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

March 19, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

MODERATOR: We are joined by the West Virginia student-athletes. On my far left, Devin Ebanks, Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler.

Q. For Da'Sean. Based on last night, who is the best bowler on the team? Where are you in that situation?
DA'SEAN BUTLER: I am last and Alex is first. Alex is the best bowler on the team by far.

Q. Could you explain?
DA'SEAN BUTLER: Explain about the bowling? My technique is really bad. I didn't have much follow-through on the ball and Alex pretty much does everything right. He is a competitor, too, so it helps. But just me, myself, I really couldn't compete with him.

Q. This is for all three of you. Was there a particular moment or particular time in which Devin's game improved exponentially this year? When did he get it? Why did he get so much better as the year wore on? All three of you guys. Devin, if you can start?
DEVIN EBANKS: I felt I was more confident. Especially in the Louisville game when we played at Louisville. I played pretty well and pretty much carried on since then. I knew my team needed me to, you know, obviously rebound and play defense. But the offense came along and it came at the right time.
ALEX RUOFF: I think gradually. There was never a defining moment. In the Big East we get bigger games down the stretch and he played well for us. He has been real consistent. When you look at the numbers when it comes to rebounding and all the effort stats, but just point production he has really shown up here in the past couple of weeks.
DA'SEAN BUTLER: Pretty much like they were saying, things we have already seen him do pretty much every time in practice. Just waiting for him to convert it to the games.
And once the Big East Conference -- once we started playing in the Big East, he started blossoming and doing the things he does in practice. It is a surprise to everybody else, but these are things we have seen him do and his abilities.

Q. Alex, how much did going through the Big East schedule prepare you for the NCAA tournament?
ALEX RUOFF: I think Coach said a couple of days ago we played six No. 1 seeds, so that's pretty good preparation. I think that might rank among the best in this tournament.
So people say, you know, we beat each other up and that is really not the case. It is very physical. When it comes to the conference it doesn't really match up with any other conference, so it prepares us really well.

Q. For all of you, could you talk a little bit about what it's like to play for Coach Huggins? And Coach Gregory was saying from Dayton that he feels he already has his stamp on this program. And do you think that's the case?
DA'SEAN BUTLER: You know, playing with Coach Huggins has been a great experience. My game has matured in all levels. When I first came here, I was pretty much just a shooter. I felt like I became a better defensive player. And Coach Huggins kind of does that. He makes you care more about what you're doing. And it's not just about basketball, it is about life in general. Just care more about what you're doing.
ALEX RUOFF: Two years I have been with him has been great. I wish I could have played for him for four years. Like Da'Sean says, his game is really elevated, he is really a players' coach and it has been great. We had a great time.
DEVIN EBANKS: And playing for Coach Huggins, like they said, is a great experience. You have to be a tough-minded person to play for him and tough skin because he can get on you a little bit. But, you know, it is just to make you better. He wants to see that you can be a better player. I think all three of us that's came up.

Q. This question is for Devin. Devin, the Big East was by and large, you know, thought of as the best conference in the country this year. What did it do -- what does it do for you personally, you know, when you're on the boards scoring? How did it prepare you for this tournament?
DEVIN EBANKS: It prepared me, you know, a great deal. Because like everybody has been saying that it's the best conference and all the Big East teams in the tournament probably have a step on everybody else just because our league is so competitive. We play everybody that is pretty much in the Top 25. So I felt that it helped us for the tournament and to do well.

Q. Alex, when you look at Dayton's pressure, defensive pressure and the number of guys that they play, how much of a challenge is that?
ALEX RUOFF: It's a big challenge. They kind of play like us. They are a lot longer on defense, their rebounding. We kind of have a similar game style. But they play really hard and that's something we pride ourselves on, to be one of the tougher teams in our conference, and that's what they do. So it's going to be a good matchup.

Q. Devin, I'm wondering if teams, because you're long and athletic, if they try to muscle you. That's how teams play against you, trying to keep you away from the basket and push you out?
DEVIN EBANKS: I guess some teams would say that, but I felt that I've done a pretty good job, you know, defensively and offensively of keeping bigger people -- not able to push me off because of my length and quickness. I can get around a lot of things.

