foreign foreign all right oh yeah attention all reporters here in the media work room the breakout sessions have begun the FAU locker room is open and in just about five minutes we'll be joined by the head coach of the owls Dusty May and the main interviewer Here Comes Zoom Zoom doing like it's little dances uh moderators on Houston's honor Craig Miller Denise ASAP Olivia good morning if you're joining us here in the main interview room please take a moment to silence your cell phone please refrain from using any flash photography no recording of video No Going live coaches quotes will be available via ASAP immediately following this news conference we're also going to have video available at ncaa.veritone.com we'd like to welcome in the coach of FAU Dusty May coach Wanna Give us a few thoughts this morning then we'll take some questions first of all we're very eager to get in the stadium with a few fans and bodies in here so it looks a little bit different than it has in practice just so we can get more comfortable with the environment but we've had a great week of preparation very impressed with with our opponent San Diego State and the culture and the way they play so it's going to be a great basketball game we'll now take questions for coach May if you have a question please raise your hand we have four microphone attendants they'll bring a microphone to you please state your name and media Outlet before asking your question ready for the first question for coach May and we have one set up that way to the right of the aisle you can stay seated it's okay thank you coach Robert listello with owl radio SDSU has been able to compete and win without strong efforts from their leading scorer and Matt Bradley what does that say about that and how do you prepare for a team that has different guys who could step up and take the lead role when needed it's very similar to competing against ourselves in practice they've had four NCAA tournament games they've had four leading scorers so they're much like looking in the mirror and seeing yourselves well we never know who our leading scorer is going to be but when you are leading scorer you generate a lot of attention and help those other guys be successful so once again it's a testament to those guys being unselfish their sacrifice for the good of the team so we're prepared for because we see it every day we're it's like looking in the mirror continuing with questions for coach May if you have one please raise your hand let's go over to to about Midway back on the aisle top D'Angelo Palm Beach Post Dusty um can you just talk us through like the process of yesterday culminating with the report that you're returning which I think you knew for a while but at what point at what point did you realize this is the place and when you started getting the interest uh how how much it all was attempting that's a lot to digest um it was never that tempting because of of my affection for the guys in our locker room staff players support staff everyone our Administration I learned a long time ago you never mess with happy and so I know what makes me happy and and right now at this point in my career I couldn't be any more pleased and and uh happy with where we are and just continue to continue I'm just excited to continue building as far as the timing uh nothing's changed probably in the last six or seven weeks this was always on the table but I felt obligated to focus on our season and our team versus all the other stuff the peripheral stuff that goes on and so it was just a moment where nothing's really changed but let's go ahead and put it out so we know what our intentions are even though nothing was done differently that yesterday as opposed except just releasing what our intentions were from the beginning and congratulations on that coach coach are you ready to push our technological limits and try to take a question from Zoom love it here we go we'd like to recognize Christopher Heidel from herb FM and the Charm City of Baltimore Chris hey coach this is Chris Heidel from herbison Radio in Baltimore our classifications I'm making the win I'm making to the final four um hopefully you win on Saturday um just talk about San Diego State uh what do they look like and did you play against somebody in the Conference USA just like them or had the artist a brand new team probably the closest reference point would be North Texas who we saw when an nit Championship last night they're disciplined they're tough they're together I could go on and on with adjectives they're all positive to describe San Diego State it's going to be an extremely tough game but fortunately we have seen teams with similar level of discipline and approach to the game that they play with we have a question on the left side just the right of the aisle is that Luke Isaac born mid major Madness so you've seen a lot of Dusty you've seen a lot of success in the Conference USA this year especially with uh Charlotte winning the CBI and then last night both UAB and North Texas having like a great game in the NIT so um you guys featuring being in the final four what does that say to your conference and you know what do you have to say to people um around the world or around the country at least that you know might doubt mid Majors especially from Conference USA it certainly affirms what we saw all season long every night was a was a battle well coached teams with great players just happy that the the NAT the nation can see what we saw along because the the at Charlotte UAB North Texas what they're able to do uh uh in those moments was special and uh like I said though we saw it all along left side of the rim toward the Back Billy on the right of the aisle uh Billy wits with the New York Times Dusty last week in New York you just made a comment that your players were being recruited you know right now with the you know portal being open and I'm just wondering if you felt like that was kosher or if it's just sort of how it is in in in that world to be honest I feel like it's a non-talking point there's probably not a program in our country at any level that's not facing that obstacle in some way shape or form whether and it's not necessarily I'm not being critical it is what it is if there's a player not playing at the high major level then there's going to be uh intermediaries reaching out to see if they would be happier coming down a level where they could play more and have a bigger role um I wasn't accusing anyone it I never said the word poaching just said there are players are being there's a lot of avenues to get directly to players now and there's third parties reaching out to coaches and assistant coaches to get them to to change jobs it's part of our our industry I I thought it was a little bit overblown to be honest I wasn't complaining it's stated obvious I think everyone knows that there are people reaching out to our players to their players to their players it's just part of it and like I said our job is to provide the absolute best environment every minute of every day for our players and if they want something different then we'll support them and we'll bring somebody in that wants what we're willing to to to offer a couple rows back to the right of the aisle Union I apologize kind of a similar subject uh but do you get a sense that you know the NCAA came out with some guidelines about second time transfers and it sounds like they have a little bit more teeth in it do you get the sense that people are going to respect those boundaries and that the players that might be being contacted right now are ones who would be eligible for a first-time transfer but the ones who would second time transfer are kind of protected or do you think it's just a free-for-all a little bit because there are going to be some constraints to to be eligible immediately twice but I'm also not uh opposed to transfer Ence it out at times academically transfers lose credits it affects their graduation it affects their life after basketball so and I don't know if I've ever coached a player that redshirted as a as a high school senior incoming freshman or a transfer sitting out that didn't improve immensely and have an amazing experience because they're looking at the games and the process through a completely different lens so I'm for both I what whatever the rules are I support them and we're going to roll with it as they are if you have to sit out then we're going to bring in and we're going to work like crazy to have you ready for the next year and if you can play immediately we're gonna do everything we can to to fit you into our scheme and our culture and everything that we do on a daily basis so whatever it is we're on board coach you're going to head to the left of the aisle uh we're going to Dana on the left of the aisle right there uh Jane O'Neal with the athletic Dusty you talked about their discipline at the San Diego State but there's much about their physicality which I don't think anyone can necessarily mimic on with their own team how then do you prepare your guys for just how I think you schedule the Tennessee Volunteers in the NCAA tournament and uh and and do it recently as well uh I think that helped prepare guys you can never be prepared it's it's a mindset it's uh you know our expression is you're either the hammer or the nail despite your size and both teams are probably going to be the hammer uh on Saturday night so uh we're gonna have to do the best we can but our guys once again if I'm if I'm in a foxhole with anyone I want to be in there with our guys they're physical as well as we've shown night and night out uh but hats off to San Diego State is is to play with that physicality and level of discipline is is truly impressive center of the room third row hey coach Glenn gilpa without kick.com um do you feel less pressure or are you still getting a lot of requests for tickets even though there's a lot of seats and the prices have gone down somewhat because Texas and Houston aren't here we try to eliminate the the ticket distraction any other distractions early in the week so our guys could focus on the game and whatnot and and I know my my wife she's handling all that for us just so so I can stay focused on what's important um so we're we're all hands on deck getting ready for San Diego State second row Center we're using that front right microphone mount hi coach koi wire CNN um the program didn't exist 35 years ago you'd have any March Madness wins to a couple of weeks ago um but it's been said you know don't call this team a Cinderella why is that take us inside that mindset well I guess growing up Cinderella and I don't know if it's it's something that I've said or what our players believe we all it's a group think in our locker room we're very like-minded and and we roll with each other's thoughts if we agree with it and usually we agree with each other but the term Cinderella has always kind of been that team that maybe uh hit us hit a spurt late in the season and got hot where the average five made threes a game and then over the course of five games they make 12 a night or whatever the case where it's just more of a a flash in the pan versus a five-month body of work so I think when you look at our league who we've played and the way we tried to schedule even as difficult it is to get games when you look at at who we scheduled and then look at the preseason prognosticators we tried to schedule teams that were picked to win their league Northern Kentucky who played in the tournament Bryant who we have a great deal of respect for Eastern Michigan with Imani Bates so when you look at our scheduling attempts we tried to schedule as aggressively as we could to hopefully get in that large opportunity and so when you have when you've done what our guys have done with so much longevity and consistency they don't consider themselves a flash in the pan left side to the right of the aisle two seats in Dave Hyde at the South Florida Sun Sentinel Dusty um you guys played Miami obviously the start of the previous season completely different teams and all that but what do you remember that game and do you have any relationship with laryneka see coach larenegger a lot have a lot of respect for the way he coaches the game and the way he treats people I know their staff well we have friends on their staff the thing that really stands out it was early in the season and it was it was such a big deal for FAU to get Miami to come to our place and it was a scheduling Quark where in year one they needed a money game and they didn't have their their normal allotment and they wanted us to come down and play and and basically I said I won't come and play for that unless you'll come to our place in year three so it basically was a money game and a home and home that we were able to kind of squeeze in somehow some way and and thankfully coach Larry Naga honored to contract after covert and all that but at the first half we weren't ready for that moment it was essentially the same group for us we were young we were inexperienced in that type of atmosphere the second half we showed a lot of great growth and and looked like we belonged and we made a play to tie it with just a couple seconds left and Isaiah Wong hit a buzzer beater and so we were disappointed because for 20 minutes we felt like the the stage was too big for us we just weren't quite ready but also those are the moments that prepared us this year and gave us confidence that we could compete with anyone especially after them they made the elite eight up front to the right Eddie hey coach Eddie pells with ap when you look at where your sport is right now with nil a bunch of questions about the transfer portal do you do you feel like there might be uh is there an urgency to sort of figure out what all these rules are going to be for the next four or five years so that that everybody sort of knows what they're doing and they're on the same quote unquote same playing field I don't I don't have a lot of urgency to figure out what trend that's going to go towards because I don't really have much say in in those discussions I don't have any saying those discussions that I'm fine with it I know what my daily responsibility is in the short term and the long term and just like we tell our guys let's let's control what we can control and focus on what's important for us in our program and that's what we try to do on the right of the aisle left side just a note for our our full court press guys with our black lanyards on your time's coming in the next few minutes so let's get the blue lanyard question Houston Chronicle Nick Boyd told us that bob Knight once got on you for taking notes during practice so do you have a favorite I know you probably have a long list but a favorite one or two coach Knight stories I have a thousand favorite coach night stories but uh the impact that he had on me as a teacher is something as a head coach I refer back to daily uh the way he cared for people especially after they went through the program um is something that that I try to try to do as well when our guys are done I feel like it's it's my responsibility to be them be there for them for the rest of their lives so those are the things outside of obviously the Tactical side of the game which coach Knight was maybe the best ever at it it's mostly the other stuff the way he poured into people behind the scenes I think is is probably uh you know something that that I'm going to try to do hopefully as my career progresses coach we'll take some from the right side up front coach Ian Bethune with SB Nations UConn psych can you talk about the impact that