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

March 15, 2017

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: We have Winthrop student-athletes Xavier Cooks, Keon Johnson, and Roderick Perkins. Questions, please.

Q. Keon, would you would you describe your game? We've seen snippets of it. How would you describe your game?
KEON JOHNSON: You know, I just, you know, my game is pretty simple. I try to -- I don't try to make it too hard. I try to pick my shots and do what I do best when I'm on the floor.

Q. Keon, following up on that, I think you referenced Isaiah Thomas from the Celtics several times as a guy who -- are there other NBA players that you modeled your game after?
KEON JOHNSON: I would say Tyler Ulis, my old teammate, Nate Robinson. All those guys are caliber of my game. I look up do those guys.

Q. If I can follow-up, how do you do that, how do you model yourself after those guys?
KEON JOHNSON: I watch highlights all the time of those guys, film, lots of film and stuff like that. I'm watching those guys consistently.

Q. What it's been like this week to get a little bit of national exposure? The whole team has really been kind of -- hasn't had this kind exposure last three years.
KEON JOHNSON: It's surreal. I'm just enjoying the experience, every second of it. You know, just taking it step by step, day by day, and just cherishing the moments.

Q. Xavier, What do you know about Butler and what would it take to beat Butler?
XAVIER COOKS: They're a really skilled team, play really hard. Had a lot of great wins this year. And I think to beat them we're going to have to rebound the ball recently well, guard their 4-man and guard their shooters. Play really hard. Win the rebounding battle and shoot the ball really well.

Q. Rod, how critical do you think -- I don't know if they'll be directly matched up, Xavier and Chrabascz. How critical do you think that matchup will be for this guy?
RODERICK PERKINS: They're going to be focusing a lot on them. Other guys got to step up like me and Anders and the brothers, and a lot of other guys got to step up like we do the most of the season. Take a lot of pressure off of them and step up and do our job.

Q. I was wondering if each of you could tell me how you wound up at Winthrop, what you knew about Winthrop before you went there, and what the process was in going there.
THE MODERATOR: Start with Xavier and go right down line.

XAVIER COOKS: I'm from Australia. I didn't know much about the whole college, as a whole. Growing up so far away from this, you don't know the difference between the big schools and little schools. The main thing that stood out was Coach Kelsey. He flew to Australia, really got to know me as a person. I knew I was going to feel a lot homesick over here. He really made me feel at home, provide like a family environment for me. That's really the main thing the that came to me.

KEON JOHNSON: I'm from Ohio. Coach Kelsey is from Ohio, as well. I can agree with Xavier as far as him coming to my home town and just seeing, you know, where I was raised and, you know, what's going on around here and just, you know, being a coach that actually cared. You know what I'm saying? That was a starting point right there.

RODERICK PERKINS: I'm from Smyrna, Georgia. Come to here, they had a winning tradition before I came here. Everybody welcomed me with open arms. Telling me I had to have that same winning tradition with me. Keep this tradition going and that's what we've been doing.

Q. Keon, I think you just wrote a piece in the Players Tribune about what you've been through in your career. Now that you're here in the Tourney, do you feel that you've arrived, so to speak? Do you see this as another stage to prove yourself?
KEON JOHNSON: Most definitely. Each game you're going to improve yourself every time you go out on the floor. But like I say, I'm just cherishing every moment each day. And, you know, this is a big time, this is a big thing, the tournament is a big thing. I'm right and ready for the opportunity.

Q. Did the three of you have family who are coming here? And in the case of Xavier, your father, I believe, was a professional in Australia. How does he keep up with this and is his season still going on as an assistant coach?
XAVIER COOKS: Their season just ended. Made it to the finals this year and lost to Perth. My mom and dad and brother, they're all coming over here. It's going to be a great experience to share for my family.

Q. As to the others, do you have family here?
KEON JOHNSON: My parents will be here sooner or later. They're in a snow storm as well just as up here. They're on their way. It will be a good time.

RODERICK PERKINS: Yeah, like Xavier, my parents are coming from Atlanta, Georgia. Little bit of different atmosphere in the weather, but they'll get used to it. Like the experience.

Q. For all of you, can you think back to the first major upset in the NCAA that you saw and really thought about, is there like an upset that sticks with you?
KEON JOHNSON: It's crazy that you ask that because I was -- I watched -- I don't know if anybody remember the Duke and Lehigh game. That was a great game. I think Lehigh, I'm not sure what seed they were. Duke was number two. And JC McCullough is a great guy. That was a good experience to watch for me being the underdog in a tournament. That was good.

RODERICK PERKINS: Being the underdog in a tournament is big as well. I remember George Mason making a big run in 2006. That was something special to watch, and their grit and determination is what kind of -- the whole team you could see it, and that's what I like.

XAVIER COOKS: The Florida Coast team, that was really exciting for me to watch the little buzz that came with them.

