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NCAA MEN'S FIRST FOUR: DAYTON

March 14, 2018

Dayton, Ohio

Texas Southern - 64, NC Central - 46

THE MODERATOR: We'll be joined by the head coach of Texas Southern, Mike Davis, as well as Texas Southern student-athletes Donte Clark, Damontrae Jefferson and Trayvon Reed.

COACH DAVIS: First of all, we're just happy to be here in this situation. We worked hard this year to get here. The guys played well tonight. We started off the season at 0-13 and everybody was concerned about the record, but we knew that the record wouldn't be who we are as a basketball team.

I didn't design our schedule to make us feel good; I designed the schedule to get us better, and we got better. And we just had an unfortunate situation in conference -- we never should have won. We lost 16 games out of conference, we did. But we played really good basketball right now.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Damontrae, do you go by Damontrae or Tra?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: Whatever floats your boat.

Q. I like Trae. The middle, maybe two-thirds of the way through the second half you committed, looked like an intentional foul just to get your team together. What was going on there?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: I think we had, I noticed we had a 10-point lead for about three minutes the same score. So it was kind of like -- and we was kind of moving too fast, turning the ball over. So I just wanted to slow the game down and tell them that we might have been up more than 10 -- actually. And I told them that -- I said this is only five 3s, we've got to put the game away. There's a lot of time on the clock, that's five 3s and they're back in the game and we're rattled. I told them to calm down and let's use the clock to our advantage.

Q. Can you share what it means to win the first tournament game in school history?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: It's actually bigger than us up here at this table. It was for the university. We actually made history today for the university, and we kind of knew that coming into this game. So it was just come here and play our game, actually was to score and get stops and come up with a win, and we accomplished the goal.

DONTE CLARK: Feels good to get a first win for HBCU schools because we knew it was going to be either them or us. Why not us? And it's definitely bigger than us. People like that's not even playing basketball and stuff like that, and for our school so it's definitely way bigger than us.

TRAYVON REED: Like they said, it was for the school, the fans, our staff. And I am proud of my boys, I just want to thank our staff and everybody.

Q. Damontrae, Coach Moton had some words with you after the game. Can you tell us what he shared with you?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: He told me to keep playing my game. Don't let nobody tell me nothing. Don't turn it down a notch. They know who you are now, your stock went up. He told me go at Xavier, you do the same thing, you should come out with the same results. He told me you're a big-time player and he said it was an honor to play them. And I thanked him for that.

Q. Damontrae, earlier in the first half I think you were kind of screaming at Donte to take him, he can't guard you, the man in front of him. Was that to try to get him going trying to get everybody fired up?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: I come in the game and I tell everybody, once we started, I think he started off about 0-for-2 and I told him, he can't guard; you're making your shots tougher than what it was. And once I told him that and once I always tell him that -- I've got to tell him that about once a game, him and Bruce. But once I tell him that he always get locked in and he answers. That's just how he shut me up. Because if you don't play I'm going to keep saying it.

Q. Donte, what makes Damontrae a good leader? Seems like he's a leader on this team. And, Damontrae, why are you comfortable doing that, being a leader?
DONTE CLARK: It makes him a good leader because he don't take no crap. He makes sure -- he going to cuss us out, everything. But he means well by what he's trying to do, just to get us going, make sure we play because he knows how we can play. So once he gets on us, then we already know.

DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: It's just these guys. It's like a family thing, so it's just, like, no matter what I say, you just see the good in it. No matter, it's not about how you get it how you hear; it it's about the message behind it. So them guys know I'm probably going to cuss and scream because I'm little and they're bigger than me.

Q. Trae, following up on that, you've had an interesting year -- losing your father, sorry about that, and then the suspension there for a little while, all that stuff. What's come what's right with your team these last couple of weeks?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: Believing in God and Coach Davis keeping me focused even through suspensions. Coach Davis, our bond is way bigger than basketball. Even though suspensions was just business and I learned from those things and just remained focus on suspensions, staying in the gym. And watching basketball when I was actually sitting out helped me realize how big of a factor I was to the team so that when I came back I needed to control myself to be on the court with my team.

Q. Damontrae, I wonder with you growing up in Milwaukee, watching basketball on television, who did you want to play for? And when you get a chance to play the big teams now like you're going to on Friday, does that just fuel you that none of them wanted you?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: Growing up in Milwaukee, it was kind of like I always wanted to play for Louisiana, because that's where, for LSU, because that's where most of my family is from. But growing up in Milwaukee, I kind of knew that you had to be -- you needed a little extra to come out of Milwaukee. And then what was the second question?

Q. The fact that none of the big schools looked at you probably because you're 5'7'', 150. Did that give you motivation now going into Friday you get a chance to play one of those big schools?
DAMONTRAE JEFFERSON: Yeah, I think this whole non-conference, going into this game ain't going to be nothing I haven't seen, non-conference, due to the schedule because of what they prepared us for. Yeah, when I do play those teams I kind of have an extra edge on my shoulder, like, you kind of missed out on the blessing.

Q. Trayvon, through all your journeys, what does it feel like to be on this stage in the NCAA Tournament?
TRAYVON REED: To tell you the truth, I never even thought I was going to be here. I've been through a lot, ups and downs. It's been a long journey for me. I just want to thank God for another chance. I also want to thank Coach for believing in me throughout the whole situation. He didn't have to do what he had to. It could have been over with and it's just a blessing to be back on the stage showing people what I can do.

Q. Do you guys have a nickname for you guys, High-Low or anything?
TRAYVON REED: I'm little folks; that's big folks. That's our nicknames.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.

