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 mic check one two mic check one two three mic check for so for those of you who may be in the media
Work area the Colgate student athletes are on their way to the media room our press conferences will begin in just about 2 minutes okay good how are you reminder for our media members uh ask that you do not shoot video here in the room videos available the feeds
Available uh from uh the NCA so we ask you to not shoot video in the press conference room and we welcome you to the NCAA Division one men’s basketball championship in Memphis for our practice and press conference day here uh in advance of play tomorrow uh we’re joined
By student athletes from Colgate today the Raiders finished or come in with a record of 25 and N they’re champions of the Patriot League they are the 14th seed in the west they’ll play number three Baylor tomorrow at 11:40 uh from my left we’re joined by Keegan records
Ryan Moffett also Jeff Woodward and Braden Smith and uh we’ll open it up for questions for the student athletes just ask that uh you uh begin with your name and affiliation before asking your question so just uh raise your hand and we’ll get a microphone to you
So for Braden any anyone else who wants to chime in but uh Braden I just Jeff FL wal ESPN I just want to ask you about uh rebounding how are you able to make such production there uh as a vertically challenged guy I’m just curious yeah um
The big guys do a great job of boxing out and the guards come in and kind of clean up and get the board and go so I think there’s some of that and then also just a little bit of want too um to try and fight get as many as rebounds as we
Can limit the opponent to one shot possessions yeah Cody um wrg here in Memphis um this is for all four of you fellas um what does it feel like to actually you know finally get to Memphis and you know obviously the game tomorrow and everything is coming ahead
Now um it’s been great we’ve had a warm welcome so far um travel went smoothly U feel in a lucky position to say that we’ve done this a few times um so we’re kind of got used to the to the travel schedule um but it’s been awesome so far
Excited to um have Street around here and practice later today um but it’s been all good so far yeah it’s always good to finally get to you know the the place you’re going to play the anticipation is great um you know we played Wednesday so we had some
Time to to kind of wait and see where we’re going to play but you know come Sunday find out we’re going to be here and you know it’s very exciting just couldn’t wait to get out of here and you know can’t wait it’s been great so far
Yeah it’s been really cool as Keegan said it’s nice to have done this a few times to you know have some expectations it’s also nice to you know get out of Upstate New York at this time of the year and get in some warmer weather so can’t complain about that I think
Getting here makes it real like Ryan said we were done on Wednesday had a lot of time so being able to get here get our feet on the ground makes it real and you know we’re super excited with all you guys have done already in Memphis there a team bonding
Experience but has the trip been mostly just I guess all about business and kind of left everything else to the side um yesterday was mostly travel um and then you know last night we had some time to to go out to dinner as a team and you know everybody that came along
With us um I mean so that was fun just spend time with um people that you know all worked really hard to get here and kind of just sit back and enjoy dinner enjoy time with each other with the coaching staff and um you know just
Everybody that came with us so that was kind of what we did last night so I think it’s a good balance like you know you want to always enjoy this moment enjoy the and have have a good time with your teammates but at a certain point
Here like when we get to shoot around it’s time to time to really start focusing and and trying to win a game we we’ve also had some film too the last two days the last two days so you know we’re still locked in for sure uh Max Keller Colgate barol I was
Just wondering if you guys had any uh like pregame superstitions rituals a certain meal you eat before every game certain song you listen to anything like that um for me personally I think I definitely have um some Superstition and like especially for home games um but
You know when you get on the road it turns into a little different um but usually we stay with the same pregame meal um D coach Dane was a great job at i setting all that up um usually just some chicken and pasta um me personally
I switch up the music depending on mood and game but that’s just me yeah I mean I also listen to a bunch of different music um but I mean I do brush my teeth before every game um so that’s one thing I guess um uh superstitions um I like to walk on
The court and just my socks uh I don’t know it’s just like something I do like grounds me and just like makes me know that I’m there um and then music wise uh I’m biging into like listening to like classic rock um a little bit of metal in
There too uh just kind of get me going for me no no real superstitions I would just say more routine and then music- wise I kind of I listen to the same playlists before every game though any other questions for the student athletes we have two right
Here Jeff I have to ask what’s the deal with the socks and when did that start uh I don’t know when it started it was probably freshman year during Co um and it’s just I don’t know it’s just something I do like I’ll go out into the
Court um pregame and I’ll just sit there walk around a little bit and dress my socks and just kind of you know just get a feel and I mean I do it especially at home games but I try and do it on the road as much as I can uh as these guys
Know I don’t really like wearing like shoes around the hotel I like walking around in my socks as well it’s just something I don’t know something that I do and I’m going to follow up what counts as classic rock uh because that means something different to everybody
Um oh gez so the playlist that I I listen to a lot it’s a lot of I classic rock was a general term I I appreciate the clarification uh it’s a lot more metal than it is classic rock uh but I guess like uh there’s a lot of Metallica
In there um oh jeez you’re putting me on the spot here um I’m looking like a bad music listener um but yeah no it’s not as much like Journey or things like that it’s more kind of towards the the metal side there’s some Aerosmith in there Iron Maiden just some stuff like
That do a followup and well different topic you guys have been here and you’ve got some experience what would it mean to to to to win a game now uh to to you know get past the been here done that stage and and to get a win at this
Stage I’ll start um yeah I mean I think that would mean everything that’s what you know we’re working towards we’ve working towards that you know since the summer you know we have couple goals every every single year um you know we’ve accomplished our first two and
This is um our third goal we haven’t been able to do that the last couple years but we’ve been here we have experience um and you know what better time than now to try to go out and get a win I think we’re prepared and we to go
Out and play well tomorrow but um you know I think we’re ready to do that and and give it our best shot yeah I agree I think it would mean a lot um obviously to all the players and the coaching staff but um to the school the university and and Hamilton
Um I think it would mean a lot just to everybody I mean it’s something that you know we all um it’s a team goal that we’ve had and we’ve just tried to take it one step at a time um starting with the regular season championship and then Patriot League Championship and you know
Now it’s time to like you said go out and win a game we’ve we haven’t been able to do that in the past but you know we’re obviously working towards it and it excuse me it would mean a lot yeah I mean I think it’d be huge uh it’s as
These guys have said it’s it’s been a a goal of our team all season long all year long really um and you know based on our experience in the past couple of tournaments like we’ve gotten especially like thinking back to two years ago against Wisconsin like we’ve gotten
Close like we know how hard it is we know how you know coach Lang always says how fragile the game is like we want we know how much it takes to get there and like we want to experience the satisfaction of actually finishing the job I got nothing they they did a great
Job answering that any other questions for the student athletes all right see you no more we’ll uh let you guys go get ready for practice thank you for your time good luck tomorrow than than thank you awesome um he’s finishing up with so he’ll be here just for
We’ll be joined by coach langle in five minutes e e e e okay sure e e for e e than good we are now joined by Matt langle head coach Colgate five times he’s uh LED his team to the tournament five consecutive tournaments coach uh if
You’d like we’ll let you uh start with a statement before we get to questions uh yeah just awesome to be here uh I think for for me personally uh as I reflect back on on my journey through college basketball a couple times as a player a number of times as
An assistant coach uh and now five times as a head coach uh the the spectacle of of March Madness in the NCA tournament is awesome thing uh I know our players are are excited to be back here to have the opportunity to compete um just like
My own children they are they all grw up you know wanting to be a part of this so uh love our team love the journey that we’ve been on it’s been a special group to coach and uh very much looking forward the opportunity tomorrow afternoon we’ll hold it up for questions
Again raise your hand we’ll get a microphone to you and ask it again you start with your name and media affiliation I have one right here in the middle Isaac Bourne mid major Madness you guys have one of the top three-point defenses in the country and you’re going against
One of the best three-point shooting teams in the country so how do you think that matchup is going to work and how what are you guys looking at going into this game I think Baylor presents a lot of a lot of uh difficult things to prepare for not just their three-point
Shooting um I think they shoot with great confidence and they have a a usually you know three or three and a half four uh very good three-point Shooters on the court uh and and an extraordinary passer I think uh um so so I don’t know if you’re going to be able
To take away all of their threes I think what we’re going to try and do is is make them as contested as possible I think that that’s what we’ve tried to do over the course of the season is is not let the best Shooters uh get the most
Open shots uh how we’re able to do that because it’s not like they can’t score other ways you’ve got to protect the paint uh they get great penetration which lead leads to a lot of those open shots so uh that’s got to be the first thing on our on our on our checklist
Like like many other teams I’m sure that have played ba over the course of the year and raise your hand we will get you a microphone uh Max Keller Colgate barol uh despite no students being on campus uh for the Patriot League semis and uh finals I heard cadell Court was rocking
Uh I was just wondering what does this say to you about the program that you’ve built at Colgate and the support that the town gives you uh yeah it’s a great question and you guys look very professional uh proud of proud of how you guys are approaching
This um I I think that um yeah our our students were on spring break uh we had a number of student athletes that were were there I think the the understanding of what it is to be a student athlete at Colgate uh is extraordinary and uh the other teams women’s hockey men’s hockey
Uh the lacrosse teams really stepped up to to help create a an incredible environment for our Championship run uh you know I don’t do a lot of reflecting at this time of the year but to look back over 13 years and and see the pride that the community now has for for
Colgate basketball they’re they’re a huge part of of what we do as as you guys know a small school 3,000 students Village of 3,000 people um and for it to be a point of Pride for for those who are uh there in Hamilton with us and and the countless alumni and and Colgate
People that we hear from at this time of the year um means a great deal for our program for for what we’ve been able to build over a long term we we get one right here in the middle and then we’ll go to the back we’ll start right here Clay Bailey
Associated Press coach we’ve seen a lot of coaches that have with the nil and all the different things that are added to your duties now how does do you get to the point that this is not fun anymore to the point that everything falls to you and what what does that
Mean at this point in your career yeah I think um those people who know Colgate and Colgate University and I think it’s been a big part of our success is um we’re a little bit insulated will we always be have no idea we’ve been a little bit insulated from
Uh the rest of The Narrative of college basketball I mean we’ve got two guys in Keegan records and and Ryan Moffett who have been great players over their careers they chose to come back Tucker Richardson Oliver Lynch Daniels a year before that Jack Ferguson uh Nelly Cummings the year
Before that and so um we have because of the young men that we’ve been able to recruit the the families they come from what they’re looking for um not just in their basketball experience but in their um in their educational opportunity for that’s going to affect the next 40 Years
Of their life not just you know the next nine months um being able to create an environment and and have guys who are very committed to the team um you know when I when I say it’s a joy to coach this group but there’s there literally no maintenance um they take care of
Their responsibilities uh they do their work um surrounded by great coaches who who work with these guys and not just to help them be the best basketball players they can be but to share life lessons and and help contribute to the men that these guys are going to become so uh in
So many ways my job has not changed and and uh and I’m extremely grateful and thankful to to the the the players in our program and the guys that we recruit and the families they come from for for hav it be that way going to go right back
Here uh Jeff lewell ESPN I’m just curious for folks who may not have seen him play a lot but how does Braden’s ability to rebound influence how you can do things yeah we we’re on him constantly because he you know he statistically he gets a lot of rebounds
I think that it it does help us play in transition in our conference especially we’ve been able to play play fast and and and not necessarily always have to attack a a set defense with with him and and jayen Cox the first year Pro first year guy in the program uh they’re
They’re very fast with the basketball I think that you know we talk about you know box out responsibilities and Braden doesn’t always necessarily do that he’s usually guarding the the point guard so everybody else boxes out and he comes flying in to grab the rebound um you
Know maybe he gives the guys a you know a few extra ice creams at the at the at the cafeteria or something but um stat he’s not like a an incredible rebounder he has a nose for the ball I think it it goes back to him being a football player
Growing up he he sees the play he sees the openings uh he’s quick to the ball but it it certainly helps us start start uh our transition offense on the other going the other way stay back here mark gonado from the commercial appeal here in Memphis I’m just curious
Now having been here five years in a row um has your approach to you know coming to a tournament game changed at all and then is there any sort of I don’t know I don’t regrets the right right word because you’ve obviously been getting into the determent 5 years in a row is
Quite an accomplishment but just the fact that you haven’t gotten over the hump how does that hang over things here for your group you know being an experienced group um I mean you’re you’re constantly tweaking and and and trying to figure out what’s going to help your team in
That year whatever time of the year it is you know whether you’re going to play Arizona in Arizona or um a conference game in in early March uh so yeah we’ve changed a few things here and there in terms of you know our Championship always ends on a Wednesday so save the
The co year where we were whisked off to go to the bubble right away yeah we’ve we’ve changed our approach of what you do from that Wednesday until you know a whole weekend change later that you’re you’re playing an NCA Tournament game um you know we work with the experience of
The guys you know when we first started no nobody had been here before nobody had any idea but now you know our veteran guys they’ve they’ve done this a few times so you know we just talk about how their their bodies are feeling what we need to do you know outside of game
Preparation in order to be feeling your best I I think that you know we need to play well and and confidence is a big factor of that um in order to win the game as far as I mean when you’re you in our position coming from our conference
You know Lehi won with CJ McCollum Buck Nell won you know a number of years before that you have to play a special game and uh you know I think the fact that we’ve been here and haven’t won doesn’t doesn’t put any added pressure or you know it’s an incredible
Opportunity really a once in a-lifetime situation you’re playing one of the best teams in the country to get upsets happen absolutely but um you know I think the more times you do it the the better your odds are um and and that’s kind of the way we approach it we’re
Inside our final five minutes with Coach come back to the front uh Nick emptage Colgate barol so you mentioned this is your uh 13th season and as you know uh 13’s a special number at Colgate has there been anything extra special about this season for
You the the simple answer would be no um yeah specific to Colgate University and we have a 13 on our court as you guys know but you know founded by 13 men with $13 and 13 dreams as the lore goes um I’m not a superstitious person um this
Has been a special season uh not because it have anything to do with 13 because of the guys I get to coach every day the the coaching staff I get to work with you know all coaches who sit up here will say that it’s a A brotherhood and
And a family that that they have uh it truly is uh my the players that I coach you know accept my children into the locker room and on road trips and the assistant coaches families and and so for me uh it’s been it’s been an awesome
Uh season and a and a special season uh but not nothing to have to do with 13 Michael he Baylor lar uh you mentioned the three-point shooting of Baylor they’re also a pretty physical team I mean most Big 12 teams are y’all played I think it was Texas last year I
Mean just what’s the kind of challenge to that I guess yeah that’s that’s physicality is a challenge athleticism is a challenge length is a a a challenge uh speed is a challenge uh Dennis’s passing is a challenge like there’s there’s a lot of challenges in these games I think
There’s going to be an adjustment period right we haven’t played against that size length physicality in in months now and so um how quickly you can we can adjust to to those things is going to be important to the game there there’s also the you know this not the big 12 it’s
Not it’s the NCA tournament so you know that the game’s going to be officiated like they are in the NCA tournament not necessarily the Big 12 so um Baylor hasn’t played a team Like Us in a while they’ve played teams like you know Texas Tech and Cincinnati and Iowa State and
So uh there’s certainly always a feeling out uh process to this game I think how you how you make it out of that that first stage of the game is is very important for us any other questions coach we uh thank you for your time and wish you guys good luck
Tomorrow thank you we back in about 15 minutes with student athletes from Baylor e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e mike check a reminder in the work area we are 5 minutes away from being joined by
Student athletes from Baylor we’ll be beginning in 5 minutes for for for for I can give like a one minute warning we just got to give a one minute warning all right if you’re in the work room we’ll let you know that uh our student athletes are here so we will
Begin in just about one minute we’ll get it started with uh student athletes from Baylor e good you guys we are joined Now by student athletes from Baylor the Bears are the three seat in the west they come in 23 and 10 into tomorrow’s game and Baylor
Is the only team in the country to be a top three seed in each of the last four NCAA tournaments to my left is Jaylen Bridges a senior and then to his left is red shirt senior Ray J Dennis we’ll open the floor for questions uh raise your
Hand we’ll get a microphone to you please uh start with your name and affiliation and and which student athlete you’re directing your question to so if you’ll get a hand up we will get you guys microphones and get started thank you uh Justin Williams from the athletic Jaylen I know
Langston’s been banged up for a while and he was kind of fighting his way back towards the end of the year there with him not being available who has to step up on this team this weekend um with a guy is talented and is crucial to our
Plan as Langston um I feel like everybody has to step up honestly everybody’s capable of doing it everybody’s done it before so it’s going to take a team effort to pick up for Langston’s loss in the middle here Ray J what have particularly the freshman jacobe and Eve meant to the
Team this season and I guess what gives you belief that they still have uh you know a lot of really good basketball in front of them in a tournament um I mean obviously they’re super talented freshman and they’ve been huge and I mean a huge part to everything we’ve
Done this year and um honestly I think throughout the year they both have grown tremendously I mean phys physically and mentally and I really think they’re like sophomores or older guys now that’s how the way I look at them so I think their best ball is ahead of
Them theres Walker the Associated Press uh for for RJ or and Jaylen is there somebody on the team who’s responsible for setting up the handshake line during introductions uh and and and how intricate can they be does everybody have their own version uh of that handshake
You got it um we don’t really we just you know do our little clap when we’re going out we have like a little rhythm that we like to keep um we don’t have any I personally don’t have any like specific handshakes with anybody cuz I’m I’m going end up forgetting it so I
Don’t want to be embarrassed so I don’t know about him but I don’t have any handshakes with anybody yeah kind of similar um I think everybody on our team has like different handshakes with different guys but like everybody doesn’t have one with everybody so it just kind of depends Foster Nicholas Baylor larat
Rayj how much does I guess this day mean to you didn’t have to a shoot around at the neutral site for Big 12 just how big is it to get settled in here um no I mean it it’s it’s great obviously to be able to shoot around and
