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NCAA MEN'S 1ST ROUND: DAYTON

March 14, 2011

DAYTON, OHIO

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Clemson student-athletes Jerai Grant and Demontez Stitt. Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Is it such a thing that on one hand, for both of you, that you're really happy to be in the NCAA but it's kind of tempered by the fact that you have to have a quick turnaround and play here and then possibly turn around and play in another quick game?
DEMONTEZ STITT: I mean, yeah, we're happy to be here. Happy to be in the big dance. I mean, some teams are not as fortunate as us to actually get in. I think this is one of the biggest stages of college basketball.
And we can't really control what everybody else does or where we were placed or what our ranking was or whatever. The only thing we can control is winning games. So coming out here and playing tomorrow is going to be a big thing for us just to get a win and turn around and go down to Tampa.
JERAI GRANT: Yes, it's definitely good and bad at the same time, that quick turnaround. And nothing to do now except prepare for the next game.

Q. Demontez, is this as little time as you've had to prepare for a game?
DEMONTEZ STITT: Yeah, I think this is probably the shortest amount of time we've had to prepare for a team this year. It was such a quick turnaround, we just played and we didn't know much about UAB. I don't think the coaching staff knew as much as we did about them.
And we watched film on them. They have a good team, and I think we just need to prepare and be ready for whatever comes our way.

Q. (Question off microphone.)
DEMONTEZ STITT: Today was the first day we watched film on them, and tomorrow we'll be playing them.

Q. Jerai, could you describe what the last 16 hours have been like since y'all found out you're going to be coming here and playing? Can you kind of break it down for me?
JERAI GRANT: Well, basically we had to hop on the plane early this morning. And, you know, we've had a walk-through, you know, on our way to shootaround now. A lot of preparation. We watched a little bit of film on them already. And after this it's all about going into their sets and talking about how to defend them.

Q. Has there been talk among the team about coming back where Coach Brownell coached before, the same city, and what do you guys think about that?
DEMONTEZ STITT: Not really, not much. I've heard a couple of people talking about him coming back to his hometown and where he used to coach and things like that. Not too much talk about it. Our main focus is playing against UAB and getting that win and being prepared for the next game.
But we don't want to overlook UAB. They have a good team from watching them on film. The biggest thing for us is to be prepared and make sure we get our rest tonight.
JERAI GRANT: Pretty much what Demontez said, just preparing for the next game. Sure, it's a good thing that Coach gets to come back to his hometown, his roots and everything like that, but at the same time he knows we're here for business.

Q. Wondering if you could talk a little bit about what your first impressions were of Coach Brownell when he got in there and how you guys have ended up working together since then.
DEMONTEZ STITT: Coach Brownell, when he first came down to the school, we had a meeting with him. Our first impression is that he was a player's coach. He was here for us. He made us feel comfortable with him and the new coaching staff that was going to come in.
We had a good meeting between me and him and Jerai, and us being the senior leaders on the team, when he got in. And that meeting really opened our eyes to him and showed us that he's really there for us and that he really cared about the players genuinely. That was really before he knew who we were and what type of people we were.
So our first impressions of him, my first impression was that he was a good person as well as a good coach, because I heard about him having a winning record here at Wright State, although I hadn't heard about him before he got to Clemson.
JERAI GRANT: First impression of Coach, a family man, really, really about the bond between him, family. By family I mean not just blood but the team as well.
He told us at the beginning of the season he wanted us to become a team and not everybody can become a team, but I think we accomplished that this season in the short time that we had with Coach.
And that's really what I think, you know, that's what he's about on the inside.

Q. Demontez, we were talking with players from UNC Asheville and Arkansas Little Rock. They have the game before you guys tomorrow. And for small schools like that, it's just a really big deal to have a chartered flight. What kind of a deal is that for you? Is that something you guys get pretty often, I imagine?
DEMONTEZ STITT: Yeah. I mean, we fly everywhere. My first time actually flying was when I got to college. And that was a big deal for me. I'd never been on a plane.
So these last four years, I've been on a lot of flights. So I guess it's not as big of a deal to some of us. I think some of us may take it for granted than some of the smaller schools.

