	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 6, 2020

Bloomington, Indiana

Q. Devonte, obviously going out now your senior year in the tournament, hopes are all aligned here as you guys enter tournament play after this game on Sunday. What have these years been like for you, and how are you looking forward to trying to put a great cap on your career?
DEVONTE GREEN: These four years have been great. I've been blessed to just even be in the positions that I've been in. I mean, we set a goal in the beginning of the season. We knew what was on the line for is as seniors especially, and we want to finish it up the best we can and do something we've never done before in our four years.

Q. For either of you guys, how emotional of a moment do you think it's going to be when you're on that court for the last time, and how do you kind of keep a level head going into the game?
DE'RON DAVIS: I think it's just bittersweet. You know, had a lot of ups, had a lot of downs, but it's always great to play at such a -- what's the word? You could say powerful and impactful and influential school.

Q. De'Ron, I think you go back further with this program than anybody except maybe J.D. I think Coach Crean offered you after your 8th grade year.
DE'RON DAVIS: Yeah.

Q. Have you had any moments, whether it leading up to Saturday, or just in general these last few months just thinking about the entire journey you've been on with Indiana going all the way back to when you got that offer and Indiana really starts recruiting you?
DE'RON DAVIS: Yeah, just been blessed. Not a lot of kids can get an offer from a D1 school like that where I come from, so I just embraced it. It's been a long journey, but it's been fun.

Q. For De'Ron or Devonte, after the last time you guys played Wisconsin, Archie said that he kind of wanted guys to grab each other by the jerseys. Do you feel like since then there has been some progress in that regard where you do have a little bit more urgency or there is more player leadership of some sort?
DEVONTE GREEN: I would say that there has been an adjustment made throughout the season, and we've definitely improved on things, especially when it comes to holding guys accountable. So I would say so.

Q. And I have two. Start with De'Ron. I remember being out there when you committed at your high school to IU. You talked about how big of a deal it was to have a chance to have an impact. Then you had the injury. Question is: How tough was it to fight through that, not just a moment you had the injury, but the whole time, come back, hey, you're not going to be the star but you're going to be a role player. You stuck with it. Explain to people what that was like and why you stuck with it.
DE'RON DAVIS: I stuck with it because it's the love for the game I have. I like being out there with my teammates playing, and it was just fun. It was some ups and downs with my Achilles injury and then me coming back and hurting my ankle. Had been out for like five games after that my junior year. My sophomore year was kind of cut short from the injury, and then my junior year had the ankle injury.

It is a rocky two years, but because I love basketball and I like being out there with my guys, it made everything worth it.

Q. Devonte, just curious, what are your favorite moments? You've had highs and lows. You had games where you played really well and games where you've been frustrated with yourself. When look back, give me two or three things that in your eyes you say, yeah, these are my top things.
DEVONTE GREEN: Honestly, our very first game at Indiana was probably one of the most memorable ones. It was a fun game to watch and be a part of.

And then last year --

Q. Any particular reasons?
DEVONTE GREEN: I guess it was my first time on a new team, first time playing a college basketball game and I actually played in it. So it went to overtime against like the No. 3 team in the nation, so it was just a fun game to be a part of.

And then last year we played MSU on my birthday and it was my first game back after the suspension. That was probably one of the funnest games I've also been a part of.

And then of course FSU this year was probably the most exciting game I've been in in my entire career. So a lot of good memories here.

Q. For either guy, going through a coaching transition isn't easy. How did you guys manage to stick with it and how rewarding is it maybe this season that you're on the cusp of maybe doing something special?
DEVONTE GREEN: I mean, for us, we're the last two standing from the Crean era. Not everybody did stick with it. I think that the fact that we chose to says something about us. I mean, like I said earlier, we set a goal this season. We're very close to reaching that goal now, so sticking with it was -- it felt like the right choice.

Q. De'Ron? What do you have to add?
DE'RON: Oh. Nothing. He said it all right there. That was good.

Q. How do you feel about the people that helped you academically. Talk about that.
DE'RON DAVIS: Oh, yeah, Lowe -- came out with Marnie, and then she left after that first year, but Lowe been on me since sophomore year, so she got me through. Helped me out, set me up with the right people to tutor and made my college career actually meaningful. Learned a lot of new things. Took classes I didn't like, but I needed to and that will help me in the long run, so...

Q. Devonte, in your time here you've had a whole bunch of highs. The games where you've had to struggle through, the fans, quote, unquote, fans have given you grief a lot of times. Sometimes you have been able to handle that pretty well and sometimes you haven't.
When you look back on your four years here, what do you want to say to all those people?

DEVONTE GREEN: Um -- (laughter.) I mean, I probably can't say what I really want to say. No, honestly, I thank all of them, even the good fans for sticking with us. I've had some positivity over the years. Even with the negativity though, it's only been fuel to the fire. So I thank them too, because they helped me learn how to battle adversity.

I mean, especially where I want to play, I want to keep playing, people aren't always going to like you or tell you what you want to hear. I think they taught me a lot. I think I've learned a lot from them.

Q. This is for both of you guys. Do either of you plan to get engaged tomorrow on senior day?
DEVONTE GREEN: No, not me.

DE'RON DAVIS: No, no.

Q. I just wanted to make -- Collin Hartman did that, you know?
DEVONTE GREEN: Yeah, I remember that.

Q. Both you guys have talked about, on our talk show, on the coach's talk show, about after basketball. Both of you have talked about the fact that you would like to maybe open up some kind of a facility for kids.
Can you both talk about that and why that's important to you?

DE'RON DAVIS: Well, like I said on your show, I want to try to open like a rec center or something like that because that's what I grew up in in my neighborhood. That's where I learned to play basketball, just going there after school. After-school programs, they helped me do my homework, they give you a meal, some snacks, and then I was able to hoop and relax and chill with friends. That was always a big part of my life and how I grew up. Helped me stay away from gang violence and stuff like that.

Also, I want to help develop programs for like the NFL, NBA, like try to modernize like the NFL, play 60 seconds. Just try to incorporate more technology to it. Just try to help it be better for kids that are less fortunate and that are in like disabilities.

DEVONTE GREEN: Pretty much the same. Just add on to that for the less fortunate kids of course. I'm from New York, so in New York there is a lot of tournaments that are hosted. And me growing up, I played in all these tournaments, like at the Gaucho's Gym. They have kind of faded away over the years, and the only tournaments you see now are like the summer tournaments with Dyckman and Rucker and those kind of things.

I kind of just want to bring back the indoor tournaments and how they used to be, because gyms used to sell out. That was a big part of my childhood, so I want to bring that back to New York for the upcoming kids.

THE MODERATOR: All right, guys, thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 6, 2020

Devonte Green

De'Ron Davis