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Okay okay for for correct yep oh yeah 15 each yeah I could probably put that down so be Wen confused got y for a friendly reminder cell phone should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted Hammer Communications is providing the
Video feed which will be available on the FTP site found on the NCA media hub therefore no video cameras are perit permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation today’s press conference is satellite coordinates s-3 sl4k slot s l o t B9 thank you microphone e e L nice
Also just so everyone is aware locker rooms are open you like to talk to the players that will not be on the stage here for e it yeah for J for e how we doing our mic should be good okay we’re here with Akron athletes Greg trible trible Ali Ali andri Freeman we
Have 15 minutes before coach John gross comes in please raise your hand ask questions a person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you are joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first and get to
To the zoom if time allows first question for the stent athletes right here hey guys Brad borov from The akan Beacon Journal congratulations first of all you guys were here before and and just missed how much does that help ease things number one and obviously this is
Going to be a team that’s got probably the the big the biggest bigs the biggest length how do you handle that how do you neutralize that um I think our experience in the tournament before is going to help us tremendously in this game um we can definitely you know pick up some
Mistakes we messed up on execution wise when we played UCLA so I think that’s going to help us in this game and um they have a really good de uh forward he’s a really good uh Defender and he protects room really well similar to my game so we’re just
Going to try to execute a good game plan to work around that Tom back here uh Tom with’s Associated Press for all you guys um coaches made a run with a a ma team in the tournament got to the Sweet 16 has he shared some of that with
You guys are you interested to know what that Journey was like for him uh yeah obviously because we we are trying to do the same thing make a run in this tournament uh coach he knows the ins and outs of the tournaments and how games are being played how the game is
Going to be officiated so yeah we asked coach a lot about the run and what it takes to uh win and this tournament so Alex Henry wzip uh this for any of you guys what team would you guys kind of compare kraton to that you guys have played in your college careers
Toledo uh we compare them to Toledo uh they have a elite offense uh they run a crisp offense and they can score at will so you have to lock in on your defense and make sure that you know scouting and everything so yeah I would compare them to
Toledo uh Cameron Hoover Pittsburgh Post cazette Enrique obviously you’ve been here five years now been a long career at akan what does it kind of mean to you to sort of uh for your career to culminate in another trip to the NCA tournament here uh I mean it’s truly
Surreal I’m just truly just happy to do with my teammates I think uh we’ve been preparing all year for opportunities like this and it’s just super excited to be able to get to play and and um and compete that’s what we came here to do to compete Tom
Tom uh Tom with’s AP Enrique first of all congratulations on the allamerican nod yesterday thank um your story is amazing does it sometimes Amaze you as well that you’ve gone from walk- on to All-American yeah I mean itaz me when they when they say something like man
Reek was just in there at the walk- on Tri outs blocking shot so it sometimes it is surreal and it’s it’s amazing mat Marin white and blue review I’m curious how transferable the experience of playing UCLA a couple years ago you guys were all in that game
Along with Michel um how transferable is that experience knowing that you had to face a team that single digit seed a lot of experience it’s kind of a similar storyline to this one I think it just helps us you know kind of having a little bit of familiarity with the bright lights but
At the end of the day it’s still you know a 40-minute game and we’re going to have to go out there and play really hard and execute on both sides of the ball so it’s nice having that experience in your back pocket but at the same time
It’s that was two years ago so we know we have to show up to uh Thursday were you guys at that tryy out that Enrique did what do you remember of it I just remember uh I just remember a skinny kid just flying around blocking shots and uh obviously me and Ali were
Freshman at the time that was our first year there and then we saw him at practice and he was on the scout team and we was like hold on like he getting under coach gross and Coach Ford and all them guys and they develop him and obviously you see the the product they
Produce so Logan congro wzip you know it’s been mentioned that you guys have been in this position before some of the older players how are you guys Mentor the younger players on the roster to be ready for this experience and get ready for kraton um I think I truthfully we got a
Lot of good mentorship from the 2019 team 201920 team in uh in akan so I’m just happy we got to give them a taste of what a championship feels like so they know what to chase after when we’re gone again Brad borille akan Beacon General you guys talked about last time
You played in the in the dance there was a big wow factor this time around how do you make sure that you don’t make this bigger than it is tomorrow when when you hit that floor and you don’t see you don’t get enveloped by the bright light
I think goes back to what Ali said you know at the end of the day we’re just two teams playing 40 minutes whoever plays the best basketball at the end is going to win the game right there Matty Marin white and blue review Enrique when you look at your game I
Mean I think Zack Edy and DJ Burns were two of the biggest guys in the country are the only ones who have more post-ups than you this year how do you how are you as effective at that part of the game given your size and what perceived
Disadvantages I guess as a five yeah I think um it’s definitely my skill and um we do a good job my teammates do a good job feeding to me the ball we have a great uh post action to for cutting and everything so as much as I can post and
Score and and my quickness um you know my teammates put me in the good position to score you know when they cut 45 cut all this other stuff so I just it’s just it’s just truly hard work and just playing playing to what I’m used to right down here there you go Logan
Congr wzip akan how much of an advantage you guys feel it is to be playing so close to home in Pittsburgh uh I feel like it it’s a big Advantage obviously we got a lot of um Zips Nation fans uh coming to the game and that that obviously can fuel a run
The intensity uh we feed off the crowd so yeah I feel like it’s a huge Advantage for us to have our fans so close and coming to the game uh Luke Taylor full court press podcast um with the landscape of how college basketball is going with the
Transfer portal and nil how much more does this mean to you guys that you guys have stuck around for this many years um I mean it’s it’s it’s like I’m saying the same thing but it just it means a lot I know we’ve been together for the
Last 5 years we’ve seen each other grow from freshman to seniors to like great men now and um The Journey has been incredible so I think for myself I’m just truly grateful for the journey that’s what it means to me like we’ve all put in a lot of work to get to where
We are now and we can we can continue to push forward and try to go one and0 tomorrow right here Alex Henry wzip one of the bigger criticisms from the critics of you guys in the Mac tournament was shooting uh I know John gross has said that the m ality has
Always just been take the best shot uh has anything else kind of changed going into this tournament n not really we we put in a lot of work everybody on our team puts a lot of work in in the gym and we just going to take open shots take good shots
That’s in our wheelhouse and the you know water found this level we we’ll start making shots we just keep the confidence and just keep playing defense and that’s what I feel like we were going to do uh Ali piggybacking off of the transfer thing you left and then you
Came back why was it important for you to come back to akan uh I think just because these are the guys you know I first met like in 2018 2019 and uh you know I value relationships and stuff like that so it was never easy to leave
In the first place and you know after the season and whatnot and talking to them and they were okay with me coming back and I think it was just only right to you know go out on my college career on a high note with the guys I started
With up front not even Mar’s white and blue review Greg you’re kind of the the tip of the spear defensively for this team when you look at Katon on film and the way they kind of attack teams I guess from the back court what what
Stands out to you uh what stands out to me is they have a um a lot of shooting and they have a lot of uh good siiz players with skill uh obviously we got to make it hard on them try to make it uncomfortable but it’s going to be a
Great great challenge for us and we just looking forward to going out there and competing any more questions for soon right here Tom I’ll sneak in another one uh you guys experienced you know a late game situation in the championship game that probably reinforced just how unexpected things can happen this time
Of year has there been more of an emphasis on late game situations all those kinds of things this week based on what happened against Ken State um I wouldn’t say this week we practiced that all year round you know coach puts us in a great position in practice to work on
Late game execution many plays up down up three down three we foul um so we were very prepared um no matter what game it was for late game situations um and then you know when it comes down coaches always said free throws win championships and you hit those free
Throws any more questions for our student athletes all right thank you guys thank you guys sure once again if you are joining on Zoom please use your raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first and go to zoom if time allows few minutes few minutes was 20 it’s
App once again please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with a microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation questions for Coach gross right down here Matt D marinus white and blue review You’ve Won three games as a double digit seed in your career and
Almost got a fourth against a UCLA team that everybody back from a final four run how do you get you know a team to not only prepare the right way but perform when it comes time to perform in those situations well I think with a singular
Focus Matt to be honest um you know obviously those experiences they are helpful from the standpoint that you’ve been there before and you can learn uh from those and apply them but at the end of the day it’s about competing against a really good kraton team and it’s about
The game tomorrow you know what happened in 2010 or 2012 or 2022 or you know th those years they they’re relevant from the standpoint of maybe routine and how you approach the week but in terms of the game tomorrow they have nothing to do with the game tomorrow you have to
Play the game that’s in front of you with a singular Focus I thought our guys did that over the weekend in the MC tournament uh and it was a big reason why we had some success Brad borille from The Beacon Journal kind of piggy backing off of
What he said these guys have played here and they talked about that wow factor when they were playing against UCLA do you think that helps tomorrow in there in that there’s a been there done that how do you make this so it’s not bigger than it than than it already is
Yeah I think they’re they’re pretty old obviously they’ve been around the while they’ve played in big games they’ve seen the good the bad the ugly the ups and downs of all this that you have to fight through because that’s reality when you’re together over a 5-year window
You’re going to see it all it’s a long period of time and really unheard of in today’s college basketball environment so because of that I I think it’s applicable I mean I think it’s helpful but again we we have to play well tomorrow I mean it’s it’s about the game
At 1:30 tomorrow and I think they understand that I’ve tried to you know instill in them that we can learn from our past and move okay but to dwell on that is a complete waste of time has nothing to do at tomorrow’s game at 1:30 we’ve got to execute our game plan we
Have to play well and the team that does that the best tomorrow is going to win tomorrow um you know so you know I know it sounds a similar answer to what I gave Matt there but that that’s how we really feel about it and that’s what
We’ve tried to instill in them over a fiveyear period is just to get locked in on the present moment who we’re playing uh our practice today and that’s challenging for anybody uh especially 18 to 22 23 year old olds but those guys because of our leadership and their
Experience I think that’s where it matters they’ve been able to keep us really grounded and locked in on one game at a time in the locker room and that’s huge so that’s where the leadership of like trible and Ali and Enrique comes into play Tom Tom with’s
Associated Press hey John um you guys spend so much time recruiting you’re in high school gyms um scouring the transfer portal Etc and you have a kid walk into your gym for try out and become an allamerican what’s the lesson there wow um for me when I when I kind
Of hear that and obviously I’ve been a part of it and I always tell people with Freeman’s story if the Lord blessed me with 50 more years to do this I don’t know if it ever happen again it’s so unique it’s almost like a unicorn deal
And if you knew him like we do who he is is a person student he already has his bachelor’s degree he’s getting ready to finish his NBA uh he’s on student athlete counsel um the person he is and you guys don’t get to see that you get to see him play
And I think he gives off that Vibe when he plays if I was watching him play trying to be as objective as possible I’d say that looks like a great dude you know and he is it’s it’s amazing um his mom’s a Cleveland City police officer
Great woman she raised him well and his humility coachability work capacity I mean it’s it’s not only is the story unicorn like I always tell people that he is the Unicorn because of who he is as a person what he’s done as a student and obviously what whatever he’s been
Able to accomplish as a player which is what all you guys see but to go from a walk- on try out to defensive player the year two years ago to all League to MC tournament MVP twice to MC t uh to uh tournament MVP to Mac regular seat the
Conference MVP this year um to an All-American is nothing short of amazing I mean it really is and credit to him and who he is as a person in his work capacity uh Greg was saying that he remembers the tryy out as just a skinny kid with elbows flying around what what
Is your recollection of that first try out with Enrique well you saw him I came in with my cup of coffee sat down we have a student body wide tryy out every year and he was there and you noticed his size right away you know he was
About six sish plus at that time long gangly motor moving blocking shots in stinks were there but at that time he was about a buck 80 dripping wet you know he was thin skinny as Greg alluded to so he’s changed his body you know when he first started he was almost
Exclusively an interior player now he plays inside and outside he’s improved his free throw percentage he shoots threes I mean he he he’s just it’s amazing his growth and evolution from year to year he’s added something to his game uh to make him even better player I
Think it shows his hunger his desire and once again his humility question down here Alex Henry wzip coach I asked the players uh what team that they played this season would they compare kraton to uh Greg spoke out and said that was Toledo I was curious what team you would compare kraton to
Well he he probably said that because Toledo Todd do such a they do a great job offensively they’re such a tough cover he does a great job with his team uh but I don’t know that we’ve played one um offensively and defensively in concert uh like like kraton they’re
Elite offensively obviously they’re top 25 in the country in both offensive efficiency rating and defensive efficiency rating they’ve got great experience per kenpom they’re the eighth oldest team in college basketball the majority of their guys have played together for a long time just like our guys have everybody talks about our age
Um shyan All-American uh obviously Alexander really good talented score they get great play at the point guard position uh Miller can really shoot it U they get great minutes you know obviously from their guys that come off the bench like we have and then cul brener is a Difference Maker defensively you know
Obviously three-time Big East defensive player of the year um Devin Morrow my my ga said to me the other day now coach Morrow says to me he said there’s only two other players that have ever won it three times times he said you’ve probably heard of them their names are
Patrick ying and Alonzo Morning and I said yeah I know who those guys are um so that’s the type of impact he has uh defensively you know I’ve always had great respect for shyan we scheduled South Dakota State a few years ago and I was glad that he wasn’t on the roster
Now here we got Karma and now I’m got to coach against him uh tomorrow at 1:30 uh I think he’s a really really really gifted player with great positional size as a perimeter and obviously they’re they’re they’re well coached you know Greg does a really good job so it’ll be
A great challenge um both ends I think cul brener makes them go defensively and I think they all kind of work together in concert uh to provide you with as you’re watching uh an elite uh offense question down here Logan Conger of wzip akan Coach you talked to me on Sunday
About how much respect you have for Coach MC Thurman and his program what he’s been able to do uh talk about how your team matches up with kraton coming into this game yeah no obviously we’re looking forward to the challenge uh I do think from an experience perspective
We’re similar I alluded to that there earlier um obviously we have reek um you know caul brener is terrific uh they have really good perimeter players uh we do as well um you know I I I just I think it’s obviously for us and I’m not
Going to let you in on all the you know secrets of what we’re trying to do offensively and defensively uh with with the game looming tomorrow at 1:30 but you know it’s it’s going to be a challenge um to guard them uh obviously they’re just as good defensively um you
Know ironically their stat sheet uh in terms of their you know their Ken pal rating what they are offensively what they are defensively very similar to UCLA two years ago uh with those numbers uh although different styles so once again I you know I watched UCLA and I
Told you guys in this same setting two years ago when I watched them I saw a team that had went to the final four the previous year had all those guys returning and I thought they were capable of doing that again what would have been a second time they ended up
Getting beat in the sweet 16 by North Carolina in 2022 but I feel very similar uh feeling watching kraton play you know again because of age experience their ability to get it done on the offensive end as well as the defensive end um and then obviously like I said they’ve got
You know a very good very good coach so they’re uh very very good team and uh we’ll have to play well tomorrow at 1:30 any more questions for Coach r so the uh tournament in Pittsburgh is hosted by Duke Kane obviously you took over for coach Keith at akan uh what do
You kind of what’s that relationship like and what do you make of him sort of achieving the goal of getting Duane to the tournament this year yeah know I’ve got great respect for Keith I tell people all the time one of the reasons that I was attracted to the akan job back in
2017 had a lot to do with the success that he had had uh over a long period of time a lot of great battles um I we had hired a couple support staff positions when I was at Illinois based on his recommendation people that have been at
Akan um great respect for him as a coach person uh we communicate through text primarily we’ll talk as well um but you know Keith is a huge part of akan you know the city the university um what he did there you know he’s we we he’s one
Of ours um so we’re we’re excited for him and his team and what they’ve done this year their opportunity in the tournament and uh very thankful for you know what he means to Aron basketball in our program and always will any more any more questions for Coach right
Here yeah mat marinez white and blue review I’m curious when with Enrique and obviously at 67206 like he’s not traditionally built like a like a five that you would play through the post with as much as you guys do how have you Incorporated that as a main fixture
Of your offense and how has he evolved into being able to be as effective as he is yeah no great question I think it kind of goes back um to what we were talking about there earlier his Evolution from being strictly interior to now playing on the perimeter shooting
Threes free throw shooting driving the ball getting involved in pick and rolls dribble handoffs all those things happened as a part of his maturation process over 5 years to get to where he’s at now where he’s a little bit more uh Dynamic and versatile if you will um
So he can do a little bit of both but yeah no he’s uh his motor I think you know he’s just fast twitch his motor uh he’s Relentless uh in terms of his effort on the glass and um you know he just impacts the game and then affects
The game defensively as well you know in the uh semi-final game on on Saturday I believe it was he had seven blocks you know so he just does a little bit of everything he’s able to affect offense defense rebounding he can play inside he can play outside so I think his
Versatility is what’s made him you know the player that he is today versus where he was five years ago probably got time for one more right back there John will Graves with the AP it looks like uh expansion is probably coming at least in a mild form is is the
Hope at least among your brethren in in the Mac that there’s going to be room for you know more mid M quote mid- major programs than just trying to give the seventh or eighth or ninth team in a power four conference that bid there’s extra bids well I think there’s you
Mentioned the word hope I think that’s appropriate that you know obviously we hope that for sure I I think you know what’s interesting I’ve gotten to the point when I was younger I worried more about maybe that stuff um obviously my intent is up want to be educated want to
Know what’s going on our athletic director ctor does a good job of filling me in on all that he’s really sharp and he knows what’s going on on a daily basis but I’ve almost gotten to the point as I’ve gotten older like hey I don’t know if I can really control that
Like conference realignment who’s going where like just coach your team man you know and so that’s I keep telling myself that my inner voice obviously we’re hopeful that occurs with all this you know the change there’s been I think about all the change that’s happened from when I started until now over this
30-year window been drastic right so you either improvise adapt and overcome the the Marines slogan Mantra or you’re going to get trampled I mean there’s no need to complain about it a lot of it you’re not going to be able to control but certainly to answer your question
That is our hope now we’ll see right if that develops and happens probably got time for one more you good right there okay last question right here so you obviously won the MAC tournament on uh an an interesting finish against a big rival did you kind of find that you had to
Refocus the team after that or did sort of their veteran leadership kind of take care of that for you well I’m glad you brought that up because there’s been obviously a lot of tension uh on that and I don’t think anyone would debate like hey the foul or whatever right um
They’d like to have that back or whatever but how do I mean some people give me the impression they’re Clairvoyant like they know what would have happened in the next 6 seconds that’s impressive cuz when he caught the ball was going to be five on four how do you know that we
Don’t score that way maybe maybe not how do you know we don’t call timeout when the ball gets in the front Court there’s two seconds to go and we have two or three side Out specials and we don’t score on one of those how do you know
That maybe maybe not so I think the criticism that he’s gotten publicly whether it’s through media social media whatever that is I’m not sure that’s real real Fair um obviously like to have it back there’s no dispute you know hey whatever you want to call it silly foul
Whatever whether they would make that or we would make I get that but to pinpoint that as the story or the Reason God man I don’t know if that’s fair to him to them and I don’t know if it’s fair to our guys you know we’ve talked a lot
