NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 28, 2001

Tom Izzo

Lute Olson

COACH LUTE OLSON: Well, I think there are a lot of ways that it affects it. I think it affects enrollment. It affects the recruiting, I think is huge, because based on our title in '97, there were a lot of kids who were eighth, ninth, 10th graders that it affected, even though we were not recruiting them at that time. And then I think from a personal standpoint, well, I guess you have some idea what you are doing. But basically, I would say those things.

COACH TOM IZZO: Well, I would agree. I think it does have a great impact. I think coaches, after we won last year, told me it to be the ride of my life, and the next year really was. I guess there was a lot more attention and things that you have to deal with. And like you said, it does help enrollment. I think it helps the university greatly. I think it helps the licensing people at the university, and maybe donations. It seems like everybody is a little more uplifted. And I think on a personal note, something about getting to the Final Four, it validates you a little bit, whether that is fair or unfair. In fact, I think it's unfair, but I think it does, and because of that, you know, I think it is special to get there on a personal note.

COACH LUTE OLSON: Well, I think with, Loren, it really set him back to have to sit out that -- those first six. It took a number of games, as it would anybody, to get back in the swing of things after not being able to play during those -- during that time. Of course, in practice, you know, he's not looking at the first group most of the time, so it takes -- it takes quite a while to get going. And I think just from a mental standpoint, he had worked so hard to get back from the surgeries on his back. He had spent all summer here working with the physical therapist and with their trainers and strength people, and all of the sudden to have -- to have this hit was a real downer for him mentally. Once he got back, why, everyone expected that he should be able to be back in full form, and obviously there's no way that that could be done. So, I think it affected him greatly. But the last month and a half now, he's been practicing really well, playing really well. Much more aggressive with the ball, and he's critical to us, just as he was against Illinois, even though he didn't play well the first 25 minutes. You know, down the stretch, I was thinking -- I think in the tournament now, he's like 23 or 24 from the line in the four games. He has seven blocked shots in the game against Illinois. And some of those were really big, and it seemed like he just claimed every rebound over the last five, six seven minutes. So he was right in the mix with everything. As far as its affect for us on Saturday, he's the guy that makes it tough for people to take the ball to the hole, because if he doesn't block it, he's going to -- it's certainly going to affect the way the guy looks at the shot.

COACH TOM IZZO: I don't think it is fair, what any of us are going through, and I understand it to a certain extent. I did think early in my career, like a lot of people, I've read stuff on a lot of great coaches that went through that. I think my reason for not being fired yet is I've only been in it six years. Lute and the rest of them all have a lot more than I do, and only time will tell. I think you've seen some guys getting fired, even with great records or guys that have gone to the NCAA. To me, that's not good for the profession, and yet, you know, that's the way it is these days in the sports we coach, because probably the money we make.

COACH LUTE OLSON: Well, I've always said that you have to be very, very good, but you also have to be very lucky. If you look at most teams who have won it, they have had at least one game during the course of the year where they have had to pull off a miracle practically to get it done. You have to be lucky to make sure that somebody doesn't come up with an injury or an illness that can affect your team. I know with us one year, we were in the Sweet 16 against Kansas. The year before, we won it. And a very key player of ours that we went out to dinner the night before, and he's the only one that had thousand island on his salad and ended up with food poisoning and was in the hospital all night and the next day, trying to stay hydrated. And we lost a very close game. So, you need to be -- you need to be very good to do it, but you also need to be very lucky.

COACH TOM IZZO: Well, I would concur with that. I think last year when we did win it, we coulda/shoulda got beat by Syracuse and coulda/shoulda got beat by Iowa State. So we got lucky. I've always believed we were good enough to get to the Sweet 16 and kind of Lady Luck has to play its hand a little bit because there are so many good teams left. I found the key after going there one year and not winning it, or getting to the Sweet 16, is you've got to keep your guys focused, and it is harder when some of them are not used to the media attention or the aura of the Final Four, or as you move on into the tournament, how much more attention they get in keeping guys focused, I think that is a big key in advancing.

