Oct. 31, 1998

(Overall thoughts on the game:)

“I thought tonight, mixing up the players made it competitive there for awhile. I changed the teams around to see how different groups played together. The three seniors were always together. They’re going to be the backbone of our team. But, I wanted to look at the other two spots. Inbounding the ball, we had some problems there. There are a lot of things we need to work on, but I was pleased with the overall effort. I was pleased with our shooting. I thought we shot the ball well. We gave up too many easy baskets, but those are the things that we’re going to work on. We had a great crowd, I appreciate everybody coming out.”

(On the play of the freshmen:)

“I’m really happy with our incoming freshmen. They can really shoot the ball. Tayshaun Prince has a nice stroke. Ryan Hogan really did it up early. I thought Todd Tackett and J.P. Blevins both did a nice job. That’ll cure a lot of ills if you can shoot the basketball. We lost a lot of outside shooting, so that’s what we’re hoping to replace.”

“I thought the freshmen did a lot of good things. They were active, especially Jules, at blocking shots. I thought defensively, we’ve got some quality guys out there that can stop the ball. Desmond can guard anybody from a four-man to a point guard, because he’s that athletic and strong. Tayshaun is getting better. At 6-8, he’s going out and guarding guys on the perimeter. Todd’s shin splints are getting better. J.P. has been cramping up, but he’s been giving us great effort in practice. I’m really happy with where we are right now.”

(On who will play the two-guard position:) “The two-guard position is still up in the air. I’m going to break down the film. I like the idea of experience first, especially in bringing guys along. There’s going to be some growing up to do. There’ll be some growing pains, but we’ve got to do that. That’s our system and that’s the way I’ve always coached, and it’s paid off. So, we’ll take our chances.”

(On the leadership of the three seniors:) “I can see the leadership and chemistry starting to come together. It’s always hard when you have multiple leadership. Guys are trying to find their roles and their responsibilities as captains. I think that’s where it takes some time. I think Wayne is probably earned the leader role right now, because of his experience. I think the sure respect that he commands is because of how hard he works. He’s probably at the forefront as far as the leadership goes. I’m pleased with what they’re doing. They’re stepping up and doing what they’re required to do.”

(On the passing:)

“Passing and unselfishness is a trademark of the teams that we’ve had. That’s a sign that guys genuinely like one another and have confidence in one another to get the job done. That’s why we shot for such a high percentage tonight, because we made the extra pass and found the open man. We’ve got good passers on this team. Obviously, Wayne is one of the best passers in the country. Passing is one of the qualities that we look for when we recruit.”

(On Ryan Hogan:)

“Ryan didn’t get a lot of opportunity last year, but he can always shoot the ball. He’s obviously stronger and he’s improving. Ryan needs to continue to improve defensively. There are only so many minutes in a game. He’ll be a guy that will step in when we need outside shooting. He played well in other areas today, too. He played good defense. He made some good passes. There’s no reason why he won’t play a lot of minutes this season.”