About Freeman and the five-year run and all the winning and the three championships and Greg trible stepping up and actually had to make the two free throws like to me that’s more of the story but that that’s just me um in terms of refocus I you know again with these guys
Being as old as they are we have such great experience those guys truly have bought into try to be one and0 and I know that sounds coach speak cliche all that they really have why I think it’s challenging for young guys to do that but we’ve had these guys around
For a long time and I think they believe in the recipe and the formula that they they’ve kind of trained themselves and led the young guys with that in mind and I think it’s the reason as I said last weekend we had some success it’s been
Really good to us for us to think about anything other than what we need to get done today to prepare for a great Craton team tomorrow is futility it’s a waste of time so that that that’s our Focus right now um and they certainly help with that right so when the coaches
Aren’t around you got to have good leadership in there when you’re not around and we have great leadership with these seniors thanks coach thank you appreciate your time Craton student athletes will be up next 11:05 I got that script something oh you did appreciate you all right
So yeah it was good at first I was like short little also Hamond Communications will post a recording of this press conference in the NCA digital media hub at NCA a.v. comom transcripts are also provided by ASAP and will be posted shortly for e okay I got 11:05 so about 8 minutes yeah
For for for for for if you’re just joining us a friendly reminder cell phone should be turned off and put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted Hamond Communications is providing the video feed which will be available on the FTP site found on the NCA media hub
Therefore no video cameras are permitted permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation e e sure that’s fine you’re good yeah you guys ready okay we’re here with kraton student athletes Baylor shyan Trey Alexander Ryan clock brener we have 15 minutes before coach Greg mcder comes in
Please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with the microphone will come over please set your name and media affiliation if you are joining on Zoom please use a raiseed hand function for questions we will address the the uh in room first and get to zoom if time
Allows questions for the student athletes done John Walker Omaha World Herald what what this is for Baylor what has it been like to be in Pittsburgh so far and and just kind of get the the feel of of your last March Madness M yeah it’s been good
Uh you know we got in kind of a little later last night so um haven’t really seen too much um just went to dinner and whatnot um but we had practice this morning it was good and first look at the arena it looks um like like a great
Atmosphere and like you said uh my last March Madness uh never want to take it for granted obviously uh not everyone gets to be here so I’m just soaking it all in right down here now Marin Wai and blue review just for Trey and Ryan to kind of play off of Baylor’s answer
There when you first walk into the arena enena to kind of see the stage that you’ll be lights you’ll be under tomorrow what goes through your mind as you try to kind of soak that in and kind of simulate that in your mind uh yeah I mean kind of piggybacking
Off what Baylor said uh you just try to soak it all in you never know how many more of these you’ll have uh especially for us three guys up here but uh it’s just been a great experience for for me throughout my college career just being
Able to play in the NCA tournament for the past three years so like B said just trying to take never take it for granted and just give it our all and be able to leave everything out there so yeah like these two guys said like taking it all
In every day just taking it one day at a time um I mean my first three years of playing in this tournament have been incredible experience so just trying to take it in take it and get the full experience out of it down over there Abby Gant cre in this
Is for Trey how do you kind of balance that urgency that you need in a game like this with playing loose and free like you do in regular season games uh I mean kind of kind of have the same approach it’s just a lot more uh at
Stake I think that uh uh personally I mean we’ve kind of been here a couple times so I know what to expect and I know what type of urgency to bring in game in and game out I mean you kind of try to bring uh the most amount of
Urgency you can because you never know what game would be your last for the rest of the season season so we try to we all try to make sure that we’re as urgent as possible and trying to make sure that we’re just locked in because uh never want to take any game for
Granted and try to make sure that we leave everything out there so questions for student athletes mat Mar white and blue review I apologize for bringing it up again but did the Providence game just kind of reinforced the idea that it’s pretty fragile time of year that you’re always
Kind of 40 minutes away from feeling the type of feeling you don’t want to feel let’s start with the Ryan work our way now uh yeah I mean obviously we we had a s set higher for Big E tournament and you know when you have a shock like that
Uh just like you said reinforces that you know any game could be your last if you’re not careful so just we got an older group one that understands the stakes at this time of year so we’re we’re really in and we know what we got
To do to play a long time like we want to do at the Cent yeah I think uh that game just kind of shows that if you’re not ready to play or you’re not playing at your best uh then you kind of can get beat and I
Think that uh that that tournament game we would have rather you know lost that first round then get all the way to championship and lose so it was either a win at all or lose early so we could get a lot of rest so we’re we’re glad the
Position that we’re in and we’re happy that that we get to be in this position and be as high as a seat as we’ve been and we’re just excited to get going and get on the stage so B got anything to add you good you good all right next question Tom back
There uh Tom withers’s Associated Press B for Baylor and Trey just general Impressions on akan and then Ryan you know I don’t know how much you’ve scouted Enrique Freeman but what have you seen of him Baylor first yeah you know they’re obviously a great team um they got a lot of guys
That can do a lot of different things and and like you said their big man’s really skilled um leads the country and double doubles I think so um he’s a handful down low um and and you know their guards as well do do a good job of
Playing off him as well and can hit shots so they’re a very talented team and like um Trey said you know everybody who gets to this tournament is really good and you can’t you know think anybody isn’t as good as they are you have to you know take that same approach
As you’ve done all year so um they’re they’re a really great basketball team TR uh yeah going off of what Baylor said uh they’ve got a really good team they’ve had they got two guys on their first on the first team of of their conference obviously mque was the player
Of the year uh he’s had a really good season we played against Ali Ali last year when he was at Butler so we know that those are two pretty pretty well talented guys and they have some some nice quick guards that can get to the
Rim and uh shoot it shoot a little bit from the outside so uh it’s going to be it’s going to be fun they have a really good team and like bayor said everybody at this level is is here for a reason so can’t take any team lightly right yeah I
Mean uh as far as Freeman we know he’s super super talented player uh they’re coaching their team do a really good job of uh drawing plays up to get them the ball and getting the ball in good spots down low so you definitely got to be
Well prepared and really locked in for a game against a player like that so yeah just be watching a lot of film with him i’ been watching a lot of film we watch a bunch tonight to be as ready for him as possible you got one um any more questions for
Student athletes down here I mean the custom kicks looked good what what did you guys think of of the of the fresh Jays before heading out green man yeah they were nice yeah they were green yeah they were solid yeah you know I’m not going to complain you know I don’t think I’ll
Ever wear them but uh uh they were nice nice addition I would have to agree yeah I don’t know nothing about shoes but they looked really cool so I’ll take anything else for soon athletes all right thank you for for for for e ch for e for for e for for for for
For once again please raise your hand to ask a question in person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the zoom first in the room
First and get to the zoom if time allows questions for Coach mcder down here John Walker Omaha World T Mac you you had said on Sunday night you hadn’t you didn’t know much about akan what have you learned about them in the day since then well you understand why
They’re here um by watching them play um you know obviously uh they led the back in in defense and you can see why um very physical defensive team very connected on the defensive end and then you know a rim rim protector in Freeman at the basket uh that that makes things
Tough around the rim um and their experience you know Freeman Ali uh trible and Dawson all played in this tournament two years ago took UCLA to the wire um in a first round game so you know not often when you play a team from a mid- major league are they going to
Have that kind of NCAA tournament experience um but uh you know very very good basketball team I’ve known John gross for a long time uh he’s been terrific everywhere he’s been and um you know has done a great job with that Acron program question down here oh did you have followup
Time sorry that D Mar white and blue review when you look at Freeman and the way he’s able to be effective what have you I guess learned about how he’s able to do it at his size he he is uh he’s Elite at creating angles um and and he does so
Much work uh before the pass is made that uh his job’s easy once he catches the basketball so you know that’s going to be a challenge for our defense is to is to make sure we somehow stay between him and the basketall because if he gets
You on an angle it’s over um and he’s he’s got an incredible second jump uh so you know he he gets back to the rim the second time very quickly which is obviously makes him a very uh effective offensive rebounder um but he’s he’s really really talented and he you know
He’s he’s he’s Shifty enough um that he’s got a way of really drawing fouls uh you know he’s I don’t know I don’t know who leads the country in free throw tis but he’s got to be in the top 10 he shoots a lot of them but uh uh just you
Know very complete with his game scores over both shoulders he shoots it well enough from three that you have to respect that um just just a terrific player Tom Tom withers’s Associated Press Greg John had a guy walk in off of a camp open campus tryy out and become
An All-American that ever happened to you uh no uh yeah he’s that’s an incredible story um and uh you know I’ve always heard you know I’ve heard these stories over and over of go through recruiting and some parents will tell you that they went to the doctor and their their son’s growth
Plates haven’t closed yet yet they got two or three inches of growth left I don’t think I’ve had anybody grow ever in my uh 35 years of doing this uh but Freeman story is incredible to be from you know where he started to where he is
Today is a credit to his work ethic but also to John and his staff uh for the way that they’ve developed him while I have it here um you’ve been in this tournament many times before and I know each team has its own experience and its own Journey how much does your
Experience though inir inform the way you prepare this team yeah you know last year um you know the guys that have returned and and you know we have some NCAA tournament experience you know I mentioned that that akan does but um obviously Trey Baylor and and Ryan were
Part of this team last year Mason Miller played Off the Bench some Ashworth played in the NCAA tournament at Utah State um but those guys last year when made the decision to come back uh you know we started talking at that point in time about the value of one possession
Um and you know it’s it’s coach speak we all all talk about it but when you when you really you know when you’re a possession away from the final four uh and you don’t get there I think it really hits you square in the face um so
You know I that’s kind of been our Mantra since we’ve started the season is like this possession really matters um and and that only works if your leadership buys into it and we just haven’t had I’ve said it to our local media many many times uh we we’ve had
Some practices that are better than others but we’ve had 90 some practices and we haven’t had a bad practice and that speaks to the leadership in our locker room when a practice gets off to a rough start they have a way of kind of rallying the troops and make sure we get
Something out of it and we get better that day um so you know my the leadership in my locker room is as good is as good as we’ve ever had and it’s it’s a big reason that we we’ve had the success we have this season right there Justin Guerrero Pittsburgh Tribune
Review uh Baylor and Ryan have both played a a lot of collective Hoops under their belt at this point but what have you seen from those guys this year just in their pursuit of continuing to refine their game at their toolbox so to speak just continuing to to better themselves
As players even at this late stage in their career yeah you know Baylor Ryan and Trey I’ll throw him there too because they they all had decisions to make last year and you know Baylor went through the NBA draft process two years ago uh decided really late in the season
That he was going to come back for a second year um and really put his mind at I I need to develop my body I need to get stronger I need to become a little quicker I want to get my shot off a little quicker I want to be able to
Shoot off on the move a little bit better um then Trey and caul went through the uh draft process and made decisions pretty late in the process to come back um and took the information that they got from the NBA uh on things that they needed to improve on and then
They went to work at it and you know a lot of guys will say they’re going to do that and then they just kind of go through the motions these three guys have taken it to heart uh they’ve really improved I mean Trey’s ability to uh to
Be a playmaker besides a score his assisted turnover is terrific U defensively does a lot for us and then you know Baylor’s one of the best rebounding guards in the country besides what he does offensively for us and then you know caul is a three time Defensive
Player of the Year in the Big East and you have to go to guys like ying and mourning to to find people that have done that so um the three of them have just been awesome to coach um there’s there’s a lot of joy in what we’re doing
And a lot of it has to do with how they lead right down here Mandy marinas white and blue review Mac I know you’re you guys know it um but did you know you went to New York with title aspirations did did did getting eliminated early reinforce the fragility of what this
Type of the type of games you’re playing this time of year fragility good word Matt uh I mean the Big East is really good and you know Providence was playing for a lot uh obviously we’re trying to get to Saturday and have a chance to win
A championship and and uh in a game like that it was going to be decided on who makes plays at the end and you know we miss some free throws after being really really shooting it well and missed a couple uh decent looks at the basket um
But once we got home you know we treated it like any other game let’s learn from it here’s what we did well here’s what we have need to clean up um and you know then we had the opportunity to take a day off on Friday really work on
Ourselves Saturday another off day on Sunday and then turn our attention to to akan on Monday so um you know I I think the fact that we lean on some guys for some pretty heavy minutes um that we had a couple days off in there I I’m hopeful
Will be good for us as we move into this week uh but we were disappointed we don’t you never want to lose in the first round especially um there’s a lot of people that came out there to watch us play and and they had to sit around
Without the blue jays for a couple days but um you know I like the spot we’re in I think we’ve had a good week of practice and but obviously we’re playing a really good team right here in the middle dreon Sayo college basketball review coach one of the things that
Baylor Trey and Ryan all talked about given their experience was you can’t Overlook anybody everyone’s in this tournament for a reason how have you kind of instilled that message in the younger guys who maybe haven’t been here before or haven’t been here very often I mean the most important thing is the
Younger guys have heard it from Baylor Trey and Ryan you know that’s that’s so impactful um when the leaders of your team are are duplicating the message that’s coming from the coaching staff and and the other thing is when you watch Akron on film and and we’ve watched a fair
Amount as a team um you know our guys know basketball and they know that these guys are very talented players Ali Ali was at Butler last year so we played against him a year ago um so our guys have tremendous respect for akan and and the season that they’ve had they’ve have
24 wins and a bunch of close losses I mean this is a team that was an eyelash away in a lot of Gam games from being a having won 30 games this year so um they have our total respect and you know will we win I can’t say that for sure um but
I know we’ll be prepared because of how we respect their program and their players question down here John Walker Omaha World Herald Mac what what if anything does winning the first game of the tournament do to set the tone the rest of the way well it means you get to stay number
One uh but you know you have to uh you’re going to have games in a tournament some are harder than others um and you and you have to find a way and that that’s really um you know you you hear the phrase survive and advance and that’s really what it’s about like
Just figure out a way um and and every team that you play has had a heck of a year they wouldn’t be here every team that you play has has Supreme confidence in their ability to win because of the amount of games they’ve won this season um so you’re you’re
You’re going to have a hard time having a a team not be ready or not be prepared or or give in when things are tough because all the teams that are in the tournament have been through that stuff and figured out a way to navigate it um
So I think the key is you really have to navigate the tough moments in these games um and make sure they don’t get away from you um because there’s going to be some of those because of who you’re playing question in the back James Kier from The Oregonian Greg what
Was your reaction to seeing Oregon on the other side of this bracket and can you describe just the relationship you’ve had with Dana over the last 14 years what it looks like today and even going back to the co season and them coming out to to play a couple of games
To start their season at at your guys Place yeah you know Dana is still beloved in Omaha and he always will be um you know he really did the heavy lifting with this program in the 16 years he was there uh you know taking over a program that you know there was
1500 people coming to the games and and then moving into an arena with 177,000 people and figing out a way to get people there to watch you and uh you know it was Dana’s work and the way he grew the program in the Missouri Valley Conference that allowed us to kind of
Take that torch and run with it um you know he I was at Northern Iowa uh when he was at kraton so we competed against each other uh I didn’t beat him very much during that time uh we were in a lot of recruiting battles but I think
Since I’ve since I’ve moved to Omaha you know I’ve gotten a no day his family um you know his family besides being Oregon fans are huge kraton fans his his dad and his brother would come to all of our lunches uh Lyall and Durk and uh you
Know I just have tremendous respect for Dana and the job that he’s done it’s really rare uh in this day and age of what have you done for me lately to have two head coaches at a university in 30 years time uh him being there 16 years
And me 14 uh but I think it also speaks to the people of Omaha and the people of kraton that it’s a it’s a place you really don’t want to leave uh because there’s a lot of special folks there but uh you know I know uh you know or
Oregon’s going to have a a sea of blue cheering for them on uh on Thursday afternoon because of the way Dana is respected in our community question up front Matt D Marin white and blue review Mac I know that you coaches in the Big East kind of have you know a tight-knit
Group chat all that with with the way selection Sunday went down and I know it probably doesn’t affect preparation for akan or anything like that but do you Shaka Dan do you guys feel like you’re carrying the flag for what you perceive to be a disrespect on Sunday you know I
Think we always want to represent the Big East as as well as we possibly can um and I think you heard all three of our comments after the selection how disappointed we were uh while understanding the selection committee has a very difficult job um but you know
We think the Big East is really really good and and deserve to have more teams in the tournament um and you know we’ve we’ve gone back and forth on some group chats about that but um you know I know those other teams are supporting us and
And uh you know I know that I’m pretty sure that Dan and shock are in the same boat as I we’re just worried about the next game and uh and and trying to advance in the tournament and and show people just how good the Big East is any more questions for
Coach thank you thanks coach just reminder Hammond Communications will post a recording of this press conference in the NCA digital media hub at the nca.com transcripts are provided by ASAP and we’ll be posted shortly thank you up yeah okay one those right ask it’s go it’s Dana Dana good than
I’m working on working on for for e e for Oran organ stent athletes for for e e e be minutes for for go for as we begin with a new team a friendly reminder cell phon should be turned off or put on silent and that the flash photography is not permitted Hamond
Communications is providing the video feed which will be available on the FTP sitee which is found in your um media package therefore no media cameras are permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation e go d for we had a question earlier about transcripts the printed transcripts will
Be available in the U media work room and then it will be posted online shortly after that so the best bet is to get the printed copies first Craton one is online right now akan as well akan as well for for for go morning everybody how are you I like it I’m
Doing okay okay we’re here with Oregon student athletes Germaine kard and and and fly Dante we have 15 minutes with the student athletes before Dana Alman head coach comes in please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with a microphone will come over please state
Your name and media affiliation if you are joining on Zoom please use the rais hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first and get to zoom if time allows questions for student athletes here David Clinger Charleston Post and Courier Jermaine good to see you again
Um I’m sure you’ve answered it before but seeing South Carolina on the other side of that bracket with all the the time and history you have in there just what was that like for you what was that immediate moment when you saw you be playing your old school
Um it was amazing for me just seeing that how far the program came and how like the coach is doing a good job with them guys over there it was just something that we all wanted when we all was there so I feel like we all got what we wanted
So Madison heretic with The State newspaper in Columbia following up on that tell me did you get to talk to some of year old teammates reach out to jacobe or Josh at all to be able to say like hey looking forward to see you at
All or anything like that yet n they uh they kind of text me when we won a Pack 12 Championship trying to kind of congratulate me but I didn’t after selection Sunday I didn’t talk to him at all questions right right there in the middle follow you seem pretty at ease
This is a big stage just what’s it been like arriving here soaking all this in and getting ready to play a game now can you repeat that again sorry I can’t hear you seem pretty at ease right now you don’t seem too tense or nervous or anything like that what’s it been like
Getting to this stage taking in the setting and then preparing yourself to to play a game well that’s some that’s something I want to do since uh I step uh I get into college and first time we I I was there and I was hurt so I I
Don’t think there’s anything to be nervous about just come and do whatever I can for the team to win so so questions for soon athletes right here right here in front either of you guys can answer this but I’m curious what do you guys see when you guys look
