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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 2, 2017

St. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness

THE MODERATOR: Co-champion and No. 1 seed Illinois State Redbirds are with us now. Coach of the Year Dan Muller is with us. Player of the Year Paris Lee is with us. Tony Wills is with us. I'm going to ask Dan Muller to talk about his team being in the tournament with an opening statement then questions for all three gentlemen.

DAN MULLER: Obviously, an honor to be here. One of my favorite weekends of the year. Just having a lot of fun with this group.

Our focus is just play really good basketball. That's it. We obviously don't know who we're playing yet, but it will be a quality opponent, and we'll start preparing tonight.

Q. For both of the players, could you just talk a little bit about what it means to you guys on the team to have Coach be named the Coach of the Year.
THE MODERATOR: Tony first, then Paris.

TONY WILLS: Yeah, it means a lot. Coach Muller has been the best coach I've ever had. He has really made a big impact on the team. He treats everybody good. He just does a very good job at what he's doing, and I'm just so proud of him.

PARIS LEE: Like Tony said, Coach Muller doesn't just care what you're doing in basketball. He cares about your future, your life. He asks about your family. Like I said, it's not just all about basketball. That's big when it comes down to loyalty and stuff like that. So like Tony said, I'm proud of Coach as well.

Q. Coach, you're a Redbird alum. Take me through the excitement on campus right now with the success of the basketball program. How important is that? And how important, as a followup, given Paris' success this season, to having the Player of the Year being a player in state?
DAN MULLER: Yeah, you could feel the buzz on campus, but I'll be honest, I don't have a real good pulse of it because we're just -- I'm not saying these guys aren't busy. They would probably have a better answer than I would because they're on campus.

But you can feel the excitement. We've got great crowds, great home crowds, great support. A lot of people are excited. It's been a while since we won a championship. I think we'll see the excitement here this weekend. Hoping to have a great crowd, a lot of red.

To have the Player of the Year come from Illinois State, I'm just proud of Paris. He's grown so much. He's from the state of Illinois, as you said, the first guy in this class to commit to me. Just represents the program the right way, represents the state the right way.

When I recruited him, I told him, no matter where I was at, I would want him to come. I think he's showing the type of player we hoped he'd become. It's a lot of hard work, and this guy over here to my right, I'd say the same thing about him. These two guys feed off of each other. It's been so much fun to coach them for four years.

Q. Dan, I don't want to get you all emotional all over again, but can you just comment at all about what it was like to get that award today and what it means to you.
DAN MULLER: Yeah, I don't think I'll get emotional. I didn't think I would that time too. As we experience things that we haven't experienced here this year, just every time, whether it was Paris yelling after we won the championship on Saturday, you could see him holding up the sign saying, This one's for Coach Ward. Whether it's milestones, there's just not a day that goes by or an achievement that goes by without thinking about Torrey and Aaron and all of them, but Torrey had a big impact on this program because of the players.

I miss the heck out of those guys. We think about them every day. I wish -- I just wish they were here to celebrate with us. That's it, and that's all. It's hard. But as I said, that's life, and we try to be there for their families, and that's the biggest thing for us right now is do what we can to help support those families who have been so important to us.

Q. For Tony and Paris, two years ago you finished second. Last year was one and out. How do you use both experiences to help you this weekend?
THE MODERATOR: Paris first this time, then Tony.

PARIS LEE: Everything starts at practice. I come to practice with the right mindset. Kind of talking about last year, how we came into the game, and just trying to just let the team know how important it is to prepare and not just think that teams are just going to lay down and let us beat them.

TONY WILLS: Yeah, same thing Paris said. We just got to take one game at a time. It started in practice. I think everybody went hard. So we just got to take one game at a time and just keep taking care of the process.