Get a feel for the building before you play but um I mean I think we’re more excited about playing and actually getting able to roll the ball out whether we have a shoot around or not uh Ray J a lot of first year or you know freshman players on this team how
And why have you embraced such a leadership role this season um I mean starting with the coaches they’ve they’ve put me in a position and allowed me to be in a position to do that and then my teammates um just kind of allowing me and listening and being able to allow me
To lead them and do things like that and then also it helps when you’re not the only guy talking or only guy leading like we got JB we got older guys like Caleb who who also take on leadership roads other questions for the student athletes we stay
Here Jaylen what is a guy like jtt meant to this team just everything he’s been through personally but then also having the experience of being on a national championship team and stuff like that I mean a a GU like John is everything to this program um I think it was very
Evident on senior night when he like the whole Arena just erupted when his name was called um but he’s everything to us you know he’s been through a lot and it’s just really it’s more so the way that he persevered through that um he was even when he was hurt he was
Probably our hardest worker last year and that’s that’s that’s honestly special and you know just someone as wise as him who’s been around who’s won a national championship you know he’s a he’s also a great leader so it’s great to have a guy like John in the locker room right
Here kington Smith with the athletic was said four straight tournaments with a three seed or higher um question for both of you Jaylen you’ve been in the program for a couple years ra this is your first year what is it about Baylor that’s enable the program to maintain such a high level of
Consistency the the culture for sure um the culture and the the organization that coach Drew has created over the past 20 21 years um allows his teams to be able to do this year in and uh year out for sure yeah I just feel like you know something about coach Drew he he
Doesn’t always want you know the most talented player he wants somebody who’s going to be a immediate culture fit and I feel like especially with the Freshman that we got you know that and the transfers that we got that allows us to just keep things rolling and just keep getting back
Here other question questions for the student athletes okay right here for both of you jayen you go first coach Drew isn’t the most like firey guy at least with the media is is he that you know same kind of even killed way with you guys behind the scenes and how
Does he then motivate you guys or what is it about his coaching that has allowed him to have so much success um coach Drew is honestly the most positive person I’ve ever been around I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have a bad day um it’s just that contagious energy that
He gives off you know it just makes you want to run through a wall honestly and it’s it’s really fun i’ I’ve had a lot of fun playing for coach Drew these last two years yeah I mean coach Drew is super energetic super passionate and uh
Emotional um I don’t know if I you even kill but I mean it’s super fun to play for a guy like that who’s super passionate and competitive the same way the players are right down here in the front looking back on it now Jaylen having four new guys around you was it
Has it really been a hurdle or did it just kind of come together rather quickly um it really hasn’t it really wasn’t a hurdle um you know guys like Ray J and Jay nun um Eve and jacobe they it’s a it’s a credit to them their work
Ethic they wanted to get better they wanted to learn the system so it really there was really no hurdle it’s just guys who come in ready to compete ready to win other questions guys we’ll let you go we appreciate your time and good luck tomorrow at 11:40 thank you for
Having set to be be joined by coach Drew at around 11:20 if that starts sooner we’ll let you guys know e good e for e e for e we’ll be joined by coach Drew in five minutes for black closer you hearing the questions okay up here uhhuh e e what how
You oh man look at this cof it’s a WRA we’re joined by Baylor head coach Scott drew in his 21st season leading the Bears program winning this coach in program history coach uh we’ll let you start us off with a statement then we’ll open it up for questions well it’s
Always a blessing uh honor privileged to be a part of March Madness really excited for our guys to have a chance to experience that we have a lot of players this will be the their first time and uh in college uh you dream of being a part
Of this so excited for it to begin well uh ask our media members again just if you’ll raise your hand we’ll get a microphone to you and then start with your name and affiliation Michael hi be lar uh obviously in Kansas City y’all didn’t get that day before to
Get that shoot around I mean how much of a benefit is that to get that today maybe to contribute to you know get seeing some shots go down early well well definitely uh uh you hope it helps more than without getting in there so uh
Uh and not only do you have that then before the game you have the full warm-up allotment time which is which is great as well so um I know our guys are excited uh uh to get out there and uh be a part of this and uh uh again uh if you
Ever uh want to play college basketball this is the Pinnacle this is what you you strive for so um really excited for a couple of our guys that have never had this uh Ray J Dennis it’s his fifth year in college first time experiencing this got a question here in the
Front uh Justin William from the athletic coach I know you got some questions yesterday about the the Louisville opening and uh you talked about that but then there’s reports that you are going to stay at Baylor just curious if you could comment on those reports and how challenging it is to
Navigate that stuff while also trying to focus on the tournament well I’m I’m really blessed because uh uh got a great agent like most coaches do they handle all that stuff and just let us coach and focus so um during the season that’s all I do is spend time focusing on Baylor
And um that’s that’s all I’m going to say about that Foster Nicholas Baylor Lariat coach at the beginning of the year I mean the storyline was kind of having four new starters and where do you go from there and looking back has that been as much
Of a hurdle as you thought or did the guys kind of adjust a lot quicker depends which game you would ask that question after but uh uh I know uh the the one thing that uh is exciting as a coach uh um uh whenever you have as much
Uh uh turnover um there’s a lot of firsttime experiences for everybody and uh you always remember your first time experiences more than uh uh year 2 three four and five so uh it’s a blessing to go through some of this stuff with the the guys for the first time uh as a
Staff we can uh shed some of our wisdom knowledge on uh what they might be feeling going through uh at the same time that there’s that youthful energy of first time experience and uh uh things and that’s where the big 12 conferences uh like all conferences are
Competitive um and you feel prepares you for the NCA tournament but uh uh being a part of the Big 12 uh there’s really no environment you’re going to walk into and be intimidated this time of year you’re in Center Isaac Bourne mid major Madness coach Drew you guys have one of
The best three-point offenses in the country and then you look at B look at Colgate and they have one of the best three-point defenses in the country ranking at 11th on kenal so how does that um how does that adjust your how do you adjust your strategy against a team
That has pretty good perimeter defense well I think uh uh first and foremost each and every game you go into uh the shot quality is more important than the actual shot and uh whatever the defense takes away they usually give you something else and uh uh you try to just
Uh do your best to make sure that uh your team’s getting the right shots for uh for for the team and what they do best and at the same time uh there’s this time of year it’s great playing somebody you haven’t played everyone’s tired of playing conference opponents
And uh you want to play someone that doesn’t know every uh uh tendency you have and every play call you have so uh excited about that um but uh collegate I mean they got they got four guys this is their fourth time in the NCA tournament
And uh uh that says a lot for their program their coaching staff and what they’ve been able to do at Colgate okay Coach you mentioned Ray J his his Fifth Season how has he embraced that leadership role in his first year with Baylor and is that you expected to get
Out of him when he came in this season in in recruiting you always hop for the best um Ray J one of the best things that uh uh our staff did a great job identifying his characteristics and um from uh Boise State to Toledo he had
Always been a great teammate and uh a great leader and he same thing with us um those staffs did a great job and helping develop him and he came into Baylor and he’s been a servant leader um what can I do to help the team and uh the players uh have really responded
Well to him because of his attitude so couldn’t be more pleased with him as a leader in a person okay you’re good now okay I’m good Kennington Smith from the athletic kind of along those lines Jaylen said that when you’re constructing your roster you seem to prioritize culture
Fit maybe over just Raw Talent I’m curious what makes a player a culture fit within your program well we we got a culture Joy Jesus others yourself servant leadership uh got that want to be coached want to work want to get better want to be in the gym most of all
Like one another and I think uh um if you make the NCA tournament you probably have a team that likes one another and identifying that I mean uh uh parents can uh uh understand when when you have kids you want them to hang around other kids that make them better and and um
Bring out the best in them and we’re we’re looking for the same thing uh a team that uh uh likes one another can bring out the best in one another and uh we want to be around every day uh you spend a lot more time in practice than
You do actually uh in playing games so you want to have energy uh givers and uh people you enjoy working with Teresa Walker the Associated Press uh Scott you talked about the your agent dealt with that one portion of your job but with this day and age the portal opening
You’re trying to prepare for a tournament game uh trying to keep players looking around how crazy is this week become for a head coach and have is there any thoughts to help maybe fixing some of this to make it a little bit more manageable yeah I know uh uh uh I
Try to stay in my lane and uh uh focus on what uh I can focus on and I know that with the portal coming open uh every team playing would prefer the portal comes open after season’s over because you want to focus on your team
And uh they they come to in our case Baylor University to play in NC tournaments and have a chance to make a final four and win a National Championship and to give uh your players anything less would be wrong and so that’s why you’re locked in and focused
On that it uh but again part of our job is always recruiting um so you’re always going to you’re always going to spend some time just with the portal it makes it uh uh uh I mean as you saw what was it 450 names in the first day um or what
Whatever and I’m sure that that’ll keep going up each and every day uh and I understand the flip side that the teams that are done playing right now want to recruit and want to find out who’s staying who’s going so uh I don’t know if I have any uh right answers I
Can just tell you if you’re playing now you you want to spend time with your team and not not focus on uh the portal as much try right hey coach uh paradia from the daily memphi here in town uh with EES Missy what’s that been like molding him and developing him and where
Have you seen him kind of grow most uh both on the court and off well e Eve our staff did a great job identifying somebody that uh uh not only fits our our culture but uh uh uh unbelievable talent and each and every day you feel
Like uh uh uh you’re seeing a highlight uh that’s a top 10 play of the day possibly in practice so that’s exciting uh but he deserves uh uh all the credit for putting in the work being really coachable and uh he’s one of those guys
You only have to show him once teach him once explain it once and he does it and uh for someone that’s only played basketball ball for two and a half three years being the second best scoring big in his high school team to now one of
The best players in the nation uh his his future is really bright and uh uh hopefully uh uh we get a chance to coach him uh uh through the month because every week he gets better other questions for coach Drew we’ll start right here and then we’ll go right
There coach jtt what is his presence meant for this team just everything he’s been through but also having been on a national title team yeah thanks for asking about John uh uh Jonathan chamach was uh uh one of the few guys with the national championship ring in college
Basketball and uh he had there’s a shirt uh walking miracle and literally he is for what he’s overcome uh and uh he’s somebody that continues to inspire uh motivate lead every day and even though uh uh he’s not playing as much as he did earlier in his career he he unbelievable
Leader and uh somebody that’s really helped uh Eve and Josh every day with his wisdom knowledge but also uh he doesn’t do anything at half speed everything he does is 100% and uh one of the hardest workers you’ll ever be around one of the favorite players I’ve
Ever coached and uh he’s he’s going to be really successful uh whatever he does the rest of his life because uh uh uh he’s a great young man so thanks for asking right here coach what does it say about you know for Langston obviously he’s going through so much adversity but
You know I talked to him a couple minutes ago and he says you know God still has a plan for me I mean what does it say about that you know and even you know to still have him be able to even lead from the sideline I guess yeah he
He he he’s uh uh obviously been through a lot but uh his his foundation spiritual Foundation is really helped him uh and I tell you he’s been a great uh uh I know he don’t like to be called a coach but he’s done a great job
Coaching so uh uh and he’ll continue to do that and uh he gives a lot of wisdom to our our freshman and first time guys and everybody looks up to him um because they respect how he’s handled his injuries how he’s overcome and how he’s regardless if he’s played or not played
Been locked in to help the team we’re inside our final five minutes with coach Drew we’re going to the back hey coach Mark gonado from the commercial appeal here in Memphis um I’m curious this is your 21st season at Baylor do you feel in this day and age
Like almost like an anomaly I know there’s some other coaches within the the big you know Bill self’s been in Kansas a long time but um and you know with this we’ve had like kind of a generation of great coaches kind of retire in the last couple years like do
You think about that at all CU it feels like you’re maybe the next sort of generation of you know longstanding coach here do you think about a a responsibility in that way and just sort of what the landscape is like to have a job for 21 years like you have well well
First and foremost uh uh really breasted and privileged to work with great coaches um and great players because without them there is no 21 years and um second of all uh your family has to sacrifice a lot and my wife uh for nights that uh you’re gone recruiting
And and how she’s raised the kids that allow us to build a program for 21 years uh at the same time coaches that start to look back usually uh don’t go for forward very long so um we’re always focused on the next day and and uh how
Can we uh constantly improve and get better uh one one thing I’ve always respected since I got in the profession my dad um uh nay Smith uh Basketball Hall of Fame always uh talked about making uh uh the game better and uh I’m on several committees and always try to
Help with or give thoughts or ideas inputs recruiting calendar or or whatnot um with with the game and uh I know I think all of us that have been around long enough to start recruiting our players kids that uh we need to we need to help make sure that the Next
Generation uh it it’s a better situation for them and uh I I do uh appreciate having that opportunity to try to help out not saying uh just because you around longer you have more answers but uh I think uh uh experience and sharing that’s uh uh important going to stand in the back
Sorry have you ever um maybe not getting into specifics have you ever come close to leaving and what has kind of pulled you back I think people here in Memphis might actually be interested in that from because there was a it’s a long time ago now but there was Rumblings
That of you know 16 years ago same same type of story of that popped up yesterday was popping up related to Memphis um and obviously you’re you’ve been a Balor all this time but what what pulls you back I guess without getting into specific of how close but I think I
Think uh uh first foremost I I went to Baylor CU prayed about it and felt led to go and at the end of the day uh um when God says go uh retire whatever he says that’s that’s all I want to do is be in his will number one uh number two
Uh um uh Baylor University is is always giv us a chance to compete at the highest level and as a coach um if you love The People you’re with and you have a chance to compete at the highest level that’s all any any competitor wants and
I mean when our staff got to Baylor our our goal was to get to final fours win national championships we’ve been to a couple lead eights we won a national championship and um when you get there also you realize how blessed uh uh you probably are um because injuries and
Illnesses and whatnot uh uh really affect your opportunity to win uh in March I mean that’s why it’s March Madness and it’s not just March because you expect the unexpected I mean we’re in the house of the Grizz as well and that’s why they don’t play 47 if they
Did the best teams would always win um but a 40-minute game anything can happen and uh years when I thought we had the talent to win it all uh maybe we had some injuries maybe we had some unfortunate uh uh breaks but uh that’s what makes it so exciting is everything
Has to be aligned and um can’t thank the leadership at Baylor for uh over the 21 years giving us that opportunity and trusting and believing in us and uh uh last last with that uh uh the great thing is um Baylor is uh the largest Baptist
School in the nation has a great Niche and uh we prepare champions for life it’s uh spiritual it’s academic it’s character formation athletic and uh as a as a coach um some of the best compliments you can ever get is when past players 15 20 years ago come back
And uh still ask for opinions or advice or um say I remember when you said this and uh it’s really true and now there’s a lot of times they say Scott you’re wrong on that you know but uh it’s great to hear every once in a while you get
Something right last one coach the schedule worked out with Grand Canyon getting the late game how excited were you how excited were you to see that you’re going to have a chance to watch and have you talk to your brother at all about this week yeah always talk to my brother and uh
Uh the only thing perfect is in the same area but not playing each other uh uh Spokan I’m I’m much more excited that we’re in Memphis uh we got better ribs down here and uh uh anyway really excited for them as well uh makes it tougher for my dad to figure out travel
Though Spokan of Memphis that no direct flights there coach we’ll uh let you get ready for practice thank you for your time good luck tomorrow thank you guys we back at 11:50 with student athletes from New Mexico than sir thank you coach e e e e e e e e e e e
E e e e be Qui e than we are five minutes away from being joined at the podium by student athletes from New Mexico so if you’re in the media work area we’ll begin in five minutes e for yes he that’s f and e e how you doing
Good we will get started by welcoming in student athletes from New Mexico the Lobos 26-9 winners of the Mountain West Championship they’re the 11 seed in the west they’ll play number six Clemson in the second game tomorrow uh we’re joined up here by by to my left Jamal Mashburn
Jr senior and sophomore Donovan Dent we’ll open it up for questions if you’ll raise your hand we’ll get a microphone to you all and just remind you to uh start with your name and affiliation and direct uh which student athlete your question is to we’ll start right here V8
CBS affiliate krq channel 13 in Albuquerque Jamal I’ll start with you um do you feel I mean you guys the way you play at that Mountain West Conference tournament it was almost like you guys locked in into a a different gear is that fair to say I mean is is like you
Guys whatever was going on through the whole year you everybody was on the same page now we’re just let’s go yeah I mean we we just found a found a way to click at the right time and uh I think that just goes to a testament of you know how
Well we practice together and how how serious we take practice and um you know we we never uh took a practice off and no matter how we felt no matter uh coming off a win or a lost we we treated it the same way and we were just able to
Click at the right time uh I always say a defense wins those type of games and wins those championships and when we’re connected on that end you know we’re phenomenal so that’s all I would say um I I would say the exact same basically um our defense was amazing
That whole last week I feel like it just created our offense and everything so really the whole thing we hared on all season was just being able to play defense because you know that was our knock last year and I mean that’s really what want us at last weekend come right
Here Isaac Bourne mid major Madness you guys had kind of a rough stretch towards the end of the season but then you guys you know uh put that beside you guys and went to the conference tournament and won it all so how does that speak to y’all’s ability to work through
Adversity and then also just to um what how what momentum does that bring you guys with into the tournament um I think uh for us I mean we we definitely had a tough stretch at the end of the year but like I said we we never you know took a practice off
And we we stayed humble about the process and just continue to put our best foot forward each and every day and uh tried to stay present in the moment um and not think about okay like we had a bad air force loss and you know it’s it’s that’s going to be the the
Determination of our season we didn’t let that happen so we stick together and you know we got great leaders on our team me included um and this guy to my left included so um we felt confident going into uh the tournament and we feel confident going into uh March Madness as
Well to back row Jeff Grammer Albuquerque Journal and that’s loud um for Bol you real quick since Mash you missed the regular season finale with the flu Donny you missed the Mountain West Championship with the flu are you two here because you’re isolated from the team or are you guys feeling okay no
We’re feeling good we’re feeling great uh Donnie missing that championship game and and kind of the culmination I know you played 12 minutes but you were you were at the end of the bench and things didn’t look good um the culmination and that celebration and thousands of New Mexicans there and New
