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NCAA MEN'S FIRST FOUR: DAYTON

March 14, 2017

Ed Cooley

Dayton, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the head coach of the Providence Friars, Ed Cooley. Ed, an opening statement.

COACH COOLEY: First of all, Providence College is excited to be here. It's been an up-and-down season for us, with a lot of new faces.

We're excited to be playing a talented USC team. It's been a grind of a year. We're so, so excited to be throwing the ball up and excited to be here in Dayton and excited to get the game going tomorrow night. The Friars are excited to be here.

Q. What can you take away from last year's experience against USC that you can tell your guys and use that as a tool for tomorrow's game?
COACH COOLEY: Well, the biggest experience you can take is we won the game. But I think both teams are totally different, totally different. We have five of our nine-man rotation that are first-year guys. I know USC has a very young team, but they have a core group of guys that played in the game much like ours, but same systems, but different personalities.

So there's a couple of things we can take away. I think their style of play is still the same. Ours is very similar. But totally, totally different personnel.

Q. Ed, picked ninth at the start of the season in the Big East. Was there a point in the season where you said: Okay, I know that we can do a lot better than that?
COACH COOLEY: Actually, right when the polls came out, right when the polls came out. And, again, as a coach you have to be a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a neurologist, a phlebotomist. You've got to be everything other than a coach early.

And I told them it's no way this team will end up in ninth place. I don't know, we won't be ninth or tenth. We'll find a way, make it happen. But honestly up until a month ago I didn't realize that we had five newcomers to our team that we had to gel and develop.

So I wasn't surprised that the synergy and the chemistry of the group once we started playing well.

Q. How about to get here?
COACH COOLEY: This was a surprise to me, quite frankly. I think our team overachieved in many ways. I think luck played into that, a little bit of luck came into that. I thought after our first two games at Xavier then and Butler, we didn't play well. We actually got smashed in both of those games.

I don't think we were emotionally prepared, but I think that set up a really good run for us, because the group said, hey, when you go into these games it's really, really competitive.

And then once we got going a little bit, I said, guys, we're a little bit better than you think. And the two main guys I thought were better than they thought were Kyron Cartwright, No. 1, and Emmitt Holt. They had to play to their -- their play was great but their mentality wasn't that they were great players. So we had to convince them that they were great players to perform night in night out.

Q. Do you feel that going through the rigors of a league like the Big East is of some benefit to teams? Or do you view the NCAA Tournament as maybe more of a clean slate? What are your thoughts on that?
COACH COOLEY: I think we're all biased when it comes to our conferences as coaches. And I can sit here and tell you the Big East is an elite level conference with great players.

The different styles of play that all of us play prepare you for this big stage. So there's not a style of play we haven't seen, whether it's slow-down, speed, zone, man, triangle and two. All of us coaches have seen it all.

So I think we're prepared. Win it -- going on the road and winning games on the road in any league is very difficult. We've been able to accomplish a couple of those wins in difficult circumstances.

So, yeah, the Big East has more than prepared us to play this game tomorrow night.

Q. I talked to Kyron and Jalen in the previous press conference about how this is going to be their third time around. To you, this is your fourth time around. How has been preparing for this, your fourth trip, different than the previous three times given that you have that kind of experience?
COACH COOLEY: Well, I'm excited. It's a different feeling every year because you have a different team.

I'm really proud of the group and really give a lot of credit to our administration to allow us to sit here. We as coaches don't get here without the support of your president and your athletic director and your board of trustees to give you the resources to recruit the student-athletes to come to Providence College.

But there's a different excitement in me. This is the fourth excitement I've had. I'm happy. It's a new place. I've actually never been to Dayton, so I appreciate how hospitable everybody in Dayton has been. Walking into the arena today, I had an opportunity to see Coach Miller, who was an assistant coach with me on the 19-and-under gold medal team over in Greece.

I can't tell you how happy and how blessed I am to be sitting here in front of you. I'm still pinching myself. I can't believe we're here. I really can't. Don't forget, we were picked ninth in the Big East.

Q. Last year's game against SC, obviously a lot of focus on Kris Dunn. You have a different point guard this year. They have the same point guard, McLaughlin. Can you compare and contrast those two guys and how important a matchup is that?
COACH COOLEY: Last year with Kris, Kris was a two-way player defensively. He was a monster with the ball. He can take over a game at any point.

Ben could get you 40 on any given night. I think Ben took 40 shots actually the first half against him last year.

This kid, McLaughlin, I think, is their glue guy. He's very talented. He plays with different paces, different speeds. He's really, really good on the ball screen.

He's the maestro for them. I think he's one of the best guards in the country. I think he's an all-league player in the Pac-12. We've got our hands full with him.

We've gotta do a really good job staying attached. But he's not the only guy for them that we have to pay attention to. But to answer your question, that's a really, really tough matchup for us. Hopefully Kyron is up for that challenge.

Q. Kyron was in here before. He said he definitely was not himself at the Big East Tournament because of his travel and his family situation. How has he been since?
COACH COOLEY: I think he's been a lot better. Yes, I thought we struggled in the Big East Tournament. Kyron had to fly across the country and back over a 48-hour period, really took some steam out of him, plus emotionally what he was going through.

But we're behind him 100 percent. Most of the time you're going to get two or three games a season where you kind of scratch your head and say, is this our team? That was a head scratcher against Creighton.

Actually I thought it was one of our better defensive games of the year, but anytime you turn the ball over 22 times, 15 in the second half, one assist, you're not going to win many games that way.

And saying that, with two minutes and 38 seconds left to play, we had the ball down six and then we turned it over again, and it went from six to 10 really quick and that closed the game out.

So as bad as we played we still gave ourselves a chance because we dialed in defensively and tried to get some stops.

Q. But he's been better?
COACH COOLEY: He has to be better. In order for us to advance, Kyron has to play an A-plus game. Rodney has to play an A-plus game. Emmitt and Jalen. Those are the guys that, night in night out, we're going to depend on. And it's the oldest four in our locker room. So those guys have to lead us. And if they do, we're going to be a tough out.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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