NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 18, 2021

Dustin Kerns

Appalachian St. Mountaineers

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Postgame Media Conference

Norfolk State - 54, Appalachian State - 53

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Coach Kerns. We'll begin with an opening statement from Coach Kerns.

COACH KERNS: I want to, first of all, congratulate Norfolk State and Coach Jones on a great win and on our end a very tough, heartbreaking loss. I wish them well in the tournament. And I'm certainly proud of how our team fought back. And certainly that's March Madness. It's March Madness. There's heartbreak. There's buzzer-beaters. That's it right there. That's why everybody loves it.

And just what a great moment for our country that March Madness and the NCAA Tournament is back. It was an honor to be part of the First Four tonight.

Q. Can you take us through that last play? What did you design there? And did it go off the way you had hoped it would, and if not, what kind of broke it?

COACH KERNS: It was designed for a backup for Forrest. We were trying to post up Donovan Gregory. We were lifting everybody up. And we wanted to sprint up Justin Forrest and then back-cut right to the basket and empty it out.

And they made the entry very difficult. And it just became a broken play. And I certainly thought Almonacy's 3 was down and we got another look at it. That's what we were designed for was to get Forrest a layup at the rim off a back-cut.

Q. In terms of the first half, it wasn't like you were not getting good looks at the basket. I mean, were they doing anything defensively to disrupt you or were the shots just not falling?

COACH KERNS: I think it was a little bit of both. I think they were being very aggressive. They had us back on our heels. And I think our guys, just nerves, first time, bright lights, and just took us a while to settle down. And then we kept missing and missing, and then the pressure and pressure kept mounting there.

And so once we settled down and we got back into it and obviously took the lead. But we spent a lot of energy coming back in the game.

Q. What are you saying to the team when you are going through that stretch where the shots aren't falling, like you said? And I wonder, was there concern that maybe when this happens when you guys play so hot in the Sun Belt tournament then you do have to face a layoff like you guys faced between this game and that set of games?

COACH KERNS: Well, I just told them to trust our reps. I told them the shots will fall, just to relax and be confident and the shots will fall. And I think at halftime our guys did settle down a little bit. And then I think a little bit was the way we did shoot it. They were aggressive with us. They were certainly defending the 3 well in the first half.

We had some open looks but just couldn't get one to fall. And so then they just became more and more and more pressure shots. But in the second half I thought we settled down and certainly gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game.

Q. Jalen Hawkins comes off the bench for them and takes off from the moment he gets on the court. I guess, what were you guys expecting from him? Did he catch the team off guard?

COACH KERNS: No. No. No, we were expecting him. He was a guy we were very focused on. He just got hot. And some of his points were off of our turnovers. And so it wasn't -- we had 14 -- 10 turnovers in the first half. And so they had 14 points off our turnovers. So that was a little bit of it. But we were very, very prepared for him. We thought, you know, he was certainly capable of that.

But a lot of it was transition and points off turnovers. And then he just got hot there. We lost him one time in transition on a second 3. And he was feeling it. And certainly we were very prepared for him.

Q. You had a couple of guys at the end there who were down on the floor for a while. Obviously the emotions, the situation. What do you say to a player in a situation like that to kind of get him up and get him back to the locker room? What do you say to your team in a situation like this after the run you guys have had?

COACH KERNS: I told our team don't be sad it's over; be glad it happened. We have a lot to be proud of. And proud of how our guys represent the university and their community and their families. But we're hanging the first Sun Belt banner in our arena. There's a lot of banners up there.

And so this team has a lot to be celebrated for. But there's emotions. This is emotional. And when it comes to a screeching halt there, especially abruptly with an opportunity to win it, that's difficult. That's difficult. I just told them at some point we get through it. Instead of being sad, be glad it happened.

Q. Obviously today didn't go your way. But with the way you guys came back in the second half, what do you think you showed the country about Appalachian State basketball?

COACH KERNS: We're fighters. We're fighters. We came down from 22 a couple weeks ago and won. And certainly we came back tonight. And we're never out of it. And we're going to fight and be 40 minutes, and -- whether we're up or down.

And so certainly I'm proud of our guys' fight and togetherness and how connected they are, because you have to be that way. When you get down, which is basketball, right, you have to have a connected group, you have to have high character to be able to come back. So I certainly think that our program's got a lot of character and a lot of fight.

Q. Obviously Justin Forrest and Michael Almonacy are two guys that played meaningful minutes and will be leaving this year. Obviously a bunch of guys on this team will be returning. They got a really great experience here coming to this tournament and are going to be in the program for a while. What can you say about what that will give them going forward and just the future of the program?

COACH KERNS: Yeah, I mean, I haven't really had a chance to think about next year much. But I think that this will give our program a huge boost in the community, on campus, with our students. It should carry momentum with a lot of excitement into next season. And then we've got a lot of guys with experience going through this and winning the Sun Belt and playing in this tournament.

So certainly experience is the best teacher. And certainly we have a lot of guys in that locker room who got experience playing in this tournament.

Q. And probably Justin Forrest's last game here. Quite a career. Kind of take over there in the second half -- hit those two or three straight 3s, but really got you all back into it, give you all the lead. How happy were you to see him do that on this big stage?

COACH KERNS: I knew he was capable. We got in foul trouble. We had to sit him down and calm him down a little bit. He got in foul trouble, played with three fouls. And certainly we did that.

And he's got a lot to be celebrated about. He's had an incredible career here. He's set a lot of records. And most importantly he got App State to the NCAA Tournament. And I think he's going to be remembered for a lot, but he'll be remembered for getting App State to the NCAA Tournament and really changing the course of the program. His junior and senior year, we had, stopped an eight-year losing streak and then went on to the NCAA Tournament.

That's what he'll be remembered for and that's pretty special for him. And certainly we're very, very proud of him and all he's accomplished.

Q. You mentioned that you really haven't thought about next year, specifically. But what's important to carry forward the momentum from this season through the offseason, through recruiting, kind of taking the program forward? You're always remembered for how you finished and you guys finished with a great run at the end of the season. How do you build on that and then make that sustainable going forward?

COACH KERNS: I think that our players now -- now that they've gotten a taste of this, they've won a Sun Belt championship, so now they know really what all goes into it, and taken that to another level. We necessarily can't take the same route that we took up the stairwell. We've got to take a different route. But we've got to be committed to the same habits and standards that we're about.

And the new guys that enter our program, the older guys, pulling them aside and saying, hey, this is what it takes, and this is what it's all about. And this is the standard we're going to hold you to. And then I think that's going to be a big for us is having that locker room rise to our standards even more and hold each other to that.

For us as coaches, we've been coming in saying, hey, here's what you gotta do, here's what you gotta do to win. And I think now our players can start doing that. And when that starts happening, then you really start building a program -- when players start really coaching players and holding each other accountable instead of always being the coaches.

But we were new. We came in, second year, here's what it takes, here's what it takes, here's what it takes. Now I think they believe that. So now we need some help doing that. And if we can get guys in that locker room really taking more ownership and taking that sort of stuff to another level, that will go a long way.