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BIG TEN CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 2, 2019

Chris Holtmann

Hilton Rosemont - Rosemont, Ill.

CHRIS HOLTMANN: Let me begin by thanking Jim Delany for his incredible work here with our league in particular and obviously our men's basketball programs. I think we're all very appreciative and really excited about the next step, the next phase, with Kevin here as we move forward in our league.

I think our league obviously had a tremendous year collectively last year with a number of NCAA Tournament teams as well as the number of teams that advanced to the second and to the Sweet 16, and obviously Michigan State's run. So congratulations to all those teams.

Listen, I wish I had a lot of answers for you today. I'm not sure that I do. This is a little earlier than we typically have this time. Like all of our coaches, I'm sure we're anxiously anticipating consistent work with our guys on a regular basis so that we can figure out a little bit more what our team looks like and continue to grow and develop with our team, and that's really our focus right now is we're focused more on the bricks than the wall right now.

I think as much as we can, that's going to remain our focus here as we move forward.

But like all the coaches, we're excited and anxious for the season to continue to get moving in the second and third week of practice.

Q. I was in Nebraska this past week at Ohio State-Nebraska and the football game. We're here about basketball, but Ohio State is such a big time university for all athletics, what's it like for you to have this energy coming in every year from the football team coming in to get you guys started off great on basketball season?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah, listen, as I've said to a lot of our local media, I think it's a tremendous asset to have a program like our football program and some of our other programs that compete at the highest level and compete for a National Championship. Like you, I watched that game. It was a tremendous environment in Lincoln, as you'd expect for really all the basketball games and the football -- tremendous environment. I'm so happy for Ryan and his staff and how they're playing, and obviously I'm sure he's focused on the next game, which is Michigan State on Saturday.

Q. What do your guys say about your drip?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: You know, I just ran into them, and they were pleased. They were pleased. I didn't get the drip comment like I did after one of our games last year, so maybe I need to step up my game.

Q. You had mentioned maybe a week or two ago that E.J. and Justin and Musa were all dealing with some injuries, and it sounded like you expected at least Justin and E.J. back at some point. Is there any update on Musa and whether or not you'll have him back for camp or for the start of the season?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: So we have three guys out right now, Justin Ahrens -- they're not in contact, though, not in full contact. Justin and E.J. have had limited work in noncontact drills. Musa Jallow is out and will remain out probably for certainly the next week or two. So obviously we want to get those guys back as quickly as we can. I believe that E.J. and Justin will begin to go full practice here in the next few days, as long as their test results come back positive.

Q. I know this league is always good, but can you talk a little bit about the depth of this league and especially with a 20-game schedule, what that grind is like from beginning to end?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: You know, it's a great question. We experienced it last year, and you know, I think it is -- last year was the youngest team I have ever coached, and this year is going to be even younger with over half of our roster being freshmen and sophomores. So to go through that grind with a young group, I think it taught me a lot of lessons, and we got beat up, quite honestly. We really got beat up.

I have so much respect for the quality -- it's clearly in my mind the deepest league in the country. I think it's arguable there could be other leagues that you would consider along those lines, but the depth of it is what makes it, I think, special, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I think it's going to be as deep or deeper than it was last year.

Q. Obviously you've got a talented player out of this state in E.J. Liddell. When he is healthy what does he bring to your program and what does he bring to the Big Ten?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: You know, he's one of those really interesting and we've got them -- Penn State has an incredible one that's a mismatch issue at the forward position that's a tremendous player on both ends in Lamar.

I think for E.J., he's one of those guys that is just a difficult match-up when he's really playing well, and he's going to go through some ups and downs and bumps and bruises. But what we loved about him was his ability to obviously impact the game on both ends, but really he's got a unique skill set at that size. And he's one of those guys that you coach, guys that they're kind of wired to score. They can roll out of bed a little bit and score, and that's what E.J. can do. He's got to get healthy, got to get in better shape, but we're excited about his year.

Q. Pat Chambers was up here talking about Lamar Stevens and said he's challenged him to have a Mamba mentality, every drill, every practice, every game. Have you challenged Kaleb in any way like that, and what have you seen from him in the early going here in practice?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Has Lamar not had that in the past because he's been pretty danged good without that?

You know, I think that that is the next step for -- Kaleb obviously took a significant jump at him from his freshman to sophomore year, and he deserves a lot of credit for that, as did his brother from sophomore to junior season. I think the next step is more consistency, both in practice -- obviously it begins there. And then his play, and then beginning to adjust as to how teams are playing him.

His biggest issue even as good a year as he had last year was he has to play smarter in terms of his fouls. We've got to help him with that as a coaching staff. He's got to take the next step there. And we're anxious to see if he will.

Q. As far as the point guard situation goes, do you guys have somebody you look at and say, okay, he's the likely starter, or with C.J. and D.J. are you going to let that play out for a little while?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah, we'll let it play out really with all of our positions to be honest with you. I think it's going to be -- we're in constant evaluation mode. I think that position, it's exciting to us because we have some experience, obviously, in C.J. Walker and in D.J. Carton, a young guy who is really gifted. So we'll play those two together, as well. So we don't always look at it as an either-or situation.

I think there will definitely be times when they play together.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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