Q. For Alex and Da'Sean. I am kind of wondering if it's different this year opposed to last year's NCAA run with, you know, having that one guy, Joe last year. This year, you guys -- it's more of a team, but not that there wasn't a team effort last year. But can you kind of explain the differences between the run you are about to make this year as opposed to what it felt like last year with Joe?
ALEX RUOFF: I guess the similarities would be Joe really stepped his game up towards the end of the year, the Big East tournament and the last couple of games of the regular season. And we have a player in Devin Ebanks who has done the same thing. Maybe not to the same numbers, but he really has stepped his game up and we have been successful because of it.
So the differences, we're a lot younger. Three freshman in our top six. But I'm pretty confident. Like I said, we're playing a lot better towards the end of the year and we're on a roll right now. We're trying to keep it going.
DA'SEAN BUTLER: Pretty much what Alex just -- we have the same, you know, the same team pretty much. You know, we have a couple of guys that can -- they can play and have great games. They have 15- to 20-point games. And unlike last year, you know, we got in trouble, we could pass the ball to Joe and Joe would pretty much bail us out.
This year it will be more of an advantage because you can get a ball to pretty much all our guys on the court and they can bail us out and make plays as well. I would say we are not as dependent as we were last year, as far as we could lean on Joe a little bit to carry us out.

Q. This is for Alex and Devin. In late October and November, what did you think Devin's role would be? First for Alex. I mean, how big of a role did you think he'd have?
ALEX RUOFF: You know, only thing I knew really was in individual workouts. That's the only time I saw him play, in pick-up games. The main thing you could see really is his length. I didn't know how much of an impact he would be, but I knew he would get a lot of rebounds and defensively get a lot of hands on balls.
But he has done a lot more than I expected. Stepped it up. He even played point guard for us. We've had a lack of point guard position. So he has done a lot more than I expected.
DEVIN EBANKS: My role, basically I just try to follow these two guys. These are our two main leaders on the team, with Joe Mazzulla, who's injured, but -- and I try to step in and play as hard as I can and try to get a win for our team. I wouldn't really say that I do something great all the time, but as long as I can do a little bit to help us get a win.

Q. For Da'Sean and Alex. Devin seems kind of quiet. We've asked you a lot about his game, he says he just follows you guys. What is his personality really like?
DA'SEAN BUTLER: He's a clown, man. But are you talking on the court or --

Q. Off the court. It looked like he was smiling a little bit when he said I follow these two guys.
DA'SEAN BUTLER: He is a clown, honestly.
He is always joking around. Everybody in the locker room, they come around him, you know. And he's just a joy to be around pretty much. That's pretty much what I can say about the team. Everybody just loves being around him. He makes everybody smile and laugh. He's a competitor and that just keeps other people around him as well.
MODERATOR: Anything to add, Alex?
ALEX RUOFF: Just the same thing. A good character person off the court as well. It makes it so much better the type of guys we have at West Virginia in the locker room, we are real close with each other. And he does a good job with that.

Q. This is for Alex and Da'Sean. Having played at the Carrier Dome, I am wondering what the adjustment is like going from playing in basketball arenas to a large dome like this.
ALEX RUOFF: I mean, you get your hour before the game, you know, to shoot and get used to it. The depth is a little bit different. You get used to it, though. Like you said, we play in the Carrier Dome, which is a huge arena, and I just adjust. It is not that big of a deal.
DA'SEAN BUTLER: Pretty much the same thing, you know. We work out before the games and get ready for the games. And by this point, especially if you are a junior or senior or sophomore, regardless, or really just a freshman, a good freshman, you play on many courts, different venues and places and you really should be able to adjust at this level right now.

Q. Devin, did you seek advice from anybody, any other freshman who had really good seasons? Like a Derrick Rose or a Mike Conley, Jr.? Do you know any of those guys? Did you seek any advice on how to find a role in a team when you're playing a lot as a freshman?
DEVIN EBANKS: I met Derrick Rose through my visits, but I don't really know him personally. I didn't really seek any advice from anybody. If anybody I seek advice from, it would be my coaches and my fellow teammates.

Q. Did you have the coaches?
DEVIN EBANKS: Yeah, I have. I speak to Coach Harrison a lot. He is always trying to keep me level-headed and he always worked me out and that's who I seek advice from.
MODERATOR: Okay guys, we will excuse you back to the locker room.
We are joined by the West Virginia head coach, Bob Huggins. We will go ahead and begin with questions.

Q. Bob, talk about in the past two, three weeks, even the past month or so, what Devin has done and the improvement maybe since Christmas in his game, I guess.
COACH HUGGINS: He's rebounded pretty consistently for us all year long. But he's had, I think -- right after Christmas I think he had some games where he had 17, 18 rebounds. I think he did two games in a row. But he hasn't -- he just now, I think, started to have a little more confidence in shooting the ball and scoring. I think everything before was kind of around the basket.
But I think we all thought coming in that, you know, he would help us a little bit on the perimeter. And he struggled a little bit early, but he is shooting with a lot of confidence right now.

