NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - SAINT PETER'S VS KENTUCKY

March 16, 2022

John Calipari

Sahvir Wheeler

Kellan Grady

Oscar Tshiebwe

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Kentucky Wildcats

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Folks, let's get started. We will be joined by Kellan Grady, Sahvir Wheeler, Oscar Tshiebwe representing the University of Kentucky. Questions?

Q. Question for Oscar and Sahvir. What are the expectations for the tournament, and how well prepared is the team for this challenge?

OSCAR TSHIEBWE: Can you repeat one more time, please?

Q. How well prepared is the team for the tournament, and what is the biggest challenge for you?

OSCAR TSHIEBWE: The biggest would be working -- we know this team is going to come out and try and do a lot of different things, but Coach has been preparing us to be ready. We are going to move well, and we're ready to go. Our defense is pretty good, and we are excited. I can't wait to play tomorrow.

SAHVIR WHEELER: I think the biggest challenge obviously is getting past the first game. As Coach Cal says, the first game is the hardest. And then from then on, it's quick turnarounds. Each weekend, if you win the next game, you get a day break, and there is another game after that.

So being quick minded, knowing that it's the next play, next possession, but also standing together. At the end of the day, all these teams are really good. Basketball is a game of runs, so being able to sustain everyone's run, take that and counter it with our own run and stay together.

Q. For Kellan and Sahvir. Kellan, you have played in an NCAA Tournament game before, but it's probably been a minute. What are your emotions going into this one? Sahvir, same thing for you. Is this your first NCAA Tournament experience, and what are those emotions like?

KELLAN GRADY: For me, it's a new level of excitement because I'm with a different team. And we've gone through adversity, and we've gone through an entire season together. It was a new level of excitement to go through this and be on Kentucky. It was amazing for us to get to March Madness and play Kentucky when I was at Davidson.

But I'm excited to embrace this challenge with our team and try our best to take care of business.

SAHVIR WHEELER: And for me, just being my first experience, this is something I'm super grateful for. Because as a kid, every basketball player's dream is to be here and get to the Big Dance. Even at the end of it, you're watching that one shining moment.

So it's all surreal. I'm taking it in day by day. But obviously I came here to win, compete at the highest level. But it is a blessing. I'm having fun, going to continue to have fun and continue to win as well.

Q. Coach said he had individual meetings after the SEC Tournament and asked you guys to define your roles. I wonder how you defined them, each of you, and what do you think he was driving at in asking that?

KELLAN GRADY: Jerry, you come everywhere with us.

SAHVIR WHEELER: Yeah, you stalking us, bro?

KELLAN GRADY: I think all of us can say the meetings were very productive. My role all year has been to make shots and to help defend and be reliable on defense.

That's what I said when I was asked, and then he said "and to fly," which is consistent with our whole team, to get up and down the court and run the court as well as we can.

I think all of us have a good concentration on what to do for our team and how to be most productive in helping us win.

SAHVIR WHEELER: My role has stayed the same no matter where I have played the game of basketball, and that's something I pride myself on, is being able to have a style of play that wherever I go, I won't have to change my game.

And that's to play with the ultimate pace, be disruptive on both ends of the court, get guys open shots and play with a passion, with a smile on my face, and ultimately be the extension of a coach, of a coaching staff -- me and Coach Cal have to have the strongest connection to know what to run, who to get involved -- and be a leader on the court.

Sometimes that's hard with the emotions of basketball, but I have great teammates that pick me up along the way to make sure I'm even-keeled and headed in the right direction as well.

OSCAR TSHIEBWE: My role, like Coach told me, is always the same, playing with a lot of energy, grab the basketball, and I need to communicate. He was tougher because I was not doing a great job of that.

And this tournament, it is great opportunity for me to communicate a lot with my teammates, and I've got to bring high energy. And I know when I'm on fire, running, doing a lot of different things, I bring a lot of problem when somebody is trying to stop me.

If I keep doing exactly the same thing and I keep bringing more energy, I think we are in the right place for this team.

Q. Oscar and Kellan, how would you describe the way Sahvir plays? And also describe what it's like, when he's bothering somebody else, to watch them. How does the other guy respond?

KELLAN GRADY: I have had to go against him in practice a couple times, and it's not a lot of fun bringing the ball up against him. But when you are -- when you are one of the other four guys on the court, it's awesome to see him get under guys' legs and pressure them and just cause havoc on defense.

Overall, I mean, you guys see the impact he has on the game with his pace and his push. We can get the ball below the free throw line on the other end with 25 on the shot clock, and a lot of times that starts with his push and his burst and his ability to look up the floor and put pressure on the defense.

He's a joy to play with and he gets us all involved, and he's the head of our snake. So we rely on him a good amount, I would say.

