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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: SPOKANE

March 15, 2007

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

THE MODERATOR: We have New Mexico State University student-athletes Elijah Ingram to your far left and Justin Hawkins.

Q. Justin, can you talk about how important because of the size you guys have, how important rebounding is going to be? And do you think you might have an inside instance where Texas has been out rebounded there'd some problems this year?
JUSTIN HAWKINS: Every game we play we always want to try to out rebound our opponents. That's normally a goal for us. In Texas they are 6-6 this year when they're out rebounded. That is a goal of ours' game to really try to pound them on the board.
We do have a size advantage, so we should look to take advantage of that.

Q. For both you guys. When you've got this many guys that have transferred in from different schools, is it any different trying to come up with chemistry or molding a team there? Or do you just go with it?
JUSTIN HAWKINS: It really wasn't that hard for us because me, Martin, Fred, Trei, we were all here last year, so we got to be around these guys and practice with these guys all last year.
And I think this year when practice started, we just kind of kept it moving.
ELIJAH INGRAM: I think it is rare to see a group of guys come up from different schools and immediately just click. We had a nice group of guys that we all got along. The chemistry was there from the get-go.

Q. If you could talk to me a little bit about the reason for you transferring, Justin, and how hard it is to make that transition from one school to another.
JUSTIN HAWKINS: Well, I left the University of Utah just because I didn't really think it was going to be the best fit for me. I wanted to be in a place where I could have the opportunity to play at the next level. And I didn't really feel like the next couple of years I would have been at Utah we would have won. I wanted to go somewhere else.
I met Coach Theus, he got me to believe in him. So I came here. And it wasn't very hard -- the transition wasn't very hard because I was with a great group of guys. They all welcomed me in as they did the rest of the guys. We've done some pretty big things this year.

Q. What is your guys' reaction when you see Coach Theus before the game walking down through the student section slapping hands instead of coming through the tunnel?
ELIJAH INGRAM: I think it loosens us up a little bit. We call him Hollywood. We kind of expect him to do stuff like that. He's still used to being a player himself.
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I agree with Elijah 100 percent. Coach is still a player at heart. He's so intense, he's so into the game. Sometimes his energy kind of rubs off to us.

Q. Justin, what has Coach Theus said to you the past few days to keep you mentally focused for this game?
JUSTIN HAWKINS: Coach has just kind of talked to us about being ready to play, playing harder than they play and just the things that we need to do, rebounding, and taking care of the ball. We feel like if we do those things that we definitely have a chance to win this game. And so every day coach just keeps putting it out there, putting it out there, and hopefully it will be in our heads tomorrow when we go out there and we'll be able to get it done.

Q. Justin or Elijah, you guys have had some more time to watch tapes on Texas, what impresses you the most about them and what are a couple of keys that will have to be the key tomorrow night?
ELIJAH INGRAM: They've got a great player in Kevin Durant. He has a nice supporting cast.
And a lot of teams think they focus just on Kevin Durant, but they have Augustin and a couple of other guys that can put up 15-20 points. They're impressive, especially to be a young team. At the same time that could be their weak point, them being a young team.
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I think their strong point is they really shoot the ball well. They probably have about four guys that shoot close to 40 percent or over 40 percent. We're going to have to do a good job of defending the 3-point line. Like Elijah said, Kevin Durant, he's an excellent player. Augustin, he's a pretty good player himself. They've got a couple things working for them.

Q. Elijah, you mentioned there was youth. Where do the breakdowns typically come from when you play against the players? Is it things that you can do to them, or can you kind of set up certain things?
ELIJAH INGRAM: I think as the game goes on and it gets closer and more physical, I think the edge goes to the more experienced and the more mature teams and players. I think if it comes down to it, we have a little edge.

Q. You said you jokingly call Coach Theus, Hollywood. What makes him such a respected coach?
ELIJAH INGRAM: His resume. He's been to the Final Four as a coach, under Patino. He played in the NBA for several years. He was an All-Star. That's the goal of like pretty much any basketball player in college basketball. He's been there and done it. You've got to listen to his every word because he knows what he's talking about.
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I'm going to piggyback on what Elijah just said. Coach, we just believe in what he says. I think a lot of people feel the same way just because of his resume. Why wouldn't you listen to a guy who's been around basketball as much as he has and accomplished the things that he's accomplished.