Mexico flags and all that going on and you not really being able to kind of enjoy it as much as maybe you thought you would all season long I’m curious what kind of went through your mind during all that and uh is there something sort of to prove in in any way
Because you did miss that game kind of I mean yeah it kind of sucks a little bit but I mean sitting on the bench watching my team do what they had to do they played amazing it was amazing to watch from the sideline and it was just like
Kind of like it felt good proud moment really I know I didn’t get to contribute that much the sickness held me down a lot and I mean it was just great watching them play and win not being able to celebrate just means you got to do it again next year so I’ll actually
Be able to celebrate next year so I’m not really stressed about that right here uh will Weber from the Santa Fe New Mexican a lot has been made since the seatings came out that New Mexico was disrespected that the Mountain West was disrespected I’m just curious with so
Many people across the country picking New Mexico not only to win this game and maybe go as far as a sweet 16 or lead eight what’s your feelings about the the national perception this team’s gotten the last few days is what Jamal go first
Yeah uh I mean I mean I think it’s a blessing honestly I mean I I think uh I mean I didn’t feel disrespected or anything like that I mean that’s just what it is and we just got to go out there and play basketball so um you know
Everything is in our control right now so I mean I don’t look at it as a disrespect I’m just blessed that we’re here and we’re able to you know have an opportunity to play a a great band of brand of New Mexico basketball so Donovan seedings are seatings you can’t
Really pick and choose them so we’re just going to go out out there and play the best we can and it’s all up to us really theres Walker with the Associated Press to follow up on that for both Jamal and Donovan with what San Diego
State did last year and is it more the idea of you know showing that this isn’t that they weren’t a one hit wonder that it’s more Mountain West and that it is a tough conference and and trying to to build on what’s come before rather than
Pressure of trying to to live up to something else yeah I think uh yeah I think this Mountain West Conference has really grown over the you know at least my three years being uh you know in this conference man the competition is is high level um you know the dudes that we
Play I mean top to bottom is it’s a great conference man I mean I think uh it’s going to continue to get better it’s going to continue to grow um and I think this year will’ll you know kind of have a platform for it to continue to
Grow um you know with more games that you know the Mountain West Conference wins in this in this tournament so it’s exciting it’s exciting it’s going to continue to get better we’re going to go to the back row and then back up here hey Jamal uh mark gonado from the
Commercial appeal here in Memphis um I’m curious have you and your dad ever compared notes on like what it’s like for play playing for Richard patino and what it was like for playing playing for Rick patino have you guys ever talked about the differences in them um not
Really honestly not really uh yeah I don’t I don’t really have much to say about that not really yeah sorry I’m sure you’ve been asked this several times before but I’m just curious um you obviously followed coach patino from Minnesota to New Mexico how how long has that relationship been there was it
Something that just started in the recruiting process was it something because of your dad’s relationship with his dad like how did that all play out and why why do you think you’ve stuck with him like this um I mean uh Richard uh he’s been he’s he’s seen my game and
Seen me as a man develop and grow ever since my eighth grade year so um he’s took the initiative to you know recruit me and and and really understand who I am and um you know and my game and and and what I bring to the table and stuff
Like that so that relationship kind of started early and you know he he had to recruit me it wasn’t just like a oh my dad played for Rick and you know y’all yall just get my son no I had other options and he had to you know initiate
And recruit me um and it was it’s it’s a blessing that I I’ve able to be be with him for four years so um you know he’s a great coach and a great guy so I I can’t complain ISAC Isaac Bourne been major Madness this is a question for either of
The players but with such a fast pace of play this season are you guys able to mitigate the turnovers having one of the lowest turnover percentages in the nation Donovan I mean really just taking care of the ball we we don’t make too many dumb plays we make smart decisions keep
It real simple just a lot of Ballam stuff make the right read really and Coach P does a good job of just play free so we’re not worried about that turnover stuff I mean it’s going to happen it’s part of the game I think we as a team as the collectivity like we
Got to take care of the ball and we do a great job of it Donovan you guys got a chance to see tape on Clemson now and stuff like that what um what do you have to do to be successful against them uh just play the
Type of defense that we know we could play we know they had two solid bigs in the middle that rebound play hard we know we got to control PJ Hall a good amount I mean really it’s up to us we just got to guard the ball and play our
Way we know how to play okay we’ll go to the back row here for either one of you um Jamal You’ three years so maybe you more than Donnie even but last week the world got to see Jaylen um like you guys have known him for a while I’m curious if
Last week was was any different from what you saw in Jaylen house or or if that’s just the same Jaylen you guys have gotten to know over the years uh you know somebody asked me similar a similar question about him about his Antics and all that and like I said when
I was here and the pit was empty and there was nobody checking for us he was yelling at fans then and saying stuff to nobody and that’s cuz that’s just who he is so I respect the you know the heck out of that kid for just always being who he is
And always no matter what no matter the circumstances no matter if it’s on the biggest stage no matter if we playing Air Force he’s going to be the same kid so there’s nothing different that we saw we’re inside our final five minutes leafia KTV Albuquerque Donnie who who would you
Compare these guys to that you’ve already played uh they remind us a lot of kind of like Boise they have two bigs and they’re playing play Play Strong play physical it’s going to be kind of like another Boise game for us I feel like and what so what’s the game plan is
It that physicality is it running the floor what is it just being physical and playing at our Pace we know we’re a fast-paced team um they’re I think they’re kind of more of a slower paced team Le on their STS a little bit and we just outrun and play physical
Have you guys noticed the the fan support even all the way from to Memphis because I say that I’ve ran into a couple of Lobo fans in the airport and uh they were saying oh there’s no expense that’s going to keep me from this and I was like
Okay I mean yeah of course I I saw a lot of people have they’re also like doing like this bus stuff all the flights are sold out it’s tremendous community and a lot of support on the back of us any other questions for student athletes okay we’ll go to the
Back Mash kind of grew up in this a little bit but Donnie this is your first experience at the NCA tournament um it’s just getting started but what’s the feeling like for you I mean it seems like it’s going to be a really fun
Weekend we got a lot ahead of us a lot of games to win and I’m just ready I’m excited for it all any others all right guys we will uh let you get ready for practice thank you for your time good luck tomorrow thank you guys thank you guys
Set to be joined by coach patino and just about 5 minutes for for e e we are joined by New Mexico head coach Richard patino his third season at the school has his team in the postseason for the second time including its first NCAA tournament in a decade coach we’ll
Let you start with a statement before we open up for questions um well obviously very uh grateful excited uh to be in this situation right now um Memphis is an amazing basketball City and uh we’re honored obviously to be a part of uh you know one of the best sporting events in
In all of sports so our guys are excited about it we we know we have a very tough Challenge on our hands with Clemson um but you know we’re we’re we’re certainly very grateful for this opportunity and hopefully we can make the most of it we’ll open up for question questions
Again if you’ll raise your hand we’ll get a microphone to you we’ll start in the back and then come right here to the uh the front go ahead Isaac Bourne mid major Madness you guys play with such a fast style of play but are one of the you
Know have one of the lowest turnover percentages in the country so how do you guys mitigate your turnovers with such a style of play that in most offenses would um cause more turnovers well we shoot it so fast we don’t turn the ball over I think that has a lot to do with
It but I think you know for the most part it’s in the the hands of guys who are good decision makers you know it’s it’s whether it’s Dent whether it’s house whether it’s Mashburn uh for the most part they’re not a high turnover type player you know so and I think one
Of the reasons underrated reasons why we play fast is we get a lot of steals and those normally lead to breaks um you know so more than anything it’s just making the right play offensively and uh when you’re playing essentially three point guards together uh um they’re
Going to do that go to our right uh will Weber Santa Fe New Mexican I know how much you like answering questions that we’ve already asked you a million times before so I’m going to ask you about the nil Collective uh look we’re in a different age with uh transfer portal
Ni it’s a it’s a crazy time but how important is the nil Collective for UNM I know there people are here and is Kurt Roth the most valuable person in the basketball well I think it’s when you first first started in this profession it was about facilities then it was
About nutrition right and you know can we build all this up um housing you know it kind of changes every couple years and the biggest thing about nil is if you don’t have it you have no chance you know is it is it the end all Beall no
But if you don’t catch up and compete um it’s going to be very very difficult for you you know so um it’s like everything in this profession it’s always going to be an arms race um and everybody is I think understanding it um a little bit better now than when it first started
You know so it’s a just a different world I feel like we have a different job right now um doesn’t mean it’s all bad that’s for sure and it’s it’s like they said in the movie Moneyball right you adapt or die and you got to do that
Front row Mitch Davis the Mitch Davis show Coach I want to ask you about your dad and kind of watching him in the in t winning national championships and having so much success in this tournament what did you learn and take away from your dad’s career in the inpl
Tournament and have you sought out advice on uh this Ina tournament run for New Mexico uh no I have not sought out advice um he’s been a little bit busy with his season um I’ve been lucky enough this will be the ninth tournament that I’ve been in third is a head coach
And um you know I think more than anything when you make a run like we met EV made in the conference tournament where it’s just so emotional and our fans are there and it’s a high of all highs and then you come to the first round of the NCA tournament it there a
Lot of media and then there’s the open practice and all those things and longer timeouts right and obviously that winner go home pressure but you can’t make it more than what it is um so I’ve been lucky you know to be at a lot of NCAA tournaments growing
Up and then it’s my coaching career has evolved I’ve been a part of it so um you know you got to get them as prepared as possible you want them to certainly enjoy the moment um you know 80% of the teams in college basketball are not
Playing in this um so it is a privilege and you got to enjoy it going to our left coach coach uh Donnie had mentioned that Clemson reminds him of Boise do you see similarities there well they had asked us who who do they remind you of
In the league um and that we said Boise maybe you know I mean Clemson is a well- coached uh PJ Hall is as talented as it gets for a big guy they’ve got good size and length um you know so it’s going to be a great challenge so somewhat similar
But not exactly the same uh but that was kind of the comparison we tried to give the guys rqe Albuquerque uh coach uh you you mentioned the emotional fan base on the way out here we ran into a couple of fans who were just saying there’s no
Expense that would keep them from this and you upon you hearing that and and seeing that you you feel like you supported even this far away right I think it’s one of the top five fan bases in all of college basketball and and you could even move it up a
Little bit by our lack of success versus some of the other amazing fan bases um the experience of winning in Vegas Saturday night it wasn’t n just a normal Fan Experience I mean there’s people crying they’re they’re emotional uh when we landed the next day uh at the airport
It’s just special and uh hopefully our players see how unique that is because it’s not like that everywhere else um so I have no doubt obviously Memphis is a little bit harder to get to uh than some of the other sites but I have no doubt
That our amazing fans will get here um as best they can we know it’s certainly challenging when stay in the center and then come to the front row Jeff Grammer Albuquerque Journal I know I’ve asked you about Jaylen a lot this season and it’s kind of come in a almost how do you
Defend what he does on the court as the as his coach kind of thing I’m curious instead of necessarily trying to defend him as a coach if you had to describe what people are about to see this week um who haven’t seen jayen house before how would you describe what they’re about to
See um unbelievable endless amounts of energy uh somebody had asked me was I concerned with four games in four days and I made the comment I’m not concerned about number 10 he will not be tired and it doesn’t matter uh plays so very very hard plays with amazing Mo emotion
Spirit his leadership has gotten uh substantially better over the years he’s commanding huddles he’s commanding the locker room um he he obviously different for an NCAA tournament but he does not care to engage in the crowd U that does not affect him in any way probably
Motivates him you know so he’s the type of player that belongs in this amazing tournament go to the front and then three on this side Wilson Moore Omaha World Herald uh Richard my question is about Josiah Alec who’s obviously also here in Memphis just what did he bring
To the table his one year in New Mexico and how much have you followed his path since then I haven’t followed it much um you know certainly focused on the guys on our team but for the year that he was with us played very very hard uh
Rebounded the ball very well um similar to a jayen house of never really got tired uh you know so you were disappointed when he left but to see him go back to his hometown where he’s from uh and now being in the NCA tournament is is something that I’m sure is amazing for
Him Teresa Walker the Associated Press Richard with the competition you all beat in those four days and with what San Diego State did last year in this tournament how much of that is does it add pressure is it more wanting to help take the next step for the Mountain West
Or just see what you all can do as a program alone and just let it stand on its own yeah I’m not too concerned with saving the Mountain West um I’m more focused on New Mexico you know I think the Mountain West had a historic year to
Get six teams in the tournament and I know people are talking about underseeded this and that like let’s just remember they got six team in which is amazing um the theater throughout the year on television was phenomenal uh the fans were amazing so it’s a great basketball conference um but for us when
We got here and and I know our local media probably sick of hearing it we were 303 in the net and U we had to add eight players in year one off of zooms we were able to hit on two really good ones uh Jamaal mashman Jr and Jaylen
House Sebastian forsling has been an amazing member of the team as well and then I think we did a great job in year two and year three of adding some young guys adding some older pieces and now we’re sitting in the NCAA tournament so
Um see if we can take on a really good Clemson team we know it’ll be hard but we try not to make it bigger than that you’ve uh got everyone from sitting and former presidents to Alex bregman picking you guys to either win the national championship or make a Deep Run
In this tournament I’m just curious what your reaction is to everyone picking the Lobos well bregman may be a little bit biased for the people that don’t know he’s from Albuquerque um other than that I I’ve always been a believer in I I treat praise very similar as criticism
It doesn’t really matter a whole lot um so I don’t know if it fuels our guys I hope it doesn’t we we know if we’re able to beat a Clemson team we’re going to have to play very very well and uh all the other stuff is just it’s good
For the fans and and obviously good for social media going to the front we’re in our last five minutes coach you mentioned earlier the nil Collective that you guys are doing can you talk about the evolution of college basketball from you know watching as a
Young kid with your dad to now you don’t have to go to Kentucky or the big duke or Carolina to get notice if you’re a player you can go to the NBA win a National Championship about anywhere in the country yeah I think uh television you
Know you used to sell play on TV well almost all the games are on some type of Television streaming or whatever um then you’d sell play in front of great fans I mean we have one of the best fan bases in college basketball then you’d sell facilities we’ve got a great facility uh
You know so you can go anywhere I always tell recruits you go to a place so you can be one of the top 15 players in your league and um we have shown in this league I mean Paul George kawi Leonard um that you can come to the Mountain
West and you could play in the NBA you could play overseas um and you can have have a high major experience uh and our guys are having that to go down front to on this side coach uh have you made it clear to the guys how how hard it is to even get
Here I mean it’s been 10 years since New Mexico he’s even been back here and and uh you know that that alone gives you a sense of urgency like hey let’s take the what we got and make the best of it well I think you’re always there’s always a
Sense of urgency at this level and especially in college basketball there’s only 31 games and U you got to take advantage of every opportunity that you get you know I think we are absolutely proud to be in the NCAA tournament in year three you know I think guys like
Jaylen and Jamal who came here with kind of a leap of faith they had never seen Albuquerque they had never seen campus and to be able to not only be here but bring our amazing fan base back is something we’re proud of but uh tomorrow when the tips like none of that’s going
To matter you know so uh it’s a winner go home tournament and uh we’re going to give it our best shot tomorrow so I do want to ask you about Clemson but since you mentioned Josiah would we have seen JT toppen this year develop into the Freshman star and
Setting all these records that he did if Josiah was still part of the program probably not yeah I mean so good thing Josiah left um yeah I mean I think that’s just the the whole part of the deal is is you see what we got we’re going to figure it out whenever this
Tournament is done what we’re going to have stay leave and then you figure it out from there so it’s an important month for every team you know um I’m sure there’ll be surprises coming into my office that I never knew of so you got to be ready um to JT’s credit he
Took advantage of an opportunity and um hopefully continues to do that and then obviously we talk a little bit about PJ Hall I’m curious about the guard matchup though are your are your guards is this a guard matchup with Clemson that you see your guards able to take advantage
Of in any way well they’ve they’re bigger than us right which is probably natural with a um ACC team um so our guys got to be Scrappy they got to be tough I think the best part of Vegas obviously was winning a championship which was awesome but the growth of our
Toughness um and our scrappiness and our fight was really good and with a team that’s bigger than you like the message has been all year you just got to find a way and uh hopefully our guys do that and everybody’s ready to go there’s time for one more if uh there’s anything else
For Coach okay we’ll stay there I know uh will already mentioned everybody picking you guys did you happen to see that Jack patino didn’t pick you guys to win at all but he did have you go to the elite a uh it was a little reverse psychology
You know we’re trying to um see if we don’t jinx us but yes I was sitting with him when he was making out the bracket um I didn’t watch his whole thing yet but um it’s us against Jack that’s going to be the message in the locker room as
Let’s prove him wrong if we do go to an elite eight which would be obviously very very hard uh but yeah that’ll be the sole message is let’s prove Jack wrong coach we will let you get set for practice with your team thank you for your time good luck tomorrow thank you uh
Yeah you for for e for for e e e e for for e e for for e e e e for e we are five minutes away from being joined by student athletes from Clemson we’ll be starting in five minutes e for e for uhhuh for sure
Just let me know just you did a good job y long we’ll get underway with the student athletes from Clemson the number six seed in the west region a record of 21- 11 they’ll play the second game here tomorrow at FedEx forum we’re joined by uh from my left graduate student Joseph
Gerard III in the center is senior PJ hall and then to The Far Side red shirt senior Chase Hunter we’ll open it up for questions for the student athletes again if you’ll raise your hand we’ll get you a microphone and start with your name and affiliation and the student athlete
Were you’re directing your question uh Jason Ms with the Commercial Appeal here in Memphis welcome back first of all you guys were here just a few months ago and that’s kind of what I was going to ask you about is that did that go through your mind at all when when the
Announcement was made where you were going and stuff and then how do you feel about coming back uh and playing in a building that sort of familiar with but also had a little bit of bad luck on on the floor there Joseph yeah I mean I I think it’s
Uh you know especially in March you want to you know look at all the little things to kind of give you a little bit of an advantage and I mean you could kind of look at that to to our uh like I said our advantage in um but in the end