At South Carolina’s offense and how you guys might be able to work your defensive scheme against them let’s s Germaine first I say say it again I’m sorry oh sorry you’re good what what have you guys seen against South Carolina’s offense in the couple days you guys have had to really
Break down film and how do you guys feel like you guys might be able to combat some of that um that they share the ball well that they uh the coach got them playing very well they play with a lot of confidence in their and just just
They also like like uh what I was like say like just do different things that I feel like we we can adjust to so I feel like it’s going to be a good match up for us and F like you want to follow up or
You good well um I just talked to my teammate like let’s just play our game play defense and go from there I mean they’re good offense team and we just got to play our game any more questions for our student athletes I got one last question we’ll
Start Jermaine and and um go follow what makes this group so special uh I feel like we beat um just the adversity we went through this year just seeing like we come down like we’ve been down knocked down now we not at full strength but of course we made it
Work like over the weeks of time and just just us believing in each other that’s it and just having confidence with the team that we have the people in the locker room people that’s here with us so I feel like that’s a big thing for
Us and Folly what was a sorry what makes this group so special that you’re a part of right now I mean I think everybody’s like special athlete and we just trust each other and we willing to do everything for CH to Wi so I’m glad to be part of this
Stand are we actually have a zoom question here see if we get this to work uh Chris hidle hey this is Chris from her from right in Baltimore congratulations for you guys making there in Pittsburgh wasn’t like playing in the final season the Pack 12 knowing you guys are
Probably off to the Big 10 next year what was the feeling like playing in that conference for the final year you get that um it was fun I feel like we just know like we did something special that we made history and just us for being like the last team to win the
Pack 12 that’s something that a lot of the great players came a conference that a lot of great players came from so I feel like it feel good to us any more questions for student athletes right here in the middle F you mentioned that you have been here before
So even though you couldn’t play last time just having that tournament experience how helpful if at all is it to you now just to kind of know what you’re getting yourself into and know kind of what this stage is going to be like do do you remember much from that
Experience that can help you say that again sorry do you remember much from that experience that can help you this time around even though you weren’t able to play just what it’s like kind of all the attention all these press conferences everything can having been here before even though you were hurt
Help you this time I mean to be honest I don’t I don’t think about it that much but it do help me though um um I was there when I was hurt and then I think it was a motivation for me to do whatever I can for my team to
Help my team to get here now we here we just got to go you know last time we went to St 16 and we got bigger Vision than that so just hope everybody say hey and I know we capable of I know what we capable of doing any more questions for our student
Athletes all right thank you yep thanks thanks e e for don’t for e I didn’t hear you oh okay I’ll just thank you okay once again please raise your hand to ask questions and a person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if
You’re joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first and get to the zoom if time allows questions for Coach Alman right here in the middle Rob Mosley with organ coach just in your experience what’s the right balance of kind of enjoying being
Here but also getting down to business for your guys and um this group in particular how do you feel like they’re handling it and will handle those elements of this experience I don’t believe there’s an exact formula to that every team’s different uh this is a group we don’t
Have any NCA tournament experience so I want the guys to enjoy it to relax a little bit but also let them know we we’ve got a job to do uh they handled the conference tournament well I thought they approached each ball game you know with a degree of professionalism and and
Were ready to go uh I thought the older guys got the Freshman focused and ready to go so I’m not worried about this group um it’s a small group you know we’re playing eight guys and and Gabe and and James Cooper are two additional players Walk-Ons uh are
Always focused so they’ll be ready to go we just uh got to make sure we execute and make sure we we hit a few shots right here in the middle coach Nick cini with Ki now that you’ve had a couple days to look at South Carolina what sticks out on film they physicality
Uh they’re a very good defensive team um big bodied um you can tell they’re older older guys uh you know share the ball really well uh really like the way they pound the boards uh right here up front just uh a very experienced team sorry coach up front uh Alan Cole Gamecock
Scoop.com with Rivals sticking with South Carolina what have you seen from Lamont Paris and the coaching job he’s done this year and did you did you know him at all before he got the South Carolina job uh not really um and and we’re probably a lot like
Them we didn’t see them play much and they probably didn’t stay up and watch us so you we weren’t very familiar with them uh but very impressed with their wins uh you know Kentucky Tennessee Mississippi State you know those are teams that you catch every now and then
But uh again very impressive wins uh strong conference and again um you know just their physicality and their experience level I think gets anybody’s attention over here to the right mat Marina mat marinas white and blue review Co chman I I apologize because I know this isn’t your focus at least not
Immediately um but seeing kraton here with the the highest seed they’ve ever had next to their name um knowing what you helped build and the sustainability that Mac has kind of taken off handed off from you does is there any Pride left in seeing the the way they’ve kind
Of been able to manage that in your since you left well you know probably as my local media asked me that and it’s probably my ego but yes I take great pride in it uh spent 16 years there um loved working at kraton love Omaha I’m from Nebraska so
And Greg’s done a great job unbelievable uh moving to the Big East uh you know it it is fun watching them be successful and uh about threw my glass through the TV last year when they called that foul and uh you I wanted him to go to the final
Four so bad so um you don’t spend 16 years at a place and um you know just because I left doesn’t mean I I don’t love it um you know so I’m I’m really happy for him uh Bruce rasmason who I worked there for 16 years uh Greg they’ve those guys have
Done a great job and um you know I hope we play them that means we both won um but again it’s uh it’s tournament time and I love or oron you know I hope I feel then the people feel the same way you know when my time’s done at Oregon I
I know I’ll feel the same way about Oregon as I do about Craton I’ll I’ll want them to to be successful and keep it going right over here yeah just going off that coach uh MC Derman said that you will probably have a sea of blue cheering for you tomorrow what what does
That mean for you knowing that again you spent so much time there but they’d like to see you still succeed well you know they were unbelievable to me the uh the 16 years that were there you know the first three years were really tough trying to get it going uh they you know
Had three really bad years before we got there and you know it took us a while to get it going uh but the people stayed with us and so again um you know I I left there and I still love the place still do still cheer for him um a lot of
Good friends friends back in Omaha my wife and I Reva we’re both from Nebraska you know we spent 16 years there raised our kids there so a lot of special feelings but again I’m having those same feelings about Oregon you know 14 years into it you know our whole
Family has moved out there and uh We’ve made that our home now so you know two really special places and I’m just fortunate uh to spend 30 years at at two great schools right the middle being here in the gym today what what are the biggest
Takeaways you you want your guys to get from from being able to get some shots up and get to lay of the land in this facility just get a feel uh we’ll do some live things we’ll probably be different than a lot of teams we you
Know we’ll do a few live up and downs just try to get our legs U long flight yesterday so uh you know we got to get up and down a little bit and and get the energy going again but uh you know it’s going going be a physical game and our
Freshman got to figure that and get ready for that um you know boards are going to be really important if they get second shots we’re really in trouble um you know I I just hope our guys are ready for that that physicality but you I think UCLA prepared us for that uh you
Know Arizona’s a physical team we got some physical teams out west also so um I think we’re prepared for it but this will be a different scenario different situation and uh hope our guys are are ready for that right here up front uh Justin Guerrero Pittsburgh Tribune
Review Dana when you find yourself here on the heels of winning a a conference tournament um and just looking into the immediate past having beaten some tough Teams Arizona Colorado does does that create a a wave at all that you guys can ride in here or is it are you guys
Better suited maybe keeping that fully in the past and just focusing uh on the on the future as opposed to drawing from those wins no I I I want to draw from those wins um you know I think we did some really good things um we got the
Ball to Dante you know that that was a good thing uh no I we want to draw from those things um that we did well uh we we need some more contributions from some of our guys uh they got to get some more loose balls got to get a few more
Rebounds defensively some of our guys uh got to do a little better job but uh no I I want those guys to feel good about themselves coming in um we know we’re going to have to play really well we knew we had to play really well in
The three games in Vegas There Was You Know UCLA was playing good Arizona was playing good Colorado had won eight or nine in a row you know so we knew we had to play well there and we know we’re going to have to play well uh tomorrow right here to the right Drew
Von Sayo college basketball review coach you mentioned it a few minutes ago about that long flight into Pittsburgh and you know you got to get some of the guys up and moving a little bit more how does that affect your preparation for tomorrow knowing that there’s a significant travel advantage in South Carolina’s
Favor you know it’s just part of the game you know it’s part of the tournament uh someone’s got to travel and and so I don’t think it’s that big a deal cuz they let you come out if we were flying out today then it might but
You know we flew out we got plenty of time you know our guys will adjust and so I’m not worried about it I don’t think the guys are um we we got in yesterday uh worked out last night and had a good night’s sleep tried to get
Adjust to the time difference and uh the guys will will get a good workout today and uh like I said being able to come out on Tuesday getting ready for Thursday the game I I don’t think it’s a factor at all right here in the middle coach we saw during the Cinematic recap
Um Dylan Brooks had mentioned had sent you a text but after the Arizona game now that you’ve had a couple days you know obviously you’re here have you heard from any of the former players and if they if you have any message that you can share we’ve heard from a lot of players
Um you know our players and then that’s not only the players that have played for us last 14 years Luke renauer I mean Freddy Jones the number of players that played for Coach Kent and and before um we we got to Oregon you know they they all follow you know once duck
Always duck and and uh but no Brooks probably the most vocal but Chris DTE all of them have have texted uh pton the guys that played for us um heard from a lot of kraton players you know uh saying they hope we win one uh but uh no
I as a coach you take great pride in the fact that those guys want to be part of the program and they know how important they were to the program and uh you know I remind them every time I get a text from them you know we wouldn’t be where
We’re at without them and uh when we don’t play well they let us know and when we play well they let us us know and that’s a good thing because that means they’re invested and and following what we do back row AP Dana will Graves Associated Press as a coach who’s been
On both sides of you know you’re at a mid major when it was a quote mid major for a long time obviously you’re now in a power conference expansion looks like it’s coming as a as a coach as a fan of the game do you want to see if they get
Add 48 some of those split you know between positions and schools that are mid quote mid- Majors or do you see it as giving it to to schools and power conferences I might have finished a little further down the the ladder I I think the committee’s got a a really
Tough job I’ve never once been negative about any decision the committee’s made um it’s a tough job Rob’s been on the football committee it’s a tough job there it’s a tough job on the basketball committee and uh I know people that are on that committee they got great integrity they want what’s
Best for college basketball there’s no doubt in my mind uh so I would never and I have never said anything negative about any decision they’ve made it’s a tough job um we have our chance to prove what we can do during the season and uh if they judge that it’s
Not the right stuff not the right criteria you know I just got to live with with it uh so again I think it’s a really tough job the people who are on that committee I know take it very seriously uh they want to do what’s best for college basketball um and
So again you check my record I’ve never said anything negative uh been on the wrong side of it been on the right side of it I just you have your chance during the year uh if the committee is in your favor great if they choose not to that’s just part of
It got time for a couple more back right James KY from The Oregonian Dana we asked you about uh stubs but wanted to ask you about Josh and with now Robert McCullum being let go at Florida A&M just how much of the band getting back together will be possible here in the uh
Weeks and months ahead you know I I don’t know I um got to finish this year and and then I’ll sit down with Rob and Eric and you know talk about our staff you know what direction we want to go um you know we’ we’ve got so many new things coming in
With the portal and the nil and uh now the change to the Big 10 uh a lot of change and um so you know I’m not sure what direction we’ll go uh but after the tournament like I said I’ll sit down with with Rob Eric and try
To get a direction try to put the best staff together I know we have challenges ahead of us and um you know winning the tournament to get in is great but you know we want to be better we we’ve got to have a deeper team we’ve been really hit by injuries
The last few years and um so the depth of our team and and now it travel uh the depth of our team is going to be even more important I think so we we’ve got a lot of things to discuss and I’ve been thinking about them for a long
Time wasted a lot of paper writing down a lot of notes but uh as soon as the season’s over I’ll sit down and and talk with the administration and and see what direction we need to go and you’ve spoken about Germaine’s impact obviously on the court and it’s been very
Significant how have you gone about learning as a coach a player’s background off the court D with with Germaine with him with his mom um with how he grew up and the neighborhood he grew up in the things he had to watch and endure not just about transferring
From South Carolina or SAT scores but about life and and are you drawn to players like him who happen to come from some pretty tough backgrounds because you’ve had a lot of successful guys who happen to have that well you know guys that don’t have all
The advantages that I did Growing Up um and they need you a little bit more sometimes you do get a little closer to them um you know come from all different backgrounds I grew up in a real little town and Mom and Dad and you know always
Had money in my pocket a car to drive you know we we didn’t have much money but my dad was great and uh you know so you you realize that there’s so many different backgrounds and so many hardships that guys got to overcome and uh you know people who just sit there
And judge well you know he should be able to do this or he should be able to do that you know they don’t see some of the economic backgrounds these guys come from and and the tough areas they grow up in and socially how much difference
There is between some of our players and um so again you you get closer with some of the guys and some guys don’t need you you know off the floor they you know they got great great parents they got a great background and um you know and
Some guys need you a little bit more now Germaine he doesn’t need me because he’s old uh you know he he’s mature he’s been around the block but getting to know his mother and his uncle his family and um has been great and you know when when he
Does need me I’m there but you know it’s a lot he’s a lot different than 18 19 year old freshman who might be going through some of the things that that he’s gone through but you know he’s very loyal to his mother Raven’s great and just great family but again the
Different backgrounds that guys come from you know we got two guys from Molly we were a long way from home and heck Dante hadn’t been home for seven years until he went home last summer I can’t even imagine you know coming over to our country at 14 and and not going home for
7 seven years so you got a lot of different backgrounds and a lot of different situations and you try to be there for all of them some of them want you to to be around others you know kind of keep their distance and as a coach
You know that’s your job to figure that out um because relationships are a big part of it our our last question is going to come from Zoom Chris hi coach this is Chris idell from Heron radio in Baltimore um I don’t know this question was asked but um taking on
South Carolina what did they look like I know you play in the Pack 12 is there anybody similar to them in the Pack 12 and or how do you get ready for a team that you never faced I told the fellas that I think they’re kind of a combination between
UCLA and Washington State um uh UCLA’s physical big bodied like them uh um but I think they score a little bit more like Washington State so you know two good teams that uh gave us problems you know throughout the years so uh we know we’re going to have to play well
But if if I had to you know compare him to a team out west uh defensively a lot like UCLA and offensively kind of similar to Washington State thanks coach all right thank you just a reminder ham and Communications we’ll post a recording of this press conference in the NCA digital
Media hub at excuse me NCA von.com transcripts are provided by as ASAP and will be posted shortly the printed copies of the transcript will be in the media workroom followed by the posting online next up will be South Carolina student athletes 12:35 for for e for good Harris yeah show
Too yeah that same guy Chris hle noticing his 30 you what’s up yeah thank you for to Long for e for for a friendly remind cell phone should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted hamade Communications is providing the video feed which will be available on
The FTP site found on the NCAA media hub therefore no video cameras are permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation for for for for good okay we are here with South Carolina student athletes Mei Johnson ton Cooper and BJ Mack we have 15 minutes with the
Student athletes before head coach Lamont Paris comes in please raise your hand to ask a question and in person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you are joining on Zoom please use the rais hand function for questions we’ll address questions in the
Room first and get to zoom if time allows questions for student athletes right here in the middle uh Cameron Drummond with the Lexington Herald Leader uh ton obviously you’ve been around college basketball a long time Morehead to to Minnesota to here uh just where do you think you’ve
Grown the most as a player from when you first started playing college basketball to now and and how has that helped you and your team this season uh I would say just become more of leader uh coming in as a freshman I had a great group of
Guys around me and from there I just developed as the point guard to into the point guard Ro which is helped me lead lead these guys and keep them calm and pois and throughout the game so just being a leader throughout the throughout my career question up front uh Allan Cole with Gamecock
Group.com on Rivals Mei you’ve talked a lot the last two years about this was the always the goal this is why you came to South Carolina I know you’ve been here half a day you haven’t played a game yet but what has this tournament experience been like so far just since
You’ve been here it’s been a blessing uh to be here with these guys um we’ve been working putting a lot of work in um we believe we can be in this moment um and since being here we just been having a lot of fun um buying watching film going
To dinner um enjoying every bit of moment we can um making the memories question up front Mike you have a Gamecock Central for either of you guys I mean being able to believe in Lamont I mean Mech we’ve talked about it before transferring in what was it about
Lamont when you guys had an opportunity going through the recruiting process that said hey you know what I believe in his vision to be able to get South Carolina in the position that you guys are in this week um it’s just been honesty that he had had with us up front
Just telling us what he sees for the team and then what our P personal goals that lined up so just throughout this whole year has just been a perfect match for all of us and we just been putting in the work since question up front to the
Right uh Alex Jones with the big SP sp.com 247 Sports uh for me and to line you guys have experienced the NCA tournament before how have y’all helping the guys on the rest of the team kind of know what to expect tomorrow yeah yeah um well when I came
It was during Co so I didn’t get the full experience but just to tell them this embrace the moment I mean it’s a we in a big stage you know going play in front of good group of crowds so just embrace the moment and go out there and have fun and play
Basketball Jordan K with the state over for BJ what do you see from andal Dante on Oregon um and and kind of what’s the the game plan of stopping him or containing him um yes uh Dante is a great player um he’s one of the Leaning scores for their team for Oregon their
Best rebounder um he tries a lot to get a great Poes position get to his right hand for the hook um so it just pretty much not allow him to get easy catches um and just trying to push him out trying to get offensive rebounds uh we
Know they feed off of that and try to get out his transition so he’s a big key factor in that questions for our student athletes back there in the middle tan you mentioned a second ago about you know the first time you came to the tournament you didn’t really get
To experience a lot of the things that are happening now because of co uh is there anything in particular that’s that struck you about this experience so far or something that you’re still looking forward to that maybe you didn’t get a few years ago uh yeah just the crowd I mean being
A play in front of a big group of crowd I mean just getting your blow up going so that’s what I’m most excited about question Derek skott Gamecock Sports Network meet you when you uh found out you get to come this close to home and play obviously you guys were excited
Just to make the tournament to be a part of this but when you found out it’s going to be Pittsburgh as close to Cleveland as you could be uh what went through your mind and what has it been like in terms of uh the family and the
Friends who are I’m sure wanting to be a part of this for you felt good like I said before I kind of already knew it like I knew it was going to happen I knew God was going to make all this plan how I wanted to um and got a lot of
Family and friends coming down and support haven’t got to play in them in front of them since high school so just being able to see all them come to the game um is going to be a blessing um and I got group got a good group of guys
Around me that’s going to be there uh working hard throughout the whole game uh trying to win so it’s exciting question up front uh for me G tan obviously a lot of focus on Germaine kard being a former Gamecock what ises what do you see un film from him and is
There maybe a guard you face in the SEC this year that’s kind of similar to how he plays M you want to go first I mean yeah he’s a good player uh you know still watching a lot of tape on him obviously he’s a good player play here
