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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: SAN JOSEMarch 21, 2019Hasahn FrenchTramaine Isabell Jr.D.J. ForemanJordan GoodwinJavon BessSan Jose, California MODERATOR: All right. We well some the Saint Louis student-athletes to the dais. We have Jordan Goodwin, D.J. Foreman, Tramaine Isabell, Jr., Javon Bess, and Hasahn French. We will open it up to questions. Q. Jordan, you were quoted earlier this year saying you guys were the best team in the A-10. You proved that winning the A-10 Championship. Do you feel like you need to prove anything when you play tomorrow night? JORDAN GOODWIN: Not really. I feel like we need to go out there and focus on ourselves. I feel like everything has been improving, especially in the conference. Now we're heading to something way bigger than that. So I think as far as proving ourselves, we all know that we deserve to be here. So it's just going out there and playing. Q. D.J. and Javon, at least one of their players in the Virginia Tech press conference referred to this as a revenge game. You guys played last year. It's been a long time. But do you feel like there's something to be taken from that game still or is that just too long ago to really matter at this point? JAVON BESS: I think it's too long ago. It's a brand-new team. They got a new team, we got a new team. So we're not really looking back at last year. We're just trying to figure out what we gotta do tomorrow to win the game. D.J. FOREMAN: Yeah, I agree. Q. A lot has been said about you guys being gassed after having to play four games in four nights and winning the conference. Do you feel gassed or do you feel like your time has run out? JAVON BESS: Not at all. TRAMAINE ISABELL, JR.: I feel fine. I think we're just excited to be here, ready to get going, and, I mean, that was how many days ago? Four days ago. We got young guys. I think their legs should be rejuvenated by now. Q. Tramaine, you bounced around from a couple of schools and you came to SLU. You said you wanted to win, and Travis told you that you would have an opportunity to win here and he would push you. Coming full circle now, you're here, you're in the NCAA Tournament. Is this what you envisioned when you had signed the line to come to SLU? TRAMAINE ISABELL, JR.: Yeah, 100 percent. This is my first time being in an NCAA Tournament in five years. So when I made that decision in I think it was June, obviously you want to put your mind in a place where you want to think that it's a reality. I mean, obviously nothing is guaranteed, but I looked at the roster. I knew I was going to be playing with the guys beside me and the guys in the locker room right now, and I thought that they would give me the best chance to put me in the position to play on this platform, which is what every basketball player wants at some point in their life. Q. Hasahn and Tramaine, Virginia Tech, this is their third year in a row. For you guys it's your first time in the NCAA Tournament. And I know Coach, one of his terms is be laser focused, but I also know he wants you to enjoy the experience. Are you guys finding that there are a lot of things different about this week that you kind of want to enjoy but it's a fine line in terms of not getting distracted? HASAHN FRENCH: I believe we are preparing ourselves very well as we did all year. I believe we're all locked in. We know that this means way more than the last tournament, but we're coming in with the same focus, just to win. And as long as we stay focused and we focus on ourselves and focus on the plan that Coach has for us and we lock in, we should be fine. We're not too worried about anything. TRAMAINE ISABELL, JR.: Yeah. I mean, I totally agree with that. I feel like you're in California, it's good weather. There's a lot of things to do. But I think there's a lot on the line right now, so I think guys are focused that this game tomorrow, and everything else that's happened in the past doesn't matter anymore. Obviously we're happy to be A-10 champions, but you can't live in the past. We want something greater than that. Q. For Hasahn and Jordan. For a recruit or someone who may be transferring after this season and they see you guys playing, doing what you do, what do you think they will get -- what's the type of personality you think they will get from you guys if they decide to come to SLU? What kind of brand of basketball are you guys playing, and what can recruits look forward in the next couple of years? JORDAN GOODWIN: As far as our playing style, you can't play with Coach Ford if you're not tough in some type of way, willing to get after their own defense. As far as recruit, if you want to come and play with us, you gotta be able to guard, you gotta to be tough, and you gotta be able to take coaching, because Coach Ford is gonna get you on 24-7. But it's all love at the end of the day. HASAHN FRENCH: He explained it exactly right. And also just a culture that people will stick with you with your ups and downs. Even though we had down time this season, we still stayed with each other. We still found a way to come back and win everything. So a person that wants to come and play at SLU, they just have to think about if they want people that are around them when they're up and when they're down, it's the perfect school. Q. Some of the players made comments after the game on Sunday about just how it's been an up-and-down season, some of the things you guys have gone through this year maybe that some people don't know about, but Tramaine or Jordan, can you just comment on the roll that Coach Ford has played and maybe keeping things going and keeping everybody on board? JORDAN GOODWIN: I mean, I think as far as like a family away from home, Coach Ford to all of us is like our dad, for real. Just being there through the thick and thin. He gets it worse. Everything goes to him. And I mean, like we have people come and go all season, but, I mean, I think the Team Blue, what it stands for really stood out. And Coach Ford made that up, the Team Blue. So just gotta give Coach Ford credit. TRAMAINE ISABELL, JR.: One of the things that I've noticed from being here at Saint Louis was Coach Ford does a good job of making you realize like what are the reasons why we're doing something and like why are we in the position that we're in, whether that's going to be positive or negative. When we're losing games, he's giving us like obvious reasons as for why we lost. And then like right before we went to the A10 tournament, we put on the white board all the reasons why we thought we could win, and it was just interesting to see like how everyone on the team was thinking, you know what I mean. And some of the things -- like everyone was thinking the same thing. And some of the things you sat there and realize like, wow, we actually do have something special here. Like maybe I didn't even realize that. And I think Coach Ford definitely has like a gift like getting guys to like realize like their potential. And he's been saying it all year, he thought we could do something special, and now we're sitting here talking to you guys. So I mean I think we just gotta keep going. MODERATOR: Looks like we're good. Thanks, fellas. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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