NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - TEXAS SOUTHERN VS KANSAS

March 17, 2022

Johnny Jones

Brison Gresham

John Walker III

John Jones

Dickies Arena

Texas Southern Tigers

Media Conference

Kansas - 83, Texas Southern - 56

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Head Coach Johnny Jones and student-athletes from Texas Southern University, John Jones, John Walker III, and Brison Gresham.

Start with an opening statement from Coach Jones, and then take questions for coach and the student-athletes. Coach Jones.

JOHNNY JONES: First of all, I just want to congratulate Kansas. A fantastic program. Coach Self has done a tremendous job there and they did a fantastic job tonight.

Certainly want to make sure that -- give our guys a great deal of respect because of the way they played. They fought extremely hard there in the second half. I didn't think we played well there in the first half, but I thought the second half we played, continued to fight, and made some plays and looked more resembling the type of team that we have been most of the time throughout the year.

But, unfortunately, we ran into a team that's very efficient, played extremely well and looked like one of the top two or three teams in the country tonight, and that's the way that they played.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Jones or the student-athletes? Go ahead on the left.

Q. Coach Jones, I sort of saw you and Bill in the handshake line. Did you tell him to go win it all as you guys first shook hands?

JOHNNY JONES: Yes, yes, yes. We got that relationship. And he's done a tremendous job. I wished him well. And I think he's got the type of team that can possibly go. And if we're going to lose to somebody, we'll be able to say at the end of the day, it was to the champ. So they're a very tough team.

THE MODERATOR: On the right-hand side.

Q. To Coach Jones and any of the three student-athletes. What kind of added hardship is it to have to play that play-in game and then two days later, not only having to play again, but play the No. 1 seed in your region?

JOHNNY JONES: Well, it's a good thing for us, we don't look for any excuses. We look for -- and we're result driven. So tonight we've looked at it as though that it was an advantage for us. We had a game under our belt we had played. The other team was sitting there waiting, and we were hoping that they would come out and have a little rust on them. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

But you can look back, we've had a long series because of the fact we just come out of a conference tournament, and a day later, getting on a plane, heading to plan to play-in game, one day prep, then you leave there and you're coming back to play in another game.

And so, if you want to look for some areas that it's at a disadvantage, you can, but we don't look at it this way. We look at it as opportunities for us. And unfortunately we didn't get it done.

THE MODERATOR: Any of the student-athletes want to follow up on that.

BRISON GRESHAM: I feel the same way, really. We have no excuses. If we had won, it would have been different.

Q. Coach Jones, Bill Self said it's really tough to wait all day to play the game that almost starts at 10 p.m. just to -- the adrenaline, at some point, dies out and so forth and it's hard to stay amped up. Would you agree with that?

JOHNNY JONES: Well, I guess they needed to leave at 11 or 12 at night, because they seemed like they were pretty fired up to play and excited. And I think any time things don't go according to plan and on time according to your schedule, it's a little bit different. It throws you off because the guys are jumping off the wall and they got their foot in the starter blocks. And, at the same time, it makes it difficult.

But, again, you just make the adjustment at the end of the day. And I was like him, I was sitting back there and when it went in overtime, it was like, jeez, and just hoping that it didn't go into a second overtime.

Q. For each of the players, setting aside the disappointment of tonight, how satisfying this season was for y'all having won SWAC tournament and then winning the first floor game, as well?

JOHN JONES: It was a very satisfying season. You know, starting the season off zero-seven, people tend to write a team like that off. But within this program, we know that we're resilient, and as long as we stayed the course, a positive outcome would happen. And that's where we found ourselves, in a situation where we're playing for a SWAC championship and we won.

It's always a great feeling to win at that level. And then to come here and play in my senior year against a great team, it's a dream come true to finish my college career like this, you know, with a ring and a great last game against a great team.

JOHN WALKER III: Yeah, this was -- this year has definitely been special for me. It just really solidified that coming to TSU was easily the greatest decision I ever made. And that really just cemented this year. Because back-to-back, that was just something I never even dreamed of coming here. So I think this year really just put it all together for me. Like, so I love TSU.

BRISON GRESHAM: I would just say this season was definitely just a blessing, honestly. Just like meeting new people and like just enjoying the journey. These people I'm going to remember for the rest of my life, until we get old.

THE MODERATOR: Back on right-hand side.