Before um don’t know too much about him but uh you know we’ll see how it goes tomorrow to yeah uh yeah he’s a good uh downhill driver could shoot the three ball look good uh but I couldn’t compare him to anybody in SEC but he just plays
His own game and gets to his spots Jordan K from the state um when Lamont talks he seems to have such a passion for basketball but but what what is there something about Lamont we outside of basketball we don’t know about him something you guys have grown
To love about him over the last couple months BJ you want to start um no coach Paris he’s a a big joer that’s what you know we call him the people Jo uh people’s coach because you know he relates a lot to a lot of people so just him having that um
Capability to relate to a lot of people and showed a different side that you don’t really see probably from a lot of coaches just shows the great person that he is one uh you know BJ took everything I was going to say but uh I don’t know coach
BR is just a great guy in general I mean he’s just a great guy to be around girl guy to talk to uh there not much to say really about him he’s just a good guy at the end of the day you got to have me
Yeah I think he’s just a a great coach and just off the court just a regular guy you know you see him walking in with his Taco Bell bag Starbucks coffee in the morning uh but he just watches film all day basketball is what he love um
And he studies it you I call him like a doctor every game um he really knows the game he makes it simple for you so all around just a great guy question on front uh Mei for you when we talk about being able to buy into a system
Especially the system that’s so much different than maybe what other programs run across the country what do you think allowed this team this year to be able to buy in so quickly to what Lamont is trying to do when maybe other players wouldn’t want to play in the system yeah
I mean l might he allows you to uh play your game um and with that you know when you have great guys and you build a great team which you know the coaching staff did this year you know we just play for each other that’s all it’s
About we said before and you seen all year it’s been different guys nights uh 25 for this guy 25 for that guy and you know next day is somebody different and we all happy at the end of the day cuz we’re winning and we’re in this position
So um it’s just about buying in the winning you know if that’s the main goal then everybody eats at the end of the day question right middle uh Justin Guerrero with the Pittsburgh tribute review BJ you guys obviously have a lot of uh a lot of
Older Talent on this team but Collins a guy who’s certainly come in and made a pretty big FL Splash as a freshman just what has it been like for you just watching him uh develop just as a college player in a practice setting throughout the course of the season and
What does he bring to your team uh Colin’s been bringing in a lot of great energy um you seen the work that he’s been been been able to put in since coming back uh earli in the season so just the work that he’s put in just to
Be able to get back coming in doing two a to get back right to try to catch up the speed with us so it’s just been a blessing just to see that you know you don’t really see a lot of freshman coming in making a big impact like that
Like he has so far so we just happy to have him and happy for him to be healthy and be able to get on the run that he’s doing question right there hey BJ John Hong Nola media you guys play an arguably the best conference in America can you talk just
A little bit about the physicality of of the conference and how that’s helped you guys develop your games uh yes um SEC is probably the phys most physical conference so playing against guys that are 7 foot 75 that we played against twice this year so just having that uh
Um the goal against and then going into a tournaments type of play um you got you kind of get a little bit of an advantage seeing how the rests are going to call things you know playing in different uh cities and across the country it might be different some uh
Some placees you might play might be more physical others might not so we’ve kind of had a good balance of that playing out west where they play kind of more finesse style and then playing in SEC where it’s more physical and and brutal so just I just feel like that’s a
Balance between it question left front Jordan k um Oregon for like the first couple months of the Season seems like a very different team than they what what they were in the Pack 12 tournament how do you guys balance watching film of what they did throughout the body of
Work of the season and or do you just kind of focus on what they did the most recent games me you want to start and work your way down I mean yeah um obviously you want to be playing your best basketball right now um so we’re honestly looking at that
Seeing what they’re doing a great team got great pieces but we have obviously grown too um and they got to see us tomorrow too so um it’s just a matchup you know what I’m saying just a match up as March Madness should be fine um and you go from there
Ton yeah um like we watched film on their recently like their recent games and you know playing some really good basketball right now uh but also they haven’t face our defense so we’ll put that a test tomorrow BJ um yeah it’s kind of looking back at their games earlier uh you got
To see a lot of like how they’re grown and how the pace of play that they played at from earlier but now but they playing great basketball right now so you really want to focus in on really how they’re playing right now any more questions for our student athletes all right thank
You thank you thank you apprciate guys for for e see yeah you too any specific spot this works right there where it says my name how about that got you covered all right once again please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with a microphone will come over
Please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please raise the raise hand function for questions please address question we’ll address the questions in room first and get to the zoom if time allows questions for Coach Paris right there in the middle Lamont obviously you saw a lot of
Stuff on film that made you want to bring ton Cooper into the program uh but can you speak to the growth from what you’ve seen on him you know on film tape beginning of the season and to this point now where he’s able to be a fifth
Year leader for an NCA tournament team with High Hopes yeah we we we’ve had a you know growth has kind of been our thing all season for a lot of guys but um often times you think about young guys uh when you think about that just because typically they have the most
Room for growth um and it’s harder for a guy that’s in his fifth year to grow as much but uh Talon’s Tan’s grown tremendously in a lot of different ways um you know offensively uh as a shooter he’s been really consistent I think in his last year at Minnesota he had good numbers
Overall as a shooter but it was you know started off the season with a bang and and kind of just crept through it towards the end um where he’s been really really consistent as a shooter um I I think where the most growth has happened with him is on the defensive
Side of things he’s had some moments defensively where he’s had some matchups and guys are being really aggressive and he’s done some really really good things for his defensively um I think we’ve created an environment where he and some other guys also have grown as uh as Leaders they’ve been able to they’ve
Been able to lead and uh have conversations and and express themselves with words um in an environment where where that’s encouraged and where it’s not just a bunch of guys throwing darts at guys right they get enough of that by way of social media you think about it
If they put on social media the the new shoes that they’re wearing or what they had for dinner somebody’s going to throw a couple darts at it and say that’s the worst pair of shoes I ever saw so we’ve created an environment where they feel comfortable doing that and and he’s been
One of the guys that have really have really used that uh as an opportunity to grow right there in the middle Drew college basketball review you talked a lot about growth coach specifically over the course of the Season what have you seen from Colin and his ability to work
Low in the post and grow his footwork ability over the course of the Season yeah well there’s there’s growth and then there’s whatever the word that you would use uh metamorphosis possibly um you know sometimes you go into a cocoon and you look like a worm caterpillar whatever it is and then
You come out and you look like a butterfly or a moth and so that to me is metamorphosis which is another whole level of growth and that’s that’s what Colin has done um when you think about how far he was behind due to mononucleosis uh he had an incredibly
Productive summer for us um he completely changed his body going into a senior year a lot of people might not know uh uh the commitment and dedication that it took for him to do that in terms of changing eating habits and being consistent with his with uh his cardiovascular development and all that
Kind of stuff so uh then to come into college and to uh to contract mononucleosis and then go backwards I think he lost 20 to 25 pounds at one point and so from that first time that he was physically able to compete in a college game to who he is right now is
It’s metamorphosis I mean um he was out there just trying to affect the game as a rebounder and as an active player now he’s we you know we run some offense through him um he’s he’s he he scores with with little effort his feeling is so incredibly high it’s really hard to
To put it into perspective because um he’s still not there as crazy that is he’s still nowhere near uh the player that he’s going to be but um he’s grown quite a bit uh throughout this whole season first row uh alen Cole Gamecock scoop.com with Rivals you said on Sunday
You hadn’t seen much of Oregon this year now that you’ve watched the tape what stand out about them and is there maybe an SEC team you face that is kind of similar to Oregon in terms of style or what they’re going to bring um not necessarily I don’t know if that there’s
A good comp in our league or even anyone on our schedule that we played that would really work to prepare us for what they do but uh but they’re they’re really talented um you want to talk about growth they’ve had a lot of growth as a team too they’ve just due to injury
And whatnot they’ve had a lot of different lineups and guys in and out and so um but uh but but uh if you look at the history of Dana alman’s teams this is the time that they put it together um and so they’ve done that once again and uh but they it’s a
Very versatile team they can score in a variety of ways I mean they can beat you up on the inside they also have some accomplished scores on the perimeter uh they’re capable of shooting the ball uh but what they really do is attack aggressively and they’re really
Effective at that um but talented team that is also playing their best basketball right now and uh you know I keep saying that I think when you get into the NCAA tournament you’re you’re going up against a team that’s really talented or you’re going up against a team that’s extremely hot or sometimes
You go up against a team that’s both of those things um and so you have to be you have to be you have to play well you know you have to play well this time of year and certainly they are playing well right Middle with the Pittsburgh Tribune
Review just another question for Colin fora um I’m curious just what has he been like in his first year uh collegially just in terms of his coachability uh willingness to learn asking questions things of that nature and what are some of the the keys for him to continue to to elevate his game
Yeah he’s been extremely coachable I would say I I think that’s that’s one of the strengths of our team we’ve been extremely coachable this year as a unit and and he has been really coachable I’ll tell you what he does more more so than the typical true freshman is he accepts
Responsibility doesn’t mean he always gets it right he doesn’t but he always accepts responsibility he rarely sherks responsibility when something happens on the play and you point out he will take it he will take uh responsibility for it and then I think by acknowledging those things and accepting responsibility
Then you’re more apt to try to change what you did that last time versus the next time and I think that’s a key to to him being able to continue to grow throughout this whole thing um but extremely coachable but in terms of in terms of next stuff for him you
Know maybe 365 days will’ll be back here and and and I’ll look like Nostradamus but um he’s got such good touch Holland does that there’s a world where we’re running plays for him to shoot the ball from the perimeter um we could ball screen for him which we
Haven’t really done that um I’m telling you the guy’s ceiling who knows when he gets there but the guy’s ceiling is really high but I I think in terms of growth those would be the next things that would a be able to unlock another level of productivity for him as a
Basketball player front left coach uh Eva Gamecock Central with so many new faces on this team this year we talk so much about from a coaching standpoint when a coach comes in okay you know players earning your trust but it works both ways in sports what do you
Think has allowed this team to trust you and believe in what you envisioned especially after you know being here just two years and after the year you guys had um in the transition year in your first year yeah I think I think some of it starts in the recruiting
Process when you when you show what you’re about and and you know after a year like last year and and last year was my first year here it’s you have to use Vision um you know they have to trust in Your Vision so some of it is is
How you frame the vision up and what have you done in your in your in your career and in your history these are things that I like these are things that I value you do those things well also if you look back at my track record teams that I’ve been around have been
Extremely good with those values and you fit right in there and so I think I think that’s that’s what it is that initially earns their trust I think they trust your plan and how it fits their Vision I think that’s the first level of trust that has to happen um then when
You get here and those things are line aligning up the exact way trust is embolden even more uh and then I think when they spend time around you and they hear you say the things that you say I I don’t think there’s one guy on our team that
Believes that this whole process is about me that I think that this whole process is I don’t think there’s one guy on our team that thinks that for a second and so because they know you’re about them and you’re here for them then I think I think it’s pretty easy to to
To get them to trust you and you tell them the truth and they believe that it’s the truth and then once you start playing games and you know there’s success then uh you know then it’s a little bit easier to even to do that at
That point but I think the big part once they get here is that they have to know uh one way or another when all the dust settles and the Smoke Clears that you are for them um and and again I don’t think there’s any one guy on our team
That doesn’t believe that wholeheartedly left second row Jordan K with the state um you you’ve had so many NCA tournament experiences as an assistant is there something that you know Keith or Bo Ryan or even Greg guard did that you take with you now when you bring teams to the
NCA tournament or and is there a way do you mesh all the different things you liked about the way those guys handled it um that you take with your team now um here’s what I’ll say I think for the most part at all those places all the great coaches that I’ve
Been blessed to be around and work with with I think it’s I think it’s what we did leading up to the tournament whether that was Conference tournament NCAA tournament nit any sort of postseason play I think it’s by and large all the things that we did leading up to it that
That made it to where you were bound to have postseason tournament success because everything to the guys was was kind of the same even though none of it’s the same none of it’s the same their families aren’t going to act the same people that have never come to
A game are going to travel to a game because it’s the NCAA tournament nothing is the same there’s more media there’s more scrutiny none of it’s the same but in all those places we have prepared so consistently um and I think that’s part of the reason why we’ve had aot this
Team has had a lot of success away from home because we’ve prepared so consistently um that performing and that’s what you want to do is get out there and perform uh is it happens a little it’s a little easier to get through the other stuff uh to
Just getting down to playing to the nuts and bolts of playing basketball having fun and then performing to the right second row Alex Jones with the big sp.com uh obviously ton and study were Bing some injuries from ter I wonder if you can provide an update on those guys
Yeah I think I think there there’s been uh good progress on behalf of each of those guys um you know I think I think uh miles study uh his injury was a little more significant in that it he had to miss some game time um but he’s made he’s
Made good progress uh so I expect him to be available at some level we’ll see what that looks like in terms of what percentage of his usual self he is in terms of mobility in terms of uh um uh absorbing contact and being able to continue to play the way that he needs
To to Be an Effective piece for us and then uh tan was the same I think he’s I think he’s at a pretty high percentage of of full health and and uh he’ll be ready to go probably got time for one more any more question last question right
There hey coach John Hong Nola media John you had three of the guys up there before you and they all seem so calm and collected and I’ve watched you in big games and uh I guess I want to know what is a secret I know the players feed off
Their coach what is your secret of of staying so calm uh you know I think I think it leads back to what I just was saying in the other question so much of it so much of my belief and our belief comes down to our preparation and what is happening in our
Preparation and our conviction in what we do our belief in how it works out for us to win and the reproducibility of those things um I don’t I don’t think we have to break any records in terms of three-point field goal percentage in order to have success I think I think
When you have such a belief in your process such a belief in your system such a belief in your guys that’s me and them and that’s them and me and what we do um that I I think there’s no over there’s no real overreacting there’s no real overreacting you know stuff’s going
To happen that’s just the way it is and uh the sooner you can accept that it happened and figure out what the next thing to do and maybe how to prevent it from happening again what the new normal that was a phrase that we were all getting accustomed to was it a couple
Years ago whatever that ends up being in a college basketball game whether that’s all right our our starting point guard or Center has his fourth foul with nine minutes left well what’s the new normal now and how do we do that and what does it do I think the the belief and all
That stuff allows you to to handle those things and I just had never really been an overreactor on Game Day in particular you know at practice there’s sometimes I’ll turn it up um but I need a result and we need something to happen the rest
Of the practice we get on game day guys got to play they got to feel good about themselves you know I do a lot of teaching um I always use the analogy you know if you’re in Calculus class and you’re not understanding how to do something in your Calculus class I’m not
Sure your teacher is screaming it at a different volume uh makes you learn it better so you know I’ll turn up when guys are try not trying when they’re doing things that they know they’re not supposed to do but they really try hard to do what
We ask them to do so there’s not a lot of that honestly we just we get out there and we play stuff happens some of it’s good a lot of it’s good usually some of it’s not so good and then we got to Pivot and make another adjustment
Based on what’s out there and I think you have to have a cool calm mind in order to do that thanks coach appreciate your time thank you hand communication we’ll post a recording of this press conference in the NCAA digital media hub at ncaa.com transcripts are provided by
ASAP and will be posted shortly online they will also be printed and distributed in the media work room thank you for joining us next up will be the Oakland student athletes at 120 120 Oakland student athletes for what GL can’t the for e for no I’m good appreciate it tell for for
First time doing it here yeah occasionally it’s not too bad just got to keep it mov exactly exactly of e ch h e got what’s that Oakland’s next yeah yeah I I just said uh what did I say I was like I think I just need Texas Tech as far as
The names he’s like you still need Oakland like I got Oakland just to I just just Tex he’s like he’s like their last I was like I know but I just I just don’t have to name yet yeah that’s the only we got time just I just G to cross
On my te or whatever I got I’ll tell yeah I think I think he gave me he gave me thumbs up so I think he’s the same page appreciate it thanks for 120 tentatively Oakland yeah followed by Kentucky that’ll be a big one h just a friendly reminder cell phone
Should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted Hammond Communications is providing the video feed which will be available on the FTP site found on the NCAA Media Hub therefore no video cameras are permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation good got hot
Mics right okay we’re here with Oakland student athletes Blake Lampman and Trey Townson we have 15 minutes with student athletes before head coach Greg campy comes in please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if
You’re are joining on Zoom please use raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first and get to zoom if time allows questions for student athletes Jim thank you Jen front middle thank you yeah hey guys Tony Gia Detroit Free Press um is it any more real now that
You’re here I guess describe the last 24 hours and just sort of the process of okay now that we know but settling in and just playing ball yeah for sure it was great getting down here you know when we did as soon as you get to the
Hotel you see all the March Madness logos you see your logo on you know most of the walls of Hotel makes everything like you said start to feel a lot more real but you know we’re all this whole group’s excited ready to compete and you
Know we can’t wait to finally get on the court but definitely starting to feel a little more real like about just making it try to feel like another game yeah I mean we get here a couple couple days early before our last uh tournament and we’re trying to keep it as consistent as
Possible obviously you got media and other things like that but uh yeah it’s just a cool experience and walking through here seeing the behind the scenes of kind of what you’ve watched as a kid it’s it’s a really cool experience for us but uh trying to stay locked in
And be ready for Kentucky tomorrow right there in the middle oh sorry yep guys Tony Paul Detroit News Trey for you can you take us through your very first meeting interaction with Greg campy um I honestly probably wouldn’t remember the first one I was probably one or two
Maybe three years old he was holding me as a baby but you know my first conscious one it’s been just going to the games and watching him Coach on the sideline and after games going down giving him a fist bump high five you know at those camps but you know he’s
Just a guy I always wanted to play for and it’s just crazy that I you know I’m playing for him now and we’re at the biggest stage possible so it’s been a great experience for sure just a followup for both of you has he changed at all during your guys’ time at Oakland
As He mellowed how is how has he evolved Blake missar first yeah absolutely he’s changed um I remember my first year if someone came in with you know different colored socks and he gave us uh they were either kicked out of practice or running stairs the entire time and now
We got you know DQ Cole pulling up in in Jolly Rancher socks and stuff like that so he’s definitely changed he’s definitely adapted and I think um that’s kind of a testament to his success as a coach and how he’s able to stay as a division W basketball coach for 40 years
Cuz he’s he adapts with the with the times and um yeah it’s he uh he definitely is calmed down too with his coaching style um I’d say he still uses some words that are probably a little PG-13 but um definitely calmed down since my first year and you know the last 30 40
Years Trey yeah I I got to ask this question uh after the Horizon League championship game and my dad wasn’t a big fan of my answer by saying he’s slight changed he would tell you that he has changed tremendously just as you can see on the co the sideline how he reacts
To certain things um over his years since my dad played for him so I would say he’s definitely mellowed up a little bit right in the middle aisle there hey guys Tyler griver from WDRB and Louisville I believe your coach recently said he looked at Kentucky he thinks you