Q. Was there a defining moment? Was there one thing in practice that happened? Or was it him gradually just getting it?
COACH HUGGINS: No, I think he just gradually -- he's a great kid and he really works. You know, I think you never know. When you recruit guys you think you know them you think you know what you're getting. And you really never know. And we thought he was a great kid, he has been phenomenal. I mean, he just -- he comes in every day and really works. He listens.
I think Devin's greatest attribute, he has a great aptitude to learn. He really understands basketball and he really understands things that you're telling him to do. And you know, I mean, as a freshman he is our leading rebounder, but we played him at point guard, and we played him at point guard the majority of the second half at Louisville. And he handled it very well. And he just knows what everybody is supposed to be doing.

Q. Bob, you have some history with Dayton going back to the Cincinnati days. Does this team that you're going to play tomorrow look anything like those teams? Do you maybe see some similarities with how you're playing now and how they play with the defensive focus?
COACH HUGGINS: Brian's done a great job with them. You know, I think the one thing that really stands out is how hard they work. They are a terrific offensive rebounding team because they work so hard at it, and they're -- as Billy Hahn had to scout, and he told the guys, look, they don't run in transition, they sprint. If you watch them, they just get out and they get in lanes and sprint. And they really put a lot of pressure on your defense to make sure that you get back and find people.
And that's, you know -- I think Brian has done a great job of getting them all to buy in, and he's playing a lot of people. And I think they've responded very well for him.

Q. How has going through this Big East season prepare a team for the NCAA tournament?
COACH HUGGINS: I don't know. You know, you never know. You know, there's the philosophy that we beat each other up, and then there's the philosophy that, you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And we've played. We've played, what is it, six games against No. 1 seeds. You know, when we've played a very, very difficult schedule, and our guys have responded to it.
I think the thing that I'm proud of the most probably is having three freshman in our top six and they come out and play every day. We didn't have games where we, you know, just didn't show up to play. They played all the time. And, you know, I think that takes special kind of people, particularly when you have young guys like we have.
But you hope it does. You hope it prepares you. We're just coming off -- you know, you think about, I told people at the Big East tournament, if everything had gone the way it was supposed to go, we would have played Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and then Louisville. As it turned out, we got a break, didn't play Connecticut, we played Syracuse.
Our league is so hard. I have been doing these call-in shows and people from around the country are calling in and people are saying how hard their league is and I say just jump in ours for a while. This year in our league has been phenomenal.

Q. Bob, you have a long familiarity with the Dayton program and the city. Recruited by them out of high school and played with them all those years, and I know you speak at Agonis Club and that stuff.
COACH HUGGINS: You are not supposed to say that stuff. Dayton did recruit me out of high school and I have great respect for Coach Donaher, I think as everybody does. And he's become a friend. You know, he came down and watched us practice when I was at Cincinnati. And Bucky and I are close. You know, so I've got some very dear friends that are very close to the Dayton program. And we played every year except those few years. And yeah, we had great games.
And you know, I guess it started with O.B. and then Oliver and then I think in the end B.G. was coaching. But I don't know. I mean, I'm familiar, but I don't know how much that helps us tomorrow.

Q. Coach, your team's travel issues last night, does it change any of your schedule today to try to build in a little more rest?
COACH HUGGINS: No, not really.
it's unfortunate. It's -- in fact, it's I don't know what I want to say. I'm trying to be kind. But that shouldn't happen. But, you know, things today went -- today things like that happen. Our kids didn't get in until like 3:30 in the morning. And we initially talked about leaving at 2:00 in the afternoon.
So it was a long day, a long travel day. They are young kids and they are very resilient. And I am sitting in there with them and they seem pretty good to me.

