NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 13, 2023

Chris Harris

Phillip Russell

Brad Korn

UD Arena

Southeast Missouri Redhawks

Media Conference

CHRIS HARRIS: To start, I'd say everybody is really happy to be here. It's a great opportunity for our program and something that is good for the community to be able to share. Being here, we have the support of our program behind us, and we couldn't be more excited and happy to get started and get to playing.

PHILLIP RUSSELL: First, I would like to say, I think everybody here is super excited. It's something we haven't done in 23 years. For us to be here today, it don't feel real.

Q. Chris and Phil, the past 24 hours have been pretty crazy for you guys, going from the selection show at Show Me Center to here. What's it been like for you guys over the past 24 hours?

CHRIS HARRIS: It's been pretty crazy, with the travel and everything, finding out where we're going and who we're playing. So it's been pretty crazy from that perspective, but we've been pretty amped up to start playing and practicing and getting in the gym again.

We've been in the gym before but now that we've had the selection show, we know who our opponent is and we know what we could actually end up doing in this tournament and being able to string together some games, it gives us more fuel, more fuel and fire to get out to shootaround and get up some shots and be together.

PHILLIP RUSSELL: Exactly what I was going to say.

Q. The past couple times I got to talk to you the last few weeks, it seems like the common trend, it doesn't feel real. Now that you are here and March Madness is branded over everything, it's on the court, has it sunk in at all, and how much more excitement does that give you?

PHILLIP RUSSELL: It's definitely sunk in. I'm very excited. But it's here now, so I'm ready to get going. I'm ready to get going.

Q. A lot has been talked about with Coach Korn being here as a player, as an assistant coach. Has he told you what to expect from this or is he letting you figure it out yourselves?

CHRIS HARRIS: I feel like it's been a little bit of both. Obviously we ask him, he's had a handful of experiences being in the tournament, coaching in it, whichever it may be, so just being able to talk to him. But a lot of times he tells us to make sure we put our phones down and actually get to experience it and actually take in what's going on and what we've done for ourselves, our teammates, and the community.

I mean, yeah, we talk to him a lot, but a lot of times he wants us to make our own memories, so he kind of keeps quiet and shies away. But it's a good surprise for all of us, just finding it out on our own and experiencing it for ourselves.

PHILLIP RUSSELL: He's definitely touched on a lot of things, how he's been here. He definitely said the atmosphere is different. As soon as we hopped off the bus today, it was like we had a little mini band and parade and everything, so it was crazy. I get what he's saying now. The atmosphere is really different.

Q. You guys were 2-5 in your last regular season conference games and strung together a winning tournament in the Ohio Valley. How do you keep that momentum and keep the wins coming?

CHRIS HARRIS: I think we just focus on keeping the main thing the main thing, that's something we've harped on all year. Just keep winning as the end goal. As for those two out of the last five, we know kind of how we play, and obviously injuries had stuff to do with that, as well.

So being able to get the team all back together on the same page, just being a united front and staying together and being consistent, I think that'll give us a good chance to keep this momentum going.

Q. Phillip, talking about momentum, do you want to add to that?

PHILLIP RUSSELL: No, I don't really want to touch it. He really touched on everything. The four games that we won, four days in a row, that was big time for us, and I just hope we can keep it going.

Q. After starting the season 6-10, what contributed to turning the season around?

PHILLIP RUSSELL: It's just guys committed. Coaches telling us like stick with it. This is a really good team, we could do something special, and guys believed that. That's exactly what we did. We stayed committed, stayed down, continued to work, and this is where it got us.

CHRIS HARRIS: Yeah, I'd piggy-back off that and just say that everybody loves everybody. We have a really good team chemistry even though we've really only been together for a year. For us, it was just a matter of understanding kind of the different situations we've all come from in the past and us pretty much dropping everything behind us, leaving the egos at the door, and understanding that we have a special team.

Everybody is special at some point, but if you can't put it together, it doesn't matter. It's really kind of everybody leaving themselves behind and putting the team up first.