OSCAR TSHIEBWE: He does bring a lot of energy on the team. He is a great defender. He does a lot of different things.

For me, to play with somebody like him, I love it because the way he run, I run too. Because I'm always running, keep screaming on his side: You better pass me the ball because I'm by your side.

I love him. I love his energy and the energy he brings to this team. But this tournament, we are going to need to do the same thing, and he can see the floor really good and make passes.

I'm excited. And we are going to have meeting today and talk about everything, and I think we are on the right track right now to be the best we can be.

SAHVIR WHEELER: You're having your own meeting?

(Laughter.)

Q. Kellan, you mentioned playing against Kentucky as a freshman. Can you walk us back, what your emotions were leading up to that game and what lessons you can give to your teammates about your opponents, the lower seeds, their mindsets in this tournament?

KELLAN GRADY: We were all -- my whole team was on an emotional high because we had just won the Atlantic 10 Tournament and we felt really good, and we truly thought we were going to beat Kentucky. Obviously that didn't happen.

But we were fairly confident. We had a pretty good spirit about us and a level of excitement that I think ran through the whole team.

Like I said, though, it's different here. We understand that everybody in this tournament is either here because they got that at-large bid or they're champions in their own right.

So Saint Peter's University is a very good team. We can't take the seeding for granted or think this is going to be an easy task at all. It's a different predicament for me compared to my experience at Davidson, but the overall focus of trying to execute and play the best game you can remains consistent.

Q. Oscar, tell me how playing soccer when you were younger makes you a better basketball player? And for the other two guys, was there a sport you played that plays into who you are now?

OSCAR TSHIEBWE: I would say soccer helped me because I played goalie and I was back on defense. Soccer helped me to move my feet and catch a ball. I was goalie. You've got to be able to catch the ball when somebody trying to kick and score. You've got to jump.

In basketball, that's why every time I go for a rebound, I just go with two hands and snatch the ball. And it helped me a lot move my feet, because you've got to move your feet to stop people in defense. That really helped me with basketball today.

SAHVIR WHEELER: I played soccer as well and a little baseball. Soccer, it was my endurance because I think that's one of my gifts that I have naturally. Some people are naturally gifted, they can run and jump. And I think one of my gifts is my speed and my endurance, being able to play for long stretches. And I think that ultimately came with soccer. So being out there, playing for hours and hours.

And I played baseball, too. So anticipation of where the ball is going to go when the guy hits it, being able to move your feet at the same time.

I think all of that comes into play with basketball as well.

KELLAN GRADY: I played soccer, baseball. I was a swimmer as well. I'm not going to sit here and credit all my past experience in sports to why I'm pretty good at basketball. I guess I resonate with all the things Sahvir said as well.

Q. Kellan, a lot of folks have talked about the performance in your last game against Tennessee. How do you feel about your game coming into this tournament? Sahvir, how important is Kellan to your team and what you want to bring offensively?

KELLAN GRADY: I acknowledged the game on Saturday. I played like crap, and I own that. I didn't shoot well and just didn't have a good game.

At the end of the day, I think I've certainly proven myself this year. And I don't think one game, regardless of the night or that game, is definitive of the player I am or of the season I've had.

I think the best thing for me and what I've tried to do is put it in the rear view mirror, obviously learn from it and improve on some of the things that I could have improved on and be more shot ready and move on to the next play.

That game is in the past. We have an incredible opportunity here as a group to do something really special in the NCAA Tournament, and that's what I'm focused on. As long as I play to win, I think the rest will take care of itself.

SAHVIR WHEELER: You know, obviously what Kellan does for us on the offensive end as far as spacing and being able to make shots is vital to our team's success offensively. Kellan is as important on the defensive end as he is on the offensive end.

He has that nickname Steady Eddie, and that's because of how reliable is he on the defensive side. So maybe he's not making shots, and that can go for anybody, but the way Kellan is defensively, the way he talks, he communicates, he's not getting scored on, he's down there fighting, all of that stuff is part of the accountability that he has that leads us to winning.

When he is making shots, he's one of the best players, one of most efficient players in the country. When he finally decides to put it on the deck and shoot a floater, that's 2,000 points, like you're not just a spot-up shooter, you can't score 2,000 points just sitting in the corner or making catch-and-shoot threes, he's a wider scorer.

So we encourage him, empower him, man, get to your bag, do what you do. When it's your time, be aggressive and get to the paint and makes plays. As good as you shoot the ball, you're a scorer. You have the best touch around the rim and around the paint that I've ever been around.

So we empower him to do more than just catch and shoot or whatever he thinks he's supposed to do. We want him to do more.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you for your time. Good luck.