Jalen gaffney's had on your program since arriving on campus absolutely there's three or four guys on our roster that they don't get a lot of the spotlight because their numbers aren't what some of the other guys numbers are Jalen Gaffney has brought a calming presence he's brought a knowledge and IQ to our team and we've all learned something from Gaff he's been an unbelievable teammate every single day he doesn't care about shots he doesn't care about starting he doesn't care about the spotlight he just cares about being a great team at teammate and enjoying this process so we're grateful that he joined us because when he came in we told him we have every single guard back in addition to Nick Boyd we can't guarantee you promise anything and and him and his family both said whatever I earned that that's what I earn and I just want to be a part of something that you guys are building and to the left of the aisle hey coach Dan McQuaid Defector media um you guys have been using this uh Wilson ball since the start of the conference tournament I believe um and you think you use an Adidas Ball for your home games during the season how much does it matter you know um the all that you're using you're using and what's uh what do you tell your team for the sort of different depth playing in a stadium like this well our guys during covid shut down the gymnasiums were closed there was nowhere to shoot they would we would hear stories of people driving by the local parks so they'd be shooting in the park and so we've said this is a lot easier than shooting in the park because a lot of the Parks have double rims and so the it's a round ball and a round hole we get a couple days here to practice to get acclimated to the backdrop but once again all year we've talked about things like if the shots don't go in we have to figure out other ways to win we're going to defend we're going to rebound and we're going to figure out ways to manufacture enough baskets to win so that's been our mindset if if we shoot it well great we've done that a lot this year but the nights we haven't shot it well we've still been able to squeeze out wins so that that's our same mindset we're welcoming in Florida State student athlete Michael Forrest and we've now reached the 10 30 Mark so we're going to take questions from our full court press program that's the journalist with the black lanyards on right now for the next 15 minutes we'll get one right off the aisle up front thank you Mike James Mueller uh Dusty what do you remember from the initial conversations you had when you were recruiting Brian out of the transfer portal and what stood out to you about him to be honest there were maybe in one one conversation with Brian um someone had reached out that uh he wanted to stay close to home he really had had some family stuff going on and I knew Brian when he when I was assistant of Florida and he was in Gainesville I'd see him around I knew his family so it wasn't a long courtship it was basically one conversation and it made sense for both parties and it was done if you have a question for coach May or for Michael please raise your hand nice and high so we can see you we got a couple uh towards the back let's bring that microphone up to them we'll take one there and then we'll take the second question hi coach uh Emma Hutchinson with the daily Texan um just looking back at the career decision you made um by taking this head coach position um are you overall pleased with joining the team and just kind of um would you ever believe that you'd be here today um at the Final Four and never thought or dreamed this it was always just do the absolute best job you can get to the tournament and then see what you can do once you're there and our guys proved all year they belonged on this stage so we had a lot of confidence and other than the first day I've been ecstatic to represent this University and be a part of this program so other than that one day so we're back about 99.99 as far as me uh being being the coach at FAU continuing with questions for our full court press journalists with the black lanyards on same area of the room it's a freshman to come to FAU when the program was in a different state than it is now in the final four what kind of Drew you to the program just how genuine coach May was and truthful he was about um all the good and the bad cool um he offered me an opportunity to play right away and learn from my mistakes and um that's an opportunity that a lot of freshmen really don't get so um I just felt like it was a great fit for me to uh to come across me thank you Michael we're up in the front on the right side of the room raise your hand nice and nice so we can see it lights up right up here thank you hi Talia Goodman um obviously the first year that a three seed or higher hasn't been in the final four how do you feel like the parody in college basketball this year is affecting the game for either of you oh Michael you want to take that first um I just say if you can sorry um it just goes to show that like whatever your ranking is really does doesn't matter as long as you're on the court producing and um playing with a heart that's all that matters my belief is that our continuity is one of our greatest strengths our guys know each other they respect each other and because of of their relationship that's that's been developed over time they can hold each other accountable and know that anytime they're being corrected or even uh criticized it's out of love and what's best for all of us so I I do think that that's contributed with a lot of new rosters Bounce Around uh for our guys to stay together and and therefore uh they just they they operate as more of a unit than a group of individuals coach you recognize that last name Goodman I do I know her father well go Hoosiers up front to the right hi I'm Sam Calhoun uh uh coach may you talked about the impact that coach and a had on you uh have any other coaches uh reached out to you uh with advice about to be in this position being the Final Four several coaches I've talked to several I mean I've worked with a couple final four coaches that gave me great insight and advice Mike Davis and Richard Williams uh Indiana and and Mississippi State and spoke with Brad Stevens Bill self those two gave me great advice they've been here at recent memory and Coach self I actually had a long list of things to be thinking about that I would have would have never thought of any of those so very appreciative of all the coaches that I that have given us their time to help us prepare for this moment we're going to the fourth row on the right side we're gonna have to pass that microphone in suggestion for our full court press students as you guys continue to continue your career journalists that sit toward the aisle have better access to the microphone hi coach uh Peter rodericks um you mentioned um you know coach Mike Davis you worked with them with him at Indiana worked with them at UAB that's what kind of impact does he had on your career and has he you know have you talked to him at all throughout the season I know y'all played against Detroit Mercy earlier this year I talk to him frequently I I can't uh stress the the impact he had on me as a young guy driving him on recruiting trips listening to him talk to recruits on the phone talk to coaches the intangible things that you don't get sitting in a video room or working players out or rebounding whatever the case so he taught me a different side that the human side and and really educated a young naive uh aspiring coach from small town southern Indiana so he he taught me a lot about people he's very uh he just has a really a neat way about him Michael and coach we're gonna move all the way up front to the right coach uh coach who had numerous experiences as an assistant coach so can you tell me what you learn from those experiences some major takeaways that helped you coach this team and make this amazing run well I learned a long time ago that everything is about the players you do everything you can to help them be the absolute best they can be and you're always preparing thinking in advance and as an assistant coach you're always thinking as a head coach without the pressure of and responsibility that head coaches have so fortunately I've worked for a lot of guys that encouraged me uh to think in their shoes even though I didn't have to wear those big shoes continuing with questions for coach May or Michael there's one Jen you want to come up and give him the microphone great job uh John Morgan SME daily campus a question for you coach and Michael uh with the success of Conference USA in the postseason seeing North Texas and UAB in the NIT even Charlotte with the CBI what do you think that says about uh Conference USA as a whole um it shows that the whole conference is has um can't compete with anybody everyone the whole conference the whole year has been just a dog fight um every game has been compared down to the wire so it just goes to show that like Conference USA has a lot of great talent it affirms what we already knew 20 games slate in a very competitive environment every single night with great coaches and and special players so it's awesome to see our league do so well when when the when the lights are bright if you have a question please raise your hand we have two on the left side we're gonna use the front left microphone one and then the second one toward the middle hi Chase Hartzell from the Ouachita Sports digital Network this one's for Michael Michael you study engineering at FAU and it's no secret that being a student athlete is a challenge in its own right what have been your experiences and maybe some challenges you've faced both studying engineering and playing basketball at the highest level in college um there's definitely been a lot of uh nice where you really can't you don't get enough sleep but you still got to wake up for practice the next day and uh perform at your highest level so it really takes a lot of dedication to um be able to to do both so I'm just I'm grateful to be able to have the the mindset to do both we're gonna go back to the center of the room there's the mic this is for both y'all Michael here the Elder Statesman on this FAU team um can you and Coach talk a little bit about what your leadership style has been in the locker room with some of the younger guys as you kind of navigate what's a new experience for all of you how do you kind of what do you say to them and how do you keep them um I try to keep them engaged by a leader by example so whether it's diving on the floor to get a loose ball or conducting myself off the court like I just want the difference to look at me and be able to say that's how I should act um 24 7.
Mike's made it very simple on us typically when you want to show us certain Behavior or trait you've got to pull up an NBA player or another college player every day in practice if someone's not working hard enough and a lot of times players don't realize that they're not working hard enough all you have to do is point at Mike force and say if you want to know what it looks like there it is because every single rep for five years he's been the exact same person given a hundred percent effort every single day so it's made it's made our jobs as coaches much easier that we don't have to talk too much we just we look at Mike and say that's what it looks like we have a question in the center of the room we're going to pass that mic down again thank you coach since you've got to FAU in 2018 it's kind of been a slow build kind of building this program almost from the ground up you know how do you I guess what are kind of the biggest steps and keys to building a getting a you know one small program to kind of where it is now there's there's so many people on in college programs the most important thing is getting the right people together at the right time and we think a big part of our success is we have a locker room full of like-minded guys that have very comparable work ethics a very comparable work ethic and they continue to push and challenge each other every single day so we improve in workouts and practice because of their consistency their respect for each other that they're driving to terminations probably are separators up front to the right Ms Goodman hey coach um being in a bigger Spotlight than this team has really ever seen how have you seen your team handle that spotlight I couldn't be more impressed with a group of young people and and we use the term change up that have it changed up one bit they're the the walk out to practice today and they'll act exactly the the same way they did November 20th or December 13th whatever the case so but I watched closely we won 20 games in a row in a tough League against Great opponents and they never switched up they worked harder they were more focused the Scout that their their preparation was impeccable I could go on and on uh for a group of 18 to 22 year olds to not change a bit except for the better when they were showered with attention and accolades that we had never received before up front on the right side uh for Michael oh can you oh Michael you played in you know huge games in this tournament can you tell me how you're able to keep your calm and just be relaxed in these huge moments and try and uh do your best to learn for your team um just having my teammates and my coaches um always talking to me just keeping me level-headed that's really been the biggest thing for me so I owe it all to them same area of the room one row back and how do you feel in terms of talking about recruiting how do you feel that this final four feature will launch your programs recruitment processes years to come well it it exposes our program for all the good and and all the things that go with it and and hopefully it um I guess condenses the the recruiting pool for for the the guys that are like us and and want the things that we offer so hopefully it just allows us to narrow our our scope and and focus on on the guys that want to be a part of something like that we have all the way to the back all the way in the center uh this question for coach May um just throughout the years you've seen like St Peter's last year and obviously you guys this year and UMBC being the first one why do you think these mid major programs are starting to develop and go deeper and deeper into the tournaments compared to 20 years ago uh do you think it's like a talent uh you know the talent Gap is kind of decreasing or what's your take on that well first and foremost there are so many good players playing this game at our level the continuity is important but I think the biggest factors match-ups you have Purdue for example we watched fdup Purdue and on that given night Edie Miss smoke shots produce Shooters we're out of rhythm for this for this reason or that reason and fdu had this this the the quickness and and the shooting ability and all those things that really just boil down to good players with it with a very favorable matchup and the determinations obviously a factor as well we have another question in that same area is that right Jen uh yeah um you guys obviously played a very high paced Kansas State team um last round so I'm wondering how are you preparing or practicing if any differently for obviously a much slower to defensively minded team in SDSU for about first practice we talked about if we're going to be a championship program if we're going to win a conference Championship we have to play numerous different styles paces and so we've we've played north Texas who they limit possessions and we played UAB and there might be 30 more possessions in that game so we played all different styles we obviously love the up and down game but we're comfortable grinding it out and and figuring out ways to score enough points to to win the the lower possession games as well we have one final question for either coach or Michael or both a coach who team is 29-0 on the year whenever uh winning on the glass and you mentioned the defensive prowess of an scsu how important are it's going to be to win in that facet of the game importance if we can take care of the basketball we can rebound it then we'll have a shot to beat San Diego State we it's been our Focus all year we know we're we're not as tall as the other teams we may not be as long we may not be as physically as imposing but we do feel like we're quick to the ball we're physical we're aggressive and we really have a strong desire to rebound it so I think that factors in as well we'd like to thank Michael Forrest and head coach Dusty May for joining us here in the main interview room they're going to go out and enjoy some open practice time and good luck tomorrow evening thank you guys thank you the FAU locker room should be closing about now as FAU heads out for open practice at 11.