Q. What are the other reasons you guys call him Hollywood?
ELIJAH INGRAM: He's a pretty boy.
THE MODERATOR: He can't hear you. He's way back there.
ELIJAH INGRAM: He's into himself. You know.
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I just think sometimes the coach still thinks he's on Hang Time or something, still thinks there's a camera always following him around, because he's always trying to look stylish or something. There's a lot of reasons. It's just all in fun. I'm pretty sure if he was to come up here, he'd probably have some names for us, too.

Q. Did you guys ever watch that Hang Time Show?
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I didn't really. I might have caught it a couple of times. It took me a while before I really realized like which show it really was.
ELIJAH INGRAM: I came across it. I didn't really sit and watch the whole thing.

Q. Gentlemen on the stage, it's pretty apparent that on this team the star of the team is the coach. I'm wondering how you as certainly two of the best players on the team and leaders on the team kind of feel about that.
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I don't really get caught up in that. We all know, we're the guys, we have to go out there on the court and we have to perform. Coach isn't really the one that's losing the game. It's us if we lose. When we win, the same thing.
We don't get caught up in that. We just try to go out there as a team, as a unit, and just go out there and get it done. Me and Elijah try to take it upon ourselves to be the leaders of the team regardless of what else is going on outside of it. When it comes down to the team, I think me and Elijah just try to execute our roles.
ELIJAH INGRAM: You have to give coach a lot of credit for turning a team that went 6-18, turning it around and this year winning 25 games and being in the NCAA and getting great players like Justin Hawkins in here and Martin Iti and a couple of other guys. He has to take a lot of the credit. If we didn't do so well, he would take some of the hits, too. It goes hand in hand.

Q. How tired are you guys on taking questions on Kevin Durant?
JUSTIN HAWKINS: It's just something that we probably -- we expected that, being that he's the player that he is. It's not really bothering me too much. I'm just anxious to get out there and get on the court and play against him.
ELIJAH INGRAM: That comes with the territory. When you're a playing of his caliber, he's on TV a lot. He's Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year.
But at the same time it's not just about him. Five players have to be out there on the court to win a basketball game. We not only have to beat him, we have to -- it's a team effort. So we've got to shut him down as well as his whole team?

Q. Justin, one more question as an outsider here, could you describe to me your style of play and what you try to do out there on the court?
JUSTIN HAWKINS: I just try to find the easiest opportunities that I can to score. I just try to get the ball, and I get it as close as I can to the basket because that's the highest percentage on the court. The closer you are to the basket, the more shots you're going to make. So I try to start inside and then if I can stay down there and keep working some magic, then I stay down there.
And I try sometimes to mix it up, go outside a little bit and shoot sometimes, run the floor, try to get easy buckets in transition. I think I'm just a hard working player. That's pretty much it.

THE MODERATOR: We have New Mexico State Coach Reggie Theus. We'll ask coach to make a brief opening statement if he cares to. Then we'll open it to questions.
COACH REGGIE THEUS: I guess I'll say I'm really happy to be here. It's a great honor to get back into the NCAA's once again. The team has worked hard. The program has changed drastically, and I think I've got a lot of guys that are all on the same page. And they've fought a very tough battle getting this team from six wins to 25 wins. It should be fun.

Q. Coach, what's shaking?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: It's you again.

Q. The first question, how tired are you in taking questions about Kevin Durant?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: It's normal. It's like when I've gone to play Michael Jordan, that's all you ever heard about is what is it going to be like getting scored on by Michael Jordan. But Kevin Durant is not the only one on that team. I think that -- he averages 28 points a game, and that's not enough to win the game. They've got other guys that play and do a very good job. He's a very great basketball player. There's no doubt about it. Very unusual individual with his length, his ability to put it on the floor. People keep saying, what are you going to do to stop him. You don't stop a guy who averages 28 points against everybody. You just make the game tough for him. You try to take some things away, and hopefully you can go at him on the other end.

Q. You've got 10 transfers, I think. Did you come in thinking you had to turn the talent around like that, or did it kind of happen that way?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: I think we have six transfers. 10 would be a whole lot. Wow. When I took the job, I knew that that is the route that I was going to go. That was the route that I was thinking about. I think transfers are great in a situation like that. People are always worried about transfers because they all have a certain amount of baggage that comes along with them. I just feel that every relationship is not the same. What I bring to the table, where they were coming from, I have an advantage because I know what they didn't like where they were.
And the other side is they've got no place else to go. Once you transfer, that's it.
So they have to be willing to adapt and settle themselves because this is their last stop also. So it becomes an opportunity for them along with that. And I kind of like guys with chips on their shoulder.

