THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with
an opening statement from Coach and then take questions
for the student-athletes.
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: For anybody who hasn't covered
us before, we always start by giving God the glory, so to
God be the glory. We're grateful and thankful for the
opportunity to come out here and glorifying His name with
our energy, our effort, how we approach every day. So to
God be the glory.
But hats off to a really good East Carolina team. Playing
two games in less than almost 24 hours, it's not an easy
thing to do. I thought they played hard, they competed, as
Coach Schwartz's teams will.
But I'm really proud of our group. To have our 18 assists,
nine turnovers, I'll take it all day. Have less than 10
turnovers in a game, you're going to give yourselves an
opportunity to win. I thought we did a great job of sharing
the ball. I thought we had great connection defensively
because to force 13 turnovers is a big deal. Really proud
of these kids.
I just want to -- last thing I'll say is this. You're sitting up
here and you're going to talk to two guys who deserve and
who have earned everything they're getting right now, two
of our hardest workers, two guys that have grown and
persevered through so much, through people hating on
'em, saying they weren't good enough, saying they weren't
this and they weren't that, and they just stayed working,
they stayed trusting what we've asked them to did, and
man, I'm just really proud of both of 'em.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. We'll start in the
room with questions.
Q. When you can go to your bench like that and count
on reliable guys, how does that just change your
team?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: That's a great question. I've said
this, and I'm going to openly say this. Selton Miguel has
been our MVP this year. He's been our most valuable guy
because he's allowed us to bring him off the bench and not
one time -- and I'm not making this up, not one time has he
ever made it about himself. Not one time has he ever said,
well, man, like, last year I had this, I had that, or, Coach,
I'm averaging -- I'm leading us in scoring along with
Youngblood. Like, he's just trusted what we've asked of
him and gone from there.
But when you can go to your bench and you can bring
guys in, and it doesn't matter who it is, whether it's Selton,
whether it's Corey Walker, who was a starter tonight, but
you're able to bring Kasean Pryor in, and he responded the
way he responded tonight, it just gives you confidence as a
coach to know, especially in a tournament setting, you're
going to be able to keep fresh legs and you're going to be
able to keep the same focus, energy, and effort that you
need to win a game.
Q. What was the message to the team coming off that
loss to Tulsa going into the tournament, ending that
loss, ending that win streak and everything there?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: I don't know if you've ever listened
to it, but I would recommend anybody go listen to
Chadwick Boseman's commencement speech at Howard,
and toward the end of that speech, there was a part in
there where he said, you'd rather find purpose than find a
job. He said, because purpose, it crosses all disciplines.
So after that Tulsa loss, what we talked about as a group,
as a team, we talked about having a purpose to everything
we were going to do. When we went down to practice,
having a purpose, because purpose, if we have a purpose,
it's going to drive our energy, it's going to drive our effort
it's going to drive our attitude. So I thought these guys
played with great purpose today.
Q. What was it like to be able to go deep into your
bench today and just bring out some of the fan favorite
players, just for your fans that came in today?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: No, it's awesome. But again, just
like Selton has been great all year and accepting his role
and -- not even just accepting it, being a star in his role, it
was -- man, I was so happy, the fact that the coaches and
the rest of the league recognized him as most improved
and Sixth Man of the Year, right?
But it was awesome to be able to play Danny Tobiloba and
Nic Smith and those guys because these guys show up
every day and Daniel probably hadn't played in
20-something games. Nic same thing. But they come to
practice, they come to work every day with a great attitude.
Nic is a guy that's on scout team every time. He's helping
us prepare for it.
So for those guys to have an opportunity to play in an
American Athletic Conference tournament, that's a big deal
to them, definitely.
Q. Right before the game, it was announced that you
were up for Coach of the Year. What about this team
has motivated you and pushed you to go out there and
do what you do day-in and day-out?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: I would say the first thing, there's
no such thing as Coach of the Year. First off, to God be
the glory. To be recognized, it's awesome, but it's no such
thing as Coach of the Year. It's a coaching staff that helps
create the opportunity. My job is to make sure I manage
my people the right way. It's humbling, but again, to God
be the glory. All the praise is for Him.
Q. When you win 15 in a row like that and you faced
adverse situations beyond that, does winning become
so habitual to you all that you just don't crumble in
those moments, that you still maintain your
confidence?
KOBE KNOX: Yeah, I feel like just every day we focus on
just keeping the same habits and just going, like, winning
every single day as a team, coming in focused and going
into each and every game prepared. So that's something
big for us, is to make sure we're very prepared coming into
the game, and I think the rest will take care of itself.
So, yeah, during that win streak, just coming into practice
every single day doing the same thing with a good mindset.
SELTON MIGUEL: Just picking up on what he said,
keeping the same habits every day, like coach mentioned,
every day. Just trying to be a better players ourselves
every day no matter what we've been going through.
Come to practice with the same mindset, don't change, just
keep being us, don't worry about who we're going to play
next, just come doing the same thing every day. That's
what make it's special.
Q. We saw Corey Walker go out kind of early, went to
the tunnel. Any update about his health or status?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: It's pending right now, but he'll be
okay. We just wanted to -- our thing is this, as I've said
before, I'm in the business of molding men, and part of that
is making sure that they take care of themselves. We're
never going to put a game in front of a player. So I think
they told me at 10 minutes, hey, if you need him, he's
ready. No, no, no, we're going to make sure Corey's okay
because my first priority is the safety and care of my guys.
Plus, I'm not trying to have Kathy Walker strangle. I'm not.
an opening statement from Coach and then take questions
for the student-athletes.