Q. Chris and Phil, I know you both touched on the history a little bit, 23 years. When you finally get to take the court for the first time after everything this season has been through and seeing the community kind of rally around you guys, how much of it is just going to be putting on a smile and just being in the moment of that excitement of it?

PHILLIP RUSSELL: Really all of it. As soon as I step out there, maybe smile, maybe not. I'll probably do more smiling after we win or something. But if I don't smile, deep down inside I'm really smiling. I'm really excited to be here.

CHRIS HARRIS: Definitely feel the same way. Phil probably won't smile, but that's just how he is on game day. He's too serious for anything.

But yeah, it's just the experience, just being here, being able to take in everything. It's a little different when we get out on the court because now we have a mission, we have a common goal, and we need to go out there and make sure we're all focused on that. But just being able to take in stuff like this.

And like Phil has noted, walking in the hotel and stuff like that earlier, just being able to take in those experiences. And once we do get on the court, put the smiles down, and it's time to get to work.

Q. Phillip, as a basketball player, I know you dream of playing on that stage. Is there a memory of March Madness that you have and looking back, and sort of that feeling of stepping out on the floor tomorrow night?

PHILLIP RUSSELL: A memory that I have? I would probably say it was the last-second shot with Villanova, the toss-back. I'll never forget it. I was sitting there watching it with my dad and just telling him, that's the stage I really want to be on. I'm just happy I'm here.

Q. Chris, same question for you.

CHRIS HARRIS: I'd actually have pretty much the same answer. That Villanova shot where the inbounder came and ended up hitting the game-winning shot and you see the confetti going everywhere. And I was just sitting there with my whole family like man, that must be a crazy feeling, just all the hard work and dedication and everything to lead up to this point.

That's probably the memory that sticks out the most to me, and it's because it's fairly recent. But it was just a crazy way to end the season.

BRAD KORN: Four games in four days, pretty impressive by our guys, the resiliency, the toughness, the grit that they showed to get that done. Up-and-down season for us. We had a great November, a lackluster December, a great January, and a down February. So to see us come together at the end in March, I thought that we had the potential to be able to do this type of thing.

We talked about it three years ago when we first came, so it just is really remarkable to have this moment not only for the guys in the locker room, but also for our community and our university.

A. The last 24 hours have been pretty crazy for you guys from the Show Me Center and the selection show to now. What's it been like for you?

BRAD KORN: You know, it's been great just to, again, see the look on the guys' faces, community members, administration. You're talking 23-year drought, our region, our area, they really understand basketball and wanted to see us do well. We had great home crowds throughout that slowly built, slowly built.

And then to be able to have a viewing party in the Show Me Center with everybody there and to take in that moment with the community was so, so important, not only for our guys but as we continue to move the program forward as well. Again, we're not excited just to be in the tournament. We want to play and complete and win games as much as possible.

But to have those moments and to share that with the community has been probably -- and to see the community come out the way that they came out was very impressive.

Q. At the OVC you talked about how being in March Madness as a player was something, that you're going to have to wait to see how different it was as a coach. I know we're still at the early stages of this, but now that you are here, what's it been like so far since walking in the building?

BRAD KORN: Again, I've said it in a lot of interviews before, and it's basketball Christmas. It really is. Every time you turn the corner, you smile at something else. Really to see the look on the assistants' faces. Keith Pickens first time he's been to the tournament. I coached Keith at Missouri State. So to see the evolution of his career and to see our guys and just the way you're treated.

And it's the NCAA Tournament. This is what we go through all the stuff, all the conditioning, all the weight training, everything to get to this moment. To be able to have that and share that and be a part of that or maybe to be a small piece or small reason why, it's just been, again, every turn it's something new. We had a guy playing bagpipes today when we got to the hotel, so what else could you ask for?

Q. Because you guys are the first game of the tournament, so much excitement goes into the entire thing, but to have you guys be the ones that are really tipping the whole thing off, what's that experience going to be like?