You got to still play the game go out there but you know it definitely was a little bit good for us to have some familiarity with where we’re going um familiarity with the arena obviously the Hoops all that kind of stuff so definitely gives us a little bit of an
Advantage but at the end of the day you still got to go out and play all right hey guys Mike barbar Richmond Times Dispatch good to see you uh if all three of you could answer this from your own perspective um with the transfer portal with everything that
Goes on in college basketball we see fewer guys spending four years in college four years at one school um what do you think of that Trend and how have you personally kind of chosen your paths for how you’ve done things we start with Chase and work this way um yeah I mean I
Think it all depends on the player it all depends on you know the school and you know what they go through in their career you know I’m a person that’s been at Clemson for four years now um well 5 years and um you know it’s been a long
Journey and um you know I just had my own path and I think you know it just depends on the player it depends on the school you know you can go through things with coaches leaving players leaving um and like I said it just depends on the player and what they go
Through but now with the portal you know you have an opportunity to to go to another school and you know maximize your college career so you know like I said it just depends on the player and what they want to do in their career uh yeah until that same extent of
What he was saying you know it all depends on the player and uh their situation uh obviously mean Joe was at Circus four years then had a fifth year so it’s a little different situation for getting into the portal but you know there’s also situations you know like um
Where to an extent there’s too many guys jumping in as well that’s kind of the thing going on right now but that’s what I think is given strength to a lot of these mid- Majors that have turned into you know like the JMU and stuff and great great um teams and programs
Because you have these guys that are more experienced and stay there four years have a core group if you can build that Core group right now and keep them there for a while it gets you really tight on the court and uh you know we have some guys here that have been here
For a while me Chase uh Ian shein’s been here for three years uh uh Alex him way who’s um not playing right now but he’s you know still a guy who was involved a lot it’s uh that’s what’s special about Clemson we’re tending to be a school
That you know keeps guys um you know set in stone for a while and uh we’re very welcoming a new guys that’s been great for us this year and it’s nice to have that and um at the same time it’s also you know a great thing to have four
Years uh yeah I think these guys both hit it right on the head I think it’s different for everybody um you know me personally my path was a little bit different uh I graduated from Syracuse my coach decided to retire and you know obviously playing for Coach bhim there’s
Nothing like it so once that happened uh Co was kind of like a blessing in disguise you get another year um and another opportunity and I said why not you know let’s explore something else and obviously Clemson was the best choice for me um but there’s obviously
Pros and cons everything I think it’s good for guys who um feel like they made a you know a decision that wasn’t the best for themselves where right out of high school um you know it doesn’t work out for them for whatever reason um it
Kind of gives them a second chance to go somewhere else um and kind of revive their career and make make something out of it so I think there’s always positives in everything and uh just depends how you look at it down front this question is for any of you guys but
Just how aware are you of the projections or the picks of you know everybody saying New Mexico is one of the most likely to um have been upset so I mean do you take that in do you block it out kind of how much do you think
About it uh I mean yeah it’s I mean it’s pretty hard not to see that kind of stuff just with all social media and stuff but you know at the same time like you know also after our the last loss I mean I can’t blame a whole lot of people
For thinking that but at the same time we’ve had some great practice leading into this and we know what kind of team we are we’re excited to get out there and play and whatever it may be 161 116 125 anybody can win on the court and uh
We’re focused on our guys and we’re excited to get out there there other questions for the student athletes we can stay down here I guess in terms of their Tempo do they do they remind you of anybody you played during the season or how unique
Are they in terms of how fast they get up and down the floor yeah I mean I think they kind of play sort of to Alabama um you know quick guards you know big big physical bigs that can that can do some things but um yeah I think they play similar to
Alabama you know their team that likes to run and get up and down got some quick guards that can make plays for themselves so you know I think you know we prepared well for them hey guys uh Mike from Richmond again um again all three of you from
Your different perspectives Chase and PJ you’ve been at a school your entire career that that’s very football crazy uh Joe you came from a school that that probably lives and dies a little more with basketball um how have you seen the culture at Clemson uh with the success
That coach Brownell has had and the succcess that you guys have had this year but but also in the recent years um yeah I mean it’s been it’s been a fun year um just because you know we’ve had some success and uh along with other sports being good it’s been a fun
Year for Sports in general and so you know coming off a u a 10 win season with football last year I was really excited for them going into this year and you know that’s you know that’s our main sport of Clemson there’s no denying it and so having basketball having a great
Year this year has been fun for us because I mean people like to say like oh basketball’s got a back seat or you know other Sports have a backseat but at a school like Clemson where it’s a small community everybody’s tighten it I mean everybody’s in love with Clemson Sports
In general uh we have crazy support for our soccer teams who are national champions um softball who got added a few years ago I mean our gymnastics team we got added this year has been sold out every meet at our our uh and then it’s I mean it’s electric and so Clemson
Athletics has incredible support across the board and it’s uh it definitely doesn’t feel that we have a backseat so it’s uh it’s fun to play for sure come to the center here also if you are a media member on watching us via Zoom you can raise your hand and we will
Get you in as time allows we’ll go to the center PJ or chase whoever wants or both um was there anything about when you were here the last time that you that that sort of you used going forward over the rest of the season to like maybe inform how you approached certain
Things or was there something that you I don’t know like a lesson that you learned or anything from here that that you employed the rest of the way I mean yeah I would say for me um that was the co year we went so it was definitely a
Different experience you know we were at one hotel with all the other teams and are you talking about playing here or the oh playing here I thought you talking about tournament okay playing here um no I mean like like Joe said like we said about playing here it’s
Like you know you play on the same rims playing on the same court um you know but at the end of the day we just got to go out and play our best game and I think that um you know playing here definitely was an advantage that we play
Here earlier in the season and um you know it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to but um you know we got another chance another opportunity to uh prove ourselves uh yeah I mean I’d say in terms of like how the game went one thing I thought about after that was you
Know as it gets down to a wire with the team that you know is a little bit Run and Jump like Memphis was uh who’s s kind of similar to New Mexico probably not as fast but uh you know play your game stay poised and uh run your stuff
That’s a that’s a big thing when you playing fast teams you got to stay calm don’t let yourself get sped up that’s what we uh we kind of learned from that Memphis game I think and uh try to employ or implored for the rest of the
Year yeah go right here this is really for any of you ay Braxton ab24 here in Memphis but what does it feel like especially uh PJ and Chase to bring Clemson back to to this stage you guys haven’t been here in a couple years um yeah I mean I say first of all
We didn’t do it alone uh we got incredible coaches and a lot of guys that came to help us along the way I mean obviously we brought in new guys like Joe and Jack uh who were tremendous boost for us shooting on the outside then one through five switching with
Jack who can play incredible defensive rebound and so I mean it’s I tell you what it wasn’t just us to bring us back but it’s uh it’s been fun it’s it’s been expected I mean last year we bet we definitely felt shorted um after having
A great year 14 wins in the ACC um and getting left out of the tournament so this year it’s not necessarily like oh we got to get to the tournament we gotta get to the tournament that was you know that’s our floor that’s what how we
Expected it and so the whole year we were expected coming here and um and play our game and make some noise that’s kind of how we thought about the entire year with the players we have in the coaches we have in our last five minutes
We’re going to go to the back left and then back down here to the front hey this is for each of you as you noted you kind of struggled down the stretch if each of you could take an aspect of the team going into tomorrow that you think
You got to kind of flip that switch to get back to where you were playing your best what would it be in each of your opinions the Joseph start I think first off I think that uh our practices this last week have been a lot better uh
There’s a lot more on edge um and I think just kind of one of the things that the coaches were I guess um emphasizing was getting our Edge back and uh you know we had that obviously the first two months of the season and it’s easy to have an edge when you’re
You know 10 and0 or whatever it was and 10 11-1 at one point so um it’s easy to be up uh when things are going great but when things were going bad um you just got to figure out a way to get out of the hole um and try to get that edge
Back and I think that’s what we’ve done this last week um and you know again just trying to look at everything positive losing early in the ACC tournament kind of gives you a chance to go back to practice um and get get your mind right so um I think if we took a
Look at it that way um it’ll help us for tomorrow PJ uh yeah yeah especially what we were saying at the last Point um losing early in the ACC tournament the fashion that we did was not just disappointing but embarrassing and so you know going back to these practices
Going good on good and making sure we’re sharpening our edges and making sure we’re having a Competitive Edge and fight was uh was huge for us and going into these these um last few practices after we you know we had some time off or or not time off but the first couple
After the AC tournament you know sharpen our minds ready for this tournament and sharpen our minds for our opponent that’s uh that’s been big for us you know it’s not necessarily flipping a switch if you have to flip a switch then you know you have a problem uh
Especially this late in the year we uh it’s it’s time to you know be ready to be on go at all times Chase yeah for me I think you know game-wise you know we just got to be able to fight through adversity you know we’ve had some games where you know we
Started off great and um you know teams come out and make a run and we just you know as the three leaders here we we got to be able to step up and you know whether it’s calling timeout bringing the team together and you know making
Sure we get a stop we’re making sure we get a big basket when we need it so I think you know going to this tournament you know we we made sure we put more focus on that and um making sure as Leaders of this team that we we get the
Team together and you know do what we need to do we’re going to come down front then of time of La we do have one in Zoom so go ahead uh PJ you were mentioning the coaching staff obviously uh coach brunal how much respect do you
Feel like he gets from the fan base compared to what he deserves and is there any motivation to try to make a run to kind of back him up yeah I mean there’s uh there’s always been motivation for me to to and not just me
The whole team to fight and you know win for him I mean the loss at Cameron this year was sickening because you know I know he never won there he’s had so many close chances and it feels every time it’s like you know what’s going on it
Hurts and so you know wanting to win for him wanting to win for the rest of our coach staff is huge because I don’t want to say there’s not a respect for him but there is you know you hear all the outside voices of you know people who
Aren’t fans of him and you know it’s uh it’s frustrating because of how much we care and love that guy and how incredible he is and how smart of a coach he is and so it’s uh it definitely is a added motivation to fight for our
Coaches and you know it’s there’s not a not a whole lot of motivation you need to get up for these games but whenever you have ADD added stuff it’s um it’s special yeah all right lastly we’ll go to Darion Carter Greenville news on H Zoom go
Ahead hey guys this is for any of you um just what has been coach brell’s uh message headache into tomorrow’s game that he’s been hammering uh throughout these last few days of practices go ahead Joseph like I said I think it was getting the edge back um and you know
Coach brell is someone who loves to go to work um loves to work hard and you know he kind of said that to us that you know ultimately we had a lot of days in between our last game and then tomorrow um and you know likely we probably
Wanted a few more days off but coach Bri Elis is a guy who likes to get back to work and you know I think it’s good for us and it’s been good for us and it’s kind of giving us that competitive spirit that uh will help us you know for
Tomorrow and I think just the biggest thing is is getting the edge back like I said we’ll get you guys out on that uh thank you for your time and good luck tomorrow appreciate it thank youall you stand by we’ll be joined by Clint lson head coach BR Brad Brownell
CH are you good fine thank you and we are joined at the podium by Brad Brownell head coach at Clemson who has led the Tigers to the NCAA now for the fourth time under his guidance we’ll let coach make an opening statement before we open it up for
Questions yeah just excited to be here um really happy for our players especially after uh being left out last year I think you know just really wanted these guys to be able to experience this opportunity we uh were last in the tournament I think it was in 21 which
Was the co year so guys like Chase and and uh PJ for us Alex Hemingway those guys didn’t really get a true NCAA tournament um so we’re just excited to be here have a lot of respect for Richard coached against him while he was at Minnesota he’s done a terrific job
There at New Mexico a super talented team that is probably playing their best basketball when it matters most right now having won the Mountain West tournament and uh we know we have our hands full with that group so uh but we’re looking forward to the challenge
And uh we didn’t play our best in our last outing and I think our guys are looking forward to to uh doing a little bit better this time remind our media members to uh give your name and your affiliation we’ll start to our right coach hey Brad Mike Barber Richmond
Times Dispatch good to see you good to see you I’m curious I obviously you added a couple important pieces but the core of this team are guys who’ve been together for a long time how has that changed the way you coach them and how has that made them better because of
Maybe that chemistry or whatever you’ve seen yeah I think you know coaching right now is really challenging um it it’s you know as much as I love building a program and and having guys in my team for you know four and five years and guys like PJ and Chase and um I know
That’s becoming much more rare uh and challenging and and uh so it changes things a little bit you you certainly have to be open to the portal and you I think the most important thing is you find kids that that fit what you’re about fit your program um you know know
You bring in guys that have opportunities to play so that uh there’s an understanding there and I think it’s really important that the guys who are still in your program are open to that and you know I pride myself on being extremely honest uh with our players uh
Sometimes they don’t like all the things I have to say to them but um I do think they think I I have their best interest at heart and I’m always honest in terms of what we’re trying to get done and so you know we talk about bringing guys in
And what we’re looking to do and what that means moving forward and uh you know certainly the guys that we brought in this year uh we knew that they were impact guys and uh we thought we had a chance to have a really good team and uh
You know Joe and and uh Jack Clark and BOS and and those guys have have really done a nice job of of helping our team and uh they did exactly kind of what we recruited them to do and I give a lot of guys a lot of credit to the guys in our
Program because they’ve welcomed those guys and we’ve had a great locker room somebody just asked me in the back there what was the strength of our team and I think it’s our togetherness I think we have guys that really care about one another and uh I’m really proud of that
And uh proud of our our team because of that down front John BL with the Post and Courier um hey John hey uh New Mexico um asking the players they were saying the tempo reminds them a little bit of Alabama I mean would would you say that’s accurate
How do you what do you have to do well to combat that yeah yeah I mean obviously transition uh defense rebounding are are important you know much like when you play North Carolina um they’re an outstanding rebounding team as well but they have great speed their guard play is outstanding uh and
That’s not to take anything away from their two post players the more that I’ve watched them the more impressed I’ve been um but we’ve got to run good offense we got to take care of the ball um they’re aggressive defensively in certain ways and they’ll even gamble a
Little bit and go for Steals and they try to block a lot of shots get their hands on balls they’re they’re very active um they they’ve been playing really hard and uh so us executing us running good stuff us uh being opportunistic it’s not like we don’t
Want to run when we have opportunities we do um but just being smart about how we play and uh making sure that you know we’re balanced on defense and uh that we rebound the ball very well going to the center uh Jason Ms with the Commercial Appeal here in Memphis welcome back
Thank you uh how did that hit you when when the news when the when the on selection Sunday that you’d be coming back here yes it was funny because you know we’re all kind of standing there as coaches and are we going to be in the
710 game here are we going to be in the 611 game there I think we all kind of figured those were the two most likely scenarios and the longer it went obviously you get a little more anxious um but then it was like hey we see that
You know Memphis is open we’ve been there right we’ve played in the arena uh uh pretty cool and uh although the game didn’t end the way we wanted to it was a heck of a game and uh our guys played pretty well in spurts and shot the ball
Well so you know we had a great first experience here minus the the ending maybe the last two minutes um and so we were excited also we know that a lot of our fans are going to be able to come it’s close enough that that they can
Come and and uh with it being on Friday makes it even easier for folks to get off work so happy to be in Memphis if you were going to go back to a place that you had played earlier in the season would you have rather been
Somewhere you’d won um I don’t think we really worried about those kinds of things uh just somewhere they’re going to take good care of us than they have so far over here H hey Brad Mike from Richmond again uh one more on on kind of the veterans and the guys that have been
With you is it easier to make in-game uh adjustments when you have guys that you know well they know that’s a good point and yes it is it is um much easier with an older group and with some experienced players that you’ve kind of been around
A couple of years to know that we’ve cuz I am a coach that adjusts a lot game to game we we change our scouting we change our ball screen coverages we you know we run different packages offensively in different games we probably do more different things than a lot of teams um
Like in our league and it does help to have a veteran group and it helps to have guys that you’ve been with a couple years to kind of understand that and pass it along and and uh I do think we have a tremendous culture um we have
Former players that we’ve heard a lot from here recently that supporting us and it’s kind of just passed passed on down you know um Eli Thomas to Amir Sims to PJ Hall to Ian shefflin and it’s been like that for several years now and it’s something we’re really proud of next two
Will come from the back left hey Brad Phil cor blute Sports Talk media Network hey Phil hey gu three players all said they hated losing in the ACC tournament early but it gave you extra practice time and I think they all said practice went well what did you see in practice
Did you and Jo Joseph said even since they got the edge back that you had earlier yeah I hope so um and you know it’s I don’t know if we we’ve played as poorly as it’s been made out um by some of the media I realize we’ve lost three
Out of four and we did play very poorly against Boston College and some of that I don’t want to take anything away from Boston College Boston College is playing great basketball right now and just had a really good win uh against Providence on the road uh but we didn’t play well
In that game and uh you know the lost to Wake Forest we played pretty well wake was wake lost one game at home all year and we had a chance to win late and just couldn’t quite get it done but we played well we had some good wins in the last
Two weeks at home against Pittsburgh and Syracuse two 20 win teams so I don’t think we’re playing as poorly as some folks think but we did play very poorly in the ACC tournament um got home and had to f face it you know and I was very
Direct with our players that it was a missed opportunity and I was really disappointed in it and uh you know I think sometimes you can at this time of year there are more distractions than ever um and I just challenged our guys to try to get back to the mindset that
We had in November and December and a lot of that it’s funny but I asked our guys when November what were you thinking about in regards to basketball and it was like yeah we’re tired of practice we just want to play and it really doesn’t matter who we play