Starting at 11 the San Diego State locker room will open the San Diego State starters will be available in breakout sessions across the hall at 11 15. we'll have Coach Dutcher here in the main interview room and at 11 30 he'll be joined by an Aztec student athlete for questions with our full court press group yeah I saw the ones that were blue and black you lacks a couple Black Lanterns or just say like he's available for 15 minutes to all media Media or Fortress and the following 15 minutes whatever um don't you know who I am all right people have the great work I love it it's January the only person that messed up is Jordan when he was reading his own headlines on fdu accordingly so what uh doctor foreign get off foreign um foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign uh [Music] foreign good morning as action continues here in the main interview room at NRG Stadium and the final four currently breakouts are happening with San Diego State Aztec student athletes the Aztecs locker room is also open for student athletes who are not available in the breakout areas today and we're joined by the head coach Brian Dutcher he'll be here from 11 15 until 11 30 to take your questions starting at 11 30 we'll get San Diego State student athlete down here with Coach Dutcher and we're going to take some questions with our full court press program coach want to give us an opening thought on today and then we'll get into some questions well I was waiting till there were fewer people here so I could say something controversial so no thanks for being here everybody uh this is the media and uh excited for the opportunity to talk to you all uh I had a good time with Dusty May yesterday we said impromptu before an interview so I got to visit with him great guy share a lot of the same things in the past he was a manager at Indiana I was a manager for my dad at Minnesota he worked at Eastern Michigan my dad was the head coach at Eastern Michigan at one point in his career so there truly is only Six Degrees of Separation especially in the coaching world so it was great to spend time with Dusty and love everything about him but his team so hopefully we'll be ready to play them tomorrow Goods we're gonna start with questions we'll begin up front on the left side hey coach welcome to Houston Greg Bailey from ABC here in Houston in this rapidly changing world of College athletics what does a young man like Nathan Mensa represent uh in your program and maybe even in your life with his academics the the road that he's traveled and the things that he wants to accomplish back in his native country yeah Nathan's incredible an incredible young man he's been a five-year starter uh he was on the 30-2 team only started nine games and he had the long issue that shot him down for the rest of that year and the interesting thing he was going to come back for the NCAA tournament it was timed out where we could do that and never happened but Nathan has been in the business school he's getting his MBA he did a meaningful internship this summer where he's getting himself ready for the professional world uh whatever Nathan gets he almost sends half back to Ghana so whether it's a scholarship check or whatever it is Nathan is a giver still concerned about his family in Ghana and uh just a wonderful young man that represents himself his family and our program in the best way we're going to go towards the back of the room to the right of the aisle about five seats in there coach Nick learns for Mid major Madness speaking about Nathan just talk about that matchup with Vlad tomorrow that's going to be a really big one down low really going to impact the game in my opinion yeah it's going to be an incredible matchup but I mean thank goodness we went up against culpreneur I mean it's the same guy uh maybe a little bit different skill set but the same size ability to score around the basket physical strong so it'll be a challenge and they have a really a two-headed monster Rosado comes in he plays different he faces he spins he's quick so they're gonna be a real challenge guarding inside tomorrow continuing with questions for all media for Coach Dutcher if you have a question please raise your hand let's take one up front Isaac born mid major Madness so I wanted to ask about your team specifically and how you know how close they are and so what kind of created that Dynamic within the team and um how's that helped you guys this season well it's kind of fun we have a lot of older guys obviously fifth year guys six year guys Seiko fifth year Bradley fifth year a rope fifth year Mensa you know we've got a older older team and the fun thing is to watch him kind of integrate the freshman in you know have fun with the freshman and usually when there's that big age difference they don't want a lot to do with each other but they've really bonded they have a lot of fun together and uh they're really a tight group and what I say player driven teams are better than coach driven teams and our seniors have stepped up and oh girl we're open particular uh keyshot Johnson doing a great job with leadership roles vocally and uh it's just been fun to watch them all come together center of the rim coach Justin Cox daily Aztec coach what's been the experience being here in Houston for the team it's such a big event like this that's great I told him there's a lot of distractions but a lot of Great Moments embrace all of them but it's time to focus focus and that's the same message every coach has given it's no different than what coach May is telling his team you know embrace it enjoy it it doesn't happen very often but when it's time to lock in for practice or or film session you have to do that I said today this is going to feel like an All-Star practice like your all-star weekend but this is not all-star weekend we're playing a meaningful game we're not putting on a show so go out there today put a smile on your face but get yourselves ready to play a game and that's the difference it has that festive feel but at the same time we're getting ready to compete on the biggest stage for the biggest title there is in college athletics coach we're going to move to the back of the room toward the right side Pete from ESPN I wonder if you can just reflect a little bit on Mark Fisher coming here to join you guys and having him be at this final four and obviously he's been through an unbelievable battle with ALS can you just reflect a little bit on what that means please well one thing's for certain you never have a bad day I mean when you look at Mark and look at his decade-long battle with ALS how can you say you had a bad day or the game uh losing a game was everything you know it's basketball and what Mark deals with is life and ALS is is unforgiving it's cruel and we do the walk every year I wear ALS pin to every game to try to draw attention to the cause and so I've known Mark obviously I was at Michigan at 88-89 he was just a middle schooler back then so I've grown up with Mark he's family he's at on the bench for every home game Travelers hot travels hard for him now but we got him out here to the final four because he's a part of all this you know not just his father but him the son has been a part of Aztec basketball dating back to when we started all those years ago back left corner we'll go to Lane four seats in there you go Coach Lane Higgins from The Wall Street Journal um you know you were part of one of the first freshmen-led country with the Fab Five and obviously there was sort of a rising tide of that for a long time in college sports but if you look around at the teams that are in the final four today it's not young players it's older guys that have more experience so you know do you think there's been a paradigm shift in what it takes to win in college basketball these days yeah I mean obviously when we won the national title in 88-89 we had all seniors and juniors the Fab Five as good as they were Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose stayed for three years of college Webber stayed for two those guys this day and age aren't staying past one year and if they change the rule again they might not ever come to college so obviously the nature of the games changed how long players stay has changed and and it's uh if you can't adapt in this business you're not going to make it so we're adapting to nil we're adapting to the transfer portal and you can't sit there and say boy I wish it was the way it used to be it's the way it is and and so I think I've had an ability to adapt to whatever rules or thrown at us change wise and we've been able to adapt and continue to be successful up front to the right of the aisle coach yeah that's a kind of a similar question but with no top 30 recruits no montgom ery McDonald's that the start of a trend like is there any less import ant I mean you're not going to turn down a really good player but they're not going to help you right away it's going to take a while to care who they are it's going to take half a year minimal it's the same thing when you take a transfer sometimes the transfer has got a lot of experience but before he gets comfortable like Darian tremel's playing his best basketball he didn't do that all year he's doing it now it takes a while to acclimate and so it takes longer for a freshman to acclimate and so to play the Superstar freshman it's going to take him a while and that if you don't play well enough you don't get a chance to get to the tournament with him because you haven't won enough to get there so I always thought Coach K did a great job because he coached in all those eras you know when he had all those senior teams and won all those titles and then he did it with the Freshman I mean the guys he brought here last year is a testament to him how hard that is to do to to coach freshman at that level and I'm sure if you were to ask him he'd probably rather coach a veteran team who wouldn't you want experience coming back you're not teaching something new every year but that's a testament to the job he did taking both types of teams to left side left of the aisle Paul Garrison East Village times coach Dakari Allen tweeted out that fish said when one team goes it'll be like we all went um a lot of your players are embraced your former players are embracing this run as if it were them who were experiencing it I mean how rewarding is it that the entire SDSU Community is embracing your team the way that it is yeah I've said this a lot of players come back to their schools they come back to uh uh the place they played but their coaching staffs are four or five removed by then they don't know anybody left on the coaching staff it's a whole new coaching staff but they know the facilities they know the school when they come back to San Diego State they're coming back to their coaches coach Fisher's still here I'm here from 24 years Dave Velazquez Matt Soria been in the program 20 plus years it's students and worked their way up so it truly is coming back to your family it's not just your University it's the familiar faces you spent all that time with and then we all share that uh vision of when we one do one does it we all do it and that is really exciting on the right side toward the back Chris Bennett with ESPN coach May was up here joking about glad they scheduled Tennessee when they did so they could get a chance to go up against the defense and the physicality when you watch it what they did against the Vols what worked and what concerns you about going into tomorrow they do a great job I mean they're well coached they're talented I mean uh they shoot the ball on the elite level we can't let them stand out there and make a ton of Threes And if they do they have to be contested we can't do anything about a contest of three if we're out there with a high end and it goes in then you tip your hat but yeah they're dangerous and then uh they do a good job giving enough help in the low post shrinking in there if you try to beat them inside set a second defender in there halfway and if you put it down maybe all the way so they do they're well coached and they're disciplined on the defensive end coach we hope to impress you now with the technology Flex we're going to take a question from Zoom apartment in Baltimore go ahead Chris Seidel hey Karen this is Chris Heidel from herb apparent radio and Baltimore congratulations making them to Houston I talked to you after the uh the big win on against Tennessee uh what do you see um against uh Florida and Atlantic what kind of offense do they run is this somebody similar in the Mountain West Conference and you play on with them we don't see it a lot here on the East Coast we play some spread offenses Jeff Linder does a good job at Wyoming spreading Justin Hudson at Fresno plays Four guards so we play teams that spread the floor you know the thing we want to make sure we do is when a team plays Four guards they take that many long shots sometimes if you turn and just run into rebound it goes over your head so we make sure we do a good job of checking and not over pursuing the ball out of a long shot left side to the right of the aisle the Bourne mid major Madness coach Dutch your team is one of the more um one of the more mature teams in this Tournament being in the fact that you know they're able to keep their keep defense up and his problem is allowed the least amount of points out of any team in the final four up to this point so what keeps them so mature in that aspect of being able to hold the defense down even in games against uh one of the best teams in the tournament everyone was saying in Alabama just our culture is such where you know early in the year we say we do a shooting drill and if we don't make those numbers in the shooting drill we might go down to the Baseline and do defensive slides instead of running it down and back and just say they're going to be games where the shot doesn't go in as much as we're open how are we going to win those games we're going to win them with our defense so it's just setting a mindset you know if we don't hit a number offensively we'll do defensive drills and say this is not a punishment this is how we're going to win when no one else can and so hopefully we can make some shots here where we won't put so much stress on our defense but our defense uh it travels it plays 40 minutes every game we have a question for Coach Dutcher please raise