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Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena – Spokane, WA
E e e e e okay e for e e e e e for for e e e a little intro questions before we officially begin I’ll give you a couple reminders that you’ll hear a lot this weekend but um as a courtesy to those in the room we’d ask
Uh everyone to silence your cell phones um when you’re uh ready to ask a question if you could raise your hand we’ll get a microphone holder uh to you and if you would uh please give your full name and media affil affiliation each time you ask a question that would
Be great um if you’re joining on Zoom we would ask you to use the raiseed hand function for questions and we’ll address questions in the room first and then get to the virtual world as time allows and last reminder recording press conferences on cell phones and cameras
Is prohibited so we ask that you uh refrain from that and we’ll get you the information where to find these um in the NCA media hub uh when we’re finished so we’re excited to get started very pleased to welcome UAB student athletes yel linderborg and Eric Gaines
To the stage yel is the AA tornament mop Eric is the team second leading score and we’ll go ahead and open it up to questions for for yaxel and Eric can answer this describe what coachen is like yel let’s start with you well coach AK is a um very tough
Coach you know he tells you what you want to Hear coach AK is a very tough coach you know he tells you what you want to hear and he speaks from experience you know because he’s a players coach so uh he relates to us and you know sometimes in game he sees things you don’t see so
It’s a very helpful and real like role model dad type figure kind of guy and uh I know real appreciate with him yeah I’m going piggy back off with Yak say you know he’s a he’s a hard coach you know he’s outgoing he’s going
To tell you what you want to know and uh love him to death he he put me in a position to make me be great and I love him for that uh Julian Mitchell wbtm 13 in Birmingham uh for both of you guys at one point in
This season yall were four and five had lost three straight I’m interested and obviously you’ve rattled off all these wins to get to this point what was that conversation in the locker room at that point in the season kind of what has led to now this turn here being in
Smokane um around that time we were still around that time we was still getting to know each other uh we were all new and in the locker room you know we were just telling each other just like Let’s Stay Together uh we’re not going to be in the ho this ditch forever
You know what I’m saying it’s going to come to light and we got we got we got rolling we got got knowing each other and started winning got that little streak and been going up since like I can’t explain I mean we were we were a new group you
Know and it was just it was just hard you know coming back and seeing the progress from the beginning of the uh time I came then as we started playing started rolling no doubt in the team started winning I would say we had multiple talks in the locker room some with no
Change um eventually you know once you get that first three game win streak now you start feeling really good about yourself and uh we start trusting our teammates more than we did before and uh started clicking more our defense really lacked all year but eventually we started helping each other out more on
Defense which helped to more chemistry and just believing in ourselves and that’s what led to the wins D Jackson CBS 42 in Birmingham for both of you guys you actually just touched on something about chemistry On Any Given night it can be any player that scores it can be Eric can be the
Leading scorer AJ can be the leading scorer Yak you’ve been the leading scorer what is it about the chemistry and what is it about this team that makes it so special especially getting ready for the postseason here I would say uh you know we have a
Lot of uh threats like on offense like you name you know AJ he really uh carried us to our uh Championship win last game and um you know Daniel he’s been struggling all season but you know he stepped up being in the playoffs I feel like just try not to lose the
Motivation that you have and always find your reason while you’re playing you know uh coach AK believes in all his guys the same way either no matter how he chose it so I would just say keep the trust that we’ve had and Eric you know
Doing his best job to find those guys in the right spots and uh you know just making the the best of their time same thing you said you know just as a point guard fighting my teammates you know giving them confidence seeing them make a shot you know what I’m
Saying Let It Go in that’s it uh I wish we were closer but um it’s it’s a great experience you know for the whole Alabama State um seeing the team that you know made it to the tournament then maybe playing one of those teams you know so it’s a great
Experience yeah I would say it’s awesome too you know I’m a big Twitter guy and I always see those Alabama fans coming together you know to cheer one on and I just hope that you know those fans that are here early for other teams can maybe
Cheer us on as well we can do the same for them player that’s helpful more questions uh I’ll I’ll direct this specifically to you Axel there I know you’ve talked throughout this season about what it’s meant for you to to be a part of this team and to be here uh to
Have UAB and this group especially on this stage just how special is this moment and how are you all feeling heading into a very massive moment for this school and you guys as group yeah this moment is uh really big you know this is a dream come true of mine
You know uh before I signed to UAB I I told the fans you know that hopefully we can get a ring and I’ll try my best to get it for them and uh you know I succeeded in that aspect I would say um but playing here is really amazing you
Know I never thought I would get as close to coaching staff as I would you know cross really stepped up you know his recruitment with me and uh we got really close together but everybody else on the staff did a great job making me feel welcome and uh keeping me S I guess
We have a question on Zoom let’s go to Evan Dudley of alabama.com uh for yel uh and Eric both obviously uh you know y y’all Pride yourselves on uh defense a lot even though it hasn’t been the best defensive year but you’ve really kicked it up here in the last
Couple weeks what’s kind of the I guess the secret or the juice to being able to run the defenses that Andy asked you to you know switching a whole lot going from the one31 demand to man uh just kind of what goes into you know being
Able to have that ability to switch so much Eric first um just being physical you know uh we switch up defense a lot you know to confuse the opponent and I feel like when we do that we be aggressive in it it’s effective so I think that’s the key just being
Aggressive and being physical more uh tougher than other team another big part would be uh communication you know uh nothing really works unless you’re talking to your other guys and uh helping them see their blind spots and figuring out where to go next Eric you mentioned how of far away you
Guys are from Alabama are you um it’s important because uh I don’t think they can make it all the way over here and for us to be this many hours away and they’re watching on TV I feel like we got to go harder cuz we don’t have that you know fan support here
Besides our cheerleaders and probably our band so just got to go hard for them um yeah I I watched the game last year uh against fa and they lost a couple guys but they still have the same group um they’re physical uh they remind us of a North
Texas type defense and um we just got to be we just got to be tough I feel like that that’s the key to Victory just being tough and be able to score on offense we’re not really worried about defense our defense is going to show but offense I feel like we’re going to
Struggle a little bit so we just got to be tough and just finish plays you know execute the plays that’s it Jael yeah I watched that there their tournament run last year I like how they were a really well uh connected uh group you know they
Played off each other really well and uh you can see that they had belief and Trust in each other um I would say our biggest Point here like you said would be to score offensively because they have a great defensive group and you know just contain le le if I say his
Name right um and just make the most of what we can do time for one or two more questions if there are any you mention um they’re tough you know they’re connected uh they they do the most fundamental on D you know they ex
Out a lot they switch we just got to be physical we have like I said we have to ex our plays that you know AK calls that he sees is best going to work and just got to execute and be tough finish plays at the rim and when our Shooters are
Open we just got to be hands and feet ready knock down shot uh one thing they do is they close the gaps off really well you know don’t really give you a driving angle so I would say we got to be really tough with the ball and avoid countering as much as
We can like AK is telling us and that’ll be the biggest part of our success all right thank you guys appreciate the time for UAB student athletes and we’ll have Coach Kennedy Shortly we welcome UAB coach Andy Kennedy and we’ll ask for Coach to give a quick overview and then we’ll open it up to questions coach thank you yeah excited to be here it’s my first trip to Spokane and uh hope we get to stay a few days
Actually I’m I’m friends with Mark F we go back decades uh Dan mson uh really the guy that that helped get this thing started was actually a grad assistant at UAB uh when I was a player there so that’s how far back uh I go with with with the guys
That are the Pioneers behind this dynasty so excited to be here uh excited for my team who have certainly earned their way I don’t like that term bid stealing we didn’t steal anything we we earned our way here through the the play of our guys so really excited for them
And for the opportunity that this tournament presents um you’ve seen coaching from both sides of IT mid- Major High major the tournament expansion talk where do you stand on how many teams should be and what the access should be what’s what’s your take on it I’m definitely
For expansion um I’ve got some crazy ideas Ryan I I think we should do away with conference tournaments I think we should award the automatic to the regular season champ because I know a lot of it is timing timing is the essence of life right so a lot of people
Say we don’t want to expand the tournament because we have to finish at the appropriate time before those flowers start blooming at Augusta National so we they say we’re going to run out of time well we’re not going to run out of time if we move it back a
Week if we move if you added a week to the NCAA tournament and you based it off of I’m an analytics guy shout out to kenpom I I if you based it off kenpom rankings of your conference for instance I think we were the ninth rated conference maybe via kenpom this year
Meaning the American Athletic and with that if you finished in the top 10 you were going to get okay if you finished in the top four in the regular season then you’re going to get a bid to the NCA tournament if you’re the number one conference uh the Big 12 I don’t
Even know how many teams they have in there now but okay you’re the number one League you’re going to get 10 teams in the NCA tournament so forth and so on um everybody says oh I don’t want to do that it’s going to water it down I bet
You’ll watch and I bet you’ll pay to watch and I bet TV will pay to watch and I bet uh it’ll it’ll solve a lot of our problems but I don’t know what that number is um but I’m definitely for expansion coach D Jackson CBS 42 in Birmingham two questions number one how
Easy is it to get over the jet lag for this long trip when you’re coming to play in in March Madness and number two I asked the guys earlier on any given night you have any player that can step up for you how good is it to have this
Type of depth going into the tournament yeah we’ve actually in our last five games we’ve had five different leading scores we’ve been on both sides of this uh the last two years we had a kid named Jelly walker uh two years ago uh he stole the attention of a lot of people
In the in this field in the college basketball by the incredible run that he had in in the Conference USA Tournament leading us to a tournament Championship allowing us to to get back to the NCA tournament and everybody myself included knew that when a big shot was was going
To be taken it was going to be taken by him whether I wanted it to be or not uh he was going to take that shot this year it’s it comes from different guys uh we’re a team that’s that quite frankly is pretty mediocre in a lot of areas but
We’re really good at attacking that paint getting to the free throw line uh eating off our offensive glass and trying to put pressure on your defense by constantly attacking the two guys that were here prior Eric Gaines and yakel lyen Borg are both guys that will run a lot of offense through Alejandro
Vasquez in a in our Championship quest in beating Temple last Sunday scored 29 Points the most ever in a conference tournament game in UAB history and that’s a very storied history so we got a number of different guys that can rise up at any one time I would certainly
Like all of them to show up tomorrow let’s go to zoom and a question for Evan Dudley of al.com Evan uh two questions for you Andy uh number one uh this is a team that’s uh struggled a little bit with 131 uh at times this season just uh
You know what’s going to be kind of I guess the secret to kind of uh implementing that at times as much as you change defenses and number two what goes into guarding a guy like Jaden Le a guy who’s been named allamerican well F the second part first
Jaden Le is is tremendous you know we’re going to do our best to try to make him work for his touches shrink the floor as much as possible and try to match his physicality which are again easy to say but hard to do he’s a tremendous player
And I think San Diego State does a great job of making sure that he touches at most each and every possession down the floor puts a lot of pressure on you at the basket he’s good at what we’re good at quite frankly he’s really good off his offensive glass he’s good in the
Painted air and he gets a lot of fouls drawn so we’re going to be really strategic in in our matchups and understanding where the help needs to come from number one number two we’re going to do what we do I I know there’s a number of teams in the Mountain West
I’m a I’m a Basketball Jones and uh where we are in the central time zone where always get that late TV slot where it’s the Mountain West vers uh conference play and and I watch it I like to watch it I know a lot of guys in
The league I’ve known Dutch for over three decades I’ve got a lot of relationships in the league so I like to watch them uh and I’ve seen San Diego State a handful of times they played for the national championship last year so it doesn’t get much better than that the
Job that they’ve been able to do there is really remarkable so going to be a tremendous challenge for us but we’re just going to do what we do we’ve said since June when we got this group together uh again we lost 85% of our production off last year’s group that
Won 29 games uh we had to figure out what this group’s identity was and ultimately we just want them to be best version of self and that won’t change tomorrow despite the bright lights we’ll mix and match and try to see what works uh Julian Mitchell wvtm 13 in
Birmingham am coach a question for you there is you said a about a question ago an answer ago you said um mediocre in a lot of areas I’m interested this was a point a team that was four and five at one point in the season had lost three
Straight um and you’ve made it to this point what is it about this group that’s gotten you all here to this point and what is it you think that will keep you here for this weekend well um yeah thank you for making that point I was trying
To block that out you just cost me some therapy hours uh yeah we were four and five we had lost uh as you said we lost three straight two um by double figures we had no identity uh we had a lot of questions very few answers uh but to
This guy’s this group’s credit I uh I’m really proud of this group you know I guess any coach that’s sitting up here in the NCA tournament was going to talk about how proud they are of their group but I I’m really um I feel gratified I
Feel I feel like this group has a complish so much you know ultimately as the coach you want your team to reach its potential you don’t know what that is and and I never have gotten into you know we have to reach a certain number in order to be successful ultimately you
Want to always try to compete for your conference Championship which which we did during the regular season uh then we were able to to walk up that ladder with a pair of scissors in your hand you know as as a child you’re told not to do that
You know we’ve all been told that but boy as an adult it this year is fun um and so to capture that and to get this program back to the NCA tournament for a second time in three years um I feel I feel like this team is is is close to
Being everything that it’s capable to be and that’s the ultimate goal for a coach uh this group never to its credit man continue to work we we talk about stacking work man stack work stack work and then in March when you stand on that stack you’re going to like your view if
You continue to stack it so this group continued to stack it we started having some tangible results I think the game wasse we came back and beat a couple people and then we right before Christmas we had we Drake Bulldogs coming to town they they were a little
Like us you know we had uh we’d won some games they’d won some games in the previous three years we’re actually um we’re two of the top 10 winningest teams Drake and us uh over the last four years we’re both I think we’re like eighth and they’re like fourth or fifth in most
