PLAYERS ERA POWER COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

November 27, 2024

Wade Taylor IV

Henry Coleman III

MGM Grand Garden Arena

Texas A&M Aggies

Postgame Press Conference

Texas A&M - 77, Creighton - 73

Q. The way your team finished, what's it say about the resilience in a moment like that?

WADE TAYLOR IV: Coach always talked to us all year about being grimy because we're at our best when we're grimy. It's a tug-of-war match. So for us to come out there and compete as hard as we did because Creighton is an amazing team, shout-out to them, just shows how much we believe in each other and how much we want to make sure when it get tight that we continue to make sure we pull it out.

Q. Henry, how did you guys approach guarding Kalkbrenner?

HENRY COLEMAN III: An unbelievable player. Probably one of the best bigs in the country. Amazing shot blocker, finishes really well around the rim.

For us, we just wanted to have crazy ball pressure. I thought the guards were unbelievable at that tonight. And just being physical with him. He's an unbelievable player. But when we were physical with him, I think it kind of gave them problems. I think just being physical, having great ball pressure really helped us a ton tonight.

Q. Has there been much talk about your guys' starts in the last couple years, November, December haven't been the strongest and you've got better as the season goes along. Has there been any discussions about that? And why do you guys think that hadn't started as well as you finished?

WADE TAYLOR IV: Yeah, we definitely have talked about it because of course me and him has been through all of it -- the eight-game losing streak, the five-game losing streaks.

We just try to make sure we can avoid that as much as we possibly can. Typically normally we get comfortable and we kind of don't have that same edge at the beginning as we do in the end, we kind of get complacent.

But we just try to make sure that we keep that edge throughout the whole year because that's who we are. And I think that we keep that the whole year then at the end of the year may have a different outcome than it has been since we've been here.

Q. Wade, seems like when the game gets physical like that you all are even more comfortable. How does that help the team in these moments?

WADE TAYLOR IV: It starts with how we practice. We have two refs in practice that are, don't tell them I said this, but are unbelievably terrible. One is a grad assistant and one is an assistant coach. And they don't call anything.

We just go about it every day being physical because that's who we want to be; we want to be the most physical team. Once teams continue to be physical with us, we kind of gravitate to it. That just makes us play harder. I think that starts with how hard we play in practice because how you play is how you practice.

Q. How many of these events have you guys been in your careers, do you think? You've both been around for a while.

HENRY COLEMAN III: Every single year. Yes.

Q. Combined like seven or something? What's this one like compared to the other ones you've been to?

HENRY COLEMAN III: I think NIL is awesome. I think we're super fortunate. I think how it's been run has been unbelievable. I just think when you're able to pay players and when you're able to use the NIL for a good reason and have people come out here and crazy competition, Hall of Fame coaches, All-American players, this is the best place to be right now. I know there's Maui and stuff going on, but I think right here is the best place to be. We're fortunate and blessed to be here.

Q. Is it because of the NIL -- obviously that's a difference maker. Is there anything else that would lend you to say it's the best?

HENRY COLEMAN III: Just how it's run, the competition right now. You have Hall of Fame coaches in the building right now. You have all of American players. Wade's one of them. And many on the other team. I think the competition -- we talked about it amongst the team. If there was no money involved we'd still play in this tournament just because we love the competition and love playing the best and the best. Just to have it in one sitting is a blessing.

Q. When you think about AAU ball, many players, if not most of you all, come to Vegas before you get to college. When you get to college and hear that you're going to have a tournament in Vegas at the next level, does even add more to that enticement?

WADE TAYLOR IV: I was definitely excited to come back to Vegas. I came my freshman year for the Maui tournament. Vegas AAU, it's amazing. To come to Vegas as a collegiate player is great. I'm excited we were able to participate in the tournament, just being in Vegas because Vegas is always a good time.