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NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

March 28, 2016

Jim Boeheim

Houston, Texas

DAVE WORLOCK: Coach Boeheim, congratulations on advancing to another Final Four. We'll jump right into Q&A.

We'll take the first caller, please.

Q. I kind of compare your comeback win to Texas A&M's comeback win against Northern Iowa. How do you balance allowing your team to celebrate versus getting back and work and focus on North Carolina?
COACH BOEHEIM: We had a great comeback win against Gonzaga and got back to work two days later against West Virginia where we needed another comeback win.

We'll be ready. That game will have nothing to do with the next game. We live in the future here. What you did yesterday, what you're doing right now doesn't matter. It's what you do in the next game.

I think our players will be ready for that. I wouldn't compare our comeback to Texas A&M. I couldn't compare anything to that. That's incomparable (laughter).

Q. Jim, two of your key guys are Jersey guys. When you look at Tyler and Malachi, what did you see about them in high school that you liked?
COACH BOEHEIM: Tyler was from a really small town like me, so I liked him right away. He went to a very, very good prep school, got great coaching. He is ready to play because of that prep school experience he had.

Malachi played in a great high school team, got great competition.

Both guys were the main guys on their team. They played on high-level teams. So I think that helps guys when they make that first-year adjustment.

It's a little ironic, but the offense in the second half really came from those two guys. I mean, we had contributions from others, but those two guys were phenomenal in the second half.

Tyler also on the defensive end made the key defensive plays when we were pressing to keep them from getting easy baskets.

Those two guys have really played phenomenal basketball. To have two freshmen make plays like that to get to the Final Four is really unusual. We haven't had anything like that since Gerry McNamara and Carmelo Anthony. That was a long time ago.

Q. There's been some people talking about the fact that maybe you guys have a much easier path to the Final Four than some of the other teams in the field. Do you think that's an accurate assessment and anything you discussed with your team?
COACH BOEHEIM: We haven't discussed it. The reality is the No. 1 seeds played the 16 and the 9. We had to play the 7 and the 15. So I think we had a tougher road than the No. 1's. Then we had to play a No. 1 seed yesterday.

No, I don't think it's accurate to say that we've had an easier road. Even if it was, it really wouldn't matter.

Q. Jim, I know you've addressed this a couple times, but what is it like for you personally and the program to be back on this stage after the sanctions, the suspension? There's no way around it, North Carolina is going through its issues. Roy Williams has been doing this at a high level for a long time. You have, as well. How difficult is it to run a 'clean program' and be this successful at the NCAA level? Because obviously the game, the recruiting, the coaching has become more and more complicated as each year has gone by, especially in the last 10 to 20 years.
COACH BOEHEIM: There's certain words that I object to. 'Clean' is one of them. Things can happen in a program. That doesn't mean it's something dirty. It just means something happened that shouldn't have happened, and you try to correct it. You face your punishment and you move on. That's what you do.

As far as our team, these players weren't involved in anything. They're concerned about playing basketball. They are focused on our season. They've been consistent from day one. We started out really great. We struggled a little bit. We got great again. We struggled a little bit again. Now we're playing great again.

But through all of it, the players kept their purpose, they kept their heads down, they kept playing. I mean, we had some really close, tough losses. At Carolina you're down two with 40 seconds to go. I don't think anybody has been that close to Carolina since.

It's been really a very focused group, great senior leadership. We have three freshmen in the seven guys that play. They've been consistent from day one.

We talk all the time in life about you can't be distracted by things, because there are distractions in everybody's life, and you still have to go out and do what you do.

Our players have done that. I'm very proud of them. I've said this is a players success. They've done it, they've gone through it. I'm supposed to be able to do that. I've been doing this for 40 years.

But the players have played through it all and they've been strong. They've overcome a lot of things. We overcame a great team yesterday who had a 14-point lead against us with eight or nine minutes to go in the game. It was a tremendous win for our players.

Q. Jim, speaking about focus, coming back from a year of sanctions, watching your team the last couple weeks reminds me of UConn a couple years ago. When they won it all, the guys revealed how much motivation they got, maybe a chip on the shoulder kind of thing, like your guys were not involved in the allegations. Do you think that is a good comparison?
COACH BOEHEIM: I don't think so. I think our players just want to win. I really do.

At the end of the day, whether you have a chip on your shoulder or not, you have to go out and play well. You have to play better than the other guys.