Wins so it’s difficult for us to get games so we we had a conversation and we did a home and home with Drake and and they come to the Barto uh the get out game right before Christmas and we beat him in overtime and I think when we came
Back from that then we had another couple we had UNCC Asheville who was uh right at the top of their league and then we started League Play We started stacking some wins and with that came some tangible results that hey we’re starting to figure out our formula and
Then you have to be disciplined enough to stay to that formula because we don’t play a real sexy formula it’s not a lot of fun you know to to grind out wins but our guys got committed to that then we started uh uh having a real trust this
Group trust each other I want them to trust me but I would much rather them trust each other and and I think they really trust each other and as a result um you know we we made a little run we’ve won five straight and uh I hope we can extend that
Tomorrow hi coach this is GI SE from Kay WTV you talked about the Spokan connection earlier on and I’m wondering with three Alabama schools here in one that is to share that experience with the other two schools and all to be here in one site yeah bananas isn’t it um I I
I I think uh I think we should invest in a map maybe and put in that room in Indianapolis you know those big wall maps you can get them pretty cheap and and if you just look up there when you before we take a take a glance it’s bananas but
For us I I don’t care I we’re just excited to be playing think about this so we played the late slot um on for the AAC Conference tournament Championship I think it was a 215 tip so um by the time I got all the confetti out of my hair
And um and we were able to get that Trophy and we were able to get up that ladder with the scissors that I referred to earlier and then there’s some media obligations that come on and so then they we still hadn’t left the arena so then they they whisked me up to this
Room and I had literally walked in the room I hadn’t been in the room 30 seconds until I saw our name pop up and as soon as it popped up I immediately got my group out of there and we got back and we tried to get home so I had
No idea Alabama and Auburn were in our in in the same region until we got back and the dust had settled uh and then to have the opportunity uh even in being in the same bracket as as one of those so uh it’s just kind of crazy the way
Things work uh and I I I can speak for myself I don’t really I don’t really care about a lot of things I’m just glad that we’re in the tournament Mar two questions number one you played against s dieo State as a player had a good game you remember about that game
And secondly you mentioned your relationship with Mark what did he tell you about San Diego State then this yeares happen you said big game can you be specific I’m having a hard time remember you remember who the leading score in that game was yeah Excuse me give give him that mic
Back I didn’t hear I’m I’m kidding uh yeah that was a long time ago you know um I think Jim Brandenburg I don’t want to Butch of their name I think that’s am I saying that right I think he was the head coach here and Coach Barto had a
Home in Palm Desert uh and and so he was he was close with uh with uh with Brandon BG we came out here we came to San Diego what’s the nice hotel the Del Coronado or something like that uh we came out and played in their tournament
Back in the days when you did those things you know just the little tournaments and came out and played in San Diego State’s tournament then they returned the game the next year uh I think it’s the only time UAB has ever played San Diego State uh so
Anyway I don’t remember much about the game other than I was the leading score um I remember those things I haven’t I didn’t talk to FY about San Diego State I talked to him about hey man I need a place to practice you know he said get in line he kind of
Busted my balls i’ called him like on Tuesday and he was like well the staffs that are organized were calling me on Sunday I was like bro you had no idea I was getting through TSA pre-check um but I didn’t talk to about San dieago State I
Just I don’t I don’t uh the tape tells me all I need to know I’ve watched them play a lot I heard my guys I was in the back I heard my guys they’re right man at least they’re regurgitating the messaging that I’m getting them we got
To be really really tough you know we have got to embrace the physical battle and then we have got to be strong and resilient and all of the things quite frankly that we have been over the last 10 days I just hope we have enough gas in the tank to continue that
Mission hey Andy Tim Booth from the Associated Press um you’ve been doing this for a long time and I’m sure a week like this is a lot of fun but with all the changes that have happened between the portal and nil and other aspects of
The game is the job still fun and if it feels like some of that’s being lost how do you get some of that fun back you know what I I um I run hard really in in in every Endeavor I run hard in my job I run hard in the fun
Area uh I I try to find joy in the journey regardless of what the journey may look like and this group has has brought me some Joy it’s not easy now you when you look over there at me tomorrow I’m not going to look like a
Very joyful person I uh I may I may project it differently than you may Envision it won’t be quite like this I feel like I’ve got this Aura on me right now I mean I’ve got the lights and I’m sure it’s I’m sure I’m sure it’s a great
Optic out there uh I but I I tomorrow I I won’t look very joyful but I am I’m I’m proud of this group and I’m going to try to drive them as hard as I can drive them and help them as much as I can help them to your point things have changed
Man and I I don’t I don’t sit around and put a lot of time in thinking about things that I can’t control uh I try to avoid frustration as much as possible because I think it’s a useless emotion um and adapt or die you know so we’ve
Got to adapt there’s a lot of things that I think are good there’s a lot of things that I think are bananas uh but uh I’m going to just try to do the best I can in my position at UAB uh to get this program to places like this as often as
Possible coach wanted to ask you real quick you mentioned a lot of players earlier and we talked about the depth but could you just talk about the importance and the uh what Chris Coleman has meant to this team man I love Chris Coleman what a story uh I’m sure you
Guys are somewhat familiar with his story he graduated from high school windsboro Louisiana uh I think he was like 61 a buck 60 uh had no opportunities so what did he do he went and got a job and and so everybody we’ve all had jobs that you
Know we reflect back on hey I worked here hey I worked there but he worked for two years at Walmart um and then grew uh and actually was the driver for a teammate of his to get a tri out at an Nia school he was the only guy that had
A car so he took him down there and got in the game and the rest is history they ended up giving him a scholarship he was freshman of the year in the league and then thing led to another and him and Yak uh especially Alejandro you know
EG’s been here Eric Gaines was here with LSU obviously in a I don’t think he made it to this room he was back there in the back I don’t think he got to the dice so a different role for him but our guys are approaching this honestly I mean
There’s a seriousness about it I I I want them because we we don’t want this to be the ultimate go we want to try to extend this thing as much as possible but but I also want them to um appre appreciate what they have earned and so
My guys honestly are kind of approaching this with a Christmas Eve like nav that you don’t see a lot uh in in this sport so they’re excited to be here and I know they’ll play excited uh I just want us to play good because we’re going to have
To play good because San Diego State is really good I’m afraid we’re out of time for Coach Kennedy we’ve got to cut him loose They’re Not Afraid see see Paul mov from UAB Sports information if you need more thank you co Co e e e e e e e e e e e
E e ch e and e e e e e e e e e e e e e e SP it’s a pleasure to welcome San Diego State student athletes Lamont Butler Darian tramell and Jaden Le to the stage Lamont is in Mountain West all defensive team member Jaden First Team all
Mountain West and Darion is a starting guard so we welcome those gentlemen a couple reminders um as a courtesy to those in the room please silence your cell phones during this session um when you have a question raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone holder to your
Area uh please provide your name and media affili affiliation each time you ask a question um if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raise hand function and we’ll address questions in the room first and get to zoom as time allows uh recording press conferences on cell
Phones or cameras is prohibited in this room uh the NCA media hub will have all video and audio available uh following these sessions and if you could please direct questions to a specific player um as you ask your questions and that’ll make things easier on the audio people
So let’s go ahead and uh open it up to questions for these three student athletes well to break the ice a little bit let me just uh ask each of you starting with Lamont and then we’ll work our way down the line maybe just uh quick thoughts about being here in
Spokane and about facing UAB uh yeah um we’re really excited to be here um you know March madis is something that we all dream of you know last year we had an incredible run and you know this year we were here to show that it wasn’t just a one year thing
That we can do it again so uh we’re very excited and we can’t wait yeah we’re really blessed to be here in Spokane to play tomorrow um it’s a bless blessing to be in March Madness um we just want to take care of business
And do our jobs and make it run like we did last year uh yeah this is how I mean why some of us came here um this is why most people play college basketball as to be in this these seats and in this environment so it’s a blessing like jayen said to be
Here and we’re trying to seize this opportunity ofers about last think sorry can you repeat the question sorry talk about last year’s R amazing Poston talk about maybe why this team yeah last year was special um we brought a lot of good pieces back obviously from last year so we kind of
Know what exactly what it takes um it was all about passing on the the tradition to the young guys guys who haven’t been a part of it and I feel like we’ done a great job with that uh we had a great uh preseason um regular
Season we played a lot of great teams a lot of hostile environments so I think we’re just set up to do it uh we challenged ourselves early on in the season so now we’re here to show it Jen yeah just to piggy back off what
Darion said I mean we we kind of got a few guys you know that were here last year for the run and um we got the new guys who’ve been here with us all year we’ve been trying to just rub off on what we’ve learned in this tournament
Last year so just the experience we got throughout the year and from last year we can all gel it together make a run this year Lamont yeah to Echo off what they said you know experience is key for us um like you said we got a lot of guys
Coming back um who who experienced what it was last year so uh we’re going to be ready for that and then um you know the new guys they’re really good and and they’re going to really help us um you know go on this run more questions
There uh I mean the main thing is don’t panic um at the end of the day um they’re they’re going to be scrambling around a lot so just being solid with the ball and and making sure we make our reads um as solid as possible and
Getting it where we know the ball is supposed to be is is key um but definitely just keeping our cool and just being basketball players I feel like that’s what this game is going to come down to with all the scrambling and and just how long and athletic they are
Just this is a basketball game so it’s all about just being smart with it Lamont yeah I’ll just say uh being organized is going to be key that’s going toh take a lot for me and Darion because we have to recognize it like you said um you know they can we can’t let
It speed us up um and know let us go wild because that’s how they want us to play because of all the switching defenses so uh just stay organized and then you know keep our Pace up and uh know we’ll be able to to to handle it more questions you look at
Darion let’s start with you uh it’s definitely a good mix of both uh we obviously have to rebound I that’s been the key of the game for I mean pretty much every game we had this season so it’s nothing new um I think we kind of worked our way to be pretty physical
Inside and and take care of the rebounding battle and obviously let me Terminators tell me we do really well um already so it’s all about just just keeping our composure you know I mean in this environment it’s very easy to get uh out of character or get sped up so
It’s all about having that experience and knowing that we’ve been here before so it’s all about just keeping our cool and obviously rebounding Jaden yeah I mean defense and rebound are usually the key to games so I mean we can control that you know control the glass you know
Limit our turnovers I think we got a good chance of you know coming out Victorious tomorrow leamont rebounding is definitely a key factor in this game um you know one of the best players number three he’s he’s one of the best offensive rebounders um you know in the country on and on their
Team so uh we’re going to be really focused on him and then they got some other guys that really crash so uh we’re going to be locked in on that aspect more questions for these three all right we’ll let San diea State student athletes go and we’ll have Coach
Dut up in a moment thank you guys we post a recording of this press conference in the NCAA digital media hub at ncaa.com once we’re completed here so check there uh throughout the day e e e e e e e that’s answer I would I’d love to see that
Yeah quick reminder to have your cell phone silence during this session if you’re joining on Zoom please raise your hand and we’ll uh acknowledge you as time allows and we’ll go ahead and ask coach ducher to uh please make an opening statement an overview and then uh we’ll open it up for questions
Coach first of all we’re in the East Regional we’re SP playing in Spokan Washington that’s about as Far West as you can get but we’re excited to be here to get a couple games on the west coast hopefully uh We’ve prepared hard uh we’re healthy and we’re ready to go and
Excited for our opportunity to see if we can win some games on College basketball’s biggest stage questions for Coach Dutcher hey Dutch as you know John shaer San Diego Sports 760 um what is about this UAB team that creates challenges with the athleticism the way they switch
Their defenses what type of challenge is this you know they’re older you know you’re not seeing a lot of sophomores and freshmen out there Juniors and seniors that have played a lot of basketball uh everybody on the floor is dangerous offensively which is rare usually there’s one or two guys you key
On but uh if you don’t pay attention to everyone out there uh anyone on that floor is capable of putting up 20 25 points so that’s a concern that we’re going to have to do a good job defensively ly uh they’re the number two 22 uh ranked offensive rebounding team
In the country everybody knows we’ve struggled sometimes rebounding the ball and so we have to make sure we play defense at a high level and then finish with a rebound uh Mark send you un tribute you always talk about thebly tournament all about matchups so how do you rate this
Match up is it a good matchup for you is it a is it a rough matchup what do you where do you fall on that as far as a matchup with UAB a lot of times somewhere across the the season you’ve played someone that plays like the team you’re going to and really
Nobody plays like you andab UAB that we’ve played they play multiple defenses the Mountain West is predominantly man and then they’ll mix in some one31 Zone uh UAB plays 131 to man they play two3 to man they one two2 three quter court press into the 23 they play straight man
And so we’re going to have to adjust to uh switching defenses and be comfortable knowing that maybe as coaches we’re not going to have as great a control over the game as what we do when we play a straight defense so sometimes it’s going to be about players making plays but
That’s what March is about players making plays to win games and so this will be the perfect setting for that D can you can you just comment on the play of their um their forward their 69ine yakel lindenberg and and what kind of makes him unique and able to have the
Success he’s had this year I mean he’s as close to Degen Hart from Boise as we’ll play he’s really important to them he can shoot the open three but if you go out there and take the three away he’s going to drive by you uh he can
Post up and so he’s he can score at all three levels he shoots it he drives it and he posts it and then you add rebounding to that and he’s super dangerous so we’re going to have our hands full with him whether whether it’s uh J pal Elijah or at times Jaden uh
He’s going to be a challenge for us uh at the defensive end um fairly or unfairly the way college basketball Works um teams like yours are judged by what they do in this game and maybe the next game and not what you’ve done in the last 34 games um
A do you like that uh and B um do you just sort of accept that and it you’re judged every day in this business every possession every win every loss you’re going to be judged in coaching so you got to have a thick skin you got to know what you’re doing is