Um and then as you’re winning in November and December there’s a joy and an excitement and an enthusiasm that you ride that wave but then the season hits and you’re going to have some ups and downs and and uh we certainly have been through a few of those um and you got to
Kind of reset and so we just talked about resetting reentering ourselves getting our eliminating as many distractions and as much as the noise as we can and let’s get back to work and so we practiced twice on Saturday and once on Sunday um you know did a very light
Workout on Monday and and have worked out obviously Tuesday and Wednesday to get ready so um you know I think we’re ready I I hope we’re reentered but um you know this is about players making plays and we’re going to find out where our guys are here come game time all
Right we’re uh inside our final five minutes we’ll stay on the back James Fletcher on three uh in a conference in a school that’s kind of football driven in the conversation a lot of times how important can success in March specifically be when you’re in the National Spotlight everybody’s watching
Uh to prove to or showcase to collectives Administration boosters what the value of contributing to your program is yeah I don’t think it’s just the end of the year um certainly that’s a part of it and you know making the NCAA tournament is unbelievably hard
Um and so just getting to here is step one certainly building off of this is it’s an unbelievable opportunity and we’d love to take the next step and that’s what we’re trying to do as a program um you know we’ve we’ve been to three of the last seven so we’ve we’ve
Made some steps here we went to a sweet 16 and 18 uh so we know what it looks like um I think we’ve been consistently I think we’re fifth in the ACC and wins over the last 5 years so I think we’ve done a lot of really good things that
Show people that we’re a good basketball program we’re doing things the right way but again to take another step we’ve got to we got to bust through consistently this time of year in this tournament it gives you the opportunity to to do that um nobody wants to more than me or our
Players um and so you know again we’re excited about the opportunity that we have against New Mexico to to to do that go ahead you were talking about distractions earlier um there’s been stuff in the news the last couple of days with regard to the ACC and the
Conference and all that stuff is that a distraction is that no it’s to be honest with you I mean I’m not involved in any of that uh there’s a lot of folks on our campus much smarter than me that are leading our University Graham nef our athletic director Jim Clemens our
President um our board I mean we’ve got great leadership at our at our school and and uh so they’re handling all that my head’s been down they haven’t called me one time to ask me my opinion or uh thankfully I’ve been focused on New Mexico do you have an opinion no it’s
Too too important for me to be involved in anything like that okay we’ll go to the back row yeah Brad on the topic of distractions how have you found the transfer portal opening right before the NCA tournament starts what’s that been like for you and your staff yeah distracting and uh you
Know I’m on an nabc committee that uh I was adamantly against this for this very reason and uh you know there’s it’s it’s a hard time of year for everybody players coaches the whole nine yards and there’s a lot of coach is especially at mid- Major schools whose tournaments end
Earlier and they were very vocal about the longer we have to wait the harder it is for us to figure out what we have to do and so I understand why there’s a segment of our you know uh coaching fraternity that wants that but I also
Think this is really I don’t think this is the right time and for folks to be talking about it and the media is talking about it to some degree and as coaches have to have one eye on it and um I I I wish you know I wished we could
Wait a couple more weeks maybe not all the way through the final four certainly but you know at least one more week to next week when now there’s only 16 teams playing and even if possible to get to the the following week of the final four
Would even be best but uh I don’t you know we’re all kind of living and learning through this this process right now we’ll end it on the front row I mean you list some of the accolades um three tournaments in the last seven years the
Sweet 16 all that do you feel like the F base appreciates that that they are able to see the bigger picture and how do you deal with people who don’t quite think you’re doing enough I I don’t worry about it um I hope they do um more importantly it’s about my Administration
And the folks that I work for um and my players understanding that we’re doing the best we can to put them in positions to be successful and and showing folks that this is a winning program and there has been a uh a pretty high level of consistency um um you know we’re trying
To to raise the ceiling certainly um I know we’ve raised the floor considerably since I got here um but I I I don’t get too distracted with all of that I’ve got enough to worry about and and uh day-to-day just coaching my team and and planning for the future coach we’ll get
You out on that one get you on the practice floor good luck tomorrow thank you thank you so much we will be back in here in 15 minutes with the student athletes from Texas A&M not yet they have for for for for for e e for for e for for for gu here
For e e e for for e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for for e e e e for e e e for for e we will get started with our student athletes from Texas A&M agie the nine
Seed out of the South a 20 and4 record will play at 550 tomorrow in the 89 game against Nebraska joined by from my left Tyrese Radford also we have Manny o basaki and Wade Taylor I fourth uh we will start in the back row uh give your name and affiliation and the student
Athlete where you’re directing your question uh this is really for any of you guys Aver braxon ABC 24 uh here in Memphis you guys played against Memphis this year you also played against them last year in this building uh is it is there a level of familiarity with this
Building do you think that gives you a little bit of an advantage or is it just a chance to maybe exercise some demons here in Memphis uh I would say you know what I’m saying I mean it’s a little familiar to me uh I
I don’t know I can’t say the same for my guys but um we’re excited to be here and um we’re ready to have media practice and you know get a feel for the rim for the court and uh I think that’ll help us for tomorrow I would say it’s more um
Familiar for our fans like it’s closer to to Texas than you know some of the other destinations um like Manny said we’re just happy to be here um excited to play in this uh wonderful Arena again hopefully come out with a win couple of them um for me I’m going just say um
Yeah it’s kind of familiar but I’m looking at everything this year um as like we’ve been here before but still treat it as if like it’s kind of new because it’s a new season over here to the center um yeah old Buchanon with texags and Boots maybe you kind of
Started to touch on that just a second ago but anything that y’all can take from being in this experience last year that you can draw from to maybe help you or make you more comfortable this season in the tournament uh I mean just acting like we’ve been here before um kind of
Did all the celebrating and got that out of our system now it’s really trying to lock in and just take it a game at a time and be where our feed at we’re going to go to the back and then stay on this side and the front
Colin Cody here with wrg in Memphis uh obvious ly the SEC is one of the toughest leagues in in the country so with eight teams getting in this year what did that schedule do for you guys to you know prepare you for this moment I think it did a lot um shout out
To the SEC for getting eight teams in um I think it prepared us for this moment I feel like we played 18 NCA tournament games um on the road at home a neutral site in the SC tournament um the physicality that we play with I think is
Like no other so um I think playing those 18 games playing those caliber type of caliber teams different fast slow big small just get get us ready for the tournament because you’re playing different teams night in and night out front Mitch Davis the Mitch Davis show guys this for all three of y’all
Kind of the picky back off of that the South Eastern conference talk about who Nebraska reminds you of in the Southeastern Conference and kind of the game plan coming into this coming into from a physical SEC tournament last weekend in Asheville so we’ll start with Tyrese and then work our way across uh
Um I mean from watching film I see that um they kind of live by the three die by the three they shoot the three barall really well um for us all we got to do is to be honest just um stick to Our Roots you know um be physical be more physical um
Make make the open shots and just play together as a team uh according to the SEC they would be the fifth fastest team um really good players um they run really good sets effective sets uh but I think the game plan for us is to be aggressive on both
Sides of the ball um GRE them with high hands because they’re really good at shooting uh on the on the catch and off the bounce and uh rebound the ball finish the possession with a rebound and uh if we do that we’ll be fine um to your question they kind of
Remind me of Alabama um they’re fast they have great Shooters um in all five position just can’t shoot just like Alabama um they kind of run the NBA offense pin Downs screen screens and things like that but um like Manny said just stay focused gree with the high
Hands just U try to be physical we go right here to the center and then two on this side Brent toraman Eon Chronicle Wade it’s been six years since this program has won an NCAA Tournament game what would it mean for y’all to to get a
Victory in the NC n postseason oh it would mean a lot uh just for this team that um heard their name called this year U we’ve been through a lot this year a lot of people um didn’t think we’ll be here today um we just continue
To keep working and just U we want to thank God for putting us in the position um we want to win it for our fans back home um our families they they did um they have a a lot to do with this cuz I mean they
Raised us so um we’re just happy to be here we’re going to go out there and play as hard as we can and hopefully come up with to win right here uh Mark passwaters with Rivals um Wade you said that these guys live and die by the
Three said of Penn State last year and we don’t have to go into that but what did you got what can you guys take from that game and maybe playing some other good three-point shooting teams this season um you know to kind of defend how they operate um yeah I would say that
Penn State game plan and um Nebraska Game Plan totally different I mean Penn State were they did the thing called Melo they kind of shot threes from the post um they had one guy kind of Orchestra everything with Nebraska they have a lot of good good players they
Shooting they shoot better off the dribble than they do off the catch so they’re getting a lot of Threes in transition they have plays um ran to make thre so I just feel like we just got to go out there and just um make sure that we don’t high alert at all
Times last couple Teresa Walker the Associated Press here Wade uh particularly for you Wade because I’m thinking you might end up uh guarding him uh tomaga uh he’s you know a great three-point shooter he’s been nicknamed Samurai Steph how what’s the what makes him so good good and what’s the
Challenge particularly on on dealing with him they’re live streaming that game back in Japan because you know he’s so popular back home yeah uh he’s a terrific player from from what I’ve watched um I’m excited for the matchup you know I’m going to do every whatever
I need to do uh for the team to make sure that we win U we’re try to contain him um he’s a great player so you just can’t shut him down he’s going to make shots um so we just have to make sure we stay focused and um continue with the
Game plan Senator yeah oldan again Tex wait most of the year as a team y’all struggled from the three-point line but the last six games y’all shot over 40% um is there anything you can point to that’s the reason y’all been able to make such a dramatic Improvement just uh
Beli in I work and believe in each other anything else for the student athletes okay we’ll go right here U Mo this one’s for you uh most of the Season you were getting very limited playing time you came out had a good game against South Carolina got in the starting lineup and
Obviously things have really moved from there what changed for you midseason to go from really struggling with your shot to you know putting up a lot of points in a hurry yeah uh first of all I just want to thank God uh for being in this
Position um and secondly I want to thank these two dudes to the right and left of me for uh sticking sticking with it uh with me um they know I work every day they know how hard I go they know how much I care and um through it all they
Always made sure you know I was okay and that I just keep going that I never stop um and I have a great coaching staff and other great teammates in that locker room that believe in me and that support me and love me so um if it wasn’t for
That I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing so um yeah last one to our right James fler from on 3 uh for all three of you guys you’re around Buzz Williams every day what is life like around him not just when he’s talking basketball but just when he’s talking about life
And and everything that’s going on any stories that you guys have about him I probably been around him the longest out of all of us so I mean coach Buzz Williams is the most consistent person I ever met just with everything he do um just being a dad a coach you
Know um and that plays a big role in my life makes me want to be consistent with everything I do on on the court and off the court you know um he’s um very passionate person about everything you do um and that plays a part in why we so
Close and um just why he Bond so much with the team and why we click you know um it’s just it’s just something about Coach Buzz that makes him just so special you know you can’t pinpoint one thing it’s a lot of things uh an amazing leader um he’s not like
Any other leader though um he’s someone that that really walks in faith um studies like every day you know what I’m saying and and and that stuff come to life and um the words that he uses um how much energy and passion he puts into his
Words when he really speaks to us or not just us anybody um it really touches you and uh it really motivates you to be a better person on and off the floor and uh I love Buzz so I’m glad he he’s uh he’s my coach where you The Last Word
Perfect yeah he’s the type of coach that you run through a wall for um he just always knows what to say at the right moments um uh he has his own kids like he always tell us he spend more time with us than his own kids so I really um
Appreciate that cuz I mean I’m not with my father all the time so I look at our coaching staff and Coach Buzz is that father figure at the time and um like Mo said I’m just I’m just glad that he’s my coach guys we’ll let you get ready for
Practice appreciate your time and good luck tomorrow thank you yes sir just a moment we’ll be joined by coach Buzz Williams for for for e for e for e e we’ll be joined by coach Williams in within the next five minutes for for okay e for e yeah for
We are joined at the podium by Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams in this Fifth Season coaching agies has them in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season coach will let you start us uh with a statement then we’ll open it up for questions go you go straight to question
Uh we’ll start in the back and then come over to the center here coach Colin Cody wrg here in Memphis um obviously being in the league for five years and winning SEC coach of the year um that League eight teams are playing in the postseason now what did that schedule do
For you all to prepare you for this March well it’s the first time we have done the schedule that we’ve done in the non-conference uh to add it to what the SEC has become over the last 5 years I think we’ve played 14 games this season against teams that are in the NCAA
Tournament so we’ve had practice we haven’t always done well but the league continues to improve and the margin continues to shrink and um whether it’s eight teams or every coach in every League will say they need more but um hopefully the league will do well over the next few weeks and that’s
Probably what speaks the loudest to the center it’s war in Houston Chronicle buzz what would it mean for your program to get a win in the NCAA postseason yeah I we would be grateful uh we’re we’re thankful to be here uh after all that’s transpired as you know over the last
Month or so um and selfishly I’d just like to like it to keep going to be able to continue to hang around these guys uh it’s been remark able the lessons that we’ve learned the resiliency that they’ve shown the togetherness the connectivity um we’ll have our hands full against Nebraska a unique opponent
Very well coached uh with really really skilled players but for a multitude of reasons like every other coach Brent we’ like to keep playing front Travis Brown with the eagle uh Buzz what um what is Eli kind of meant to this team as especially what
He’s I think you mentioned it in one of your last ones what he’s done off the court on the bench with that yeah I just admire him so much and to be honest with you Travis um I think there has been a crescendo within the program for the respect that
We have towards him played a lot of minutes shot a lot of balls had a lot of success throughout his college career and then for the most part hasn’t played um he’s shooting 6% from three and he may be the most respected player that I’ve ever coached who knows
He’s not going to play and the players know he’s not going to play and he sat in my seat as much as I have over the last two weeks I was telling his dad his dad called me uh yesterday and I said we’ll have time to discuss
Later and uh he he can go play somewhere because he has such an ability to score but his calling is coaching because his ability to have an impact you know normally you when you think of leaders you think of the guys that are maybe the best players sometimes the oldest
Players and in our program we don’t ever deem captains I I never have done that I’m not saying that’s right or wrong but he’s only been with us N9 months doesn’t know anything about what we’re doing committed on Zoom never took an official visit and he just has great belief in
Who we are and his ability to inspire knowing that he’s not going to be able to prot participate I think that’s really hard to do as a competitor and I think he’s going to have a very successful coaching career whenever he’s done lesby Works uh is it surpris you
All he was able to find a talent like K across the the globe for Nebraska yeah they’re um they run pretty offense um you know I can’t pronounce all of their names I know their numbers obviously when coach was at Iowa State I was at Marquette and then uh he coached Jimmy
When he was with the bulls some familiar with uh the Savant that he is offensively and just watching them you don’t want to play against them but just watching them there is for sure Envy as a coach like I wish I could do that you
Know I wish I could get our players to read and react the way they do very unique style of play I mean 51’s their point guard and leads their team and assist um 50% of their shots are from three I mean they’re they’re fun to watch and they obviously they cause the
Opposition a lot of stress because of how they play and he was probably at the Forefront of the transfer portal before it was the transfer portal uh but a lot of their success at Iowa State way back when that was an eternity ago it seems were kids that set out and then
Finish their eligibility there but I think a lot of his style of play uh and what they do in transition what they do in secondary they were doing some of that at Iowa State they were for sure doing some of that with the bulls and then I think it’s just continued to
Evolve with the skill set of the guys that he has this year and cater yeah um ol Buchanan TX aags maybe you touched on this a little bit in your previous answer buzz but uh Wade compared where he said that Nebraska kind of reminds him of Alabama I wonder if you think
That’s a good comparison or there are any other teams that y’all played that maybe fits more to what y’all seen or what you see in out uh in Nebraska there there is some uh residue of how Alabama plays they’re fast they’re not as fast as Alabama uh but percentage of shots
From three eily similar to Alabama um I don’t know to be honest with you if we’ve played a team that combines the pace at which they prefer to play along with the flow or the prettiness or the the style St uh and for sure we haven’t played anyone whose roster
Is built the way theirs theirs is our next three coach will be to our right one two three okay James Fletcher from on three your players were just up there and they talked extensively about their relationship with you Tyrese talked about wanting to be as consistent
As you in life uh boots had great things to say about how much time you spend with them sacrificing time with your family uh what does your relationship with this group of guys in particular mean to you off the basketball court yeah everything um this is the wrong thing to
Say on this platform basketball has very little if anything to do with it it’s just kind of what brought us together um time will multiply whatever you feed it and that’s specific to Ball but I think that’s specific to life and I for sure think that’s what applies to
Relationships so for boots to say that I I appreciate it uh I don’t ask any of our guys those sorts of questions when I spend time with them just talking to them about them um I I I think that I hope that uh what I model may help their life I
Think good habits with time it becomes your Ally and so I just try to give them as much time of my time as I can I I coach less than I ever have uh but I spend more time with the people within the organization the young adults and
The old adults and in this model of College athletics it’s the one thing that is refreshing to me it’s nourishing to me I I think there is some lasting power to that I don’t know who was up here or what they said but those are my guys
And uh I love them and uh it’s not dependent upon if they make a shot or if we win tomorrow Waring uh followup here if I can uh the transfer portal opened just before the NCA tournament what are your thoughts on that what has it done for
You and your staff having to balance those two things yeah um closed mouths don’t catch flies so I got to be careful what I say uh the timing is the time is hard and um I’m not critiquing it all the smart people make all the decisions I’m not in that
Group nor should I be uh but it is a delicate deal you go to selection Sunday and then you wake up early Monday morning to keep studying and you need to send texts and you need to make calls and I’m like uh is there any way we could try to
Win on Friday and it it’s somewhat I I don’t want to critique it because there’s kids that are here that came from the transfer portal but there’s there probably needs to be a group of smart people that try to figure out a better calendar we’re still following
