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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: RALEIGH

March 18, 2016

Ed Cooley

Raleigh, North Carolina

THE MODERATOR: At this time we'll go ahead with Coach Cooley's press conference. Coach, if you could please make an opening statement for us.

ED COOLEY: It's been a long night. Really excited that we were able to advance. Played against a great team yesterday and we're fortunate to win late in the game. Rodney happened to be open to make a lay-up.

Watched a lot of film of Carolina over the last probably 12 hours. Great team, well-coached, incredibly balanced, athletic and long. That's the reason why they're a No. 1 seed. They've earned it and we're excited about the challenge, and see what we can do in order to try to advance.

Q. Ed, given that North Carolina has like a 32-1 record in NCAA Tournament games in the State of North Carolina, and the crowd is going to be probably 80% Tar Heel --
ED COOLEY: 100%.

Q. I stand corrected. Could you have imagined the NCAA putting together a more difficult situation or venue for you in this tournament?
ED COOLEY: Well, like I said, Carolina, being the No. 1 seed, they're going to keep those seeds pretty close to home. And it just happens to be 20 miles away from their campus or from where they live. It's a great challenge. It's not something we even -- we've played in tough venues before. We've played in front of 15,000, 20,000 people. It's just you're playing for biggest stakes right now. I think the Committee does a great job seeding. You don't complain about it, you just try to maximize the opportunity.

Q. Seeing that you've played this year at Creighton and Xavier and whatnot, is it comparable, or is it just only different because it's the NCAA Tournament?
ED COOLEY: I think it's comparable. Kevin, that's a fair question. It's probably a little bit more. I'm pretty sure the building will be sold out tomorrow. And, it's not about the crowd, it's about how composed you are, you know? We've played in one of the most hostile places in the country that not a lot of people talk about is the URI-Providence game. If you can survive through some of that, this here is going to be, you know, equal to that. Ironically, they both have the same sky blue color.

Q. Coach, I wonder if you might comment on two things, No. 1, the start time for tomorrow at 9:50, the alleged start time back-to-back playing late games like that. And, No. 2, Coach Williams wanted us to ask you about yoga class?
ED COOLEY: (Laughing) wow, that's funny. The 9:50 start. Hey, man, when you're in the Tournament, we can play at any time. We're excited. 9:50, if that's the time the ball goes up, let's hoop.

As far as the yoga story, we were in Hawaii together on a Nike trip and my wife asked me to take yoga for the first time in my life. And at that point, I think I was about 370 pounds. We had been out pretty late in the evening, and we had some cookies and milk until about 4:00 in the morning and I tried yoga. I'll never try it again. I am the worst yoga participant in the history of that exercise. Terrible. And Coach let me know about it every time he sees me. That's funny.

Q. What does your team get when you win a game the way you did, staring at elimination to that kind of finish? Is it something that can carry over in a tournament, you think or is it one game is a whole new thing?
ED COOLEY: As Mr. Bonner said earlier when we were talking, we had more lives than 17 cats. The ball just kept bouncing our way and we happened to get the last bounce.

I think it gave the guys some confidence, you know? We looked like we were dead in the water and I thought our young men were resilient. It gives you more confidence, a little more pep in your step. Hopefully we have some great carryover. How we compete tomorrow, it's about how we come out, and how we withstand their runs. We're playing against a great, great team, arguably the favorite to win the whole national championship.

Q. What makes them an elite team? Is it their kind of spurtability, if that's a word?
ED COOLEY: Clark Kellogg word right there. I think it's their depth. I think it's their athleticism, great coaching. They're a veteran team. Paige -- we played against Paige a couple years ago. Johnson was in the game. Meeks was in the game. Meeks, by the way, looks great. He's lost a lot of weight. They added Isaiah Hicks, who to me is one of the most improved players in the country. Berry, they've got body after body after body. We have to stay as fresh as we can. That's what makes them so elite and one of the favorites to win the Tournament.

Q. With Kris Dunn as well as Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson there are players that possibly could've turned pro. What does it say about them to try to stick it out? And is it refreshing to see three veteran players on this stage?
ED COOLEY: It's really refreshing, you look at the NBA right now. Is the NBA in a good place as far as having older men in that league. So for them guys to prepare themselves, A, to get a degree first and foremost. Because they're going to be our age at one point and they'll need a job. To be better educated later in life is important. For them to help their school, Kris at Providence and those two at Carolina, just tells every kid, if you trust the process and you really believe -- we really talk about student-athlete, I think those young men are epitomizing that and still reach their ultimate goal of being an NBA player. Kudos to those young men for wanting to be educated.

Q. With Rodney Bullock making that winning shot for you last night, can you kind of talk about his perseverance and how he's developed, and really hung in there for you over the years, coming back from injury and everything?
ED COOLEY: Sure. This is his first year playing, talking about Rodney, you know, having been suspended his first year and then his second year going -- he had a torn knee. To come back and do what he's done, he's succeeded what we thought he would do. We thought he was a good player when we recruited him. He's gotten a little bigger, a little stronger.

His whole thing is confidence. When he's confident, he's had a couple really, really big scoring days. When he rebounds the ball, he's a really, really good scorer. We really talk about him rebounding the ball because when he rebounds he normally scores in double figures. But his growth and development is coming along and hopefully he has a 50-point game tomorrow. He needs to be Superman tomorrow.

Q. Ed, it's been two NCAA games for Kris, serious foul trouble in both. We talked about it all year. He can get killed sometimes going for steals. Is this a time to have that conversation again with him? Obvious he needs to stay on the floor more minutes.
ED COOLEY: At breakfast this morning we talked about that. With the point of emphasis with officiating now as far as freedom of movement. He picked up a couple of -- they were fouls. You know, chasing a guy off the screen, trying to steal the ball. I mean, we're not very good if he's not on the floor for a period of time. When he's on the floor we're as dangerous as anybody in the country.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Coach, thank you very much and good luck tomorrow.

ED COOLEY: Thank you. Thank you.

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