Q. Dan, if you watch Illinois State play, you would say that's a team that should be in the NCAA Tournament. Would that be your opening argument? If you haven't seen us play, watch us play, and we think we can stand up and be in that field.
DAN MULLER: I've been asked that question for the right reasons the last week and a half, obviously, our record and the success we've had. We're very hopeful we get in no matter what. Obviously, our focus is on Indiana State and Evansville, whoever we play first, and trying to advance in this tournament.

But I said it, I do believe we have two NCAA Tournament teams in this league. If you watch us, I think you can see it. Obviously, both of us can't win it. I don't know if one of us is going to win it or not, but hopefully this league gets two in no matter what.

We can only control what we can control, though, and I think that's important for us to remember and not get too focused on that.

Q. Coach, obviously, it's one and done for you this weekend, but has your group had the one-and-done feeling since February since you've had to win every game from February on?
DAN MULLER: Yeah, we talked about that. I hope that helps our team. Wichita State was playing at such a high level, we assumed they would keep winning. We've had some pressure games and then we've had to go through some injury during that stretch.

So I'm hoping that pressure feeling the last two, three weeks helps us this weekend. I'm hoping, if we're in close games, it helps us because we had some of those. You just never know. I'm telling you, we came in last year, I'll tell you, I just knew we were going to come in and win this thing last year, and we didn't.

So every year is different, but I will tell you, I trust your leadership on this team more than I ever have. A couple of years ago I trusted it. So hopefully, these guys help our team and help get us ready to play.

Q. For Dan first and back to Paris. Back to the tragedy and losing Torrey. We've heard and a lot of things you talked about, the impact and what Paris does with his shoes and the way of honoring his memory and those others who perished that night. I'm curious, on a different level, how are you different today as a person and as a coach, and Paris, as a person and as a player than you were before as a result of what happened?
DAN MULLER: I'll go first. Any time you go through a tragedy, which you learn as you get older, and everybody in this room has probably faced some sort of tragedy, it impacts your life. I think it starts with I'm a better man and a better coach because of knowing those men. That's where it starts.

But I think that -- I hope I become a better coach because, even when things are intense or there's times of pressure, you still remember what's important. I know that these guys have grown through the tragedy. It was hard, but I think you kind of get a feel for who you can depend on and who you can lean on in those situations. Not just who you can, but there are people that can, and you're not in there by yourself.

You go through the journey of life together. You cannot do it on your own. So there's a lot of ways I could keep talking, but I would just say that, again, I hope I'm a better man and a better coach and a better person because of those men and, unfortunately, because of that tragedy.

PARIS LEE: It helped me grow as a player as well. I feel like it brought the unit together as far as me, Tony M, MiKyle and Deontae, and everybody that went through it. It definitely brought us closer together. This is closest team we've been on, and it's definitely due to the leadership on this team.

Q. Paris, take me back four years ago in deciding to commit to Bloomington Normal. Did you ever envision you would have this type of success individually and through the program and molding you into a senior leader?
PARIS LEE: Not at all. Honestly, coming in as a freshman, I didn't know about those awards and all that stuff. That stuff was new to me. Once I saw all the awards get passed out my freshman year, I thought, man, it would be cool if I was on the team. Just to be on anything is a blessing.

So thank the man upstairs, thank my teammates, and definitely thank Coach Muller for trusting me and letting me run his team.

Q. Tony and Paris both, we think a lot about guard play when it's tournament time. Talk about the importance of your guys' roles as leaders on the floor.
TONY WILLS: So we just try to hold the team together. I think Paris and MiKyle and Deontae do a good -- yeah, they do a good job talking. I think we all be -- we just have a good connection and just have everybody locked in.

PARIS LEE: Picking up what Tony says, he's being real humble right now. This is definitely our energy guy. I don't know what he's talking like -- no. Start with Tony, though. Tony, he does a real good job of setting the tone. That's his role on our team. He sets the tone well, offense and defense. Honestly, I feel like I go off of how he goes.

DAN MULLER: Then we'll be all right this weekend.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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