Right believe in what you’re doing and believe in your kids and that’s what we do I mean uh no matter how this goes uh I said uh two years ago when we lost at kraton in the first round people wondered if we’d ever win an NCAA Tournament game last year we won five
Games and people don’t think we’ll ever lose one now so uh we’ll see what it is when we get on the floor we’ll be ready for our moment uh we’ll play hard uh we’ll play smart and uh we’ll let it all hang out on the floor dut Andy Kennedy talked about the
Fact that you guys go back maybe three decades in terms of knowing each other what’s your relationship like with Andy and what do you think of obviously I mean he’s done an amazing job at at UAB yeah Andy and I were both assistants a long time ago recruiting against each
Other and that’s competitive and then I followed his career I mean he’s had an amazing career you know SEC Coach of the Year twice uh uh stepped in for Huggins at Cincinnati uh has done a great job now at UAB so just the fact that he and I are still
Coaching means we’ve done something successfully this is a hard business to survive in and we both survived and to a degree we both thrived in the business do you have a I mean you obviously see on tape what they do tactically but do you have a sense for what type of kids
He has um you know being in the mid- major and kind of have to find guys who maybe you know don’t have five stars and aren’t highly touted um and just the personality what kind of personalities does he have on that team yeah I mean
They look a lot like we did when we’re having great success they got great length they have great experience you know they seem to be play with a real level of toughness about him and so you know you could close your eyes and switch uniforms and both teams look like
Each other so uh talented non-p power five teams that play the right way that play hard that compete at a high level and so it should be a real uh challenging game for both of us tomorrow more questions for Coach anything all right we’ll turn lose coach
Thank you very much for thanks everybody we’ll see you tomorrow thank you app e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I was the 25th year senior e
E e e e e e Chuck am I good e e e e for e for all right we welcome Yale student athletes to the state Matt noling August Mahoney and Danny wolf Matt is honorable mention all ivy league August a starting guard and Danny wolf First Team all ivy league uh we’ll
Make the usual reminders um to uh silence your cell phones please uh as a courtesy to those in the room please provide your name and your media affiliation each time you ask a question during this session if you’re joining on Zoom please uh raise your use your raiseed hand function and we’ll address
Questions in the room first and then get to zoom as time allows uh recording press conferences in this room on cell phones and cameras is prohibited you can visit the NCA media hub for recordings and transcripts of all these sessions and if you would please direct questions
To a specific player when you have them and if not I will uh help sort it out and may you may not get what you like so um we’ll go ahead and start with questions for these three student athletes so I guess for for for sorry for any of
You guys the I think you guys by mileage had the longest trip of any team in the tournament sorry for the squeakiness um kind of what was your travel schedule looking like and kind of now you’ve been here settled in kind of how are you all
Kind of just adjusting to being out here Matt let’s start with you and work our way down uh yeah so we left campus at 6:00 a.m. uh done yesterday uh 6 a.m. yesterday we flew out here um got here practiced uh relaxed at the hotel a little bit um and
Practice again today so it was early morning and then the three hour time changes a lot um but we’re getting adjusted and we’re getting ready to go so yeah also um we were in Spokan earlier this year so I think I think that gives us a a comfortability that
Other teams here don’t have um so we’re we’re used to the area we’re staying in the same hotel that we did when we play Gonzaga so um yeah yeah the flight might have been long but uh we’re used to the area and I think that’s going to help us
Danny yeah piggybacking off of what they said um earlier in the year and especially last year we had a really difficult travel schedule nonconference and um I think that just gave us a mindset of it’s what’s going to be needed and um just having the privilege
Of being able to Charter and being able to spread our legs out on a 5 hour flight it’s a big uh big plus especially for tall guys yeah uh Adam Cole with the OPA Auburn news question for August I know you’re generally a three-point shooter but you’ve been shooting especially well
From distance I think it’s like your last nine games but just what’s been working for you from deep is it just a matter of getting hot or or anything else oh I think it’s I think it’s a mixture of just being confident and then also just trusting my teammates um every
Every time every every lineup we put on the floor there’s four other guys that can make a play so um sometimes I’m open and sometimes I’m getting screens and when I come off screens they they got to they got to worry about the person setting the screen so I get a lot of
Clean looks and um just credit my teammates finding me in areas that I can thrive in and uh then also just trusting my work I put in so many hours over the years to find find myself in positions like this so why be tentative and why
Not believe so when I when I ever whenever I have a clean look I shoot it with a lot of confidence and like you said the last couple games have been fallen for me I guess for Matt what have you seen defensively on tape from this Auburn team particularly their their ability to
Defend on the perimeter uh yeah yeah they’re really great defensively uh they’re full court pressure they’re pressure on the ball um so we just have to be ready to go uh don’t let them take them out of our offense um you know trust what we do and be able to run our
Sets in a good scoring area um you know they have great Defenders really athletic great size great shot blocking so we have to trust what the coaches are saying and Trust our work at the same time so uh for Danny what have you seen at a
Ji broom and how do you defend a guy like that yeah um he’s a great player he has tremendous size um but I think it’s just the same thing that Matt was going off of their physical um they’re going to pressure the ball and um we just got
To stick with what we do and um can’t get into foul trouble early and um got to trust our defense got to trust each other um yeah it’s going to be a a good fight and I’m excited for it Justin Ferguson the Auburn Observer Matt you guys are one of the best teams
In the country at not turning the ball over that’s something that Auburn really tries to rely on on defense what’s the key to y’all being so successful in that area and you know not having empty possessions a lot um I think trusting each other and um you know we’ve been
Playing together now three years pretty consistently uh so knowing where we want to get the get the ball and trust them where each other are going to be um and in practice you know we work a lot we have a drill called Z passing you know coming coming back to the ball meaning
The ball of being strong with it um so just trusting what we do and you know knowing where each other are going to be at I guess for August I think 15 of you yall won 15 of your last 18 games what can you kind of say about the confidence
Of this team and and The Importance of Being a team that sort of riding a hot streak going into March yeah um our coaching staff did a great job scheduling our non-conference where we were playing a lot of really high level teams um so when we got into our
Conference we kind of uh we we’re really prepared for what was ahead and um like you said and like Matt just said we we’ve been playing with each other for two three years consistently so so we’re we’re starting a jail really nicely now and um it’s always nice when you’re
Playing your best basketball in March and I think I think that’s where we are and I’m I’m excited to to play tomorrow and showcase that for any players Brian Hilton from the athletic the conference tournament expansion talk seems to have the offshoot of more power Conference teams
Making it less low Majors mid Majors do you guys have any reaction to that obviously it’s a dream for schools like Yale to get to this stage what do you what’s your reaction to expansion that might favor more power Conference teams mat let’s start with you and work our way
Down yeah I don’t really know I think it’s great for a school like us to be able to compete I league tournament and have an opportunity to go play in March Madness you know that’s you know what we look forward to all year that’s our goal all year um
So I think it’s good to continue to have smaller smaller schools and smaller leagues be able be able to be represented in the I or in the NCAA tournament so uh no real other thoughts than that yeah for me um year after year the mid major the small school proves that
They can play with the big schools um every year it seems like there’s at least one or two or maybe even three small schools higher seeds that not only win one game but make make a Deep Run so um I think that just proves that we belong here and
Um other other mid Majors also belong here and um it’s it’s a matter of just getting here and like Matt said it’s a dream of all of ours to be here so um it’s a it’s a pleasure and we’re all really gr grateful for it yeah I think
That especially nowaday that the talent pool in college basketball is so great um and it’s what makes March Mana special is getting the platform for these players to shine and um prove themselves against these bigger um Power Conference teams and I think that taken away from that would do a disservice to
Um what makes March man is so special we have time for one or two more questions if there are any all right we’ll dismiss the Yale student athletes and we’ll be back with Coach Jones in just a moment for e for e e e e e e e e
Besides all right we welcome coach Jones to the stage and we will uh make a couple quick reminders as a courtesy uh please silence your cell phones uh upon asking a question if you raise your hand we’ll get a microphone to you please provide your name and media affiliation
And if you’re joining on Zoom uh please use the raised hand function and we’ll address questions virtually after we get to those in the room um recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras in this room is not prohib is uh prohibited and uh we’ll go ahead and take a quick
Opening statement from coach and then we’ll open it up to questions coach thank you very much uh just like everybody else we’re really excited to play in the tournament excited to be here uh coincidentally this is our second trip to Spokan this year we were fortunate to play against um bonaga
Early in the year so it’s kind of old hat for us and it’s a little bit of a familiarity for our team and again we’re excited and looking forward to play uh tomorrow questions for coach Adam Cole with the opaa Auburn News James I know you guys have played Auburn
And this Bruce Pearl staff not same team but in the last three years how much of an advantage is there with that if any um I’m not certain how much of an advantage it it is for us to play this team again um you know they’re really
Good they’re well coached um the team we played several years ago um they were extremely talented and uh this team is talented as well I’m not C many Pros are on this team but it’s a really good team they played well together um I haven’t digested how long the team has been
Together in terms of sophomore juniors and seniors but it seems like they’ve been together for a long time they run a lot of different stuff and uh they do it really well so we’ll have our hands full for us tomorrow and uh but we look forward to the opportunity and a
Challenge uh kayen Frank with the AP um yeah I mean you guys have prepped for these moments in your conference schedule you know traveling up here to play Gonzaga and then Kansas this year you know does that give you an edge kind of at the start of the game uh you know
You played against high level teams and stuff like that yeah how do you feel like that plays into it yeah we we have a veteran crew we have four starters from last year and over the years we’ve obviously played a lot of teams like that um so um gives our guys an
Opportunity and a chance to understand how good they can be um this year playing Gonzaga and Kansas uh we had 15-point leads I believe in both both games and uh we LED Kansas at halftime that doesn’t happen too often in Allen Fieldhouse so we feel good about what
We’re doing and I felt um back then when we played Kansas if we got an opportunity playing in Del tournament that um I like our Chan is playing on neutral court against basically anybody in the country and we got anybody in the country with auburn so we have to be ready to
Play coach Mark Sigler from San Diego Union Tribune got a question uh about San Diego guys you got two on your team came all the way across country what is about San Diego and why do you recruit San Diego and just talk specifically about these two guys well there’s
Nothing about San Diego that’s different than most places in the country for us we just have to go places and uh you know turn over some rocks to try to find kids that are good enough academically and athletically to play for us and and fortunately for us we found two really
Good players in uh the city of San Diego um yasen and and Devon are both tremendous young men uh Devin is a sophomore he hasn’t had a great opportunity yet but his opportunity is coming uh yasen has done a tremendous job for us and you know I’ve listened to
Every game we’ve played and a lot of the commentators talk about he can start on a lot of other teams he just happens to be behind a kid that’s the best defensive player in the league so really good players really good young men and uh they happen to live in one of the
Nicest places in the country so that’s one reason to go recruit there because it’s the nicest place on the planet hey coach uh Matt Co and ao.com you mentioned kind of the trip out to Gonzaga earlier this year guess your players also mentioned kind of staying
In the same hotel now the this the the chared flight kind of what what did your travel schedule look like and how much did maybe the game earlier this season kind of help you guys plan for I think you have the longest trip by mileage of
Any team in in the tournament yeah you know for us this is old hat you know um last year we traveled to Hawaii uh this year we traveled to monton Canada to play in a tournament you don’t know where monton Canada is do you yeah yeah
I was there and I still don’t know where it is um so our travel is is you know we don’t Charter and you know to come here on a charter was nice and easy for us you know it’s just a long flight is all
It was so it’s just like a bus ride to uh Cornell basically but actually it’s a little bit nicer because all our guys had a full seat by themselves so it was even nicer than a a bus ride to Cornell so nothing new for us uh kayen Frank again with the AP um
Yeah you guys have been to the tournament you know four times in the in the past or since 2016 uh that 2016 team obviously pulling the upset you know what was special about that team and what can this team replicate to um you know take another step in the tournament
Yeah I think the uh the best thing I can say about the 2016 team that they were really connected um and we had didn’t have as much depth on that team as I think that we have on this one uh we had three really good players Brandon sherro
Who’s on my staff right now Justin Sears who was the IV League Player of the Year and maai Mason and uh those three players um took turns being the best player on our team um so we have a little bit of that this year as well
With with our group where on a given day it’s hard to tell who our best player is um so they were were very special and um they were connected and that was a a huge uh thing in our favor and it was like a home game though for us playing
In Providence U it was really close to our campus and um I actually just rewatched a highlight video from that year and the crow was is all Yale so I don’t know that we’ll have that here tomorrow I hope so more questions for coach excuse Brian stalls auburnsports.com uh
I don’t know how much you’ve watched the Tigers this year but they have a couple guys in Chad Baker Mazzara and ktie Johnson who like to kind of instigate and get under opposing players skin how do you prepare your team for players like that that you know like to
Instigate like to get in people’s faces and stuff like that yeah we have one guy in our league like that actually we have a team of guys like that Cornell so there’s a Chris man and Isaiah gray um they could just change jerseys and they
Could be the same guy so you know I think that Auburn wants to punch you in the face um when the game starts they want to come after you so you know we have to be ready for that and same thing with teams that we’ve played in the past
It won’t be much of a difference our guys have been battle tested and they’ll be ready but those two young men you talked about in uh directly they’re very good they’re tough and that toughness helps uh the Auburn team to be successful anything more for Coach Jones all right thank you coach
What you do e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e if like now it’s fine but if the press conferences are going on I don’t think she let for e e e e hi
Jim it has been a while how are you no I’m none of the way retired wish I was but I’m not oh right that’s great you still doing you doing a little writing yeah um not this weekend I haven’t talked to him for a while he oh cool did you
Really yeah not bad I mean not not anything crazy but they’ve been good we’ve been competitive we’re decent every year it’s better than e e e e e around e e real all right it’s a pleasure to welcome auburn student athlet to the stage we have Janai broom Jaylen Williams Denver
