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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: WASHINGTON D.C.

March 29, 2019

Washington D.C.

Duke - 75, Virginia Tech - 73

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams and student-athletes Justin Robinson, Ahmed Hill and Ty Outlaw. Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Ty and Ahmed, get your thoughts on the looks you had in the final seconds. And for the three seniors, it's been quite a season. How will you remember not only this season but your productive Va Tech careers?
JUSTIN ROBINSON: The three to tie was probably a bad pass by me. The alley-oop at the end was a good look but it probably off-centered. So I think if I would have had a little bit more angle into their pocket, they would have made both.

Q. Talk about your careers as seniors.
AHMED HILL: We came here to try to build something as a program with Coach. And I think we kind of changed a lot of guys' opinion on Virginia Tech. I thought we did -- we played unbelievable and we fought. We just came up short. But other than that, I think people will remember us for a long time and the things that we did there.

TY OUTLAW: I'll say I'll just remember being with my guys every day, the support on the road and at home that the Hokie Nation has showed us. And I'm glad they showed us what real love is. And I'll never forget all the lessons I've learned from winning and losing every day with these guys. A lot of lessons.

JUSTIN ROBINSON: I'd say it was an unbelievable run. When I came in, we had finished last in the conference and then we had the biggest turnaround. And now we had a chance to win a game in the Sweet 16. I think it's just a blessing. We went out fighting and that's all you could ask from the group we had.

Q. What are you most proud of from this year? (Indiscernible) to the way you played defensively throughout the year, and the kind of jump you made over the last couple of years on that?
TY OUTLAW: I'll say I'm most proud of how we've consistently worked every day. And through injuries and adversity we always stayed together and didn't make excuses. We just found a way to try to get it done. That's what I'm most proud of.

JUSTIN ROBINSON: I would say the same. The 12 games I was out, the best coach in the conference did a good job of making switches, and my team just did a tremendous job of staying to themselves and just learning and finding ways to win when we got labeled as a team that couldn't score without me. And that blessing and being around a group of guys that never gave up and fought to the end is what I was most proud of.

Q. Ahmed, you started really hot and you were getting open looks and you were making them. Did Duke adjust in the second half to kind of to cut you off and force the ball anywhere else? Did you see that, or just as the flow of the game went?
AHMED HILL: I think it was just the flow of the game. Credit to my teammates for finding me, and credit to God for making them all go in. I just think it was the flow of the game. I didn't think anything changed, really.

Q. How do you feel, like, from where you started to now where you're at, where this program's in place? You have a lot of young guys you've kind of mentored this year. Obviously KJ is going to be a senior next year. How do you feel about just having this program in a place that it's never really been in a while?
JUSTIN ROBINSON: In my opinion, KJ is the best big man in the country. He's my roommate and seeing him take the stride that he took this year was very impactful to me.

The young core that we have, they stepped up. Guys we, I wouldn't say we expected to play, played. We were going to redshirt Chico he had a big impact on the team this year. Mully came off the bench when needed and brought a spark to us. P.J., he did tremendous. I just think overall -- obviously Bede stepped up when I was gone. And I tell him that every day, that I'm so proud of him, and just to keep going and be ready for next year to have it as his team.

Q. What was the discussion before the last inbounds play? And Ahmed could you feel that Zion was trailing you? Justin, what was the discussion beforehand, and Ahmed what did you see there?
AHMED HILL: One of our coaches, Jamie, drew up a great play. It was a lob play that we ran kind of last year a lot. And this was our first time running it this year. I saw that they switched. I saw he was trailing.

Justin threw a great pass and I just came up short. And that was about it. I wasn't worried about anything. I just tried to get my eyes locked on the rim and it just bounced to the left.

JUSTIN ROBINSON: I would say the read on the play was if Ahmed went to curl around for the lob, he's a tremendous 3-point shooter, you have to curl around and go the way that he went. The read was there. It was wonderfully drawn up. And I think we executed well, I just came up short.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.

Q. How will you remember this season and this five-year chapter because whatever happens with you or not, you said before this is going to go from being an experienced team to a young team? Kind of an era ending here. How will you remember this year and the last five years?
COACH WILLIAMS: I learned so many lessons, incredibly grateful. Just listening to these guys, I don't know that I would say anything different. Obviously I think in many respects I've learned more from them than maybe they've learned from me.

