NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 26, 1999

Scoonie Penn

Michael Redd

SCOONIE PENN: I feel it's a big factor because, you know, Ricky Moore, he can really play some defense. He's one of the best on the ball defensive players in the country. He's going to give us problems on defense while we're on offense.

MICHAEL REDD: He's a great defender. It's a challenge for either one of us if he guards us, either one of us. We just have to be on top of our game.

MICHAEL REDD: To answer the first question, it feels really great. I've been in Columbus all my life, seeing Ohio State struggle through those six years or five years, it hurt. Growing up in the process, you want to stay home and help your program out. Second question, I really haven't thought about that, being a hometown hero or what not. People know us regardless of who we are and love us regardless.

SCOONIE PENN: I like the match up between Khalid and myself. I don't see it as an advantage because I've been hot lately. He had an O for 12 game. That's thrown out the window. It's a whole new week, whole new ball game. I'm looking forward to it.

MICHAEL REDD: Tremendous. They've been playing really well in the tournament so far this year. Jason and Kenny are playing real well. Kenny's blocking shots. Jason's hustling for balls, what not, playing good defense. Those two scores -- can score for us tomorrow, it would be really great. SCOONIE PENN: When the front court performs like they're capable of doing, it makes things a lot easier for Mike and myself. Because, you know, they don't have Mateen on us so much. If Jason or Kenny are able to get off a little bit, that helps our chances out a lot.

MICHAEL REDD: I think I improved on my defense. A lot of people -- this year I really worked hard on trying to improve that. The matchup with Richard Hamilton is going to be a tremendous one. He's a great player and I would like to be the P and Q who guards him.

SCOONIE PENN: Well, with regard to my family, I do feel like the father figure probably because I have a little brother and sister. I have a couple nephews and a niece. I have a lot of young cousins that I think look up to me. Ever since a young age, I've always felt like kind of the father figure because I didn't have a father growing up. I just think, you know, it helped me out as far as getting some confidence. I think that's translated right on to the basketball court.

SCOONIE PENN: I feel like we're playing an undercard. We probably don't get spoken about as much as the other teams. They're number one seed, we're number four seed. But I feel that's okay with us. I feel like we've been in that situation all season, kind of played the underdog role. It fit us well, so we'll continue playing it.

SCOONIE PENN: I don't really know. Ricky Moore, I do remember when I was at Boston College. I don't think I had a pretty good game, he covered me, maybe the second time I played him. I watched him on TV. He was one of the best players or best scorers. He shuts them down. I think that gives Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin a little rest on defense. I think he's the work horse. If he covers me or if he covers Mike, he's gonna have to work. It's going to be a good battle.

MICHAEL REDD: Unbelievable. To be in that position, you've been waiting for that since you were a little kid, working hard to be in that position. We walked out today, felt great. The fans were behind us, the floor was beautiful. The atmosphere was great.

SCOONIE PENN: I felt ever since we beat St. Johns last week and we've been in the Final Four, I mean I felt like it really hasn't hit me that much. But I know when I walked out there for the first time today and heard the crowd yell, just seeing everybody's faces lit up, it made me feel like we are at the Final Four. It's just a great feeling.

SCOONIE PENN: Mike and myself, we really hit it off good the first time we met. I remember the first time watching him play, I watched him, thought this kid's gonna be really good. I think we had a great relationship ever since that day. We always talk about what we're gonna do, things we want to accomplish at the back court. We just got along since day one, there's been no conflict like that.

MICHAEL REDD: I don't think so. We're practicing the same as we did. We have a lot of hard work, very intense, very aggressive. And it's been great. You know, we need to keep doing that in order to beat Connecticut. If you let down, you're going to be out of the tournament pretty quick.

MICHAEL REDD: He really has. He really has. Like I said earlier, Scoonie's a great player. He knows what to do on the court. Last year, I was basically by myself. This year he's come in and done a tremendous job, done a lot of scoring, penetrating, passing, rebounding. So it really is a total package.

SCOONIE PENN: The conference play was very tough. I don't think there's a game that we prepared for that we felt like okay, this game won't be that hard. Every game we played was going to be a battle and was coming down to the wire. You want to think about my thoughts, at Indiana, that was a great feeling. The atmosphere and the history that Ohio State has had in the past not beating Indiana at home. We won, that was one of the best feelings.

MICHAEL REDD: I think the conference was the best in the country. It was evident when the last place team in the conference did well in the Big Ten tournament. They beat us. So that proves a lot. You know, with conferences, it was very hard. Every team's tough. So, you know, that speaks a lot for the conference.

MICHAEL REDD: Michigan State's a tough team. They beat us this year at Michigan State. They only lost by six to Duke the first time, I think. I don't know why people are wigging out. They're a great team. Mateen Cleaves is a great leader, Morris Peterson. It's a tough bunch of kids that play hard.

SCOONIE PENN: I think it's going to be a very good game between two very good teams. Michigan State is a team that you cannot overlook. I think they have great team chemistry, they have a leader on the team. I think they're underrated defensively. I think those guys really buckle down and they play tough defense the whole game.

MICHAEL REDD: It's definitely an honor. To get the response from those kids, makes you feel great. It's definitely an honor to be put in that position. To see kids from the school.

MICHAEL REDD: A little bit at first. You know, it really gave me motivation to play really hard in the tournament to feel like I deserved to be on the first team. But people that made the first team, you know, they deserve it. No bad, no harsh feelings or whatnot against them. I'm determined to play as hard as I can. Just to prove that I deserve to be on the first team.

SCOONIE PENN: He added a winning attitude. He made guys believe in this program. I think when I first arrived there, I don't think anyone on the team on the program really had a winning attitude on basketball anymore. It was time to turn this around. O'Brien brought a winning attitude to Columbus.

MICHAEL REDD: He brings, like Scoonie said, a winning attitude. You know, he brings a lot of hard work to get the way our team is, it's a reflection of his character on the floor. We listen to him and we listen to his directions.