NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL FINAL - MIAMI (FL) VS KANSAS

March 26, 2022

Jim Larranaga

Sam Waardenburg

Jordan Miller

Isaiah Wong

United Center

Miami Hurricanes

Elite 8 Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Miami coach Jim Larrañaga and student-athletes Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller and Sam Waardenburg.

Q. Jordan, how did you guys celebrate last night? Was there any celebration? What was the bus like? What's it like to be an Elite Eight team as you were leaving the building?

JORDAN MILLER: I think the locker room was our biggest celebration. It was good vibes, positive vibes all around. When we left the arena, it was almost 1.00 a.m., it's pretty late. We needed to get a good night's sleep, rest up for the game tomorrow. We were all happy. We had pizza at the hotel. We got to talk, chat a little bit. But I think the most important thing was all just getting rest, rehydrate, refuel.

Q. Sam and Jordan, the two of you plus Kameron, combined for 56 of 70 points last night. And that was as many points as Iowa State scored as a team. So what was it like carrying the offensive load throughout most of the game? And how are you guys able to shoulder that challenge?

SAM WAARDENBURG: I wouldn't say we carried the offensive load, because Charlie, he runs the team like a true point guard. He had, like, nine assists, some amazing passes. So and Zai, he was doing his thing. He got hot in the second half there as well.

That's how it's been all season. We don't rely on any one person, really. We know we can always work well as a unit. Guys came in off the bench. I know they didn't score, but they gave us great energy as well, forced some turnovers there. It's always a team effort with this team. That's what makes us special.

JORDAN MILLER: I think he summed it up pretty well.

Q. Jim's obviously had success over the years in the tournament, going back to George Mason and things like that. Is there something about what he does this time of the year that helps you guys be successful, any changes, anything you could point to that pays off this time of year?

ISAIAH WONG: I would just say going to the tournament, he always lets us know every day, hey, just be you. At the end of the day, just play free and just play together as a team and just help the team as much as possible. Play hard, and just be yourself at the end of the day. And I feel like with that feeling it just makes us even better as a team.

Q. Jordan, having come from George Mason, what was kind of the legend of Jim Larrañaga when he was there? And having the chance to meet with him and talk to him as you were going through the recruiting process, what was that like, the relationship you formed?

JORDAN MILLER: Yeah, being at George Mason, it's hard not to hear about his success there. Coach L, actually, when I first talked to him, he actually said, do you know about my success at George Mason. (Laughter).

But the transition has been smooth. Trusting in the coaching staff, Coach L, specifically, seeing his vision. Even though they dealt with injuries a lot last year. It's just been an incredible journey. I think kind of like Zai mentioned, we're just being ourselves, having fun, staying connected and really make a run.

Q. Sam, you've all talked a lot about having fun and Coach talked about having fun. Kam talked about in warmups last night you guys like to be the loudest. I've been watching the warm-ups. What's the thing you do with the ball at the end? Can you explain that?

SAM WAARDENBURG: Honestly, we're a bit all over the place. I don't think we have a plan for anything. But during this tournament we've kind of -- I'm the wrong person to ask because I know nothing about football -- but we kind of set the ball up, put it on the ground -- yeah, tee it up. That's the word. That would be best, probably.

Q. You want to explain what you guys are doing there with the basketball? Looks like you're going to kick a field goal or something.

JORDAN MILLER: Honestly, it just kind of progressed. It started off -- I mean, before the huddle we usually just smack the ball to get the energy going. And one day we decided to just, pretend like we're going to punt it. And it just kind of went from there. It gets us ready for the game, excited. Gets us smiling. Gets us loose.

Q. Is that just during this tournament that you started doing this?

SAM WAARDENBURG: I think it was the ACC Tournament. It wasn't planned. It just happened one day.

JORDAN MILLER: And we just went with it. It just kind of became a thing.

Q. Now that you've done the quick turnaround in the tournament, going from one team to the next in less than 48 hours, what's the challenge? What have you learned about what's the challenge about learning about a team on such short notice.

ISAIAH WONG: With different teams, they all play differently. So, coming into the next game, it's just how they play, they've got different players. So just with the day of just learning like what they do. And the hard part is just trying to learn as fast as possible and how to play defense, how to know the other players' weaknesses and know what they're really good at. I feel like those are like the -- those are the stuff that we really need to do in the short term.

Q. Is it like preparing for a test?

ISAIAH WONG: I wouldn't say it's cramming for a test, because it just happened, like, naturally. But when you come into the game it's just like you know you don't know as much, but you still know, like, a little. You come in, just play the game -- just play the game as best as possible.