Jones Janai is a first team all SEC player jayen the second Team all SEC and Denver is a starting guard for the Tigers a couple of reminders um as a courtesy please silence your uh cell phones while you’re in this session uh if you want to ask a question please
Raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone holder to your area uh please provide your name and media affiliation each time you ask a question during the this session if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raise your hand function for questions we’ll address questions in
The room first and then get to the virtual world as time allows um recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras in this room is not permitted so uh you’ll have access to those in the NCAA media hub shortly after this session is uh complete courtesy the Hammond folks and ASAP
There will also be transcripts um and once again if you can direct your question to a specific player that’s very helpful for the for the audio people um if you want each of the players to answer a question then I’ll uh I’ll help out with that but uh
Direct questions to a specific student athlete that’s very helpful and uh we’ll go ahead and take questions for auburn student athletes well let’s let’s start with a general statement from each of you uh gentlemen on uh just being in Spokane and your first round mat and we’ll start
With Janai and work our way down um uh I feel like this team myself and the coaching staff is uh excited to be in Spokan um and excited to play our first game in March Madness you know it’s every kid dream to play in this game in this atmosphere um but we’re
Excited to play Yale and ready to get to it J yeah um you know this is my first time being out here so I wanted to go somewhere I didn’t I’ve never been in my life so this is the place I wanted to be um especially with this group of
Teammates and coaching staff and um leading into the tournament after the SEC tournament winning that and like coming into here with confidence was big key to being here Denver man I’m just excited to be in this position I’m in Uh I that I always dreamed to being here uh
In March Madness uh this is my first time actually being here and actually been in Washington in Spokane Washington and I’m just really excited to play and get get to the first round questions for the Auburn Tigers uh Julian Mitchell wvtm 13 in Birmingham I think Jaylen you said it
There this team is coming off in an incredible week weekend playing three great games in the SEC tournament what is the confidence level right now and how do you all feel after winning the SEC tournament having some days off and now getting here in Spokan um to be
Honest it it hasn’t really felt like we had any days off since like the postseason started but um you know having a day off the day of selection Sunday was basically like I travel back to Auburn and getting a field back and then we back to practicing again so we
Always are prepared at the best of our abilities our coaching staff get us to that point to where um like they give us the answers to the test and we just got to take advantage of it Tim Bo from the AP uh this for any of
You guys you guys lost uh two straight at midseason on the road and then I think you guys have lost once since then maybe what what change for you guys in SEC play that’s allowed you to play as well as you have over these last six weeks Denver let’s start with you and
Then we’ll work our way this way can you repeat the question my bad why have you guys played as well as you have over the last six weeks uh honestly um really just listen to the the great game plan our coaches uh have put in play um thanks to our scout team
As well uh they prepared us great for the teams that we play uh in the SEC so uh I probably say kudos to our coaches and our scout team Jay I would say for me and like my teammates were like we’re older on the team so we understand the
Whole process so like 6 weeks ago like me people would tell us like this is it like this is our team so like we got to go out there and give it an all and I feel like that hit us and that just made us more locked in with the Scout and the
Things we eat like when we go to sleep and those things really helped us throughout the rest the last six weeks jight uh six weeks ago um you know was in the country I think before we went and lost those two games in a road so I
Feel like um losing those two was a wake up call you know because uh this team is very special and um we could have won both those games easily um and we knew that so we you know we got to limit and tweak a couple things and uh we can go a
Long way and uh since then we kind of turn it around how you doing uh Michael bethley with the black lens here in Spokane Washington um Spokane is a is a um a space a city that has little diversity but um it’s growing from a from young black males perspective what would you
Say to some other young black males who are trying to just work hard at getting to this next level of playing uh what would you encourage them or say to them to do I’ll start so um you know me growing up in a small town like there wasn’t really much
There so like I didn’t know that growing up there cuz I mean like that was the norm for me so like I just love playing basketball so if you keep playing and keep enjoying the things you do the right things God is going to bless you
So like I ended up doing the right things going to Atlanta driving four and a half hours and like just the you got to make sacrifices if you want to be who you want to be in life so that’s all I have to say J do you have
Thoughts uh oh kind of like what uh jayen said you know uh life’s about sacrifices and um choices in life you know um so at a at a young age you know if you can make the choices in in getting in the gym or doing whatever you
Love if you playing football you know getting in the field and uh just working on your craft uh rather than you know going out partying know I’m pretty sure everybody uh all of us would have liked to have a little more fun growing up as uh you know like our friends would do
But like jayen said sacrific is necessary Denver do you have anything to add I agree with Jaylen um you have to enjoy doing what you’re doing uh you got to keep working hard at it uh no matter what the outcome is uh I know for me I
Had to make a lot of sacrifices and for me that was gr up to Memphis and playing per School up there so if I was them I just say you have to make a lot of sacrifices in order to get where you want to get to more questions for these
Three Nick Gibson Spokesman review this for any of you what was your reaction to finding out three Alabama schools were all sent up here to Spokan uh I was kind of surprised with being uh you know in Alabama in three schools um it’s way in Spokane Washington you that’s like
28 100 miles or something like that uh but like what a draw is kind of a weird draw but you know we’re all excited Jaylen um for me you know I just kind of focus on like our team but I mean it is special for like the state in general
Because you know you got a lot of fans that are a Alabama fans and people that went to UAB and was just fans of all three so like I mean it’s special to have all three of these teams in the tournament and then we just going to see who
Advance Denver me I was a little shocked uh seeing all three of us on the same side but like Jay will said it is special seeing three Alabama teams here on the same side and uh most likely they probably going to be fans of all three
Of us so fans to come watch us play anytime I feel like it was kind of a blessing too at the same time having three teams from Alabama here in Spokane more questions all right we’ll dismiss these three and bring coach up in just a moment e e
All right we’re excited to welcome coach Pearl to the stage as a reminder please um silence your cell phones uh as you raise your hand to ask a question please provide your name and media affiliation each time you ask a question if we have anything uh any questions on Zoom please
Use the raise hand function and we’ll get to you as time allows and uh one more reminder recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras in this space is not prohibited uh video and transcripts will be Pro provided at the NCA media hub so coach we’ll ask for
A quick opening statement if you don’t mind and then we’ll open it up for questions well we’re very excited about uh being in a NCAA tournament and uh being selected as part of this field um we are uh uh have great respect for our opening R opponent Yale if you look at
The ivy league in the last eight years how that league has performed they’ve won three games Yale beating uh Baylor back in 2016 last year obviously when Princeton as the two seat upset excuse me as the 15 seat upset the two- seat Arizona um so we we have great respect for them we
Have great respect for their league great respect for this team and uh their players and their coaching staff they they do a terrific job they’re really really hard to cover um and with their five out offense it’s uh you know very very uh it’s a it’s a unique offense and
It’s something that we see see some but don’t see a ton um and probably the area that Yale would be the most underrated is their defense and their rebounding uh they’re a real solid defensive team they play at one of the slower Paces in a country but part of the reason is
Because they’ll take good shots on the offensive end which sometimes can say take some some time but what people don’t appreciate is the fact that it takes you a while with your offense to get a good shot because they’re so solid defensively so U we know that we’ll have
To play well to win questions for Coach Pearl Andy buram Auburn sports radio uh could you just talk about the the batch up of the of the two post players in this game if you would coach well you got um you know for when you talk about Auburn’s matchup in the
Post you got to talk about both Dylan Cardwell and Janai broom uh against uh Danny wolf and um you know Danny is a is a terrific uh terrific player um he’s one of the best Jewish basketball players in the country and uh I’m one of the few Jewish coaches in the country it
Doesn’t make me one of the best I’m just one of the few and uh by the way congratulations to Keith Dan brought today from duke Kane um also M of the tribe um you know Danny’s a tough cover he is uh really big he’s got great
Skills uh he’s got he can put the ball down the floor he can pass it with either hand he can score over either shoulder he’s got a real good feel for the game um and you could say the same thing about Janai broom offensively Janai could score either side and he
Could score inside out janai’s probably been a three-point shooter um and you know Dylan who’s a great defender in his own right um and one of the best defenders uh in the SEC who gets very little recognition because he comes off the bench for us um our ability to guard
Danny and handle all the things that he can do offensively will go a long way towards whether or not we can win this contest Tim from the AP Bruce obviously you guys got a lot of attention for the run you made last week winning the SEC tournament but you guys have been pretty
Good for about 6 weeks now kind of what have you seen there was that two game losing streak on the road you had in late January kind of from your perspective what turned after that that’s led to you guys playing as well as you have since then you know I
Thought even on that road trip we lost at Alabama at Mississippi State we were guarding we were at least guarding and we were in both games um but we weren’t making shots and so um with the exception of maybe going down to Florida and getting dominated by the Gators um
We were pretty much in every game so the combination of continuing to guard pretty consistently throughout the year with great effort and energy using 10 guys um not getting dominated up on the boards although there were times when we weren’t didn’t always have the advantage but not getting dominated and then doing
A better job of of taking advantage of of of our offense better offensive efficiency getting better shots not turning the ball over you know as much and um you know continue to you know play unselfish and actually being a little bit more physical when they off offense you know you combine all that
And and and yeah we’ve been we’ve been playing our best basketball here down the stretch hey Bruce Mark Ziggler San Diego Union Tribune how’s it going good Mike how you doing um I want to ask you about Chad um obviously was at San Diego State JC had some academic
Issues very fiery player what was behind the decision to take him and how’s he been um he your expectations etc etc yeah he he’s met my high expectations and I got to tell you the coach at San Diego State had nothing but great things to say about him as a competitor as a
Young man um you know we know how passionate he is and and um um and that went a long way to our wanting I wanting to take him uh because he’s got a great heart um and then he went to Junior College and he was very successful there
Got his degree um and they had the same things to say about them um being in relationship with with with him which CH is important it’s more than just basketball for him and um I I knew that I knew that if we brought him man and I
Had the kind of coaching staff we we we we we do um we hold our kids accountable both on and off the court and we have a high expectation for them on after on off the court and we have relationships with them uh this is a Ministry more
Than just coaching that fit really well with Chad and then of course two years later you know after he learned from you know sometime learning from some some mistakes I promise you that um last year when s state made their run he was rooting for them but he also recognized
That rather than being down in Pensacola Florida he could have been at the final four and he missed that opportunity and he puts that on himself and um and and now here you here you are seeing him back in the NCA tournament uh uh Julian Mitchell wbtm 13
In Birmingham coach I really thought over those three games in the SEC tournament you all really really imposed your will and your style on the teams there and brought a physicality and an intensity you needed to win those games there obviously some physical battles how do you what has been the message to
The team to continue to bring that intensity and that level of play now after you you really spent a lot there in uh Nashville yeah mean I thought we played really hard I thought we didn’t take possessions off um I thought that you know we stayed down in our stance we
Extended it was time to extend we tried to defend without fouling and um U and so I do I do think again there was we we were um we were on a mission to go win the tournament you know we talked about trying not to lose again that that was
Something that’s sort of been our focus and one of the things that it’s you know one of the things that it’s going to take when you finish second in a league like that this year and you know late in the year we went to Knoxville with about
Four games left and we knew if we could have won that game then we were we had real good chance to win the league regular season we we were right there but Dalton connect was just tremendous that night particularly in the second half and once we lost that game there
The championship regular season Championship was lost so we began to then focus on what what what’s the next championship out there and that of course was the SEC tournament more questions for Coach anything else you said there had a mission to win the SEC tournament now a mission here I know
You had said that this team plan to win not lose again what is it about this team that you feel right now that you all are in the driver’s seat on making a run here well I don’t know that we’re in the driver’s seat I don’t um I think
That I think that what what we’ve always done and what I’ve tried to do is just compartmentalize this make it smaller for the players um we have to win two games to to get to the Sweet 16 okay we can’t you know we can’t do that till we win
The first one and so often times the toughest game in this tournament is to win is the first one and so we understand that you know you know if we played Yale a lot of times over a period of time we would have the advantage because we’re deeper and we’re a little
Bigger and folks would say we’re better we have a better seed than they do but they can beat us in a game absolutely they LED Kansas for 30 minutes this year you all saw them in Spokane play with Gonzaga had had a you know had a double
Digit lead at some point early in that game so uh but but we there are four teams in this pot us and Yale and uh um San dieo State and UAB and those are the four teams one of those teams is going to the Sweet 16 and so that’s how we’re com compartmentalizing
It Bruce I know you’re you’re thrilled to be in the tournament in any capacity but you’re a four seed SEC tournament champion and you get shipped 2,000 miles from campus was there some disappointment with that and do you find some uh novelty in the fact that you’ve
Got you UAB and and Bama all here well first of all you know I don’t spend a lot of time complaining about seating it’s a it’s a it’s a tough process and there are great teams look you got to you got to be great teams if you’re
Going to advance in this tournament so it it really that doesn’t matter and I’m I’m thrilled to be in Spokan when a beautiful city and the reception from the people have been has been terrific I just would rather come here and go fish with Mark than necessarily make have my
Fans have to to come all the way out here it it is a hardship the part the Pod system was created so that your fan base and as much is that your families of your players have the opportunity to to see them play in this one Shining Moment situation so yeah sometimes some
Things don’t make as much sense but look we uh we again we’re thrilled to be in this thing and uh this is I I think the the fifth time that Auburn has been in it maybe the fifth time in six years or something like that so I’m I am not