Q. John, a lot of reports that Kenny Payne is going to be named as head coach at Louisville on Friday. What do you think of that?

COACH CALIPARI: First of all, he is a dear friend, and I will tell you that they could not hire anybody that will do a better job than Kenny Payne. Great coach, great human being, great husband, great father. Louisville graduate. I may say he should have been hired before there, but, you know what, they get him, they got the best of the best.

Q. Cal, what was the tweak you made this week?

COACH CALIPARI: To my back. My back has been killing me.

Q. And one that you may actually answer, you had these individual meetings talking about defining roles, those guys defined what they thought it was. Did you feel like guys -- before you had to tell them, did you feel like they understood their role?

COACH CALIPARI: They all told me, and I said, Well, just do that. That's what the meeting was.

But let me say this: The injury to our two guards, because we survived it, we thought now they're coming back and we're okay. We are not where we were when we had 'em all and we were going hard. You think about how we were playing and who we were beating and what we were doing.

So getting beat in the SEC Tournament was like a godsend because we scrimmaged an hour and 15 minutes. We scrimmaged 45 minutes yesterday. What? What if someone gets hurt? I know. I know. Because that's always in the forefront of my mind.

But we needed to get back to free and loose and open and playing off of one another, the roles of what we needed to do. The only way you could do that is scrimmage. And because we got 10 really good players, really, we got more than that, but we could put 10 guys on the floor that -- it was competitive. They went at each other.

My feeling was and my thought at the time, we can't do it in the NCAA Tournament, we're just dragging game-to-game, which we had been doing, I felt we needed to go and let's go and let's do this and, you know, a tweak here and there.

Let me just say, these guys -- I don't know when this is going to end, but when it does, it will be a sad day for me. These guys -- every day I go in, today, I can hold them accountable, and there are no babies.

How about having two players like Daimion Collins and Bryce Hopkins, could play just about anywhere in the country, but they're behind players that are playing better than them right now. And because they're so young, they're playing on a team of older players that are more prepared than them, and they're coming every day to get better. They understand the grind of this.

Unless you coach, you don't understand that is why we are a great team. Good teams have good players, and everybody in here has good players. All 68 teams have good players. The great teams have great teammates. There may be 60 of them, but I know we're one of the 60, that we have great teammates.

Q. John, what's your impression of the job that Shaheen has done at Saint Peter's University? I don't know if you knew much of him as a player, but I think you did, and is there any part of that that mirrors the way he coaches?

COACH CALIPARI: Can I tell you what bothers you when you get older? Austin Craveer (phonetic) just did an interview with me and said, Do you remember your home visit with me? Please stop talking about how long ago stuff was.

And Shaheen the same. What Shaheen was as a player was a competitive will to win, fight -- and I'm not saying fistfight, I'm saying fight for balls, 50/50, get his team together, lead.

And you know what? I'm watching his team now, and I'm like, whoa! And not only do they play for forty minutes, they never let go of the rope. They're not going to against us. I don't care. They will not let go of the rope.

But the other side of it is they run really good stuff. They run good stuff for their team. They've got really good players. And, you know, you look at them, and you're like -- I'm not that old, I'm sayin' I'm old, I'm not, I'm 54, but you look at them and you say, man, I'm proud that I've watched him in his career and what he's done as a player and then being able to carry it over.

Because it's not easy to say I'm a good player so now I'm a good coach. No! And part of it is you have to learn how to be a great teammate yourself to be that coach, servant leader. And I've watched him coach, and I'm telling you, he's phenomenal. Phenomenal.

Q. John, you weren't happy that the SEC didn't get in as many teams as you wanted, but they did scatter the four best into different regions, so the potential is there that all four make it to the Final Four --

COACH CALIPARI: How about we try to win a game tomorrow. But that's fine.

Q. I just wonder how much of a little bit of a driving force that is for all of you to show this committee the SEC is much better than --

COACH CALIPARI: I'm not that guy that we're going to show you. We don't do that. Anytime you get your team that they're not in that loose and free mode, the physiology is close to fear when it's anger or revenge and all that stuff.

And it's fine when it's going good, but the minute it goes south, that same feeling turns into fear. So I don't do it.

But at the end of the day, what happens will speak for itself. I don't have to say anything.

Disappointed that Texas A&M didn't get in, I am. I said it from the beginning that I felt we had the best league. Well, we got a chance to show it or not. You're not going to know what happens until it happens. So we'll see.

Q. I think other than Kellan, I don't know if you have any players on this roster that have played in the NCAA Tournament.

COACH CALIPARI: We have a couple.

Q. So they're older, but do you have to have a message for these guys going into this thing?

COACH CALIPARI: I have reminded them a couple times please listen to what I'm saying because I've done this a few times, how many of you have, so please listen to what I'm saying.