Q. Sam or Jordan, what stands out to you about Kansas and just your initial preparation? And how much of your game plan is just going to be about what you guys do well versus preparing for this team?

SAM WAARDENBURG: Obviously looking at Kansas, they're a very talented team. They've been a top team in the country all year long. They've got size. They've got guys who can shoot the ball. They're very talented. We've got a lot more film to watch tonight. Going to go out to practice now, get ready for that. Trust in the game plan that Coach is going to give for us.

But we've done a great job making sure that we stick to what we want to do in these games. Our big emphasis being disrupting teams, forcing turnovers. And we're not going to shy away from that. We're going to keep that on. And we might have to make a few adjustments based on personnel, but we're going to be ready.

Q. Sam, you've got your wrist wrapped. How is your wrist? Thumb?

SAM WAARDENBURG: It's all good.

Q. Isaiah, what makes this team so dangerous?

ISAIAH WONG: What makes this team so dangerous we have a lot of ball handlers on the team. I feel like one through five, we all can ball handle. With that, it's hard to guard. And it's just a real problem in, like, the team that plays against us. With the players we have we can play make, play with each other. We can play make for each other and just help -- if somebody has an off game, there's always somebody that's going to drop 20 or 25. So it's hard to try to focus on one player when we've got five players that could score and play make and play defense at the same time. So it's hard to defend Miami.

Q. Sam, can you talk about what Jordan has brought the team? I think everyone knew a little more about Charlie coming in, but no one knew that much about Jordan. What has he brought this team?

SAM WAARDENBURG: Well, we knew as a team -- obviously practicing with him in the summer told us how good Jordan was. I think Coach L has pointed it out many times, probably the best offensive rebounder I've ever seen, his ability to tip the ball in. It doesn't seem he gets a full hand on the ball; he just somehow makes it go in. He's incredible.

And the last couple of months he's definitely been (indiscernible) and our biggest player. Really, I think I saw last night when I was rewatching the game that for most of the season he averaged like nine points, but in the month of March he's averaged 15 points. That's huge. That's a huge step-up. And it's obviously showing that he's had such a big impact on this little run at the end here. And yeah, he's just amazing for us and we've known it all year long.

Q. Jordan and Isaiah, just a little bit about Kansas, your thoughts earlier, if you've seen Remy Martin and Ochai Agbaji, your thoughts of him? And also I'm guessing when you're eating pizza last night Charlie was filling you in a little bit about Kansas. What did you hear from Charlie about the Jayhawks?

JORDAN MILLER: Kansas, blue blood. They're a good team. They show they've been a good team all year. I think at this point in the tournament everybody can play. St. Peters making a run, being in the Elite Eight. I think it comes down to who wants it more. Executing the game plan, taking care of the ball, just little things, the fundamentals. It should be a good game. Just who has the most heart out there.

ISAIAH WONG: Kansas is a good team, looks like they play hard and play good with each other and they're a tough team. And they're ranked for a reason. So coming into the game, like Jordan said, we're going to play -- whoever plays the hardest, I feel, is going to win the game.

Q. Sam, wondering how your experience as a team collectively, whether guys who have been in the program or guys coming in with experience, like Charlie and Jordan, have affected this run and just your overall play as a team?

SAM WAARDENBURG: The experience we have all season long, we've been in so many close games throughout the season, especially through ACC play. And that prepares you so well for March Madness and tournament play at the end of the year. And that experience just holds everyone together.

If we've been in moments through adversity through games, there's no pressure, really. There's no one getting crazy. Everyone is cool, calm, collected. And Coach L does a great job making sure that's happening and there's a lot of positivity around us.

And I also give credit to our freshmen as well. They've been amazing. Bensley is a natural leader himself. He's probably one of the most vocal guys on our team. And everyone is doing just an amazing job. And the team's really coming together.

Q. Sam, you said you watched the game back last night. I know it was a late night. Is that something you normally do after every game, or something you decided to do together? Or is it just kind of your process?

SAM WAARDENBURG: I had a lot of adrenaline, what not, after a big win last night. I couldn't really get to sleep. I just watched the game. It's something I usually do after most games, yep.

Q. Jordan and Sam, you guys have run a small ball system very successfully all year. You're going to face Kansas, a bigger team that does grab a lot of rebounds. Even though you guys aren't the biggest unit you've proved capable of handling and defeating big teams that are supposed to have the advantage in the paint. What is it about Miami that allows you to defeat these bigger teams?

