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

March 15, 2018

Detroit, Michigan

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Butler players, Tyler Wideman, Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin. We'll open the floor to questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Arkansas likes to trap. They like to do a lot of things, speed you up. How do you go about dealing with that, and what sorts of experiences have you had throughout the season that will help you deal with the pressure?
KAMAR BALDWIN: I would say first thing is obviously taking care of the ball in the game. But just attacking, when we do get out of those traps, just handling it. And the experience we had, I would say, a little bit of Villanova in the Big East Tournament game, they kind of played a little of the same way -- aggressive, denying. But I think that prepared us well for this game coming up.

Q. Last year Arkansas played Carolina. If they had won that game they would have played you guys in Memphis. When you were watching the Carolina/Arkansas tape getting ready for last year's game, did you guys notice anything about Arkansas? Did you get a sense for what a tough loss that was, because they've kind of talked about that being a driving force for them all year?
KELAN MARTIN: Yeah, I just noticed that they played hard and they were tough. They never gave up. And they got a lot of guys with experience. I mean if we would have played them it would have been a great experience just to see that pressure that they have defensively.

Q. You guys lost your entire coaching staff pretty much overnight in June. And for Tyler and Kelan, I was wondering when that happened what was your first reaction? And what about your new coaching staff let you guys not miss a beat this season?
TYLER WIDEMAN: I think it was, when it happened, we were surprised but then we understood why it happened. And I think being here all four years, I mean we've been through, I think, three or four coaches, however many it is. So it wasn't something that we didn't already go through. So we knew we still had our teammates to count on to be there regardless of who the coach was, the program was still going to run the same way.

Q. Tyler, as a senior leader, then, with the coaching staff coming in, what did you have to do to keep the younger guys on pace?
TYLER WIDEMAN: I mean, myself and the other older guys on the team that have already been there, we just had to show them the way that Butler was ran for the most part as far as academics and athletics. I mean everybody in the program does a good job making sure everything stays consistent from the AD down to the academic advisor. Everybody does a good job keeping everybody in line.

Q. How is your coach different from other coaches you had? How would you describe his coaching style?
TYLER WIDEMAN: I would say he's probably the youngest coach I've had. So, I mean, he's a player's coach. He understands stuff that's going on and our generation for the most part. So he's a player's coach. He's easy to talk to. So I like the coaching staff that we have.

Q. Kelan and Kamar, on drivers with Gafford, he comes from the weak side. He's long. Much like Texas, St. John's, Georgetown, some other teams that you guys have had to drive the ball against, what problems does he present with his length and his ability to come off that weak side and block shots?
KELAN MARTIN: He averages like two and a half to three blocks a game. We just have to get in there and draw shot fakes. And if we just put it up, I mean, we crash the offensive glass. That's a strength of ours. He's a good player, he's a good defender, so he can protect the rim very well.

Q. Kamar, for anybody who doesn't understand what kind of team Butler is, how would you describe from your perspective your basketball team and what you guys are made of?
KAMAR BALDWIN: I would say we're a group of tough guys that like to get the job done. No matter how we do it, we're going to get it done. Like our motto, we're gritty, not pretty. So we're ready to fight and ready to work hard.

KELAN MARTIN: I agree with that. We get after it defensively, and we have a lot of guys that bring different intangibles to the team. And we just go out and play hard. And we surprise a lot of people.

Q. Kelan and Tyler about Gafford, obviously he's a good defensive player, but what do you think of his offense? He's been making strides pretty good. And he's a guy that's gotten in foul trouble. Do you feel like that that would be a big part if you guys can get him in foul trouble?
KELAN MARTIN: To be honest, I never really watched him offensively. I never heard of him until we scouted him. But that's our goal, just to attack, attack the paint and just try to get easy scores offensively.

Q. Kamar, Jorgensen, what does he bring as far as helping out the supporting cast?
KAMAR BALDWIN: He's a great guy. New York, he'll bring a source of energy for us. New York, he's just -- he just wants to play, play hard, you know, come off scoring, defense, whatever the team needs. That's what he's going to do for us. He's been great to have this season.

Q. Kelan and Kamar, how familiar were you guys with Arkansas? You kind of touched on it a second ago, but how familiar were you with them before you got the draw in the tournament?
KELAN MARTIN: I actually watched them play against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. And I've seen that they played hard. They were physical. They like to get up and down the court. And they just look like a great team. They play together. They've got a lot of older guys. That's all I've really seen.