Q. Coach, a lot of your guys -- the two guys you had up there were kind of joking about calling you Hollywood and making reference to Hang Time and all that kind of stuff.
COACH REGGIE THEUS: Oh, God.

Q. Do you get that a lot from them?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: Oh, yeah. That's the only reason they came is because they were all fans. That's the only reason. They knew Coach Fuller could help them out.

Q. Coach, I'd like to ask you a question that is part serious and part light hearted. In that coaches pay attention to every detail, how much attention do you pay to how you look and dress on the sideline? And which coaches do you think are the best dressed?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: I actually pay very little attention to that. It's a part of who I am. I don't even think about what I'm going to -- I walk into the closet in the dark sometimes and start grabbing stuff.
I think that going back I don't know how long, it's just been a part of who I am in terms of my pedigree, in terms of where I've been and what I've done in my life.
I don't judge, I don't prejudge, I don't judge other people. I don't even look at them. I appreciate when a guy knows what he's doing. And there are a few out there. It's just always been a part of -- I'll tell you something else. And people who know me will tell you this. The only time you'll ever see me dressed up is when I'm working. That's the only time. Otherwise you might see me in fatigues or shorts or whatever.
I was teasing a guy earlier, all my clothes basically are broadcasting clothes. That's why I bought those clothes is broadcasting.

Q. Who's the best dressed coach?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: I don't know. The best dressed coach, I've seen a lot of guys. I was always a Pat Riley fan back when I was younger. He had a lot of substance to what he wore. It was very simple, but elegant.

Q. Coach, because of Elijah's basketball background and his experience and the way that he seems to always be composed, how much does that mean to a team when you get deep in the season and when you get in crunch situations in a game? What does he bring exactly? You can see it, but can you put it in your words?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: I have two guys on my team that have gone to post-season. Elijah is actually not one of them. His pedigree basically being a McDonald's All-American, there's a certain swagger that he has that is part of his personality.
I never worry about Elijah in terms of the end of the game if he's ready to take control or if he needs -- if we need something. I think that he's played his best basketball at the end of the season. And with his injuries all year, the opportunity for him to come in toward the conference tournament and really start playing well has really taken us to another level.

Q. Your emotions after winning the conference tournament, could you describe what was behind those? And did some of it have to do with the road that you traveled to become a head coach?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: It has a lot to do with that road. As much as anything else, I was more happy for my players because as I said, I've only got two guys that have ever been to The Dance.
I'm one of those guys, and I told my players many times that I will fight with them every day for them to be able to experience what I know. Every day we are at practice or every time there's an opportunity, I start talking to them about what the NCAA's are like, what winning big is all about. And a lot of them really don't know what it takes to get there and to teach them and to make them understand and then to have some success and see it happen for them. I told them that I wanted to see them on the scorer's table with the confetti falling.
That was a great moment for me. And kind of what got me going is watching these guys. And then of course my own trip, my own battle of getting to, starting five or six years ago wanting to coach and having to go the hard route, the long way. No one -- I had a hard time getting a job in the beginning. Being a volunteer assistant coach at a D-II school. Driving the 15 passenger van when I was coaching the semi-pro league in the ABA. That was the absolute chitlin circuit. And then of course coaching AAU ball and then getting the opportunity to go with Coach Patino. There's so many doubters. When someone that -- you run into a lot of people that they start throwing this "no experience" thing out there, how did he get this job, all this kind of stuff. There's a lot of daggers being thrown.
A lot of those things at that moment really kind of -- and then when you look at it, and I always say this, when you look at the way the city has really adopted our team and our program -- you guys haven't had the pleasure of being in Las Cruces and seeing how turned on the people are about our program. This was once a very storied program in the sense that it has great history. It's been to the Final Four. It's been to the Sweet 16. Our fans were known around the country as one of the toughest places to play in all of basketball. Well, all that's back, the Panamaniacs are back. It's nice to see. When you start something completely from scratch, and you watch it develop into something special, that's why I was a little emotional.