JORDAN MILLER: Again, credit to the coaching staff for putting the pieces they had together and making the best game plan they could all year. I think just focusing on boxing out, not being the biggest team, little things, using our speed, using our agility to our advantage is a big key. Rebounding, at the end of the day, I think it just comes down to heart and how bad you want the ball. Rebounding doesn't take any skill. Nothing special. It's just a matter of positioning a little bit and really wanting to get the ball.

Q. Have you guys heard from a lot of people since the game last night, maybe former players? What's the reaction been like among former Hurricanes or other people you've heard from last night?

ISAIAH WONG: Definitely heard from a lot of people. My phone has been blowing up from family to Miami Hurricane fans, to cousins and all that. It's been a great feeling that everybody is supporting, from people down in Philly and people down from wherever, just supporting. And they're texting, DMing, they've been doing everything.

Q. Getting a lot of reaction?

SAM WAARDENBURG: Yes, a lot. I tried to turn my phone off during all this. I haven't really seen too much. A quick look at our Instagram page, I know we have a lot of support right now. And we've seen the crowd last night as well. Just amazing group of fans that are supporting us. And hopefully that continues to grow and we get more people coming through.

Q. You've been playing hoops your entire life. How much has it sunk in that you're one win away from the Final Four?

JORDAN MILLER: Honestly, it hasn't even sunk in with me yet. It just feels so surreal. But just trying to be focused and locked in. At this point, you almost have to play perfect basketball. And basketball is a game of mistakes. So just really trying to stay locked in the moment. And I feel like down the road, maybe a couple months later, however far we make it, hopefully the national championship, you look back, be able to take in all the glory and all the success we had.

Q. How do you stay locked in?

JORDAN MILLER: Just being prepared for the next game. Enjoying -- like I mentioned earlier, enjoying that win for the night. But as soon as that night's over, it's on to the next, watching film, trying to gather as much information as possible.

Q. Sam, going back to last year, I read somewhere, when you were sitting out, the coaching staff had you do reports on each game. Can you kind of walk us through what went into that report, what you would break down, what information you would give the staff?

SAM WAARDENBURG: Yes. Adam Fisher, our assistant coach last year, he didn't want me just sitting down and sulking or anything like that, thinking just about my injury or what I'm missing out. So he gave me these assignments to do and make sure I was locked into those games.

And what I would really do is just I'd break down, first, each of our players individually, how they did on positions. If they messed up, made mistakes. Things they did positively, in correlation with the scouting report that we gave on the other team. And then I'd do a section just as like a team defense, in general, and team offense as well.

And it started off like three pages, but as the season went on I was able to get it down to one or two pages. And give full credit to Coach Fish, helped me a lot. I don't think I would be the player right now that I am playing at this level without that. It helped me build a basketball IQ and gave me a better understanding for the game.

Q. Jordan, growing up in Norman, Virginia, just talk about your basketball career growing up in Norman, Virginia, and how that takes you to the Elite Eight right now.

JORDAN MILLER: Usually Northern Virginia not a lot of players played Division I. I took the public school route. I didn't play on the circuit. So for me to be here is very unusual. But it's also exhilarating. Anything can happen. I'm just grateful, happy for this opportunity.

Q. So much had to happen for you guys and Kansas to be matched up in the Elite Eight. Not just in the tournament but in the season. And obviously this is Charlie's old team. Did you all talk about that potential at all? And now that it's happening, is that significant to you in any way that he's going up against his old team?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Honestly, no, we never spoke about it. And quite honestly, we won't even bring that up. I know it might be a great storyline for the media. But for us, it's not about Charlie versus his old team. This is about our team versus their team. And Kansas is a great basketball program.

I just found out, it's the winningest basketball program in college basketball history. I guess their win last night put them at No. 1. So for our players, it's a great opportunity to compete against the best. And to consider yourself amongst the best, you've got to beat really good teams. I think we've done that so far. And we're looking forward to the contest tomorrow.

Q. So now doubt you've been coaching basketball longer than I've been alive. You've led Miami to 226 wins and counting. But this is going to be your first Elite Eight matchup with Miami. So how are you managing your thoughts and emotions as you continue to be a leader for this team?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: That's interesting. I would say I'm going to approach tomorrow's game just like I do every game. I know there's a tendency to think that this game is more important than other games. But if you didn't make every game important, then you couldn't get to this game. And then whoever wins the game, they're going to have another important game in a week.