Q. There's all the talk that last weekend before the bids come out about bubble teams and these guys are in, these guys are out. First of all, I wanted to know what your frames of mind were. Were you guys confident that you would get in? And, secondly, was there something that you felt was the number one key why you made it in?
DEMONTEZ STITT: Going into Selection Sunday, I felt that we finished the season strong. And I felt that we deserved to be in the tourney. I felt that we deserved to be in the big dance because we proved that even though we lost some close games to some really good teams, I felt that we proved that we could stick with some of the best teams in the country.
And I was kind of nervous going into Selection Sunday, just hoping the right people saw that we deserved to be in.
JERAI GRANT: Yeah, it was bittersweet. We're happy that we got in. At the same time, we felt like as a team we deserved to be in the tournament. And we put ourselves in a position where no one thought -- no one outside of our team thought we could be. And I think that speaks a lot about our team's heart and resilience in adversity.

Q. Again, for Coach Brownell, this is the third team he's taken to this tournament. Just from what you've seen from him, now having spent a year with him, what makes him a successful coach? Like in the way he works with you guys, what does he do particularly well?
DEMONTEZ STITT: Coach Brownell is a really hands-on type of coach. He really gets to know his players on and off the court. And I think that when he first came in he worked out with all the players, got a feel for each player's game, got a feel for each player's strengths and weaknesses. And I think that was the most important thing for him, as a coach, to really come in and really get to know his team.
And I think he did a great job of doing that. And his style of play, it fits our team well. We have players that can make plays. We finally, towards the mid-season, finally started buying into being a more defensive team. And with Coach Brownell, if you don't like to play defense, then it's not a really good fit for you.
So I don't think we're the number one scoring defensive team in the ACC for no reason. I think that Coach Brownell and the new coaching staff has done a great job with us, I guess with nurturing us through all this change that's come our way this year.
JERAI GRANT: I think it really started during the preseason, during the summer, really right when he got here. Coach really took everybody and basically worked with them individually on and off the court. And I think that individual growth brought us closer together as a team, got us better as a team, and we're really seeing the fruits of our labor now.

Q. Was there anything -- you said you saw film briefly today. Was there anything when you looked at UAB that kind of jumped at you and you thought, wow, that's really something there?
DEMONTEZ STITT: Just watching them on film. They're really athletic. They have guys that can make plays. They make you guard for long possessions. They run a lot of double screens, a lot of back screens and things for guys to get open. They have really good wing players. Point guard is really good, leads the nation in assists.
So I think the biggest thing for us tomorrow as a team, everyone being accountable for who you're guarding. And, I mean, I think swarming around the defense will help us tomorrow.

Q. What you've learned about him, is there anything you know about him automatically as a coach makes him happy or makes him mad? Like anything you know either when you do he's going to be smiling or ready to kind of chew you out?
DEMONTEZ STITT: I think the biggest thing is on the defensive end. He loves guys that takes charges, and so I think guys taking charges is one of the things that make him the most happy. And the thing that makes him the most mad is the exact same thing: Guys who don't like to take charges or don't like to play defense and play hard and get those loose balls, those 50/50 balls.
I think Coach Brownell, like I said, is more of a defensive-minded coach. If you like to play defense, it's a good fit; if not, it's going to be a tough time for you.
JERAI GRANT: Yeah, definitely defense. Also I think being prepared is a big thing with Coach, whether it's going into practice or a game or something off the court. Being prepared is a big thing for him.
And at the same time I think we've all accepted that, as being prepared for what we have to do next.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you. We're joined by coach Brad Brownell. Coach, an opening statement.
COACH BROWNELL: I'm happy to be here. On a personal note, it's great for me to come back to Dayton. Professionally I'm really happy for our players. Our seniors now have been to four straight NCAAs, and I feel really good about what they've been able to accomplish throughout their careers.
And this was a big year, your senior year, to make sure you kind of continue that trend. And they were big parts of our success. And we're looking forward to a game against UAB team that was the Conference USA regular season champs. So it should be a good one.