It's been a lot of fun. Lifelong relationships not only with the players but with our managers and student trainers. I think I've become a better parent because of my relationship with these parents and seeing their life story and then obviously being around their children every day. Thankful for how it's all transpired.

You ask about -- or somebody asked about the last two shots. I thought it was perfect. Ty Outlaw shoots one. Med shoots one. And both passes came from 5. I thought that was perfect. And to even be in that position obviously is a lot of work. But if we were to replay it again right now, I would call the same exact things, because of my faith and trust in those guys.

Q. You're a veteran of this stage. You understand that the farther you advance, the more it hurts.
COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah.

Q. How do you teach that to your guys who haven't been here and are now in that locker room?
COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah. Obviously all of this is new to them to get to the last week in March and still be playing, to play on this stage, to play against the number one No. 1 seed. There's so many things they can learn. I don't know, to be honest. When the last game is over -- I don't know that there's ever the perfect thing to say. I've always done the exact same thing every year that I've been a head coach because there's just so much emotion -- so much emotion from the loss, so much emotion from kids that won't play in college anymore.

I think, considering how this specific game transpired, I think they handled it probably as well as they could. But I think as time transpires, there's so many things we can learn, not just from this weekend or last weekend, but just the entire process.

Q. What do you consider the biggest catalyst you've been able to accomplish over the years? Three straight NCAA Tournaments, making the Sweet 16 this year; if you could pick one of the biggest catalysts behind it all?
COACH WILLIAMS: I'm not sure what the one thing would be. The first thing I would say is the character of everyone involved. And the other thing that I would say is obviously because I have a microphone in front of me a lot of times maybe I don't do a good job of speaking to the support of everyone, right?

You don't win because of one player. You don't win because of one coach. The alignment from Dr. Sands to Whit to Whit's staff to me/my staff to our team, the old guys, the young guys -- I think the process of where it was versus what we've done/been through, I think it's everybody pulling in the same direction.

And I think as everybody pulls in the same direction, it creates more ownership. And within that ownership, maybe everybody tries even harder because they're beginning to have some success. It's such a thin margin in this league. You can get a lot better and the results not necessarily change because it's so difficult.

But I think it's everybody, not just the players, not just me, but everybody, the support of our -- not just Virginia Tech employees, but year one in Cassell was for sure not what years three, four and five were.

You know, the first postseason game we played was against Princeton in the NIT. And I thought from that moment forward the ambiance and environment in Cassell just completely changed. And if you look at our winning percentage at home, it kind of speaks to that. And that also, I think, helped us begin to have success on the road. Back-to-back years we've had a winning road record. And that's, I think that's always a beginning staple of a sustainable program.

Q. You mentioned yesterday that total shots in your mind would be a big deal. And sure enough you got more shots in that regard. Did this game unfold the way you wanted it to?
COACH WILLIAMS: I appreciate -- I'll answer this, because I know you pay attention to it and study it. So these are the numbers that I told our guys: We've got to have five more field goal attempts. We've got to have 14 offensive rebounds, which is a skewed number. We've got to have 15 free throw makes. And we have to have 10 or less turnovers. And if we do those things we'll win.

Plus six in field goal attempts. Heck of a job. Minus one on free throw makes. So we're minus one. 17 offensive rebounds, which we don't count if KJ shoots it and misses and gets his own, we don't count that as an offensive rebound. So some of his 11 were missing his own.

And then obviously we had 11 turnovers. Those numbers, I think, were right. And that speaks to the competitiveness of the game. I could probably keep sharing numbers with you, but thanks for asking.

Q. Med said that you ran that last play last year, hadn't run it this year. When did it occur to you that that was the play to call; and afterward, did you say anything to him like, We missed a lot of shots; there was just the last one you missed so your last shot didn't determine the game?
COACH WILLIAMS: I asked the lead official when they were about to put the ball in play out of bounds under if the clock was right. He said the alternate official said that it was. And I said, No, did you see it? And then right before they put it in play, they went to the monitor again. I thought it was a great crew. I'm not speaking negative at all about the officials. The thing about that play that we ran, we're going to run it with less than one second. And it was .6. So we have no choice but to run that play. And then it changed to 1.1. It was still the right play. What we've been running this year is kind of a different version of that when teams switch. I did not say that to Med. I probably should have. I don't remember what the first question was, but whether it was .6 or 1.1, which I think is what it became -- my brain's going a little fast -- it was the right call. And 5, that's just who he is. The pass was perfect. Med caught it. He just missed it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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