Q. Coach Jones, there was a Texas Southern alum here tonight, Robert Hughes, was in attendance. And I was wondering if you might be able to share some stories or memories of him through the years that you might have, and if any of the players might know who he is?

JOHNNY JONES: You're talking about Coach Hughes from Dunbar High School?

I'm not sure if those guys -- I was fortunate enough to be the head basketball coach at the University of North Texas for 11 years. So I was very familiar with his program, and the things that he did and the lives that he touched, the games he won, the young men that came out of his program.

And just an amazing man. And, obviously, a trailblazer. And someone who is certainly special and held to high regards in the community and around the country for the number of games that he won and the way that he's conducted and carried himself over the years.

THE MODERATOR: On the left-hand side.

Q. Coach Jones, I wanted to ask you about having an ability to coach your son. You know, what has that been like? Everybody doesn't get an opportunity to go through that process. And then to come in with back-to-back championships and a win in the first four, and then, obviously, playing into the 16, talk about that a little bit about that relationship.

JOHNNY JONES: Yeah, I'm very blessed. And God is good. It was something -- I've been coaching his entire life Division I basketball. So I didn't get to do AAU basketball or anything else with his friends because of obviously the rules.

And then this opportunity presented itself to be a head coach and have him on the team. And it's certainly been special. It couldn't have gone better.

At the end of the day, obviously, for me -- I had a lot of pressure on me coaching him. He ended up winning three state championships in high school.

We went out to the University of Nevada. I was an assistant there for a year with Muss. Muss had worked with me out at LSU. I went out and worked as an assistant with him for a year and john went with me.

We wound up going to the Sweet 16. He had a conference championship and a Sweet 16 under his belt. And then when he got with me, I had to make sure I wasn't the only team he hadn't won a championship with.

So a lot of pressure on me and we were very fortunate we were able to win two, advance, and do some special things together. So it's really a dream come true for how things played out for us.

THE MODERATOR: Mr. Jones, why don't you follow up with that and the experience.

JOHN JONES: It's been, like he said, a blessing. Being able to watch him coach. You know, being at practices, I've seen him and his teams do a lot of great things. And to now be able to have been a part of it for five years, it's -- God works in mysterious ways.

You know went to Nevada. I thought I was going to be at LSU, went to Nevada, got to the Sweet 16, came to Texas Southern, made history our first year, most wins in the school history, Final Four, CIT. Next year -- I think -- was that COVID?

JOHNNY JONES: Yes.

JOHN JONES: COVID happened. We were going to win that year, too. We were going to come back to the NCAA tournament that year. And then just so happen we proved ourselves and went back to back.

I've seen the work he puts in, I've seen how much he cares about his players. He treats them -- I be jealous sometimes. He treats them just like how he be treating me.

So I -- my respect for my father has always been at a high level. But these last five years, it's grown because I see how the other people look at him.

And it's not just he's a basketball coach, he's a father figure to a lot of people. And so, you know, I love this dude with all my heart.

And it's going to hurt for a little while. But I know we going to do something special, whether I'm sitting next to him in a polo coaching or wherever I land. I'm always going to listen to him. He always gives great advice. So, you know, that's my dad, that's my dude. I love him. And it's been a great ride.

THE MODERATOR: We have time for a couple more.

Q. Coach Jones, if I'm not mistaken, you had -- it looks like about 9 out of the 14 guys that are seniors. But in this day and age, I guess eligibility is a gray area because of the COVID year. Do you see some of those guys maybe even coming back even though they're listed as seniors?

JOHNNY JONES: Yeah, good thing for me. I just have four on the team that are not eligible to come back. John and Brison are two of them. AJ, who is the other one, and Hopkins was the other. Those four guys, five of them were eligible to return next year.

And if things hold like they did a year ago, those guys had a chance to leave, and they chose to come back. And they chose to be at our place. And they did a deal, hashtag, run it back at the end of last year after we won the championship, because they enjoyed being around each other.

Great thing about these guys: They've had the highest GPA in the history of the program over the last two years. They do things the right way.

And I just told them in the locker room, I looked forward to 3:00 o'clock every day for practice so I could be around them. Because they are a special group.

And a lot of those guys have a chance to come back and do it. So I look forward to hopefully having those guys back. Because I think they can continue to grow and be a better team possibly next season.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? If not, men, congratulations on a fantastic year.

JOHNNY JONES: Thank you so much. And appreciate you guys. And go Tigers.