Some archaic rules in a different model that probably are not congruent with where we’re at in 2024 when our last five minutes we’ll go here then up front and then back there uh Buzz Mark passwaters with Rivals um you have said more than once that
You want to run an offense that kind of mucks things up and you said that Nebraska has a pretty offense lately you guys have run a pretty offense been a lot more Tempo what change has that just been something that you have consciously decided that
You guys want to run or has it just been something that has worked out uh maybe a little bit of both um I I I think over the course of our tenure at A&M and elsewhere I think we’ve tried to adapt to whatever gives our guys the best
Chance and I think that that takes time for me to figure out and sometimes I’m a little too slow in figuring it out but I also think it takes time for the guys to have comfort in it I think we’ve done a much better job defensively um which has led to us being
Able to play with more Pace at the beginning of the shot clock which has to some degree led to us getting fouled more often which for us if we can get fouled more often and The Possession starts from a dead ball defensively we’re able to muck it up we’re probably
Better mucking it up defensively than we are offensively but we for sure need our offense to help our defense but I think over the last three weeks in some respects our defense has helped our offense and that would be what I would contribute it to the most Mike from the Richmond Times
Dispatch good to see you um how is your relation ship with Henry Coleman grown over the years and how has he developed on the court uh he’s special um I know his name is Henry but I think he’s Barack Obama um I think God has an anointing on
His life that is far superior to ball uh he’s the only two-time men’s basketball Committee Member commissioner sanki has ever appointed in any sport obviously he’s the only men’s basketball representative in NCAA among all division one schools um he’s progressed as a player but I think the the playing part is just
A a small ingredient obviously my relationship goes back with he and his family as long as I’ve known you um you know we stopped recruiting him at Virginia Tech and I told Henry that long before I ever came here um Mr Coleman played for Coach as you know
Miss Coleman graduated from UVA law school and um I remember uh one morning I was at Trinity and coach Williams uh was with me and he was like buzz I’m wasting my time up here this is coach and I said coach you’re not wasting your time he goes why are you
Saying that he’s going to go with you and I said coach he’s not coming to Virginia Tech cuz as soon as you leave I’m going to tell him we’re not recr Ro him anymore he goes what I said coach he’s either going to go with you or he’s
Going to go to Duke he said why I said because that kid is special and he’s never going to choose sides between his mom and his dad he’s never going to tell his mom he’s going to play a tech and he’s never going to tell his dad he’s
Going to UVA so I’m the one wasting time so if you hurry up and finish with him or let me go first I’ll tell him and then your conversation will go back better so um obviously the pandemic was brutal for us um at Texas A&M men’s basketball pardon me if I didn’t clarify
That the right way um so we when he went in the portal his mom called and I said Miss Coleman we cannot waste time I just had my second losing record in the history of my career in conference play can’t wait waste time so I’m not calling Henry you’re
Calling Henry and if you want to have a zoom he has to commit and then we’ll just handle it like that good talking to you I don’t expect to hear from you again his family is ultra Ultra close and of course I know all of them and like his impact for
Us in year number one and and if you I know you don’t know our team but there’s there’s four guys that came at the same time following the pandemic and you can argue that it has been Ultra successful and Henry’s for sure at the beginning of
That list all right I know we had more questions but we’re actually out of time coach thank you and good luck tomorrow thank you thank all right for our members of the media we’re actually going to go straight into visiting with our student athletes from Nebraska Huskers are 23
And 10 they’re the eight seed from the south they will play here tomorrow at 550 in the 89 game in the South we are joined by to my left ring Mast and also Bryce Williams I will open up for questions if you will just give your name your affiliation and which student
Athlete you’re directing your question toward uh raise your hand we’ll get you a microphone up front here and then also in the back so we’ll start in the back while we get a microphone over here uh Jonah Dylan Commercial Appeal here in Memphis just the opportunity to to be to
Win Nebraska’s first NCA Tournament game is that something you guys are thinking about heading into this one yeah most definitely obviously going into the season um it’s a big goal to be here here um and you know that Nebraska’s never won uh NCAA Tournament game but
Now to actually be here and be in the uh be in this position and have this opportunity um just super excited to to go out there and hopefully write some some history up front Robin waser with Husker online.com Bryce the A&M players and and Coach Buzz Williams was talking about
You guys’s scouting report of of what they thought of you guys and they used pretty and just talked about the offense what what have been your impressions of A&M now that you’ve gotten some time to look at them and and what jumps out about their strengths and weaknesses um
They’re just an aggressive team um I wouldn’t really say anything special about them you know they just have their identity of being of trying to outb the opponent and that’s that’s been the emphasis this week you know we just can’t get punked and we’re just going to focus on
That over here uh Madden field action five here in Memphis uh for either one of you Kay has obviously taken the college basketball World by storm over the last couple weeks I’m not sure if either one of you buy to Japanese Steph Curry hype but what’s it like to play
Alongside him and you guys have an anecdote of something amazing he’s done in practice or a game that’s really stood out we’ll start with rink and you guys can both take that one um it’s obviously special to to play with somebody that draws in this this type of
Hype and this type of excitement around himself um he draws a lot of attention on the court with which uh makes it a little bit easier for us to play I know for myself I I definitely look for him and try and try and feed him the ball
Whenever I can during the game um but it’s been pretty special to have him uh like have him on our team this year um like an anecdote for um I he he was over the summer he was with his national team but one of the first practices that he
Was back we were playing a little five on five and there was three possessions in a row first one he hit a just a normal three and then like when you hit let him hit one three he gets gets on fire like right away so so then he hadit
A step back three and then um right the next possession he got switched uh the five switched out on him and he just took him one on one and hit another step back three like three possessions a row and like that was the first time that I
Really saw what type of player he was in person and I mean he’s he’s been special this year rice um the stuff y’all see out there on the court on games like that’s definitely crazy and like rink said he’s definitely like a guy who can
Heat up just by making one shot but the stuff he does after practice after shooter rounds when he’s like hitting um turn around halfcourt shots like like he’ll turn around he won’t look at the basket he’ll just throw him and wrink will do it every time after shoot around but Kay makes
Him on a regular and it’s it’s just crazy the stuff he does off camera the center uh Joseph Meer D Nebraskan uh both of you guys transferred in for this moment you’ve set this goal ahead of you at the beginning of the season but now that
You’re here what’s it how cool is it to be in this spectacle and and be in March Madness and and see the city and and all the hype around it um it’s new um it’s exciting like you said it’s what we it’s the goal that we set out to do before uh
When we transferred here but at the same time we came we wanted to win here we didn’t want to just you know be here so while we’re excited I think we’re both just trying to you know what I’m saying write history uh put our put our names
Down in history with Nebraska and then just make a run yeah we’re we’re not here just for one game um everybody will say that that um if you ask the Texas A&M players to also say we’re not here for just one game but um obviously
Excited to be here but uh we don’t want to be here just for one day we want to extend this journey a little bit longer to our right theres Walker with the Associated Press uh how unique is it that I mean you’ve been around tomaga
But to to know that this game is being live streamed in Japan uh and to get that kind of reach uh does is that is it fun do you have some family members who you know in parts of the world that may be able to watch this game because of
Him that that otherwise would not have been able to they’d have been checking an app trying to keep up with the game yeah I don’t have any family in Japan or anything but you know it’s just crazy that one guy can draw so much attention um nationally worldwide like one it just
Shows that the game can bring everybody together but um I mean it’s just cool I mean it’s cool that everybody over there can see him play and support him uh he’s kind of a celebrity over there I heard so I mean it’s all it’s all it’s all
Necessary to our left hey rank Bryce um Steve Mark with Rivals I’m just wondering about we talked to you guys on Sunday and we asked you um you know how big of an impact Fred can have now that you’ve had some preparation some practices going into this game you know
He’s played in NCA tournament he’s coached in it just what kind of help has a friend Fred B during this process um just mainly kind of explain into us like how um to stay poised during during games like these games most of them will come down to the wire
To be one possession games and what we’ve talked about is just staying pois staying levelheaded and uh not get too sped up or too nervous or excited or whatever just staying levelheaded and staying in the moment up front left side for both you guys Robin was online uh you’ve only
Been at Nebraska for one season and played with coach hoyberg for you know less than a year now but but what kind of impact has he had on your developments not only getting you ready for this season but preparing you for the next level um one thing he’s done
For me he just instilling confidence in me I’m obviously playing a new position that I’ve never played before at point guard um kind of running the show and whether I make a mistake whether whether I make multiple mistakes he’s always just showed that he has confidence in me
And that that helps me have confidence in myself um he’s given me freedom to you know make mistakes and learn um while pumping me up um behind the scenes so um just having confidence in myself and my game and I feel like that’s just propelled me forward yeah just um obviously he’s
Played he’s played and coach at the next level and especially the coaching aspect of um how he approaches a game uh he’s still I believe he still approaches the game the same way when he was coaching the Bulls as he is approaching the game now just to so just to learn from him
Kind of how it goes on in the at the professional level and um how preparations go and um just learning a lot of how he looks at X’s and O’s of the game like just his basketball queue is enormous and learning from him has been really good all right our next
Three will come from the left one two and then three up here go ahead hey guys Rachel Phils with ABC 24 here in Memphis I know you’re probably overhearing this stat but you’re the only Power five team to have not won a game in a tournament is that something you guys talk about
Often how do you work through that and and what’s the motivation to go and win this to get that kind of monkey off the back we’ve talked about it multiple times we’ talked about it a lot um kind of just to go along with our season first it started with the road games
Then once we start once it started coming down to the wire we started talking about we we never won but everybody talks about how we have a special group and we don’t want to just be like some people talk about we want to kind of we definitely want to get the
Monkey off our back and our first one but like I said we we just want to make a run we just want to make a run yeah obviously everybody’s aware but um like we can’t uh let it Define us too much like you can’t go into the game and
Oh this is like the opportunity of a lifetime let’s like obviously it’s a high press game but it we can’t be thinking too much about oh um we’ve never won a game here it’s just all right this is one game that we have to
Win and we can’t be uh too caught up in in the history of it all we just got to focus in on the moment WI our last 5 minutes go to the back yeah to both of both of you uh oh this is yok Mii from Sports graphic number Japan uh there are
Like many great shoos these days but what people say about Kay is kind of different they they say like a best show on the TV or uh fun to watch or the uh what why do you think Kay is that kind of player rink he’s very um unassuming
He’s 62 not too athletic but when he goes out on the court he he plays with a type of swagger and a type of attitude that is almost unmatched and the way he shoots the ball like he uh how Fred teaches us to shoot with like holding
Your follow through and sticking to your shot and all that like it doesn’t really matter for him as long as it gets out of his hands clean and he gets a gets a somewhat decent look you know that that thing is going in more times than not and um that’s something I personally
Have never seen other than with Kay PR probably the degree of difficulty um none of his shots are open none of his shots are like wide open um they’re all like usually fading away or you know super super quick release but ID probably just say the degree of
Difficulty and how much he makes those difficult shots how often yeah right here Bryce coming off the Big 10 tournament and your strong performance in that oneandone environment how does that impact your confidence coming into a similar situation but obviously higher Stakes um the pressure was definitely on
And you know in those games it it was a it was a lot of different it was a lot of different crowds it was a lot of different people rooting for you a lot of different people rooting against you but um heading into the tournament now
You know that wasn’t a neutral site and we were so basically on the road um and we all we had was ourselves pretty much um and for us to play how we did I know we gave up the last one with illo but we still played pretty good we
Looked we looked at one another and played for one another and that was good heading into the tournament now um where everything’s a neutral sight again so it was encouraging any other questions time for one more if there is all right not seeing that we will let these
Student athletes get ready for practice guys thank you and good luck tomorrow thank you should get backed right yeah this one for for for e e e coach good how are you we are joined by Nebraska head coach Fred hyberg in his Fifth Season his team’s 23 wins are the second most in
Program history coach if you have a statement you can make it if not we’ll open it up for questions yeah I just want to say how excited we are to be uh in this opport Unity right now when we put this group together uh we thought we
Had a chance to be here and I give our guys all the credit in the world for continuing to buy in and be very professional throughout this entire season regardless of the circumstance whether we won whether we lost we generally prepared the same way and these guys have been extremely coachable
And I’m really excited for them to have this opportunity all right we’ll open it up uh to our far left on the front coach uh Fred do you think the just an opinion just does the uniqueness of your systems maybe give you an advantage in a
In a situation like this your systems on offense and defense well I don’t know about that I I think at this time of year obviously it’s the importance is how your team is playing and how they’re how they’re hanging in there together uh when you’ve been through as many battles
As we have and I know this we’re playing a hot team we’re playing one of the hottest teams in the country right now that came off a five-game winning streak and they’re lost their lone loss in that stretch to Florida was maybe as good of 20 minutes as they played all year they
Had a 20-point lead in the first half against uh against Florida in that game so I know we’re playing a hot team uh that being said I really do like the way we’re playing I think our guys have done a great job of sharing the ball uh we
Found the right guy whoever has had it going and this team has been very selfless all season long so you know we’ve had a good week of prep I’m I’m sure A&M has had a great week of prep as well and you’ve got two teams that are playing really good basketball
Squaring off tomorrow so you know again it’s you know we’ve all got our unique uh systems A&M is a very unique system on both sides of the ball and I know this whatever uh offense they’re running we have to be tied together you know defensively we’ve been pretty darn good
With the exception of the Illinois game we had a lot of miscues in that game and uh offensively I know we’re going to have to play with Pace whatever defense they are in uh we just have to go out and continue to share it and continue to
Move and and we’ve had the benefit of playing a couple teams that have played multiple defenses Michigan played a lot of them and you know I was really pleased with how uh we moved in that game whatever defense they were in and that’s what it’s going to take uh for us
Tomorrow to have a chance to win this game in front of us hey Coach Travis Brown with the Brian College Station Eagle I know uh K was uh recruited by coach Billy Gillespie what Memories things stick out to you as part of that recruitment with Coach working with
Coach kpan there any part of his um coaching that you see he K develop well as as you know it’s not easy playing for Billy he’s a he’s a very demanding coach and and he does a phenomenal job so the fact that casay played under Billy I think is a huge
Benefit for us and I remember talking to Billy in the recruiting process and just talking him about how he enjoyed coaching Kay and uh he loved him he said the thing I like most about Kay is comp his competitive Spirit he said I can
Yell at him I can get on him and he never snaps back at me he’s just got a smile on his face I said coach it’s cuz he doesn’t know what the hell you’re talking about he can’t understand you and um you know but as he’s gone on uh
You know he had a benefit also there was a Japanese trainer at Ranger and that helped him learn the language a little bit then when he got to Nebraska he got a girlfriend and that really helped uh his language so he’s uh listen the thing
With Kay uh I’m so proud of his growth over the last couple years uh his first year at Nebraska there were some games he just couldn’t play uh he just got overwhelmed by physicality now he doesn’t back down from anybody I don’t care who it is uh
He’s going to go out there he’s going to give you an effort uh he’s going to he’s going to make contact with you and the way that he is guarded his ability to create separation has been absolutely phenomenal so you know I’m just proud of him for everything that he’s done to
Make him the type of player that he is right now and obviously there’s a lot of attention he’s getting a lot of it it’s important as I’ve talked about with the team to really try to limit the distractions this week you know there’s so much noise you know social media with
Everything going on uh the team that limits those distractions a lot of times are the teams that move on at this time of year so it’s important you know we love it he’s getting a lot of attention but again he’s always had that he’s played in the world stage he helped his
National team at Japan accomplish something that has never been done before and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish here at Nebraska next three you’re over here back middle front go ahead hey coach Jonah Dyan Commercial Appeal kind of off that when when you were recruiting him from Ranger what
What were the things that stood out that he was doing at that level and saying okay let’s see how we can bring this up to the new level yeah shooting from half court I think that was the thing that that I liked I mean he shot 44% on shots
Over 25 ft and he just he’s always had that range and the thing that I loved was his confidence you know you see him out there playing with a joy you see him out there playing with a confidence and a Swagger and that’s why he’s able to play against more athletic more physical
Players is because he plays with that drive and he plays with that joy and uh and confident uh Swagger every time he steps on the court it’s not just games I mean if you at practice he’s the same guy and that helps set the tone for our
Guys every day and you know he’s just been he’s been a joy uh to coach I’ve said this multiple times he’s going to go down as one of my all-time favorites go ahead James Fletcher from on three you talked about distractions earlier what has it been like for you and your
Staff having to balance the transfer portal opening up this week and then prepping for the NCA tournament and and the overlap that’s been there yeah it’s not a lot of fun I’ll be honest with you it it’s it’s I know big part of the job and you have to be on
Top of everything early in the process or else you’re not going to have a chance and you know you want to be preparing obviously 24/7 uh but you have to be on top of that and our staff does a good job with it and you know I think there’s what 500
Names in there already so yeah yeah you have to be ready for it but at this time of year you know for us for me it’s all about doing everything I can to prepare the team and put a game plan together to give us a chance to beat uh again one of
The top teams in the country here this these past six weeks and uh you know we’ll worry about that you know when this journey ends hopefully uh not for a while we’ll we’ll get on top of it but you know our staff is doing a good job
Right now keeping everybody in the loop on what’s happening on that front uh at the same time staying very focused on the task at hand front to our right hey Fred Tom chatel Mar wal heral um you you’ve obviously had a a lot of success on the NCA tournament stage um is there
Some secret to win on the NCA Tournament game well it’s uh you got to be tied together you have to fight through adversity this is the biggest thing at this time of year is you have to find a way to stay together when things aren’t going your way and
You know I can promise you tomorrow night at some point uh that’s going to happen to us and what will Define our success is how we handle that adversity um you know I’m confident our group has been through a lot we’ve been through a lot of highs and lows and I do think