Q. Bob, how is Joe handling all this? And do you pull kind of what happened with Kenyon getting hurt to kind of guide him through this? It has to be tough on that kid to sit there and watch his teammates play. And I know probably think of Mateen Cleaves as a guy there for his teammates. And talk about Joe and maybe what he might be going through now.
COACH HUGGINS: Oh, it's hard. It's been really, really hard on him. But I think in all honesty, I think since his surgery he has been better. Because I think once the finality set in that he wasn't going to play, then I think it was easier for him.
I think the hard thing before was because Joe is such a great kid and he wanted to do right. And he probably, if anything, would overdo it. Some guys you worry about, are they going to rehab hard enough? And with him you worry is he going to rehab too hard?
And our biggest concern with him now is that he doesn't do that. And we've all sat down and talked to him extensively about, you know, make sure you do exactly what they tell you to do. Don't do any more. We are not worried about him doing less, we are worried about him doing more.
But he has been great. You know, he's kind of -- he's helped truck a bunch and he's helped our other guys. He's been -- you know, we started playing 1-3-1 which I really didn't know very much about. He came in and wrote the whole thing up, like he did a term paper for me, which I still don't understand it. But it was great for him, complete with diagrams and everything else. He's a great kid.
The one thing, you know, we're not the biggest team, we certainly don't shoot the straightest, but we have wonderful kids. And they're fun to go in and practice every day. And we've got guys like the guys that were up here, Da'Sean and Alex and Joe, that they take being a leader seriously. And Joe certainly has does that.
And to answer your question, it's killing him. But I think since the surgery it has been better for him.

Q. Bob, you said a little bit before that Dayton plays so many players. How is that different preparing for a team that can go play 10, 12 guys and has kind of the balance that they have opposed to maybe playing a team with one or two go-to guys?
COACH HUGGINS: Well, you'd hope now after we played what, three, four games, that our guys kind of take scouting reports to heart. When you get freshman they sit there and act like they are listening, but they're really not. And you tell them this guy is going to do this and then he comes out the first three times and he does it, and you take them out of the game and they are looking at you like what did I do wrong?
I think we are at the point in the season where they do take it seriously. I think they do take scouting reports seriously. And I think maybe if anything what would have helped us is that for a long period of time we were switching everything. So you had to pretty much know everybody. Alex ended up in the post, Wellington ended up on the point guard and then we just switched every cross. We're not doing that anymore, but I think it's great preparation for Dayton playing as many people as what they do.

Q. Coach, I don't know if you knew, Coach Calhoun went into the hospital today. He is missing the game. What are some of the grinds that the coaches go through during this time of the year? And your comments may be on Coach Calhoun?
COACH HUGGINS: Well, I feel bad for Jim obviously. They've had such a great year. You know, to go through our league and don't lose a road game until the very last game of the year says a lot. To be able to go into Louisville and win like they did.
You know, this is, I think, a special team for him and it's a shame that he's not able to go out and coach them. Because I know how much he loves coaching.
You know, I think you learn, and probably it took me having a heart attack to learn, but, you know, you don't sweat the small stuff. And I don't the way I used to. I mean, I don't get as caught up in things that aren't really all that important, like sometimes we have a tendency to do, because I think as coaches you want everything, you want everything right, you know.
Like, you know, yesterday with the travel thing. I'd been ready to choke somebody, you know, before. Literally choke somebody. It's just -- it shouldn't happen. But, you know, you don't have any control over it. You learn that you don't have any control over it. And so our guys, we sent them bowling and sent them to watch movies. They probably thought -- they probably thought they had a big day. You know, free bowling (laughter).
But you just don't get as wrapped up in, you know, things that you can't control or things that don't matter the way probably you do I guess when you're younger.

Q. Coach, when you can't simulate in practice, like Brian can't simulate depth, what are the kind of things to do? Think back, like when you were at a smaller school, what can he do in the 24 hours, maybe 48 hours leading up to playing you to simulate it when he has to use a five-man probably to simulate Devin Ebanks.
COACH HUGGINS: You know, I don't think they can stimulate our length any more than we can simulate their aggressiveness. Or the way they sprint in transition. And I don't know. I've maybe had one team that maybe you could do that with. You know, I think that team probably was the best team in the country before Kenyon went down. Because we just had such good players all the way through.
But that doesn't, you know -- in today's world that doesn't happen very much with guys leaving early. It's just I don't think they can simulate us probably any better than we can simulate them.

Q. I am not going to ask anything else, I'll go back to Dayton. How come you went to OU instead of Dayton? What swayed you? Did you ever go visit the school and stuff like that?
COACH HUGGINS: I don't know why I did what I did. Coach Snyder saw, I think, every single game I played as a senior in high school. And that was the head coach. And at that time, and then Tom, you remember, I am sure nobody else in this room does, but they were really good. They had just beaten, I believe, Ohio State and Purdue and Notre Dame I think in two previous years and were probably as talented as any team in the State of Ohio. And I thought they had a great chance to, you know, make a run.
And certainly when the head coach comes to see you every game, unless it's -- his wife was there as well. You kind of feel like they probably want you more than everybody else does.
MODERATOR: Okay thank you, coach.
COACH HUGGINS: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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