Q. How critical will rebounding be for you guys? Because I know that's probably -- how much have y'all talked about that this week?
XAVIER COOKS: That's usually been a really good indicator for how the game is going. Normally when we win the rebounding game we're in a good position to win the game. Most of our big wins we've run the rebounding games. Most of our bad losses we've lost the rebounding game. It's got to be important us. We've got to make sure we have energy and box out and pursue those rebounds.

Q. For Keon, the fact that you went to Illinois and played teams like Florida State and Dayton, does that give you a lot of confidence going into the game against Butler?
KEON JOHNSON: Most definitely. Those are big college teams in big conferences. Getting experience early head-on is an advantage for me right now. So I think that was great playing those guys earlier in the season, and I think it's prepared me for today and the rest of the season.

Q. I'm curious, does it give schools like yours hope when you see what Butler has done over the last number of years that you're kind of in the position where Butler was many years, smaller conference, school that people didn't know where it was located? Does that give you more of a feeling like we can get this done because Butler has done it, several other teams have done it?
KEON JOHNSON: Yeah. I would say, like you said, Butler is a great team, have a great tradition. They came a long way. So, you know, that rubs off on me. I think my teammates as well, you know, just to have an insight of knowing that you can do something special in a tournament and you just have to go out there with confidence and do that.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else? Thank you. Good luck against Butler.

Questions for Winthrop Head Coach, Pat Kelsey, please.

Q. Pat, what are some of the points of emphasis for your guys going into this game against Butler?
COACH KELSEY: Yeah. You guys mentioned it when our players were up here in their portion of the press conference. I think especially in tournament play and you're going against a team that has more size and length, you know, I think it always starts on the backboard. We got to do a good job of blocking out and eliminating their second shots.

So, I think that's very important. Butler is so solid. They're one of the best in the country at taking care of the ball. They don't turn it over, they never hurt themselves. They execute their stuff so well. They get and they take and they make high percentage shots.

You know, so us, sitting down, bowing our neck and gritting our teeth and guarding for 44 minutes is going to be really important. They make it tough on you. Chris puts them many in great position schematically. You know, they know who they are and they know their roles and they really carry those out on every single possession.

Q. Pat, how neat has it been to see Keon kind of get a little bit of national exposure after not really having that the last couple of years?
COACH KELSEY: Yeah. I think he's earned it. You've been watching Keon for four years. Nothing he does anymore surprises me. The people of Rock Hill and the fans of Winthrop and I think the people in the Big South has really appreciated what a special, what a special performer, and what a special player he is. And I think he's deserved the right to have some national spotlight and for the nation to be able to see what this kid is all about, because he is special. He's going to finish his career, when it's over, as one of the most decorated, one of the best players in the history of our program. And as you know, we have a very tradition rich program.

So, I'm glad that the country gets to see it. He's gotten so close the last three years, getting to the finals and us not crossing that finish line. So I'm excited for that entire senior class because it's a special class, one of the best in our school's history. Especially for a guy like Keon who is our heart and soul and leader to be able to experience all of this, which is the highest level, the greatest spectacle in American sports, some people would say outside the Super Bowl, but I would argue that.

Q. Winthrop has been very good at shooting the 3 and defending the 3 both. Is that something that you recruit to, or is that something that -- it's a point of emphasis during practices and as the season evolves?
COACH KELSEY: You know, we recruit that way. We identify, when we identify guys and when we evaluate and recruiting, being able to put the ball in the basket they tell me is pretty important in this game. We put that pretty up high on our list.

Skill level is very important, ability to shoot the 3 is very important as well. You know, we play to our strength, obviously. We play with great pace, we push the ball, we play an exciting brand, an exciting style, but we do rely on 3-point shooting, because we have very killed and very good 3-point shooters.

Q. When was the first time you saw Keon when you were in the process of recruiting him and what was that process?
COACH KELSEY: The first time I saw him was at an AAU Tournament in Myrtle Beach. Keon plays on one of the premiere -- or played on one of the premiere AAU teams the entire country. When they're on their way down to the Peach Jam, the Nike Peach Jam, which is maybe the premiere AAU event in the entire country, they stop in Myrtle Beach every year, and I don't know if they still do, and play sort of a preliminary tournament.

Keon was a very solid performer and contributor for that team, but he wasn't one of the main guys. They have McDonald's All-Americans on that team. So he was more of a role player.

So, I think I was a little lucky. If I would have waited to see him at Peach Jam, he would have been maybe the 6th or 7th guy off the bench and maybe been a complimentary guy.

In that specific tournament they weren't playing their McDonald's guys as much and resting them up and giving some of these other guys I think an opportunity. And Keon was just magnificent that night. He's the Keon that I get to see on a nightly basis for the last four years. He was tiny. You looked at him and there's doubt and everybody is doubting him. But he's making play after play and attacking the rim and finishing at the rim, finishing from deep. All the stuff that Keon does.

A buddy of mine is next to me. What do you think? He's little. I know, but this kid can go, you know. Sometimes it's just in your gut. I'm not any smarter than anybody else. I had probably the same reservations and the same concerns just because he was so diminutive in his size.

But sometimes you got to go with your gut, and I just fell in love with him that day. I just loved his courage, loved his attacking mentality, the way he plays with a chip on his shoulder.

