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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 22, 2018Collin HartmanRobert JohnsonFreddie McSwainJosh NewkirkTim PrillerBloomington, Indiana Q. Robert, as you look back on a career over 100 starts, broken 1,000 points a while ago now, how do you want to be remembered I guess at Indiana? ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, it is a tough question. But I think I just want to be remembered as a guy who despite whatever circumstances that I came across, I tried to do my best to give the team everything I had and to help the team win in any way I could. Q. Collin, how have you kind of balanced keeping an even keel with all the injuries, maybe just not having the production, navigated this season as a whole? COLLIN HARTMAN: It actually started a lot with my faith, my religion and just staying focused and focusing on what matters and controlling what you can control. I surround myself with a lot of good guys, all these guys here at the table and the program and good people outside the program. So it's just -- you have to be the kind of guy that's going to uplift everybody around you, even if you're not feeling the best or you're not in the best state of mind. Just kind of stay focused on that. Q. Is there any way to top last senior day for you? COLLIN HARTMAN: No, this one won't be much different. Short and sweet. Q. Collin, kind of paraphrasing here, but I remember you were quoted before the season began about your decision to come back. One of the things you cited was I think Archie Miller can do some special things here, and I want to be a part of that, a part of the building from the ground up. What has that been like to watch this team develop under him for the season? COLLIN HARTMAN: It's been awesome. It's been a journey, and I think that, like you said, as this team has gone on, we've come together and grown together as a team throughout the season, coming together and learning the system and just working through everyday trials and tribulations together. We've grown together and we've become really close, and it's been a fun ride so far. Going to take it as far as we can. Q. You talk about growing together, and this could be for anybody, but you guys are an interesting group in that a couple of you weren't here at the very beginning, different classes and stuff. How have you guys been able to kind of grow together? JOSH NEWKIRK: I think just having an open communication. All of us, we just -- we've been through so much on and off the court that it's kind of just bonded us together. We just stick together no matter what happens. TIM PRILLER: Really just bonding, kind of like Boose said. We just hang out all the time together outside of basketball, and obviously we see each other every day, and we just build trust, build communication, and just work together every day. So that's pretty much how. FREDDIE McSWAIN: Basically what Tim and Josh were saying. Just being together every day and going through the ups and downs and just fighting through adversity every day. It just kept us together. Q. In terms of your senior night speeches, do you guys prepare those, write those down? What do you have to include in that? JOSH NEWKIRK: I mean, I just plan to keep it sweet, simple, just thank the people close to me, and that's it. TIM PRILLER: I mean, yeah, I'm going to write mine later tonight, and like Boose said, I'm going to keep my short and sweet, too. ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, pretty much the same. I don't think I'm going to write anything down. I'll probably just go off the top of my head, whatever I'm thinking. Just try to thank everybody that's been a part of the journey. Yeah, that's pretty much it. FREDDIE McSWAIN: Yeah, basically just come from the heart and just thanking everybody that's been with me on this journey. That's really it. COLLIN HARTMAN: Yeah, same. Q. Freddie, you've kind of been through a wild ride, JuCo and coming here and having two different coaches. This past season you've seen a lot of development. Could you ever have perceived the experiences you've had this year starting with the majority of the season? FREDDIE McSWAIN: No, I could just say I've just been trusting the process of just getting better every day and keep looking forward, don't look back, really. Q. Collin, can you just talk about Rob in terms of how much growth you've seen from him since the beginning to now? COLLIN HARTMAN: I've been here since Rob got here, and we've actually created a very unique and special bond. We room with each other on the road, always have just great conversations about not just basketball but life and who you want to be as a man and where you put your priorities. So I really commend him for that, and I thank him for being that person that we can have that connection to have those real talks with, so thank you for that, Rob. But as a basketball player, the dude is the same dude day in and day out. Still gets up, exercises, works out after practice every day, even yesterday. You're going to get the same dude every day, and I respect that, and it takes mental toughness and perseverance to be able to come in regardless of the circumstances and, like I said, be the same dude every day. It's been cool to see him grow, and I think the one thing that he has grown on the most is being more vocal, and I think from year one to year four for him, that's been the biggest change is he's been leading by example and just changed it to leading with his voice, as well. Q. Rob, your thoughts on Collin? ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, well, as you mentioned, we always talk. I kind of like to talk to a lot of people on topics other than basketball because a lot of times that's always the conversation. And like he said, he's been a guy that I could talk to about things like that, and I think it's helped both of us grow in our faith and just to be better men, period. And basketball-wise, I think he's probably one of the toughest dudes I ever seen as far as fighting the injury bug day in and day out. It seems like he can never catch a break, but at the end of the day, he always tries to bounce back and come back as quick as possible and try to keep the same attitude and give everything he has to the team. Q. Tim, these four years you've kind of been the fan favorite guy. 20 years from now how will you sum up your experience being here these four years? TIM PRILLER: My four years have been great. The fan thing is pretty cool and all that, but I really just want to be remembered as a great guy with a great attitude that tried to help my team in any way possible and just do whatever I can to help us win games. Q. Do you ever have a moment where they're chanting for you at the end of the game and you're thinking, please stop? TIM PRILLER: It doesn't bother me, but every time it happens, these guys, they want to look at me and smirk at me and stuff, and I try not to laugh. But it doesn't bother me. Q. Josh, when you came here from Pittsburgh, could you have imagined that your college career was going to end up here tomorrow night in Assembly Hall when you came here and had that big game against IU in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge? Tell us what you remember about that. JOSH NEWKIRK: No, coming from Pittsburgh to here, I never would have imagined that. It's been a long journey. To finally be here, after five years, I don't know, it's surreal. Q. Tim, Rob and Collin, the first time you wore this uniform, I think Mike and Zach may have been with us, but we went to Canada. Talk about where you were at that time playing for IU, putting an IU uniform on for the first time? Talk about that trip in particular because I think that springboarded that team to making the NCAA Tournament that year. ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, it doesn't even seem like it was that long ago to be honest. I still remember first putting on the uniform and just having the feeling of I'm finally here, I'm finally a college athlete. And I think that's where it all started for all of us, really, or for me, Tim, and Collin was already here. But I think that springboarded us as far as bonding and getting to know each other while we were up there. That was the first time we had been away from Bloomington as a group. So I think we bonded with each other, and I think it's been great ever since. TIM PRILLER: It was a pretty cool experience. I wish we would have got to go to Australia or some cool place, but other than that, Canada was a good experience, and like Rob said, that was our first trip together. It really just brought that first bond in between us three that were there, and Collin had already been there. He's an old man. Boose is an old man, but he wasn't there. And the overall experience was cool. We played, I think, five games. We went to like a theme park, roller coaster thing where we all bonded and then just got to know each other real well. COLLIN HARTMAN: They pretty much said it. When you go on a trip and you don't really know anybody really that well and you're out experiencing new things and a new country, I guess -- it feels a lot like the United States, but you're somewhere else. And it was cool just to be on our own and being away from Bloomington and learning the new guys and just being immersed in the team atmosphere. Yeah, I think it was really good for that team, and I think that it really did help jump-start that season. Q. Collin, they call you old man, but you actually did commit to this program like seven and a half years ago; do you ever think back to that far back? COLLIN HARTMAN: It's been a long, long time ago since I've been around the program. Obviously I committed sophomore year, so that was a long time ago. But I just want to say for the record, Josh Newkirk is older than me. I've always got to throw that out there. But yeah, it's been a long time. It's been a great road. I don't know if there's very many people that have been a part of the program longer than I have, from my commitment to graduation. I'd like to maybe claim that. I don't know if that's a thing, but I'm going to claim it. Q. When each of you guys look back on your IU career to this point, and obviously you've still got the Ohio State game and the Big Ten Tournament next week, but what will you cherish the most about it, whether it's a moment in practice with each of these guys or other teammates or pregame shootaround, the Canada trip? Is there anything that you'll remember especially? JOSH NEWKIRK: Just being around these guys day in and day out. Just remembering the summer grinds that we've been through, all the running that we used to do, all the weight lifting. I think that's just the little things, little things like that, going through adversity with these guys. I think that's some of the little things that we'll cherish forever. TIM PRILLER: I'm going to cherish everything. Everything here has been a wild ride, ups, downs. It's all been good for me. ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, same. I think as far as our experiences, we could get together and talk about a lot of things that we've been through and learned for hours, but something for me that I'll cherish is the impact that we've had on other people's lives. And I think being here is a special place. You get to inspire a lot of people that you don't come across every day, and for me, I think that's been special. FREDDIE McSWAIN: Well, for me, just coming from junior college to here, I embrace just being here, and I love these guys, love this team, and like Rob was saying, just making an impact on other people's lives and having people watch us every day, watching us, our games, and I'm just truly grateful to be in front of everybody. COLLIN HARTMAN: I think that what I'll cherish most is obviously the relationships, but also being from Indiana, wearing Indiana across your chest, it brings a lot of pride, and it humbles me to see how much -- coming off what Rob and Freddie were saying, how much it impacts people's lives, how engrained people are into basketball. It's their culture, it's their lifestyle, and I think having the impact that we do and the influence that we do and being able to represent not just the University, not just the program, but you're representing people's lifestyle, and it's humbling and it's an experience that not a lot of people get a feel. When you put a bunch of guys like this, like us from all different kinds of backgrounds, it's cool because we all come together for the same thing, and I think that being able to put together a team like we do in this game with all these different backgrounds, I think it's a life lesson we really get to learn and really respect going into life. Q. I know four of you had an opportunity to play for a championship, but Collin and Rob both overcame some big obstacles in that year's NCAA Tournament. That's something not many IU teams have done is beat Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament and get to the Sweet 16. What will you take away from that experience and those two games? I know the Kentucky game you ended up collapsing, your ankle, and then you had surgery, and you playing were playing with a broken wrist and hiding it it shoot-around. Talk about that experience. ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, I think that experience and that game in particular really speaks about me and Collin's career. We pretty much had little to give. My ankle was barely holding on, and the same thing with Collin's injuries. But we still tried to come together and give what we could to help the team win. As J.D. said, that's something that's not been done by a lot of IU teams. You can't always -- there's not a lot of things you can say that about. To have that experience and accomplishment is big for us. COLLIN HARTMAN: Yeah, I think what I take from that is just perseverance and just having the love for the team and love for your teammates to want to push through it and still give what you've got for them. I mean, the season is winding down, your body is tired, injuries obviously, and you just want to contribute in some type of way, so you give everything that you've got. And I think that's the thing I'll take from it is just -- there's always some way you can contribute. You've just got to find that way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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