"If you could win in New Jersey, you can win anywhere," Towns says.
At Kentucky, Towns won every game until the Final Four. Regardless of which NBA team selects him -- the Lakers, 76ers and Knicks follow Minnesota in the order -- he already has a trip booked to Los Angeles. Towns will help Gatorade announce the winner of its high school Athlete of the Year award. He won it in 2014 for his accomplishments at St. Joseph and takes some pride that the award recognizes a balance of sports and schoolwork.
"Academics came into play and that's huge because you can really tell the character of somebody if they have the discipline to do well in school and put in the effort off the court," he says.
Towns says he grew up a Knicks fan, but that will change as soon as he gets picked.
"I'm blessed for this opportunity," he says. "For any team I go to, I can't wait to start and possibly win a championship with."
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