Guys match up well with them as you’ve studied them and and preparation how would you assess how you match up with them I mean they’re a very talented team a lot of talented players I think for us personally with this matchup Zone that we play I think it’s hard for any team
To kind of prepare for us and get ready for what we’re about to throw at them it’s not something you see every day so I think we give every team a really good matchup um I like the size that we have we can compete at you know every
Position that we have but like I said just our defensive style is not something you see every day so it makes it difficult for any team that we play to the right hey Trey hey Blake John hang Nola media this is for both of you Kentucky has a roster full of
McDonald’s all-americans and first round NBA draft picks how how much extra motivation does that give you guys to go up against guys like that Blake myart uh yeah if you saw our our non-conference schedule you see that we’ve been playing guys like this all year we played uh Illinois Michigan
State Ohio State zavior so um it’s not really about who we’re playing we’re focusing on on us and I truly think we can compete with anybody in the country and we’re going to have a great test on Thursday so I’m I’m looking forward to it yeah I just think that’s where we’ve
Succeeded so much as a team is you know not trying to let those Bright Lights get too bright for us just knowing if we play our game we’re able to complete compete with anyone regardless of you know the status that they may have we’re just going to go out and outwork
Everyone that we play and that’s gotten us this far so Blake this one’s for you Neal rule with Oakland media you guys are 8- one in games that are decided by five points or less and all the time I hear you over there saying we we love each other more
Than they do is that why you guys are here uh it’s definitely a big part of why I believe um this has been the tightest group I’ve been with since probably my entire life but definitely since I got to Oakland um and we’ve got guys that have stayed at Oakland me Trey
Chris oay guys that are older that have been you know through the system with campy and we’ve built a relationship off the court I have a relationship with everybody on the team um and you know we say you know we love each other it’s it’s it’s true it’s real and um in
College basketball today it’s hard to get something like that especially with the portal and nil and stuff like that egos get so big and uh this group is has been pretty consistent and just staying you know getting rid of Egos and and being putting the team first and being we
Minded Kevin Gorman Pittsburgh trib interview uh Trey given your family connections to Oakland and your experience there what’s it like to you know have a chance to play in the NCA tournament what’s what does that mean to you I mean this whole journey of being a
Part of Oakland has been just such a dream come true you know not one moment is more special to me than another just being being able to wear this uniform that you know this Oakland University uniform and represent this this University I’ve been around my whole
Life that like you said both my parents were a part of and played basketball here it’s been such a special thing for me uh this year you know obviously it’s been such a wild year I’ve just been trying to really appreciate every single moment with these guys you know like
Blake said this is a closest group of guys I’ve been around and I’ve trying not to get too ahead of myself not think about the future because you know these are the greatest years of your life my parents always told me that you know college would be the greatest years in
My life and they truly have so getting this team to the tournament that’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and to do it with these guys I couldn’t have asked for a better you know better year so far um with Kentucky having a lot of connections to Pittsburgh with calip
Perry being from here and a couple of the players from here um a lot of times you know a smaller school be considered the underdog and maybe the fan favorite do you feel like you you have a chance to win this crowd over do you feel like there’s going to
Be a very Pro Kentucky feel to the game is that for me or EI either one of you you can start oh I mean obviously being the 14 seed against the three seed like Kentucky you’re always going to be considered the underdog but I think everyone loves a good Underdog Story I
Think we’re very capable of you know beating a team like this and I think that just draws to the the under story even more as people genuinely believe we can do it you know we all believe we can do it our whole staff believes we can do
It that’s really all that matters when it comes down to it though is what the people in you know our locker room our Circle believe in and I know we all believe we can do it so we’re just excited for the challenge Blake yeah I think we’re all fully
Prepared that it’s probably going to be an away game tomorrow um but this is this kind of what we play for we love that we love the non-conference schedule that we have that coach gives us every single year and we play big-time teams at their place no one’s really coming to
Oakland um very often so I’m I’m expecting it away game and uh hopefully we can have a result like we did at Xavier and uh and get it du questions for our student athletes guys uh don’t want to put you on the spot but you talk about everyone
Loves a good Underdog Story I know you guys have watched a lot of college basketball over the years before you even got to Oakland do you guys have either of you a favorite Underdog moment in the NCAA tournament any game Stand Out Blake want to go um
The the more recent one is I’m gonna probably butcher his name but Doug a dirt St Peters um it was just crazy to see how he exploded you know his name was everywhere um so as far as individually um and then you got to think back to to Davidson and Steph
Curry and how they went on their run um that’s been all over my social media lately and um I remember kind of watching it when I was in high school just watching highlights and stuff like that so I would say I would say those to yeah I mean every single ups and this
Tournament is a special moment this whole tournament is such a special thing it’s hard to just pick one that tops the others but if I just think back to my high school times and things like that I think of you know loyala Chicago’s run that they had um that was the biggest
One throughout my high school time but like Blake said you know St Peters that was amazing and obviously fairly Dickenson last year uh that was it’s just a great time you know it’s March Madness questions for a student athletes all right thank you thank you yes thank you appreciate it guys thank you
Yeah sorry okay please raise your hand to ask a question any person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raiseed hand function to for questions we will address the questions in the
Room first and get to the zoom if time allows questions for Coach campy Greg Tony Paul with the Detroit News nice to meet you um ask the players this and you’ve talked about you’ve done a ton of radio interviews this week and you’ve talked about how you’ve changed but you
Know with the player stuff the player control letting them wear their own shoes letting them wear their different color socks let letting them be them as opposed to all uniformity maybe years ago what made you change that was that just kind of out of necessity given where the game is going absolutely Tony
I I you know many people know Tom ISO and I really CL friends and we talk all the time and he and I have discussed this uh on numerous occasions you know you you our generation of coaches was you know really strict rules you know we’re a team and that’s what we’re teaching
About the team concept and that and Steph Curry goes out and the MVP of the NBA Finals wearing purple green or some shoes you know how am I going to sit there and tell our kids we can’t do that so you know I think that you have to change
In this business and and over the 40 years there’s been a lot of change I just think the last three or four years it’s really really been noticeable that you have to change if you’re going to survive in this and so one of the things
That I’ve decided to do is come up with some non-negotiables you know there are non-negotiables there’s three or four non-negotiables and as long as I’m you know allowing them to do other things they’re going to have to fou those non-negotiables and they’re simple ones you know not being late all the things
That you have to do to be successful in life so yeah I’ve changed quite a bit and uh but it was out of necessity I mean I want to keep doing this I want to keep doing this for a long time so uh I don’t want to be that grumpy old man to
The last second row yeah hey Greg Tony Garcia Detroit Free Press um you obviously know uh John Calipari in Kentucky quite well but once you now you know that that’s who you’re playing what I guess what did you learn maybe about them the last 48 hours uh that that you
Didn’t know or anything that makes you feel even more like you you got a chance well because of the friendship you know you follow you follow your friends you follow those teams so I’ve watched I watched their LSU game I watched you know a couple preseason you know non-
League games and I knew they’re an unbelievably talented young team but they for for one of the differences in his team this year is he’s got a senior that’s averaging what 20 a game and you know so that’s probably what has solidified them as a national champion
Contender and they definitely are the a national champion Contender uh their athleticism and then I think the other thing that’s a little different for his team this year is man they can shoot it I mean number one three-point shooting team in the country so yeah those those
Are what keeps me up at night you know trying to figure out how to stop that stuff questions for coach back there to the right hey coach John Hong Nola media coach calip Perry has made no bones about the fact that you and he do have a relationship ship he it’s always
Admitted that he doesn’t care to play against other coaches that he’s friends with yet you seem to kind of relish this opportunity to to take him on why why is that yeah I I was just doing Westwood in there and and I think that got a little
Bit Miss skewed in that I made the comments this is the best thing that we could have you know it’s not it’s a compliment to Big Blue Nation it’s a compliment to Kentucky you haven’t seen Oakland play at rup aren we play every in the country we haven’t been there cuz
We don’t of the Friendship but getting Kentucky in this tournament is the greatest thing for Oakland because we cut the Nets down in our league tournament we got to stand under the confetti we got our moment and now this is all house money right so we come into
This tournament wouldn’t you want the spotlight to play the best the reason this is such a good matchup for us is because you’re the best Kentucky is known as the best program in the in the it’s arguable but many many people you have the greatest fan base in the
Country there’s no argument with that I think you have you know ISO and he to me are the two best coaches in the country um and we’re playing at Prime Time 7 o’clock CBS we’re not on true or whatever you know we’re on CBS at 7 o’clock why wouldn’t Oakland want that
This is our chance to step into the spotlight and shine now could we fall on our face sure we could but why would we want to run from that why would I want to play some team team that we might have a better chance to
Beat right I want I want the best and we got the best so that’s what that’s what those comments were meant to be left second row uh Greg Neil rule with Oakland radio this is a fourth time in 20 Seasons that that you’ve taken Oakland to the NCAA tournament Kentucky
Knew they were in when they when they went into the SEC tournament you guys though a regular season Horizon League Championship your fate is still determined by 3 days in March as the one seed do do people people understand how difficult it is as a mid- major to get
Into the NCA tournament without that safety net no they don’t um I don’t think administrators understand I got a boss that does which I’m lucky but I don’t think administrators do that surely fans don’t uh 21 of the 32 is it 32 leagues 21 of the 32 first place Championship number one
Seeds got beat in their conference tournament 21 of the 32 it’s the hardest thing there is to do uh um is it fair you know a lot of people say well yeah it’s fair because that’s our Championship right that like I said a second ago cutting the Nets down the
Confet we got to experience that and so those that conference tournament for us is what this tournament is for the Kies and Michigan states of the world now now we also have a chance to go do something special right we have we have a chance to change my players lives if we win
Tomorrow night it will change Chang my players lives in 2016 or 17 we’re playing Michigan state they’re number one in the country we’ve we’ we’ve got the ball uh down two with you know 5 Seconds to go and a a pro that I had kelder shoots a shot it gets fouled it
Rolls around the rim and if it goes in we beat the number one team in the country would have changed Oakland it would have changed our lives would have changed those players lives this group has another chance to do that four Oakland University and for themselves so
Yeah it’s hard to get here but when you do look at what the opportunities you have this is the a holy grail for Mid Majors all right it is and I’ve said this many times over the last week the NCA basketball tournament and please don’t change it please don’t change it
But it is one of the three greatest sporting events in the world all you and Neil I know you’re a soccer guy you argue you argue the World Cup and you’re probably right the Super Bowl and this tournament are the three greatest sporting events in the world and Oakland
And my players are a part part of it and they they get to cherish that for the rest of their lives to the left there right by the aisle coach Mike Larson with the Pittsburgh business times um since rmu joined the Horizon League you’ve gotten a chance to play in Pittsburgh at least
In the region a few times playing against Coach Cal who’s from here can you talk a little bit about getting a chance to play on this stage and Pittsburgh yeah I mean I’m a big Pittsburgh guy I I come here a lot uh we used to play Pittsburgh all the time um
When Jamie was here and uh um Ben and we had some great games here we lost to I I I started shaking we practiced over there today and I started shaking when I walked in that building because they beat us twice in overtime um you know so
I the baseball stadium here I I’m a big baseball guy I’ve gone to every stadium in the country but and I think it’s one of the three top stadiums so I love this area all right food’s good here too and uh so when when Robert Morris got in the
League I really liked that Andy tul is a hell of a coach great friend um so coming here and then putting on top of it that Cal’s from here uh you know he this is his hometown and and Moon Township and all that kind of stuff it’s
Just kind of really neat that we have the opportunity to do this in Pittsburgh it sure beat going to Spokane Washington or or uh Salt Lake City or someplace like that we’re going to have a really good contingent of Oakland fans here tomorrow and I don’t think that would
Have happened if we were somewhere else so I’m really really happy with the draw which is another reason I was glad we got Kentucky right there on the left yep there you go Kevin Gorman Pittsburgh tribun intereview um thanks for doing this Greg um with facing Cal Perry here
With Kentucky having a couple Pittsburgh area kids and himself in Orlando Antiga having pick ties um you you come in as like you said playing with house money as the underdog what’s it like to to feel like there’s a chance you could maybe win over the
Crowd even though it may be Pro Kentucky at the start and how much do you remember Fang Mitchell and copen state doing that here back in 97 yeah well I I think it’s good or B good and bad that they have those Kentucky kits because I’ve found out through the course of
Doing this over the years and having players going back home sometimes that’s not good you know sometimes they get a little bit nervous they first shot doesn’t go in they press which I’m hoping might happen tomorrow night a little bit just a little um but so in
2011 maybe we’re playing Texas in the NCA tournament and Kansas was in the same region and those two schools don’t like us don’t like each other a lot right so we’re playing Texas and we have a chance to win the game and the last five or six minutes of that game that
Arena was all Oakland it was unbelievable you know I mean people that didn’t even know where Oakland was was up cheering every time we scored I mean it was crazy that the underdog in this tournament it’s what makes this tournament so great the underdog everybody in those stands oh
Sorry it’s probably my kids um spam um you know it’s what makes this tournament so great is that that if we play well tomorrow night and we’re capable I’m telling you we’re capable and it gets down to a close game I got to believe this as big as Big Blue
Nation is there’s going to be a lot of people in here that you know they don’t want to play Kentucky in the next round they’d much rather play Oakland so if we can do our job we’ll we’ll see that happen again like it did you know 12
Years ago and just wanted to follow up uh with Trey with Trey towns and growing up in Oxford nearby just everything he’s been through to see him kind of get rewarded with a Chance of playing the tournament at the end of his career it’s it’s an unbelievable I mean if this was
A Disney movie the the people would wouldn’t believe it you know they they wouldn’t believe that this happened if you see the pictures of him when he was little in our building at games if I mean I his mom every couple weeks she’s my dentist too you know uh but his mom
Every couple weeks sends she finds these pictures on Facebook and that and when he was young and sends them and uh quick funny story so you probably saw where his MVP trophy the dog broke it I don’t know if everybody saw that or not but dad’s a
Big photography guy he’s he’s got it press passes and they were taking a picture of the dog with the net around its neck with the MVP trophy and the dog went like that and knocked the trophy over and it broke and uh so I told Trey
I’m going to tweet that and he goes I go check with your mom and her answer was well there’s going to be a little bit of pain in his next visit if he tweets that so uh uh you know it’s it’s just an unbelievable story and and you usually
When you know kids of people you know come to your camp they’re not very good right I mean and then you got to tell well I don’t know if he’s going to be able to play and I was like oh my God this this is unbelievable this kid’s
Really good and his brother plays soccer at Oakland and he’s a very good player so it’s just it’s been a the greatest recruit I’ve ever had is his dad because if we got his son 40 years later question over here to the right coach sorry over here will Graves Associated
Press uh I’m based here the other day Keith damrod announced he was retiring you know I got a chance to talk to him he goes look I’m 65 I’m just not built to do this till I’m 70 I can’t do that look you’re in better shape than most of
The guys in this room so I’m not going to put the age thing on you but what keeps you fresh what keeps you engaged and and not being like I’m just ready to be done with this so Keith a good friend I’ve known him for years um you know he
Was in Michigan for a long time and he’s a hell of a coach and I text him I did not know he was going I text him the moment they won the CH I was watching the moment they won it cuz he had texted
Me when we won ours I text him a moment ad a boy you know and uh and then I was surprised by that but for me there’s nothing else I want to do I want to do this another 10 12 years you know I I
Don’t know I play a lot of golf and I don’t think if I could play every day I would like it as much as I do when you know when I have to sneak out to get it and I know I probably shouldn’t be out there but there’s being around those kids and
Watching them grow and develop is what my job is supposed to be and it’s what it’s always been at an Oakland is to you know I just in in the lobby on my way over here a a young man who’s all gray walked up to me to shake my hand I
Looked at me he played on my first team 40 years ago those are the things that motivate me and uh you know as as long as Oakland wants me I’m going to do this and I hope to get another 10 or 12 Years cuz I love it and there’s nothing else
In my life that I would want to do but this question here cam Neil r with Oakland radio again um as we talked about before fourth time in the NCA tournament and I’ve asked you this in the past but we’re here again so I’ll ask you it again you took this program
From division two into division one now you’ve been to the NCA tournament four times you played Carolina you played pit Texas now Kentucky would you believe that your first day on campus at Oakland University if someone came there and told told you this is what’s going to
Happen would you would believe that no absolutely not and would I believe I’d still be here in 40 years no I you know I I just it it’s I’m just lucky you know I’m lucky I really am lucky I’ve I’ve just everything’s fallen in the right you know that doesn’t mean we haven’t
Had bad times and hard times and things like that we have I mean I’ve I’ve had five NBA players in the last 15 years and and three of those NBA players didn’t get to the n tournament you know you coach an NBA player at the mid-
Major level and you don’t get to the Nate tournament there’s you got to question yourself and and that so there’s been some we went four straight years where in our conference tournament where we lost a single possession game that kept us out and those teams were
Good we went we were number one seed and lost and then we went to Clemson and won in an nit game that team was good enough to win Nate tournament games but we didn’t get the chance and that’s what I’m stressing to my guys this week you
Got the CH you’ve earned it and you’ve got a chance to do change your lives to do something special so yeah I I I get where you’re coming from with the question Neil but it’s really you know I’m just fortunate you know that’s it I’m fortunate to be here today I’m
Fortunate to have these great kids around me and you know I’ve been very lucky our last question the room is going to go here then we g go one Zoom Greg um you mentioned you don’t want to see the tournament change um expand whatnot I’m sure there are a lot of
People that like hearing you say that but why when that theoretically could make it easier for you to get to this tournament oh it’s not it’s not the only reason I would be for expansion to the 96 or whatever they’re talking is to keep us in it you know then I’m for if
That’s the only way we’re going to stay in it then I’m for it okay I what I’m saying is don’t don’t keep us out you know we’re we’re what make this tournament the little guy why does everybody love hoers right the greatest move movie why cuz the little guy and
Today is the anniversary of the day that Jimmy Chitwood in real life made the shot I don’t know if you knew that or not but it is today’s the anniversary where milin beat South Bend 33 to 31 or whatever the score was and Jimmy made the shot that turned into the movie
Hooers that’s what college basketball is that’s why it is one of the three greatest sporting events in the world and just don’t let the Jimmy you know Trey Townson Jack Goki Blake they could be Jimmy Chitwood tomorrow night don’t take that away from us our last last
Question is going to come from Zoom Chris Idol hey coach this is Chris idell from hering radio and Baltimore congratulations on the uh being there in Pittsburgh if you be Kentucky tomorrow night is that going to be your biggest win ever in your career um I think it will be the biggest
Win in Oakland’s history I don’t like talking about something that might happen I rather talk about you know the things that have happened I think because of the stage and because of what I answered your question earlier I think it would have to be but me personally uh
My dad played football at Michigan my brother played football at Michigan the first word I ever said in my life was Michigan which those famous broadcaster from Michigan used to call him um my dad taught me that for some reason I grew up in Michigan’s football stadium so for me
Personally when we beat Michigan that was the greatest I don’t know if that would ever uh get matched because of what that meant to me in my life growing up and what the University of Michigan was to our family and that so for me personally that’s probably will be the you know the
Most the proudest moment of my life because I got to call my parents and you know brag a little bit so uh but for the University and for these players yeah that if we could do it yes thanks thanks coach appreciate you time all right did anybody in here know that today was
Jimmy chitwood’s anniversary see all right thanks appr let do 205 were problem e for for spe for that’s IM e for Fe e e do to e John just a friendly reminder cell phone should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted ham and Communications is