your hand we'll send the microphone attendant in your direction another question on the left left side of the aisle coach speaking about that age that you have on your team um multiple of your players have said it takes years to be able to fully grasp all the defensive things that you teach um how much have you seen even you know these six years guys grow in their defensive game and what you guys are trying to do just this year I mean they're just connected I mean that's how you're you're good defensively you play connected and so if a guy gets beat on a drive you know one guy will take him and the other guy will peel off you know very rarely do you see us with two guys on the ball that's where you give up threes you know whether it's a ball screen we want to guard it two on two we don't want to bring a third defender in we want to stay extended to contest those threes so we rarely have two on the ball even on a drive if someone comes to help you I don't need two on the ball you break off and go get his and so we work on it every day we spend a lot of time on defense and eventually they start making plays where you're like wow that was incredible what you two just did there how you saw that covered for one another yet got out on the shooter so this is just a process that you know that the more comfortable they get the more connected they get the better we are if you have a question for Coach Dutcher please raise your hand there's one on the left of the aisle is that Kevin yeah coach Kevin Sweeney from Sports Illustrated um talking to some of the players about uh Nate mensa's impact and what it allows them to do defensively because of what he's able to erase so I'm curious as a coach what kind of luxury it is to have a room protector like him who can also you know switch and do so many different things defensively yeah we've always managed to have a rim protector in our program you know whether Skyler Spencer who I think still is the all-time block leader in Mountain West history you know we've always had shot blockers and Nate does a great job blocking shots and it's like the the problem with having an older team at some point they played so much basketball and they've been in college for five years they're a little tired of college and basketball college basketball so they get disinterested so that's the biggest task as a coach is to say I know you've played a lot but and you're looking at the guy you're playing you still have to give the same effort every game and sometimes they win and they just kind of get satisfied and the key to us coaching them is to say you've been here a long time you still have to put the same investment in because they've played a lot of basketball and sometimes they're like I'm ready to do something else in my life other being in college and play basketball and I know that seems interesting but it's true hi Adam talk about a guy that's played a lot of basketball and I'm trying to keep interested Adam Seiko we're joined Now by Adam Seiko we'll take questions from all media for the next two minutes or so and then we'll uh we'll limit things to our full court press group if you have a question go ahead Isaac born mid-major Madness So Adam can you talk about Coach Dutch and just how the his ability to be able to bring you guys together this season and just his impact for you guys yeah he's been great ever since I got here it's our sixth year together you know he got the job you know when I committed here um it's just been a blessing to play for him uh you know we've been to a few NCAA tournaments now uh you know come up short in those first round exits uh but you know his growth as a coach you can see from a player standpoint every single year and he's a guy that you know with all our assistant coaches who you know are very passionate and and get on us mostly he keeps us level-headed he keeps us sane um and you know he just keeps it motivated to be better every single day uh you know especially here now you know we love all this stuff going on but we understand that we have a task to get a job to get done and he embarks on that every single every single time we're in film or getting ready to practice so it's been a blessing and play for him and I couldn't you know ask for a better you have a question for Adam or coach Dutcher we do have one in the very center of the room we're going to use the back what's it been like since you stepped off the bus at San Diego State last week uh up until now yeah I mean it's been crazy you know the city has been going crazy uh it's been a blessing to you know when they'll leave a be my little brother on the way to the final four uh but this team is resilient you know these guys you know from August from from July August to the early early practices to to now our growth has been crazy uh but you know we just been preparing for FAU you know they're a really good team uh you know we're not looking past them at all uh you know we we got better in practice this week you know got able to get into the arena yesterday get some shots up get our rhythm going you know prepare for them more uh but it's good to be here at the bus and to be here and we're just focused on this game for Saturday having reached the 11 30 Mark we're gonna take questions now exclusively from our full court breast group those are the journalists with the black lanyards on if you don't have a black lanyard I'd love to reserve your questions for a later time we'll have one all the way in the back on the left side but to the right of the aisle hi coach um Emma Hutchinson with the daily Texan um just what's it been like to have a player like uh Darian tramel on your team um and having him come in this year um just how is he done as a player and how does he um just kind of build the team up yeah darian's like all players he ran through a stretch where I think he lost his confidence a little bit questioned how we were doing some things probably looking for more opportunities to have the ball in his hands like a lot of good players but he kind of played through that stretch that frustration and just said I'm gonna do me I'm going to be the best player I can be regardless of what the coaches say and he did that he stepped his game up he's doing doing it within the system we have and I'm proud of him to the right of the aisle we'll go to Talia hi coach Talia Goodman um fau's continue to talk about how they don't want to be seen as a typical Cinderella team if you do see any differences what are some of the things that you've seen from FAU that separate them from kind of that typical normal Cinderella team probably the fact that they're the winningest team in the country right now they got more wins than anybody sometimes the Cinderella team gets in their conference tournament they're barely above 500 and they make this run they got more wins than anybody in the country so we're not looking at him as a Cinderella team winning his team out there and and I just told our team their chip on their shoulder can't be bigger than the chip on our shoulder during our full court press group and you have a question for Coach Dutcher or for Adam Seiko please raise your hand we'll send the microphone stored in your direction and we have one up front on the left uh coach Tom Morgan SME daily campus so you were last here in the final four about 30 years ago with those great Michigan teams have you been calling on any of those past experiences to the team this week or what's been your mindset of kind of using some of that I think I called upon the experience just to help them through what this week is like media responsibilities when it's time to enjoy when it's time to lock in and just more experience from that regard you know the the demands are tremendous and they're fun we're in love and every minute of it but some at some point we have to go to work like I said today it's not an All-Star Game practice even though it's going to feel like that with fans in the crowd they're going to want to dunk they're going to want to do silly things and I'm going to tell them enjoy it like I did but focus in we have a game we're trying to accomplish the greatest thing in the world and win a National Title so be able to flip the switch and concentrate when it's required in the back to the left of the aisle hey coach Nathan Sanji um you had some close losses in the beginning of the season the tournament teams like Arkansas St Mary's Arizona what do you think your team learned from those losses that helped them get to this point I mean you learn more in a loss and a win is crazy is that may or may not sound we learn we learn winning and losing but losses shocked the system sometimes so change our offense a little bit after uh Arizona we've always worked on our press-o and just didn't execute against Arkansas and just little moments that you say we have to fight to this we have to get better at this and all those give us an opportunity to do that ball screen defense against St Mary's you know which we've had great success from the past we didn't have as much success this year what do we have to do to get better at that and so they just teach her those little small lessons nothing major you have to tweak but one or two things that can get you better and we're willing to learn those lessons Adam and coach we're going to go all the way to the back and all the way to the right hey Adam what was it like playing against your brother on the biggest stage and like how cool is it that you'll always have that one up on him now it was amazing um you know it's something that you know not too many people can experience if that uh you know playing him last year losing in the first round really uh hit us hard you know the coming up that next summer leading up to this season we're very motivated to make it back to the tournament uh uh make a run but you know it's just a blessing for my family um you know Uganda where we're from you know everybody supporting us and you know he had a great season Craig had a great season he played well uh so it felt good you know it felt good to get our revenge back especially to make it to the final four and you know tell my family one of us is gonna make the final four uh knew it was gonna be me but uh it's definitely a blessing to be here and and I'm just happy for him this on the right side to the left of the aisle uh hi Hannah o'gara uh this is for Adam being a vet of this San Diego team what kind of pressure do you feel tomorrow leading these guys in what hopefully to victory yeah um I don't I don't know if there's any pressure on us we understand that you know we've been counting out all year long it's not a surprise that we've been counted out in uh these guys are more motivated as ever to get a win and we have a great staff our coaches you know they do a great job scouting uh offices have been really good over the past few months you know we're really focused on getting better in practice so we're excited for this opportunity uh we're not going to take it for granted uh you know all our families being here all the fans being here you know we got the best friends in the world to support us and their energy helps us so uh more it's just more of a blessing exciting moment for us rather than pressure yeah yeah left side the room will go back to Talia and this is going to be the front left microphone um your fourth tournament appearance since San Diego State but your first tournament win here uh getting this far how important was it to get over the hump of that round of 64 game yeah we want to win everyone we play obviously we lost one possession game to Houston my first year bayheim rolled over me that second trip uh we lost a overtime game to Creighton it's hard to win a game in the tournament so I didn't look back and say boy you messed that up you should have done this better as a coach you try to put your players in the best position to win but I always say marches for players that's not to excuse coaching but if I put them in the right position sometimes you live with a shot going in or ringing out and that's March basketball that same area one row up uh this is for Coach um you know this this was your six seasons I've been able to I guess build up the program to where they are now from where you were before and uh what I guess stands out to you the most about your journey I I knew I had to probably win right away the enzyme coaching on Steve Fisher Court that's the guy I replaced a little pressure to do that but we had a culture he left me a program that was in great shape so I just continued to build on the foundation he laid that I helped lay with him and so we built on a strong foundation and we continue to climb as a basketball program we'll swing it over to the right side just to the left of the aisle uh coach downstairs Sam Calhoun uh obviously you have a close connection with Coach Steve Fisher and he's been at that type of level before uh being the final four are we in National Championship have any other coaches they've reached out to you or have you received advice from the other coaches who have been at that type of level no not really you know most coaches are just call and congratulate you know it's not a whole lot you know here's what you need to expect they know I've been to three of these in the past granted it was 30 years ago but they haven't changed a whole lot now that I'm sitting here the media responsibilities are the same the practices are the same so I'm feeling pretty comfortable now I've just gotta get my team comfortable that's the main thing the press conferences are much more fun the last 13 years really enjoying them to the right side of the aisle Manchester this is for both of y'all um Adam and coach you've had some of these guys be with you for a long period of time now they've done four years maybe more um can you speak a little bit to what some of them Adam Nathan menso what they mean the program and how they've helped acclimate some of the new guys who've transferred in yeah Adam and I have been together six years I think when he leaves I might think leaving too I'll go with him we've had a heck of a run so but no Nathan and A.G been with me five and you know these guys are the backbone of my program to my era at San Diego State so they mean everything to me so Jordan shackle Matt Mitchell guys that came my first year you know a lot of really good players uh make a coach look good so I've had great players that have made me look good in my six years we have time for one or two more questions if there are any let's go back we have two on the board uh this is for Adam what experiences did you say you guessed you had when you were younger during your childhood that shaped you into the person that you are today and that have made my family um highs lows man I could I could name I can name a lot but I mean the struggle we've been through you know living in hotels um you know having to take care of my you know my little brother alone I have workout saying we didn't have a gym to workout in you know everything there's so much stuff that you know has motivated me uh to be where I'm at today and and it was just a blessing from God you know my mom and my dad have raised us and myself and my little brother my little sister was into you know great kids and and respected individuals so you know shout out to them for raising us and you know shout out to coach Dutch for allowing me the opportunity to be here at this you know Wonderful University and it's supposed to be in the final front left uh coach so FAU is a team that is 29-0 whatever winning the rebounding battle uh and that often leads to a quick uh shots for them in transition how much is it going to be important for your team to win that battle and hopefully control the pace of the game a bit more yeah we've watched a lot of tape on rebounding obviously and like I said when you have four guards and you shoot long shots it's not like a lot of games were you're wrestling underneath the basket with other bigs although golden is Big it's those long rebounds that he bats out or that you run in and go over your head back to the guard so we've made a conscious effort to try to stay extended just check instead of just running in check and make sure our man isn't going and then secure the longer rebounds is there a final question or was that the final question all right one final question for our full court press group Adam you played against your brother last uh last week and watching you guys and what's kind of his message been his been having him along after playing against him just a few days ago yeah um he's gonna be in Houston he's got him this morning um uh decided to be here you know he's very happy for me he said if he's going to lose to somebody you know he's glad it was me in San Diego State uh but uh he's coming with a few of his teammates and so it's going to be a good experience for them as well uh just happy that we got to play him happy that he's happy for me and you know he's going to learn a lot from last game you know leading on to his career uh so it's good to have my family and him here we want to thank Adam and we want to thank coach Dutch for being here in the main interview room they're gonna head back and get ready for their open practice you guys take the floor at noon yes sir thank you guys thanks everybody at noon San Diego State has open practice and will also begin media activities for Miami the locker room will be open from 12 to 12 45 with student athletes who will not be featured here in the main interview room or in the breakout areas at noon from noon to 12 25 we'll have those breakout sessions right across the hall with University of Miami Hurricane student athletes the starting five will be available at 12 15.