That team, the UConn team, really played well at the end of the year. They played great.

We're playing good right now. We need to play a little bit better the rest of the way.

Q. Back to the old days of the Big East, Jay Wright, Villanova. How have you seen him grow as a coach, mature? How has he changed the program and settle into a style of coaching?
COACH BOEHEIM: He's been a great coach for a long time. It mean, the fact that you get knocked out of the tournament, sometimes it just happens. It's not really a coaching situation.

He's been just as good a coach since I've known him, you know. Just sometimes things come together and you get a little further.

He had a tougher road this year than he's had in a couple other years, but his team just responded better this year. He's had a really good program since he's been there really. He beat us in the first year or two that he was in there, and we were pretty good.

I forget how many years. You get old. You can't remember. I forget how many years Jay's been there right now, but he's been pretty darn consistent from the very beginning. His players play hard. They play together. You can't ask for a coach to do any more than what he's done.

They have a tremendous team. I think the one difference in their team is they have the inside presence that they haven't had the last two or three years where they've had really good teams. But I think their big guy is much better now than he was the last couple years.

Q. Jim, with only one No. 1 seed left - you are a No. 10; this Final Four - is it reflective of how wide open this whole season has been, all the changes in the top 25?
COACH BOEHEIM: From just the basketball side, going into this weekend, I thought there were going to be four No. 1 seeds in Houston. That's how good my predictions are (laughter).

But, yeah, I mean, it can happen. It can happen. I mean, Villanova played a great game. They outplayed Kansas. I thought Kansas was probably the best team coming in.

Of course, I think Oklahoma's every bit as good as anybody, so I'm not that surprised with that.

To me, those teams are really kind of 1A seeds, Oklahoma and Villanova. So I'm not that surprised. I'm probably surprised at the other guys, that we're there. I shouldn't say that, but I am a little surprised.

Q. What you said before about your two freshmen, do you see similarities? Carmelo was such a huge talent. You said you haven't had anything like that. Are you seeing similarities?
COACH BOEHEIM: Vague similarities. Not the same. Those two guys were different. They were transcendent freshmen. These are good freshmen. Our two senior guards dominate this team. That team, we only had one senior and one junior that didn't play much. That team was a freshmen-dominated team. It was a different team.

But these two freshmen are very, very good. They've been very important for us this year.

Q. With Tyler, what really has impressed you, especially this weekend? Seemed like he not only made shots, but made big plays that didn't have to do with scoring.
COACH BOEHEIM: He made unbelievable plays. He had 11 blocks this weekend. I mean, everybody said he couldn't play center. He's 212 pounds. But he's been able to do it. That's why we've been successful, because he's been able to play center. If he couldn't, we wouldn't be here. We would have been long gone.

But he made 11 blocks. He made two critical defensive plays at the end of the game yesterday. He blocked the possible game-winning shot in the Gonzaga game coming from out of nowhere. It was an unbelievably instinctive reaction. It was kind of like Hakim Warrick blocking the shot in the corner against Kansas. Great plays.

These two guys have been fabulous for us this year. We needed them. They weren't a luxury. We needed them to be key players.

Q. Coach, how different is this run compared to other ones, considering you are the first 10 seed? Is it more rewarding? Maybe you proved the committee wrong.
COACH BOEHEIM: I hope we proved the committee right that they got us in and proved some other people wrong.

I thought we should get in. I thought we had the good wins: Texas A&M, Connecticut at Duke. I thought we could get in.

When you make a run like this, it's tremendously rewarding. As everybody said, we did catch a break early, although Dayton was not a break. They're a good team. Michigan State got beat. That's a break, no question about it. I don't think we had an easy game. I think Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State. That was a break.

But then Gonzaga I thought was really good. Obviously we know how tough Virginia has been for us and everybody else for the last three years.

It's very rewarding anytime to get to the Final Four because it's hard. Three No. 1 seeds are not going to the Final Four. It's really hard to do. When you're down that low it's even harder, for sure.

I'm just happy 'cause, you know, the fans are happy, the players are happy. It really doesn't matter whether I'm happy 'cause I'm never happy anyway, or so they say.

DAVE WORLOCK: Coach, congratulations on advancing to another Final Four. Safe travels down to Houston. We'll see you in a couple days.

COACH BOEHEIM: Thank you, sir.

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