Providing the video feed which will be available on the FTP site found on the NCA media hub therefore no video cameras are permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation you how you guys doing got your name cards here you got coach’s name tag stuff you come in here
Too bright up here okay we are here with Kentucky student athletes Trey Mitchell Antonio Reeves and AD du theier we have 15 minutes with student athletes before head coach John calip Perry please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with a microphone will come over please
State your name and media affiliation if you are joining us on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first and get to zoom if time allows questions for the student athletes right here in the front Tyler Thompson Kentucky Sports
Radio Trey and Ado this is obviously a homecoming game for you how excited are you to be back home and two how many friends and family are coming to watch you play Trey you want to start first um you know it means the world to
Be back home in my final year of college basketball and on this team and and kind of being able to have people around me kind of see this moment come full circle for me to to play Kentucky and um I honestly couldn’t give you a number with
How many people that have have hit me and said that they’re going to be there tomorrow I do um I’m super excited to play at home you know I got people texting me uh who haven’t seen me play since I was a little kid telling me that
They’re coming to the game so you know just like with tr said just super happy to be home and be able to play here questions for student athletes back corner right Noah Ohio’s Pittsburgh Post Gazette ad do I remember talking to you I think just only three or four years
Ago you were six foot two you only had a couple of mid- major offers a lot of growth has taken place for you both physically and as a basketball player playing a new position playing you know at a very high level can you just talk about your growth both physically and as
A player um I say it was very difficult you know just getting to the school trying to find my place uh also dealing with growing and everything but um you know it helped me become how I am right now and uh play the way I’m able to play
Right now and I’m just very blessed to be in this position to the lap second row Dusty you’re good Dusty Baker wave Sports uh for all three of you guys the defense has been kind of the story this season season and whether or not it’s been showing up and
Uh just having this week off how much of that has been a focus for this team um and going into the tournament how confident are you in your defense um with that whether it’s Oakland or any team down the road as well how confident are you across the board I start with
This very confident in our defense been working on it for a couple days now just in practice just focusing on you know just things like getting over ball screens again more physical down lad so we emphasize that each and every day too else want to add you good I think
That was pretty good all right right middle here biley Tucker college basketball review Trey you’ve been at UMass Texas West Virginia and now here at Kentucky and you’re wrapping it all up this is your last season what are your expectations for your last time playing in this tournament your last
Chance to play in this tournament um I expect I just expect the allout effort you know I can’t say that I I expect anything but the the best from our guys you know and some some other dudes in the locker room is going to it’s their
Last go around too and I know nobody wants to go outside so there’s 40 minutes of basketball to be played and we plan on playing all 40 every single second of it everything we got left front right here Jerry depala Pittsburgh trip total media I do your father played
For Coach Cal at Memphis and and now you’re playing for him from what you’ve heard from your D in you’ve observed how has he changed over the years um damn my fault uh my uh pops he would tell me stories and everything but uh he was he was more rough back in the
Day uh had them running a lot more and everything but you know he still has us do all that but I feel like you know he’s taking a little bit lighter on us and see I’m okay with that cuz the stories my dad was telling me they was oo they was going through
It back right Trey to piggyback on the last question you were asked I mean about your journey how how special is it that you know in the very tail end of your journey you get to kind of play where it all started yeah I mean it’s a it’s an
Unbelievable blessing from above you know I’ve I’ve had a an interesting path to to say the least you know I’ve had my ups and downs and and uh I’ve been through adversity and and just about everything’s been thrown at me you know and although it’s not necessarily a
Desired path but it is the path I believe I was meant to be on and at the end of the day just for it to kind of just come full circle like this is just it’s just proof in itself that that this is the path that I was supposed to be
On back right again your stepdad told me that the Italian side of your family might be able to fill this building by itself how many how many family members from that side or just in general do you think will be here this weekend um she uh family alone I’d probably say if if
They are breathing and they are in Pennsylvania that they’re going to be here you know even even some coming from the south uh the the enti side is is very large and and I’m sure I’ll be able to hear their voices over anybody that’s
In there but on top of that I think like any person that I’ve had some type of relationship or come into contact with throughout my time in in Pittsburgh through a high school whatever ever it may be they they’ve all told me that they’re going to be
Here left out right here Kevin G Kevin Gorman Pittsburgh trip uh just for any of you guys just wanted to know first of all what you know about Oakland as a team as University and also we’ve talked to them a little bit about being the underdog what’s it like to come in and
And not want to be the victim to A Cinderella Story I do have start us off and work work our way down damn uh um you know our our Focus has been more on us and trying and fix our things rather than worrying about them the most
But yeah we still watch film on them and everything they’re a great team you know they got Shooters they have uh inside players but we just know we’re going to come in and uh fight yeah to picky about picky back off of what he said just basically just
Worry about us at the end of the day try to figure out you know the game plan what we have to do out there defensive wi offensive wise and just give it a full 40 minutes and just don’t worry about you know what they have going on just play our
Game right yeah I would I would agree with with both of their statements and that you know nobody wants to be part of a Cinderella story and I think that our guys understand that and that this team is in the tournament for a reason you know they’re they’re not to be looked
Over and and they’re they’re capable of coming out and playing a really good game so we have to be ready for the moment and I think we will be third row right John Hong Nola media Trey and AD do the guy sitting between you had one of the most fantastic seasons in the
History of Kentucky basketball can you explain to me why you don’t think he gets as much recognition as he deserves Dre want to start I mean yeah that’s easy you know it’s he’s humble he’s a humble Beast you know he’s he’s not a guy that’s going to come out here and
Brag or seek attention but on top of that it could be just cuz we have have some young guys with really big names and and some people are are focused on that but at the end of the day when you look at it this kid gives
Us production night in and night out he gives us leadership and you know he does it with the same look on his face the whole time you never know what’s going through his mind but you know what you’re going to get from him so it’s just like he deserves all the
Recognition that there is I mean we’re at if not the best basketball program to exist in college basketball you know and he he’s performing he his name should be up there with with some of the best of them I do um you know his consistency even if other teams are trying to take
Away his scoring ability he’s able to do the little things whether it’s get a rebound go back up for a putback play defense all that like he’s able to do everything and then we just have multiple part on this team so I feel like because you know we have Reed
Rob DJ Justin all the other freshman like all our freshman are I’d say all our freshman are good players so they’re getting more of the shine and kind of overlooking Antonio but at the end of the day you look at the stats stats don’t lie right midle Nathan geese lck Avalanche Journal
Trey you’ve had quite a few different teammates throughout your kind of Journey but one of them Joe Tousan you guys were at West Virginia last year what’s your guys’ kind of relationship and do you have any good stories of Joe that I can use against
Him uh you know that’s my dog you know that’ll be my brother till I die you know and I think nothing but highly Joe you know we were close while I was of West Virginia you know we we crossed paths earlier before we our teams were
Practicing in the same facility so it it was good to see him and catch up with him but uh as far as any stories uh I’m not going to EXP suppose him like that but no he’s he’s a funny dude and he’s a great person left middle Shelby Cass wpx
I Trey in Ado uh talked about the homecoming a little bit but when you look back at your upbringing here in Pittsburgh and the time you spent here how much do you think this area has really just made you into the men you are today and the basketball players you
Are today J you want to start um you know there’s there’s a lot to Pittsburgh you know there’s a there’s a lot of things you can you can get into a lot of different people you can run into I would say through through my life growing up here at least from a
Basketball perspective I felt like there was always someone reaching out to me to you know get it get working and get better or or come come play pickup here with these guys that are are college players now like just come get better there’s just there’s so many people in
The community that have just helped me develop my game and really help me find my love for the game and push me to to be more I do um yeah I say uh just growing up here help mold me you know the my family the people around me everybody just you know
Try to keep me focused at all times make sure I wasn’t getting off uh the right path and I think that doing all that and just listening to the right people that just got me to where I am today to the left man above Kevin Gorman from the Pittsburgh trip
Again um wonder how much C has talked to you guys about his days at pit and in Pittsburgh have he’s talked to you a little about when he was an assistant coach at pit or bringing Kentucky back in playing in the NIT against Robert Morris how much have you heard any
Stories this week in particular you know me to take it Tre yeah we go um there there hasn’t been uh too many stories like in in depth you know but he’s he’s had had some people around that have coached him or coached with him out here and we got to meet
Them today but as far as Story Goes you know coach isn’t doesn’t seem to be too long- winded about those at the moment maybe he’s just more focused on on the task at hand but I have to ask him about it we see what he says Antonio do you got anything to add
Or you good that one all right left middle uh Brook prior with ESPN train Ado kind of building on that theme of Cal and Pittsburgh I know Mike Tomlin and caller close friends growing up in Pittsburgh did you guys ever have any interactions with Mike Tomlin or is were
You guys kind of involved or have any kind of relationship with him do you want to start off with that one you good with that Trey got it Trey got it all right Trey he said um with Mike I wouldn’t say anything in particular I’ve been to a couple
Football camps when I used to play football and he was there but I wouldn’t say that we’ve had any like inpersonal connections I think that it might be someone in his family was was a basketball player and I was running the camp there so um I met him in that way
But you know it wasn’t wasn’t too long-winded or anything like that just kind of a a show andg go type of thing I’m not going to lie um it wasn’t working uh I don’t really watch football or and I didn’t play it in you know on my uh on my years
So I don’t really got nothing to say about that probably got time for one or two more any more questions for student athletes oh right here sorry hi this is for Trey at Jerry dep Paul Pittsburgh trip um if you ever had much interest in playing for your hometown team you know
While you were in college uh pit yeah um I’ve they’ve reached out to me you know but uh for me I I didn’t want to necessarily be at home because I feel I felt like there was it was easy to get distracted you know I I have a bigger
Goal in mind and I wanted to stay focused and I know being this close to home would would provide a lot of opportunities for for people to get in my ear and distract me from what I’m trying to do thank you probably got time for one more question all right we got
Last two right there yeah as Pittsburgh natives what are some great local recommendations on where to eat I do you want to start us off me think bro I got one for your breakfast spot pamelas don’t act like you was going to say that I don’t know what I was going
To say you got I mean the one spot I always go to when I come back is uh Hooks Fish and Chicken what about you Antonio you got a favorite spot no not here no Tony all last question right there middle right Antonio coach caliper said
That he went around and asked each of you players why you thought this team could Advance far in the postseason I was wondering what did you say and was there anything that one of your teammates said that really caught you off guard um something that he said was
Basically just we have a whip basically we have every piece that we need for the tournament you know coming from guards and The Bigs just everybody can contribute to the team and everybody can play a role to this team so that’s one thing he said all right we good all right thanks
Guys appreciate it thank you guys thank you appreciate you for come for for just a friendly reminder cell phone should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted Hamond Communications is providing the video feed which will be a available on the FTP site found on the
NCAA media hub therefore no video cameras are permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation for for e how you do good to see you I’m see you do I have a water up here uh we’ll get you a water Brett can I get a water
Yeah okay just a reminder please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with a microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address questions in the room first
And get to zoom if time allows questions for Coach calart right here front oh front left hi Jerry depala Pittsburgh trip total media uh John the obvious question is your feelings coming home to coach in your hometown but I’m also interested in the pit recruiting class of 1988 Miller
Matthews Martin I have a picture in my office in Kentucky that I’ll put out I’ll take a picture of it and send it out so you can get it it’s all those guys and they’ve all stayed in touch you a great group how were you
Able to get all them to come at one time and would you regret not getting to coach them um Shawn was like family Durell always wanted to come matter of fact we signed him before he took an official visit now he was from the city um
Bobby um wanted to come to pit you know bo bo Brian shorter i’ had known since he was and and Jason Matthews wanted to come to pit Pittsburgh I went to LA and you know and Paul Evans did a great job recruiting him too now you know he was
The head coach but uh you know that was an interesting GL you know let me tell you why just listen to him how many of you are from Pittsburgh Yin downtown I mean come on the cek I we had a cek in our backyard my mom used to say red
Up like red up what what is red up like clean up red up do you know what gumb a gumband is like a rubber band it was gumband Pop I never knew they said are you’re going to have a soda what the H what are you talking about
Pop I mean let let me say this about Pittsburgh when I grew up it was a blue c Blue Collar town but it’s never changed the roots of what Pittsburgh is and what it’s about the Steelers are still a I call them the Steelers as in Pittsburgh Steelers they’re still a blue collar
Team with fans who love them and and like where I grew up my high school teammates are still my best friends they still come to games and they will you know and they say you know we anyway but we were all brought up the same way our fathers were
Laborers mom raised us and and put Hope and Dreams and you can be whatever that was Mom but we were all the same it was a Melting Pot and uh you know you were taught you’re not there’s nothing in this world is going to be given to you you’re going
To have to go take what you want and you don’t work you will not eat that was the famous line you don’t work you’re not eating you work you better if you want to be better than somebody you better work that’s Pittsburgh and it was the greatest thing
And I think sometimes anybody that’s been here and left knows that’s what it is and also yin and down you know all the other how about this word jag off come on where else do you say jag off other than Pittsburgh and when I say it
They go oh my did you hear what it just said in Pittsburgh that’s like in passing so no I appreciate that and I love coming back I’ll probably take the the tour of my grandparents house and my other grandparents and our house where I grew up and the high school and my aunts
And uncles and cousins and I’ll I normally come back and I do the whole drive and you know but um special place I called Mike Tomlin why don’t you come in and talk to the team Mike and I are friends he’s in a pro day somewhere can’t do it but special
Place front right Jeff n Philadelphia inquir you’ve had a number of guys over the years who’ve been in a similar situation of DJ and Justin coming in top recruit projected NBA lottery pick how do you think they’ve they’ve managed those pressures and expectations I think they’ve done great I
Mean my job is to help them walk through this and at the end of the day is I just want them being their best and when I’m with them every day I know what that looks like but when they’re playing against other guys they know what it
Looks like too most of it for young guys and again I’ve got the youngest team in the field I would tell you is the mental part of this can you be a cheerleader for your yourself what is your what is your inner talk they have to learn that
You have to push out anything that’s coming at you negative anybody is telling you well if they did this and did that it’s it doesn’t help um both of them the DJ um being hurt and sitting out two and a half weeks really affected him he’s
Come back he’s better he’s back to where he was he was a freshman of the week four times and then he had he took two and a half weeks off and it’s taken him Time Justin I could not be more proud of any player I’ve ever coached to know
Where he was to know the expectations that were on his shoulders to know all the stuff he was hearing and I said Justin I just want you to know I believe in you and he said coach I want you to know I believe in you and I’m sticking
With this and that’s and then he makes it we don’t win at 10 Tennessee if he doesn’t play that way now here’s the thing with all guys these they’re not machines and they’re not robots they have bad games and they have bad nights and they it’s what they are the good
Thing about this team I’m coaching is we have a deep team for a couple years if one or two players played poorly I didn’t have Subs you left them in and you end up losing and I’m not just talking the NCA tournament other games with this group
If this these two or three are not playing well just play these five or six and we’ll run with them and they know it we’ve had I believe it’s seven guys had 25 or more points and nine or 10 if or maybe even 11 have had 13 points or more
We got that kind of but we’re really young and then your next question someone would for Pittsburgh Yin don’t play very good defense that will be your question to me at times Yin do play good defense and there are other times you’re like what are you thinking
Um but I’m loving coaching this team I mean this practice today and all I’m telling them is you make sure I’m having as much fun as you so we’ll see and there’s no guarantee on in this tournament and let me say to everybody forget about seeding
All that stuff if you win on a halfcourt bank shot by one you celebrate because you’re surviving and marching on that’s what this tournament is you don’t let everybody come at you you got to do this you have to do this if they don’t do it
This way go ahead have your fun this is about survive and advance and we’re playing a good team now in Oakland they’re good um what they do defensively what they can do offensively with two kids taking 23s every game and having the freedom uh Greg is a great coach not
A good coach a great coach and then they play funky defense they play a defense is not normal and um I’m not I’ll tell Greg Greg we’re not changing much so when you watch what we do against Zone that’s what we do I’m not trying to be
Tricky here’s how we play I don’t want them thinking too much I want him playing let’s just be who we are and let’s see if that’s good enough we question middle back yeah John Daryl B with cats paw and leging it feels like when you guys have a lead there’s a lot
Of passing a lot of uptempo and when you’re behind there’s more dribbling more one on five how how can you make to get behind or when we’re behind when you’re behind how do you get them to keep playing the other way Reed Shepard said to me coach I’m not sure we’re
Selfish but I think we have so many good players each guy is trying to get us back in the game himself and we’re just not as good when we play that way now we talk about it but there’s game slippage and they revert back to their habits some sometimes and that’s both on
Offense and defense um they look I’ve had video we did highlights to show them here’s when we’re at our best here’s when we’re not and most of that is we hold the ball but they’re not robots they’re not machines they don’t play there’s stuff that you’re teaching
That they they miss on um you know you talk about the pressure of this tournament it’s on everybody you got more than anybody else and Reed has more than any no it’s on everybody and how you deal with it is how have you done throughout the year
When you’re down have you ever been down 36 minutes and came back and won the last four have you been up they make a run and you got to make another run all that stuff adds up to the experience a young team like ours needed middle a right here Cal well cow
Will Graves AP y Yin don’t play good defense where are you from um not from here I work here but I’m not from here I covered you a long time ago where at in in Lexington okay and obviously I made an impression anyway anyway um do you paint your hair
Did wasn’t go ahead I’m sorry so it’s okay um the uh you know you talked eloquently about the blue collar you know if you don’t work you don’t eat you have players highly talented skilled players that come in and your program has the best of everything I mean that’s
The way that it is how do you you instill that blue collar you know work ethic that you need to win with these kids and I’m not saying they’re not spoiled but they’re certainly well taken care well most of them are fighting for their families that’s why you come to
Kentucky um can I do some humble brag up here absolutely okay your so 70% of the players who accept a scholarship with us get drafted 70% of that 73% get to second contracts the guys in the league right now have made over four Bill billion not million billion dollars and
When you talk bam Maxi Devin dearon um uh Shay is going to make 400 I mean it’ll be six billion in the next two years you come to Kentucky to prepare yourself for the rest of your life you don’t come for nil even though you’ll be you saw our managers are got
Nil deals so yeah it it’s all neat but that ain’t why you come and you learn to be a great teammate you know why you got to share you’re not going to be told you’re going to start how many minutes how many shots that’s why there are kids
That will never come here because sometimes they think there’s an easier path there is no easy path and these kids live in the gym we have a a machine called a Noah machine that’s over top our baskets ours is a training facility not really a basketball practice facility it’s a training facility when
They walk in their face recognition we all know how many shots they taken when they’re missing how many they why are they missing and they come in there and they live in there Tyler hero lived in the gym he lived in there show did Shay they were again fighting for their
Families and in these kind of tournaments they understand you’re fighting for each other you fight for each other you do this together but you know they you know if anybody comes here and then tries to get soft you don’t play and the guys that live in the gym