We'll have Coach laranega here in the main interview room for all media at 12 30 we'll be joined by a student athlete from Miami with coach laronega and we'll restrict questions to our full court press group we hope you guys have been enjoying everything so far this is Media activity halftime foreign foreign foreign foreign is the same if you like him and if you don't try them one more maybe take like one rope out I'm not really sure it doesn't matter if you don't mind getting the Miami level thank you guys I appreciate it no I tried me good Ness foreign foreign foreign foreign good afternoon and welcome back to the NRG Stadium main interview room here at the final four next up we'll have head coach Jim larenega of the Miami Hurricanes he'll be here from 12 teen until 12 45 at 12 30 we'll also be joined by Nigel pack Nigel's currently in a breakout room across the hall for your questions and his answers but starting at 12 30 we're going to take questions exclusively from our full court press group so 15 minutes with coach laranega and all media questions and then 15 minutes with coach larranega and Nigel and questions focusing on access for our full court press group the Miami locker room is open it has been open and it will stay open until 12 45 and breakout sessions are still taking place for another 12 minutes for student-athlete interviews if you're joining us here in the main interview we're only ask that you please take a moment to to silence your cell phone a reminder that this room is prohibited for Flash photography shooting video streaming live even with your mobile device we'll have an ASAP transcript of this news conference available immediately after it ends and video will be available at ncaa.veritone.com shortly after as well satellite information is the same all week and weekend Galaxy 17 transponder 10 slot a the data rate is 11.914 symbol 7.2 downlink 11886.5 vertical of all of our news stations tuning in around the world and across the country Goods laronega joins us solo for the next 15 minutes coach you have any opening thoughts and then we'll take some questions well after an exhausting day of doing media interviews yesterday I thought our players did a great job in practice of putting the the interviews behind and concentrating on basketball we had a very nice uh Team event last night we had a guest speaker and he did a wonderful job and and uh you know hopefully uh we'll have another good practice today and uh a good night's sleep tonight to get ready for tomorrow night coach we're going to take our first question from the first rail to the left hey Jim Dave Ford just first Connecticut media um I know you've been asked a lot this week about the uh the George Mason game against UConn 17 years ago but I wanted to know if you had any recollection of the last time you faced UConn a few years ago maybe maybe that's that from your memory but and if I'm not mistaken we you've gone through maybe some health issues of that at that time as well um oh I remember we played in an ESPN event in Charleston I believe and we were awful and UConn was dominant and uh I had a back issue and it it kept me in a wheelchair actually for a few days uh I got that corrected and now I got my 40-inch vertical back and I'm doing good next questions to the right of the aisle third row hey coach Greg Bailey from ABC here in Houston welcome to you and congratulations beyond the obvious of getting to the final four with this group what is the greatest gift that you receive from these young people day in and day out as part of this journey and how does that help keep you so enthusiastic about what's going on around you yeah you know everybody talks about my age uh but my players they don't see it that way they might see me as their grandfather but we have a great working relationship because they know I care about them a great deal and that I want to help them achieve their goals and it's it's for me just a great joy to have the privilege of working at such a great university University of Miami is Paradise you know our campus is beautiful and then to have such a great group of kids to work with who are just fun to be around every day you know someone asked me about the difference between Isaiah Wong when he was a freshman and now I said well the funny thing is all right that young man has never had a bad attitude day or a bad effort day this has a great attitude towards life and a great work ethic towards basketball and quite frankly that leads to other guys wanting to be just like him he's a great role model for the other guys and you add nor Shadow Mirror Nigel pack Jordan Milton they're all like that and when you have kids who are like that it's really a lot of fun coaching coach we're going to move up front to the first row dub Amore from the Hartford coach from watching UConn in this in this what have you taken away from them not in the basketball x's and no sense but more in the the vibe or the body language or the the looseness confidence that they've been playing with well I I've known Bob Hurley senior uh since I was a young coach I've known Danny and Bobby for a long time as well and I think their team reflects the Hurley Clan philosophy of play really hard and aggressive at both ends of the court and you have to be impressed with their size their physicality but also their skill you know like Jordan Hawkins is one of the Premier Shooters in the country and and they have skills at every position so my staff and I have been very very impressed with them and we know uh we have a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow night guys we're going to move to the right side fourth row AP hey coach AP Statum AP and Kelly as we see at syndicated radio coach who was your speaker and why did you choose that person and then you remember a name from the past Donnie Lewis uh Donnie Donnie Lewis who played with me at Providence College of course I remember Donnie Lucy one of the best uh defenders in college basketball at that time um but uh your question was about our guest speaker was Patrick Young who played college basketball at the University of Florida helped the University of Florida get to the final four and um had a tragic car accident and right now is rehabbing trying to go from a wheelchair to to walking again uh our strength and conditioning coach Preston green uh previously worked at the University of Florida and pres Preston approached me about Patrick maybe addressing the team via Zoom I was all for it and Patrick adjusted team for about 20 minutes last night after our team dinner he did a fantastic job he's a terrific motivational speaker because you're going to stay in that same area one row up Coach Dave Hyde at South Florida Sun Sentinel Patrick young can you what was the message he gave but my other question what do you do with the team of the next 36 hours or maybe not that much but what do you do with the team for that I want to tell you I really liked your article hey you hung out with our guys for a few hours and uh I think reported it very nicely um what we're going to do is is what we do routinely I'm a great believer in routines I try to keep it as routine as possible every day in practice we have about 52 routines that we follow daily and we're going to try to do that now it varies a little bit because we've added media responsibilities but the moment our responsibilities end here we'll go out on the court and and we will practice and the practice hopefully will have a lot of energy and we want to get the players comfortable on the court and then also confident that they feel they can play really good basketball and come Saturday night and then when we're done we'll do our normal routine we'll have dinner together as a coaching staff and team we'll have a team meeting we'll go over all our last minute details about the game plan and then hopefully the guys will get a good night's sleep we have a shoot around tomorrow and then the game tomorrow night so game day will be very very similar to every game day that we've played so far left side of the room right side of the aisle hey Coach Josh good to see you all week you've been talking about the change of venue going from 8 000 to what holds to 75 000.
Just just with the one practice how is your team adjusted that's simply because we won't be able to talk to you after practice you know I I I think they've done a very good job we practiced yesterday in the arena and it was a very uh intense practice uh guys were aggressive at both ends one of the the group I would love for you guys to write about and you should interview them is our scout team I'm telling you they do an amazing job of simulating the opponent it's it's mostly a group of freshmen uh with a couple of Walk-Ons and DJ Irving my assistant coach has to prepare them for every Nuance we're going to face whether it's offense or defense he's got to break down the video he he's got to study the opponent then he's got to teach the scout team uh how to do it how to execute and then our rotation players the top eight or nine guys have to then defend the scout team and then try to score against the scout team so um they did a great job yesterday they did a great job back on on Tuesday when we practice and I'm sure they'll do a great job tomorrow at the shoot around because we we basically do like a dress rehearsal and when you have a great scout team at North often leads to Great preparation and then good execution during the game coach will take one from the right side left to the aisle Eddie hey coach Eddie pells with ap there's been a lot of uh talk about this final four and the seedings of the teams um what's your general feeling about seeding I mean I it doesn't feel like they got everything right this time yeah I If You're Expecting uh all four uh number one seeds to be at the final four every year because that's where there's like it doesn't work that way there's too much parity in college basketball there's there's too many changes in rosters every year now the transfer portal has created that you know we have transfers every team's got transfers so even how your season starts is not really reflective of how you might be in February and March and it's a impossible task for the committee to seed one through 68 and for everything just to fall into place but what we tell our team is if you've made the dance if you're in March Madness it's one of those 68 teams you've earned your way in either by winning your conference tournament or being selected because of your body of work and it's been proven year after year after the year that those seeds create the upsets so a a seed that's number one loses to a team that's an 11th seed or a number nine seed to me those are not upsets those about match-ups that happen to work in the favor of the lower seed for some reason and I reflect back even on our run to the final four and oh six we were in 11 seed we beat Michigan State North Carolina Wichita State and and uh UConn they were all seated higher than us coach left side of the room left to the aisle I'm here you go Tara cater are you here in Houston I'm asking you this because all your guys brought it up yesterday but how would you say your dance moves have evolved over the years and uh they seem very impressed with it Well Jermaine price who was my point guard back back in uh my first years at George Mason he was interviewed by The Washington Post and he said my dance move haven't changed but they have gotten worse and my players have said you're you're so stiff like you got to loosen up well I can't I don't have that flexibility anymore but uh you you guys can rate it or the players can rate it I just know my wife likes it go to that same area of the room um one of the things that's made this final four unique is uh the lack of McDonald's all-americans the lack of consensus top 30 recruits is that a blip or a trend to you and our our schools starting to devalue those top freshmen at all or so the past years well I would say this is certainly an unconventional group of four teams only one blue blood in Yukon um so you know uh the Blue Bloods get the the McDonald's Old Americans so if the Blue Bloods are back here next year you'll have McDonald's all-americans in the final four but right now you know it's not that that all the schools don't try but you get eliminated quickly and the young man tweets his list of you know Duke Carolina Kentucky Arizona Michigan State and then you're adamant so you got to find other players you know maybe you're Plan B is someone that's going to develop in your program and and be a great player at some point we've been very very fortunate over the years to recruit a player and I'll use Isaiah Wong as an example he was pretty highly recruited is is this narrowed down to us and you God but but he was not a McDonald's Old American he was a young man with a great heart and a great competitive Spirit he's just gotten better and better and we're always looking for those kind of guys and my staff does a great job you know Bill Courtney who I hired at Bowling Green 26 years ago he's now back on my staff in Miami he's always telling me about guys that you know I'm here in a great place he said buddy they're not for you and he finds a guy he says this guy's not rated asylee but I think you'll love him and one of those guys is Tony skin oh I think if I'm correct we were his only Scott scholarship offer from division one Tony helped us get to the final four in in 06 and he's now the head coach of his alma mater George Mason he was named that uh it was