So to us, you've got to take things one game at a time, one day at a time, focus on what you can control. Don't be distracted by the things you can't control. And do the best job you can at preparing your team to be the best they can be.

And when you listen to those guys, they're really sharp. They're smart. Their basketball IQ is high. They listen attentively. And they understand the importance of doing little things well. If they didn't, we wouldn't be where we are.

Q. How well do you know Bill Self? What kind of relationship you guys have, or anything like your encounters over the years, if at all? I'm not exactly sure.

COACH LARRAÑAGA: I've known Bill a long time. I have tremendous respect for him. He's done a fantastic job. His record in the Big 12, with winning regular season championships, is unlike any other coach in the history of college basketball. And we've had the opportunity to spend time together. Sometimes we'd run into each other on the road recruiting. He's a great guy. I admire him and have great respect for he and his staff.

Q. Your players talk a lot about enjoying the moment. For you on, a personal level, are you ever to able to take a step back and appreciate what you're accomplishing in a tournament that moves so fast? And has that changed in your career at all?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: It hasn't changed at all. I've been married for 50 years, and my wife keeps me in line. Someone recently -- I met, said hello, kind of introduced myself. And they said, Coach, you know you're a celebrity. And then when that person left, my wife said, no you're not. (Laughter).

Q. You're obviously no stranger to upsets, both with George Mason and then most recently Loyola went on their run starting four years ago.

COACH LARRAÑAGA: You had to bring that up.

Q. On both sides of things. Does this run feel different? If so, how?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: I think every trip to the NCAA Tournament is a special event for that team. And it is for me. It's a different group of guys even if just two or three guys new are on your team. This year we had -- half our team is new. So it's a special feeling to be able to enjoy it with them. And we've had some really great games this year. Exciting games, one-point finishes.

We've won a lot of them but we've lost a few. And losing hurts. And the competition at this level, it's the highest level of Division I basketball. And to know that you're one of only eight teams in the entire country when there are 358 Division I schools who would love to be in this position and there are only eight that are, you feel very fortunate. And I think my guys realize, this is not something that happens every day.

For Kansas it does, but not for Miami.

Q. What challenges do the Jayhawks present to you? Do they remind of you any ACC opponents? And anything about any of the individual players, Remy Martin on a roll, and Jalen Wilson and Ochai Agbaji.

COACH LARRAÑAGA: You mean the whole team.

Q. Anything you can give us.

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Really good players. Here's how I would describe Kansas initially. They play extremely aggressively at both ends of the floor and try to score on you by attacking the rim in the first five seconds of their possession.

The best example I can give in our league is North Carolina. When we prepare for North Carolina, over the years the game plan was always the same. The first and most important thing was to prevent the five-second layup, because they were the best in the country, in my mind, at doing that.

The next was Michigan State. So they were like 1-A and 1-B. And now I think Kansas is probably 1-A. They've surpassed it, Bill Self and his staff, primarily because they're not just a group of terrific basketball players, they're really great athletes who can play multiple positions.

So when we look at their starting lineup and you've got a guy like Jalen Wilson who is like 6'8", but he can play like a guard. He's not a slow, plodding big man. No, he's a high-flying, Paul George-type shooter, athlete, scorer, NBA draft choice. Those caliber of players.

And Remy Martin the same thing. He's lightning fast and has incredible scoring ability. And when you play Kansas, the first thing you have to be able to do is try to get your defense back because if you don't, they're going to score on you fast and often.

Q. Having said all that about Kansas, how do you think that you guys match up with them? How do you think your personnel matches up in that kind of a game?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: I've said this throughout the years. We don't actually match up great with teams because of our lack of size. So what we have to do is be disruptive in some way. And each team presents a different set of circumstances. Kansas actually plays a very simple brand of basketball. We're just better than you at this, running a high-low, running ball screens, posting a guy up, getting out on the fast break.

It's not like they have incredible schemes that my staff has to spend hours and days and weeks preparing, like, how are we going to guard this? No, it's just, like, man, those guys are just so good at what they do. And it's very fundamentally sound. And that's what makes them so consistently good every year.

Q. What's your message to your team on the eve of the biggest game that they've ever played?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: The most important thing -- and I tell them this every day, and have since the tournament began -- smile and stay loose. Enjoy the moment. This should be a heck of a lot of fun. I told the story last night in the pregame and it didn't go over at all. I could tell. The players were, like, what is this? Have any of you heard of the Cochran Way? Anybody? Bueller?