It they're locked in. I'm just telling you, when you talk about -- when I met with Dontaie Allen, and he was so upbeat and he said Coach, I just want you to know, I appreciate you. Think about that. He's not playing much. And he left the room and I'm like, man I hope something good happens for him.

I told Bryce today, his spirit in our practice was ridiculous. Bryce you have no idea how much I'm hoping you have another LSU game. But it's not always how things work out. You're talking about a group that they've got to experience this. Winning in this tournament, they've got to experience advancing or not advancing. I tried to tell them today, you know, you can't play -- you've got to play. This is -- you walk into a cliff, either you jump over the cliff or you go the other way, and the other guy jumps off the cliff.

I mean it's -- that's what makes this what it is. You let somebody, whoever it is, you give teams a chance, they beat you. It doesn't matter. There's been a 2 beaten by a 15, am I right? There has been a 16 that beat a 1. So if that's the case, anybody can beat anybody in this tournament. I don't even know when you asked me but there's my answer.

Q. John, how do you prepare for this Saint Peter's University team? They're so strong defensively.

COACH CALIPARI: I've watched tape and, again, I'm telling you, that's a culture. That's what Shaheen has built. They take unbelievable pride in that and they are physical, they're long, and we are who we are at this point. We have prepared from day one. Everything I talk about is March. We don't talk about conference championships, we don't talk about conference tournaments. Everything we do is to prepare for this moment. In our league, how many teams defend physical and long in our league? It's craziness. It's hand-to-hand combat. It is. So I think we're ready, but we'll see.

Q. You've been in a lot of NCAA Tournaments, a lot of memorable games. I'm wondering what stands out in your mind, past experiences you've had?

COACH CALIPARI: Probably the first being the National Championship game, and another being losing in the championship game a couple times. Another is a shot clock violation that changed the rules to the game.

It's just that we've historically have had teams that, you know, you can either play to win or play not to lose, and I have had teams that have played to win. Different team one year was five freshman; got to the final game. This year it's a veteran team. Let's see how they perform. I think they're ready, but you don't know. You walk into the game, they'll all say, how you feel, Coach? And I will go, does it really matter? Doesn't matter how I feel? It's how they feel.

Q. You talked about Kenny Payne potentially taking the job at Louisville. Do you think it will change the rivalry at all to have him as their coach? Will fans feel as much vitriol towards a coach that used to be an assistant on your staff?

COACH CALIPARI: Well, Rick Barnes and I have been friends for forty years. I encouraged him to take the Tennessee job, and he and I have remained friends, even thought they've beaten us a bunch. We're friends. Kenny Payne, whatever happens with the games, we will be friends. It should lighten up their side our side.

Look, it's one game a year, who cares! It's life and death. I'll jump off a bridge -- what? It's one game. I've said it for 13 years. They -- look, they've been to national titles, they've won national titles, Final Four, ready with what I'm gonna tell you? With different coaches. It's not about the coach. That program is one of "the" programs. They deserve a coach like Kenny Payne.

He and I talked a few days ago, he and I have not talked today. I did leave mass and, I texted him and told him "I prayed for him today," just so he would know I'm thinking about him, but I don't want to be in the middle of his business, I'm just here if he needs me. And whether he does it or not, at some point he will let me know he did it, or here's why I didn't do it.

I will say this: As a coach, as a man, as a husband, as a father, who is into basketball, will be in the gym at 11:00 at night. If that's who they name, they made the right choice. I wish they would have made it four years ago, you know, but, you know what? He's getting an opportunity, if he chooses to take it, at a great institution and in our state. State of Kentucky deserves to have both programs. And we played in the Final Four together; right? Who won that game, Jerry?

Q. (Away from mic.)

COACH CALIPARI: Okay. That's how it should be. What happened? Who did you say?

Q. Kentucky.

COACH CALIPARI: Makes you mad? No? Just the way you said it sounded like you were mad!

Q. Cal, you talked about seeing Shaheen as a player. I think you signed Winston Smith at UMass. Did you recruit him, too?

COACH CALIPARI: When I was at UMass, if a kid considered the Big East, and there were two or three Big East schools, we didn't -- when I was at Memphis, if they told me it was North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, Georgia Tech, I just -- okay let's go get somebody else.

So with him -- the Big East back then -- you don't -- I mean the Big East is great. Jay and I are friends, friends with a bunch of their coaches, Eddie Cooley, they're -- it's a terrific team. But when it was less teams and each team had three NBA players on it, it was ridiculous. And every kid in the east, your whole goal was to go to the Big East. So if he said to me, "Big East," I probably didn't. I probably went in and got Winston. Winston is a great kid. He's coaching himself. He's also coaching.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Best of luck.