Q. Have you had a chance to go over to Wright State at all? Are you planning to? Are you going to practice over there? How much do you plan on --
COACH BROWNELL: We've been over there already. We had a little bit of a walk-through after we got to town. And it was great. I got to see players and coaches, administrators, a lot of people came out and said hello. It was really nice. And a good chance for us to get a little work in at the same time, but also for me to reconnect with some people that I hadn't seen in a while.
So it was a lot of fun. We're going to go back tomorrow and do some things in terms of the shootaround and finalizing our game plan.

Q. Can you tell me what the last 24 hours has been like? I'd imagine you probably didn't sleep any at all last night.
COACH BROWNELL: I slept a little but not enough. Find out we were in right away and had the team at the house, and so we got them together quickly and just told them to be ready for anything. We didn't know if we were leaving late last night, didn't know with we were leaving first in the morning and try to get with some academic people to shore up the responsibilities for the week.
Kids packed, staff went and -- fortunately we had a bunch of DVDs on UAB and certainly got together as a staff and organized what we needed to do for preparation purposes, and then watched several games of UAB last night and this morning.
And took the flight up here about 9:00, got into town at 10:00 and checked into the hotel and then went right over to Wright State for a little bit of a meeting and a walk-through. Came back and gave the guys some time, and now we're going to try to break a little sweat this evening, I guess, and get up and down a little bit and get ready.

Q. Can you address kind of the energy issue that you probably need to bring into this game and your thoughts about this basically 36-hour turnaround should you win the game?
COACH BROWNELL: First thing, we definitely are going to have to play with great energy. I think UAB has tremendous team speed. There's no question Aaron Johnson's probably the fastest guy I've seen with the ball all year, and that will be a challenge for our pressure defense.
Sanders is an outstanding 3-point shooter, and they can play in different ways. I think they get the ball up the court very opportunistically. When they feel like they have numbers, they attack you. And he goes one-on-one, and they play penetrate and pitch and play off ball screens and aggressive.
But then I think Mike does a very good job of controlling tempo. They'll run a little false motion and run a set play and get the kind of shot that they want for the player they want. There's some NBA-style to the way they play in the half court, and they run intricate plays that are well designed for their best players.
So energy will be critical. One of the things that I don't think any of us will feel like we are completely comfortable with the preparation. We're so used to playing teams in our league that we know and we're in a rhythm with, and now all of a sudden you're playing somebody that you're not as familiar with in a big-stage game, and sometimes energy is the most important thing.
The second part of the question was regarding?

Q. Should you win, the quick turnaround.
COACH BROWNELL: We don't control it. Certainly if whoever wins the game it will be a challenge logistically first just to get down to Tampa in time to be able to get your guys to bed, get a little bit of rest and feel like you've got some time to -- 24 hours or so to put together a plan to play West Virginia.
But whether that's Clemson or UAB, we'd love for it to be a 9:00 game, but, hey, we're in the tournament, we're excited to be playing. If it means we'll play back to back, we'll play back to back, wherever they want to send us. We're happy to be here and looking forward to competing, and we'll give it our best effort.

Q. This is the third time you've brought a team in your first year of coaching to the tournament. Any commonality amongst the three teams and why they've responded so well to your coaching?
COACH BROWNELL: The first team was very different team when I became the head coach at Wilmington because I coached all the players before, except for the freshmen. But I recruited a lot of them. And Coach Wainwright, the head coach at Wilmington, who really, I guess, trained me there, gave me a lot of responsibility.
So it wasn't as big a move as a lot of people would think. I felt like I was really ready. He gave me enough responsibility and say-so and involvement, and I was greatly appreciative of that. So I felt very comfortable, and we had good players.
So it was more a case of me just managing a good team that was already there, and not screwing it up.
When I went to Wright State, it was much different. It was more like Clemson. They had one very good player coming back and I had to earn his trust, and we had to build relationships with the guys that were there. We lost a couple of guys in the summer before who maybe weren't quite as dedicated to what we were going to ask them to do, and I think we only had nine or ten guys on scholarship, very similar to our situation here at Clemson. We lost a couple of guys. Only had nine guys on scholarship.
And we had to earn the trust of these kids as well. And it seemed like both teams really started to play well towards Christmastime. That's when it seemed like it started to kick in. It just felt like the teams were starting to believe. We were starting to have enough individual success that the kids would then think about the team as well.
And once that happened, we really started playing pretty good basketball. And there's no question that my experience at Wright State, having to change jobs and having to take over a program, has helped me in my time at Clemson.