BRAD KORN: If you go back even further to Saturday night, the first ticket punched, an overtime game and just capturing March Madness and what it's all about, and then now to have all eyes on you as the tournament kicks off, it's just -- again, you couldn't write a better script. You really couldn't. If you tried, you'd probably mess it up.

Thankfully I try to stay out of the way and let the guys be the star of the show and that's what they've been all season long.

As a fan you get the highs and the lows or what you get hung up on, but as a coach it's everything in between. It's been a long road to get to this point, but our guys have shown great toughness and resiliency. And to do that in Evansville, to have these moments that they have, and to kick it off here tomorrow night, again, what more could you ask for.

Q. I asked Chris and Philip about it, but with you being here before, is it important to balance for them what to expect but also staying out of the way so they kind of make their own memories and figure it out themselves?

BRAD KORN: Yeah, I think you're exactly right. I want them to walk out on the court and just to feel that moment, to have that moment. I can't tell them how to feel. I can only try to prepare them for what it might be like.

I think the main thing I've tried to tell them or get them to understand is just how long these games actually are. So there's a lot that goes into a game, and really once the ball gets tipped up, you've got to do what you know you can do, and that's basketball.

That's easier said then done, obviously, and there's going to be a lot that goes into it, a lot of emotions, butterflies, all those types of things. But at the end of the day, they're here to play basketball, and they're going to play.

Q. You talked about this has been three years in the making. You took over during the pandemic. What do you credit this moment to?

BRAD KORN: Boy, really just the belief in yourself, belief in the people around you. You don't do anything in life on your own. We brought 10 new players in, two new coaches. As you said, we took over in the pandemic, then we got hit with the portal. It was always kind of one of those things, are we ever really going to get our head up here?

We really were going into the conference tournament one game under .500, so to be able to string it together how we thought we could is satisfying, it's rewarding. But I think it gives you some verification that what you're doing is right. Believing in yourself and believing in those around you, surrounding yourself with good people, that way you know that what you're doing and putting into the guys is going to pay off at some time.

I didn't think it would be this fast, to be quite honest with you, but again, I'm not completely surprised because of the people that we surround ourselves with.

Q. I was wondering, have you been here before in any capacity, and do you think that them having been here last year is any kind of an advantage for them just from an experience standpoint?

BRAD KORN: Yeah, the first part of your question, yeah. I was here with Kansas State, and we played Wake. I forget which year that was. So I have been here before. I do think that it is an advantage for them. Having just gone through everything from the media to the hotel to everything that you have to do and go through and the process of getting here early, waiting around, 40 minutes on the court and all those types of things.

So I do think that that's an advantage for them. I'm not exactly sure how many of their guys on the team from last year are there this year. But I do believe it's a little bit of an advantage just because of the normalcy. And the way that everything is ran, the deer in the headlight looks probably won't be there for them as much as it would be probably for somebody for the first time.

Q. What attributes does this team hold that make you believe you can beat any team?

BRAD KORN: They're kind of fearless. I think it's played into some of the ups and downs that we've had throughout the season. But the one thing that I do take away from the OVC tournament is just we had a calmness and steadiness about us and the guys had a look in their eyes of supreme confidence. They understand this is now basketball, there's nothing else that matters. It's survive and advance, it's win or go home.

I think the attributes this team has is the toughness. We've been down big in games, we've been up big in games and we just keep on coming. It doesn't always look pretty, but I think we have a confidence about our ability to be able to perform on any type of stage.

Q. Outside of obviously the championship, what was the biggest highlight during that OVC tournament run?

BRAD KORN: You know what, I would say just the last eight minutes of the semifinal game against Morehead State. Morehead State is a program that has done great things in our league, year in and year out, for the last four or five years. A lot of respect for Coach Spradlin.

The last eight minutes of that ball game we allowed only one field goal. It's been a little bit of a deal of how we play defensively, but to win that semifinal and obviously put yourself in a championship game, but in the manner in which we did it, with toughness and defense and to not allow them to have a field goal the last eight minutes of the game, I thought that was a pretty significant special moment that helped us carry on into the championship game.