NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 15, 2022

Mike Brey

Paul Atkinson Jr.

Nate Laszewski

Dane Goodwin

Prentiss Hubb

Cormac Ryan

UD Arena

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Notre Dame student-athletes Prentiss Hubb, Cormac Ryan, Nate Laszewski Dane Goodwin and Paul Atkinson Jr. Coach Mike Brey will follow.

Q. Prentiss, Nate or Dane, you came together a highly touted class. You planned on being here multiple times. Didn't happen that way but now that you're seniors. I'm curious just being in the building and the environment knowing you're about to play, kind of what the feeling is like.

PRENTISS HUBB: It feels like a good feeling after four years being able to actually get a chance to play, play for something deeper into March. And I feel like it's an exciting experience. We've got to take advantage of everything that we have been working for this season. And I think that's good for all of us.

DANE GOODWIN: Obviously it's pretty exciting. And came in here Notre Dame with intentions of making it every year but obviously we haven't been there yet. And very much looking forward to this. Been waiting, working a lot. This group's been through a lot. It's cool to see it finally coming together at the end. And hopefully we can make a deep run here.

NATE LASZEWSKI: Something as a class we strived for never been able to get there. But being here now is exciting for us. Definitely looking forward to locking in and being able to play. But just been working all year for it, definitely one of our goals. It's been awesome to finally get here.

Q. What have you learned about Rutgers in the last few days? And what do you think that challenge will look like tomorrow?

NATE LASZEWSKI: The team that's got a lot of really talented players, especially two elite guards who can drive the ball and make plays and get to the rim. Just have to look to penetration and try to keep them off the boards.

CORMAC RYAN: They're obviously a good team. They've had a good season. And I think our focus over the last couple of days, while we're prepping for them, we're also focused on ourselves and what we can do to be the best version of ourselves and kind of control what we can control.

PAUL ATKINSON JR.: Like Nate said, they're a really good driving team. They're really physical too. Just keeping up with that and making sure we can contain and control what we can control.

Q. Prentiss, what's it like coming from Maryland to South Bend? What's it like being the only kid from Maryland in the NCAA Tournament, just from the state of Maryland?

PRENTISS HUBB: There are a bunch -- there's a few people from Maryland in the NCAA Tournament too. It does feel good just being able to play for Coach Brey. He's from the Maryland area as well. And I just grew that bond with him through my high school career. And just coming here was an easy transition. I think the hardest thing was just like the weather.

Q. You're close to home, four hours from South Bend. You've got Saint Patrick's Day coming up. It could be a special environment here. Talk a little bit about having the luck of the Irish, if you will, this week here in Dayton?

PRENTISS HUBB: I feel like we really can't rely on luck too much. I feel like it's all the hard work we've been putting in throughout the whole season. And I think that if we could put our minds to it and just dial in and just do what we need to do and stay together, that we'll be able to come out successful.

CORMAC RYAN: Our fans have been great all year. We're hoping for a great environment tomorrow. These games are usually really exciting. We're excited to kind of get out there and just play in a special environment, especially being pretty close to home.

Q. Paul, a little bit surprising you're playing in this First Four environment, but we've seen in recent past, teams can make runs, deep runs with this as a launching pad. Do you take some solace from that knowing that this isn't really a death sentence, that you came here to play in the First Four?

PAUL ATKINSON JR.: Absolutely. It's another game we have to go out and win. We didn't care how we got here we wanted to get here any way possible. It is what it is. We want to go out and battle. It's going to be tough, an extra game, but we're here, and we're ready and excited.

Q. Building off that, for you guys, seeing what UCLA did a year ago, does that give confidence maybe the road is harder but it's not impossible, that you can still achieve what every team wants to do?

CORMAC RYAN: Absolutely. We've talked about kind of using this as a springboard to kind of launch our run here. And we fully believe that. We think we hit the ground running and we look at it as a great opportunity for us, not a challenge.

DANE GOODWIN: Like Cormac said, Coach came up with a couple examples, one being last year with UCLA and teams like Syracuse and VCU over the last 10 years or so, really taking full advantage of the First Four and being able to win a game get momentum going and eventually care that throughout the tournament. So I think we're looking to do the same.

Q. Dane, your dad had a very successful career here. How cool is it for you to play on the same floor as him?

DANE GOODWIN: It's obviously very cool and very special to be back. I've been here plenty of times, been to plenty of games. Actually been to a few First Four games as well. And we've always talked about that, my family, my dad included. We'll have plenty of family here. And plenty of events and stuff going on. But it's really cool.

I have very fond memories here. My first thing comes to mind, my dad getting inducted into the UD Hall of Fame. That game was pretty especially. Pretty cool to experience that with him and my family as well. A lot of those memories come back. And looking to making one more here.

Q. We asked the guys yesterday. Can you take us back to your fifth and sixth grade dreams of what the NCAA Tournament meant to you, maybe playing Nerf basketball maybe in your bedroom or out on the street? And has it become reality to this point?