You know, rest is history. Even when he got to Winthrop he was doubted as well. I think he was the 3rd string point guard the first month into the season and two other players that were in front of him, one had a little hamstring pull before our first preseason scrimmage. Another one missed the bus on the way to go up to the preseason scrimmage, which was a closed scrimmage. You can play a couple of those every year.

I walked back on the bus, and he doesn't say anything ever anyway. He was just sitting there with his headphones on. I said, "Keon, can I talk to you?" He took them off. I said, "This guy has got a pulled hamstring and this guy missed the bus. You're going to play the whole scrimmage."

He goes, "All right, Coach." He had like 26-8. Never came out of the lineup since. Kind of like the Lou Gehrig and Wally Pipp for Philly, if you will. He's a special kid, special player.

Q. How many times have you used the word "diminutive"?
COACH KELSEY: We have a kid on our team named Mitch Hill. I have to multiply my SAT score times two to get to his. So to some use of those SAT words is a little bit outkicking my coverage.

Q. Please don't do that again. Keon is so unusual and so unique. Have opposing defenses done unusual things to stop him, or does he get treated like any other point guard?
COACH KELSEY: No. I think, you know, he's the focal point of the prep for the opposing team, and obviously people are going to try to limit his touches and try to get the ball out of his hands and things like that, all the things that great players see when they're on the floor.

So, he's sort of seen it all. Obviously the team that we play tomorrow in Butler is very, very well coached. I have the utmost respect for Chris, and I'm sure he'll have something cooked up to try to take Keon away and hopefully we can counter that.

Q. Just out ever curiosity, have you crossed paths with Chris?
COACH KELSEY: I was talking to Brett from the Rock Hill Herald about this the other day. He was at Gardner-Webb, my first year at Winthrop. So I got to coach against him head to head and developed an unbelievable respect for him then. He's unbelievable tactician and a really good coach. Got to know him a little bit and became friends and friendly. This summer I was going up to Cincinnati to visit family where I'm from and reached out to him about a couple things they do. And I was watching them on film that I liked and asked if I could come up and pick his brain for 15 minutes, half hour. He was unbelievably gracious with his time. Come on up. And took me out to lunch and we ended up talking for three, four hours, and just X's and O's. He probably told me more than he wanted to tell me and I told him more, knowing what I know now. I think it's the indication of the caliber of person that he that he was so willing and open to share that day and even developed a deeper respect for that.

Q. The one time you played, did you beat him?
COACH KELSEY: I think we played twice and we split, I think. Maybe.

Q. I'll look it up.
COACH KELSEY: I'm sure you will.

Q. How is Chrabascz and Cook? They seem like play-making forwards. I don't know if they'll directly matchup.
COACH KELSEY: They're a little bit different body types. He's a little bit stronger and wider. Xav is a little bit longer and taller, but I think they're cut from the same swat a little bit from a basketball standpoint. They're just players. You can't really paint their position into a corner, point forwards, I would call them. Of that Chrab is a phenomenal passer. His assist-to-turnover ratio is off the charts. It's a very hard matchup problem. Chris puts him in great position. He'll take advantage of bigger guys out on the floor, smaller guys in the post, and really makes it tough on you and makes you make tough decisions as a coach and as a team how to deal with him because of his ability to do so many things, score in the post. And then just like Keon has seen every defense under the sun to try to take him away. He's probably seen every scheme to try to lessen his effectiveness when he catches the ball in the post, and he can pass so well out of it. So he can make you pay. And Xav is sort of the same way as well. They're both very high basketball IQ guys that are mismatch problems that put the defense in great predicaments.

Q. When you think about some of the great upsets in the NCAA history, what are some that immediately come to mind for you?
COACH KELSEY: You know, the one that comes to my mind the most, because it's most special to me, was I think in 1990 in Indianapolis at the Hoosier Dome, I grew up an Xavier fan and my father played at Xavier, I coached at Xavier and played at Xavier. I -- when I say I played at Xavier, I missed a thousand career points by 912. So I was a little less than a great player. Brett has heard that a few hundred times. The Xavier brand grew exponentially and grew nationwide that day in Indianapolis in March when they beat Georgetown and Dikembe Mutombo in front of 30,000 people at the Hoosier Dome. That kind of catapulted that program to unbelievable heights and I just remember exactly where I was sitting. I remember Tyrone Hill and Derrick Strong and -- jumping Jamal Walker, Pete Gillen, Pete Prosser, Dino "Guardio", a mentor of mine was an assistant at the time. I just can feel it. I can remember being there that day and running to the car and jumping in the car and listening to the great Andy McWilliams, the play-by-play guy for so many years at Xavier, screaming and yelling and that's probably my greatest NCAA memory.

Believe it or not, I coached and I played in the NCAA Tournament, but that was probably the moment that made me fall in love with basketball forever and made me maybe what we wanted to, you know, attack this profession as my career.

Q. How old were you at the time?
COACH KELSEY: 1990, I think. So that would be 15.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thank you. Good luck.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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