Going to complain one bit anything more for Coach Pearl all right thank you coach e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
E for e e e it’s a good looking shirt I like your shirt okay we welcome College of St Charleston student athletes to the stage we have rain Smith Bryce Butler and Kobe Rogers and I’ll issue my standard reminders here before we throw it open to questions but uh please remember to
Silence your cell phones as a courtesy to all those uh working in this environment as you um if you want to ask a question in the room here please raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone holder to you um and when you ask a question please identify Yourself by
Your name and your media affiliation each time you ask um if you’re joining on Zoom uh please use the raise hand function for questions we’ll uh entertain questions in the room first and then go to the virtual world um recording press conferences on cell phones and cameras in this room is
Prohibited so please refrain from that there will be audio video and transcripts up at the NCA media hub not too long after this session ends and if you can please direct questions to a specific player that helps our audio folks but if you want to ask the
Question to each player I’ll take uh I’ll take charge and and lead lead the way in that realm and guys if you lean close to your microphone it’ll cut back on the feedback so uh first of all I’ll ask if there’s any questions for these three Gentlemen let’s go right here
First uh for Kobe and Bryce uh is this completely different than the D2 tournament or I when you walk out into this kind of is it like holy smokes or is it pretty similar feeling um I think it’s really different actually you know we got to treat it
Like it’s another basketball game but um at the same time you know there was a lot less media a lot less cameras a lot less you know March Madness kind of feel to it um but I’m excited right this is kind of where I’ve always wanted to get
To and now that I’m here uh it feels like a great accomplishment yeah I mean obviously you know division one division two there’s a difference and like Kobe mentioned the attention and uh when March rolls around this is what everyone’s talking about and you know this is the reason me and
Co came to Charleston and uh the belief that we had in PK and the opportunity that he gave us and that’s why we’re here Andrew Miller with the Poston Courier uh Bryce when Pat was telling you what your role was going to be and coming into the
Season has that been pretty much what you thought it was going to be what he said it was going to be and then how did that role for you evolve yeah I mean um I just really came in here willing to do whatever it took
To win and whatever PK needed me to do that’s what I was going to be willing to do and um from day one you know I understood what my role was going to be and um you know just be the best leader I can and do whatever I can to help the team
Win Scott iberg from Channel 4 uh rain what was it like to see your family and and how did that whole trip happen um yeah it was awesome having him here um I knew Mom was making her way over but my uh Auntie and Uncle were a surpris which
Was awesome to see them I haven’t seen them for maybe four or five years so great seeing them again and having my mom in the stands is always nice it’s kind of going to give it a little home feeling kind of good chance that’ll probably hear her in the crowd too um so
It’s just great having him here and um yeah just lucky to be here what is March Madness like in Australia it it’s big it’s talked about it’s you watching it in class and everything like that and as sports fans it’s on ESPN at home so it’s the reason
Why I wanted to come over to the US and play college basketball and um just kind of having that come true has been awesome Andrew Miller again with the post C Kobe what just talk about Bryce as a teammate and as a player and then kind of how how y’all’s friendship has
Evolved over the year and being roommates and everything like that um I would say he’s probably one of the best teammates I’ve ever had um you know coming in as a senior leader like he is um it’s easy to kind of follow his lead and you know take guidance from him um
And especially learning from him from the national championship game from just last year uh seeing you know the heart that he played with um and determination you know luckily I was on The Winning Side of that but um you know that’s something that we can always look back
On we can always talk on throughout practice um even in the house CU we’re we’re housemates um for for I guess for Bryce uh Alabama uh what do you see on them in tape on tape and um how much I mean are they elevated from a CAA opponent or is
It pretty much watching like a CA opponent on yeah uh obviously Alabama really good basketball team and um you know we’re you know preparing the same way um you know not necessarily focusing on what we’re watching but focusing on you know how we prepare and how we go
About our daily business and you know everything that we’ve done has been you know the same as it had been all season rain last year to this year just the differences on the team and then what kind of uh I don’t know if leadership is the right word but what
What do you take and kind of give to everybody else like hey this is March mtis this is the NCA tournament I don’t know if you shared that with your teammates or not or all yeah I think I spoke to Kobe a little bit about kind of
The March Madness feeling and you want to try and treat it like a another game and stuff but it’s hard to You See Much Madness branding everywhere and it’s just like you kind of in a a little bit where you super excited so it’s not really another game in the sense but I
Think everyone’s excited and kind of returning to this stage it’s taking a bit of responsibility and kind of leading the group and kind of telling guys kind of what to expect in it uh rain I think we had talked on a zoom quickly about your uh your new
Tattoos this year and how many there are any of them basketball related and will there be any March Madness related ones if a win happens here yeah I got uh one basketball related on the inner part of my forearm um and I think maybe when my college career is over there might be
Much Madness somewhere on me I don’t I don’t really know yet but probably a good chance are are you guys a little bit more calm you a the guys who’ have been here last year than you were last year or I is there there sense a more sense
Of calmness for you guys going into this game as opposed to last year yeah to a certain degree I still feel those kind of same nerves and excitement as last year in that sense but also a calmness of like you’ve been here before and I think that’s what we
Got to try and kind of get to with all the other guys that maybe haven’t been on this stage yet so still definitely the same feeling of excitement and everything like that um I know like the trip from charlest was long to volane but um do
You have to like adjust to the time changes I would say definitely yeah you do um but you know we got pros in our in our organization on jet lag and a lot of guys from Australia so we got a lot of experience here with that and uh some
Good information that we can use to help ourselves out there Bri any thoughts um yeah so coach Michael Cassidy U one of the Australian assistance he gave us his expertise on our jet lag so we’ve been kind of going under his guide on how to get adjusted to this uh three-hour time
Difference more questions for these three anything all right we’ll let these guys go and say thank you for your time good luck tomorrow thank you very much for e e e e e e e e e he asked a question he was great that was a great question I told you could sit
Behind all right we will roll over to questions for Coach Kelsey in just a moment but I’ll remind you to please silence your cell phones um as a courtesy to others in the area um please provide your name and media affil affiliation each time you ask a question and you can ask by
Raising your hand and we’ll get a microphone holder to you if uh anyone out there in Zoom land is joining please use the raise hand function and um a reminder please uh refrain from recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras in this area and we will uh take an opening statement from
Coach and then we’ll open it up to questions coach just uh feel very very fortunate and blessed uh to be representing our institution in the National Tournament in a amazing part of the country uh been to Spokan before we came out when I was at Xavier and played Gonzaga and um gosh
I just think of the the passion um that this city has for basketball and I found out since I’ve been here that the nickname that not only they have for themselves but I guess nationally is Hoop City USA and uh understandable so we’re just blessed to be here my
Family’s going up in the mountains and seeing this beautiful part of the country and these passionate basketball fans in this uh in this area if you’re listening to this or if you get this on Social Media stuff hey we can we use as many fans as we can so come out and
Cheer for the cheer for the cougars who help us a little bit but um just really excited they have the opportunity to play uh Alabama is a phenomenal team Nate oats I believe is one of the best coaches in the country over the last couple years you’ve had some retirements
Of the icons of our game like Coach K and Roy Williams and Jim beheim probably missing some I’m sure I am and uh kind of that you know the the the the new the new era uh I I would say Nate Nate is right there he’s unbelievably respected
In the coaching fraternity he’s a phenomenal coach very very difficult to prepare for they’re unbelievably talented um we obviously have our hands full but we’re excited about the Challenge questions for Coach Andrew Miller with the Post and Courier Pat what what has Bryce Butler brought to the to the team this year and
Has he done anything or have you seen anything from him that maybe didn’t know about that that you know for positive wise for the team and team building I mean I hope a guy like Bryce Butler knocks on my door and or ask my daughter in hand in marriage someday
Like he’s that caliber of a human being he has a special special person he’s so mature he’s so mature Beyond his years um you know in today’s day and age with the co year and you have fifth last year dlon bowlan I think was like a a ninth
Year guy for us um so so you have that a little bit but um Bryce is just so stinking mature he’s a phenomenal leader he is um softspoken he’s a man of relatively few words but he’s the type of guy when he says something and speaks up the room gets absolutely silent he
Has the respect of his teammates not only because of how decorated he is as a player at the division 2 level being an All-American and playing in the national national championship game um but they just respect it toughness and his tenacity and his grit um very very
Blessed to say I was able to coach him for his last year of college basketball let’s go to zoom real quick for a question from Dan toror Dan you’re up Dan you out there all right we’ll stay in the room until we can get him wired in here we
Go you’re good and your M again with the Boston Career um do you notice is there any like commonness to the guys who’ve been here before the second year in a row maybe a little bit you know last year everybody’s super excited kind of their first time in more M March Madness
But now that they’re a little bit calmer or is it the same I think experience is always a you know a blessing right so we preach to our guys every day to stay present right whether it’s a June 5th meeting on their first day on campus
Uh it’s in the middle of the rigers of of of conference play or it’s you know right here getting ready to play in the greatest spectacle in American Sports it’s just enjoy the moment enjoy the walkthrough this morning enjoy the little practice we had over at Gonzaga
Prep uh which is pretty cool home of the bullpups I thought that was a cool nickname um so our guys are unbelievably consistent you they’re great in film sessions uh they are so on point and scouting and and um and and and so you know these bright lights in this big moment it’s
Not too big for these guys but yeah I mean I I I sense a little bit at least I almost feel like I’m that way a little bit following my own advice and I mean I got my son here asking questions at the press conference he’s goingon to be
Outside shooting baskets with the guys because my boss Matt Roberts who’s the best ad in the country allows us to have as our our families as a part of this so you know it’s it’s going to be hot tomorrow it’s going to be hot it’s the
Biggest moment uh uh uh one of the biggest moments in my career on the biggest biggest stage but you have to take a deep breath and step back and realize how blessed and lucky uh you are and I am to be able to to do this do
What I do for a living and and be here in this extraordinary event hey bad um for you when you look at each of the tournaments is there something specific that you remember from each of your tournament burst are they kind of mixed together does this
Feel different than last year or does it feel like deja vu well I I’ve been very fortunate God is great that uh throughout the course of my career as a player I went to uh three NCAA tournaments as a coach and and as you know I wasn’t a great player
Missed 1,000 points by 874 I’ve said that before uh but but but um you know and then when I became a coach with Coach prer down at Wake Forest we went to a ton of NCAA tournaments I went back to Xavier and I was the associate head
Coach there we went to back-to-back NCAA tournaments and then this is my fifth as a head coach first one I just remember my son was like three years old and shooting with him at the at the at the open practice like we’re about to do right now um the second one I just
Remember the uh exhilaration of cutting down Nets and just the absolute gut punch of the pandemic hitting in the cancellation of the tournament when you know I had four seniors that were playing their last college game and never got the experience playing in the greatest spectacle American Sports
Including the Super Bowl um the one after that I just remember it was just a special group of High character guys and then that our last year at at winr and then last year that group at Charleston um I just I just remember how that team captured in
The city’s minds and hearts right our city Charleston basketball became a deal a big deal again must C TV and um you know in in this year it’s just I’m just so proud of these guys because all they heard was all off season all year last year’s team last
Year’s team last year’s team last year’s team and they were top 25 and they won a million games in a row and and they this this this this this and all they did was put blinders on and go to work and stay consistent and they’ve made their own mark on College
Of Charleston basketball history and hopefully there’s a lot more to be written Andrew M again from the POS and career how cool is it that you know CJ’s parents are here and that you know rain’s parents and you got kind of an international Squad there but these guys
Are you know the parents the families are finding a way to get you it’s awesome I mean I you know I played college basketball at Xavier and Cincinnati so my parents were 16 minutes away on the west side of Cincinnati and I could get back for a
Homecooked meal and get laundry done and they were at every single game watching me sit on the bench and um because that’s what I did but um I can only imagine what that would be like for four of the most formative years of your life
To be on the other side of an ocean and never get to see your mom and dad except for on FaceTime calls and zoom calls and all of our International guys all of our players they have extraordinary families and and uh that love them that care
About them that want to be a part of their college experience and be at every game but they can’t so for them to hit this and be at the Pinnacle of their playing career and to be able to celebrate this and experience this and share this with them is really really
Special so I love it that’s that’s awesome let’s try Zoom one more time and see if Dan Tor can hear us now Dan are you there okay we’ll take more questions in the room I don’t know if it’s on there it is uh was talking to rain I’ve talked to
Him this year he went zero to 60 on the tattoo game pretty quick and he said if if they win today or you win tomorrow there could possibly be a March Madness ink on the inside of his arm any suggestions from you do you do you do you give any art tips to
Him well I probably shouldn’t say this and Matt might not want me to be his head coach anymore but I always um so I had a bet with our team at winr that if we made the tournament that year I would get a tattoo and I ended up getting like
My whole shoulder and here and then I uh these guys said that if we go to the Sweet 16 you got to finish it get a whole arm sleeve so my wife is not going to be happy about that so if we’re lucky enough and blessed than do that I might
Have some some some extra extra ink as well but uh yeah I can’t believe I just said that I did this one in one cuz seriously it was because the guys challenged me and I came home and the girls were like Caroline she almost fell down like who
Are you like what what are you doing and I just remember going and just saying like look this is what I want and I’m not coming back so do it all now and it’s like all of this and it took like nine hours and I stayed there the entire
Time it was brutal and and like what the crap was I doing but anything for your players you know obviously everybody everybody loves the Johnny ball game seeing him on TV and everything like that how special is it for you to share it with your dad I mean he some dads are
In the stands your dad is sitting with the student managers reading box scores like he’s he’s involved how how special is that again you know Matt allows that you know know he allows that he when he interviewed me and we talked and they asked the question in the interview