PAUL ATKINSON JR.: Like you said, playing Nerf basketball, it's something you watch on TV when March comes around, seeing teams make runs, special situations, (indiscernible) a while back, Loyola Chicago. And you think of all the special moments that have happened around this time. It's really exciting that you grow up and now you're living it. You're a team that can go make some noise. It's really awesome.

DANE GOODWIN: I mean, it's obviously a really cool experience, something a lot of people don't get to experience as well. And we're looking to take full advantage of that. Obviously you've always dreamed of playing in it and getting to this point. And we're looking to make the most out of it and eventually go on a run here.

NATE LASZEWSKI: Definitely, ever since I was a kid I always watched March Madness, watched every single game. Halftime at games go out on the driveway, shooting hoops, dreaming about being in that moment. Now that we're here, it's an awesome feeling. It's a great opportunity for us. So it's been something I've always dreamed of.

CORMAC RYAN: Just echoing all that. For me, part of the dream was being here. But part of the dream was winning games. So I guess we're only halfway done.

PRENTISS HUBB: Just growing up, like just going in middle school, remembering filling out a bunch of brackets and stuff like that, just watching the games during class and just really just taking it, I've been able to take it in and just realize how blessed I am to be in the situation. And to be able to do something that I thought I could do 10 or so years ago.

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by coach Mike Brey.

COACH BREY: Absolutely honored to be here and to be part of this. We've missed it in recent years. And I've missed it desperately. And to be back in it, we're thrilled. We're honored. We didn't overanalyze seeds or anything like that.

But I think we felt we had a pretty strong resumé, finishing second in the league, that we were going to have a shot at this thing and that's all you can ask.

Q. You coached against Rutgers for many years and saw the challenges of building that program up close. Just curious what impresses you the most about what Steve Pikiell has done that to turn that around?

COACH BREY: This is my fifth Rutgers basketball coach I'll coach against. The only program that's had more coaches in my tenure is Notre Dame football. They've had six. (Laughter).

I know this Rutgers program well. I know the game is not in the RAC. I've got some bad nightmares coming out of there. Steve Pikiell is one of the most gifted coaches in our profession. You know a little bit of my relationship with Chris Christie, Governor Christie. He was a Delaware guy, and we got to know each other back in the day. Both his daughters have been managers for me.

When he called me and said we have a chance to get this guy Pikiell from Stony Brook, I said, send the plane and give him 10 years. This guy will stabilize it and then he'll build it. And he absolutely did. He's an old-school, throwback b-ball coach, and utmost respect for him. And he's got one heck of a tough team that's tough like him.

Q. You mentioned how desperately you wanted to get back here after being here so many times over the years. Could you describe the emotions, just being back in the setting on the dais, seeing the court, and also maybe the familiarity that you have despite your team not having?

COACH BREY: I've missed the logos. I've missed -- yesterday we stretched to the song "One Shining Moment." I've missed all that. I'm channelling all of it as much as I can, and trying to help our guys with it, to enjoy it.

And as much as we want to win and we're going to be hungry, I don't want us uptight. I want us to smile a little bit when we're playing. I'll be smiling on the sideline tomorrow because these are opportunities you don't get much playing in this thing.

Q. To bounce off Steve Pikiell, you played him three times at Stony Brook. You beat him by 20 points all three games. I'm curious, why were you so confident that he was going to be able to do something like this at Rutgers? Is there any other connection that we're not aware of that you have with Steve?

COACH BREY: When you're in the business, and as long as I've been in it, you watch and you listen, especially when we -- the pandemic knocked us out of being on the road in the summer. That's when you rub shoulders with guys and you get to know them, and you're sitting at a game with them, and he's watching one dude and you're watching another.

And certainly I remember him -- he was at my alma mater at GW. When I was on the road I used to ask, how is Foggy Bottom. Always impressed with him. Impressed with the toughness and how hard his group plays.

And just there was a consistency and a stability. He is who he is every day. And this is what we're going to do. And certainly it's what Rutgers needed at the time. And it's been magical for them. And, again, I've had a lot of Big East flashbacks watching their team play, seeing clips from the RAC, tough guys, physical guys, old guys.

We used to go up and down I-95. Here come the Seton Hall guys. They look like the Rutgers guys. Here they come, coming at our lane, coming at our throat. So that's been kind of cool to think back through the Big East memories with them.

Q. Some of the players were talking about how you educated them about the success of some First Four teams, what's possible. Does that go back to your teaching moment of hey, look, you've got to be in it and anything's possible?

COACH BREY: When I had them at my house on Sunday, you watch all the projections. And the Rutgers people went through it with us. We're here. Are we out, are we in. We're all trying to wonder. And I had my assistant, I said print up people that have used the First Four in the last six, seven years as a springboard.

And certainly UCLA and Mick Cronin last year beating Michigan State and moving on. I remember the VCU team because we were in Chicago with them when they jump-started out of Chicago. We beat Akron, lost to Florida State. And you're going, God, they're pretty good. And all of a sudden they're in it.

And so I just want them to have a little bit of a reference point. I told them, I said if we get it done, we're flying right to San Diego after the game and we're hanging and sleep is extremely overrated during the NCAA Tournament time.

