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

March 21, 2019

Columbus, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Washington student-athletes Matisse Thybulle and Jaylen Nowell as well as head coach Mike Hopkins. Questions for the student-athletes first?

Q. Matisse and Jaylen, after taking a look at Sam Merrill on tape or sort of as you guys get into Utah State a bit, what jumps out at you about, first, Sam and then how they run their offense?
MATISSE THYBULLE: First thing for me is firstly how talented he is as a scorer and just how he does it so effortlessly. He's able to put up big numbers and it's not by forcing things or taking bad shots. He's a great team player.

And also to add on to that their team as a whole plays really well together. And it's cool to see, but, yeah, they play well together and they have a great leader in Sam and a great scorer with him as well.

JAYLEN NOWELL: He really moves the ball very well. He doesn't really force a lot of shots. That's something you really need as a leader. He's been having a great year and he's a really good player. He's been leading that team very well this whole year.

Q. Matisse, just how have you guys gone about shaking off the loss in the conference tournament and then entering March where a lot of teams come in really hot?
MATISSE THYBULLE: I mean, it's always the next game. Win or loss, you can't dwell on it. For us we moved on the second we got off the bus and we're excited to be here and have this opportunity to play in March Madness.

Q. It's been since 2011, I believe, since Washington's been back to the tournament. You guys were in late elementary school, middle school maybe then. Do either of you guys have any memory of that? And then your thoughts about being the ones to get Washington back here?
JAYLEN NOWELL: I do not remember that. 2011, I was probably 10 years old. Probably somewhere in my backyard maybe, shooting. I don't know what I was doing. Do you remember?

MATISSE THYBULLE: No. I think for me and I know for Jaylen as well, it's really exciting to be able to bring U-Dub back to this stage because I know that Husky basketball has been known as a great program. And they went through a stretch they were able to get out, play in March Madness for a little while and it's been too long. And we're just really happy to be able to bring us back.

Q. What's your campus experience been like since Sunday? Obviously there's a high level of excitement among the other students who are on campus, and you guys are heroes for at least a few days, and hopefully more.
MATISSE THYBULLE: It's been cool just to see over the course of the year just how people have just banned together and supporting us, whether it's been from professors to students to staff members. And it's been really cool to see how people are getting excited again about our basketball team.

Q. Matisse, what's the biggest difference you've seen from Jaylen when he was a freshman coming in this season? What's the biggest development you've seen in his game?
MATISSE THYBULLE: That's a tough one. We've talked about it a little bit. When Jaylen got to U-Dub, he was just a killer. He knew how to score. So his freshman year was a lot of that. You saw that with his first game. Who comes out in their college debut and scores 30 points? That's insane.

And I think his biggest development is just being -- he's become a greater, like a well-rounded player. He thinks the game at a way higher level. He makes everyone around him a lot better now. Just to be able to see how far he's come from that first year in just one year really has been really impressive.

Q. I wanted to ask about Mike Hopkins. What have you seen him do in the last two years to start -- maybe set his culture with the program? And he just got signed to an extension. Where do you see that development potentially going?
JAYLEN NOWELL: Well, first, I would love to say Coach Hopkins has been one of the best coaches I could ever ask for. And when he comes in day in and day out, he works very hard on everything. He loves all of us. We love him. And we just love coming in and working hard for him.

And the first year was exciting. For him to come in and especially this year with just the energy he gives us, he brings us all as a team, brings us together even more as a family. That's really one thing that he really harps on is that we're all family and that's what we've all been.

Q. What's been your experience like, Matisse, with Hopkins? Projecting forward maybe a little bit, where do you see maybe that culture and the growth continuing to go?
MATISSE THYBULLE: It's been good. We were joking about walking in here, about how he's a player's coach. I think that's a huge thing. I think going forward his ability to build relationships with his guys -- we've only been with him for two years. But the guys to start off with him to see how their relationships grow, going into their third and fourth years. And just to be able to use that as a recruiting point going forward because we all know we love him. And it's becoming more and more known throughout the country he's a great guy and a better coach. And the family he's created at U-Dub has been great and we can't wait to see where it goes from here.

Q. He's got a ton of NCAA Tournament experience. What has that messaging been like from him? And you mentioned him being a player's coach. From the experience perspective, like, how has he messaged to you guys in Columbus?
MATISSE THYBULLE: I think it's exciting to have a coach -- and I think more importantly our coaching staff has a lot of experience in the tournament and has had a lot of success. And being with people who have been here and done that at the highest level, it's pretty special, because none of us players have been able to play at this level.

