Speaker 1: Final for pre championship press conference. Joining us on the
Speaker 1: stage are the UCLA Bruins. We'll hear an opening statement
Speaker 1: from coach and follow up with questions for Lauren, Keeky
Speaker 1: and Gabriella. This time, coach, thank.
Speaker 2: You, thank you all for being here.
Speaker 3: You know, I think one of the coolest parts about
Speaker 3: being able to participate in this in this role is
Speaker 3: being able to see behind the scenes all that goes
Speaker 3: into creating an eleit experience for these student athletes, and
Speaker 3: part of that is all of you in terms of
Speaker 3: telling their amazing stories, shining a light on their incredible journeys.
Speaker 3: And just want you to know it doesn't go unnoticed
Speaker 3: around appreciated, and our game is not in the position
Speaker 3: it is without your contributions to that. You know, we
Speaker 3: are we are expectant. We this is not a surprise
Speaker 3: for us to be here. We expected and believe that
Speaker 3: we would be in Tampa, and so, and that being said,
Speaker 3: we're really grateful, but we are ready to compete, and
Speaker 3: so we're excited about that opportunity. Obviously incredible respect for
Speaker 3: the other three teams that are in this tournament and
Speaker 3: excited to match up against those.
Speaker 1: Thank you coach. We'll open up with questions. We'll start
Speaker 1: right here to my left, our left, and then we'll
Speaker 1: come back over to all.
Speaker 4: Right, Hi, Suprina Merchant the athletic. I guess for Key
Speaker 4: or Gabriella, did either of you get a chance to
Speaker 4: watch the McDonald's American game this week? And for Lauren?
Speaker 4: What's it been like for your family to have all
Speaker 4: of this going on at once.
Speaker 5: I did not watch. We were on the plane.
Speaker 6: Actually well the game was going on, but obviously saw
Speaker 6: a lot of the highlights on social media. I want
Speaker 6: to big give a big shout out to Sienna for
Speaker 6: you know, doing such a great job and winning MVP.
Speaker 6: But yeah, it's really cool to have, you know, her
Speaker 6: coming in and we're very excited for her and Lauren
Speaker 6: in the entire Bets family.
Speaker 7: Yeah, obviously we didn't get to watch, but when we landed,
Speaker 7: Avery was sitting in front of me. She's like, oh,
Speaker 7: Sina one MVP and I had no idea. So I'm
Speaker 7: just so happy for her and the family group chat
Speaker 7: was texting all night basically, so it's been a crazy
Speaker 7: couple of past days for my family. But yeah, I'm
Speaker 7: just super proud of her and She's just so amazing.
Speaker 8: So yeah, we're gonna go to our right, ladies. Kurt
Speaker 8: Sandwell from maybe C seven back home, if two of
Speaker 8: the three of you could answer at this point to
Speaker 8: get to hear you get a lot of congratulations, but
Speaker 8: also a lot of distractions between texts and social media.
Speaker 8: What is the challenge of accepting that but also eliminating
Speaker 8: the noise.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think that is a difficult part and learning
Speaker 9: how to navigate navigate that can be hard. But our
Speaker 9: coaches do a great job of giving us tools to
Speaker 9: handle these situations. And I think for me personally, you know,
Speaker 9: after we won thely eight game to come to the
Speaker 9: final four, I was really excited, and I was looking
Speaker 9: at all the stuff on social media, you know, and
Speaker 9: I give myself, you know, two days, and then after that,
Speaker 9: I think it's time to lock in for our next opponent.
Speaker 9: But yeah, I just try not to give too much
Speaker 9: of your attention to that because a lot of people
Speaker 9: are saying things, you know, I can piss you off,
Speaker 9: you don't agree with, and they're not in our circle
Speaker 9: and so understanding that they don't know what's going on
Speaker 9: behind the scenes in our locker room and the people
Speaker 9: in our locker room are most important.
Speaker 1: We want to stay. So I left, it's third row,
Speaker 1: and then we're going to come up to the second row. Hi,
Speaker 1: Jayalen Johnson for Lauren.
Speaker 10: That you took off, and I want to just say
Speaker 10: thank you for your open, your.
Speaker 2: Honesty with that.
Speaker 10: But you've talked, you learn were more than a basketball player,
Speaker 10: and I just wanted to give you the chance to
Speaker 10: say who Lauren Bits is aside from basketball.
Speaker 7: Oh my gosh, Well thank you also, But yeah, no,
Speaker 7: I think that I always try to remind myself that
Speaker 7: I'm so much more than basketball, and I think I
Speaker 7: always talk about how I really value the relationships I
Speaker 7: have with the people around me in my close circles.