Q. Talk about last week. You had a tough ACC Tournament. What did you guys work on to get ready for this game? Secondly, I want to ask about the spread of your food on Sunday. Do you have any leftovers?

COACH BREY: I did. I did. I got them some barbecue sandwiches at home. What we watched on Saturday was our 10 turnovers in the first half against Virginia Tech. We have been really good taking care of the ball. Now, that's going to be a challenge tomorrow night, because these guys are crafty. They're crafty gamblers, you know. They reach.

It's I-95, man. It's like Riverside Church and the Gauchos. You ever watched them play in the summer? They're picking guys' pockets from behind. I've lived it all and I'm watching and I'm going, oh, yeah.

We have to be really good with the ball. And we can't turn the ball over like that. We've been very efficient offensively this year. We've been smart at controlling tempo. That's very much going to be a key. And one of the keys is going to be can you guard your own guy, because these guys will square up on you and they're going to take you off the dribble. Can you stay in front of your own guy and play one-on-one defense?

Q. The other day, over Zoom, you talked about how being a First Four team is something you asked (indiscernible) for last year, before this year coming into the tournament. But does it leave a nasty taste in your mouth being a No. 2 seed in the ACC and being a bubble team still?

COACH BREY: I kidded, maybe I jinxed myself. A month ago, I said, I know the ACC has taken on a lot of water, I said am I in the America East again? Am I in a one-bid league? I actually felt I was in the America East, the way that everybody was talking. I said, we better get the one bid like I did when I was in Delaware those two years.

You look and go, god, we were 19-5 since Indiana, but I was mentally prepared, like, whatever showed up on Sunday for the kids' sake, because only Paul Atkinson has played in this tournament -- turn it and embrace it and be ready to go.

Some of my assistants, I hear them talking about, they're 10 -- and Rutgers is doing the same. Us and Rutgers. Anytime you're in this you're going wait a minute, that 10 seed, you know. Probably we're both saying, Michigan, what? (Laughter). Anyways, we're thrilled to be here. And I know Steve is too.

Q. When you look at the Ron Harper Jr. play, what stands out to him and what's that meant to the team?

COACH BREY: He's a great story. I remember him a little bit on the circuit and was typical of what Steve has done and we've kind of done it a similar way. Maybe guys that aren't recruited at a super high level, you get them in your program and get him better.

And his nucleus is that. And Ron is the epitome of that. I think he got himself in great shape. He's gotten himself in great shape. But there's a feel for the game, good size. And he's earned all of it. He had to come and grind to get there.

And really both these teams playing last night, again Rutgers had the experience last year. Hell, they were in the tournament when it was shut down. They were a three-year NCAA Tournament team. And we lost some momentum there when we were the first team out. And I'll tell you what, that one stings, when you're first. Anthony Grant's around here, I'd go hug him.

And we've been scratching and clawing to get back. But both nucleuses of kids have had to work their way, scratch their way to this. I think it's a good story for both teams.

Q. Do you think that the early ACC exit made you guys hungry? Did you see that at all the last couple of days?

COACH BREY: I would think so. We were very disappointed in how we performed there. Come to find out, that team that beat us -- funny story, when I hired Anthony Solomon back here last spring, which was a key hire for us, he said tell me about the league. I said Virginia Tech. He said, what? Duke -- I said Virginia Tech.

And they've had our number and they've not been a great matchup for us. So we really respect them. But just how we, our shot selection, our turnovers, being loose with the ball was disappointing. And it's something we've addressed. And it's something that, against a team that can turn you over, we've got to be really good with it.

Q. When I looked at the celebration, or lack thereof, when you guys find out where you would be at, one guy that stood out to me was Blake Wesley. He sat in the background, didn't have too much of a reaction. He explains it, or his parents explain it as he wasn't necessarily satisfied with his performance against Virginia Tech. When you bring him into this matchup and you place him against Ron Harper Jr., and their fathers played together years ago with Ball State versus Miami of Ohio. Can you explain that matchup?

COACH BREY: It's a neat story, isn't it? It's kind of a neat story. And Blake, I think Blake's year has been even better because he's been playing against, and again tomorrow night, old guys all year. College basketball has gotten old because of the transfer portal and granting the extra year and two teams. But this is a guy that came in as a legit 18-year-old, and against a lot of old guards in the ACC, he was really good.

And he's the hardest on himself. So I want him to bounce back and smile and not feel like he has the weight of the world. He doesn't feel he has to carry us. Those seniors have really helped him. But you're right, thankfully our name flashed up within the first five minutes because I have been in tense locker rooms. I've never been in a tense -- my house has never been tenser as we're sitting there.

And I'm sitting there going, what's the speech if we don't get in? Because there's no way we were playing in the NIT. There's no way. There's no way I could have got these guys to play in the NIT. And I know I probably shouldn't say that because the NCAA owns it. There's no way.

So we pushed all the chips to the middle of the table and I was tight as a drum. That's why I smoked a cigar after Selection Sunday. I needed something. .