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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 21, 2011

Jeff Bzdelik

Q. What kind of leadership and season has Gary Clark given you?
COACH BZDELIK: You know, Gary's led by example. That's probably his best leadership quality. He's played very hard for us. He's played more minutes this year than he did his first three years combined.
So he's getting an opportunity to play. He's playing very hard. He leads more by example in not only by the way he plays on the court, but in the way he conducts himself off the court as well.
He's an excellent student, attends every class, on time for everything. So he's done a great job of leading by example both on and off the court.

Q. In addition to the coaching responsibilities, what challenges do you face in the first year at a new program of sort of learning the culture of a program in terms of the traditions, fans and sort of getting up to speed with what the program's all about?
COACH BZDELIK: Well, really in many ways yes, obviously bottom line is to win. But we need to create a culture here where there is great discipline not only on the court but off the court as well.
When you have an extremely young team as we have, and when I say that, that includes our senior, like I just mentioned. Gary Clark's played more minutes than he has in the previous three years combined. And Ty Walker who I'm not sure played a minute in the ACC last year, and Nikita, the other junior, sitting out a whole year.
We need to create a culture of working hard, being disciplined off the court as well as on the court. I think many of our challenges -- many of our challenges have been off the court as much as on the court and creating a kind of culture that Wake Forest wants to exist here, and that is winning at a high level, but not compromising the moral and academic integrity of the university. So it's been a challenge not only on the court but off the court as much.

Q. For you, how did you get up to speed with sort of getting to know the program itself and what the fans are like, what the traditions are, and sort of getting your history background?
COACH BZDELIK: Well, it's a learning process. It's a work in progress for me as it is for the young players that we have in the program. There's no question about that. This year I've spent a lot of time just meeting those who are backing the program, spending time with them, having them build the trust between me and them, getting to know my way around the university in terms of the infrastructure. Everything from travel to budget responsibilities, to like I just said, meeting the right people, building positive relationships with faculty and staff and administrators and club members.
Understanding the travel, understanding just the little detailed things that, at this level, can make the difference between winning and losing. So it's a full cycle of things not only on the court but off the court as well.

Q. When you look back to the last time you faced the Hokies, what were the problems there that Virginia Tech caused for you that leads you to do a better job this time around?
COACH BZDELIK: Well, we got off to a pretty good start, but then what happened was they made shots, and we didn't get back in defensive transition very well at all. We allowed some air space, and they were able to knock down shots in transition. They really got up into us, and we just had a hard time, especially in defensive transition matching up and getting into their shooters.
You know, when they start making shots, they have some players that normally had not shot well, making shots. It really opened up the game for their stars. Although we made some all-stars that night out of people who had been struggling.
So we need to do a great job in taking care of the basketball. We need to do a great job of making them defend late into the shot clock if we don't have something good initially. And we need to make sure that our defensive transition is rock solid.

Q. Can you talk about the game that Travis McKie had against Florida State and the impact he's had on the team this year?
COACH BZDELIK: Travis has been rock solid steady as a freshman, and he's shooting 48% from the floor for the year. He's been very consistent. He's our leading rebounder. He has over 200 rebounds already this year. He's playing a lot of minutes for us.
He's done a great job of maintaining his consistency. He's still a young player and he's learning. But he's very quietly had a season where he's won a lot of games. He's very quietly had a great, great freshman year in terms of consistency and concerning his development and improvement as a player.
He's undersized every night, playing in the four-five-four, yet he's been quietly effective. I can't say enough about him. He's a throw-back kind of player. He took a charge the other day. He's rebounding the ball. He's scoring the ball taking quality shots. He does it in a variety of ways off the offensive glass, driving the ball, posting up and hitting some perimeter shots.
Now he needs to expand his game as time goes on so we can improve his perimeter skills, so he can play a three spot in the future. But right now he's doing an awesome job both on and off the court for us.

Q. With seven juniors and seniors, and seven freshmen and sophomores on your team, do you feel this team is about a year away from the veteran leadership and stance you need to be a dominant force in the conference?
COACH BZDELIK: Right, it's interesting. We have so many young players and if they get stronger and more mature and stay together, the future is extremely bright.
Heck, I was just reading a book by Coach "K". And when he talked about he had that freshman class of Donny Dawkins and Mark Dowry and Jay Bilas and Weldon Williamson and there was another player in the mix, and they had only won ten or 11 games their freshman year. Yet a couple years later they wound up having a terrific year, 36 wins or 35 wins whatever. It's still a school record.
So it just takes time for players to mature physically and mentally and understand what this game is all about. But if they stay together in a collective way, and stay strong and weather this storm, it will be a bright future for all of them in terms of winning games.

Q. Want to talk to you about Carson Derosiers. Can you talk about how he's played this year?
COACH BZDELIK: Like the typical appreciate man, he's had moments of brilliance, and moments where he looked like a freshman. He's gaining valuable experience. You can do all the drills you want to in practice, and you can watch all the film, but until you really get out there and experience it, it really doesn't cement into you the things necessary that you need to do to have success.
And Carson is out there battling. I mean, he battled James the other day from Florida State who was a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and overseas like what, 25, 26 years old or something like that and Carson's 18. Last year he was in high school.
Just going against the veteran centers in this league time and time again. Even players like Jordan Williams who have a good year under their belt, he's done very well. He's second in the ACC in shot blocking. He's had some really quality games for us.
A year from now I think people will find it hard to recognize him because he loves the weight room. He'll get stronger, and he'll be a totally different player in a year especially with all the experience under his belt.
So he just needs to stay the course, and stay confident, and keep believing. We believe in him and he'll be a terrific center in this league.

End of FastScripts

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