That played for me those guys the Michael kids the Anthony davises those guys the Brandon Knights I can go on and on living in the gym they’re the ones that busted through most of it they made it happen we have a stage for you to go
Show what you are but they’ve got to do it I tell them all the time I don’t have a magic one it isn’t that it’s the culture it’s the process it’s being a great teammates how about this why would good players want to play together when they know they have to
Share cuz really good players want to play with other really good players if you’re not so good you want to be the man the main guy until they play box in one triangle and two and every defense is St I’m not having any fun yeah it’s hard when you’re trying to they’re
Looking at you and saying we’re stopping you hard to do when you have a full team I don’t know if that makes sense was that the even what you asked me okay right medal Coach Cal biley Tucker college basketball review you guys were knocked out of the SEC tournament pretty quickly
To Texas A&M what is your message to your team to try to bounce back off that loss and make a run here in the tournament a lot of teams got beat early in their tournament we just happened to be one of them so let’s go we got more
Rest I took them bowling we went bowling who was the best bowler we had everybody said Antonio because they know he bowls he didn’t it was Trey Trey never told anybody he was a bowler bowled over 200 we split him up and let him compete and laugh and eat and let’s
Now let’s regroup and get back after it I mean there you won’t believe this there are teams and sometimes it seems to be against us the team plays their absolute best game against us and you lose but you learn from it you win or you learn we learn we move on
And let’s go and U me being the coach probably at my age now hurts me more and it takes me a little more time to get over it but when it’s done it’s done I move on and let’s go my job right now is to just one every year make them make
Sure they’re playing their best basketball in March second thing is take it off them take it on your own shoulders let them be young players and let them play and have fun and the third thing is to make sure they’re focused about being together and connected so but I’m not
The only coach doing that it’s every coach trying to do they want their team at march to be at their best back mle John darl Bird again I know you talked a lot about Pittsburgh I’m curious you personally growing up in the 60s and 70s some of your favorite
Memories any of the Pittsburgh professional athlet you kind of idolized or anything like that yeah and and uh you know we were we were Steeler fans um I never got to somebody said you go to a hockey game where were we getting the money to go to a hockey game what or
The Steeler game my Uncle Joe had two tickets for his whole life when no one was going so he kept them and I think I got to go to a Steeler game one or two times with him um and the Pirates everybody went to opening day and mobbed three River
Stadium to be 60,000 in the next game there’d be 3,000 and I don’t know how I got in there but my memories uh the Immaculate Reception you know which is a ball hit against the Oakland Raiders that you know I mean I was a bill mazeroski fan all the
Time you know Forbes field which is up in Oakland I they have the plates still there and he hits the home run to beat the Yankees um Clint Hurdle and I were great friends Mike and I have been great friends um so I get to come up here and
You know really watch and do it and my high school team made the playoff for the first time in 30 years Moon high school that was a big deal Newcastle beat us made me mad but you know it like it it none of us had much but we
Didn’t never did without I mean I you know it’s I’m not trying to say I walked uphill on the way and on the way back I mean it’s it’s what it was in Western PA um but I wouldn’t want to be with any where I was the way we never had a
Credit card anybody ever do layaway here you do layaway okay that’s how we got Christmas they laid it away for four or five months we did lay away for furniture like that’s just how it was Mom and Dad weren’t going to have a credit card we weren’t going to owe anybody
So I don’t have a credit card yes I do but I just say that we only have time for a few quick questions last questions so we got one right here you could go since you have the mic and then right there in right middle and
Then you yeah I give the okay so three quick ones here so starting right here with the mic left here yep shallel be s WPXI John you haven’t really coached in Pittsburgh since the 80s but it’s very clear that your passion for the area and love for the area is still very real
What and my time at pit was special for me it’s when I first got my first full-time job um you know coach Chipman hired me um coach Evans kept me and then I got hired by a school that uh I don’t think anybody wanted the job that’s why
I got it you mess but yes I do and pit is special to me so what about your roots here just continue to be so important to you all these years later it’s where I grew up it’s where you know my my dad is no longer here my mother passed away in November
2010 but my sisters aren’t here but I have aunts and uncles and cousins and family and friends and my teammates some of them live around here um you know uh it it Pittsburgh is just how can I say it’s such a small City it’s just not like a city city it’s
And you have areas north side Southside you know you have uh out in Alaqua you have a different every there it’s a Melting Pot of everybody um my dad worked at J&L Steel for a while uh my family uh worked with ANS Railroad and American Bridge and all that they went
Through that my dad worked at the near the blast furnace said he had to stop and he ended up going to the airport working for Allied Aviation which fueled the planes because he said if I stayed there I was going to die I was near the
Black you know he’s losing 10 pounds a day but that’s you’re feeding your family you want your children to have a better life than you had that’s what Pittsburgh was and is um I love going to the Steeler game and seeing the fans they’re like my neighbors they’re you
Know and probably put up a lot of money to get tickets and they go and they are sometimes it’s like Kentucky fans they are engaged and if Mike loses they’re engaged it’s how it is I mean with those kind of that’s why I love the fans of
Kentucky a good friend of mine said to me look everything has become negative you can’t talk to each other anymore now it becomes what’s the nastiest thing and saying that’s why I just say to my team and myself just I got to just ignore and know it’s where things are but I’m not
Going to let it affect me and how I do my job because I’ve got people’s children their Precious Child I’m coaching them so I’ve got to stay focused and try to get them to stay focused last one you notice my answers are short but out of respect to all the
All the other teams this is the last one right here we just talked with Brook prior ESPN we were just talking with Greg campy be your good friend before you came in here and he was pretty strong in advocating for the tournament to not expand with some of the proposals
On the table what are your thoughts on that and it does it Dawn on you that this could be the last time that there are 68 teams in the field and it could be even bigger next year I hope it stays where it is Um you know I know people get mad they get mad at the committee you won’t believe this I’ve been mad at that committee a few times but it you may be mad because of your seed or where they shipped you to I’ve said go to the
Scurve the whole way down then no one you just rank them one through 68 and go like that well we can’t because this and leagues and all that but it doesn’t matter who the committee is we’re all going to be upset you know who’s going
To be upset now and I love it football coaches because it don’t matter that it was four and there are two that are mad now they’re going to how many so they’re going to be 18 that are mad and there it’s part of the NCA tournament not
Getting in getting in Bad Seed good seed and I I always say this when you give a good team a bad seed it’s not them you’re screwing it’s everybody they play that shouldn’t have to play that team that early and so it’s part of what it
Is let’s keep it it’s too good a thing it’s the event like you could tell I’m excited about coaching in this yeah I’m excited about being home but it would have they could have shent sent us to Spokan I already talked to Mark Fu I was
Going to stay at his house watch his dogs I was good if they sent us there but here I’m trying to make sure what I did today at practice I had a bunch of friends at practice they saw it I wasn’t looking I was practicing got to take
Some pictures done now we play a game this is a business trip for me and I’ll say everybody that’s in this thing I would say they’d say the same thing keep it where it is don’t mess with something that’s great and the committee literally don’t care what
Whoever’s on it it’s going to say get the same grief that this group got the last group got it’s what it is no science to this you’re going to make some mistakes thanks coach appreciate your time for NC States student athletes cas okay studl you more got your name plac right here
Okay just a quick friendly reminder cell phon should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted ham Communications is providing the video feed which will be available on the NCA media hub okay we’re here with NC State student athletes DJ horn DJ Burns Jr and Casey
Morsel we have 15 minutes for the student athletes before head coach please raise your hand to ask questions in a person with the microphone will will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you are joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address
Questions in the room first and get to the zoom if time allows questions for the student athletes right here to the left uh Cameron Hoover from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette so obviously you guys were a high seed in the ACC tournament ended up winning it and now
You’re here do you guys sort of feel like a uh a chip on your shoulder coming into the NCA tournament which you guys weren’t necessarily in the conversation for heading into the conference tournament um yeah you good yeah okay uh I I feel like you know coming into this
Tournament we definitely have a lot of confidence um all along we knew we were a good team uh we just you know had some ups and downs throughout the season so uh to be able to pull it all together for uh you know a great conference tourning run and then ultimately winning
It uh coming into this you know with a lot of confidence all right right middle Bailey Tucker college basketball reveal DJ Burns um you just really exploded in the AC tournament I feel like all of social media people were just talking about you what’s it been like since that
Happened it’s been kind of crazy you know the exposure that you get playing at this level is really a matched and I didn’t really realize it until after that game how big it could possibly get uh it’s truly been a blessing to the right Micha o peric ABC
11 out of Raleigh uh you ended the season on a four-game losing streak you’re here at pit right before the ACC tournament you’re obviously coming back a team with a lot more confidence is this a bit of a full circle moment that you’re now on this stage compared to
Where you were maybe two weeks ago just down the street uh no not really um I would say because uh you know we’re kind of a new team and our approach headed into the postseason was that it’s a new season um you know one of the things we always
Talked about in our meetings before the before the tournament started is that you know it’s zero and zero everybody’s record is 0 Z and we took that approach um as if you know it’s a fresh start and that was um the foundation for us to get momentum right here front right
GE L avalan joural DJ horn you were teammates with Warden Washington Devin Cambridge at Arizona State last year is it weird kind of going on opposing Sidelines this time and do you just have any kind of stories from your time together in Arizona State uh you know it’s always cool to
You know see your friends and everything that you know you play with in the basketball World um so being able to play against them even though I don’t I don’t know what their status will be tomorrow um it’ll be good to see see those guys again knowing that you know
We were just here last year questions for student athletes right here to the left on your ACC tournament run you obviously beat a couple really good teams Duke North Carolina do you sort of think that that uh gives you a bit of a leg up going into the NCAA tournament
That you kind of faced off against a one seed and I think duk of four just kind of already going through them I guess uh yeah for sure um I think you know one of the great things about the tournament is that we faced um all different types of adversity whether it
Be injuries um just different schemes that we played against um so we’re definitely going to use um those lessons that we that we learned from the tournament um heading into this March manage run on with the Wolfpack Sports Network you guys are a different team than you
Were at the end of the regular season I’d like each one of you to comment on what you think this team is is doing best right now let’s start with DJ horn and work our way down um I would just say you know I feel like we’re very
Really connected right now and um I think everybody’s on the same page of what you know is expected of us or expected of you know each and every one of us so uh um I would just say the connectedness I say our defense it was kind of good towards the beginning of
The year but I think that after we had those the four games going into the tournament we de decided that we weren’t going to be that team who you know we decided to leave that defense in the past and you know really step up I think our guys have been doing well attening
The detail and just stepping up yeah um picky back on what they said I mean I think uh you know we’re not beating ourselves um as much as we did in the regular season um you know we’re kind of you know just kind of outplaying teams but we’re we’re you know not
Shooting ourselves in the foot questions for our student athletes right here front right you guys all being graduate players and you got they kind of full of these older guys for all three of you how much of that is kind of the driving force behind the ACC tournament run and
Kind of where you’re at now this is kind of it for us we need to do something with this opportunity in front of us let’s do it again DJ horn work your way down um yeah I would say you know just knowing that this is uh all of our last
Year you know we came into this um especially the ACC tournament just with a lot of desperation um I would say for myself personally I just didn’t want the season to be over and uh going into the tournament I felt that from each and every one of my
Teammates I would say the same it was big for me that we don’t go home you know the way we were um set up to be a part of the tournament we most likely would not have made it without it and we just decided that we were going to go
Out and fight give it everything we got and we got the job done to make it here Casey um question yeah I forgot the question yeah you repeat the question real quick yeah um it’s big just because um yeah I mean just you know you work so
Hard all summer I’m sure every team does but uh you know this group like I said has faced a lot of adversity and you know our record from the regular season shows that and um you know the fact that you know things are starting to click and things are starting to get going
Um it’s a great story that um that we all value so we’re definitely going to do our best to uh make it a fairy tale ending question to the right I know each season is different each team is different was there ever any conversation after Saturday about the
History you did achieve the first ACC Championship for NC State in 37 years um yeah we talked about it a little bit but um just with how fast everything’s been kind of moving the past couple days having to get ready to get up here for the tournament everything I don’t think
We really had a chance to process it all um but you know the city has shown a lot of love and um I think you know over time we’ll we’ll see more like you know just what we did any more questions for our student athletes right here back
Right I’m just wondering what each of you guys uh think um about uh how this team came together during the week last week can you talk a little bit about that did you feel something different happening uh during that run in case you want to take that
Work your way down yeah uh well I mean yeah I mean it was taking it one game at a time just focusing on um going one and0 um you know and you know I I think you know trying to mute out the the noise and distractions leading up to the
Game um you a lot of a lot of negativity outside of our locker room and um yeah just just focusing on the task at hand and whatever happens at the end of season happens really so we our backs were against the wall we embraced the the underdog mentality and you know the
Rest is history DJ Burns yep I’d say we used it as motivation um going into you know the disrespect that we were getting our coach and us as players you know every night just when we lost those games just complete disrespect and we took it personally and I think that that’s kind
Of what the driving force was some of those teams that we played against they had disrespected us as well and we were just tired of it honestly um yeah I’ll just go back on what I said about about us just being connected um and everybody was honestly
Just focused it felt like you know we all really understood what our roles were and uh we were just going to go out there and execute that every night and um and then you know having the monkey on your back of you know if we lose a
Game you go home and this is it uh I think that was something that we you know definitely motivated us any more questions for our student athletes all right thank you appreciate it on e chance Dar d there you e stre e for all right please raise your hand to ask
A question and a person with the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address the questions in the room first and get to the zoom if time allows questions for Coach right here in the
A Kevin will Graves Associated Press I me coming off five games where you played as well as you’ve played all season against teams that you have obviously deep ties against how do you know the challenge you don’t know any about these guys you’re playing tomorrow there’s not that connection that
Emotional Edge how do you rebuild it for your guys yeah that’s a that’s a really good question because one of our motivation motivating factors you know in the ACC is we almost was like on a revenge tour you know I think against that that collection of group that we
Beat we were uh two and six and we were trying to figure out all right how do we clean our stuff up and get better and not make the mistakes all of the games that we played were really close and we knew we should have won most of those games um
But Texas Tech is different I mean it’s we haven’t played them um they they are well coached they can score inside out they play with a certain physicality um and so we got I got to figure out the I kind of got to trick them and tell them
I think it’s somebody else maybe we point out that it’s another team in our league and they’re very similar to that but it’s one of those things where um you know when you get the postseason you got to be perfect because it doesn’t take it sometime it’s a five minute
Stretch sometime it’s a 10-minute stretch sometime it’s just as easy as missing baskets and you can go home and so you know I hopefully that experience from winning those five games will help us as we move forward questions for Coach left middle Brook prior ESPN coach I was just
Talking with Mo in the locker room about how he’s managing Ramadan and everything through the tournaments what does it say about his commitment both to religion and to you guys and his resilience that he is managing too I mean pretty high emotional things at the same time I mean
It shows his maturity at a high level um you know I at my age I couldn’t do it and he’s doing it and you know he’s um you know obviously his faith is very special to him and also the same thing can be said about his team and his
Teammates and I mean he’s hounded like a champion and you know playing well and understanding what he has to do and you know my head goes go off to him for that and when you see the late tip time are you’re like thank goodness we don’t have
To worry about the gel packets and everything in the middle of the game well the the late tip time was great it’s for a lot of reason for Mo and and our entire team like when the I’m sitting there for selection Sunday and you know you you you know your name’s
Going to be called because you get an automatic birth because we won the ACC but I I tell you what I was asking for Friday or I was asking for a late start on on Thursday and um the Lord answered my prayer for that y questions for Coach right
Here Cameron Hoover from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette I’d say a couple weeks ago a lot of people probably wouldn’t have assumed that your team would be here in this position now do you kind of find that the guys sort of have a chip on their shoulder because of that or maybe
Even like a freedom in being here when a lot of people assume that they wouldn’t have been yeah I just I don’t think our guys listen to what other people thought and you know we we kind of kept it in our locker room and you know chip on
Their shoulder possibly but I don’t think it’s because people didn’t think we could make it here like you know it never crossed our mind in our locker room we have always stayed as a c a close um Nick group and we knew you know think about this you know we went you
Know one game from going 500 in our league um we were right there we had a I think what really threw people off is that we had had a really strong back endend of our schedule Florida State on the road um here at Pittsburgh on the road then you got Carolina Duke on
Saturday Sunday and it kind of it threw everybody off because they’re like man are they are they a good team uh the also thing nobody ever factored in that in our league we had the third toughest um conference schedule and so we were T we were battle tested going into that
But I think our guys just knew that some of the games that we lost we could have won questions for Coach right here front right Nathan GE love avalan journal what was kind of The Scouting aspect like for you for looking at Texas Tech because they’ve been playing without their big
Guy for a while he might be back and they kind of change how they do things without him what did you kind of look for in terms of getting ready for this game are you telling me he’s back you got some I have no idea no um I think
When you get to this situation to tournament you prepare for everyone and you know we you have to at times prepare for two different situation doesn’t change the fact how good those guards are and you know how well they’ve been playing on you know defensively and
Everything else but you know I don’t I just when you get to a tournament situation and it’s one and done if you don’t take care of business you have to prepare for every situation and you got to prepare for every young person playing and that’s what we did we just
We locked in and um man he’s really good I mean he makes some talented but to their credit they’re really good with or without him also over here on the left Brook prior ESPN again Kevin we just talked with Cal and Greg campy and they were both Advocates to not expand the
NCAA tournament what are your thoughts on that especially as a team that without an automatic birth you may not be sitting here today well I totally disagree with them um and not because I just want to disagree with them I I think it should be some expansion um I
Just think it’s too many you know student athletes did not get the opportunity to play in postseason you when you look at football they don’t have that issue you know you can make a bowl game and you know under 500 now and the experience of you know we talk about
The student athlete experience and the only thing that really in my opinion that has not changed is expanding the the um the tournament and I don’t have a number I don’t know what that should be but I do think we should give more schools opportunities to be able to get
In the tournament all of our conferences all of our power power five conferences are going to you know um 17 18 teams and so when you think about that now let let’s say us for the ACC which I think is really not fair we we getting five
Out of 15 if we get seven out of 18 pretty it’s not a pretty number and so in my opinion you know when I was at Mid major I thought you know I should have an opportunity I was at UNCW we had won 28 games and if I didn’t win that
Championship game no matter what I did I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play in the tournament so somehow we got to figure it out and I’m not saying that you got to load it up with high major teams I’m saying that more student athletes in my opinion should have the
Opportunity to play in the best you know postseason tournament you know in college you know with that with the postseason experience are you surprised then that there are a number of teams that are declining nit invites that were not invited to the NCAA tournament does that just having