All right. So the Cochran Way is about a family in Vermont. Small town in Vermont. The guy goes to buy a home and he says, I want a home with a hill in the background, so my children can enjoy skiing in Vermont. It's a natural thing to do.

And he only had one rule, was you had to ski to have fun. It was not about winning. It was not about competition. And then his four children went on to be Olympians. And the one grandson ended up having a terrible ski accident and broke his neck. Had to have surgery on his neck. Told he would never ski again. And a year later he won the silver medal in the Winter Olympics.

So my message to them was, you know, have fun. Just enjoy this moment because March Madness is the greatest sporting event in the world. Three weeks and they call it the Big Dance because that's what it is. Everybody parties. Just look at the locker room after every -- not the team that loses now -- but you go into the locker room of the team that wins, everybody's having a blast.

Q. I know it was forever ago, you guys were both in Orlando. I wonder, did you have a book on Kansas then? Do you do that going into an event like that?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: No. No, I didn't. We were focused on Dayton and didn't do such a great job there. And they beat us. And the next day they beat Kansas. So the one thing I've said -- and I truly believe this -- I think the NCAA Tournament needs to expand. I think we need to go to 96 teams, because there's so many great teams around the country that are not playing in the event. And if St. Peters had lost in their tournament, they wouldn't have been invited. And yet you see how good they are.

I feel the same way about Dayton, about Wake Forest in our league. And there's just so many good teams. And I think the NCAA Tournament is the dream of every young basketball player, in elementary school and high school. They go to college with the hopes of, hey, I want to play in the Big Dance. I want to be part of March Madness. And yet we only include about 18 percent of the Division I teams.

So that's 68 out of 358 Division Is. Why can't we just expand it one more round and have 96 teams, and have more teams participate? 32 more teams -- I know it's 68, but I always think 64 -- so 32 more teams that are going to be very well-deserving of being in the dance.

And then you have more of these runs like the George Masons and the Butlers and the St. Peters, teams that are very, very worthy and great competitors that bring a lot of positive attention to March Madness. And be more inclusive.

If you look at certain teams -- Kansas is one, Carolina, Duke -- they go every year. There are a lot of teams that have never made March Madness. Those kids dream about it and never even really get a glimpse at it. So we didn't look at Kansas back in November. We're going to take a close look today, though.

Q. You mentioned earlier about taking, preparing for every game the same way. But what are your nerves like before games of this magnitude?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Honestly, the very same it is every single day of my life because I love coaching. I prepare the same way. And some opponents are more challenging because of how good they are. But my preparation, my staff's preparation, is identical. I'm a great believer in routines. So we follow the same routine every single day.

Q. What was the value of adding experienced guards from the outside to a team that already had a lot of experience and how that's come together for you?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: You know, one thing that -- I don't know how much it gets talked about on air -- but I know from a coaching standpoint, we talk about it all the time. There's been two major changes in college basketball recently: NIL, which is terrific for the student-athletes; and the transfer portal, which has allowed student-athletes to transfer and play right away.

So with that being now the norm, a lot of kids are transferring. In the ACC, I don't know what it is in the Big 12, but in the ACC, half the players in our league are new. They're either freshmen or transfers. That's a lot. Half your team. Not our team, every team. And that's where college basketball is going. So when we lost Chris Lykes to transfer, we brought in Charlie Moore. About the same age. Play the same position. You kind of fill somebody's shoes, and you hope you found someone who fits into your program. And Charlie's been absolutely sensational.

The same with Jordan Miller. We found someone who is exactly the kind of person, student and player that fills a role for us. And as these guys have said, he's a great player. And you think of a guy that rarely misses a shot. Yesterday, he was 6-for-6 from the field, shooting over 70 percent in the last six weeks of the season.

But you have to recruit the transfer portal because bringing in high school kids alone makes you very, very young. And unless those are the one-and-dones, you're probably not going to be able to compete at a high level. And I think every team we face -- we played Iowa State last night. They got more transfers than we do.

Q. Last night against Iowa State, Kameron, Sam and Jordan combined for 56 of your 70 points. They played heavy minutes and your bench didn't score. So going into tomorrow, are you going to try to get your bench involved a little bit more to alleviate pressure on the starters at all?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: No. Everybody knows their role. If the guys off the bench score, it's going to be because their teammates found them and they had a shot they know they can make that's within the scheme of things. So a guy like Anthony Walker, he might score eight or 10 points tomorrow. I don't know. It's his kind of game, up and down. And same with Jordan Miller and Wooga Poplar. They've had games -- Bensley has had double-digit games and I think we'll just go -- maybe as high as eight. But there's not the pressure on them to produce points.