Speaker 7: So you know, I'm like a daughter, I'm a teammate,
Speaker 7: I'm a sister, I'm a friend. So just reminding myself that, yes,
Speaker 7: like basketball is what I do, but it's not who
Speaker 7: I am at the end of the day. And all
Speaker 7: of this is amazing, but when I go back home
Speaker 7: to my teammates and my family, that's really what matters
Speaker 7: to me.
Speaker 1: So we can get the microphone over to the second row. Please,
Speaker 1: I see both of you. We'll go second back to
Speaker 1: the third and then we'll come back up to the
Speaker 1: second roll again, see you as well.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Annie Costabel, Front Office Sports Corey. These questions
Speaker 11: for you with the transfer portal being open, love the laugh.
Speaker 11: With the transfer portal being open while you guys are
Speaker 11: still playing, what challenges does that present and how do
Speaker 11: you have to adjust your staff to accommodate that need?
Speaker 1: Actually, if we could hold, we're doing coach questions for
Speaker 1: coach posts, so we're going to continue to fill those
Speaker 1: questions to the student athlete.
Speaker 5: We'll come back to you.
Speaker 1: Annie, promise we can go third row. If you can
Speaker 1: raise your hand higher.
Speaker 5: We'll get to you. What's going on, y'all. Misha Jones
Speaker 5: also with Rising Media Stars.
Speaker 12: I'm from the DMV ki Key, so I wanted to
Speaker 12: ask you specifically, what is it about that area that's
Speaker 12: you think molded you as a player And are there
Speaker 12: some faves from that area that I've played in this
Speaker 12: tournament and Mint Stars that you.
Speaker 5: Kind of take inspiration from.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean growing up then DMV, I always say
Speaker 6: it's the best basketball area in the country, but I
Speaker 6: think just the level of competition through high school and
Speaker 6: a you really prepared me for the next level. I
Speaker 6: mean I grew up, you know, going to the w
Speaker 6: C a C Championship games and just seeing all the
Speaker 6: fantastic leagues there and yeah, I mean watched.
Speaker 5: A lot of players at Saint John's, you.
Speaker 6: Know, Da Maatha on the guy's side, and I just
Speaker 6: think that, you know, seeing that really motivated me to
Speaker 6: just continue to get better.
Speaker 5: And yeah, it's so grateful to be from that area.
Speaker 1: We're going to go to our right in this corner.
Speaker 1: We're going to come back over to the side. Please
Speaker 1: receive Carl Adam at Hurts the media key.
Speaker 11: Key.
Speaker 13: Can you talk about the jump that Lauren has made
Speaker 13: this season from start to finish and to follow Lauren,
Speaker 13: if you could talk about the same thing, the work
Speaker 13: you've done and the pressure you've dealt with to be
Speaker 13: an elite player.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean Laurens obviously improved so much over these
Speaker 6: past few years, and I think for all of us
Speaker 6: just being able to see that firsthand every day in practice,
Speaker 6: and you know, she works so hard. She put in
Speaker 6: so much work in the spring and the offseason, the summer,
Speaker 6: and I think that's where her game just really really
Speaker 6: improves so much.
Speaker 5: And I think like from the first day in some
Speaker 5: workouts and.
Speaker 6: The preseason, I could just tell what a different player
Speaker 6: she was and the kind of a different confidence that
Speaker 6: she had about her, because we all knew the entire
Speaker 6: time the incredible player that she was. But I think
Speaker 6: a lot of it was about her realizing that and
Speaker 6: just being able to kind of play with her, help
Speaker 6: her alongside, and that journey has been an incredible honor,
Speaker 6: and I mean, you know, she's obviously unstoppable out there
Speaker 6: on the court, and just very grateful to play with her.
Speaker 1: Thanks, We'll stay on our right reaching. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaker 5: No, it's okay. Thanks. Key.
Speaker 7: To add to that, I would say, I mean, kind
Speaker 7: of like what Kiki said, I think it's just me
Speaker 7: finally realizing the player that I am. And I think
Speaker 7: that a lot of it has to do with not
Speaker 7: just the basketball side, but like the mental work that
Speaker 7: I've done this past season. I think that, you know,
Speaker 7: just talking to coach Shannon, having those conversations about like,
Speaker 7: you know, taking away all the pressure of when I'm
Speaker 7: on the floor and just playing for my teammates and
Speaker 7: understanding like the moment and what I have to do.
Speaker 7: I think that's just made me the player that I am.
Speaker 7: I mean, I think also I have to give a
Speaker 7: lot of credit to this program and like the amount
Speaker 7: of confidence that they've given me, and like all the
Speaker 7: love that they've showed me these past couple of years.
Speaker 7: I mean, I'm just super grateful to be at UCLA.