COACH TOM IZZO: Well, I haven't been in it as long, but -- so I'm not sure I'm as good to answer as Lute might be. But I think what I have noticed is, like I said, I know we make more money, and yet when you look at what we are responsible for, everything from filling the stadium to graduating kids and making sure nobody makes a mistake off the court. You know, what goes on on the court, I know some coaches have been fired, I look at their injuries and things that have happened to them, you know, they don't have any control of. So, I just think that there's not the loyalty there used to be. I think a lot of times, you know, there's not as many athletic directors and presidents that stay at universities very long anymore. I think the average for them is almost as bad as the average for a coach.

COACH LUTE OLSON: I would concur with that. The thing is, because as it is now, it is going to get worse. With the advent of all of the sports that are dependent on football and basketball, you have to fill the arena, you have to fill the stadium. If you don't, it's not a case of the administrators really having much of a choice, because they have got a huge budget that they have got to take care of. And you know, we saw it a little bit here in football, where there was no way the administration wanted to make a change in football, and yet, people were staying away in such numbers that there's no way , and other teams rely on the income from football and basketball. I think you are going to see it more and more. I'll never forget Al McGuire after my first opportunity in the Final Four in 1980 with Iowa, and I was going up in the elevator with him to a dinner, and he said, "Well, what are you going to do next year"? And I said, "Well, you know, what do you mean what am I going to do"? He said, "Well, you are not going to stay at a Iowa." I said, "Why wouldn't I? I kept the program going." He said, "If I were in it right now, I would go to a school, build the program up, and as soon as I got it built up, I would move to the next spot because," he said, "every year you are there, you make more enemies, and it's just a matter of time." I'm not too sure that wasn't pretty good advice. The problem in college coaching is it is very difficult to get recycled in college like it is in the pros, because every hire is looked on on by the media and the alums: Why would we hire that guy because he got fired somewhere else. So it's tough for a lot of coaches, who are excellent coaches, who end up being replaced at a school and have a terrible time trying to find another job.

COACH TOM IZZO: First, the floor, I think they give everybody that wins an opportunity to buy the floor. Just happened we had been in our arena for ten years. In all honesty, it was done more out of necessity than that particular floor. It just kind of worked out. So, I wish there was some symbolic reason, but there really wasn't. It was a case where we needed a new floor, and that was a great opportunity. As far as our rebounding, you know, I think we've been a good rebounding team, and I don't really know all of the reasons why. I think we have good athletes. I look at Arizona's team. I think they are a good rebounding team, and I think good athletes that have a nose for the ball. I think the key to good rebounding is not just getting rebounds where you should get them; it is getting range rebounds; can track down a rebound; can you get guard rebounds; can you get rebounds that don't bounce right now. And I think you need pretty good athletes or you have to have people that have a nose for the ball and I think we've been fortunate to this some of that.

COACH LUTE OLSON: I think the experience of having been there is so vital, because especially when you get to this side of the Final Four, it's really crazy with all of the attention, all of the people and dealing with the media and the rest of it. That to have someone like Gene who has been through it is valuable and we have Justin Wessel, who was a redshirt that year, and he's been through it. We have a walk-on, John Ash who was through it, and I think all of toes guys are helpful, but the fact that Gene is such a key element playing-wise for us, I think his experience, he's more valuable for the younger guys.

COACH LUTE OLSON: Let me respond to that. Is the Final Four sold out? Is the -- is there less enthusiasm for the college game? I think the answer to those questions is no. If someone is going to take their place -- the great thing about college basketball is the enthusiasm of the fans and the students. And, you know, yeah, there are good players going and sometimes I think people try to make more of that than what it is. I don't think that it's -- I frankly don't think it's really affected the college game in terms of the enthusiasm. Obviously, the quality of play, if you had some of those guys might be better, but I don't -- I've heard that for years, but I really have never seen that it's had any affect on the college game.

COACH TOM IZZO: I would kind of agree. As you say, the quality of the game, if you had, like Chris Webber and guys like that when we were here, if they had hung around another year or two, I'm sure they would be better teams. But I, too, don't want to get caught up in whether a guy should be leaving shouldn't be leaving. I think too many kids are leaving for the wrong reasons, but the kids that are leaving for the right reasons, more power to them. And we've just got to go out and get another player to replace them.