Process what are you about and I said faith family and who faith family and teaching right that’s that’s that’s what I’m about we talked a lot about family and told him like look there’s no such thing as balance in this profession so the two have to coexist and my son’s
Going to be around he get great that’s exactly what we want so sits on the bench he’s on the team playing when he’s not in school he travels with that’s special and then my dad I mean I’m very biased okay but I think I have the greatest mother and father in the
History of civilization and uh they have 24 grandchildren um there’s five of us so I have four siblings we all played Sports all the 24 Grand children play sports there’s on a weekend there’s about 14 stinking games and they’re at every single one of them right and you know
My mom says you know all the time you don’t measure Life by the zeros in your bank account it’s you measure by love you know and and um I’m very blessed and it’s awesome to have my dad here um my wife my kids this is this is awesome chair in this with
Them anything else for Coach all right thank you coach all right e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e make a couple quick announcements and
Going on questions we welcome Alabama student athletes to the stage Erin Estrada Grant Nelson and First Team all SEC Mark Sears uh we’ll uh make a couple of the standard reminders that if you have questions please raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone to you if you
Could um provide your name and media affiliation when you ask a question uh that would be great uh as a courtesy to everyone working in here please silence your cell phones if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raiseed hand function and we’ll get to you as time
Allows uh recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras in this area is prohibited uh everything that we do here will be on the NCAA Media Hub a little bit after this is completed if you could direct questions to a specific player it helps our audio folks um if you want all
Three to to answer then we can handle that but if you can direct your questions to a specific player that’s great and I’ll ask you guys as you’re answering questions if you can lean into the microphone a little bit that’ll help with feedback so we’ll go ahead and
Start with questions if uh if there are any we can take questions for student athletes um for all three of y’all last week coach said that um playing on Friday would kind of be beneficial for you all for rest to get your legs up underneath you um is that something that you feel
Like is is true and how has this week been from a rest standpoint Mark let’s start with you uh this week’s been uh it’s very been very good with rest standpoint you know we’ve been going in practice we do a lot of conditioning so getting up and down the court but for
The first like Monday Tuesday then from there on out we just pretty much been doing like skill work Grant yeah I mean like he said um just practice the first two days was a little tougher and then the last two have been a little less and then you know getting in with our
Trainer uh has been a lot more this past week yeah then kind of just what these guys said the first two practices it’s a little harder than they like kind of got shorter shorter just skill work like Mark said and it has been helping our bodies to be for
Fiday um Julie Mitchell wvtm 13 and Burmingham I know after that SEC tournament game I spoke with a few of you and you I know coach said you guys have to make a decision coming into this game a lot of you talked about what needed to be said um since that SEC
Tournament game to coming here what has been the conversation in your locker room between you guys of what needs to happen here in this game and not having um a finish like you did in that SEC tournament uh Mark let’s start with you uh we just
Got to realize it’s a new season uh everybody zero and zero you know uh we just got to come out and just play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and just uh set the tone from the tip Grant yeah I’d say like for some of us especially
Us three who have been here I mean I haven’t played in the tournament Aaron hasn’t but like this late in the season it’s kind of win win and go home so I mean for Aaron um this this this next game could be his last game hopefully
It’s not but uh for us it’s kind of win or else your season’s over Aaron yeah I feel like we took the approach of first uh flip the page from the tournament like Mark said it’s kind of everybody zero on zero uh and then off of what Grant said you know everybody’s banged
Up around this time tired so at this point is you got to find a way to win or you going to go home this is um uh my name is Michael bethley sorry from blacklands news here in Spokane uh and I’m trying to just get a
Perspective of of a lot of the players that have come from a uh a space of of um growing up in in the black uh neighborhood black black landscape and just being here in Spokane we haven’t we don’t have a lot of the diversity that’s
Here um Aaron and Mark and Grant if you have any input on it but what would it take is what would it take take for you to be uh Inspire some Youth and and give them some words of of of what it took to
Get to where you are and and how do you appreciate this moment being in this space right now Aron uh something I would say to the youth is uh just don’t give up on your dreams uh you know I have younger siblings and they look at me as a role
Model so for me uh I kind of been you know that person to look up to since I was well since my uh two younger brothers was born so uh yeah that’s what I would probably say as far as to the youth Mark I say it take a lot of
Sacrifice you know you can’t uh go out and be with your friends you can’t party and you know you just got to be disciplined and in the long run of pay off more questions anything else for for Alabama student athletes Nick Gibson spokesman and review what are your thoughts on Spokane
And how do you feel about having two other Alabama schools here also competing Mark uh it’s a it’s a very quiet city um and just having a AR here you know we uh we really don’t we we see each other when we leave a hotel and we come to the gym but other
Than that that’s that’s all we do just really no inner reaction Grant yeah I mean I love the landscape over here uh a lot of Hills a lot of trees and then like he said for Auber like we don’t really see them but I mean hopefully there’s a lot of Alabama
People in the building for both games eron uh yeah about Spokane it’s uh super quiet like Mark said where we’re staying at a lot of hills and stuff I kind of got a little glimpse of that when I was over at Oregon was kind of like the same kind of
Landscape but uh yeah about Auburn and the other Alabama schools we don’t really like talk to them like they say so I don’t really have a comment on that Aon while you were at hopster you played Charleston I think four times have you brought anything from those experiences in those games and your
Preparation for this game uh yeah I kind of know their system you know I know how they like to play I know most of their players on that team because like you said I played against them so for my preparation I’m I’m already knowing what to expect and how
They how they play I triy to uh tell the guys that too as well Ryan passing Crimson Tide sports network uh did you guys grow up dreaming of this tournament playing in this tournament I assume you did and if so what are some of your first memories or
Greatest memories of March Madness Aon let’s start with you uh I mean for any kid that probably played basketball growing up want to play in college this is probably their ultimate dream so yeah this was definitely a dream of mine and then my like biggest moment it’s
Actually wasn’t that recent but it was when St Peters went on that run you know cuz I used to play for that coach I kind of knew all them guys and I was extremely happy for them and proud of them when they made that run Grant um I mean yeah definitely a dream
Of mine since I was a kid uh grew up watching all these teams even Alabama so I mean it’s cool to be here uh I fell short the past three years but I mean it’s good to finally get here and play and then uh the most recent memory I
Have is jayen Suggs hitting that half coure buzzer beater that was a pretty cool moment Mark yeah I’d say um it’s been a dream of mine to be able to be here I say three out of the four years I’ve been in college and uh you know one of
My memories would be uh probably when uh Marcus Paige hit the double clutch three to go into overtime I forgot which team they was playing but like I it’s still fresh on my mind let’s go to zoom and Jack Nolton has a question Jack what do you have Jack Nolton can you hear
Us all right anything else in the room okay we’ll dismiss the sud athletes and thank them for their time and wish them good luck e E e e e e e e e e e e e e e we welcome coach oats to the stage and I’ll make the standard uh reminders to please silence your cell phones um if you have a question uh please raise your hand we’ll get a microphone hold to you
And uh if you can give us your name and media affiliation that’s tremendous um if you’re on Zoom please use the raise hand function and we’ll address questions as time allows recording press conferences on cell phones and cameras in this area is prohibited all audio and
Video as well as transcripts will be in the NCA media hub when we’re uh finished and uh we’ll go ahead and ask coach to make a quick opening statement and then we’ll open it up to questions coach all so we’re happy to be out here we’ve uh been sent out west before at
Least personally myself with Buffalo and uh been good for us we’re happy to be in the tournament I mean you know to get a four seed it’s the first time in school history we’ve been a four seeder highering back-to-back tournament so you know we we we felt like maybe we could
Have been a little bit better but you know we uh we had some injuries we didn’t close the season well our injuries but we’re exed to be in a tournament we uh we’ve got to obviously play well Charleston’s good you know when I started watching them once we got
The draw Sunday night they’re they’re real similar to us you know coach Kelsey does a great job they’re in back-to-back tournaments so this isn’t like new to them they’re used to being in the tournament with all the surrounding stuff that goes with it they’re not going to be intimidated by us and
Offensively I mean they’re one of the better teams in the country so they play fast they shoot a lot of Threes they run a lot of five out stuff got very talented players so we’re going to be ready to go and but it is good we’ll finally be healthy with both Ryland and
Uh trelly both able to play which it’s been a little while since we’ve had both those guys fully capable without a minute’s restriction so we really tried to get healthy over this last you know we have only played the one game in the last 12 days our biggest goal is just
Trying to get healthy and I feel like we’re as close to healthy as we’ve been in a while while questions for Coach yeah Nick Kelly T news uh too if I can Nate uh Nick Pringle is he gonna be available to play tomorrow and Davin
Cosby had a boot on his foot is he doing okay yeah so Davin broke his foot in practice earlier this week so he he’s out so we’re not 100% fully healthy that’s the one injury and it was unfortunate I mean he think he stepped on somebody’s foot
He continued to practice but we got an x-ray after practice it’s got a break in one of the bones so he he’s out and at Nick Nick’s available play tomorrow Nick’s with the team he was dealing with a personal issue he’s he’s here with us now and should be good to go
Tomorrow more questions more questions for Coach Blake Byer B central.com coach how um how have you looked at how Aaron estr played against Charlston in his time at Hofer has that gone into any of your preparation for this game you know what he he played pretty well I think he had
25 points in the first half last year against them so obviously he’s playing in a different system now with different teammates and Charleston’s a lot different but it was still Charleston and it’s still thank you and it’s still uh Aaron so I I hope he’s got some confidence because when he’s playing
With a a lot of confidence he’s one of the best guards in the country and I you know I’d love for him to come into this game playing with all kinds of confidence so I mean it’s hard to go look at it just all different he’s got all different teammates different system
But they’ve got some some of the same players back and he was pretty good against them last year yeah he was very good actually um Julian Mitchell wvtm right here 13 in Birmingham um coach I remember after the SEC tournament said um that the guys had to make a decision
Uh coming into this one about how they wanted to play and how they wanted to go what have you seen uh over these last few days to show that they have made that decision and what’s been your message to them coming into this game yeah we we uh the last two days we
Haven’t really done a ton of live stuff in practice trying to stay as healthy as we can but I thought Monday and Tuesday they got after it you know to the point you don’t play defense like your season’s going to be over so a lot of the defensive issues we’ve had I
Feel come down to just decisions you got to make how hard do you want to play how much do you want to be locked in and if you can’t get locked in when your season’s on the line I’m not sure what will get you locked in so I felt like
Monday and Tuesday’s practices were pretty good we got back to just really some of it was just doing some defensive fundamentals and going over some actions that you know Charleston runs all kinds of sets I mean they’re after tie they you’re really good but they’ve got some definite actions that
You have to know how of guard we started putting that in Monday Tuesday I thought our guys were pretty locked in so we’ll uh we’ll see where we’re at when we come out tomorrow but I certainly hope we’re playing with Max effort and really locked into trying to get stops on the
Defensive end regardless of what happens on the offensive end yeah one other defense question Nate as far as messaging I mean this is your fifth season here how’s the messaging evolved in terms of how you approach defense when you talk to guys about it and um where where do you feel like it
Hasn’t been received as much this year yeah I mean we I felt like I gave him similar messaging to what we gave last year you know last year the messaging was you know we were third in the country in defense won the SEC regular season and tournament we 16 run
Following year we were 92nd we were I believe a six seed in the SEC tournament uh I got bounc in the first round the SEC tournament and the NCA tournament so we’ve got a guard and that that year we were third in the country again then won the SEC won the
Tournament and proceeded to make a sweet 16 run we were the number one overall seed so my point this year was like we got to get back you know our goals to try to be top five defense in the country well we’re obviously not that now do think it’s a little bit different
You know we we had herb Jones and we’re third in the country that that’s huge help I he’s one of the best defenders in the world right now he’s guarding all the best players in the NBA when the Pelicans play we had bako with you know some real Rim protection last year you
Know we don’t have herb or or Charles so is a little bit harder to be third in the country and defense but you know and we had the number one offense for a lot lot of the year and now we you know we were a few possessions away from one in
The SEC if we beat Tennessee at our place and that was an even game up till about last couple minutes of the game when they kind of pulled away late but you know if we’ beat Tennessee we’d have won the SEC so we were a lot closer to being a championship level
Team this year than we were two years ago and I think you know our our offense were a lot better we moved the ball better I think and I think we’ve got guys that are capable of being good Defenders that have shown it at times
They just got to they got to choose to guard I mean we’ve looked at some teams that have made runs in the tournament when maybe they didn’t close the season great and you know we we’ve tried to sell them on that and you know if when
We when we Guard we’re can compete with some of the best teams in the country I mean Arizona Purdue kraton you look at some of these teams with their seeds that they’ve gotten what they’re doing I we we had leads on all them the second half ninepoint lead Sixpoint lead whatever
Like at least like a 60% chance or higher of winning the game in the second half so we we’ve competed with all these better teams in the country we also we don’t have any bad losses on the year really either like two years ago we had
Some like where we just didn’t show up at all losses we haven’t had that so while our defense isn’t what I would have liked for it to be or what our program has kind of set the standard to be I think we’re capable of beating anyone in the country and you know we’re
Going to have to come on guard this year or this this week have time for one more question if there is one all right thank you coach thanks guys e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
E e e e e e e e e for for e e you got me that’s right why not if you can’t smile you ain’t trying right so guys um when you’re answer questions lean close to the mic or else you get some feedback if you start hearing feedback just talk a
All right we welcome Grand Canyon student athletes to the stage tyion Grant Foster Ray Harrison and Gabe McGloin and I’ll issue the standard reminders to please uh silence your cell phone out of respect for everyone working in here uh if you want to ask a question please raise your hand we’ll