Speaker 5: So thank you.
Speaker 1: All Right, we're going to go to our second row.
Speaker 1: We'll go to the back, and then we'll come back
Speaker 1: over our see you, yes please right, sorry, take me
Speaker 1: anyone with the la times For Kiki, I know you
Speaker 1: talked earlier this year about your.
Speaker 14: Relationship with Dordan Canada. What is what has that been
Speaker 14: like for you as you've gone through this from freshman
Speaker 14: now to junior year. She was in a similar situation
Speaker 14: point guarded for the number one recruiting class, and like,
Speaker 14: how is just she she and maybe some of the
Speaker 14: other alumni helped you kind of grow throughout this process
Speaker 14: now to the final four.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think we would, all of us sitting up
Speaker 6: here would say how impactful all of the UCLA alumni
Speaker 6: have been on our journey. I mean, they've just been
Speaker 6: so supportive throughout this entire year and since we've gotten here.
Speaker 6: You know, JC was someone I watched before I came
Speaker 6: to UCLA, and you know, I really really have always
Speaker 6: admired her, and just you know, over these past few
Speaker 6: years she's been at practices, she's helped us get better,
Speaker 6: helped us prepare for games, and now to see her
Speaker 6: like watching from afar and just kind of she also
Speaker 6: sent me congratulatory texts after games and just you know,
Speaker 6: certain things, and I think having their support really means
Speaker 6: a lot, because, you know, part of the reason why
Speaker 6: we're in this position is because of the you know,
Speaker 6: the work that they did to build this program, and
Speaker 6: we're continuing to carry that on.
Speaker 1: You can raise your hand in the back.
Speaker 5: He'll get to you.
Speaker 1: We'll come back up to the front. I see you
Speaker 1: as well. I still saw you it in the front
Speaker 1: row as well.
Speaker 15: Please receive Hi, Bella Munson with the next Laura and
Speaker 15: I also wanted to ask you about the the ESPN
Speaker 15: story about your mental health. I was wondering if there
Speaker 15: was any particular reason you decided to do that story
Speaker 15: recently it was published I think two weeks ago, and
Speaker 15: how you feel since sharing it in Kiki and Gabriella.
Speaker 15: If you could talk about what, if any changes you've
Speaker 15: seen in Lauren since she's been more open about her
Speaker 15: mental health struggles, I would be really appreciated.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think one of the reasons why I wanted
Speaker 7: to come out with the stories because I felt like
Speaker 7: I was finally in the right place to do so.
Speaker 7: I think that I'd just done a lot of healing
Speaker 7: since then, and I was like, you know what, you know,
Speaker 7: I just don't feel like I have to really hide
Speaker 7: this anymore. And the I think the response is that
Speaker 7: I've had since then have truly just like validated, you know,
Speaker 7: what I did and what I put out, and I
Speaker 7: think that, you know, the amount of love and support
Speaker 7: that I've gotten is just means a lot to me,
Speaker 7: And you know, to help young girls who I guess
Speaker 7: didn't really have anyone to look up to Like I personally,
Speaker 7: I had mentors, and I'm really thankful, but I know
Speaker 7: there's a lot of young girls who don't, and so
Speaker 7: I think just for me to be an outlet and
Speaker 7: to kind of validate their feelings and to know that
Speaker 7: there's someone out there who's dealing with this same thing
Speaker 7: that I am, is I think is just really important.
Speaker 7: But yeah, I'm just really grateful for all the love
Speaker 7: and support that I've been receiving since the article, it
Speaker 7: means a lot to me.
Speaker 1: So and for follow up questions, can we start with
Speaker 1: Kiki and then go to Gabriella.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I just think Lauren's willingness to be
Speaker 6: open about a topic that's not easy is inspiring to
Speaker 6: tell all of us.
Speaker 5: And I think, you know, we've.
Speaker 6: All seen her growing our confidence over these you know,
Speaker 6: of these past few months, and I think I've even
Speaker 6: seen another step in that over these past few weeks
Speaker 6: towards the end of the season.
Speaker 5: And yeah, just really proud of her for that.
Speaker 9: I'm sorry, I'm just super proud of Lauren, and you
Speaker 9: know the way she emphasizes mental health and is an
Speaker 9: advocate for it, especially with student athletes, because it is
Speaker 9: something super important and being a student athlete is, you know,
Speaker 9: very hard at times, it's super fun. I'm super thankful.
Speaker 9: But to see Lauren just advocate for not only herself,
Speaker 9: but for so many others, it's really inspiring. And I'm
Speaker 9: just super proud of her and the way she has
Speaker 9: grown throughout her college experience in college career.
Speaker 1: I want to shift to our right.