Any kind of postseason experience matter or is it specifically NCAA tournament postseason experience well I think it’s a I think it’s and I know this is going to sound funny I think it’s a trickle down from what happens in football and I think we’re finally getting it in
Basketball you you go to bowl games and if they’re not in the playoffs I mean how many teams show up at a bowl game with without most of their good players I think what happens in basketball now I think it’s and I hope it’s not a trend
But now everybody’s eager if you don’t make the big dance and because you can transfer right away most people are saying I’m gonna get into the portal so I can figure out what my new opportunity is so I think it’s a I think we’re getting a little bit of what football’s
Had and not playing in the biggest bowl games and because of the transfer portal people are jumping in right away right here coach Bailey Tucker CBB review um you could arguably say that DJ Burns was a very underrated big and we all got to see him shine in that ACC
Tournament how has that been watching him just take his game to new heights and people starting to recognize the player that he really is well it’s you know just to see how much he’s gotten a lot better in a lot of areas he could always score the basketball um defensively we’ve had a
Lot of work to do and I think he’s got better in that area he’s starting to rebound the basketball but what he’s you know since he’s gotten to NC State the one thing he’s become and his numbers really reflect that this year is he’s become a really Elite passer um and you
Know we run a lot of stuff through him because he he Demands a lot of uh double teams and everything to be able to pass the ball out but he’s also he’s also a prideful young man I mean he didn’t he didn’t make first team second team third
Team or honorable mention in our league and that nothing that because when you when people don’t make it you always say who should come off the list I think I think there some really good teams I mean really good players that made it but he didn’t and I think that bothered
Him a little bit and I think it helped him throughout the ACC tournament obviously being the MVP coach every year every team is different what makes this specific group special well I think this group’s uh different because we can do it in different ways um we we have the ability
To score inside we have the ability you know for those guards to uh really play well you know uh On Any Given night you know one of these guys can lead us in scoring um it happened at least four times in the ACC tournament last year
Was a really good team our team was really good but we we had to go as taquon Smith and J kjah went and if those two guys didn’t play well we Wen going to win we can have games now where you know um one of our best players
Might not have the greatest game but somebody else can lead us right here Cameron Hoover Pittsburgh Post cazette again um so having your NCA Tournament game in Pittsburgh in an ACC City obviously you didn’t play in this Arena but you played in this city just a
Couple weeks ago you sort of think that familiarity is going to help you guys you know no only if we played in the arena um you know these you know that the way our guys travel and I can’t remember the P I do remember the Pittsburgh was a late Saturday night
Game and we got in and then after the game we got out sometime these guys don’t even know what city they’re in but if if we would if we were playing the game at Pittsburgh I think we had Advantage but it’s better than you know
Last year we had to travel to to the West Coast and um you know obviously it didn’t work well for us our conditioning wasn’t good because of the altitude and everything else probably got time for a couple more questions if they’re out there questions for Coach all right back
Right Kevin I asked the players this uh uh earlier what what do you think this team is doing best right now well I think the one thing we’re doing um really really good is that we we’ve been locked into scouting reports and understanding our jobs and we talk
About a lot of time is do your job and do it at a high level and we’re starting to to complement each other both offensively and defensively you know kind of knowing where we should be and you know finding the hot person at times
And all of this stuff is end of the year maturity things like things that you know we our ball screen coverage wasn’t very good at Point at some points in the um early season and you could tell because we’ve had so many transfers that now we’re starting to click then we’re
Clicking at the right time any more questions for Coach we good thank you coach thanks guys appreciate itate brother thank you what for our final group will be Texas Tech first up student athletes at 3:35 here’s goach yep just she for for for e for for C p question now for for all
For t for e e e e e e okay just a friendly reminder cell phone should be turned off or put on silent and that flash photography is not permitted Hammond Communications is providing the video feed which will be available on FTP site found on the NCA
Media hub therefore no video cameras are permitted including cell phones or tablets thank you for your cooperation transcripts are provided by ASAP and will be posted online and printed and distributed in the media workroom e so they’re coming in few it was kind of it was kind of
Split that should be the door yeah to e for for your place here hot mic okay we are here with Texas text student athletes chance McMillan Darion Williams and Kerwin Walton we have 15 minutes with student athletes before head coach Grant mccastlen please raise your hand to ask a question and a person
With the microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function for questions we will address the questions in room first and get to zoom if time allows questions for the student athletes right here in the
Middle Daren can we get an update on uh your status uh you knew it was going to be asked and are you expecting to play tomorrow uh yeah I’m expecting to play I’m still taking it day by day though but uh I’m anticipating playing tomorrow
And then just for all the guys uh just talk about being here in Pittsburgh and and getting the play tomorrow against NC State K you want to start and work our way down uh yes um most exciting time of the year for us uh this is what we’ve
Been preparing for all season long so you know everything we been done in practices and all the games we played has led us up to the uh tomorrow tomorrow’s first game so you know we’re all excited to be here just remember to state your name and media affiliation is our microphone out
Questions for student athletes right here in the middle hey Brook prior with ESPN for all three of you guys what’s the challenge in playing a team like NC State that just went on a hot run through the ACC tournament obviously they’re kind of riding the high of that but also playing
Five games in five days I’m sure there’s some level of just exhaustion that comes along with that uh yeah they’ve they’ve done things that are um that most people say is very tough um you know everybody that’s in this tournament you know is here for a
Reason so um to me every team’s in this tournament is good so we got to be prepared and you know we’ve been uh doing a whole lot of practicing and a whole lot of preparation so we going to be uh ready for Tomorrow questions go ahead yeah sorry just approaching like any other game I mean they’re going to come in excited they’re not going to come in just let us win the game so we’re got to come in and we beat him J you want to add on to that what Daran said sounds
Good questions for student athletes right here front right you think you used love a gal Journal Kerwin you’ve had a little bit of experience against NC State in previous life years do you does some of that kind of animosity towards the wolf pack carry over from your days at
Carolina yeah I mean I I remember playing uh playing these guys a few times uh my first couple years at Carolina and it’s always been you know it’s always been Animas between the two schools but uh you know it’s a whole new environment for me so it’s going to be a
Little bit of a different game a little bit of a different feeling but you know at the end of the day we’re going to show up we’re going to show up to win right middle Cole Banker Red Raider Nation all three of you guys have been here before what have you learned from
Those past experiences that you can take in tomorrow and going forward let’s start with chance and work our way down um I would say we just have to stay together because the few the past few games I’ve been up here um I would say the biggest difference is the team
Staying together so our togetherness should help us um for me just making sure everybody’s coming to get ready to play last year I got blown out from the beginning so I think just being ready to go from the jump yeah I mean they they said the best
We got a uh we’ve been we’ve done a lot to be here so I think for us it’s going to have to make sure we you know play hard and play morning play together questions for student athletes every year every team’s different we’ll start with you current
Work your way down what makes this team specifically special uh well for us I think it’s just um the tenacity and grit that we play with you know we we’ve had a lot of games where we’ve been came down big and you know we kept clawing and fighting
Back and getting into it cuz you know we we kind of just uh you know we play for each other that’s kind of like one of our biggest strengths um just as us being able to just you know claw out of anything and I think that’s going to
Take us very far in this tournament uh I think just the togetherness we play with each other for I mean we play for each other the whole time nobody’s trying to worried about themselves everybody just trying to win and no matter the situation in the game
We feel like we can come back and win it so I think that’s it yeah I would I would agree with uh Daren cuz we do play for each other and we do care about each other a lot which will help us like on the court too cuz we mess with each
Other on the court I mean off the court so on the court it just it’s just natural like we all are one right here yep kwin you you mentioned earlier about your you know past life than the animosity between you andc and NC State but with that experience of playing NC State
Previously how much does that help you guys in preparing for a team that there isn’t a lot of history with how much can you take carry over from facing them previously and knowing what they do on offense and defense even though this is a different team from the ones that
You’ve played yeah I mean you know they got they got some different guys under their squad um you know but I’m I’m pretty familiar with like the ACC and you know their play style a little bit so you know it’s nothing it’s not going to be like something that’s completely
New to me or something I haven’t seen before but you know coach Mack has done a whole lot to help us prepare and he’s been doing you know he didn’t know anything he told us he didn’t know anything about NC State um before selection Sunday but you know he knows
Everything about him now so you you know we’ve we done a whole lot to to get to this point and be prepared for it so I think we’re going to be you know well acquainted with them back right uh Gary Han Wolfpack Sports network uh what have the coaches
Told you about NC State what have you seen on film number one and number two uh DJ Burns is a uh is a tough matchup inside uh if you’d uh give you each of you give your opinion on the how you’d like to handle him chance you want to
Start um we have watched a lot of film uh we know right now they’re they’re in a role right now so they’re playing for each other right now and for DJ you just got have to see that tomorrow yeah I mean they’re playing really well as a team obviously won five
Games in five days and just got to play better than him tomorrow yeah I mean for us it’s it’s going to be simple uh I think you know the game is going to be more dictated by us and just how we play and how we approach that’s kind of like
One of our biggest focuses right now um you know we know DJ Burns he’s a really good player and you know just like everybody else so we’re going to have to you know always be locked in for everybody you know they’re they’re a hot team right now so we’re going to be
Really on on edge Tomorrow any more questions for student right here right in the middle aisle Pete Christie from KCBD and LC for all the guys starting with chance just uh what has Grant mccastlen brought to you guys in his first year what a great run you guys have had what does he mean
To you and what has he instilled in you guys um he means everything to me uh he continues to like give us lessons like off the court I really do appreciate him about that and um he really emphasizes about us like a bunch of like team stuff
Like we like need to like care more about each other and I felt like during the year we continue to do that so I appreciate him for that yeah I mean coach Mack I mean me and Joe talk about it he’s more of a life coach than a basketball coach sometimes he teaches
You a lot about how you should move throughout your life and I mean it means a lot to me me and him have a pretty good relationship we talk he even he asked me a lot about how I’m doing outside of basketball so it means a lot
To me yeah I mean he he values you know the well-being and uh of of us more than you know anything outside really you know to us he’s like we’re like his extended family and you know we all share common goals is winning that’s all he talks about you know every practice
And you know every before after every single game you know um even the even in the summer before you know the first time I met him our main the main topic of discussion was how we going to find a way to win a National Title so I think
That’s kind of what made him such a great coach and a great person question right here to the right chance chance and keran being the two seniors out here with this the possibility of it being it for you guys does that add a level of motivation to succeed this weekend and
Next weekend uh for sure it does it does have me on on edge and it makes me want to or it allows me to to bring that that um that fight cuz like it could be it for me so I’m telling my teammates to like Fight Hard do whatever you can to
Help us win cuz I don’t want to go out s yeah I mean it’s uh it’s going to be a big deal for both of us you know including our other seniors uh Joe and Warren you know like those guys uh this is their last last year and you know we
Kind of we play for for them you know we we play for each other and we always like have our best interest at heart so I think you know it’s going to be very important for us to you know make a big of a statement as we can any more questions for student
Athletes right here front right dear you’re kind of the young guy up here right now you got some older guys on this team what have you learned from some of these older guys throughout this season just kind of the wisdom whether it’s basketball life um I mean besides certain things in
Game situation I think the biggest thing is don’t take it for granted cuz soon enough I’ll be a senior be in the same spot as some of these other guys and it goes by fast so just enjoy the moment don’t take anything for granted any more questions for student athletes all right thank
You for yes you do you put water here okay please raise your hand to ask a question and a person with a microphone will come over please state your name and media affiliation if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raiseed hand function for questions we will address
Questions in the room first and get to the zoom if time allows questions for Coach mccastlen ready left middle Brook prior with ESPN Grant what’s the challenge in facing a team like State that’s coming off of five games in five days so there’s obviously some exhaustion that comes with that but
They’re also a team that’s riding a hotak how do you kind of square those two things yeah well I can tell you in watching NC State compete you can just tell they’ve found the right group of guys with the right roles and that’s kind of what that’s why you play a
Season because it it’s how do you finish the year is the most important part and everybody wants to talk about like maybe a stretch even for us where we’ve been hurt but man I really have a lot of respect for not just the way they’ve identified roles but the way they’re
Competing I mean if you saw the loose balls and the rebounding that they were coming up with at the end of the game I mean their effort is is just tremendous and so this time of year you got some teams that are playing together and finding a rhythm offensively and then
You have some teams that are like competing to win and watching them play you could tell not not only have they identified what they want to do offensively and defensively but they’re just really finding the extra effort plays that really win you games and I have so much respect for how they’re
Competing as a team and there’s there’s a reason why they won and it’s not just offense and finding the right guys it’s the way they’re they’re getting uh rebounds and the way they’re competing defensively question over the left coach Bailey Tucker CBB review obviously the Big 12 is a very competitive conference
Arua the best conference within the NCAA is there a team that you went up against this year that kind of matches up with how NC State plays yeah great question um no NC State I mean that’s why the Big 12 is such a great conference in
Preparation I mean if you can handle it without getting everybody hurt it’s awesome and that’s been the issue with our league right now as you can see it’s widespread um you know NC State does remind me of a couple of our teams in our league and and I do think it’s a
Cross of a couple of them and we’ve identified that I hate saying anything other than that but just from a team standpoint though I think they have that inside out approach that I think gives you a chance to win every night and they’ve got great playmaking on the
Inside which is unique and then they also have guards that can make plays and not many teams have both and to give them credit right now they’ve identified and found a way to utilize both of them across different parts of the game and they’re extremely difficult to defend having watched him on
Film questions for Coach right here front right Nathan geese lck Avalanche Journal you you’ve had some success in this tournament before but in kind of a different setting during the covid era they not a lot of fans involved there how different is this all for you this
Time around yeah well you know the the unique part about the last time we were in the tournament we we played Purdue in Indianapolis so actually for a CO it was quite a few people there and the energy in the building was great um such a joy
To have the opportunity to play in the NCA tournament and when you get to this point if you can’t create your own energy as a team and find a way to be motivated by how you compete for each other then you’re going to go home early if you’re looking for an external
And and we’ve been a part of great we’ve got the one of the best homec Court I think is the best home court advantage in college basketball at home and then we’ve played in some of the best uh Road environments and both of them I can tell
You this if you can find a way to compete for your team it gives you the best chance to win regardless of where you play right over there to the right Co Banker Red Raider Nation coach how has Warren looked the past week um and what would you say his status is for
Tomorrow yeah uh there’s if there’s one question I’ve been asked um more than anything it’s how’s waren Washington and uh I think you know we tried to play him a month or so ago in the UCF game and I felt like he was great in practice then
We got out there and he made one move in the game and you could tell by the look on his face he wasn’t quite ready um I am encouraged by the fact that he’s continued to improve we have had him involved in practices but I just don’t
Think you know to what extent he’s going to be uh able to go until we get out there and you know I do think he’ll be a game time tocis and we’ll just have to see how he warms up and see if he’s able to play and you have Coach you have been
Here before obviously during the covid season but you have been here and you’ve won here what have you learned from that first time around that you can apply towards tomorrow and advancing in this tournament well I I’m thankful I got to be an opper to be a junior college coach
At the age of 27 and uh didn’t know what I was doing and we made it to the National Tournament in junior college won a couple games beat the number one team in the country lost on tip dunk at the buzzer and I think the one mentality
You got to have going into this and I didn’t have that the first time around was you got to find a way to win every game that that’s o That’s obvious but you got to compete and can’t just be excited to be here I mean there’s a lot
Of fun that goes with this but I think the focus has to be like we can you play this to win it and told our guys like we’re going to join the NCA tournament to win it and that’s the mentality going into it and so how do you approach it
Every day to try to get the best and the way you do it is I think you better improve this time of year you better find a way to improve and keep improving so in today’s shoot around we’re going to try to get better in every opportunity you get you try to get
Better and the First Media timeout we better figure out a way to get better and and and then you play it all the way to the end and so I I’m thrilled because this group has embraced it they love each other which I think is the most important aspect but you approach every
Opportunity with the purpose of trying to find a way to improve and that allows you to win back middle no Flashman with the with the wolf Packer you talked about NC State’s interior you know playmaking especially led by DJ Burns you know how unique of a player is he and do you have
To prepare any different you know for a guy like that that can score but also pass out of the post yeah I mean what a matchup problem I mean DJ Burns is one of those guys that I don’t think there’s an answer for I think over the course of
The game you just have to learn what gives you the best opportunity that night and there’s no way to replicate what he’s doing either in practice so you just got to rely on your team defense and activity to find ways to disrupt it enough to where you hope that
You can create an advantage at some point but I’ll tell you what I mean NC State you can start with Burns he’s obviously such a load because he can pass and he can score but I love what they’re doing you know with the whole roster I mean middle Brooks has really
Made some big impact on him I think with his activity level and his movement and and then Di has been a problem with his rebounding and ability to make threes and he’s defending multiple positions and switching so I just think you know that whole combination group of Fords is really a great you
Know you know set of problems and they all present something different question in the middle right here Pete Christie from KCBD coach I just talked to the players and uh they talked about what you’ve instilled in them uh Daren said you’re more of a life coach than a
Basketball coach uh can you just talk about what these guys mean to you yeah and I’ve told several people this and I’m going to try to be as clear as I can college basketball is beautiful because there’s such great interest on your college campuses and we had
Students lined up in tents all through our campus to for one of our home games just the opportunity to be a part of this experience really is something that you have to be grateful for but what makes it special with all the pressure that these guys have on them to perform
Every day is who you get to do life with and I can tell you there’s nobody I’d rather be a part of this journey with than our group of guys and our staff and I I just when you love the people you’re with when you come in to practice and
You come into the building you can do hard things together when you love the people you’re with and that’s what I love about this group genuinely before we came over here for practice there’s two tables full of guys it was after lunch we were finished they could leave
Anytime they want none of them had their phones out and it was like they were all laughing and hanging out and if you can tell me like this is what it’s about I would point of all this the great Arenas the venues the games on TV if I could
Just video that table and those two tables of our team sitting there all talking without their phones out I would tell you this is what it’s about and their opportunity to do life together and to realize that their relationships will carry them forward through some more difficult things than what this
Tournament brings and I’m so thankful that they love each other and that they love this journey and I do think it teaches a lot about life more than just basketball any more questions for Coach thank you coach all right thank y’all ream thank you that concludes today’s press conferences ham Communications will post
A recording of all today’s press conferences in the NCA digital media hub in NCA aa. von.com transcripts are also provided by ASAP and will be posted online and printed and distributed in the media workroom thank you for joining us today see you tomorrow