COACH LUTE OLSON: When I went to Oxford College, I was 17, just turned 18 later in the fall, and so, you know, a huge effect, I think when you are in the college environment. In a small school like Oxford, you know, Ernie was a teacher, as well as the coach and athletic director and the whole works. So he had a huge effect on me. I played football also and a similar kind of situation. I think -- I had grown up in a small town with 1,800 people and it would have been very difficult, I think, for me to go to a large college environment. It was just that Ernie made it very comfortable for me, and was very, very helpful.

COACH TOM IZZO: I think you always have dreams and goals, but we were in such a battle for the Big-10 championship, which is important to the seniors, won three of them, we kind of focused on that all year. Once we got into the NCAA Tournament, we just decided to try to take it weekend by weekend, and I guess after you win the first one, you can start looking at it. But I can't say, like last year, we were thinking about it all year long. It was quite the same this year. We really took things -- we've got a different team in a lot of ways, and we kind of took things a day at a time and let them just happen. And then, you know, started reassessing our goals at the end of the year, and now we are playing for it. I really -- when you talk about talking to people about it, you know, there has not been a ton of people that have been in this position where you get a chance to repeat, at least the week of the Final Four. So, I can't say that I've called a lot of people. You know, I get some advice from my mentor, Judge Heathcoat (ph) and other people that I'm close to -- but like everything else we have done lately, just take it one day at a time, and I think experience is the best teacher. So unless you go through it yourself, I'm not sure anybody else can explain it to you.

COACH LUTE OLSON: Well, it's been done, I think, eight times before that; that anyone's gone to three consecutive, and I'm not sure if that -- in the modern era, so to speak, of 64 teams, because it's a whole lot tougher now to get there than it was when you had to win four games or win two games to get there. But there's no question, the fact that they have had, and I think nationally now, when you talk about what are currently the top programs in the country, Michigan State's name comes up very quickly. And with the exposure that they have gotten by having won the national title, but also being in the Final Four three consecutive years, there's no question that they are in that elite status. And I'm sure that Tom has seen the difference in his recruiting, and probably particularly in the state of Michigan. Because I recall when I was in the Big-10 that, you know, other than getting the -- guys in a different bare (inaudible) -- now I would say that the tide has turned in the opposite direction.

COACH LUTE OLSON: Loren, to begin with, is a very, very young college freshman. It's enough of an adjustment to go away to school when you are -- when you are the age of, you know, where you not just almost like a high school senior, being away is a big problem. And second thing is you come into an environment where you've got Tim Duncan, and everyone is talking about Loren as the next Tim Duncan, and that's a huge burden to put on anyone, because Tim was just -- he's as good as anyone that's been around for a long time, I think. So I think all of those things weighed on him, the expectations, the youth and the rest of it. I think he wanted to get somewhere where he could just be Loren Woods and not be compared to, you know, to Tim. I think sitting out the year was very important for him, because it got him to take a step back and look at how important the game was to him, and to mature. So it's been a -- it's been a work in progress, there's no question about that. But Loren is a very intelligent young man. He's really well-liked by his teammates. He's very much a team guy. Probably as good a big-man passer as I've ever had, and very unselfish guy. So, you know, he's made some definite adjustments, and still is in the process of doing that.

COACH LUTE OLSON: The well, the first thing was the summer of his junior and senior year, which is when most kids are seen by everyone around the country in summer tournaments and that kind of thing, he only played in one, and that was in Las Vegas. And I think he only played like one day or two days because of his summer school. He was known -- he was known in southern California to some degree, but not considered among the top people. It was a case of where SC and UCLA were called by the dad to see if there wasn't some interest; if they could come and take a look at them and that kind of thing. The second we saw him, there was no question in our mind how much potential there was there, and so we did what we felt was necessary at that point to try to work on an early commitment out of him, and got him in the fall and he went on to become the leading scorer in the State of California. It was just one of those things where we were in the right place at the right time.