PAC-10 MEN S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY Nokia Theater Los Angeles Thursday, October 28, 2010 Press Conference Quotes

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1 PAC-10 MEN S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY Nokia Theater Los Angeles Thursday, October 28, 2010 Press Conference Quotes Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott Introduction This is an exciting time for the Pac-10 as we try to transform the conference with an ambitious plan for building a unified conference. We ve added two terrific schools in Colorado and Utah that will allow us to create a modern 12-school conference. By creating a foundation of equality in this new enterprise, we are in the position to aggressively pursue our goals together. We re not just building a national brand but a global brand. To do that we needed to create a conference with a clear, uniform set of standards that will carry us to the future. The historic steps we took last week leave us very excited about what the future holds for the Pac-12 Conference. The history of success the Pac-10 has enjoyed in men s and women s basketball is well-known. Coaching has long been a tremendous strength of the Pac-10 and this season is no different. All 10 of our men s basketball coaches have led their teams to the postseason and eight have led their teams to the NCAA Sweet 16. I m honored to announce today that the Pac-10 basketball season will be dedicated to John Wooden and his legacy to Pac-10 basketball. What Coach Wooden stood for, the lessons he taught and the impact he had on so many people are truly immeasurable. His gift to all of us was instilling values and principles in the game of basketball that easily transferred to everyday life. To honor Coach Wooden and his legacy, we re producing a series of sportsmanship public service announcements that will be on our football and basketball broadcasts this year that share the teachings of the Pyramid of Success. These will also be aired on video boards throughout the season. We ll have a special ingame presentation to the Wooden family during the Pacific Life Basketball Tournament. We renamed the Pac-10 Coach of the Year Award in both men s and women s basketball to the John Wooden Coach of the Year Award also marks the 25th anniversary of women s sports in the Pac-10, and women s basketball is a major part of the overwhelming history of success the conference has enjoyed. The Pac-10 has been one of the most dominate women s basketball conference in the country. For the first time in our history, we will showcase the best in men s and women s basketball on the same floor by hosting a combined Pacific Life Basketball Tournament right here in the Staples Center. On the Pacific Life Basketball Tournament Oregon State Men s Head Coach Craig Robinson I m really excited about this new format. At Oregon State, we have a lot of fans who like to follow both men s and women s teams. It s really hard to do that, especially in person, at the Pac-10 Tournament. This new format, this party atmosphere, is great for our fans who are traveling down here and can see both teams. Arizona Men s Head Coach Sean Miller I feel the same way. So much of March Madness doesn t begin with the NCAA Tournament. It beings with the conference tournament. To see both the men and women together should bring more people to our event and continue to make the Pac-10 Tournament something we re all proud of.

2 USC Women s Head Coach Michael Cooper It s an excellent venue for the women to show their talent. To be in the Staples Center is something these ladies will always enjoy. Stanford Women s Head Coach Tara VanDerveer I ve had the honor and pleasure to meet Coach Wooden. This season will be special in his honor. He represents all the good things in basketball. It s a good thing that the coaching honor will go to the men s and women s coaches. Washington Men s Head Coach Lorenzo Romar What set him apart was his core values. If Coach Wooden was in another profession, he would have been in the hall of fame for whatever career he had. He was not a philosopher by trade, he didn t have a talk show, but I think if you go back and read the books, there is a wealth of knowledge not very many people possess. UCLA Women s Head Coach Nikki Caldwell I am very humbled to attend and coach at the university that Coach Wooden dedicated his life too. I am very humbled to be a part of the Conference he was associated with as well. When I think of Coach Wooden, of course you think of the 10 championships and all he meant and all the books he wrote, but what we try to instill in our student athletes is it s not about what you can get out of life, its about what you can give to each other. All of us carry a piece of that with us when we think of Coach Wooden. He was so big on the women s game. At one point, he said he thought the women s game was representing the purest form of the game. That was a huge statement. We want to respect each other and carry his legacy in that way. California Head Coach Mike Montgomery Always a pleasure to be here. We have practice this afternoon. Not like we need practice with seven new players. I am glad we had the experience of winning the championship last year. Its great to get Harper back this year. This is a different year for me. This is probably the youngest team I have ever had. It is going to be a challenge for us. We only really have three veteran guys back. Jorge [Gutierrez] was the only guy who played significant minutes for us last year. Harper has had some big games for us. It is a terrific group of players, had a great summer together. We are going to rely very heavily on our two veteran players. There is going to be two or three veteran players on the court most of the time. We only have had 12 practices. November 10, first game. We will have some things we will just have to do well. Overall, we will just have to improve. By the time we get into conference we will have to compete everyone favorably who is there. We are very excited to have Harper back. he is in the best shape he has every been and his knee is very strong. On the personality of his team If you were ever going to take a model citizen on how to come back from an injury, Harper would be it. He and Markhuri Sanders-Frison really took the bulls by the horn. No one missed and if they did they were held accountable by their teammates. They are young, they just don t know. We have got a lot of work to do on how we are going to be successful. Their attitudes are great. I need to be patient, which is not my strong suit. I need to point out the positives, give them some love now and then. On the freshmen on the squad They are talented. We can shoot the ball, generally speaking. Like most young people now, they don t have the fundamental base. I wouldn t paint them all with the same brush, but we need to help them get better. Our execution isn t very well right now. Basics such as just setting a good screen, creating shots, all those things we are having to do. it is just a learning process across the board. On the point guard position It is a concern, without question. One of the unintended consequences of it, Jerome was playing a lot of minutes. So as a result of that, we didn t have a lot of guys behind him getting experience. Brandon Smith was on our team last year, didn t play much, he had an ankle injury that slowed him down. He has played down there along with Jorge. We just don t want to lose his intangibles that we would if he played the point. we have put Gary Franklin and Emerson Murray.