KAMAR BALDWIN: Same thing he said.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll continue with Butler and head coach, in his first year, LaVall Jordan. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH JORDAN: It's exciting to be, obviously, a part of the NCAA Tournament. We're very proud of our group for earning this opportunity. And it's been, I think, a unique experience just to be back at Butler, my alma mater, and lead this team and this program.

So I'm proud of our seniors for their leadership to get us to this point. I think they've grown a ton. Our entire team has grown and learned a ton in our season, along the journey. And so it all culminates here. This is where you want to be at the end of it.

So we're looking forward to the opportunity. We've had a couple of good days, I think, of preparation. We'll finalize some things today and try to compete with our greatest energy tomorrow when it matters.

Q. You've been in the tournament as a player, as an assistant, and now in a new role as the head coach. What's different about taking a program to the tournament as far as just being part of a program?
COACH JORDAN: I don't know if it's different. I think at each role that you're playing, obviously, when you're a player, it's what you dream of, getting to the NCAA Tournament, competing for a national title. But I think the same thing when you decide, when I decided to become an assistant coach and now being a head coach, that is definitely the end in mind.

And I think just trying to -- you lose some control as a coach. You can't make a shot. You can't make a play. You can't guard anybody. And so you're trying to just make sure our team is as prepared as possible. And our staff does a great job. Our assistant coaches have been phenomenal since Selection Sunday up until today. And so you just try and make sure that they know what to expect so they can play with free minds and great energy.

Q. The Butler job came open in mid-June, which is definitely later than normal. How surprised were you when it came up and how did you build trust with your new staff to keep it a Butler team?
COACH JORDAN: I think June is a unique time for turnover in this profession. And so that was definitely a surprise. I was here last year in Detroit with our Milwaukee team and we fell just a little bit short of being at this point.

But after everything happens obviously we're excited. My family was excited to come back to Indianapolis and this opportunity. And fortunately the timing worked out because we had a foreign tour, a foreign trip with our team to Spain. And that allowed us to really get to know them. We had 10 practices leading up to the trip. And we had a couple -- a 10-day trip. So there was ample amount of time to get to know guys one-on-one, listen to hear them talk and hear their stories and backgrounds, what led them to choose Butler and their goals and things like that.

So that was really important, I thought, for our staff. It just felt like the right time. You got to spend time getting to know the players.

Q. You guys struggled at the end of the regular season. Do you think your team took something out of that experience or did they grow from that experience?
COACH JORDAN: Yeah, I've been proud of this group throughout this entire journey for their mindset. And it's been a growth mindset. I think there's a humility about them, where they want to learn. They don't think they know it all. So it's allowed us, from day one, to just teach. And that's been the most fun part has just been teaching and there's been questions along the way.

Obviously some things we're doing are new. A lot of things we're doing are kind of Butler standard principles. And so toward the end of the year their mindset was the same. We lost a couple that hurt to lose. It always hurts to lose, but they came into practice the very next day just wanting to learn from that loss and be better the next time out.

Q. Wonder what your take was on Daniel Gafford after watching him and the way he runs the floor for a big guy and just the things he can do on both ends? His wing span is 7'3" or something like that.
COACH JORDAN: He's a tremendous talent. You watch him on film and he looks like one of those guys, some guys you can't really judge on the video, when you see him in person they look like they're 12 feet tall. But he's one of those guys that for his size and his length he's so mobile. He affects the game without scoring points. He really affects the game at the rim. So he makes it tough to go down there and get easy baskets because of his shot-blocking ability.

And on the other end he's around the rim for them offensively with tip-ins and lobs and I can't even remember -- he's got more dunks than our whole team by himself.

And so it's a challenge. We've seen a few guys like him with Mo Bamba and Jessie Govan in our league, guys with great length. It's not the first guy we've seen like that. But he's an unbelievable talent.

Q. Wanted to ask you about your time at Michigan. How did Beilein make you a better coach?
COACH JORDAN: In a multitude of ways. I think by the time I became an assistant at Michigan, I had been an assistant for a few years there, five years. And so Coach was, always having been a head coach is extremely unique. So just being underneath him and learning how to run a program.

Obviously teaching the game is one thing. But I feel like I had great mentors and our coaches at Butler that I coached -- played under and then coached under, in terms of basketball itself. But he's never been an assistant.