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: For anybody who hasn't covered
us before, we always start by giving God the glory, so to
God be the glory. We're grateful and thankful for the
opportunity to come out here and glorifying His name with
our energy, our effort, how we approach every day. So to
God be the glory.
But hats off to a really good East Carolina team. Playing
two games in less than almost 24 hours, it's not an easy
thing to do. I thought they played hard, they competed, as
Coach Schwartz's teams will.
But I'm really proud of our group. To have our 18 assists,
nine turnovers, I'll take it all day. Have less than 10
turnovers in a game, you're going to give yourselves an
opportunity to win. I thought we did a great job of sharing
the ball. I thought we had great connection defensively
because to force 13 turnovers is a big deal. Really proud
of these kids.
I just want to -- last thing I'll say is this. You're sitting up
here and you're going to talk to two guys who deserve and
who have earned everything they're getting right now, two
of our hardest workers, two guys that have grown and
persevered through so much, through people hating on
'em, saying they weren't good enough, saying they weren't
this and they weren't that, and they just stayed working,
they stayed trusting what we've asked them to did, and
man, I'm just really proud of both of 'em.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. We'll start in the
room with questions.
Q. When you can go to your bench like that and count
on reliable guys, how does that just change your
team?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: That's a great question. I've said
this, and I'm going to openly say this. Selton Miguel has
been our MVP this year. He's been our most valuable guy
because he's allowed us to bring him off the bench and not
one time -- and I'm not making this up, not one time has he
ever made it about himself. Not one time has he ever said,
well, man, like, last year I had this, I had that, or, Coach,
I'm averaging -- I'm leading us in scoring along with
Youngblood. Like, he's just trusted what we've asked of
him and gone from there.
But when you can go to your bench and you can bring
guys in, and it doesn't matter who it is, whether it's Selton,
whether it's Corey Walker, who was a starter tonight, but
you're able to bring Kasean Pryor in, and he responded the
way he responded tonight, it just gives you confidence as a
coach to know, especially in a tournament setting, you're
going to be able to keep fresh legs and you're going to be
able to keep the same focus, energy, and effort that you
need to win a game.
Q. What was the message to the team coming off that
loss to Tulsa going into the tournament, ending that
loss, ending that win streak and everything there?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: I don't know if you've ever listened
to it, but I would recommend anybody go listen to
Chadwick Boseman's commencement speech at Howard,
and toward the end of that speech, there was a part in
there where he said, you'd rather find purpose than find a
job. He said, because purpose, it crosses all disciplines.
So after that Tulsa loss, what we talked about as a group,
as a team, we talked about having a purpose to everything
we were going to do. When we went down to practice,
having a purpose, because purpose, if we have a purpose,
it's going to drive our energy, it's going to drive our effort
it's going to drive our attitude. So I thought these guys
played with great purpose today.
Q. What was it like to be able to go deep into your
bench today and just bring out some of the fan favorite
players, just for your fans that came in today?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: No, it's awesome. But again, just
like Selton has been great all year and accepting his role
and -- not even just accepting it, being a star in his role, it
was -- man, I was so happy, the fact that the coaches and
the rest of the league recognized him as most improved
and Sixth Man of the Year, right?
But it was awesome to be able to play Danny Tobiloba and
Nic Smith and those guys because these guys show up
every day and Daniel probably hadn't played in
20-something games. Nic same thing. But they come to
practice, they come to work every day with a great attitude.
Nic is a guy that's on scout team every time. He's helping
us prepare for it.
So for those guys to have an opportunity to play in an
American Athletic Conference tournament, that's a big deal
to them, definitely.
Q. Right before the game, it was announced that you
were up for Coach of the Year. What about this team
has motivated you and pushed you to go out there and
do what you do day-in and day-out?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: I would say the first thing, there's
no such thing as Coach of the Year. First off, to God be
the glory. To be recognized, it's awesome, but it's no such
thing as Coach of the Year. It's a coaching staff that helps
create the opportunity. My job is to make sure I manage
my people the right way. It's humbling, but again, to God
be the glory. All the praise is for Him.
Q. When you win 15 in a row like that and you faced
adverse situations beyond that, does winning become
so habitual to you all that you just don't crumble in
those moments, that you still maintain your
confidence?
KOBE KNOX: Yeah, I feel like just every day we focus on
just keeping the same habits and just going, like, winning
every single day as a team, coming in focused and going
into each and every game prepared. So that's something
big for us, is to make sure we're very prepared coming into
the game, and I think the rest will take care of itself.
So, yeah, during that win streak, just coming into practice
every single day doing the same thing with a good mindset.
SELTON MIGUEL: Just picking up on what he said,
keeping the same habits every day, like coach mentioned,
every day. Just trying to be a better players ourselves
every day no matter what we've been going through.
Come to practice with the same mindset, don't change, just
keep being us, don't worry about who we're going to play
next, just come doing the same thing every day. That's
what make it's special.
Q. We saw Corey Walker go out kind of early, went to
the tunnel. Any update about his health or status?
AMIR ABDUR-RAHIM: It's pending right now, but he'll be
okay. We just wanted to -- our thing is this, as I've said
before, I'm in the business of molding men, and part of that
is making sure that they take care of themselves. We're
never going to put a game in front of a player. So I think
they told me at 10 minutes, hey, if you need him, he's
ready. No, no, no, we're going to make sure Corey's okay
because my first priority is the safety and care of my guys.
Plus, I'm not trying to have Kathy Walker strangle. I'm not.
