NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - NORFOLK ST. VS GONZAGA

March 20, 2021

Robert Jones

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Norfolk State Spartans

Postgame Media Conference

Gonzaga 98, Norfolk State 55

ROBERT JONES: Well, tonight was obviously a tough game for many reasons. One, our opponent was top-notch. Clearly the best in the country. But, two, I think we let the moment get away from us a little bit.

We put the pressure on ourselves instead of the pressure being on them. Honestly, it was no pressure on us. But we played that way. Especially after the first media. Even within the first media, but we were fortunate to be up.

We put too much pressure on ourselves. We didn't play Norfolk State basketball today. We haven't played the way we've been playing with 17 wins this year. I told them at halftime I wasn't quite sure which team was out there. Once again, credit to Gonzaga, they're a quality opponent, did some great things. They shared the ball, 27 assists is amazing, they do some great things.

I'm more disappointed about us not coming out with the effort that we needed to come out with. Not really disappointed about the actual points, things like that. But if we came out with a better effort, that would have took care of some of the other stuff.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Even with the outcome no longer in doubt there at the end there was some emotion still on the bench. What were those final moments like? What was the message to the squad?

ROBERT JONES: It was tough final moments obviously. No one expected to come out here and lose by 40 points, no matter what the opponent. That's just not our DNA. We were very upset about that.

At the same time I brought the captains in, the seniors I should say, and just told them that it's going to be okay, and I told them no tears out here. You should lift your heads up, because you've done something that no other team in Norfolk State history in 23 years of Division I has done, and that's to win a regular season title and a tournament title in the same year. This year obviously we played in divisions, but we're co-champs. To do that you can walk out of here with your head high because it took 23 years for this to happen.

Like I said, you can hurt about the points total and things like that, but you can walk out of here with your head high because you've done something that never been done in Norfolk State history.

Q. You never let your players back down or anything, but were there times that Gonzaga looked overwhelming? Did it almost look like that in person?

ROBERT JONES: Yeah, because of the way we were playing. Honestly, not to take anything away from Gonzaga, obviously a great program, No. 1 team in the country for a reason, right? But also us, we didn't give a good showing of Norfolk State basketball tonight. We play with way more intensity. We came into the game 17th in the country with field goal percentage defense. We didn't play a lick of it tonight.

Like I said, we shifted the pressure from Gonzaga to us. Gonzaga is probably playing in the national championship. We're not supposed to be even here in a sense because people thought we were going to lose to Central; we won that game. People thought we were going to lose to Morgan; we won that game. Appalachian State, we won that game. I don't understand why we put so much pressure on us. I know everybody wants to get that upset win, that one shining moment and all that jazz. We put way too much pressure on ourselves and didn't play the right way.

Q. When you look at the overall picture, it's a beautiful thing in terms of the direction you're taking this program in. Can you speak to that, basketball overall?

ROBERT JONES: We didn't have the best showing tonight, clearly. But with us having a quality non-conference wins, we showed we can compete with anybody, mid-major in the country. With us winning a championship, having 17 wins in this pandemic, just showed the DNA of our program.

Like I told the guys, there's a lot of people who played basketball, really good basketball players, that never made the NCAA tournament, ever. There's a lot of good coaches out there, assistant and head coaches, that have never coached in the NCAA tournament, let alone get a win in a tournament game. Whether it's First Four, Final Four, Middle Four, you got an NCAA tournament win.

My coaches and my players should be proud of that because, like I said, there's millions of people who coached the game of basketball, played the game of basketball, we're one of the fortunate few to get to a NCAA tournament win.

Q. We know what kind of competitor you are. We can see the emotion in you, you're a little miffed you didn't put on the show you wanted to. How long do you think it will take for you to step back and realize the run that you made, the fact you're the only program from Virginia to win a tournament game this year? Will you be able to do that or is this bad taste going to linger too long?

ROBERT JONES: No, it's going to linger tonight. Probably linger tomorrow. Probably linger throughout the rest of the weekend. Just like the competitor I am, on a national stage, of course you want to win every game that you can play.

But at the same time I have to tell myself the same thing I told the team about the stuff that I just said about from a coaching standpoint, from being able to get NCAA tournament wins, a lot of people that get to the tournament and things like that, have never got a win in the NCAA tournament. So to get a win is a great feat.

I think we're moving the needle, moving the program in the right direction. You figure two out of the last three years we've won the regular season title. That's moving in the right direction. Before that, it was only one regular season title in the whole history of the school. Now we're back to the NCAA tournament. The needle is being moved in the right way.

I told the players the ones that's coming back, have eligibility and things like that, the ones who choose to come back, I should say, know that you're going in the right direction. Now since you tasted this, you should want to taste it every year.

Q. What type of attention do you want for those kids who may have never heard about this program or had kind of heard about it? Because of the national stage do you think you're going to see some considering Norfolk State now? How important is that?

ROBERT JONES: I don't know after this game (laughter). But in general, I think that even after the Appalachian State game, even after Selection Sunday, we started getting more inquiries about Norfolk State basketball from really good players.

Even as everything was going on with the social injustice, things like that, we started getting more inquiries of better players that were interested in Norfolk State basketball because of what we can do. This is another step in that to show you can come to an HBCU and win a game in a tournament. You can compete on a national stage. A lot of other places haven't done that.

It just shows you can go anywhere and compete on this stage. Hopefully people see that and still have the interest in Norfolk State basketball.

Q. From a personal standpoint, what has it been like this weekend in Indiana competing at the highest level from a coaching standpoint?

ROBERT JONES: Like I told the guys before, even before this tournament, reflected on a 2012 moment. With the NCAA tournament, outside of my son being born, it's probably one of the biggest highlights I'd say I can always remember. This is going to be the same thing. Me coming back as a head coach, not just an assistant coach, to get an NCAA tournament win, something I'm going to relish forever until maybe the next one happens.

It's just something I'm always going to think about. This group of guys I'm always going to remember. I think you always remember your championship groups, right? So I think this is a special group. I'm always going to remember this group. Whatever these guys need, they can count on me to give it to them.

Q. There are rumors about you and your future, other jobs. Can you tell us about your commitment to Norfolk State, maybe what your future holds?

ROBERT JONES: I mean, my commitment to Norfolk State, I'm a Norfolk State men's basketball coach. I think my A.D. and president are interested in making sure I stay at Norfolk State. As far as any other rumors about jobs or anything like that, as of right now they're just rumors about stuff. Like I said, my A.D. and my president are committed to having me at Norfolk State. Once we get back, we'll talk about some things.

But I'm committed to be at Norfolk State, too. I think that we can do some special things here. It shows. We just got to tweak a couple things and just try to get back to this point and go further.

Q. What can your players learn from playing a team that good, seeing how they execute?

ROBERT JONES: I mean, I told the guys, every time we're in the weight room, we're telling you to go a little harder, it's because of that, because of those physical teams that are out there in the country. Gonzaga, all those guys clearly hit the weight room, right?

The times we tell you that you got to be a little more disciplined defensively, offensively, cut harder, screen harder, is because of this moment. Maybe in conference, maybe through non-conference you can get away with some of that stuff. Once you get to the pinnacle, you have to do everything the right way to win a basketball game. Hopefully those guys will be able to take that on a little bit going forward about what you need to do to really be the best team in the country, which Gonzaga is.

Hopefully everyone sees that.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for your time. Congratulations on a great season.

ROBERT JONES: Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you.