And to have that comforting force in our coach and our coaching staff, knowing that they know what it's like, what to expect is pretty reassuring and, like I said, comforting to have.

Q. Matisse, Utah State's coach compared you to Deion Sanders and how you cover the court. I'm wondering what is it about this defense that's allowed certain things in your game or just natural things you have to blossom the way it has?
MATISSE THYBULLE: These guys. I mean, seriously, we play zone and these guys load up the backside, so I'm able to go and make plays and try and chase the ball around a little bit. And that's been, that's huge for me because just trying to be disruptive, I have to be able to go and get out and gamble sometimes and kind of put our team in some tough situations. And they do an incredible job having my back.

And honestly they make great plays out of that. So I think from my own personal success a lot had to do with, one, Coach Hop, and, two, the four guys I have on my back at all times.

Q. When you were growing up, is that the style you had or is that something you grew into when your body grew?
MATISSE THYBULLE: Whenever my teams would press, they would throw me in the middle of the zone and I would pick off as many passes as possible.

Q. You really were Deion?
COACH HOPKINS: Never played football.

Q. What is the goofiest thing Hop as done hop, whether practice, on the bus or team meal, whatever?
JAYLEN NOWELL: That's a good question. There's so many highlights with this man.

THE MODERATOR: Feel free to protect your playing time at this point. (Laughter).

JAYLEN NOWELL: I don't know. That's a tough question. I could think of plenty.

MATISSE THYBULLE: He has -- sometimes he'll go on his little tangents, rants, and he'll start reenacting what us players did on the court and just kind of making fun of us. One time he was frustrated at one of our guys because he grabbed on the rim and got an offensive interference.

And he was re-enacting that play in our film room. And like he jumped up and punched one of the little ceiling panels and like shifted it so there was like a hole, and it didn't get fixed for weeks. That was pretty funny.

JAYLEN NOWELL: I've got one. We have this little bat that symbolizes our "Tougher Together" saying. So like sometimes he'll get kind of angry and he'll kind of pull it out, kind of point at us, like tell us everything we're doing wrong.

And one day he kind of pointed at us and held it up like this, so everybody's kind of thinking, oh, he's about to hit somebody. But he kind of just put it up and just walked out the room and didn't say nothing. And we're all like looking around like, okay, what is he about to do? Is he about to go break something in our locker room or is he about to come back and really start swinging on us? So that's one. That was one that I could actually -- crazy.

Q. Didn't swing on anybody?
JAYLEN NOWELL: No, he didn't swing on nobody.

MATISSE THYBULLE: One thing he does a lot -- we don't think about it anymore -- he'll just drop and do push-ups for no reason. He'll just get really excited and start doing push-ups.

He's done it in press conferences. I think the first one in U-Dub, he dropped down and did a couple. Push-ups are his thing.

Q. Is there anyone on your team or their team, is there an X factor in this game? Maybe somebody who isn't getting, who isn't on this podium who isn't getting a lot of attention but could be a big difference in this game?
MATISSE THYBULLE: I don't know. For us it's kind of -- we're pretty special in the way it could be any guy for any game. And we've shown that like throughout the season it doesn't really matter. We have guys who step up coming off the bench. We have starters who step up who usually don't score that much. I think that makes us a pretty special team because it can come from anyone at any night.

And as for Utah State, they have a lot of guys who aren't very well known. And if you look at the numbers, they have some really, really talented guys. And I don't think that a lot of people across the country know much about them. But I know they'll start hearing about their names coming up soon. And I think that us respecting the scout and just being aware of our coverages will help us a lot because they've got some firepower that just isn't talked about much.

JAYLEN NOWELL: Like T said, we have a team that really has a lot of guys that can be on any given night. So everybody's going to come out and play hard and that's one thing that we really take pride in.

And for the other team they have a lot of guys as well. They're not as known. But they won the championship for a reason. And they're a really good team.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Coach, your thoughts.

COACH HOPKINS: Just so blessed and grateful to have the opportunity to be in the NCAA Tournament. The last two years have been an incredible journey with our seniors sticking with the program and really working hard and having a really good year and getting an opportunity to play for a national championship. It's really, really special.

It's one of those feelings that not only now but for the future you want to have for the rest of your life.

Q. Matisse and Jaylen mentioned you've done push-ups at press conferences, so we'll leave it up to you when we finish up with questions. Just how important or maybe even awkward was it to get your contract done during the season before the NCAA Tournament, maybe to get that out of the way? Was the timing great or was this kind of --
COACH HOPKINS: For me it's a simple -- I've always believed in surrounding yourself with great people. And I have at the University of Washington. I'm excited to be there for a long time. But this is all about the kids. This is the experience for the kids to have an opportunity to hopefully finish out what has been a successful season. It's not about me. It never has been. And next question.