Speaker 16: Hi, I'm Gid you overtime and Lauren, what is something
Speaker 16: he in is better at the.
Speaker 7: God, oh my gosh. Okay, like in basketball or just
Speaker 7: like in life in general, like basketball basketball. Okay, I
Speaker 7: will say she's a way better shooter than I am.
Speaker 7: And to be honest, like I feel like for her
Speaker 7: being younger, I think she like is a little bit
Speaker 7: smarter than I am too. Like, she's genuinely one of
Speaker 7: the smartest basketball players I've ever been around. So yeah,
Speaker 7: credit to her. I don't know where she got it from,
Speaker 7: but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: I want to shift to our left. Did you raise
Speaker 1: your hand in the black? Thank you?
Speaker 14: Yeah?
Speaker 17: Mitch North of Mesmination, Kiki, I know you played against
Speaker 17: Easy in high school. Just you know what kind of
Speaker 17: from your perspective makes her a great player? And are
Speaker 17: you looking forward to kind of matching up with her
Speaker 17: again on such a big stage And what are you
Speaker 17: looking for or two about that matchup?
Speaker 6: Yeah, she's a great player. We played against each other
Speaker 6: a lot throughout high school. Our high school's for like
Speaker 6: fifteen minutes away from each other. And I think she's
Speaker 6: always been a fantastic shooter, one of the best shooters
Speaker 6: that I've been able to see, And stuff, and I think,
Speaker 6: you know, just grateful to have another opportunity to play
Speaker 6: against her and you know the Yukon team. But yeah,
Speaker 6: it's really cool that both of us are from the DMV.
Speaker 1: We'll stay on our left had side. If you can
Speaker 1: raise your hand with the blue jacket so we can
Speaker 1: get that microphone to you.
Speaker 13: Uh.
Speaker 18: Shape Attagning with the Tampa Bay Times. I had a
Speaker 18: question for Gabriella. So, knowing that your brother Jim made
Speaker 18: his own run with UCLA to the Final four and
Speaker 18: twenty twenty one, has he given you any advice on
Speaker 18: how to handle this new and big stage of the
Speaker 18: Final Four?
Speaker 8: Uh?
Speaker 9: Yeah, I was very thankful that I got to, you know,
Speaker 9: watch my brother's two games in Indiana on his team's run.
Speaker 9: But he's been super busy with his own basketball games
Speaker 9: and things like that. But he's always supporting and I
Speaker 9: just really appreciate his support.
Speaker 1: What's our right hand side, Joey, If you grisha hand,
Speaker 1: then get to you.
Speaker 19: Joey Johnston with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, Lauren, I
Speaker 19: want to ask you, you know, there there's players and
Speaker 19: other programs that have been to this event. This is
Speaker 19: the first time around for UCLA. You guys have been
Speaker 19: here for a few days. How do you mix business
Speaker 19: with pleasure? You know, do you get some time to
Speaker 19: enjoy the community and what do you think so far?
Speaker 19: What's been like here?
Speaker 7: No, it's unbelievable. You know, we kind of talked about
Speaker 7: it in film just Koshannon brought it up. Just enjoying
Speaker 7: the moment. Obviously, we talked a lot about you know,
Speaker 7: media and how there's going to be a lot of
Speaker 7: things going on and it'll be a little hectic, but
Speaker 7: like just acknowledging that, like we're here at the Final
Speaker 7: four and this is a huge deal and it's a
Speaker 7: huge accomplish accomplishment for this program, and you know, just
Speaker 7: having fun. I mean, like we're all here together. We
Speaker 7: all love each other so much, and just to experience
Speaker 7: this together I think is amazing. But yeah, we've had
Speaker 7: a lot of fun. Obviously, we're also you know, reminding
Speaker 7: ourselves that in the day, like we're here to win
Speaker 7: as well, and it's a business trip and you know,
Speaker 7: at the end of the day, like we're here to
Speaker 7: play in the Final four as well, but we can
Speaker 7: also just have fun and enjoy each other's company.
Speaker 1: So take our final question for student athletes, if you
Speaker 1: can raise your hand on the right hand side so
Speaker 1: we can get to you right. You had your hand
Speaker 1: raised previously him Mark yep a question no longer. Okay,
Speaker 1: we'll hit this last question on our left hand side,
Speaker 1: if you can raise your hand. Thank you.
Speaker 11: Hi.
Speaker 7: Jennifer Portsy from A Let's Tall Women in Basketball, What
Speaker 7: have you guys learned about yourself throughout this tournament?
Speaker 5: M Yeah, I can take that one first.