We’re playing as good as we played all year right now so hopefully we handle that well uh we did not handle it great at Ohio State you know that was the one time I thought that we really kind of got away from it um but we learned from
It I think we’ve grown and and gotten better um you know defense and rebounding this time of year is critical and we’re playing the best offensive rebounding team in the country and they are so good at getting into your body and hitting you first and you know if we
Allow that to happen it’s going to be a long night you know they average almost 18 offensive rebounds a game and that is a crazy number 44% of their offensive of their misses they get back their offensive rebounding percentage is historically good so you know for us we
Have to find a way to battle them um we got to guard the ball and we have to finish off possessions to our left for the next two starting up front Fred we hav’t got Robin watch at Husker online we haven’t got a chance to talk to you
Since you got the contract extension I guess for one what does that mean to you and then considering where things were just for you a couple years ago to have that long-term stability now how much of an advantage is that going forward building this program well I I appreciate the leadership believing in
Us and you know that’s first and foremost I I’ve talked a lot about how much we’ve loved our time in Lincoln and for me with our family’s ties you know with both grandfathers working at the University one is the head coach for nine seasons in in basketball uh the
Other one for a sociology Professor for 30 years who spent a lot of time in Lincoln growing up my parents are graduates of Southeast and also University of Nebraska my dad got his PhD at Nebraska I was born in Lincoln so we absolutely love it it’s kind of cool
How life has come full circle and uh you know very likely my career is going to end uh in l so you know I just I’m really appreciative of the belief and uh we’re going to do everything we can to make this a consistent uh goal for this team to be
Playing at this time of year on this stage and there’s no reason in the world we shouldn’t have that with the facilities with the fan support um we absolutely love it you know I’m appreciative my staff getting taken care of and you know hopefully we’re here
Doing special things for a long time and uh you know again but it goes back to the leadership I haven’t met Troy since he got the job I I know I talked about this he used to ref my high school games uh sounds like he’s going to be out
There today so I’m looking forward to getting together with him and hopefully building it together uh with a guy that I think has great leadership skills and uh also the president as well so you know just really excited about it and uh you know hopefully we do some some great
Things here long term our last two will come on the aisle then back up front Joseph Meer D NE brasin um you know Wade Taylor had some pretty high praise for you guys um but in terms of slowing him down and and the opportunity to go
Against a great player like that um you know what’s your approach to him yeah he he is playing at a a unbelievable level I mean preseason Player of the Year and certainly that’s how he’s playing um you know right now but his degree of difficulty on his shots you know you see
Those early shots that he made in the SEC tournament pulling up from 28 29 fet on the first couple minutes of the game and just setting the tone overlength contested uh if he’s hitting shots like that you know it’s going to be a tough game to win and you know that’s that’s
Who he’s been here these last couple weeks but it’s their it’s their whole team I mean their guards are playing at a uh a high high level they’re bigs no uh their roles uh Garcia’s ability to he has 153 offensive rebounds that’s incredible we think Jawan Gary’s a good
Offensive rebounder he has 61 so you know these guys pose a lot of problems and the way Taylor is playing right now he’s the head of the snake and it starts with him and I’m just so impressed with uh with with his overall game and how
This team is playing as a whole we’re really going to have to be on point to give ourselves a chance to win this game last one up front y Brian Christopherson with Husker 247 just a nuts and bolts question here uh Fred I I assume CJ’s
Good to go and also El Eli um could he you know play if you had to play him yeah CJ is uh he’s been back on the practice court it’s it’s good to have him uh back he struggled a little bit that first day uh kind of had him in and
Out but he’s been fine uh the last couple since we’ve been uh down here in uh in Memphis uh Eli practiced for the first time 2 days ago and he was in for about half the Reps uh today he he was out there a little bit he still got some
Soreness in that ankle but he will dress he will dress tomorrow and and he will be available if we need him Coach with that we will let you go thank you for your time and good luck tomorrow thank you we’re scheduled uh to be joined by the student athletes from Longwood at 250
For yes for e for for for for for e for for for e for e e e for e e for e for those in the media room we’ll get started with the press conference with student athletes from Longwood here in about 5 minutes for for what much for e for e yep
Guys we are joined by student athletes from Longwood record of 21 and 13 champions of the Big South they will play in the late game tomorrow night against number one seed Houston uh from my left and work in that direction we have waya Napper da Houston and Michael
Christmas we’ll start right here in the center and open it up for questions remind you to just give your name and affiliation and the direction uh you’re pointing your question uh Mike Barbera Richmond Times Dispatch for da and Michael what does the fact that this program was here a couple of years ago
In the NCA tournament um what does that do what does that experience do has it changed the approach and mindset this time around let da go first um yes um last year or two years ago yeah like you said we were here um it was good for experience and now that that’s the
Second time around like I said before I just don’t want to be here I want to actually try to get a win or a couple wins or a few wins as many as I can get but yeah the approach has changed but at the same time still soaking in that
Experience Michael I know for me uh because I was on the sidelines watching uh it’s a different experience for me for sure but you know I was I’m kind of used to the atmosphere of it since we already went through it and uh as far as
The approach I mean I want to get a win just like da said or not just only a win maybe a couple wins you know so I guess that’s the different approach for It Go in the backs will conle Fox Houston da when you turn on the film for
The first time on Houston what did you notice what did you take away from it uh well obviously their the physicality and toughness um that’s uh something they’re very good at or that’s a skill they have um that’s what stood out with me the most just that phys physicality and
Toughness Isaac Bourne mid major Madness Houston has like you just mentioned a lot of physicality and toughness and has one of the best defenses in the country um of all time actually so um with your your offense firing as it has recently against in games like UNCC Asheville and
High Point how do you guys um how what do you guys what is your offensive approach going into this game against a really good defense you guys way um first of all we just have to execute um don’t get caught up into the pressure they’re going to
Pressure us a lot they Blitz ball screens um they take away back actions the roles so we just have to be calm Under Pressure execute at a high level play play together drive for a teammate um and just execute overall Michael you have anything to add to that uh I would
Say execute and uh don’t get uh I was the word don’t get worried about their pressure so much and just stay calm and do the game plan Tim Tim Buckley with the day memphi and fellas which every one of yall want to answer what’s it like playing for Coach Aldrich
And how much or in what form does like his nonb basketball background come in when he’s coaching you know either the lawyer in them or the business background da uh well I’ve been here for U three years um when I first got here he told me he was going to challenge me
Not only on the court but off the court and I’ll say that that’s that’s really like the biggest thing uh where that background comes in uh we were getting prepared for the real life uh out out of college and I feel like that’s where I really developed as a man and and my
Character go to the left here bfield with AC News 5 here in Memphis I know you guys said that you’re just focused on getting a win but you are 16 seed going up against a one is there a feeling of playing with house M and just letting it Loose just because there are
Limited outside expectations um honestly um we don’t really get caught up into the ranking of the numbers of who’s 16 or who’s one um at the end of the day we’re all College athletes we all play D1 we all earned this opportunity um we know what we have
In our locker room we know the guys that we have we know the coaching staff that we have and um we’re not just going to say that they’re just cuz they’re number one we’re kind of nervous or anything like that we’re just going to go in we’re going to play we’re going to
Compete at a high level um we’re tough we’re mentally both mentally and physically tough and we have the right game plan we have the right guys and we’re just going to go in and compete ahead Mike Barber Richmond Times Dispatch again uh Wayan you heard me ask
The guys about the experience of having been here you have not been here what is it like for you and what kind of I don’t know advice or or leadership have they given you off the court in terms of this stage I mean it always been a dream to
Make it to the NCAA tournament um and for it to finally happen in my last year as a senior um it’s special um not only for myself but the community back home in South Carolina my family um playing with this team has been special over the
Two years you know uh last year I came in not knowing what to expect but the Brotherhood that we have um I’m glad I’m here I’m glad I have these teammates this coaching staff and um it’s just been a special year for us all go ahead Clay Bailey with the Associated Press
Whan you’ve had success on the court obviously though two of the last three semesters on the Deans List can you talk about that journey and how you got to that point I have to give a shout out to coach Griff um and Coach Ronnie he’s my academic coach um they have been pushing
Me since I got here at Longwood to be not only good on the court but off the court as well in the community in the classroom uh around campus just being respectful um when I came to Long what I wasn’t really the best student but I always wanted to push myself to be
Better not only for myself but for my family cuz um do it for my mom really um but it’s been a good journey I always say you have to find a beauty within the journey it’s not about the destination all the time so just me just sticking to
The journey uh just sticking to it just making sure I get my grades just to be you know just to grow into the young man that God created me to be go ahead you guys at Mike Barbara Richmond Times Dispatch uh you mentioned the 16-1 uh seating you have a coach who
Was an assistant coach on a 16 that beat a one um has Griff talked it all about Coach Alders talked it all about that experience Virginia what it took for UNBC and is there any motivation for you guys in that and then what happened last year with
Purdue da you want to go um I mean he spoke on it a little bit not too much but uh what he has said when he’s talked about it is just the execution side of it um the details which is import I mean I’m sorry important in this game in the
Game of basketball that’s really um he didn’t speak on that too much Michael yeah I was say the same thing he just mentioned how they executed and executed the game play and going into the game and played hard so yeah any other questions for the student athletes
Tim for those of yall for those of y’all who have been here or been to the tournament before like did going back was that an expectation for you or considering all the teams that like don’t make it is it like still kind of a pinch me type
Thing um in the summer we know we got um pretty new team we got a lot of new people um me personally well I’m not even say me personally the team over overall we had that confidence that uh we can be we can come back here uh even
When we had our low points in the season we still have faith in each other and that belief and I feel like that pushed us to where we at today um we always had that expectation and belief yeah uh I would say the same thing uh in the summer we came in we
Knew what the end goal was but we knew we was going to it’s going to take a long journey and throughout the ups and downs that we had throughout the season we still kept that in the back of our mind and that’s how we ended up here today any
Others guys with that we’ll let you get ready appreciate your time and good luck tomorrow yes sir thank you thank you thank you we joined in just a few moments by coach Aldrich yes sir for one Jamal shej CER andan roberts3 okay for for for e for for
Coach how you doing good how are you good joined Now by coach Griff Aldrich from Longwood in his sixth season it’s the second tournament for his team in the last three seasons they’re also in the midst of their third consecutive 21 season for the first time in program history coach if you’d like
To uh start us with a statement then we’ll open it up for questions yeah just uh really excited uh to be back in the NCAA tournament um I think uh it’s it’s been a really uh Incredible Journey with this group this year ups and downs has
Not been a linear path um but it’s it’s been one that’s been really rewarding um and so we’re really excited to be back here uh not only for this group of guys uh but for our University and in our community back in Virginia good Mike Mike Barber Richmond Times Dispatch good
To see you coach Mike uh I’m curious you are back and it was only two years ago so you’ve got some guys who have the experience has that changed the approach some of the wow factor do you see your team handling this situation better because there’s some experience there
You know I I don’t know I think um in today’s world uh two years ago we had um you know we had transfers back then some guys who had been in the tournament uh but were in the tournament for the first time with Longwood um so so I think that maturity
Helped a little bit um I think with this this group uh it’s it’s probably the closest uh most tighten it group um that that I’ve been around as a team and uh I think there’s a real connectedness um that has helped um avoid distraction and uh they’re they’re um I think the last
Month of the season they were really on a mission um to be playing the best basketball that they could and I’ve really seen that carry over uh into uh uh post tournament go ahead right here Isaac Bourne mid major Madness coach this Houston team is
A is a you know very good defensive team but one thing that they lack is height and you guys have the advantage over them in that so how how are you going to look to exploit that advantage to possibly pull off yet another 16 over
One upset yeah I they’re not a tall team but they’re uh what they they make up for lack of height they they make up for intensity and and their competitiveness um and uh and they’re long um Francis is is uh is obviously a really long uh Defender and Roberts um should probably
Be on their football team uh as well um and so I think yes but while while we have height they’re they constantly double the post it’s one of the trademark signatures of of their of their defense uh so we’ll we’ll be selective uh but that that’ll be important part of of our offensive
Scheme and we’ll need to execute well James Fletcher from on three uh a lot of coaches across the country have talked about when the transfer portal opens as it relates to the NCA tournament it impacts you guys in a lot different way though what has that past week been like for you
Balancing it and then what are your thoughts on the transfer portal opening when it does yeah I I think I would say you’re exactly right I think it’s a it’s a challenge right now um because we are we’re we’re trying to prepare but we’re also having to to be mindful of uh
Recruiting is a huge part of of this profession and and our jobs as coaches is bringing in the the right talent and uh so it’s it’s disappointing because you want to really enjoy and be present during this moment but um literally down in the hallway I was just talking about
Recruiting uh with with two assistants and so that you know that I think does take away um it’s obviously it’s this is such a complicated uh mess and I think that’s the right word mess um because there’s competing factions and considerations that have to be taken
Taken into account but it it really does need to um it needs to be addressed um and I think it’s I think it’s a um I think it will continue to drive people out of the profession good people out of the profession out of the coaching um
And I I don’t think we’re I think the portal um while really good in in many uh instances uh I think culturally it’s it’s transforming College athletics and I don’t think we’re doing uh our young people uh a service we’re doing them a disservice one of the things that that
We preach and and that Houston clearly preaches is toughness and it’s really hard to preach toughness when the culture is just move along and uh obviously there’s a there’s countless good stories and good reasons for kids to transfer but we really need to have a thoughtful and and quick in my
View um you I say quick you know um over the coming year or two solution to to how we’re handling this because uh I think we are transforming the the uh landscape uh and not necessarily in a positive light good Tim coach Tim Buckley with the daily memphi and for
Those mostly here in Memphis who may not know your story um um why get back into coaching basketball maybe in in the real world you could have made a heck of a lot more money than you are at a at a smaller program so how much did you kind
Of wave that in your mind and how much does you know what you did in the past influen what you’re doing now I’ll take the last part first I think I think what I did in the past informs everything I do now um because you know in the
Private sector you’re we’ve really tried to build Longwood like a business try to identify our competitive advantages try to find out where our weaknesses are and and and um create Solutions uh where possible um and so I think the past is has been a real Advantage um and is has
Been a real uh been fun to try to build uh a little business in the form of Longwood basketball um why did I get into coaching my Faith um I uh I was uh working in private Equity but also coaching aaou and I think God was taking
Me on a journey uh personally where uh he was revealing to me that my identity wasn’t just in what I did dayto day and uh there was real Freedom when I realized that my identity is supposed to be in Christ um that I I got the opportunity to start thinking about well
What do I want to do and uh was really my wife who who was the one who encouraged me to to explore college basketball as a 41y old and um just happened that Ryan Odum uh now VCU head coach uh just got hired or was about to get hired uh at
UMBC and um he was uh he was uh kind enough to to bring me along to to kind of help him in in in an administrative role and uh and so that’s that’s the journey all right so these next few we’ve got three or four lined up on this
Left side we’ll start in the back and then come over here and then go down front uh Jeff legal from ESPN just to kind of follow up on that I’m curious if anyone was critical when you made the switch and said you’re crazy who has now come back two tournament bids in and
Said okay I was wrong uh yeah most people thought I was crazy um yeah I I I think a lot of people didn’t understand it uh a lot of people thought you know it was too much risk um and I think in fact I just got a
Uh an email from a colleague uh in in the private Equity world uh earlier this week saying well I think you were right and um but again I think that’s where I go back to the freedom of you get to do what you want to do rather than what you
Think people you know think you ought to do and uh and so um yeah that that uh it’s been a fun Journey coach Rachel Phillips with ABC 24 here in Memphis you played a large part in putting together the first ever number 16 C team to knock off a number
One seed is that something you talk about with your team considering you are a 16 going up against a one and and what do you say to them when you kind of what do you take from that experience I guess um so well first off I was I was a
Director of recruiting so I wasn’t a a huge part I um but Um no I I think I think more than anything I mean we we’ve addressed it with the team very very briefly um but I think each team has its own journey I think there’s some uh really important elements of of that team the unvc team that won which is number one they
Believed they believed in themselves um they had had had experiences early in the year they were a very confident team very similar to our team they were connected uh they really enjoyed one another um and uh and so for us it’s we want to be Longwood not a UMBC repeat or
A fairly Dickinson repeat we want to be we want to write our own story and uh I think these guys have uh some really compelling characteristics um their character and their resiliency uh and then their their chemistry uh is is really strong and uh we’ll see how we’ll see how far it takes
Us go ahead Joseph dwarte Houston Chronicle Griff having been in the city of Houston wondering if you had any thoughts on where where the state the maybe the program was when you were there and what you’ve seen and and what kelvin’s done yeah it’s really
Incredible um you know I I did I lived in Houston for for a while uh um for quite a while and the transformation uh of uh Houston University of Houston and particularly the basketball program uh I remember going to to games and and uh you know I
Probably could have sat on the bench uh there were so few people there at times um but uh and now it’s it’s a uh it’s a principal element of the the Houston uh Fabric and um uh the way that they’ve done it to to make it a national program
Uh and the consistency with which they’ve done it um is is really uh impressive um so I I think what he’s built and his whole staff have has built is uh is is really um something special so when our last five minutes to go Mike and then over here and then back down
Front did you know Kelvin from a at all no uh the players I was coaching weren’t weren’t being recruited by Kelvin uh sadly um but um you know we just being around I I actually coached a bunch of the kids at Yates High School which is right across the right across the street
From U ofh and uh we lived lived right near there so um I got familiar with with the samsons uh and very down to earth wonderful people um and Kellen and I have probably developed more of a friendship over the years um and uh super happy for their success uh just
Just hope hope it’s not that successful Friday what has whan uh Napper brought to this program and then particularly this year what what his uh his role kind of grown into yeah wh whan is a special story um you know whan’s a young man who