yesterday Dana O'Neil at the athletic a lot of people asking you questions about your relevance your relatability your dance moves um I'm just wondering like have you ever been considered cool or is like the art of your uncooledness sort of your coolness if you will you know I I I like self-deprecating humor and when I dance that's self-deprecating I mean it I'm not Michael Jackson uh so the whole idea of March Madness and the reason it's called the big dances it's fun everybody loves dancing even if you can't dance I know a lot of people can't dance they love getting out on the Dance Floor so for me if I can entertain my players bring a smile to their face or have them laugh that's great because uh I got thick skin I mean I don't worry about stuff like that coach back of the room on the right side hey coach wool man so WPLG my I mean good to see you coach I think it's about a little over 40 basketball um from um are making the trip going to be here a bunch of other football their Sports what does that mean to you knowing the guys that paved the way and what it means to them the pride they take and what this program has accomplished yeah at each of my stops Bowling Green George Mason in Miami we've tried to build tradition where the players loved coming back and revisiting and and sharing their memories I just did that with two of my George Mason players that were on the final four team they joined us for breakfast my former assistant coaches are back here and those University of Miami former players they can take great pride in laying the foundation because we didn't even have a basketball program for a while there was no interest in basketball supposedly and then in 1985 we brought it back and we've had some tremendous coaches build the program and lead us to this point I I know Bill Foster gave up being the head coach at Clemson to come here and and rejuvenate a a dormant program Seth Greenberg helped them these are guys I have great respect for and then Leonard to Hamilton is one of the winningest coaches in the history of college basketball and is still he's absolutely older than me by the way anybody don't know um and and he's done a great job wherever he's been so I feel like you know we we want to keep advancing the Miami basketball program and compete uh with all the best schools in the country and and those guys should take great pride in what we're doing and what they they did final question of our General Session is going to be for Dan to the right of the aisle it yeah damn what can you say today I was just curious how difficult is it for you to keep coach crystal ball away from norchad I hadn't thought of that but I better start yeah no Shadow Mirror is six seven uh 245 pounds of dynamite personality his body language his his ability to relate to everybody you know here's a young man whose first language is Spanish and he's up on stage speaking English and still very very comfortable and confident that he can relate to all of you and like this is his roommate just ask him what nor shad's like and and they've become so close and uh yeah I I love them both yeah and I asked that because obviously Miami's had one of the most famous college basketball exactly the football conversions he just seems like a guy who whose physical profile I was just curious you know what you think is professional future actually could be oh he's going to be in the NBA I'm telling in football you get hurt I I don't even thinking about playing football and I don't think he ever will because he's a basketball player he hasn't even scratched the surface his offensive skills as good as they are can can reach not just one level up but two or three levels up and we're going to spend a lot of time with him spring summer and fall leading into next season and and uh you know we'll we'll see a much much improved offensive play how do you say that when the guy is already averaging double figure points and rebounds I don't know but he's just getting better and better we'd like to welcome in Nigel pack at this time and we've also eclipsed that 12 30 Mark we're going to take questions from our full court press groups that's those journalists with the black lanyards on we're going to go to the right side or right of the aisle all right coach Laramie goes Sam Calhoun uh with UConn's big staying at six foot nine with Adama sonogo and Dominic Klingon and Sanford too uh North China as he said uh so physical uh he said that ACC Place really helped with preparing for guys that are bigger than him uh can you just talk about what nor Chad's able to do with these uh with this side advantage that his opposed have you know nor sheds uh an undersized big man but he's competing competed against big guys throughout the season you know Duke has seven uh two seven foot is in their starting lineup Carolina has Armando baycott Wake Forest has some huge guys Virginia has like six eleven seven foot so he's faced them he's learned how to defend them and how to attack them with his offensive game and uh it's a challenge when I when I see them walk out for the the jump ball I say oh man the other guy's got him by four or five inches and yet still at the end of the game he's the leading rebounder and has scored double figure points so I'm very very confident in his ability to compete left side of the room to the right of the aisle Talia hey coach Talia Goodman um both you guys and the women's team really took advantage of nil when it was first introduced and you both went on to to make big runs in March what are you seeing firsthand as the impact of nil in college basketball well I I look at more as the big impact of the transfer portal because these guys probably wouldn't even been available if they didn't put their name in the transfer portal and so when we are recruiting we looked at our team last year made it to the elite eight and Charlie Moore and and Sam wardenberg were graduating so we need to replace them we needed a point guard and we needed a big guy and when those guys uh entered the portal we went after them why they chose Miami uh I hope and I I really do assume and I'm pretty sure I know is because Nigel uh saw the opportunity he had with Charlie graduating uh nor said on the other hand went to Miami prep so it was just a natural thing to say hey if I can come back to Miami I loved my year at Miami I'm a spat my first language is Spanish and you know City of Miami has a lot of Spanish-speaking people so for him it was just a natural and for Nigel it's just a perfect fit we're going to stay in that same area one aisle back um Henry Huber with the LSU revolution in 2011 when you joined the program it wasn't nearly as basketball oriented and some even questioned the decision uh what what convinced you to decide to take on the upper or take on the challenge of coaching at Miami oh my decision to come to Miami yes sir well basically uh I'd say from uh very early on in my uh coaching career I had the goal of coaching being a head coach in the ACC then having spent seven years at Virginia reaching two final fours that became not only a goal but a dream that was something I wanted to accomplish and if I could ever have the opportunity I was going to jump all over it so in 2011 after our George Mason team was in the NCAA tournament knocked off Villanova lost to Ohio State in the next round and Frank case left Miami to go to Missouri I thought to myself that that's the spot I got to figure out if I can get involved with that job and I called some friends in Miami and they helped me get an interview and uh the rest is history I accepted the job and have loved every minute of it questions for Coach Lara Nega or Nigel and if this one's not for Nigel we'll look for a question for Nigel next Chase Hartzell with the Ouachita Sports digital Network this is for both coach L and for Nigel as a coach and a player both of you are respectively known for your energy and your passion for the game throughout the country who what or maybe even who was it that helped you fall in love with the game of basketball in the first place Nigel will begin with um well I'm the youngest sibling in my family and I'm one of the youngest cousins in my family as well so all my older cousins and my older brother played basketball so when I came up watching them play I always wanted to be like them and play my brothers nine years older than me so he was playing and I used to play against him all the time as a kid and my cousins are a few years older than me as well so I used to want to play up and play basketball with them as well so you know one to follow their footsteps basketball became a natural habit for me I tried all the other sports but none of them were as fun and I didn't have the passion for it like I did with basketball so basketball is the one I played and I picked and I ran with it uh for me I have two older brothers my brother Bob played at St John's when they were in the top 20 in the country in 1960 I used to go to Madison Square Garden to watch them play uh my oldest brother uh Greg he also played in high school and loved the game so those guys introduced me to the game but the guy who really lit my fire was my high school coach Jack Kern uh he became my mentor and inspiration for wanting to be a coach and he actually asked me to coach my freshman team a player coach as a freshman in high school at 14 years old so from that time on we went undefeated won the city championships I think okay I'm pretty good at this questions for Nigel or coach larenaga if you have one raise your hand let's do one to the right of the aisle hey coach Chris Demond Miami Hurricane I was just wondering if you could talk about the relationship between wuga and Bensley I know they have a special relationship being of the same year and I know they room together and also if you could talk about the jump that they've made from last year's tournament to this one yeah I think the jump from high school to college is huge in your freshman year the first thing you have to learn is hey you actually have to defend most guys when they come into to college are terrific offensive players and they have to learn about not only individual defense but team defense which they never really had to play in high school I know that sounds ridiculous but I've had players tell me oh I always started the worst player so I wouldn't get in falchal they came in as freshmen and the first thing that happened is Bensley Joseph immediately made an impact with our team with his great defense I was like Wow freshman that can put pressure on the ball and so he became a key cog in in our our run to the elite eight we'll go on the other hand had a little further to go but now is a tremendous defensive player he's just gotten better and better and both of them as I said with norsha they have a very high ceiling they're they're such good athletes uh that that their skill level once they really devote their time to the areas of the game that that need the most attention uh they're going to be Dynamite next year next question is the left of the aisle left side front left microphone uh coach John Morgan SME daily campus uh you put coming off with two drastically different games one against Houston where you were 11 to 25 from deep and then a comeback against Texas in which y'all didn't hit a three in the second half which type of battle do you foresee this upcoming game against UConn be uh whichever works you know it's very very simple uh when we when we played Houston these guys they packed it in these guys had to make some some trees they did they made 11.
but against Texas they were out there strangling our three-point Shooters so what do we do we attacked the rim and got to the foul line made 28 free throws so there I love when we have a balance in our offense I love when Nigel's making three Zay is making threes wig is making threes but then also norshad is getting layups and dunks and Jordan Miller the same thing uh because to us they're to to play at your best we need four or five guys in double figures and we've had that for most of the Season hopefully we'll have that tomorrow to the right of the aisle this is for Coach I'm in 2006 you had the great run to the fine four so can you tell me what um experiences you learned from that and um just in uh for finishing the job this time what um take with you have from that previous one that you can learn well I've told I told the players wait until you see the stadium you're playing in because it's elevated it's humongous and how was it yesterday they they see for the first time it's just a different environment it's like you're playing Outdoors and and back then in 06 we had our tallest starter was six seven this year's team tallest starter is six seven and and those those five guys really shared the ball these five guys actually eight nine guys really share the ball extremely well and that's the the most consistent thing that's where the similarities are you're playing in a gigantic venue you you're not even going to be able to hear me I Whistle very loud you're not even gonna be able to hear that uh because it's it's such a large venue and the ceiling is so high but but the the consistency is really with how well guys play together we'll go back to Talia on the right of the aisle Nigel your official statement on the venue was pretty good yeah everybody got that decision last year to transfer come to Miami you come to Miami now you're here at the final four what's it been like for you what's been going through your head this past week just throughout this experience yeah I mean everybody's been telling me to soak it all in you know enjoy the experience while you have it um it's been so much fun you know playing with this team um the things that we've been able to complete and accomplish as a team has been great but it doesn't even feel real yet like you know we've accomplished some great things uh we're here to make it to the final four but I just feel like the true energy and the true shot of me won't show until we're holding up that national championship trophy we'll take the final question about four rows in that same area um this is for Coach um they just been from the CAA to the ACC is obviously a tough one um what were the biggest things you've learned from those first few years with um with Miami that eventually allowed you to have this recent success well the fact of the matter is I I really didn't make any changes My Philosophy has always been the same my relationship with the players have always been the same offense and defense just varies based on our Personnel uh we've just always try to create a family atmosphere we started doing that day one in 2011 and it continues to this day the it's it's really the people that we recruit like Nigel's such a great guy such a great teammate so so passionate about basketball and he's so skillful so not not only does he have skills to play it but he has the right attitude and approach the right commitment and and he's a great leader whether it's on the court or off the court he's always speaking positively and being upbeat and his his teammates follow suit we'd like to thank coach laranega and Nigel pack for joining us here in the main interview room they're going to head back to their locker room and get ready to take the floor for open practice at one o'clock Yukon media activities begin at one o'clock as well as Miami takes the floor for open practice at 1 pm UConn will have their locker room open they'll be open from 1 to 1 45 student athlete interviews for those student athletes that aren't going to be in the breakout sessions and will not be down here in the main interview room you've got breakout sessions for student athletes from 1pm to 1 25 PM that'll be the Yukon starters coach Hurley will join us here in the main interview room from 1 15 to 1 45 the first will be for General Media questions the second 15 minutes will be exclusive to our full court press group although everyone is certainly invited to stay Thank you very much we'll see you in about 13 minutes for UConn's open locker room and we'll be back in here with Coach Hurley at 1 15.