Q. Do you think this sends some type of a message as to the school's commitment to you and then your commitment to the school?
COACH HOPKINS: Like I said, surround yourself with great people, and I'm with an incredible university, and I love the kids that I coach. And just really blessed and lucky to be there, to be the head coach.

Q. It's been eight years, I believe, since Washington's been to the tournament. Can you talk about what that means to you and your players to be the ones to bring the team back here and how important that was when you were back on campus and that sort of thing?
COACH HOPKINS: I think I really believe in like the score takes care of itself. And what does that mean? It means you surround yourself with great people. I've got an incredible staff. And you just try to get better every day.

And you never know, people that ask me, is the speed of where you're at right now, does that matter? Did you think it would be this fast? To be honest with you, you just focus on how we're going to get better.

And so to see these guys grow, especially the seniors, and our young guys, and to keep getting better and to keep getting better, you never think about it was eight years in the NCAA Tournament. Your goal is to get an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament because your ultimate goal is a chance to win the national championship. That's what March Madness is all about.

So for me to have been a part of a whole group to get them to get that opportunity and to feel that is really, really special.

Q. You've been to 18 tournaments, I think, as an assistant coach. Is it different as the head coach, finally, especially since you were going to be the head coach-designate at Syracuse?
COACH HOPKINS: I don't think it's different. The feeling -- Cam Dollar was a national champion at UCLA. Dave Rice was a national champion at UNLV. So our staff experienced it, and what you're trying to do is to lead these young men to understanding what it takes to be successful and have a chance to be in this tournament, and to see them walk in that locker room and seeing "Washington" and seeing their name tag, and watching the tournament today, which I think today and tomorrow are the greatest day in sport. And to be a part of that, it's special.

The one thing I've learned about being successful in the tournament is it's special, it's great. But nothing changes. We talked about don't eat the cheese. It's about focusing in and there's one truth: To win the game, you've got to go out and execute your game plan. You've got to do it together. And when we've done that we've been a successful team this season.

Q. Curious, has there been any kind of messaging with people from Syracuse, with Jim; and if so, what have those interactions been like? And any thought you might have matched up with them going into this?
COACH HOPKINS: You know what, obviously Syracuse raised me. It was a huge part of my life. I know Coach Boeheim as well as I think anybody in the business. And I know he's proud watching. But I also know he's preparing his team just like we are. And I'm sure after the season we'll get together and review the season and try to get better. But not a lot of communication other than I know he's rooting for us and I know we're rooting for them.

Q. Curious about how much you know about Utah State and maybe some of the concerns you have facing Utah State.
COACH HOPKINS: I think a lot of concerns, they're a heck of a team. Sam Merrill is one of the best players that nobody knows about around the country. We're talking about a guy who has got double the assists of anybody on their team. He's the combo guard. And you're talking about a guy who averages over 20 points a game. He goes to the foul line. He's a great shooter.

But not only that, if he's not open, he shares it. And there's not too many players like that in the country. Neemias Queta, a guy almost averages close to a double-double and averaging three shot blocks a game. I remember hearing about him in the middle of the year. They were talking about this great center at Utah State. Where did he come from? Who recruited him? Who did this?

And obviously Craig Smith, he's done a tremendous job. That league is very, very good. And to be able to win the way they did is a credit to them. And it's going to be a heck of a challenge. And they pose a lot of challenges.

Q. Is there an additional challenge for you being so west and coming into the Midwest from just a time adjustment?
COACH HOPKINS: No. I think these kids, they go to bed late. They've been studying. We've had finals. These guys, just to have the opportunity to be here and to play in such an incredible tournament and to play against the best competition in the country, that's what you're trying to do and we have that opportunity.

Q. You've said a little bit about the contract situation. But aside from surrounding yourself with good people and trying to get the players better, what about this is gratifying to you from a standpoint of being a career-long assistant at Syracuse and then making the statement with this team these last two years; it's got to be a great degree of satisfaction for you personally?
COACH HOPKINS: I think at the end of the day there's no question. It's all about you're leading a bunch of young men and a staff to win. And to learn what it takes to be successful in life. And they go hand in hand.

And we've learned how to win. We've played together. We've played as a unit. We've played for something greater than ourselves. Everybody sacrificed a little of each other to have this successful season. And that's the type of culture we're trying to create. So to see that and what you're selling every day on a day-to-day basis and hammering and hammering it into these kids and then seeing it work and them seeing it work and having success, that's what it's all about. And just so proud of our guys.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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