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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 16, 2019David CoxTyrese MartinCyril LangevineJeff DowtinWashington, D.C. St. Bonaventure 68, Rhode Island 51. COACH DAVID COX: I guess I'd like to start by giving all credit to the Bonny's staff, Schmidty in particular, and those players. Thought they played a heck of a game today. They earned that victory and I wish them well moving forward. It's always tough. This is the end, you know, this is the end, not only of a great run but it's the end of a year, and I think the overall theme that I shared with these guys and I'll share with you is that in over 20 years of coaching, I've never been prouder of a group of young men, for all the adversity they fought through, for their resiliency and for staying together. I thought that they went out this weekend and they represented themselves very well. They represented the University of Rhode Island and they represented the basketball program with great -- with great pride. I'd also like to thank all of the fans, again, who came out and supported us today and have been here throughout the entire season, as well as our administration. Specifically, our athletic director, Thor, who is here now and who has been with me every day, every step of the way, through all of the ups and the downs. There's not much more to say than that, other than the fact that these three gentlemen up here in particular left it out there on the line today, as they have all season, and I guess the next step is regrouping, getting our bodies together and then getting back to work because we fell short of our ultimate goal this year of winning another conference championship and making it to the NCAA Tournament. But the life lesson will stick with us and that is in times of adversity, you know, you have two choices: You can either quit or you can continue to fight, and this group continued to fight, and that's why I'm so proud of them. Q. Jeff, you said yesterday that you felt that you were being a little bit disrespected by the other teams, maybe overlooking you. Do you think you've earned the respect back from the other teams in the conference after the run you guys have made the past three days? JEFF DOWTIN: I would hope so. I felt like we're one of the top teams in this league. I've got a great group of guys that come out and fight hard. They never fold. Always step up when we need it. Always fight through challenges, fight through adversities, and I guess one of our main goals was just prove that we can handle with the big dogs in this league and we can put our mind to, whatever we want to accomplish, we can accomplish. So I hope we gained those teams' respect. Q. Tyrese, aside from the result, obviously, which wasn't what you guys wanted today, how much do you and the other younger guys gain out of the three days here in Brooklyn, winning two games and playing in a semifinal here in this tournament? TYRESE MARTIN: Biggest thing we gain is probably experience now. I mean, coming into this, we didn't know what it took as freshmen, so all we could do is look up to the older guys to lead us here and try to follow, like, if we didn't know what to expect. But now I feel like we've got experience and we know what it takes, and now we just got to do more so it doesn't happen again. Q. What does this run you guys have been on mean for you going forward, in terms of building off it and having some motivation, too? JEFF DOWTIN: For me just all about getting experience, like Tyrese said, sure, we've been in situations like this before. We have been to the A-10 Championship and we've been to March Madness. Now it's just focusing on getting those guys, the freshmen ready, and giving them a taste of what's bound to happen next. Q. During that five-game losing stretch, what did you do learn about yourselves as leaders, because of course, last couple years, you were able to lean on some of the upperclassmen. Now you're in the spot of being upperclassmen. What did you learn about yourselves in terms of leadership? CYRIL LANGEVINE: It made us become even more leaders because we didn't know what it took to be leader because obviously we were behind E.C. and Jarred and them, and it was our turn to step up during that five-game losing streak and that's what we did. Q. Jeff, after yesterday's win, obviously an emotional one, maybe the most emotional of your season, were you particularly mentally exhausted for today's game? How much did yesterday take out of you for today? JEFF DOWTIN: I don't want to make excuses. I guess you can say I was mentally exhausted here and there but every time I step on the court I have to give it my all and everything I've got. I've got to lead the team. I'm not going to say I was exhausted. I've just got to push through and find different ways to help my team win. Q. Also for Jeff and Cyril. Just your thoughts on the job that Coach Cox did this year, obviously an adjustment for a first-year head coach, but just kind of the last couple games, last six games, seven games, what did you guys take away from his first year? CYRIL LANGEVINE: I just want to say, the guy to my left, Coach Cox, he's like a father to me. He let's me know when I'm right and when I'm wrong, and I accept it, and if it's his first year, I think he did a great job. He always keep everybody on their toes. I just thought that he fought with us and he kept trust in us, and we got to this point. You know, obviously we didn't get to where we wanted to get, but I think he did a great job. JEFF DOWTIN: For me, one of the main reasons