Speaker 11: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean, I think our toughness and our resilience has
Speaker 6: been something that we've really worked on and that's been
Speaker 6: on display throughout got their turn. I think, especially in
Speaker 6: our LSU game, our ability for so many people to
Speaker 6: like so many people different to step up and hit
Speaker 6: big shots and make big plays, and just our ability
Speaker 6: to play in those close games and you know, find
Speaker 6: a way to pull them out.
Speaker 7: I would say the same thing. I think our toughness
Speaker 7: and I think our composure as well. Obviously, like say
Speaker 7: game of runs, things are gonna go wrong, people are
Speaker 7: gonna have fouls or being foul trouble. But I think
Speaker 7: just making sure that you know it's next man up,
Speaker 7: and I think that just talks about like the depth
Speaker 7: of our team. I mean, everyone's just ready, and you
Speaker 7: have such a talented roster that when things go wrong,
Speaker 7: like we know, at the end of the day, we're
Speaker 7: gonna be Okay.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I would just add exactly what they said. But
Speaker 9: our togetherness, how powerful we are when we stay together
Speaker 9: throughout the whole game and we play for each other.
Speaker 9: So just I've had so much fun so far, and
Speaker 9: I can't wait for more.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Lauren, Keeking Gabriella. At this time, the locker
Speaker 1: room is now open and the three student athletes will
Speaker 1: move to the mix zone will now open up for
Speaker 1: questions for coach Andy. We will start with you. We'll
Speaker 1: get the microphone to you. Give me one second sight,
Speaker 1: please proceed.
Speaker 5: Okay, Corey, sorry about that.
Speaker 11: In Passable Front Office Sports, Yeah, I'm curious with the
Speaker 11: transfer being open while you guys are still playing. What's
Speaker 11: the challenges that are presented and how do you shift
Speaker 11: your staff to accommodate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's it's we Thankfully we'd have more
Speaker 3: coaches now and that makes a big difference so that
Speaker 3: we can divide and conquer a little bit more. But
Speaker 3: you know, I think there's two sides of this, and
Speaker 3: I saw an interview with Bruce Pearl recently and talking
Speaker 3: about how, yes, the it's very inconvenient, it's very difficult,
Speaker 3: but also that having the kids be able to pursue
Speaker 3: what their next steps are is important. And I really
Speaker 3: did pause when he said that and think about the
Speaker 3: majority of the numbers. Right, we are very fortunate this
Speaker 3: year we don't have a lot of space, so it
Speaker 3: actually has not been very difficult for us at all
Speaker 3: because we have the potentially to have almost our whole
Speaker 3: roster return. But from a global perspective, I think there's
Speaker 3: two challenges.
Speaker 2: One is what is.
Speaker 3: Best for the student athletes and what is best for
Speaker 3: our game. And the part that concerned me a little
Speaker 3: bit about the game part is how quickly coaches we're
Speaker 3: trying to Our athletic departments were trying to field coaching
Speaker 3: positions so that they had people in place during the
Speaker 3: you know, for the transport portal opening, and I think
Speaker 3: that has been an unintended consequence of the date, which
Speaker 3: is really difficult. So now you have assistant coaches leaving
Speaker 3: in the middle of the tournament.
Speaker 2: You've got, you know, on top of everything else we're doing.
Speaker 3: I have people calling about you know your coaches and
Speaker 3: are the interested in jobs and things like that, so
Speaker 3: somehow to find a marriage of like, okay, what is
Speaker 3: best for the student athletes?
Speaker 2: I think the bottom line.
Speaker 3: Is if you're in the sweet sixteen or beyond and
Speaker 3: you need a transfer situation, there's enough people that you
Speaker 3: can accommod Is.
Speaker 2: It convenient no? Is it hard, yes, but you can
Speaker 2: do it.
Speaker 3: And especially since we're in the minority, there's only sixteen
Speaker 3: teams left that are affected in that way. But I
Speaker 3: do think the whole thing about how it affected the
Speaker 3: coaching carousel, I think that's worth a second look because
Speaker 3: that has been a major distraction, and when that's a distraction,
Speaker 3: it affects the student athlete experience, and so I think
Speaker 3: that's something we got to look at.
Speaker 1: Take our next question up in the front, Cassandra, can
Speaker 1: you raise your hands? I can get it to you.
Speaker 20: Cassandra Nuglia, Yeah, who's sports. You've often talked about being
Speaker 20: an uncommon coach, and you mentioned it yesterday at the
Speaker 20: Nasmith ceremony, having uncommon players. I know there's the uncommonness
Speaker 20: of UCLA being in its first NCAA Final four, but
Speaker 20: I'm just curious what is uncommon about this team that
Speaker 20: got you here.
Speaker 3: I think there's the hardest working team that I've ever
Speaker 3: been a part of, top to bottom.