The demand on them is play great defense and keep us within the offense. And if they score, that's a bonus. We'd love for the bench to score 10 to 20 points. That would be huge for us tomorrow.

Q. You touched on some of these issues but I'd like to hear it from you, seems like since you made that run in 2006 with George Mason we've seen more and more double digit seeds be able to make similar runs since then. What do you think has changed over the years to allow some of the mid-majors and smaller schools like St. Peters to have these types of runs in March?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: I think right now it's the transfer portal. Kids wanting to get back closer to home who went away. Or, I'm sitting on the bench someplace but I think I could start at the other school.

There's so much input in a player's life from his family, from his coaches, and they're always doing what I think we all do -- they're always looking for the best situation possible for them to realize their dream. And I think it's very, very normal. So I just think that that's what's happened. That's why I think we should expand the tournament to 96, because I think there's a lot of good teams out there and a lot of good players who nobody gets to see on the national stage.

Q. How much heart does your team have?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Yeah, huge. I think one of the things that happens, I think, in life is that when you get knocked down, you find out who you are. If you stay down, you don't have much heart. But if you bounce back up and are willing to get knocked down again, that shows you've got heart.

And we've been knocked down. The last three years, we had three losing seasons. Not fun. But these guys -- Sam, Isaiah, Kam -- they weren't transferring out. They stayed and fought to get us back. And Rodney Miller, Deng Gak -- injuries, Deng Gak sat out two full years; Rodney all of last year. These guys were willing to come back. They've shown huge heart. That's why we are where we are.

Q. In the big picture, how much does a run like this help with recruiting and just the national stature of your program being elevated by this run? You're a national story. You're all over the broadcasts. How does that help you going forward as a program?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Well, I guarantee you, there's more hits on the University of Miami website than ever before. That's just the natural tendency for people who watch you play and see the excitement and say, oh, I want to find out about that university. They're probably finding out for the first time that the University of Miami is a private school, with 10,000 undergraduate students, it's top 50 academically and in Coral Gables, Florida, where it's 75 degrees every day and it's sunny.

It's marketing. It's branding. And the same is true for high school basketball players. All our potential recruits, even transfer students, are watching us play and trying to figure out, man, would I want to be part of it. If one of my coaches reaches out, look, I'm the assistant coach of Miami -- man, the Hurricanes! The U! Yeah, I'm very interested. That's what exposure does. You guys create that for all of us.

Q. There are videos all over the Internet going back several years of some of the great dances that you've done in the locker room. And you talked about this being the Big Dance. Do you know when a dance is coming? Can you tell, looking in your players' eyes that they're begging for that moment when you just cut it loose for 30 seconds?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Well, this all began in 2013, when we played Illinois in the round of 32. And during the game, the Big Ten team is very physical. And we were battling. They were battling. At every timeout, I just kept telling my team, We've got to fight. We've got to fight for every loose ball, for every rebound, for every possession, just keep fighting and fighting and fighting.

And we won the game by one or two points. We went into the locker room, and I was trying to think of something motivational to say to them of how proud I was of them. And the first thing I thought of was, fighting, what do I do -- oh, the greatest fighter of all time is Muhammad Ali. And so I went in there, I asked you guys to fight; you know what I saw out there, Muhammad Ali, and I did my version of the Ali Shuffle, and it went viral. I didn't know that. I wasn't planning that. The players on the team loved it. And now that's become, like, expected. And I got a phone call from a good friend of mine, Billy Foley, from New York, and he said, hey, you're making a fool of yourself dancing.

Q. What's your definition of a well-coached team?

COACH LARRAÑAGA: Well, when I speak to my staff, when we're evaluating an opponent, I always ask them, can you tell what their coaching staff is teaching them? And if you can, then that's a well-coached team. If they're so well-disciplined and have developed the habits that as an opponent you can easily recognize what they're doing, then you know that guy's a heck of a coach.

And I'll use Iowa State as a good example. T.J. and his staff did a fantastic job. They forced sideline, differently than a lot of teams. And when you can't get the ball reversed when you're stuck driving the ball when you think you're beating the guy baseline and all of a sudden you get trapped, and it doesn't happen once, it happens every time you drive baseline, the consistency of performance is the way a coach is evaluated because his team, if they're doing what he's taught them, they'll do it day after day, practice after practice, and game after game.