Um you know I’m his first coach for two years in in college um um some of that is is you know his choosing some of it is uh you know I think his first J they they shut down Athletics um but whan came to us uh and
We challenged him even on his recruiting visit that do you want to grow do you want to change because we’re going to push you extremely hard off the court as much as we do on the court um I’m not sure he knew how hard but uh he might might rethink his decision
Um but he’s that’s been a consistent theme for him is he has had a internal desire to grow as a man and I think it’s been a really hard transformation in in in on many days and but he he has fought and he has uh remained steadfast um and he’s an extremely
Bright young man and I think uh he is my hope is is that his eyes have been really opened up that when he stays the course and remains consistent uh that his potential is is exceedingly greater than maybe what he expected um to answer your question
About what he’s meant to us I think he’s been the key to to the turning point for us in in conference um you know he and da um you know whan’s uh sense of purpose elevated significantly probably in the last month and um you I wish I
Could say that that I Uncorked some magic uh um coaching uh strategy but the reality was U their sense of purpose elevated significantly over the last month it’s always been a talented team and uh We’ve struggled um to to try to un you know unpack that and uh and I
Think whan has really taken hold of the team and led them both both through example but also uh by holding people accountable as a leader and U I think I think the guys have sensed and seen his purpose and uh determination and and they followed go to the back right here
Griff Adam Winkler ABC 13 out of Houston great to see you anybody who spent time in our Fair city has a a sense of pride of htown you have three players on your roster from Houston we know how much time you spent there can you speak to
The uh the bond that you and those guys share and also maybe the uh the uniqueness of drawing the cougs in in the tournament yeah uh well it’s interesting I was surprised when we got got Houston um but yeah Houston is is a it’s a place where uh my three kids were
Are all born uh my wife is from there um I coached aaou uh there for for over 10 years so our network of of connections is has run deep um and so we’ve we’ve it’s a obviously a great basketball town uh with a lot of talent and it’s made a
Lot of sense for us to recruit we’ve got several alums uh who’ve who’ve played and are are now back in Houston played at Longwood I should say and are now back in Houston and so um yeah there’s a there’s a special Affinity um that we have for for Texas and and Houston
Players um and I think it’s been a a mutually beneficial thing uh I think I think the guys who have come to Longwood uh have been able to get out and see see a different part of the country and expand their perspective um but uh and uh and and you
Know represent Texas uh Texas well and in the great Commonwealth coach we’ll get you out with one on our front left uh Jon Dylan Commercial Appeal on shimone you’re talking about a guy who came to basketball kind of later what what’s been the biggest thing you’ve
Seen from him that made you want to go get him and then since he’s been here what’s the thing that’s kind of stood out yeah Shaman is uh a a you know unique blend for us at our level of a seven-footer who has who has uh skill uh
But shiman also is athletic and can move and um but uh you know he spent his first three years at Utah State more in a reserve role and um the special thing for him which we really cherish and and want to promote at Longwood is development and growth and uh shimon’s a
Great example of that you know the big biggest thing when you haven’t played I think so many people Miss This in the transfer portal world is that guys who haven’t played they they kind of get have to get their sea legs back and sometimes it’s uh you know up and to the
Right and they just Blossom other guys it’s one you know two steps forward one step back and I think that’s been shimon’s uh Journey this year and um but again similar to whan um he’s really grown and and developed I think he’s really learned a lot about himself self
Over the past year uh or the past season uh his strengths areas where he is uh maybe prone to weakness and um and I think he’s really tried to address those uh to the best of his ability he’s playing the best basketball uh of the
Year right now and uh so I’m excited to see him go go up against the cougs on Friday coach thank you for your time good luck to you you and your team tomorrow thank you so much be back at 3:35 with student athletes from Houston 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 we’re about two to 3 minutes away from being joined by the Houston student athletes they are on their way in for for e good Hur are up
We are joined by student athletes from University of Houston the Cougars are 30 and four the number one seed they’ll play in the late game tomorrow night against Longwood introduced from my left is Jamal shed LJ CER and Joan Roberts uh when you have a question for those guys
Just start with your name and affiliation raise your hand we’ll get a mic to you starting right here actually’s five here in Memphis jbal welcome back to Memphis obviously last time you were in this building I assume last time you’re in this building pretty good memory for you just kind of what
Are your what do you remember from that day is that kind of moment that gives you a little extra pep in your step when you arrive here uh it was a moment that uh was really awesome for our team last year um but you know really really not trying to
Look back on that trying to just focus on tomorrow night go ahead jaywan I know you got banged up in the Big 12 tournament with the shin just curious how you’re feeling and if you expect to play tomorrow oh definitely I’m not planning on missing any games um getting ready for the game
At 8:00 over here to our far right guys uh Jason Bristol from kou in Houston this is for any and all of you the fact that well aside from LJ I guess um the fact that you guys have played in this building before with the sight lines and
The depth of the baskets does that matter at all first of course it matters um you know you’re not going into new territory you’re going to somewhere you’ve been before and um you’re going to a place where you’ve actually been able to win before so um it’s it’s it’s good that
We’re going to a familiar environment Jawan uh yeah same thing um being there before especially being an American been there a couple times but um I don’t see it as anything different you know I just see it as you know another opponent that we haven’t played against you know and
Just going into the game uh with the right game plan and just trying execute just for whoever wants to take it obviously the Big 12 tournament didn’t end how you guys wanted what have the conversations been like over the last couple days just about reentering and getting back on track with what
You’re here to accomplish LJ you got it um I mean my bad we just been trying to clean some stuff up and um just looking we just started looking forward uh we didn’t really look back on that game cuz there’s nothing we can do about that uh
We trying to get to the last game so uh we had some practices some tough practices and we’re looking forward to getting out there tomorrow do all right this one this one is for Jawan um Kelvin shared with us that I think Jacob McFarland mentioned that you were his
Favorite player based on past NCAA tournaments um he said something to you and Kelvin was behind you and is that accurate yeah okay um I was curious what how you felt about that and is it a role that you Embrace being one of the older guys on
The team uh yeah definitely um I would say you know when I first got to uh in 2019 um it was guys that I look up to you know dejon jro Justin Goram Fabian white Chris Harris those guys that’s before me and um you know my first year
I just wanted to you know do a lot of research you know watch a lot of film and um try to be like one of those guys and then you know 5 years forward now I’m one of those guys now I have a freshman coming in that was in my shoes
You know so just try to play that you know Big Brother role you know I’m just try to lead by example and just let them know you know how hard it is to win a game you know how you know just being on the college team you know you build a
Lot of memories you know you get closer you know you go through adversity you go through injuries you go through everything and um just trying to just lead by example um not even just Jacob you know I try to find ways to even help Mall even LJ you know they’ve
Been at a a winning program before too so just main focus is just leading by example and um just showing them the ropes and just just keep trying to help them every steping way to the back and then in front uh Avery Braxton abt2 24 here in Memphis uh media members fans
Everybody likes to look at the the path for their favorite team and getting to you know the final four Elite a whatever they want uh for you guys as the one seed how um easy or hard is it to just stay locked in on the next opponent when
You know a one seed got knocked out by a 16 just last year um we try not to look um towards anybody else um we try to look at our path because you know as you know last year we lost to Miami and um the sweet 16 so um everybody’s path is different
Everybody has different challenges every team presents different challenges so um we’re just trying to look forward to Long Longwood tomorrow and uh if we are able to get pass them then we’ll look to the next team um we don’t try to look too too far ahead go ahead Jamal I’m
Sorry I got a two-parter uh first teams kind of struggled with injuries and depth issues this year you’re in a tougher conference how have you guys maintained kind of that same standard that’s been set previously at Houston this season um because the way we practice um every guy that’s playing now
Regardless of injury we all practiced against each other um we all made each other better um s practiced against jaywan against Jay against Jojo every single day um Ramone practic against Terrence and jaywan and me every single day you know uh we’re our mindset is next man up but we really believe in
That because of how hard we practice second knowing those challenges for you personally does it change your mindset or approach to this particular tournament no because I’ve been able to build trust with every single guy on this team um whether it’s Cedric or LJ um you know it’s just about building trust and
Getting those guys who haven’t been here before some experience um and I feel like we’re we’re ready for any challenge that comes our way right here and then we’ll go to one on Zoom just for a couple of you guys if you can obviously I know you said you’re locked in on the
Next opponent but when you let your mind wander a little bit this is a proud program both in the past and in recent memory as well but it hasn’t won a national championship yet what would it mean to be the first Houston Cougar team to do
That it would be awesome if we get there so um like I said tomorrow’s our first Challenge and we’re gonna try to just focus on that and to add on to that you know just taking one game at a time um you know we watch a lot of film
Um you know find a lot of uh ways that we can score you know find different ways to defend them you know pretty good team because you know they make the tournament and we know every game that we play you know we going to have everybody’s best um game
So you know we want to get to the nation in the championship but you know you got to get through the first game first and then right second game so just taking every game uh step by step day by day you know get a lot of recovery um and
It’s more of mental you know it’s not too much physical you know around this time of the year it’s not about three-hour practices anymore you know it’s just about you know locking in and executing your plays cuz you know one mistake can cost you a game so just try
To going forward you know as a group you just try to eliminate mistakes and um just try to play our best basketball in March we’ll go to zoom for a question Dan go ahead and uh identify yourself and ask your question sure Dan tortor wakeup call dt.com this is for each of
The student athletes at 63 wins to eight losses in the past two seasons and you switched a conference in between from the American to the Big 12 why has Houston remained a top two conferences and so successful despite the adversity of change that happened we let Jamal
Start and then work her way across our culture um our culture allows us to be good because we uh we practice the same way regardless of the conference regardless of the opponent um we treat every game the same and uh we have the best coach in America um coach Samson
Prepares us the right way um he knows his guys and he knows how to get us going he’s the best motivator and the best coach in America LJ um I mean I wasn’t here last year but transfering I’m transferring here um from the Big 12 I saw the
Culture and uh it’s real uh we had proper preparation here and I feel like that’s why we go out and perform uh same thing like Jamal said you know it’s a culture thing um just Trav our toughness you know it didn’t really matter um what conference you know we
Played in um you know once we carry our culture on the road or wherever we go I think you know we was going to be able to be pretty good with that guys we’ll thank you for your time let you get out there and good luck tomorrow night apprciate it just a
Couple minutes we’ll be joined by coach Samson for for for for e for for for for for e e e you guys well get the first couple queued up with miks start uh one right here and one right there hello all right we’re joined by Houston Coach Kelvin Samson his team has the
Most wins in the country over the last three seasons and they’re in the NCAA tournament for a School record six3 straight time uh play the late game tomorrow night coach uh if you have a statement to start you can then we’ll open it up for questions uh honor to be here I never
Take making the uh NCAA tournament for granted something that’s really really uh hard to do um I congratulate the other 67 teams that made the tournament that mean they had a uh Good Year and we look forward to playing uh really good Longwood team tomorrow night if you would give your
Name and your affiliation we’ll start right in front here sure mattfield Action News 5 here in Memphis Kelvin welcome back to Memphis so I co-host Penny’s coaches show here we asked him earlier in the year which non-conference matchups he’d like to see back on the schedule in the future and he said part
Of him would like to schedule something with you guys again but he also said he thinks for both of you part of you might not want that just because those matchups were such kind of bare knuckle braws over the years so is that something you would be open to in the
Future I don’t know I I had thought of about it we have 18 bur knuckle brawls in the uh U Big 12 I know that over to our left hey coach Rachel Phillips with ABC 24 here in Memphis this is Houston’s if they make it to the
Final four could be your seventh time back there in program history what makes you think that this is the time that you could actually go all the way and and win the championship I didn’t say we could I don’t know I just worry about winning the next one
In the center hey coach uh James Fletcher from on three you guys when you were in the AAC there were always some questions about you did it at a mid- major level could you do it against the high major teams now you’ve proven that over the course of a full season in the
Big 12 how how good has that felt to really prove what this Houston program can do on a night in Night Out basis yeah I never I I don’t I don’t nobody ever said that to me so you know sometimes you guys live in a um a a a a world that’s not
Common uh to maybe the coaches and players so you know when the um when we started getting this team ready back in the summer I think the only thing that I was concerned about was how we’re going to replace jarus Walker Marcus Sasser Reggie Cheney and uh Tran Mark you know
That’s as basically four starters uh from a team that uh uh was pretty good um so you know people have you know whatever it is you think about and you ask ask us about it and a lot of times we it’s like him asking me about playing a schedule I I don’t know
I mean obviously he’s put a lot of thought into it but I’ve put zero thought into it I have no idea about the schedule for next year I we didn’t even know how to start to answer that but um like playing into Big 12 I never really thought about playing a big
12 I more focused on losing four starters and how we’re going to replace them cuz it’s not easy to replace uh uh your starting point guard or your your leading score so we had to deal with all that um I think the Big 12 schedule came out early September really the first
Time I thought much about it uh and I saw where our first game was at home against West Virginia I think our second game was at Iowa State third game was at um TCU so I knew that’s was going to be a tough schedule but you know if you
Looked at who we beat on the way to the final four um the Elite 8 I think that was the Pack 12 Champion Arizona the Big 10 Champion Illinois um Syracuse Ruckers Ohio State I mean we play all those teams every year so to say that how we going to get
Prepared I would just say people didn’t do their homework the question was already answered if you looked at our records and who we played over the years on the aisle here coach Justin Williams from the athletic uh jwan was up here earlier said he’s good to go expects to
Play tomorrow just curious how he’s doing and how he looks compared or from from your perspective well going into the uh um Big 12 tournament uh I thought we were I I thought we were okay for the TCU game uh Texas Tech game I knew we were
Getting wore down a little bit you know our team uh our team’s not built to play three games in three days but after the after we beat uh Texas Tech um I knew that was kind of it for us um and then when uh we walked on that Court
Saturday against Iowa state that wasn’t a fair fight uh first of all they’re really good uh I mean really good and they’re really deep they got 10 guys and I don’t know how many in here have ever seen Iowa St play you know we played them twice we could have won both of
Them but they could have won both of them too uh cuz they’re they’re really good um but the game on Saturday was of of little or no consequence to me um cuz I knew what was most important I think jwan played Seven Minutes in that game I
Think I said Jamal shed the last whatever it was um but the story of that game I didn’t think was either team I thought it was Iowa State’s fans had 18,000 fans at that game that’s incredible isn’t it 177,000 177,000 fans that’s it was tougher to play Iowa State at the
Conference tournament than it was in their own gym that’s how tough that place was but um for our team right now I’d say um the biggest difference now and say two weeks ago is practice now when we lost Arseno uh we that was a long time ago so
We overcame that because of um um Jojo tuger and Ramon Walker but when we lost uh Jojo and then we lost Ramon the thing we lost more than anything else besides players really good players in depth was we we didn’t have enough to practice anymore so we haven’t practiced since before we
Played 5 on5 theight before we played Baylor and Waco uh that was the last time we’ve uh actually been able to uh uh practice and um um but jwan um he looked the best today I’ve seen him in a long time you know he’s he just got
Wore down over the weekend he probably shouldn’t even played the Texas Tech game you those guys have it’s been such a long year for all those guys um terms of minutes played in depth you know he got seven stitches in his hand against Oklahoma um uh he’s just been fighting a
Lot of injuries but I think he’ll be good to go tomorrow um Ramon Walker is is getting close so we’ll see what happens there I don’t know if he can play tomorrow or uh if we got if we were fortunate enough we got lucky enough to
Get to next weekend which is who knows he might come play but we’ll see but at least we’re we’re getting some bodies back now versus um this past weekend in Kansas City that was uh that was a tough one there try right Jerome Solomon from Houston Chronicle cevin how familiar are
You with uh uh Griff aldrid had along with the coach and you know he came up and introduced himself to me uh last summer on the road um I can’t remember where it was but he told me it’s from Houston and um I just remember having a really really
Nice conversation with a really really nice man and then um um then I I heard about his story been an attorney um Chase his dream of coaching that’s it’s kind of neat kind of courageous a lot of guys won’t do that but you know has off to him for doing
It still here yeah that’s what I want to get into a little bit when you you look at coaches you you know that your players against the players but you you’ve been in the business a long time you kind of Coach against coaches as well
Too yeah but it’s not going to be that I remember can’t remember who it was I uh Oklahoma state was playing USC when I was at Oklahoma and they were trying to say it was coach Sutton versus Henry bbby and I remember thinking people don’t get it coach Sutton’s players
Against Henry bibby’s players and I think USC won if I’m not mistaken and um um you know if you if if you won a championship this year you’re a really good coach you got to be good to make this tournament um so and there’s a lot of
Great coaches that did not make the tournament you know for what ever Reon just because all the best coaches in the country aren’t in this tournament there’s some some of the best stories aren’t even being told this year because of injuries and things didn’t go their
Way for whatever reason so that’s why I respect coaches uh so much but uh Griff is uh watching his team play um and that that’s a great story and they’re good they’re well coached you can tell he’s he knows what he’s doing he’s got a very well coached team we’ll
Wrap it up right in front here coach uh you guys are one seat obviously for the second straight year you just mentioned all those great players you lost from last year’s team besides that is there anything that really stands out that is fundamentally really different about this squad compared to last year’s
Team um Define fundamentally your philosophy no my what My Philosophy it means I’m here philosophy hasn’t changed much uh I would say that um um I mean we don’t have a eighth we don’t have a guy that’s as good as jarus he was eighth pick in the draft
Um but you know last year’s team was dragging too you know we had a lot of injuries at the end of uh last year I remember uh Marcus uh one of the best probably the last good game we played was against Cincinnati in the conference tournament Marcus really didn’t play
Much after that uh this team’s similar to that team this team’s facing a bunch of injuries too but um um nobody cares about that stuff man lace them up let’s go play and that’s what we’re going to do Friday night coach appreciate your time and good luck to your Bunch Tomor as a reminder that’ll you’ll wrap up our press conferences today check tomorrow’s schedule media shuttle begins at 7:40 court side opens at 9:40 course tip off in the opener at 11:40 we’ll be back in here following that with postgame press conferences thank you for joining us today
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