Speaker 2: I have to kick them out all the time of
Speaker 2: the gym. They want more. They're incredibly hard working.
Speaker 3: And I have to give that credit to Kiki Rice
Speaker 3: because she has set a cultural standard of work that
Speaker 3: is contagious and pervasive, and you know, just she she
Speaker 3: deserves so much credit in that. I think what else
Speaker 3: is uncommon of this group is so many players. I
Speaker 3: have never had a roster this star studed and to
Speaker 3: have it's uncommon to have this many stars be willing
Speaker 3: to give up individual things for a more powerful collective thing.
Speaker 3: And those would be probably the two most uncommon things
Speaker 3: about this particular team.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna move to all right, Doug, and then we'll
Speaker 1: come back over. I have a list going.
Speaker 2: You're good, hey, Corey Romberg AP.
Speaker 21: I was hoping you could walk us through a little
Speaker 21: bit your relationship with GINO, because I remember you went
Speaker 21: to watch practices probably close to a decade ago, and
Speaker 21: now I think thirteen years ago, just how that all happened,
Speaker 21: and now that you're playing them in Yeah, biggest stage.
Speaker 21: How great it was to be able to learn.
Speaker 2: Learn Yeah, not only was it well.
Speaker 3: So when I my first year at U c l A, I, uh, we.
Speaker 2: Weren't in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 3: We and so I had a little more time on
Speaker 3: my hands after the season was over, and I'm like,
Speaker 3: what a unique opportunity. I wonder if people would let
Speaker 3: me watch them, you know, practice, And so I called
Speaker 3: Muffett McGraw and I called, you know, coach Oriama and
Speaker 3: asked if I could come and watch. And so I
Speaker 3: spent I think the first and second rounds I spent
Speaker 3: watching Notre Dame their prep and then I went to
Speaker 3: Connecticut and spent four days there and watched them practice
Speaker 3: and prepare, and you know, it was just tremendous. And
Speaker 3: uh then the next year in October, I brought my
Speaker 3: entire staff out to watch him practice. And you know,
Speaker 3: he's a master teacher. He's really really uh you know,
Speaker 3: he's done it in a style of play that I
Speaker 3: really enjoy just personally, especially on the office of end
Speaker 3: and trying to think about, you know, as a young
Speaker 3: first year at that point, head coach, what did that
Speaker 3: what was that going to look like? For me and
Speaker 3: so to have that time where and it wasn't just
Speaker 3: coach Orima, you know, CD and their assistant coaches, I
Speaker 3: mean their whole program. Just letting someone in in the
Speaker 3: middle of the NCAA tournament and learn.
Speaker 2: I think it's a huge credit to them.
Speaker 3: And so there used to be a joke that whether
Speaker 3: I was at UC Santa Barbara or at Florida State
Speaker 3: or then at UCLA, every year we ended up in
Speaker 3: their brackets.
Speaker 2: So that got a little old because they were really good.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, you know, I just think
Speaker 3: when people who have set the standard of the game
Speaker 3: are willing to reach back and teach somebody else, it
Speaker 3: goes a long way.
Speaker 1: We'll stay on our right hand side. If you can
Speaker 1: come up one more in the brown.
Speaker 22: Hi Grey, Emily Adams Hartford current. You worked with both
Speaker 22: Page and Azy at the USA basketball level. Just curious
Speaker 22: what you remember about them, working with them at that
Speaker 22: age and how you've seen them develop now as your
Speaker 22: skill outing them for a Final four.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's funny.
Speaker 3: When we were in Thailand for the U nineteen World
Speaker 3: Cup with Page, she happened to be my next door neighbor.
Speaker 3: The entire time for three weeks in Thailand, and so
Speaker 3: her and Celeste Taylor, I remember it, and it would
Speaker 3: always be we joke about what the pregame playlist was
Speaker 3: gonna be, and thankfully we both really liked gospel music,
Speaker 3: so that was usually the choice. And Page has just
Speaker 3: got an incredible charisma.
Speaker 2: She you know, made the pass.
Speaker 3: I mean, I just I think to me, she's an
Speaker 3: incredibly most efficient scorer of all those things, but her
Speaker 3: elite skill in my mind, that I love the most
Speaker 3: is watching her vision in her passing is just amazing.
Speaker 3: And we were in a position in the gold medal
Speaker 3: game that she needed to make the pass for us
Speaker 3: to have a chance to send it to overtime, and
Speaker 3: she made the pass and made the play and sent
Speaker 3: us on. And she's an incredible player. She's an even
Speaker 3: better teammate and and just was great to have that
Speaker 3: experience with her. Are lots of respect and that, you know, Asy,
Speaker 3: It's interesting that I had this experience with Lauren too,
Speaker 3: And those are probably the two that they carried me
Speaker 3: a little bit so when I coached them. My dad
Speaker 3: died when I was on the trip with USA Basketball,
Speaker 3: and those two kids, I remember the circle.
