Notes and quotes from Jay Wright's Selection Sunday media availability. Apologies for the delay in getting this up, between trying to get familiar with Winthrop and the Trevor Keels news it's been a little hectic.
On the NCAA tournament...
“We are so excited to start this final portion of the season. We always talk about never taking this for granted. It’s such an honor to play in the NCAA tournament but I think this year more than ever just to be able to make it to this point and know you got a chance to play in this great tournament is an incredible accomplishment and I wanted to make sure our guys understood that."
On the emotion of getting to this point after a trying/unique season...
“There’s a lot of feelings but relief is one of those feelings. We made it this far and we made it through the regular season, we made it through the conference tournament and we get to play in the NCAA tournament. It really is a great sense of relief and it’s a sense of accomplishment.”
On the unsteady play down the stretch (4-4 over last eight games) heading into the tournament...
“The head coach worries about everything so I would be less than honest if I didn’t say I had a concern. But I do have a good feeling about this group and their confidence. I do have a good feeling about their prospects and how committed they are, how positive they’ve been with their attitude.”
On Villanova being immediately placed on upset alert by media/fans...
“It’s something that we try to do all year with these guys to get them to understand. A lot of time the noise is overhype for us, so we try to explain to them we’re not listening to people when they say we’re really good, we don’t have to listen to them when they say we’re not good either. I’m sure we’re gonna be a trendy pick to get upset in this game but I think our team understands that being at Villanova this is something you deal with all the time. We evaluate ourselves by our own standards but we respect that fans and media have to have their opinion. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t get to play in front of these great crowds that we normally do and have the excitement of the NCAA tournament, so you gotta respect everyone’s right to have their opinion.”
On his message to players getting their first taste of the NCAA tournament...
“It’s one of the great experiences of your sporting career, of your basketball career. Enjoy every minute of it, make sure you leave everything on the floor, and don’t take it for granted, don’t think you’re gonna be back there next year.”
On the NCAA tournament...
“We are so excited to start this final portion of the season. We always talk about never taking this for granted. It’s such an honor to play in the NCAA tournament but I think this year more than ever just to be able to make it to this point and know you got a chance to play in this great tournament is an incredible accomplishment and I wanted to make sure our guys understood that."
On the emotion of getting to this point after a trying/unique season...
“There’s a lot of feelings but relief is one of those feelings. We made it this far and we made it through the regular season, we made it through the conference tournament and we get to play in the NCAA tournament. It really is a great sense of relief and it’s a sense of accomplishment.”
On the unsteady play down the stretch (4-4 over last eight games) heading into the tournament...
“The head coach worries about everything so I would be less than honest if I didn’t say I had a concern. But I do have a good feeling about this group and their confidence. I do have a good feeling about their prospects and how committed they are, how positive they’ve been with their attitude.”
On Villanova being immediately placed on upset alert by media/fans...
“It’s something that we try to do all year with these guys to get them to understand. A lot of time the noise is overhype for us, so we try to explain to them we’re not listening to people when they say we’re really good, we don’t have to listen to them when they say we’re not good either. I’m sure we’re gonna be a trendy pick to get upset in this game but I think our team understands that being at Villanova this is something you deal with all the time. We evaluate ourselves by our own standards but we respect that fans and media have to have their opinion. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t get to play in front of these great crowds that we normally do and have the excitement of the NCAA tournament, so you gotta respect everyone’s right to have their opinion.”
On his message to players getting their first taste of the NCAA tournament...
“It’s one of the great experiences of your sporting career, of your basketball career. Enjoy every minute of it, make sure you leave everything on the floor, and don’t take it for granted, don’t think you’re gonna be back there next year.”