Q. Raasean Davis, 8-for-10 in the first half. He only took one shot in the second half. Was that your game plan to double them and let everybody else take care of you guys?
COACH DAVIS: We didn't want the 3-point shooters to hit 3s. A lot of those guys shoot in high 30s, so I didn't mind -- I didn't want them to score that easy, but we wanted to double off the non-shooters. I think when they made a couple subs. We had an opportunity to dig in the second half.

The first half we didn't have the opportunity to do it and we just figured he'll wear down. He scored a lot of points in the first half. The NCAA Tournament is different feel. Your body is not used to playing at that high level the whole game, and so we figured in the second half he'll be a little tired and he was, I think.

Q. The exchange you had with Coach Moton after the game, can you share what was said, and also what it means for the school, too?
COACH DAVIS: He's a big-time coach. When you watch film you earned your respect a coach that's organized and -- for him winning the tournament with that young team, it shows you how good a coach he is and I respect him. I was really afraid of his team because he'd run a lot of different sets. And it's all about misdirection stuff. And we're not a very good defensive team. We haven't been all year. We just want to outscore you.

I was afraid of his offense. I just told him keep his head up. Great job with that team winning the tournament. And I just -- I mean I praise him because I just feel he's one of the better coaches that I have went against in my coaching -- we have better talent than they do.

We have four guys on our team that I think is high major basketball players. And I just think Coach Moton is a special, special coach. He's got a young team, freshmen guards. This team he's coaching right now, I can see them winning the conference next year for sure, both conference and the tournament.

And I also can see them winning the game in the NCAA Tournament if we don't play them next year. I want to catch them now while they're young and not catch them when they're older because they're really good.

Q. What is the balance and how quickly will you turn the page from celebrating this and then obviously you have savior on Friday?
COACH DAVIS: We didn't really celebrate. My mindset is, and this is why I do this, a non-conference schedule, I tell everybody to come play for me there's going to be some ups and downs, you're going to be really up and down, and your family going to call you, tell you to keep your head up.

But you can't train your brain to stay focused unless you go through some tough times. And that's why I designed my schedule the way I designed it, for us to get better and for us to be tough as a team. So if you noticed, nobody on this team celebrated; nobody jumped up and down, high-fiving. We did the same thing in our conference tournament.

We feel like -- I put them through so much, I tested them so much, like Trae Jefferson -- he's had the biggest turnaround of any player I've ever coached. His behavior didn't fit the setting that we wanted it to be as a basketball. I suspended him like three times this year. And he's come back and changed his whole personality. And now he's a big-time basketball player, now he's a big-time leader.

Our mindset is we have another game on Friday. We've seen -- Kansas is the No. 1 seed; we've seen those type of teams before. We know that they're going to take us serious because every time every team we played non-conference this year -- normally an HBCU school, you go into those games, they're laughing and playing and joking before they play us. But not one team laughed and joked before they played us. They took this serious and we're going to take this game serious.

Q. Logistically, what are the next 10, 12 hours going to look like for you guys? Are you going to bus straight down to Nashville?
COACH DAVIS: We're going to fly, we're going to charter. We're going to get on the plane, leave at 10:30 tonight. Maybe it's an hour flight, hour flight, get checked into the hotel, watch film on the plane about Xavier. To be a No. 1 seed, they're really, really good. I haven't seen them play the whole year. I'll have an opportunity to watch them on the plane.

Q. From what I read a lot of coaches were hesitant about Trae because of his edge, as he called it. What did you think the first time you saw him?
COACH DAVIS: I thought he was out of his mind.

Q. When was that? How early did you see that?
COACH DAVIS: I never watched him play in high school. At Texas Southern, I give guys chances. If you notice the guys on my team, most of them it's like their third or fourth or fifth chance. I think I have a special gift to understand them, talk to them, because they have a gift.

And it's my job as a coach to be patient with them and also teach them at the same time. And so this year, I sacrificed our conference championship through suspensions. I suspended Trayvon a couple of games. And I suspended Trae and Lamont -- I had a couple of guys I suspended because I wanted them, I wanted to take something from them and show them that their behavior will have to change in order for them to play basketball after they leave Texas Southern. And all of them can play basketball later on.

With Trae, he's energized. He's different. He's a fighter. He want to win, and he gets emotional sometimes. And I'm like a father figure to him and all my guys. And I'm not their father, but like a father figure and I try to teach them and talk to them through tough times because I want these guys to make it once they leave here. I want them to be able to go in the NBA camp or overseas, hold a job, where they understand their behavior has to fit the setting they're in.

Q. I know you said you hadn't had a chance to watch Xavier play all year, but what do you know of them? What do you know of Chris Mack and the style he likes to play and just what are your thoughts on playing Xavier?
COACH DAVIS: Great coach. Great coach. You know, I think he's one of the top coaches in the country. I don't know -- Bluiett is the shooter. I've seen them play on the TV off and on. I know he's a big-time shooter. They have a 6'5" wing guy who's really, really good as well.

It's going to be a tough game for us. But, like I said, we'll prepare for it, win lose or draw. We're prepared for it. We're not afraid. I know they're excited about playing us. Coach Mack is a great coach.

So I keep saying this -- 0-13, weren't many teams 0-13, but I kept telling my guys you're the best 0-5, best 0-7 team in the country, the best 0-10 team in the country, the best 0-13 team in the country. And they believed that. But they know there were not a lot of teams 0-13. But we kept fighting, kept fighting, and now we have a chance to put our non-conference schedule into play on Friday night.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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