Speaker 2: I remember sitting there and telling them.
Speaker 3: Like, this is going on. I'm okay, but this is happening.
Speaker 3: And their response to me was just tremendous. And I
Speaker 3: had recruited them both they both turned me down. And
Speaker 3: but Asy she just has this. She has incredible work ethic,
Speaker 3: She's an elite player. She has a very tender heart.
Speaker 3: And I was the beneficiary of that on that trip.
Speaker 3: And I will be forever grateful.
Speaker 1: When Mussar left in the plaid and then we'll go
Speaker 1: to the backs of the black. I know I have
Speaker 1: the blue again.
Speaker 5: We'll move.
Speaker 12: Hey, we're moving Misha Jones here with rising media stars
Speaker 12: once again. So I want to take us back in time.
Speaker 12: You've been at UCLA since twenty eleven. You were under
Speaker 12: five hundred that first season. But if you have to
Speaker 12: go back knowing how everything is unfolded since then, what
Speaker 12: is the advice you give that version of Corey close
Speaker 12: and what do you tell coaches who want to make
Speaker 12: that first gig stick?
Speaker 2: Good question. I think that.
Speaker 3: Don't try to be all things to all people. Know
Speaker 3: what your lane is and how you operate best, and
Speaker 3: be authentic to that.
Speaker 2: That's where the whole.
Speaker 3: Uncommon thing came from is that I knew I didn't
Speaker 3: want to do it like everybody else, but it was hard.
Speaker 3: I was insecure at times, Can I really doet this done?
Speaker 2: Is this? Could this really work?
Speaker 22: You know?
Speaker 2: And so?
Speaker 3: But I think anything other than that would have been inauthentic,
Speaker 3: And it would have been I wouldn't have had the
Speaker 3: joy or the meaning that or honestly to be able
Speaker 3: to sustain because I really wouldn't have believed that in
Speaker 3: it at the deepest levels. Right, The thing that I
Speaker 3: would say, the biggest thing is who you surround yourself.
Speaker 3: Show me the five closest people to a new head
Speaker 3: coach in the program, and I will show you what
Speaker 3: their level of success will be. And I got a
Speaker 3: lot of things wrong, but the one thing I got
Speaker 3: right is the people I surrounded myself with, loyalty, character, trust.
Speaker 3: I had so many people, well, you need this, you've
Speaker 3: been gone from California this long, you need this person,
Speaker 3: you need this telling me what I needed.
Speaker 2: But I knew I needed.
Speaker 3: Trustworthy, people of integrity, high character, hard working. I knew
Speaker 3: that I needed someone all of them. I wanted them
Speaker 3: to be able to develop talent. I wanted them to
Speaker 3: build authentic relationships, and I wanted them to be able
Speaker 3: to recruit and that everything else. I figured if those
Speaker 3: things were in place and they were high character people,
Speaker 3: we'd be Okay, Kareem.
Speaker 1: Please proceive Hey Poblan from Washington Post.
Speaker 12: Just QUICKI a couple things that you have to take
Speaker 12: care of tomorrow to be successful into advance.
Speaker 2: A couple things, you know.
Speaker 3: I think that one of the reasons I chose to
Speaker 3: learn from coach Orima is that he doesn't teach just
Speaker 3: a bunch of plays. He teaches and equips his players
Speaker 3: to make plays and to read defenses.
Speaker 2: So when you're scouting.
Speaker 3: Them, you know the amount of there is not a
Speaker 3: lot of predictability because they're really good at read and
Speaker 3: react and it's a very high basketball IQ team. And
Speaker 3: so I think the challenges are is all the different
Speaker 3: ways they create open threes and the efficiency in which
Speaker 3: you do it. So the number one thing is that
Speaker 3: we've got to do defensively is to limit their three
Speaker 3: point attempt rate. And it's very clear in the analytics.
Speaker 3: When their three point attempt rate is up, they win,
Speaker 3: and when they defensive rebound they win.
Speaker 2: Those are the two.
Speaker 3: Biggest win loss statistics that determine their success from an
Speaker 3: analytics perspective, and so our challenge is going to be
Speaker 3: to try to limit that attempt rate and at least
Speaker 3: quality ones.
Speaker 2: And then the other thing that they do is they.
Speaker 3: Use players as you try to extend to do that
Speaker 3: to cut behind you, and so to be able to
Speaker 3: defend back cuts is really important because that's the counter
Speaker 3: when you take away three.
Speaker 2: So those are the defensive end.
