Head Coach Doug Wojcik Quotes
3/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2010
TULSA HEAD COACH Doug Wojcik
On making the NIT field...
"I think it's an unbelievable accomplishment. There are a lot of teams that would love to be in the NIT. You're selected for the NIT. It's not whether you can afford the NIT. You are selected by the same process the NCAA is selecting teams for. It's really an extension of the NCAA Tournament. It's a great achievement, and obviously I'm happy for the seniors to have a third-straight year of postseason. We get to play well into March, and it becomes a standard in the program that we go to postseason at Tulsa. That's really important for the future."
On experience gained in past years with the one-and-done postseason format...
"That's the whole point about having experience. We've been down this road before. We have played in this environment. Last year we had to go on the road for the second game. Hopefully we'll be even better this year for the first game. I think we have a lot to prove. We played so well against Marshall just last Thursday. But we're ready to go and excited to be a part of the NIT."
On his team's play at the C-USA Championship...
"We played really well. We played 60 minutes of good basketball - the second half against Rice and of course the 40 minutes against Marshall. I think a lot of people were surprised at the outcome of the Marshall game and the margin of victory. We played really well. Then against UTEP, it was unfortunate that Donte went down. He went down that first half, and we just couldn't sustain things, although we got within eight, but our turnovers hurt us early. But we played well and the Marshall game is an indicator of that."
On getting ready for an opponent they don't know much about...
"We had a great practice today. It was a general practice. It wasn't a team-specific practice. We had a really good workout today. (The players) are on spring break, so they're getting plenty of rest. Watching all these championship games over the weekend should get your blood flowing. It's very exciting. I think our guys realize how difficult it is. UTEP was one of the last two teams in the tournament after going 15-1 in our conference. I think it's a very, very special reward for our program, as well as Memphis and UAB in our conference - for all three of us representing our conference (in the NIT)."
On whether the tough non-conference schedule pays off in the postseason...
"It does in the sense that we have that great victory over Oklahoma State. That really helps you. Our strength of schedule is inside 100 now. All of those things really matter. You look at non-conference schedules, and you look at the non-conference schedule of, say, Virginia Tech who is in the NIT with us, hurt them with the NCAA. You do need to play a very good non-conference schedule, and we did that this year."
On what he does know about Kent State right now...
"The one thing about Kent State - that's kind of back home for me. I've known their coach for a while. They were in the South Padre Island tournament (last season) - it's kind of funny, so was Illinois - so we have a little information from a year ago on them. But we'll start dissecting them tonight and taking a look and get ready to play on Wednesday."
On the MAC as a conference...
"It's a very tough conference, especially when you play there. We went to Ohio last year and lost, and we went to Eastern Michigan my first year and lost. It's a conference that probably deserves more respect, but no one ever wants to play at a MAC school. I know the students are still there, and it's a smaller gym. They've only lost two games at home this year. So they're a very good home team."
