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

March 17, 2022

Rob Lanier

Justin Roberts

Kane Williams

Moda Center

Georgia State Panthers

Media Conference

Gonzaga - 93, Georgia State - 72

THE MODERATOR: With us again, Georgia State, joining us in the post-game conference with Coach Rob Lanier, along with student-athletes Justin Roberts and Kane Williams. Coach, hard-fought game. Took it to Gonzaga. We'll have your opening statement and then open it up for questions.

ROB LANIER: Well, yeah, I hate it for these guys that the score really isn't indicative of how the game was really played. I'm really proud of these guys, not just for their effort tonight but just for their overall contributions to our program. They've laid a foundation for us that we'll have an opportunity to build on.

And the type of young men they are. I love them. I've enjoyed my time. They've made me a better coach. And so I've enjoyed coaching these guys, and I'm really proud of them. Feel bad that Eliel didn't get a chance to finish the game with us. He's such a great person and such an inspiration for our team. It's unfortunate that he had to finish the game from the bench.

Credit to Gonzaga. A great program with a great team, elite program. Well coached. We thought we gave ourselves an opportunity, and to their credit, they had a burst there at the end. It was a little bit too much to overcome. But again, proud of these guys.

Q. If you guys can just kind of talk about the experience and how being in the NCAA Tournament was. You guys were in it for the first half and just trading blows with them. Just talk about how it felt out there.

JUSTIN ROBERTS: It felt great, actually. It was my first time playing in the NCAA Tournament. I've got a lot of friends and family just wishing me luck. The most important thing to me was just going out there and playing for my team and my coaches, and, you know, playing to win the game.

It gave me a lot of experience. I've seen a lot of things, noticed a lot of things as a guard that it helped me in the future. So it was just a wonderful experience, honestly.

KANE WILLIAMS: It was a great atmosphere, memorable for sure, like I said. And I know there was a lot of people back home playing through me. So I just wanted to give it my all and make sure I left nothing out there.

Q. For Coach Lanier, the unfortunate injury to Eliel, you had foul trouble, it looked like you were playing guys that hadn't played a lot of minutes. How were you trying to make that happen inside with what they're bringing with Chet and Drew?

ROB LANIER: Yeah, you've got to give credit to them and those guys, they're really good. They're formidable. They create some challenges for you. Our lack of discipline at times played into that some.

But I had confidence in the guys that went in the game, and they played, they contributed. So I'm proud of that, but I'm not surprised. Again, just credit to Gonzaga's front line guys. They're really good, gifted, got great footwork and length and stuff that you cannot replicate on the practice floor.

But again, with 11 minutes to go, it's a two-point game, and they had a burst that we couldn't recover from. Again, proud of our guys.

Q. Kane, they had that 21-0 run in the second half when it was a two-point game. What kind of allowed them to go into that burst and pull away from you guys?

KANE WILLIAMS: We gave them a lot of easy buckets in the paint and a lot of fouls. Those fouls kind of bit us. We just couldn't overcome after that. We kept fighting. That's all we can do.

Q. Rob, what happened to Eliel? Did he just slip? Was there no chance that he could come back in the game?

ROB LANIER: Yeah, Bob Murphy, our trainer, said right away he's done for the night. Nothing final in terms of what the actual injury is, but it was significant enough that Bob knew right away that he wasn't going to play the rest of the game.

At halftime we had a moment. We went in there, and everybody went into the training room, and my man Jamall Clyce said a prayer. It was a nice moment. It was a great display of our appreciation for a great young man during a tough moment. It speaks to the kind of group we have that that was their approach at halftime.

And we honored it with the way we started the second half. We came out and played. So unfortunate.

Q. When you were taking guys out at the end, it looked pretty emotional there. What kind of moments did you share with Kane and Justin and those guys when they came out?

ROB LANIER: I just wanted to let them know I love them and I appreciate them. I was 14 years between head coaching jobs, and Georgia State gave me an opportunity when no one else would give me a phone interview.

Then, when I got the job, I had to win these guys over. It took a long time to win Kane over. But they bought in.

And I said at the press conference that the guys who buy in, those are our guys, and the guys that don't, we'll help them move on. So these guys bought in, and we're family now. And I wanted to let them know how much I appreciate them.

KANE WILLIAMS: Yes, to piggy-back off what he said, it's been a long road for all of us. I definitely wasn't as willing when he first got here. I'm still missing my old coach, but I'm glad that I did. I bought in, and he's a great inspiration to me. He's taught me a lot of things. He's helped me grow into that leadership role. He's also made me a better man on and off the court.

He's given me opportunity after opportunity, and I'm just thankful for it.

JUSTIN ROBERTS: Earlier in the season, he took me out of the starting lineup, and it really hurt my feelings, and it really broke my heart as a player that started and made All-Conference. But he did that for the betterment of the team, and it made me a better person, and it made me a better player.

Because of that, I will always show gratitude to Coach Rob, and I will always show gratitude to Coach Ron Hunter as well for bringing me here. I'm a Panther forever. I love it.

Q. Rob, you guys obviously spent three or four days looking at Chet and Drew on film. How different was it seeing them in person? What was it like dealing with them in person throughout the game, especially in the second half?

ROB LANIER: Yeah, that wasn't fun watching them on film. I saw Chet quite a bit on the AAU circuit with his team. So I knew the size and the skill. Obviously these days you can't miss these guys with all the video and stuff that's out there.

But it really is impressive, the footwork, the skill, and knowing that people are gunning for these guys. This really is a special program. I've been in leagues with Kansas and Kentucky and Duke, and I understand what it's like to be in a league with teams that are always the target, everybody wants to beat.

And the fact that Gonzaga's built a program like this and those two young men are spearheading those efforts -- because the name changes. Next year it will be someone else. But it says a lot about those young guys that they keep taking that on, and it's really impressive.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Congratulations on a great season.