NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - TCU VS SETON HALL

March 18, 2022

Kevin Willard

Jared Rhoden

Myles Cale

Viejas Arena

Seton Hall Pirates

Media Conference

TCU - 69, Seton Hall - 42

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Jared Rhoden and Myles Cale and Coach Willard.

Q. Now that it's all said and done, what are you guys going to miss most about this program?

JARED RHODEN: Just the culture, the family life, just the development here. I think it's unlike no other that I've ever had. Just how close-knit the people are, how they make you feel when you wake up, you walk around. It's just unmatched.

I feel like I came here as a young boy and I'm leaving as a man. And the development and the things that Seton Hall has instilled in me, amazing people like Coach Willard, something I'll never forget. And changed me as a man the rest of my life.

MYLES CALE: I would say the culture also, just the things that I took away from here. I came here a boy, and I left here a man. And Coach Willard did a good job just coaching me for my five years. And every year was very special to me. Nothing but love when I think about Seton Hall.

Q. What was the difference in that game that resulted in the lopsided defeat? What did TCU do, what did you not do that caused this?

JARED RHODEN: I think TCU is a physical team. They rebounded the ball very well. They were well-prepared, very well-coached and I think they played a well overall game and well-rounded. And the guard play was better than I thought. They've got some dudes on their team. And they just had a better night than us.

MYLES CALE: What he said, the same thing.

Q. Jared, could you take us through your mindset when they called that fifth foul, I mean just what was it like to realize my career is now over?

JARED RHODEN: I just made a basketball play. In the moment I wasn't thinking too much of if my career was over. My team was still in the game. There was still plenty of time left. So my thought was just encouraging my teammates until the whistle was blown. The clock is zero. So at that moment I wasn't thinking about myself. I was just thinking about my teammates and hoping we could chip away as much as we could.

Q. How surprised were you by that call?

JARED RHODEN: It's basketball. Calls go and they come. I didn't have the best whistle tonight, but I'm just thankful to be able to play.

Q. How would you summarize the season as a whole?

MYLES CALE: I think it was a lot of ups and downs, that's how Seton Hall is, gritty, played with a lot of pride. We faced a lot of adversity, but that's what we do. We go through it and we stick together. That's what we did the whole season. And we never budged and we kept our heads straight all season.

Q. Myles, you finished in double figures, one of the highlights tonight for the Pirates give us an idea where your head's at right now after you had a strong game come into this one as one of the few Pirates on the team with tournament experience, and how the night went, how you kept the guys level headed as the night went on?

MYLES CALE: Just thankful, thankful to be in this position. A couple months ago we didn't know we were going to make it here at all or not. We had a lot of adversity. Stick through it throughout the season. I'm thankful just being even my fifth year, just having this extra opportunity that I have. Thankful for the coaches, my teammates. They always wanted to see me do better and be great. I tried to show that today. But came up short.

Q. Just how hard was it with Jared in foul trouble and what does that do to your offense when you don't have him out there for the time you would hope?

COACH WILLARD: We didn't have much room for error. And watching them play and seeing what they went through the last 10 games and who they played and how they played. I mean, I think they were 4 and 6. But Kansas three times, Texas twice. I needed to to be battle tested. And I just thought Baugh and Miles, they were difference-makers. They remind me a lot of Gillespie and -- not Daniels -- Gillespie and Moore. Two really, really strong guards. And we're just so thin on the guard front. I thought they were the difference-maker.

Q. This team has responded a lot when pushed this season. Why were they unable to respond tonight?

COACH WILLARD: You've got to give TCU credit. I thought they were much more physical than us. I thought they got into us really early in the game, kind of shook us, to be honest with you.

And then they did a great job of when Jamir, when Cooks was out and Jamir was in, of really turning up the heat in the half court defense. And I thought that really we hadn't seen that defensive pressure all year. UConn gave it to us a little bit. But they're able to switch, get up into us. And I'm a huge fan of Emanuel Miller. I think he's just a difference-maker, watching him reminds me of Ismael Sanogo, but a little more physical a little tougher. I thought they were a lot tougher than us, took us out of what we wanted to do.

Q. You talked about their physicality on film. Were they even more athletic in person than you thought, because I know the Big East prides obviously themselves on being physical and athletic as well?

COACH WILLARD: I think it's very hard for players to see on film what coaches can see on film and what we try to explain to them. We spent the last four days really trying to talk about how they were going to play us, what they were going to do. And I think until you go against a team, especially with two big physical guards that can control tempo, control pick-and-rolls, I think it's hard to kind of explain. I think their physicality definitely was something that kind of surprised us.

Q. Obviously TCU played a pretty complete defensive game but did anyone individually stick out for just their effort and just how good they were defensively?

COACH WILLARD: For them? I love Emanuel Miller. I think he's phenomenal. I might not be getting his first name right. I go by numbers. No. 2. I love that dude. He was calling out play calls. He was calling out -- he was switching. He was taking our 4 man out.

You could tell he was at Texas Tech because he plays defense on their level. And I thought their guards, I thought Myles and Baugh -- they really looked refreshed from the last 10 games, they really did, they looked refresh, and playing like they played earlier in the year. They just outplayed us.

Q. What do you have to say to the fans that may or may not be frustrated after a loss like this?

COACH WILLARD: All I can say is I'm really proud of what this team did this year. Overcoming some of the things we had to overcome, really bouncing back when times got hard. I'm proud of this group.

Again, this is not the way you want to end anything. It's a really bad way to end it. That's not going to stop me from looking back and saying all the things that we've got accomplished and all the things these kids did and overcame. So you lose by 1 or 27, it's the same thing.

Q. What could this season have been if Bryce Aiken hadn't gotten hurt?

COACH WILLARD: I don't know. I don't know. We could be talking about the same thing last year if he didn't get hurt last year. We'd won seven out of eight before he got hurt last year and we lost our last four. I feel bad for Bryce. We're definitely a totally different team with him out there. But unfortunately it's just hard to say.

Q. What can you say about your protegee, your right hand man, Shaheen Holloway, what he accomplished yesterday?

COACH WILLARD: I tell you what, I think that's the happiest I've been. I've never watched a game so closely and so intently.

Me and my son were in my room eating pizza, and I've never been so happy for a young man who, when I hired him at Iona, he was assistant for Saint Pat's, and he has an unbelievable knowledge of the game, unbelievable thirst for the game. And he's a tremendous person. He's a tremendous teacher. And he is going to be a tremendous leader for many, many years to come. It was one of my best days as a head coach.

Q. There's been a lot of rumors in the last day or so of you potentially going to Maryland. Do you want to kind of comment on whether that's accurate or not?

COACH WILLARD: I'll give you exactly what I can tell you. I have an agent who I haven't talked to yet. I haven't talked to. I don't know who he's talking to. I have absolutely no idea. But when I get home I'll talk to my agent and discuss things with my agent.

Q. Do you think things will be resolved somewhat soon?

COACH WILLARD: I have no idea. I literally have not -- I've had three different agents in the last month. So my original agent I've had for 12 years went to TV broadcasting. I'll be honest with you. If I'm not here next year, I'd love, if Shaheen Holloway is here, that would be the happiest thing to happen to me.