Q. People have their assumptions about the difference in media attention and fan support and a job like Clemson versus where you've played before. What have you found to be the major differences between, again, the two places before and being at Clemson now?
COACH BROWNELL: The basketball is not different. The basketball is the same, the organization of practices, your decision to call time-outs, what you decide to put in, implement, all that is really the same.
It is different, though, just the amount of media obligations you have. There's several more people that follow you. There's more places to go, speaking engagements. There's more other things that you need to be involved with because maybe your fan base is a little bigger.
So you really have to manage your time that way. You probably don't have quite as much time to watch that extra tape or two that you could watch at the -- when I was at Wright State or Wilmington, and you have to understand your limitations.
You have to delegate well to your staff and trust your staff. But the basketball, I think, is really pretty much the same.

Q. After the successful run you had at Wright State, you find it the least bit ironic you had to move to the state of South Carolina to finally play a game at UD Arena?
COACH BROWNELL: Yeah, I wanted to play one, but I also wanted to play it at the Nutter Center, too, it wasn't just going to be at the UD Arena. And that's fine. Dayton is blessed to have very good basketball programs in town. And that's one of the reasons why we have the First Four here, is because it's a basketball town. And I, along with a lot of people, think that those two schools should play because I think it would be great for the community.
But I also understand each school has to do what they think's right. It's ironic a little bit that by going to Clemson I'll now be taking the team into this arena to coach, and hoping that the fans that come will be more supportive than if I had brought my Wright State team in here.

Q. How close were you able to follow Wright State this year or how much were you communicating with Billy Donlon throughout the year?
COACH BROWNELL: A lot. Billy and I are close. I think Billy is a terrific coach and I think he did a great job this year. We had some good seniors there this year, but several guys got hurt. We had some young players to bring along. I really liked the freshman class that he has, and I think they're going to be good. But there's always a change.
So Billy and I talked every week. I would talk to him and pick his brain about things that he was doing, and he would do the same with me.
And, you know, I was very blessed to have him as an assistant for eight years. He helped me a lot in my success, and I owe him a lot for that and we're going to remain close for a long time.

Q. Just one thing about UAB. Everybody's similar in some ways; everybody's a little different in some ways. What about them is similar to maybe somebody you played this year?
COACH BROWNELL: They're similar in that they run a lot of set plays, maybe like a Virginia Tech in our league. They're different because of Aaron Johnson. There aren't many teams that have a guy with that much pure speed, just pure open court speed.
And it's not even open court speed. It's just he can get past you I think before you even realize it. He's already in the paint. Thinking about leading the country in assists, 232 assists or whatever it is he has, and they don't average 85 points a game. So they're playing in a way that is under control, yet this guy still finds a way to get eight assists a game.
So in transition he can be a burst and go make plays. But then in the half court where very few guys still have that ability to make a burst and go by you and just create, he can do it.
And so your defense is always under duress. And I don't know if there's anybody in our league -- off the top of my head I can't think of one player in the ACC with that kind of breakdown ability. And I don't think there's anybody -- Nolan Smith certainly can break you down, but not with just the pure speed of just getting all the by you.
He's going to get you on the hip and shoot over the top of you and make plays and score and maybe score more and do those kinds of things. But just in terms of breaking you down, he's a special player.
And, again, Jamarr Sanders, I think because of his ability to score in a variety of ways on the move, very talented group that way offensively. And I think Mike has done a really good job. I think he's an undervalued X and O coach. He's a very good basketball mind.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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