NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MISSISSIPPI STATE VS BAYLOR

March 20, 2025

Norchad Omier

VJ Edgecombe

Lenovo Center

Baylor Bears

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are now ready to begin the Baylor press conference. We have with us Norchad Omier and VJ Edgecombe.

Q. Norchad, for both really, Norchad first, how has going through the Big 12 this year prepared you all for what's ahead here in March Madness?

NORCHAD OMIER: The Big 12, great conference, you play great teams in and out. You don't go in expecting to blow out someone. With that type of competition, I think they prepare us, they definitely prepare us for March Madness.

I know we're excited to be here. Get some dubs.

VJ EDGECOMBE: Just to piggy-back off what Norchad said, this is a very physical conference. I also think it's the best conference in college basketball. Like he said, great teams every day. There ain't no given on any night. Every game you've got to work hard for, so yeah.

Q. Norchad, Coach mentioned about in years past before you all got here that they were the hunters -- they were the hunted, and now y'all are the hunters. How has that mentality translated throughout the locker room?

NORCHAD OMIER: I don't think anybody in that locker room thinks of themselves like the hunted. We always look at everybody like prey, if I'm being honest. We're the Baylor Bears, you know.

That mentality is pretty standard. I think everybody is locked in with that.

Q. Norchad, you were teammates with Michael Nwoko at Miami. Just wondering what your relationship was like with him. Are you guys close? Have you talked to him at all this week? What would it be like if you guys were matched up on the court tomorrow?

NORCHAD OMIER: Of course Michael Nwoko and me at Miami, we went on the international trip together. We were roommates the whole trip. We're pretty close.

This comes down to business. We text each other when we figure out we're going to play each other, but since then we haven't texted each other. We're excited to play. Both of us are competitors, so we're excited to play each other.

Q. VJ, how excited are you to play in your first NCAA Tournament? Have you thought about the magnitude of this at all?

VJ EDGECOMBE: I'm going to be honest, I'm super excited, super grateful, but I'm going to just try not to get too hot. So just trying to stay grounded the whole time. I know it's going to help me on my court.

My teammates are there to support me too, but like you said, I'm excited for sure.

Q. VJ, to follow that up, growing up in the Bahamas, did you follow March Madness, NCAA Tournament? Do you have any memories from that when you were growing up?

VJ EDGECOMBE: I'm going to be honest, I only can remember last March Madness I watched back home probably was in 2021, to be honest, when Jalen Suggs hit the game winner. I remember watching that game. To be honest, I wasn't really watching March Madness games back home. I was mainly watching NBA games, so yeah.

Q. Just since you haven't watched a lot of March Madness games, I guess, how have you embraced the madness that is March Madness, or what have your teammates told you about?

VJ EDGECOMBE: This guy right here, he's been to the Final Four. Jeremy's been to the Final Four. They have the experience. They told me it's super fun, especially when you win it.

It's do or die, so if you win no games, I don't think it's going to be fun at all. So they're guiding me, just telling me what to do and what not to do. So, yeah, I'm just grateful to have them around for sure.