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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2009Corey ButlerPete HerrmannTerrance WoodburyTAMPA, FLORIDA Mississippi State – 79 CLAUDE FELTON: Coach Herrmann, some opening thoughts on the game. COACH HERRMANN: Last year coach Stansbury said to me after our semifinal win in the tournament against his team that he thought that Albert Jackson was the player that made us much better in the tournament inside. And I told Kodi Augustus after the game today that he could be that player, that type of player for Mississippi State to come off the bench. I thought he gave them a big lift and scored consistently inside and outside. And I thought that their inside game was very good against us today. I can't say enough about these two players next to me. I've coached for almost 40 years. They're as fine of people that I've been associated with. And Terrance and Corey, all through my coaching career. And they made the last six weeks bearable and enjoyable, despite the roller coaster of emotions that all of us had. CLAUDE FELTON: Questions for either of the student-athletes. Q. Any part of you feel glad that it's over finally this season? TERRANCE WOODBURY: At this stage, no. I mean, I would have loved to win this game and probably win another championship. Just with all we've been through, I would have liked to keep playing right now. I would like to go back to the tournament, but I'll never be able to do that again, so. No, not right now. COREY BUTLER: You definitely don't want to see it come to an end, especially at this point in the season. You always want to continue to play with the guys you've built such a great bond with over the last four years, or two or three with the guys that have been here. But it's definitely rough. We definitely needed this first win so that we can get the tornado tomorrow night and then go on the three-game run. But you got to win the first one, and we were unable to do that. But it's been fun. I can't deny that. Q. How prepared were you guys for Kodi Augustus, and how surprised were you about his versatility and his play tonight? TERRANCE WOODBURY: I was really surprised. I mean, we went over them a little bit I guess because he just got back. But I didn't think he was going to be as good as he was. He played real, real well tonight. I want to say that's a real plus for them as far as advancing in this tournament. If he keeps up his aggressiveness as far as what he did against us, they, you know, pretty much have the talent to beat anybody. But I felt like we were pretty much prepared but we just couldn't, I guess, follow through with that. COREY BUTLER: Kodi, he played a tremendous game. You've got to give him credit for that. But we knew, we scouted him well. We knew what he wanted to do. But he was still able to get his shots off because he was still somewhat new to us. But he played a tremendous game. You have to give him credit for that. Q. I was going to ask about State's defense, where did that seem to start for them? TERRANCE WOODBURY: Say that again, I'm sorry. Q. State's defense, where did that seem to start for them? TERRANCE WOODBURY: Of course they have an intimidation in the paint with the big fella back there blocking the shot, so I want to say that's their first threat of defense. Other than that, they played all guard offense, four guards. And you know, it's hard against our bids because you have to play against them, you know, going up and down the court. But then it should be a mismatch first. But I feel like we couldn't exploit those mismatches tonight if we wanted to. COREY BUTLER: I just think we had trouble taking care of the ball in the second half when they did go on their run, and Varnardo didn't get going until he had a block on Chris Barnes. Or maybe he had a few plays before that. But I didn't think he was too much of a factor until maybe late or mid second half. But we turned the ball over way too many times and fed their offense for a couple of fast breakpoints here and there, and that's what really hurt us. Q. You touched on this, but looking back this season, how would you characterize how disappointing and few surprises along the way. But just talk about this season? TERRANCE WOODBURY: I felt like it was for myself, it was very disappointing. I mean, we did a great job last year in the tournament, and I felt like we were going to be able to carry that momentum based on the players that we had coming in and the players that we still had left. I felt like we had a great chance of doing a whole lot better things than we did this year. With the loss of coach Felton, that was kind of tough for everybody. It kind of seemed like it was downhill from there. We tried our best to keep our enthusiasm, but it's kind of hard once you lose your head coach and you're losing a lot of games on top of that. But I felt like it was a tough season. COREY BUTLER: It definitely was a rough season, you can't deny that. But I think it's one of the greatest growing experiences that any collegiate athlete could have. I mean, you're not going to experience this. Not too many players are going to experience this. You can be in North Carolina and make it all the way to the National Championship and win, and you're not going to have a season quite like what we had. You're not going to have a learning experience and growing experience quite like what we had this year. So I take it as a learning experience, growing experience. No, there is nothing that can stop me from doing anything I want to do in this world. So I thank Coach Herrmann for stepping in and transitioning us into this season, and for the six-plus weeks he had with us. It's been tremendous, and I love you, Coach. CLAUDE FELTON: We'll excuse the student-athletes. Q. You made it a point to go down the line hugging every player there at the end. Just what were your emotions going down the stretch there knowing that this is most likely your last game? COACH HERRMANN: I thought it was a very tough day when I took over for Dennis. We had been on the court 11 straight years, every practice, every game. And I thought that was tough. But this was tough because I had a lot of belief in the integrity of these players, and what they went through for six weeks. They kept pushing forward. They had some tremendous wins. They had some dark times where they didn't play very well. But they always hung in there. They're young. There's nine of them that are freshmen and sophomores that are going to learn and grow and experience what some of the older players in our league have gone through, such as those seniors at LSU and those older players at Auburn. I think that I look forward to them being successful in their college careers, looking forward to making adult decisions in regards to their school, their program, what they want to do in the future. I'll keep coaching. I had a great time in the six weeks. I've been a head coach before. I've been every different position in coaching. I enjoy it as long as I can keep teaching and have relationships like I had with those players. That's what I felt going down the line with a minute left. Q. Corey talked with the impact he thought this season might have on him going forward, and you've been coaching for 40 years. But I'm wondering what this season has meant to you personally? COACH HERRMANN: Well, it's hard because you're preparing for the next game, you're preparing for the next practice. You're really not thinking about what you're going to on do in May and June and July. You're just trying to get these kids to keep moving forward, trying to stay very steady with them. You know, I mean, I've had so many great times and tough times in coaching. The profession, the players, the parents, the alumni, the fans, everybody has been very good to me. So it's been very rewarding, and I think it will continue to be for myself and my family. Q. What's up for you now? Are you just going to stick around for a while and start putting out resumes? What is your plan for the next two months? COACH HERRMANN: I want to coach. I think I want to coach. I can probably go into a number of different things in regards to college basketball. I've enjoyed being the head coach again. I'll certainly look for those type of positions. I know I can help a program as an associate head coach, as an assistant, as a head coach. I'll look forward to being in the profession. Generally, I like coaching, I like coaches. I like teaching. As long as my worth is there and the players believe in what I'm trying to help them with and we can move forward, I'll continue to do that. I also am very grateful to many of you out there who have been very good to me in this time period and over the years have been very good to me. Q. You mentioned Augustus in your opening comments. Can you talk a little about his game tonight? And were you surprised by what he was able to do? COACH HERRMANN: We had seen his last couple of games and we told our players. Now, Kodi has come into games and really been aggressive at the high post against zone, on the wing and driving the ball. He seems to be really confident in his three-point shot also. So he didn't play that much earlier. Rick said to me after the game he's kind of like a catalyst for us when he's coming off the bench. He's really been scoring for us and rebounding and been very confident on the floor. That's the kind of player you saw tonight. End of FastScripts |
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