or other way is it going back at the same time crispy yeah so the starters doing the breakouts so any good is uh they released some of my most favorite uh one of those mustard pretzels which was going to leave a mark foreign oh wow I had these silly cars selling cars hahaha foreign it's now 1pm which means that the Yukon breakout sessions have begun with the Yukon starters directly across the hall from the media room the Yukon locker room is also open for non-starters student athletes who will not appear in the main interview room today which will be one and the starters that are appearing right now across the hall in the breakout room so the Yukon locker room is open from now until 145 at 115 we'll have head coach Dan Hurley in the main interview room for a 15-minute question and answer period with members of the media our full court press program press conference begins 15 minutes after that you're right foreign good afternoon and welcome one final time this afternoon to the main interview room here at the final four and Houston's NRG Stadium we're gonna have Coach Hurley join us from UConn in just a few moments he'll be available by himself for 15 minutes to all media following 15 minutes Andre Jackson Jr is going to make his way over from the breakout area for questions from our full court press program with Coach early as well right now the Yukon locker room is open and starters are available in the breakout areas for your questions this note from Yukon for everyone's information Yukon sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins was feeling under the weather this morning with a non-coveted illness and it's resting at the team Hotel he's not going to be in attendance at today's open practice for UConn that starts at 2 p.m and he's not available for team media activities today so if you have any questions on that please visit with Phil shartis or a representative from the Yukon media relations staff but once again UConn sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins who's feeling under the weather this morning with a non-coveted illness he's resting at the team's Hotel he won't be in attendance at open practice and he's not taking part in any of the team media availability or activities today if you're joining us here in the main interview room please take a moment to silence your cell phone please remember no video recording at any time no flash photography while joining us in the main interview room you're not permitted to go live with your mobile device or any other device here no streaming ASAP transcripts will be available immediately following the news conference and video will be available shortly after at ncaa.veritone.com in just a few moments we'll have Coach Hurley 15 minutes after that he'll be joined by Andre Jackson Jr we're going to do General Media availability for 15 minutes for Coach Hurley and then when Andre arrives we'll turn things over to the full court press program good yeah good to see you we're joined Now by UConn head coach Dan Hurley coach want to give us a couple opening thoughts then we'll begin with some questions yeah obviously you know in full uh uh game you know getting as close as it is now obviously the anticipation uh you know the excitement um I'll just uh you know excited to uh you know play a game versus a great team no gonna have to be at our best uh to advance and play for Championship so uh yeah obviously we're you know get some shots today and you know all the preparations in and it's uh it's just time to go out play coach we're going to begin with our questions up front to the left go ahead Dave Dave borgia's first kinetic comedian now I guess just how is Jordan kind of feeling right now and you know what does he sort of have to do maybe over the next 30 hours or so to uh to be ready tomorrow night yeah I mean it's a I think we've got like three doctors on this trip with us so you're uh you know so you hope that we can navigate it uh we obviously isolated them uh started not feel well last night and um you know for him to miss today obviously tells you that he's he's not a great way but you you obviously you hope that uh you know you hope that we could that we contained it in time we moved him out uh moved his roommate out and obviously kept him away from the team so hopefully it just doesn't continue to spread and then hopefully um you know Jordan's good to go or at least could be some you know some or give us something good so we'll go to the right side of the room toward the back Pete oh damn Pete them for me obviously a Thomas fasting has been something that you guys have had to accommodate for during the tournament and there's just walk me through the variables of this specific tip time for he and the others who are fasting and just what that's been like for for you to navigate as a coach yeah um you know for me as a coach navigating it was more like Panic uh and I'm not very you know I don't know much about like you know diet nutrition and and Human Performance but uh yeah we got great strength coach and and athletic training that you've been able to get up with him you know early and uh get some food in him and then obviously the late tip time helps us more you know it was a bigger challenge out west because we were playing so early and it was like really in the in the middle of him probably being at his weakest um in terms of you know those things so I think it's probably the tip time is best case scenario for us coach you're gonna go to the center of the room for Zach exact microphone's over your left shoulder now it's over your right shoulder you're exactly Zach Brazil or New York Post he's in the center of the road Zach and zags right there of Zach Brazilian Air quotes Dan what do you think Rick Pitino coming to the Big East does for the league and specifically what is it what do you expect it to do to First Aid chance yeah I think um I would say not just St John's but having a strong Georgetown and a strong St John's means a lot um it's great for the league um you know those games have been like at best quad 2 games and at worst quad three and four games and you know programs of that stature in terms of the brand um you know it's important you know just important for overall strength of the league I think it's going to make the games more exciting if you know there's gonna be more eyeballs on it viewership's going to go up excitement for the games are going to go up I don't think our league gets us I don't think the league gets as as much credit as it probably should get as being you know one of the top basketball leagues in the country top two or three every single year but a strong Georgetown a strong St John's will help with that you have a follow-up Zach all right let's see what do you expect him to be able to do at St John's to obviously a very tough job yeah he should you know it's uh got a ton of it's got unbelievable tradition in history and you got MSG and you have uh you know a basketball focused conference that uh you know and obviously you know his background as a coach I don't I don't think it's going to take them long to you know have them you know potentially back in this tournament especially with how quickly you can do things now portal to the left side of the aisle it's going to be Dana on the back left microphone Dan your players talked a little bit about kind of they felt like since maybe the Big East from EVS back on them a little bit in terms of the intensity did you have to like did they have to earn your trust to get there and or is that a feeling that you just get because of how much is riding on every one of these games yeah I think it does become uh you know that definitely becomes a trusting when when you really believe in the group and you know they've shown you enough quality at both ends of the court and and on the backboard then you feel like they finally understand what your identity is um you know and you've been through some of these uh you know wars together that you you know generally I think when the when the calendar turns to March you know you really begin to back off and just make sure you keep your team fresh um if you're still coaching mistakes this time of year you're in trouble so uh you know it's uh definitely got a lot of faith in the group it's interesting they said that too Dana because I thought today's practice was probably a little bit harder than it should have been next questions on the left side left of the aisle Dan Joe's own channel 3 CBS Hartford 10 seconds left in the game you haven't had to worry about it lately but 10 seconds left you're down one who's your guy are you serious Joe I you know I think the good thing about the group is we've got um you know I wouldn't say we necessarily have a guy we could give the ball to that's going to be a a breakdown player you know somebody get just you know a Kemba type of situation where you just kind of give them the ball and get out of the way and you know step back party Kemba I don't know that we necessarily have that I think for us it'll be um you know who's got it going who's got the match up and I think for us we're going to have to like execute something that we run offensively that that's kind of how this group is you know has been has been designed but we've got some guys they're confident Shooters obviously Jordan uh you know Jordan or or or Joey or you know maybe Andre getting to the rim or throwing it to a dama inside we've got places we could go Joe coach moving to the back of the room right side of the aisle Aaron air tours Fox Sports so coach you know as this Journey's kind of progressed I think maybe an outside non-college basketball person just assumes it's UConn this is what they do but you know for people who follow the team kind of on a day to day it's been a journey it's been a process and it wasn't easy when you got there you know with no disrespect intended to anybody that was there before you can you just quickly tell us how tough it was because the the program was coming off the back-to-back losing Seasons when he took over yeah it's you know it was a complete uh you know just there was that much a foundation left in place uh you know again I think the you know you get that Ken Palm sheet the first staff meeting to start talking basketball and it's it's has 170 and then you start looking at like who I wait who is 165 and who was 172 and you're like UConn shouldn't be in this neighborhood um you know and obviously it's you know it's culture it's it's work ethic it's Talent it's it's rebuilding the psyche and while you're doing it you're getting everyone's Best Shot you know when you're rebuilding Rhode Island uh no no disrespect you're you know you're not getting everyone's Best Shot even when we were down and you have you kind of crush your chest you know you're still everyone's you know it's still a Super Bowl for the other coach any other players because of the history and tradition you know so while you're trying to make that climb back up the mountain um you know you're starting over history and tradition doesn't help you win anything it just probably makes your opponents want to beat you more and it adds a little bit more pressure going into every competition so um I'm proud of how we've gotten here this was pre-portal this was pre-nil where you could just you know back then you you had to develop a culture develop young players um you know you couldn't a recruit had to Believe in Your Vision you couldn't necessarily purchase it um so yeah I'm proud of how we've gotten here you know we built a program and uh and we and we still continue to do it the same way a majority of this team and a majority of our teams in the future it'll all be young players coming in developing and then supplementing them from you know players you know from the portal that fit us not the other way around right side of the aisle Billy Billy wits with the New York Times Daniel after the you know going out in the first round the last couple years sounded like yesterday you had like a I guess a serious self-evaluation of a lot of things with in the in the program or just the makeup of the of the roster and what you needed is that something that you've you know you would typically do every year or was there maybe a heightened level of urgency of like listen if we're gonna not repeat this every year we really need to have a deeper examination of what what got us in this the situation yeah normally I would take a couple days off and be away from the team and and you know take probably more time to think things through but coming out of that New Mexico State game again the covet Year back in that bubble that was a different type of experience than you could possibly imagine if you weren't involved in that situation so you know that was uh to me a one-off situation but I don't last year um I just we felt the flaws in roster construction really in terms of how we put the group together so that really that that Monday I was in the office you know at 7 A.M ready to meet with the staff ready to meet with with with the players and I know exactly what everyone's role needed to be I know exactly what we need to get in the portal we just we had to get better offensively you know we had to become more more explosive from the perimeter um you know we need more primitive shooting and I failed the the team the year before by not constructing the roster properly and I wanted to address that while it was fresh on my mind um so that's that's how we did it the other coaches did not want me to do it they thought I was too emotional to make decisions but I knew exactly where we needed to go up front just to the right of the aisle Gavin uh Gavin keeps doing today Dan you begin this season you you kind of question whether about how your toughness was going to be like how's that developed and where is it now yeah I I don't know I think we it's listen I don't know that this is like the toughest team I've coached uh but I think it's a pretty tough team I think it's a really hard playing team that's part of our identity um obviously Andre Jackson gives you incredible toughness no one plays harder than him Madonna sonogo you know he gives you an incredible toughness yeah but I do think this team it's it's it's just uh it's a balanced team it's it's a team that's really good on offense that has a lot of variety in what we do on offense you know we've we've we've we've refound our identity defensively um you know and and and we are a really good rebound team one of the best in the country so you know what not I say all that yeah this is a really tough team you couldn't do all those hard things well unless you're really tough so we'll go back to the center of the room Zach the more St John's questions I promise um why were you so certain you knew so fat soon after why were you so certain you knew what that what how you failed the team and what was it just based off one or two games I mean how did you know yeah it's just you you just knew how hard it was at times for us to score because of spacing um you know spacing in different positions didn't give a dhamma you know the room to operate in the post uh there were driving Lanes we weren't able