Get a microphone to you and when you do ask a question please identify yourself with name and media affiliation uh for anyone joining on Zoom um please use the rais hand function for questions and we’ll address them we’ll address questions in the room and then get to
The virtual questions as time allows uh recording press conferences on cell phones and cameras in this area is prohibited so please refrain from that uh all uh audio and video will be in the media hub uh once this is finished and if you have questions and could direct
Them to a player specifically that would be helpful for the audio people so that’s that’s great and once again raise your hand when you have a question and we will get the microphone to you so questions for Grand Canyon student athletes happy uh Thursday guys Lena Washington 12 News welcome to the big
Dance once again um I’ll ask each of you individually just what does this moment mean and what does it say about the program that this is the third trip since 2021 and just seeing this on the rise and being part of this ride for the loopes each of you if you could answer
Please tyan let’s start with you um I just feel like it means just I feel like it means a lot just because of all the work that coach Drew and the coaching stuff have put in uh recruiting players and and um just the system that they put in to let us go
Out there and uh play so I feel like that just helps helps us a lot like with the winning Ray uh as far as what it means like for our program I feel like it’s just uh it’s a blessing I feel like we um uh we we’ve set out to accomplish
This goal and now that we’re here it’s you know like I said it’s a blessing we’re thankful for it yeah and uh being here three out of four years it’s a it’s a blessing and I think it speaks to exactly what uh GCU wants to do and uh
Our mindset towards it all where it’s uh you know we want to make this a place we can come regularly and um you know we’re proving that step by step and so uh very excited to be a part of GCU and just blessed for uh the mindset that we all
Have going Ray and Gabe what the experience of last year meant as far as coming into tomorrow to play a game of this magnitude now having that experience and how is that going to be helping you guys um I think it’s just the maturity of uh being here last year you know of
Course playing uh Gonzaga first round um it teaches you a lot of things and so carrying that um even the momentum from last year and having that mindset of uh you know understanding that it’s just another basketball game and we just got to go out there and play play for each
Other and play our game and um you know take it to him like Gabe said I feel like it’s just uh something that is to our advantage you know last year um I can speak for myself being out there it was you know I was just thankful to be there but this
Year it’s a little bit different I’m thankful to be here as well but we like I said we got goals and yeah hi Ron cek from the San Francisco Chronicle I have two questions one for Gabe I’m curious your thoughts on St Mary’s style um they obviously play
Slower than a lot of teams don’t shoot as many threes I think second ranked scoring defense in the country what do you see unique about them when you as you prepare for this game um they’re very talented in scoring in under 10 seconds uh they’re one of the best in
The nation at doing that so it means that we have to be very discipl in our defense um I think we can hang our hat on who we are with with our defense but it’s just making sure we follow through for the whole uh 30 seconds and then the other thing that
They do is they just play aggressive so you got to be aggressive a separate question for tyion if you could just speak to the significance of being here given everything you’ve been through and the and the health issues you made it P you know what what’s that mean for you to be
On this stage playing in this game given everything on your journey um it means a lot actually just like I’m super blessed to to be here just because of like everything that has happened in in my life and I just can’t do nothing but thank God and like that’s a it’s just
Like a blessing just just to be here it’s like I I appreciate these two guys next to me because they accepting me uh coming to GCU and and that’s why we’re here today the skyborg with the success that your guys’ program have had and not being ranked in the AP
Top 25 does that mean anything to you guys Gabe let’s start with you um I’d say honestly not really you know it would it would be a cool experience of course you know that would be for especially my senior year something that I would have enjoyed to have but
Ultimately I know the the people I have on my side and I’m confident in them I know they’re top 25 to me and so that’s that’s what I’m going to ride with is I got my top 25 AP can keep theirs and you know we’ll just we’ll just show what we
Can do in this tournament Ray yeah it definitely doesn’t bother me I mean it’s it was a goal of ours as well and you know some goals you reach some you don’t but yeah it wasn’t something that we were you know heartbroken about or anything like that
No tan I just feel like it it really doesn’t matter like Gabe and Ray said I feel like we played teams that were top 25 competitors and and we show what we can do so I just feel like it really doesn’t mean anything we know we can play with the best of
Them I’m just curious since you guys have touched down here knowing that it’s zags country and you’re playing St Mary’s have you heard a lot of fans who might not know about GC where you came from where you are but you have the backing by proxy of anti St Mary’s fans
Have you guys experienced that yet we actually just did Yeah we actually just did on the way um we we were practicing at a um at an elementary school and on the way in all of the kids were uh chanting beat St Mary and they had on Gonzaga gear it was
Cool the circle family or support group if you guys have family friends traveling from out of state or out of Washington to make it to this a game tomorrow for you guys if each of you have someone on the way or some people on the way tyan let’s start with you
Yeah I have like my cousins and one of my big brothers coming out here so that’s that’s pretty nice fun exciting have uh my parents and then my cousins as well so it’s nice I’m I’m here by my lonely but uh N I still I mean all my all my friends family
They’ve all reached out to me and let me know that they’re with me in spirit and that’s it means a lot to me coming too so we got reinforcements inbound Paul Coro gcs.com for tie on to in preparation for this do you draw more on coming to the tournament with KU
Three uh you know several years ago or what these guys experienced to help prepare you for this tournament with Ray and gabes experience um I feel like this this tournament is I said I feel like this means more just because of like my journey and everything and then um like like how
They all accepted me and believed in me here so I feel like this means a whole lot more than the one uh Co year with KU with cron ey news um going on game point a couple questions ago about the fans they travel so well you guys
Experienced it in wack tournament I mean that was a home game for you guys so let’s talk about how that helps uh in these neutral sight games um I’d say just having community and having support you know pretty much Everywhere You Go is is a blessing um you know it helps
Helps us stay locked in know what we’re playing for and uh you know gives us motivation during during the games so uh and I’m pretty sure it can be pretty daunting for the other team too I mean they wreak havoc that’s why they’re called the havocs so
If I could follow up with Gabe and Ray on the question I asked tyan earlier just what do you see in sort of the perseverance he’s displayed to get to this point given everything he’s been through I mean it’s a different dimension than typical Journey I’ve spoke about this before but
Just being able to have you know him here and be able to witness his story is a blessing you know and I feel like anybody who is a fan of sports or really any type of comeback story I feel like you are able to you know look at him as
An individual and just appreciate what he’s been through yeah I’d say if there was one word it’d be resilient for tion I mean uh he’s taken hits he’s he’s you know of course gone down but there’s one thing he’ll never do and that’s never quit and
So having him as a teammate I know that’s the same exact mindset I can I can rely on um you know he’s never going to quit on us he’s never going to quit on himself and then uh just his outlook on life after that you know uh he sees
Uh life and Technic color so uh it’s it’s a wonderful teammate to have have time for one more question if there is one I will take you up on that offer I’m curious for all of you guys since coach Drew is kind of in the history books for
His shot several years ago um you know what has he shared with you from his experience and have you seen him like turn it up a notch giving it’s this time of year from where he was you know part of Gabe um honestly no I think uh just that
Is his experience you know not really turning it up a notch I mean he’s always going uh the cream always Rises to the top but that that is the main thing because what you do every day becomes your habits and he’s very consistent he’s very uh Habit Driven Man and uh we
Can rely on him being the same coach Drew every single day R yeah I would agree with Gabe but I feel like he he doesn’t really talk about it to us but I mean we know about it so but I guess that’s just him being humble
Or yeah I would agree with what Ray said I feel like just him being humble because like if it was me I’m definitely telling people about the shot that I made so so I feel like that’s just him being humble but I feel like he wants us
To make our own history with him as well so I feel like that’s another reason why he doesn’t talk about it all right thank you guys we appre appreciate the time e e e e all right we welcome coach Drew to the stage and I’ll make the standard
Reminders to please silence your cell phones uh if you have a question please raise your hand and we’ll get a mic phone to you and if you could identify yourself with name and media affiliation that would be great and uh once again no recording is allowed of press
Conferences on cell phones or cameras um audio and video and transcripts will be provided in the NCA media hub so we’ll ask coach Drew to make a quick opening statement and then we’ll open it up to questions yeah really excited to be uh back in the tournament third time in
Four years um a lot of our players have played in the NCA tournament before so it’s a little bit of a different Fe feeling um the excitement feeling never goes away um really uh thankful to be here and um I know our guys have been looking forward you know uh to play this
Week and um can’t wait to get out there on Friday and start Richard overt Arizona Republic um coach Drew last year even maybe three years ago when you got in are you doing anything different the day before or leading up to the game maybe just to
Change it up uh same routine uh you know we have again guys I think now that are more familiar with the routine and um and uh obviously they’re they’re very locked in we have a lot of guys this their last time around and uh they want
To be able to give their best and have their best performance uh tomorrow night for OG cops.com uh this is being portrayed as a a battle of styles how big do you see the contrast between those two yeah we heard St Mary’s was GNA fast break all game and shoot under
10 seconds so we were excited about that um but uh in all seriousness uh you know they’re one of the best executing teams in the country uh they take good shots they don’t turn the ball over and then defensively um I think they’re they’re extremely underrated they don’t get
Talked about their defense but you don’t win as many games or championships as they do without really defending and uh they’re really physical on defense and so they present a lot of issues you know a lot of different ways and you know for us we’ve played teams team that play
Fast we played teams that play Slow um I think uh we just want to play well and play as well as we can on both ends and then whatever the score is high or low um you know be in a position to win coach dreena Washington 12 news in
Phoenix I know the goal is to make it back to Phoenix in a couple weeks but what would just getting this first NCAA tournament win for the program mean for you and what this program is building yeah you know uh very thankful you know I think the Lord’s really blessed our
University our program’s been blessed last four years and um you know to be on this stage and have this opportunity um we want to make the most of it uh we think um our school is really special and we think our fan base is the best in
The country and this would be a great way I think more people could just recognize how fantastic GCU is so um we know what’s ahead of us we know how hard this task is you know to play against St Mary’s and uh we know we’re hoping to make a lope Nation
Proud a quick followup just because we can’t talk to you in March without talking about your experience how often do you flash back to that time you know talk about that time with your players or family or is it just a a long distant memory now yeah you know it’s a
Long-distant Memory but um still a great memory and so U very thankful for the platform to be able to speak about it never thought it would be you know occurring 25 years later but I think that’s what makes the tournament so special there’s so many memories here um
That get intact you know for years to come and and I think our players I think other players playing the tournament today all realize that and that’s why you see so many great efforts hey coach Michael Potter GC radio hey Ray Harrison had an unbelievable run last year in the wack
Tournament to help get you to this tournament what have you seen from him this year in kind of a maybe a slightly different role yeah really proud of Ray I think as a coach you’re proud of uh your players and different things that they do and improvements they’ve made
You know Ray Ray’s had to price sacrifice more than anyone on the team last year he he scored a lot he had the ball in his hands he took a lot of shots uh this year we’ve really asked him to be the quarterback we’ve asked him to
Shoot when he’s open but we’ve also asked him to run the offense and get other guys involved more often and so you know he’s kind of taking on the responsibility whatever it takes to win that game and um and that’s a big change you know from how he played last year
And I think he’s gotten so much better at he’s so much a better player and um a lot of our success goes to him and his and his his heart to serve our team and sacrifice for the betterment of every everybody uh rishy I was a Kon ey news
So your family is so filled with basketball so just talk about the the family Dynamic that you’ve had over the past couple years with your dad and your brother what he’s been able to do as well yeah you know um pretty remarkable my dad you know made a swe sweet 16
Played in several tournaments my brother won a national championship um so no pressure on little brother um you know with all they’ve done but uh it’s uh it’s a it’s a blessing for me to have the resources to be able to call and talk and um my brother’s played against
You know a lot of teams across the country different styles in this modern era so to get his input and his um his his advice um you know really helps me Ron kic from the San Francisco Chronicle two quick questions if I can you mentioned St Mary’s execution what
Makes their defense so good why do they hold teams so low uh really physical I think they’re physical on the ball they’re physical off the ball and your Cutters um you know they have really good positional size and uh they have really good experience and what they do
They do well you know they don’t mix things up they don’t play zone They don’t press um what they do they’re really really good at and um and you have to beat them at them being their best so um it’s definitely a challenge you know it’s a challenge to guard them
But it’s also a challenge to try to get a quality shot every time down and if I can ask you about tion um Gabe described him as resilient um Can can you kind of speak to his journey and and how he’s been shaped by everything he’s been through really remarkable uh sat on
Basketball for two years um again had the heart um condition um he’s been fearless and and that’s probably one of the biggest things I’ve admired about him is never once has he ever had any doubt about playing or thought about his condition um pretty much from day one
He’s been Fearless getting on the ground attacking the rim um taking contact and uh it’s just really remarkable his his mental toughness and his approach that he’s come into the season with and then he not being out being out for two years there’s been no rust he started out game
One and started scoring the ball which um you know kind of to our amazement we thought it would take some time you know to see him be at his best but he he was pretty much from day one you know spectacular for us hey Bryce Tim Booth from the
Associated Press um I don’t know if you heard earlier this week but a couple of the Gonzaga players were suggesting that maybe the fans who are coming on coming tomorrow night show up in purple um being the Rivalry that they have with with St Mary’s I know you guys have a
Great fan base that that travel but in these neutral site situations the the sort of the passive neutral fan that’s here can that make a difference having them just sort of get on the side of the underdog in in these situations you know we’ve definitely felt it we went out to
Eat last night and we stepped in the restaurant and people are are are saying beat St Mary’s and we went to an elementary school today and we had the elementary kids as our players are walking in saying beat St Marys and so that rivalry is real out here um it only