And so all the decisions that you have to make, the presence that you have to have, the constant messaging that you have to do, handling all the other things outside of the team was something that, I think, he's a tremendous CEO, outside of a brilliant basketball mind.

So, on top of the management piece, it was learning the concepts with offense and spacing and some of those things as well. But I think my biggest takeaway was running the program. I was able to ask questions and go into his office and have conversations about that. And he's still a tremendous help in that area.

Q. I'm wondering what you learned when you were an assistant at Butler. Just seems like Butler turns out such great coaches. And I'm wondering what it is about when you're playing there or you're an assistant there early in your career that you learned that eventually helps you become a head coach some day?
COACH JORDAN: Yeah, I think the thing as a player, there was such a belief and a buy-in to the way we did things and we just fully believed it and committed to it. And it was not overcomplicated. Simple is not easy. So doing it every day and there's a commitment level.

And then how to teach the game. I think Coach Collier, Coach Matta, Coach Lickliter and the staff and the coaches I was underneath were tremendous teachers. I as a player absorbed as much as I could possibly take in. And then as an assistant just asking questions about how to do that well because you want to make sure that you're clear when you're teaching these guys, what you want from them.

And so that was probably the biggest takeaway of being able to teach with simplicity and so that they could go out there and execute.

Q. You guys were 18-1 when you outshoot your opponents. How confident do you feel your team will be able to scrap and claw given the fact that sometimes in the first round those nerves are really in full effect? How do you think you guys have evolved in that way?
COACH JORDAN: I'm trying to figure out the 1. That's what I'm trying to figure out. No, I think, you know, what this team has shown is a resiliency, whether we're making or missing shots. And that's something that's, I think, a character piece to that in terms of who our guys are.

We've been down and we fought back and so we've had those moments to grow from, learn from. Obviously if we're making shots, everything's going right. Everybody can operate during those times.

But I think one of the things I'm proud of with this group is it hasn't gone our way a lot. And we've had to fight our way back and claw our way back and still figure out a way to get it done.

So should that be the case, I feel like we had that in us. Obviously I'd love to come out and make every shot and win by 40. But Arkansas is really good, and I don't think that's going to be the game.

Q. Mike Anderson has talked about you guys having a visit at the PK80. Wondering if you could relay what was that like, what that conversation was? And did you pick anything up in that conversation that might help you in this matchup?
COACH JORDAN: No. You know, Coach -- I think I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Anderson. I was an assistant coach; we played him when I was at Michigan. And then we were out in Portland.

It was -- our conversation was more about team management, just kids these days, and trying to relate to them and get messages across to them. He's had that experience for much longer than I have, and just picking his brain on how he communicates with his staff and his team, not as much about what they're doing on the full-court press. I wish I would have asked him those questions.

Q. You guys have taken pretty good care of the ball. Arkansas obviously, they try to turn people over a lot. How do you think you guys will handle that? What do you think of their defense? And also do you know if your dad's going to be able to make the game. I heard you talking a lot about that.
COACH JORDAN: Unfortunately he's an athletic director for a high school in Michigan. They have a conference. So he won't be able to be there on Friday. So he's putting some pressure on me to make it back on Sunday. But I think the first thing that you look at when you're facing Arkansas and Coach Anderson's teams in general is their pressure. And you have to be able to handle that.

And we've seen a few teams that have pressed us and we've done a fairly decent job with that. But we take a lot of pride in taking care of the ball. And so I think that will be a battle of wills. Obviously we have to have a plan to break the pressure and take that. I think we've worked on that the past few days.

But when you get out there, sometimes you can't simulate the quickness and the length in practice that you're going to see in the game. So we'll have to respond in the moment. But I believe that's a big part of the game.

Q. We've talked about this, but I'm wondering if you can elaborate on how -- even when you're coaching other places -- how you stay connected with like the Butler community and your teammates and the coaches, and you can bring that kind of culture to places you go, and then so when you come back you know exactly what you need to do?
COACH JORDAN: Yeah, I think that's, the Butler family, is truly that. It's one of the unique places in the country in that regard, from the university president on down to the athletic director to all of our coaches and all of our student-athletes. So it makes it for a great college experience. I mean, I loved my time there as a player for as much as the winning and things that we accomplished, but the way that you felt supported.