to just play with as much skill as we play with right now and you know just you just you felt it that semi-final loss to Nova where um you know we just uh you know we we just couldn't play well enough offensively and I don't know how many points we scored in that New Mexico State game but I know it was it was painful uh painful to watch and it was my responsibility and um you know some really rustic construction and getting the right Personalities in your locker room is critical too those are the two things um you know you learn I think every year on this job and um get better every year in a moment we're going to open things up to our full court press program is there a final question from the General Media for Coach right now we'll go up front to dump having the right Personalities in the locker room how would you describe or Define the vibe of this team right now going into this game maybe how it's changed from a few weeks ago or or I mean it almost is it almost like the optimum of what a coach wants in it in a Vibe yeah I think um you know the these guys are competitors um come to UConn to do big things I it's a group that has a lot of confidence right now but has you know that that strong respect for our opponent Miami um you know but also has a has that mentality where you know we know the quality that we could get to on the court when we're we're at our best um defensively rebounding being the hardest playing team and then you know moving that ball offensively just the group is very confident and then just when you have guys like Andre Jackson and Donovan klingen and and Joey uh you know it's just it's a caravan and Adama it's just it's a live group I mean you guys are there you know they got a great Vibe Joey brought some to California Bob so that's good the Yukon locker room remains open for student athlete availability and as we welcome in Andre Jackson Jr we're now going to move to a question and answer period for coach and for Andre with the full court press program so that's for our journalists with the black lanyards for the next 15 minutes if you have a question and you're from our full court press program raise your hand we have a couple in the back let's go just a couple questions couple uh chairs in right there uh coach Sam Calhoun uh so this matchup with Miami features uh really great guards on both on both teams and Miami's got three those three guys from Miami they there are three of the top six scores in the NCAA tournament how are you preparing for uh how are you preparing for those three guards who can score at such a high level yeah Sammy uh you know prepare without a lot of sleep man I gotta tell you it's uh you know with uh with pack and Wong and Miller it's just it's the greatest defensive challenge we've had this year because it's you know it's the best collection of guards we will have faced um you know with Poplar who's playing great and then maybe the best rebounding physical Center you know that we've seen so um obviously you know we've got to force them um you know to beat us more from the perimeter uh over the top we cannot allow them you know to get to the rim we've got to avoid them you know getting to the paint into the free throw line as much as possible um you're going to keep them out of transition we cannot have live ball turnovers you know we got to make them score five on five in the half court versus us um and and really shrink the court in places that we can shrink the court and be aggressive in places where we want to be aggressive that same part of the room Talia hey coach Talia Goodman um with three of your players participating in fasting for Ramadan how does that how do you navigate that as a coach and if it does at all how does it impact your decision making yeah I think uh is to meet Italian uh I think it's uh you know in the morning I think it affects like how you maybe think about substitutions a little bit um with maybe trying to maybe not give a Dharma is longer run um but I think a lot of that just falls on you know the medical staff strength and conditioning you know coach coach Gavin and um again like I said we have three doctors here and like two trainers so they should be able to figure it out continuing to take questions for coach or for Andre we're going to go to the right of the aisle if this question's not for Andre the next question has to be for Andre hey coach Peter rodricus so beginning of the Season you guys started off really hot facing diversity in the middle of the season but now in the tournament kind of been one of the most dominant teams you know throughout the games however you kind of have you guys kind of weathered that storm and what's kind of been the key to that dominant so far we've got great locker room you know we got great culture you know you it started with some people before Andre right this was like uh Isaiah Whaley and Christian vital and RJ Cole and you know Tyrese Martin some Tyler Polly helped build a culture to get this thing going and then they they passed the leadership mantle on to this man over here and uh he just kept that team together you know Andre's equal parts like you know um lift people up and then also rip their you know you know what I mean he's uh he's a high level leader and he and he he's got all the tools in his bag so uh this guy kept the locker room together he kept the team together when we were struggling and that's how we're able to come out on the other side to the left of the aisle question for Andre a question for both uh coach and Andre John Morgan asked me daily campus uh so you guys entered the tournament as a four seed um having to knock out some higher competition but since then um it just what's been a crazy tournament so far see yourselves the highest remaining seed with some people calling you the favorites in this tournament has there been any sort of mindset shift in the locker room or just looking to maintain that same mentality you've had all season Andre still feel like we're the underdog I feel like we've been at the entire year I feel like we came to the season and a lot of teams a lot of a lot of people just underrated us and we still play with that same chip on our shoulder we're gonna extend another question to the right of the aisle we Plotkin the daily text and this is a question [Music] dub if there has been any slack from Adama and the other players that are fasting currently Andre first um I think everybody is ready to just step up in whatever position that they need to I think we got a lot of guys with a lot of experience everybody's ready to really step up one whenever is necessary but I think Adama has done a really good job I've been to this point with fasting and also being able to play so um I think all the guys have done a great job of stepping up in their roles and in their positions coach if you have anything to add if not though yeah I think entree said I think it's a it's a group that stepped up for each other the whole year and uh let's go toward the back four seats in uh coach uh like you said uh you constant one of the toughest teams and one of the best rebounding teams in the country you talked about North child Amir of being one of the best defensive rebenders UConn will face all year how do you match North child's physicality and ability to pour it to pull down Boards of all just being like six foot seven yeah I mean listen if if you stand upright against him if you don't get a a real low leverage uh he'll absolutely uh he'll bury you um I haven't seen a rebounder you know go after the ball and track it and trace it and and positional and then you know he really attacks the ball like his life depends on it so um you know obviously our centers have a tremendous challenge Adam and Donovan but then the guards also have to get in there too um you know you have a chance to to you know get down there and Chip him and uh and make it challenging for him to get to the ball with two people you've got to take advantage of doing that as well continuing with questions for Andre or coach this is for our full court press program those are journalists with the black lanyards at this time all the way back and all the way left let's raise your hand make sure we can see it Mantra David um daily Texan uh for both of y'all again in their last game in the lead eight um Jordan Miller had a perfect game um Christian Layton or level performance what are y'all going to look to focus in on to make his life a little bit more difficult and kind of force him into taking some tougher shots yeah yeah um listen it's it's tough because it was a three level scorer um you know he's he obviously he's Lefty he's slippery he's super skilled um and he could also really pass the ball so um you just you have to make his catches as difficult as you can um and show them a lot of different looks I think against you know teams when you get to this point it's the best of the best could survive a tournament like this and get to a final four so yeah we're gonna have to show you know him multiple looks one thing that he sees you know for an extended period of time he's going to eat it up so you know we're just gonna have to mix things up and make things as tough as we can on him because he's a great player and he's probably one of the most underrated players in the country Audrey anything to add from a player's perspective no thank you Andre love to the aisle uh uh coach she'll be playing a Miami team that's come off with two very different styles of games one against Houston in which they're forced to shoot from the perimeter hitting 11 threes uh one against Texas where they didn't make it three in the second half and only shot eight in total uh what type of game are you looking to get this Miami team into uh to help your team with a better chance yeah you know obviously you go in with a game plan without getting into too many specifics um you know that there's things that are the relative to our identity there's a style of play that we've established that you know that we're going to stick to uh obviously you know from a game plan perspective you know you don't want to give up a lot of like Rim twos they're an excellent driving team um and we can't foul them you know we do not want to put them at the free throw line you know so you know beyond that I can't invite you all the way into uh yeah I got you uh red of the aisle third row hey coach uh Henry hubris uh you're facing one of the more tenured coaches in the in the country and Jim larenegger uh just what are your thoughts on him and have y'all spoken at all prior to this Mansion you have no coach for a while he's uh you know Malloy guy in a you know New York City guy and you know my dad and you know obviously us being in basketball our whole lives we've known him for a long time um I mean I got a lot of respect for coach and and his career and um and the way his his teams have played and the fact that he's gotten to this final four multiple times in his career speaks to his quality and I got to know him on a deed trips when I was at Rhode Island and he was obviously you know with Adidas as well and uh you know he developed a friendship and um you know and he's been good to me in my career so obviously we want to beat each other's brains in but uh obviously there's uh I have a bigger big amount of respect for him enjoyed the back of the room right of the aisle uh hi for um Hano Yara and this question is more for you Andre um you guys have obviously been dominating this tournament you steamrolled through Gonzaga so do you feel like there's been a different energy or different routines for this tournament or do you feel like you've just hit your stride as a player I think we all hit our stride and we all understand like what's what's behind it we all know that you lose one game and your season's over so we're playing with the desperation that it's like nothing we've played before so every single time we go out there we know it could be our last so really trying to do every single thing possible to really stay out there on the floor and and can next question comes from the right side of the room four rows back uh this is for Coach uh coach you've had a lot of you've had five years of experience playing college basketball use the experiences that you had to try and help the player share some stories that you had and also um you had families okay can you tell me if you use some personal experiences to help the players yeah no great question man uh uh yeah I I think a lot when I when I coach the guards and you know when I give them you know little bits of things to look for that I saw as a player you know when you grow up as a point guard and your dad's a Hall of Fame coach you know and and your brother's a two-time national champion and seventh pick in the draft who's one of the all-time you know commodity argues with me on this but my brother's the greatest or most decorated point guard in college basketball history if not the greatest so just being in that household you pick up a lot of you know the the intricacies of of great guard play or understanding the game in general um I try I try not to draw on too many of my experience as a player uh I try to draw maybe a little bit more and just my experience as a coach I've been a coach for a long time now uh almost 30 years so um yeah and my brother I asked him just a little bit on the way out I asked Bob about the final four just going from you know his his freshman year when they played UNLV was the last year they played it in an arena and then that that following year was in the it was in the uh the stadium uh or the Dome excuse me in Indy just what that difference was like so this question and answer period has maybe one more minute and it's for the full court press program that's those journalists with the black lanyards on is there another question from full court press let's go right back here and maybe we'll wrap things up after that Andrew just want to hear what's your favorite thing about thing about uh I love a lot of things about Coach I think probably probably the standard he owes us to every single day it's just like you gotta bring your best because if you don't like he's gonna let you know and it's always great when you have somebody that holds you to that standard because you know that you're going to get better in the environment like that so I'll probably say that's my favorite thing even though sometimes it's my least favorite I was gonna say like if that's his favorite thing about me that's crazy foreign I think we'll wrap things up while Andre's still you know make sure that it was a good one thank you very much Andre and thank you to coach Hurley they're gonna go out to the floor with the rest of the Yukon huskies and they're going to do their open practice at 2 p.m that's coming up in about 15 minutes that'll conclude activities here in the main interview room for today we will be back tomorrow with our Naismith Hall of Fame presentation with our AP coaching Player of the Year presentation our Oscar Robertson Player of the Year presentation and then of course the post game after the national semifinals games we'll be right back here with our uh advancing teams and our teams that will not Advance we'll see you back here tomorrow thanks everybody thank you what's up man I'm saying hi how's it going yes thank you appreciate it although although we we try our best here we go great job Jen great job Jen but it's more the lights so you know I see him uh talk to Chuck reminded that there's the um like this I would I would remind Chuck of this okay I gotta keep myself organized this life with four-year-olds and 11 year olds Junior
