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NCAA MEN'S FIRST FOUR: DAYTON

March 14, 2016

Dayton, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: Joined by Florida Gulf Coast student-athletes Julian DeBose and Marc-Eddy Norelia.

Q. How did practice go today? You feeling right? For both of you. And, Julian, how is the ankle?
JULIAN DEBOSE: First, practice was pretty good. We got out there, got competitive, trying to get ready for tomorrow. As far as my ankle, it's feeling pretty good. I'm just excited to be here, excited to compete.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: Practice was great. We had a lot of energy. It was pretty vocal, which I like. We're having fun with the whole process, which is great.

Q. I think we're down to just kind of off-the-wall questions at this point. Julian, did you pack your hoverboard? And also, Marc-Eddy, on the flight over. This guy has energy all the time, even when you're supposed to be sleeping on the plane he's got energy all the time, doesn't he?
JULIAN DEBOSE: Definitely didn't get a chance to bring my hoverboard, apparently they explode on the plane ride, or something like that, I think I heard. And Marc has been my roommate for my whole time here at FGCU, definitely the most energy out of all my teammates on all the teams I've been on.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: I just like having fun with everything and it makes it a lot easier and just makes it good.

Q. Coach had mentioned the other day that Fairleigh was in some ways a little bit reminiscent of some of the ASun teams in some ways. Is that carrying through in maybe what you're seeing, maybe a little smaller than you guys like to get up tempo a little bit, shoot a lot of 3s?
MARC-EDDY NORIELA: Can you say that again.

Q. Are they somewhat like ASun team in a lot of ways, smaller than you, like to shoot a lot of 3s?
MARC-EDDY NORIELA: Coach showed us some film earlier, and they're very similar to some teams in our conference in some aspects, yes, you're right.

JULIAN DEBOSE: They're definitely similar to some of the teams we've played in our conference, like you said, like to get up and down, drive the ball, shoot a lot of 3s. Credit to them. They had a great run at the end of the season just as we did and we're just glad to be here, be able to compete.

Q. Did you guys expect the welcome that you got in Dayton, and can you kind of just go over that with the bagpipes and the fight song and just everything?
JULIAN DEBOSE: Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. This is my first time being in this experience. Just getting off the bus it was, it was great. I did notice the FGCU fight song. Those cookies were pretty great. I'm just blown away by the welcome, and I'm glad to be experiencing it.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: Usually I see it on TV after a win but they did it just for us coming into town. That was pretty great. I enjoyed every last second of it.

Q. Three years ago FGCU obviously made magic happen. But we expected that team to maybe make a couple more runs in the NCAA Tournament or at least get there. The fact that they didn't, does the urgency there for you guys, knowing that your predecessors look like they could do it and just really kind of taking the task at hand and really seizing the moment?
JULIAN DEBOSE: Giving credit to those guys, they took advantage of their opportunities, we're an entirely different team. Obviously seeing what the legacy that they've left, us all being competitors. We want to do as best we can and that's all we can pretty much hope for.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: I think Julian kind of covered it there, because we're pretty competitive as well. We want to be the best team we can be. We're not going to compare ourselves to them necessarily but be the best FGCU team that can be faced here.

Q. As enjoyable as this is and as hard as you've worked to get here, how much hunger does that give to you, do you want more days of this?
MARC-EDDY NORIELA: A lot. Like Julian said we're competitive. So if we're playing basketball, whatever it is we're going to be very competitive want to win give our best effort at all times.

JULIAN DEBOSE: Can you ask the question again?

Q. As fun as this is, how much does that make you have a thirst for hunger for more to get, to keep this taste going beyond Tuesday?
JULIAN DEBOSE: Well, just continue to win definitely makes each and every one of us more hungry. We want to compete and being my last go-around, I want to keep playing as long as possible. So just being here and practicing and seeing all this amazement around March and just seeing my team get better all through the years, definitely makes me more hungry.

Q. The arena is going to be packed, probably one of the biggest arenas you guys have played in. Are there going to be nerves? Or is it just going to be another basketball game to you?
JULIAN DEBOSE: Every basketball player at some point in their career has a little bit of nerves. But at this moment, we're just here to enjoy and compete. If there are nerves, I'm sure they'll be gone just like that, once the ball touches their hands, as soon as they come in the game.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: Yeah, like, I'm pretty sure everybody is going to be a little uptight in the beginning. But as soon as you start playing that all goes away. You want to have fun. You've been doing it your whole life, so you get comfortable.

Q. Just kicking off this 2016 NCAA Tournament, what kind of honor is it, the fact that you guys are going to be the first ones -- you're going to be the ones to set the tone for this whole dance?
MARC-EDDY NORIELA: I think it's great. We just want to go out there and do our best and just represent NCAA and our conference the right way.

JULIAN DEBOSE: It's definitely an honor representing our university, Florida Gulf Coast, and just being able to compete in March Madness is all a college basketball player can ask for. So just putting your best foot forward going out there and compete is all you can really ask for.

Q. Has there been a different message from Coach Dooley since all this has happened, just knowing you're a 16 seed going into this whole Dayton experience? Has he told you anything different before tomorrow's game?
JULIAN DEBOSE: Really the only different thing is we're here now and to enjoy every moment of it. Other than that, Coach is going to coach us the same way as if it was the first game of the season. That's what I like about Coach, he treats us the same when we're winning, the same when we're losing.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: Yeah, just like Julian said, you just make sure you enjoy everything we're doing. He said don't take it for granted because there's a lot of guys who wish they could be here right now where we're at, so he said enjoy but at the same time remember it's a business trip. Go out there and compete and give it your all.

Q. How much did you guys pack?
MARC-EDDY NORIELA: The whole weekend.

JULIAN DEBOSE: Obviously we have the play-in game. So with that being -- yeah, First Four game. With that being said, we have the opportunity to play further. So we had to pack for the whole week.

MARC-EDDY NORELIA: Yeah, I already said it, but we packed for the whole weekend.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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