Speaker 3: And then we have to figure out how we can
Speaker 3: play through the paint and not just with Lauren Bett's,
Speaker 3: but to do that because that's how we're built and
Speaker 3: shoot our threes after paint touches.
Speaker 2: And not fall in love with them too early.
Speaker 3: But the more stops we get, the more we're able
Speaker 3: to do that in transition. So that'll be a huge
Speaker 3: key for us playing through the paint. On the offensive end,
Speaker 3: ball movement and paint touches are the two biggest indicators
Speaker 3: for us being successful versus them on the offensive end.
Speaker 1: Hunch, we're gonna move around right if you can raise
Speaker 1: your hand and a.
Speaker 16: Green coral hall with you, say, today you're going up
Speaker 16: against a Yukon program that's making their twenty fourth appearance.
Speaker 5: It's your programs. First.
Speaker 16: A lot of people might think that's an advantage for
Speaker 16: Yukon and being here before, But do you feel like
Speaker 16: there's an advantage on your side of your team? You're
Speaker 16: doing something these programs never done before, and that kind
Speaker 16: of different pressure. Just kind of what's that like from
Speaker 16: your perspective?
Speaker 3: I think it's just, you know, every not only is
Speaker 3: every team different in terms of their talent base and
Speaker 3: strengths and weaknesses, but their makeup internally is different. And
Speaker 3: I can't speak to theirs, you know. Obviously their record
Speaker 3: here speaks for itself. But one of the coolest parts
Speaker 3: about coaching this team for UCLA is that they haven't
Speaker 3: been surprised. They really have prepared to win step by step,
Speaker 3: starting way back when we played South Carolina at home,
Speaker 3: you know, and we started out just not a very
Speaker 3: confident team and just earned it little by little, and
Speaker 3: so I just think this is that next hurdle, right,
Speaker 3: So we're not preparing to be here, we're preparing to win,
Speaker 3: and we're trying to prepare in such a way that
Speaker 3: we have the confidence to do so.
Speaker 2: Is it an advantage of being here? Multiple times?
Speaker 3: I would say yeah, it is, probably, but there's different
Speaker 3: kinds of advantages on all parts of this so our job,
Speaker 3: I can't control that, So my job is to not
Speaker 3: give my energy to that at all.
Speaker 1: Take our final question in the back and the blue
Speaker 1: shirt you grease.
Speaker 23: You Andrew Edelson with ESPN dot Com Corey is a
Speaker 23: follow up to that, you're the number one overall seed,
Speaker 23: yet everyone's talking about you?
Speaker 2: Come see that way?
Speaker 23: Does that's my questions? Does it feel like you guys
Speaker 23: are a little bit of an underdog heading into this game,
Speaker 23: even though you are the number one overall seed.
Speaker 3: Yes, it does, but honestly, it has sort of all
Speaker 3: year and I think we've benefited from that, honestly, that
Speaker 3: we spent more time as number one in the country
Speaker 3: all year long, and we were the most non talked
Speaker 3: about number one team in history. But I can't complain
Speaker 3: about that because I think it allowed our team to
Speaker 3: stay focused on the right things, and so, you know,
Speaker 3: it's I do think that's sort of been the case.
Speaker 3: But I do know that the number one overall seed
Speaker 3: stays in the nicest hotel, and that is true, so
Speaker 3: that is really beneficial right across the street. So but
Speaker 3: I think that the reality is that you know, I
Speaker 3: love the coverage of our sports. So if you want
Speaker 3: to talk about whoever you want, go ahead. It's going
Speaker 3: to all shake out out there about who shows up
Speaker 3: to perform, who plays their best when their best is needed.
Speaker 3: And we both have two really really good teams. Also
Speaker 3: a credit to them, I think they have been playing
Speaker 3: their best basketball in the last you know, six weeks
Speaker 3: of the season, and I saw a real turn in
Speaker 3: them during that time. So they've earned some of that
Speaker 3: and obviously their history, but this is this year's Yukon team,
Speaker 3: not the last ten years of plus or twenty years
Speaker 3: of Yukon teams. And this is our UCLA team, and
Speaker 3: I have a lot of confidence both mentally and physically
Speaker 3: and tactically in this UCLA team, and I think it's
Speaker 3: gonna be a great battle.
Speaker 5: Coach.
Speaker 1: Want to thank you for your time today, best of
Speaker 1: luck tomorrow, Thank you, thank you all for being here.
Speaker 1: Just a reminder for those that are in the room,
Speaker 1: the lack of Room and Mixon will be open until
Speaker 1: twelve twenty pm. Next up, we have South Carolina. They
Speaker 1: are scheduled to join us on the DAIS at twelve
Speaker 1: forty five pm.
Speaker 19: A lot of room,