Took us a little bit of time around people to realize how how serious that rivalry is coach I think it was Gabe earlier this week mentioned he’s never seen you shoot a basketball so my question is is how often do you hoop and the guy who hit
The shot doesn’t shoot anymore is that true yeah I know these uh these these hands and stuff they’re more for coaching not shooting now so um you know one one thing I I do shoot some so so G Gabe was maybe um uh protecting me a
Little bit but I’ll shoot with my son um one thing I think as a former player is um is I focus on these guys and so it’s not about me shooting or doing things like that you know my job as a coach is get them better get them prep prepared
For games so ever since day one this has kind of been my Approach and now through the years I’m just out of shape and and and not as good so we don’t want them to remove any doubt that they thought that maybe I could shoot we’re gonna just floor and keep it
There any more questions for Coach all right thank you coach thank you what e e e e e e e e e e check check check check check check check check check check check do you hear me hello hello hello that’s not good okay check check check okay e e e e e
E e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right we welcome St Mary’s student athletes Al ducas Aiden mahany and Mitchell Saxon to the stage I’ll make the standard reminders uh to please
Silence your cell phones out of respect for those working in here um please as you start to ask a question please raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone to you and if you would provide your name and media affiliation each time you ask a question that would be uh preferred if
You’re joining on Zoom please uh use the raiseed hand function for questions and we’ll get to those uh as time allows once we through with questions in the room recording press conferences on cell phones and cameras in this space is prohibited but they’ll be provided for
You on the NCA media hub after uh the session is complete and if you could direct questions to a specific player that would help our audio folks and guys if you can kind of speak very close to the mic that’ll help cut down feedback and we’ll go ahead and take
Questions for St Mary students athletes do we have any well let’s start with an icebreaker question we’ll start with you Alex and maybe just give a comment about being in Spokan to not play Gonzaga and uh thoughts about tomorrow’s game yeah I mean it’s great to finally be here and
Then I have to think about the zags for once um but we’re super excited as a group we think we’re prepared and uh ready to get into it Aiden uh good to be back in Spokane we we left on a happy note last time so hopefully
We do the same this time Mitchell said we got a lot of good memories here um so we just want to make some more questions you you um Richard berbert Arizona Republic in Phoenix you guys do a great job working the shot clock down and getting really tough hard you know
Great shots you know the execution is it because this personnel has it always been the way coach Bennett you know runs your team or is it just team happens to be able to do really really well with this um yeah like you said credit credit
To the coaches they really uh put out a game plan for us that they think is the best for us to win and um we’ve got a great group of guys that are um committed doing that every night and we go out there and get it
Done uh yeah just cuz you touched on uh the Personnel it’s not that I don’t think we have guys that can get quicker shots up uh it’s just really about offensive efficiency so for our guys to be able to get the best shot every time down is really important to us and coach
Bennett which is why St Mary’s has had one of the best offenses in the country for 20 plus years now since Coach B has been there um but yeah I wouldn’t take that away from anyone’s individual ability to get a bucket at any given time it’s just not really how we like to
Win and how he like to do things and clearly it’s worked out pretty well for Coach B and us so far yeah we really preach uh fighting for the best shot so um a lot of times that doesn’t come in the first 10 or 15 seconds of the shot clock so it’s not
Like we’re not trying to get a good shot early on but we’re going to run our offense and fight for the best look more questions hey guys Tim Booth from the Associated Press um you guys obviously made comment up there about having good memories from the last trip up here uh
Back in I think that was Jan January or February do you guys have a sense of what it’s going to be like tomorrow night especially with probably a lot of neutral fans here probably Gonzaga fans and and their fans or their players making a couple of comments this week
About hoping fans showed up in would show up in purple uh for tomorrow night’s game do you feel like this could end up being a little bit of like a road game tomorrow night Mitchell let’s start with you uh I honestly think the WCC has
A lot of good fan bases and um we’ll support each other um I know a lot of them aren’t juice that we’re here but at the end of the day you want to support your conference um but I have a feeling Grand Canyon’s gonna ship out a lot of
Fans up here and it’ll be a great envirment so we’re excited for that Aiden just for clarification there were Gonzaga players you said that that said that their fans should show up in purple we love it that’s all good uh we’re excited to go we like playing on the road so bring them
On yeah we are undefeated lean a little closer we are undefeated on the road so let’s uh hope there’s more GCU fans in there more questions I guess along those lines what has allowed you guys to be as good as you are away from away from home and and
Handle some some tough environments that you played in notes um I mean every environment is still the same the Ring’s still the same height the balls still the same shape so at the end of the day we’re a tougher and Tighter group and um doesn’t matter
Where we are we believe in who we areen yeah I think we got a lot of guys that that like playing in that environment and I think that’s not the case for a lot of teams but when you got guys that are kind of built for those
Moments uh for me I feel like playing on the road kind of fires me up a little bit more so I I love playing on the road Mitchell I think all of us come into road games with a little extra Edge um and chip on our shoulder um because we
Know now we build this program up to where when we’re coming in it’s it’s a big game for the other team always um so we want to go and stay composed and we’ve been through b battles together to do that more questions for St Mary student athletes anything else all right thank you
Guys e e e e e e e e e we welcome coach Bennett to the stage we’ll make our standard reminders to please silence your cell phone uh provide your name and media affiliation when you’re asking questions raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone to you
Uh if you’re joining on Zoom please use the raiseed hand function and we’ll address questions virtually after we’re um to a point in the room where we can get away and uh recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras in this space is prohibited you can go to
The NCAA media hub and download audio video and uh transcripts when this is finished so we’ll ask coach Bennett to make a quick opening statement and then we’ll address questions to him Coach yeah anytime you make it to this tournament it’s uh been a great year and
That’s kind of how I feel right now we we had a it wasn’t an easy route well got off to a rough start but these guys uh ended up improving a lot and playing well last half of the year and and then some so we’re excited to be here uh we
Have a we’re playing against a good team Grand Canyon um pretty familiar with them and uh they have shoot they’ve been in the N tournament three out last four years and so they know what they’re doing too and Drew is good coach and uh yeah Bryce has done a really nice job
There and they’ve done a great job with their program so it should be a should be a good tough game questions for Coach Richard overt Arizona Republic Phoenix um hey Randy I know your dad well covering him at when he was at Gilbert M Community College anyway you
The the way you play your offense your execution has been so good especially into the clock I mean is is that is it just because you want to work for the best shot or if it’s if it’s there early will you take that and what what’s your
Biggest concern with Grant Canyon as far as their defense yeah so that’s just how we play I mean our deal is trying to get a good shot um and work till you get it say we tell them all the time just get singles get singles get singles get singles don’t
Try and take a tough one and uh so that’s just kind of how we play and that’s how we’ve played for a long time and uh we have good guards so we play off those guys a lot and on balls and have a good Inside Out game so that that
Is I would say normally that’s how we played for a long time so uh in Grand Canyon they uh they’re good defensively their guards are big physical and uh they turn you over a lot they’ll they’ll take risks try and tap the ball from behind they’ll they’ll get physical with
You when you drive they they actually have good Rim protection they can block shots so you’re going to have to you know you’re going to have to get singles against them if you just try and take a tough shot overhand you’re it’s going to be a long night if you do
That so we we we’ll need to hang on on the ball and um get good shots and do a good job defensively on them at the other end Tim Boo from the AP uh Randy you guys it might be a little bit of a partisan uh crowd against you guys
Tomorrow night depending on how things play out but you guys have been really good on the road this year you won in Colorado State you won up here what has what has allowed you guys to be play that well away from away from home this year I’m not positive but my best guess
Would be uh we have a pretty tough group they’re just pretty mentally and physically tough and they like challenges I mean the the boxes they’re trying to check at the beginning of the year year are the boxes they checked at the end of the year
Um and I think to get to win the league to win the conference tournament those things you had to be tough on the road and um all Expressions that are there about toughness travels things like that they they buy into that and our leader Alex ducas has done a phenomenal job
Leading this team especially from where when we were three and five and we had to hold it together and keep getting better he was he was the guy leading the leading the ship so um that’s kind of that’s kind of why I think we’re good on
The road is our guys are pretty mentally tough Paul Goro gcs.com with your Valley Roots do you have a different appreciation for the Arc of the basketball program over the last decade at at GCU and and how well do do you know president Mueller as well too in addition to your
Father uh for sure for sure I I appreciate what they’ve done I mean yeah I’ve talked to Brian Mueller for a long time I watched the thing grow from day one and I remember when yeah Brian was assistant for a dad at Mesa and so that’s how I got to know him then
He went into his uh business world and and just his whatever he’s touched has turned into gold and uh that’s the same as Grand Canyon University University and the same as Grand Canyon University sports programs and especially their men’s basketball which was I remember talking to him way back then and uh it
Was that was the goal to have a first class NCA tournament men’s basketball program and and they have one so it’s pretty cool he’s a friend uh yeah it’s it’s going to be competitive tomorrow and uh there’ll be nothing about all the relation sh stuff tomorrow
But up till this point and watching that thing grow is has been fun for me I shoot I was calling it eight years ago I this they’re going to get good they’re going to get real good I told our league office whole deal and here they are and now we
Playing more questions for Coach anything more Randy I’m sure you addressed this a while ago but um next year with with Washington State and Oregon State joining the conference what do you see as that doing for the level of competition in the in the WCC do you
Think it it’ll raise it or do you think it’s you know they’re stepping in with with peer institutions they’re kind of on par with right now that’s a great question um I I think he’ll raise it I think they uh they come they come from a power five so
They have football money they have resources to I mean they’re in the pack they have resources to help our league and I I think for sure that will happen Washington State’s had an incredible year Oregon State’s had a better year this year um so I think uh it’ll
Definitely raise our league it will uh I think it’s good move for our conference for these two years and then we’ll go from there and I just think now things are changing so fast I think conference realignment I think ads and presidents everybody’s on the hook now they they
All have to make good decisions they can’t just I mean we saw what happened with the Pack 12 you you’re going to have to make some you’re going to have to play a good hand in this card game and especially in the conference reignment if you don’t
Then you’re going to you’ll lose your leag so I think uh that’s where Washington State Oregon State that’s a good two-year move for us and I think we’re going to have to make other moves moving forward just like every other league will have to do if you want to
Stay in top eight or nine leagues in the country which we are right now we want to stay there hi Ron kek from the San Francisco Chronicle Randy in in Vegas after you guys beon zaga um August gustus and Alex were talking about how unusual your program is and there aren’t many
Transfers in or out um um I’m just curious how that continuity how much of a factor you think that is in your success you guys have stayed sort of true to your model I definitely it definitely helps us I mean that’s a we call them margins you got to win the
Margins it could be leadership it could be working hard it could stuff that doesn’t show up in the stat sheets but helps you win that is a big one right there our guys have uh been together for a long time that helps they they know our program they know
What we stand for they know we’re not we’re not about we want guys who want to play for something bigger than they are and uh so we and that’s all that like the the thing has gotten so selfish now it’s hard to keep that but we’ve been
Able to thus far but what you know we’re not uh we’re we’re vulnerable too everybody is um we’re not bulletproof but I think uh for the most part our program will be like that and stay like that and we will have to adjust to nil we’ll have to adapt just like any any
Team that wants to you know be an NCA tournament type Team every year they’re going to have to do that you’re not going to be able to you’re not going to have to be you’re not going to be able to just Money Ball it and not go inil
And things like that when when I hear people say that then I’m like you don’t get it and uh things have changed college sports have changed College basketball’s changed and we’re going to have to adapt but you don’t you don’t have to lose that that component of having a a really
Good culture and guys that are four and five year players in your program which is what we’ve always well since about my sixth year we’ve been that and we had to get to that where we were we just brought freshman in and built those guys up developed them we’ve had we’ve had a
Lot of that and so I think we’ll stay with that but even when we were like that before for like the last 16 years um we still would bring a transfer in every now and then we have Mason Forbes and we had Joe rahon and Rob Jones so
We’ve had some but I don’t see us changing I don’t think you have to and I think a lot of programs have gotten in trouble or put themselves in a tough position position that are high power programs with money because they’ve gone that direction and probably didn’t totally understand what what what the
Byproducts could be from doing that and uh and I don’t know either I don’t Proclaim to know more than any more than anybody else but I do know It’s Tricky I mean there’s a lot of good programs right now that you’re that are good that should be good
That are Blue Bloods so and you got to be smart with it I know I know how I’m very confident on how we’re approaching it and uh again we’re not bulletproof but I think you make good decisions and keep your you know your values right as far as what you want from
Uh the character of your players and loyalty from your players players and just caring about like I said the something bigger than themselves and I think that’s those are the keys for us when we when we recruit and bring guys in and and I think once once you get
Them in if you treat them right and figure out all the nil Maneuvers then I think you can do it have time for one more question for Coach if there is one okay thank you coach thank you e e e e test test test test okay
Okay you can sing into it all you want um let me um you need me for that need someone yeah but can’t you okay I’ll help you I don’t think that’ll so you’re gonna call me okay then I can send my file so yeah that call me check check check works
Before that’s the one in the middle yeah for bow ties got a B Tie by gu do you hear me check check check check check check check one two test test test that’s not good you should hear Nats on the other one or something on the other
One well just yeah it just went away it should be Nats now but whatever check check check check check check test yeah there’s nothing on it right now they keep they’re doing stuff but um yeah I don’t know so that Cable’s got to be bad somewhere
Might be I don’t do we have enough to run new ones okay for e e check check check okay well that’s a start is there another how many cables are past that okay I got it that’s good that’s a good thing for open why do they want to do that do want do
