On familiarity with Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle:
“I’ve been around him. I’ve met him before and I like him a lot. I haven’t been with him a lot. I’ve got great respect for him because I know that again, when you’re a coach and you know, every job is hard. Some harder than others, absolutely, and when he’s done with that program and to do what he did in that tournament, speaks volumes. It speaks volumes and obviously, the job he did at Montana and then what he’s done there. Hats off to him because what he did this week is something that very few teams do. When you run through the field the way he did, it’s impressive. And they have to have great confidence, they’ve got to be feeling good about themselves that again, they’re playing the best at the right time.”
On thoughts about Keon Johnson’s defense in the SEC Tournament can translate to NCAA Tournament matchups:
“I can’t tell you how impressed I am with Keon, especially over the last couple of weeks. I just think that he has just continued to grow. As much as anything, he’s speaking and talking up. And I do think that our guys have great confidence in him. They know he’s a fighter. They know he’s going to compete at the highest level and yeah, does he get it going sometimes and turn the ball over? Yes, but that’s all out of a willingness and a competitiveness to want to fight and win. So, there’s no doubt in how much respect that he has earned from his teammates, and they believe in him tremendously. I believe in him tremendously and all I can tell you is, I wish that he could have had a full year. All of our guys. You think about it, he missed an exhibition game. He missed a scrimmage against Davidson and I think he missed six conference games. And I just in my mind keep thinking, ‘Man, if he had had, or all of us would have had that,’ but that’s for everybody in the country. But yet, he now in the last two weeks has taken it to a higher level, and he’s really locked in. What I love about him too is he’s gotten to a point where he’s asking questions about a lot of different things in the game and he’s not going to back down from anyone and that can be infectious to his teammates which I think it has been. Like I said, as much confidence as we as a staff have in him, his teammates have that same confidence.”
NEXT: Rick Barnes previews NCAA Tournament continued