And I think that is what you're excited to come back to and you never really get away from. I've got a number of former players texting me with suggestions. I've got more assistant coaches than the three on the bench. But also with, pick your head up, Coach, when we lose one, and, you'll get them next time, or a congratulatory text, and the other coaches from the other sports.

And so it's a very connected group. And I think that was something I was proud of at Michigan is rebuilding that connection with Coach Beilein there with former players of the past and being able to communicate what I experienced here at Butler.

Q. If you could talk about the seniors when you took the job, specifically Tyler, what did you kind of lean on them a little bit in your transition to taking over the job here?
COACH JORDAN: I leaned on Tyler a lot because he was one of the guys that I knew the best, having recruited him when we were at Michigan. So we had spent time together. I had been on the phone with him and his mom and people around him. So the next call, after Barry called me and I accepted the job quickly, was to call Tyler because I still had his number and tell him we're going to have to lock arms and do this together; that I wasn't the guy to come in and think I knew everything. Obviously I know Butler, but I didn't know the guys in the locker room that well. And he did.

So we had a number of conversations upon our arrival just about the team, about the guys, about how things were done with Coach Holtmann and what they were used to because obviously we all have different styles. So he's been a tremendous arm of leadership for myself and for his teammates.

Q. When you first saw that you were playing in Detroit, what was your reaction? What does it mean to you to be playing in your home state and to be able to stay in the Midwest?
COACH JORDAN: Well, I was excited to see our name in the tournament. I think that reaction was -- it was just, okay, now we're in. Wherever they send us, we're ready to go and we'll see who we're going to play against. And obviously with Detroit being at home and Michigan, my grandparents can make it. They're not too far away, over in the Auburn Hills area. So that was exciting.

And then I think our Butler community, a lot of them will be able to drive up and be here for the weekend. And so that will be great for our guys to get that amount of support, and I think we'll have a good turnout.

Q. What are you wearing on your right -- what do those say?
COACH JORDAN: One says open practice. So we're going to have that in a minute. And this one says, stay positive. And then there's two, one is Seth, we adopted a young man with our program through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Seth Dennison, so this is "Prayers for Sethy Boy." And this one is Joel Cornette's famous quote, "we're still here." So things that kind of come along the way that you want to remember and keep things in perspective.

Q. I just started following your Butler blue dog mascot last year because it's kind of funny. Seems like everybody in Indiana gets their picture taken with that dog. I've seen your picture with him a lot of times. How big is that dog to you guys? Is that just --
COACH JORDAN: He's got his own seat on the plane. Obviously it's, I think, an iconic mascot. He's part of the family. And so it's good when we can have him on the trips and I know he's a popular -- he's more popular than me.

Q. Arkansas has a smaller back court with a couple of 6'3" guys and a 6-foot guy. I know you flipped between Paul and Sean depending on matchups and all that. How will, if you go with Sean or when Sean's in the lineup, how will you handle the matchup personnel-wise with him maybe on a 6-foot point guard like Anton Beard?
COACH JORDAN: We had some conversation leading into the game -- that's a good question -- just about how we wanted to match and which was better on both sides of the basketball. And I think both guys are ready. Obviously Sean's got good length and can challenge, and he's one of our better rebounders. So that helps us because they're a pretty good rebounding team and they've got length and athleticism.

And with Paul, he can help -- a better ball handler to help make the press and smaller and quicker to chase guys around in their motion offense. And so I think both will obviously play healthy amount of minutes, starting versus not starting. I don't know if it matters as much, because they both give us something really good on both sides of the ball.

Q. You were gone from Butler, I guess, about a decade after you left the staff in '07. When you got back to campus and resumed as coach, what did you know, what changes did you notice not only with the basketball program but even more specifically the whole university and the campus?
COACH JORDAN: Well, you know, there's more buildings than there were when I was there. There's a new, couple new -- a new dorm and new communications building. There's another new dorm being rebuilt. And so those were the obvious standouts.

It looks a little different. It's still Butler and it's similar to what I experienced, but it's definitely not the same. And the Hinkle Fieldhouse has had great renovations. Coach Collier has done a good job and people have contributed to make Hinkle have a renewed feeling to it.

And so you walk around, just aesthetically, it looks a little different. And obviously when you look up there, see the Big East banner hanging in Hinkle, that's a lot different than the old MCC that I played in. So it was exciting just to knowing what you could offer students as they come to visit and show them around and point some things out that we feel are unique and special.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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