Q. Two questions. You talked about the long road and the long trip. Why was it difficult to get a more established job earlier? And B, why do you choose to go down through the student section instead of coming through the tunnel at home games?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: Those are two very different questions, my man. The long road and why it took so long, you know what, I'd like to know that myself. I think what happens is people have a very skewed idea or thoughts about former NBA players or former athletes. There's always a question. It's such a tight knit fraternity.
People don't like to see a guy come on the scene that hasn't paid his dues. Well, we pay dues differently. I was playing while you were coaching in that small school. There's a different kind of upbringing. All in a sense paying your dues, but just very different. When you start to deal with all of the things that happen, I tried to -- I was trying to get jobs at smaller D-I schools, and my alma mater and different places. All of a sudden I get a call from Rick Patino. Go figure. And that to me was a great opportunity. He said he saw me coaching the AAU team in the summer, and he knew I was very serious.
And I think that for me -- and being all honest, I think for me, most people as you guys have kind of touched on, see me as a different kind of guy. See me as someone who had a pretty good life, why would I be trying to coach now. Why would you give up your cushy job as an announcer to recruit and to be back on the floor?
Well, the bottom line is I came full circle. This is who I am. So it's who I've always been. The other things I've got a chance to do has been a great joy. When it's all said and done, I'm a basketball person. The reason I go down the student section is because when the building was being renovated, that was the only way to go, and I'm very superstitious. You thought it was going to be a different answer, didn't you?

Q. Has the program turned quicker than you thought it would? And part two is, why did you think you wanted to go the transfer route? Is that because that's the quickest way to get good again?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: It starts at the top. We've got an unbelievable administration. Dr. Boston, Dr. Martin, our Board of Regents, all of our administrators, I don't think no matter where my life goes, I'll never have this type of alignment again. Where everybody is on the same page, everybody is rooting for the same thing. I think that it's phenomenal.
The reason I went with the transfers in that sense -- actually I'll put it to you this way: It was one of the most surprising things in my first few months or actually my first few weeks as a coach is I got the phone calls from most of my transfers, that they wanted to come play for me. I didn't anticipate that.
I thought maybe we'd be able to work with something in that way, but did not anticipate five or six of them wanting to come play for me, especially high level guys.
With that in mind, I didn't want to go straight with JUCO's. I thought transfers were good because they would be in your program for a year and learn you, you get a chance to learn them.
As I told someone else earlier, we had the best scout team in America last year. I started off the season with my transfers beating my starters. And I wondered in the beginning of that year, I said, I'm curious to see toward the end of the season how that is going to affect our team, how much better we're going to be January, February, March because of that.
The team that we started off with and the team that we ended that season with were dramatically different. The team that we ended the season with I thought was a 20-win team. The team we started off the season with couldn't make it through 40-minute individual instructions.

Q. Even though you wanted this opportunity sooner, could you have been a coach to take a team from six wins to 25 without some of the experiences at the smaller level of basketball that you went through?
COACH REGGIE THEUS: That's a great question. I understand what you mean. It's a very good question. I think that everything that I've done in my life has prepared me for where I am right now. Even my NBA days. For good or for bad I played for 13 years, had 16 coaches. So I saw it done wrong a lot. In that I was an upper echelon player in the NBA, I saw both sides of the fence, because I played on several teams that weren't very good. So along with that I got a chance to take the heat in that sense. But yet at the same time I was -- I learned the game from the point guard's position, and I played the two guard. So I learned the game from the floor spot.
My knowledge of the game really sort of, it accumulated into when I was a broadcaster getting a chance to talk to, spend time with Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello, all of these guys that I had a chance to spend time with as a broadcaster it really kind of showed me that my way of thinking was not far off from what they were already doing.
When you look at it, I grew into who I am. I don't know if it would have had an effect. I think that I've always had the ability. In college your relationships are everything. Recruiting is sometimes a lot more important than being a great coach. What happened in that sense is in that period of time, not just from when I was an AAU coach, but all of my relationships from when I was younger really -- I had real relationships with people in the grass roots area that I never needed anything from them. And all of a sudden when I became a college coach, all of these guys were my friends.
So I've got connections all over the country with AAU people, grass roots people, just the high school -- you have to remember most of these guys are my age. Most of the parents of the kids are my age. Most of them have -- I've spanned three generations of basketball, being my playing days, my broadcasting days and laugh if you want, and there's a lot of kids out there that watched Hang Time. So when I walked into the gym many times kids weren't asking me about my career, they were talking about Hang Time. Ironically enough, it's been a great recruiting tool. Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts

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