why I decided to stay at the University of Rhode Island was for Coach Cox. I knew the type of vision he had, the type of plan he had. I knew he wasn't going to sugarcoat anything. He was going to give it to me straight up, tell me what I needed to hear. He's always pushed me. Me and him have gone through multiple battles this year, just been fighting at each other. But I know -- I just know he wants the best for me, and he's always looking out for me and I respect him a lot. Like Cyril said, he's like that father figure for us and without him we wouldn't be here to this day. Q. You feel like the guys kind of ran out of gas there, especially offensively in the second half? Looked like a lot of guys were flagging at the end? COACH DAVID COX: Yeah, not to make any excuses as Jeff mentioned, but yeah, they were tired today. To be honest with you, so was I. I was fatigued today. It finally hit me. I don't think I had the juice. I obviously didn't have the juice that I had yesterday and. I think those guys needed it, so there's a part of me that is, again, very proud of these guys and their run, but there's another part of me that says, man, if I had a little bit more left in the tank myself, maybe I could have got these guys over the hump. Yeah, we were all -- we were all fatigued. Q. You mentioned that this is basically the end of the season. Does that mean you won't accept a postseason bid, whether it be NIT, CIT, CBI? COACH DAVID COX: We would more than likely -- we would definitely accept an NIT bid. As far as the others, that would be a conversations that I'd probably have with my athletic department. Q. During that five-game losing stretch, what did you learn about yourself as a coach? You just talked about the adversity that the guys overcame. How proud were you to see them bounce back and what did you learn about yourself in terms of pushing players and being able to fight through that kind of adversity? COACH DAVID COX: There were a lot of lessons this year, not just in the five-game losing streak, but probably took everybody, team, staff, to a dark place and what you learn, you learn is if you have enough resolve; if you're cut out for this particular business and I think I learned that I do have the resolve and I'm cut out for this particular business. Again, I've experienced life in general, you know, that's prepared me for these moments. Winning and losing obviously is very important. That's why I'm hired, to win games, but ultimately, you know, again, I'm an educator, as well, and a father. So the growth that those guys showed, you know, over the past month and a half, will stick with me forever. So I'm very proud of them, and I think that, you no he, there were probably some times where we all questioned whether or not we were cut out and made for this because it was so hard. We had not been used to losing, but we fought through it. We stayed together and like I said, I've never been prouder of a group of guys. Q. I'm sure it's hard to think about the future now, but what does this run maybe mean in terms of a springboard for next year? COACH DAVID COX: Well, I mean, I think it sets it up pretty well. I mean, it should be a confident group of young men. Now they know what it takes to win, to compete at a very, very high level. So that bodes well for the future. But with that being said, you know, the team we just played, they have some young guys, too. They will be back. VCU will be back. Dayton will be back. The league will be very, very strong next year. So we've got to get to work. We've got to get to work right away, and we've got to get better. I've got to get better as a coach. These guys have got to get better individually, and I do -- I do look forward to -- without looking too far into the future, I do look forward to season two. Q. Hearing the answer that Jeff and Cyril gave to their last question about playing for you, what does that mean to you, and what's your reaction to that? COACH DAVID COX: Oh, man. That's a hard one to answer. It means the world to me, you know. It means the world to me. You know, as a coach, whenever you have -- whenever you can -- whenever you can have kids trust in you enough, particularly through tough times, to stick with you, to follow your direction, particularly since I haven't proven myself as a head coach, you know. And then we get to this point where we make that sort of run and we play on this grand stage, and then they -- you know, when asked, they give you the credit, it means -- it means the world to me. Those are like -- I've got two kids of my own, but I also have 15 additional sons, and so that makes me -- it makes me feel good. It makes me proud, and also makes me determined; determined to come back next year even better and even stronger. Q. In terms of your players and their health going into the off-season, do you have any guys who are going to need to address some things, maybe over the next couple months, before the next season, and if so, what are they? COACH DAVID COX: Not surgery-wise. At least I don't anticipate that at all. They all just need rest. I've played those guys so many minutes. Think about Cyril, Fatts and Jeff, in particular, the minutes that they logged for this season, the beating that they took, and then, you know, some of the freshmen, even Tyrese, I think they just need rest and they will be reevaluated. But as far as anything, you know, as far as surgery or anything really serious, no, I don't anticipate any of that at this point. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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