3 On the play of freshman Richard Solomon When the lights have come on, he always played better. He has picked up strength and he has a great shooting touch. He is one of those guys that will surprise you at times with plays that you take. Junior Forward Harper Kamp On how his knee feels It feels 110 percent. It has gotten a lot better. Done a lot of work in the weight room and on the court. It has felt great. On the play of Bak Bak Bak hit about three threes in my face. Right now I would say he is playing really well. He is getting out there and learning what the coaches need from him. Im excited to see what he can do out there. On the play of freshman Richard Solomon He is young. He has a lot to learn about the differences between high school and college. He is learning and he has got to continue to keep his head up and play hard. Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins For us, there is a lot of newness. We have nine players that didn t participate with us last season. We are excited about all of them. We realize it is process with their overall development. So far, practice has been going well. They have been learning our offense and defense. We are excited. We are not the most experienced group. We are very excited with Josh Owens and Jeremy Green getting to lead us as juniors. On the play of Josh Josh has returned to our team. Of course there is rust, he was out all last season. Everyday he looks a little better. He will really be able to contribute after he gets some games under his belt. We are excited to see him. He is free to practice, play, compete. He has been at every practice and he has worked hard at every conditioning session and we are excited to have him back. On the play of former Landry Fields in the NBA I was very excited for him. I thought he was deserving. He was one of the best players int he Conference last year. I was excited someone took a chance on him. I think his best basketball is in front of him. I still see improvement for him as he plays in the NBA. On the play of freshman Anthony Brown He is doing well, getting stronger. He is still learning our system. We are excited about his upside. I think when he matures he has the opportunity to become a really great player. We are looking forward to the development of all of our players. Junior Guard Jeremy Green On the play of Landry Fields in the NBA I knew from day one that Landry Field was going to be an NBA player. Playing against him everyday made me a better player. He was a major competitor. It raised my overall game and my overall mentality and what I need to bring to the table. UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland We are excited to be here. Think it is great to have media day right next to Staples Center where we play the games. I think the Conference is headed in a great direction, excited with the changes being made. On having a losing season at UCLA It was definitely difficult. The previous four years we had a real nice run there. To have a losing season is hard for the players, the coaches and the fans. That is in the rearview mirror now. I am excited about our team. We

4 are very young, don t have a senior in the program and we only have two upperclassmen The nucleus of Malcolm Lee, Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson. We are excited to have those guys back and they worked really hard over the summer. On the play of freshman Josh Smith Josh was working out three times a day, to be with our strength coach at 7 am. He has really put the time in. I am really excited about the direction he is headed. He is going to be a real force down on the low block. He is going to be a force. he is a great kid, extremely coachable. On the play in practice of the Wear twins Our practices are much better having Dave and Travis Wear. It is tough to see how good they are and know they cant play right away. We have had great competition amongst players in practice is a mark of the great team. Dave has played some minutes at the three and I think they are a big part of the current team. So when they eligible to play a year from now, they will really be superb and ready to go. On the media poll I think that with Washington, with everyone coming back but Pondexter. You definitely need to look at them. They have a lot coming back. Arizona is a very talented team. Then after those two, it could be anybody else. But that is why they play the game. I think on a given night in our conference anybody can beat anybody. That is what makes the Conference special. Freshman Center Joshua Smith On the play of the team I see us headed int he right direction. In the summer, a lot of our guys put in extra work. I am really excited about this year. This will be my first time playing college basketball, so I am just excited to get going. On getting in shape and getting used to the college game I would say that it has been a long year. I was hurt at the beginning of my high school season. I gained some pounds. Coming here and working out has been great. I am adapting to the system, they have gotten me to lose some weight. I realized that the first time I got to play with them that the game is much faster and if I lose some weight I will be able to get up and down the court faster. On the rivalry with USC We haven t really talked about it that much. I know the rivalry between the football teams is really, really big. Basically when we talk about teams. With SC, the I haven t really felt it let, I think I will get a taste of it when I go to watch the football game at the Rose Bowl. Oregon State Head Coach Craig Robinson I am very excited about this season. We are a very young team, but I think we will be a much better player then we have been in the past. We have nine freshmen and sophomores. We have four seniors, led by Calvin Haynes and one junior, who have all played significant minutes in the Pac-10. We are really looking forward to seeing what this new group will be able to do. On the play of Roberto Nelson Roberto Nelson will play this season. We are just waiting to see when he will start. Either at the beginning of the season or at the end of the academic quarter after exams. On improvement in three-point shooting I expect it to improve, I just don t know how much. This year s team is going to be a better shooting team. Having said that, I don t know how many more shots we are going to take.

5 On the play of Ahmad Starks What we have now is a true point guard. Ahmad is more of a point guard that can score. He is an expert dribbler. We are working to getting him up to speed and getting him to play some defense. On the loss of their point/center We have a player in Angus Brandt who can play point/center. We also have Joe Burton who has played some center and forward for us. They can carry that legacy for us. You will see a much more athletic team. I have let go of the reigns a bit with what they can do offensively. On the play of Calvin Haynes I have always teased Calvin about his defense, but he has really improved and he has taken a great leadership role with the younger guys, teaching them how to get into position. Senior Guard Calvin Haynes On how the talent level at Oregon State has improved Dramatically. Just having the wings and the guards and the bigs we have. We have guards that can make plays for themselves and others. The talent level is the best that I have been around at Oregon State. On the plays of Bryce Jones of USC I think he is pretty good. i think we should have had him. He is a pretty good player. He is going to be good for the Trojan program. Washington Head Coach Lorenzo Romar Well this time is finally here. Seems like it took a long time from our last game until now, but we are ready to get going. On being picked first in the media poll This hasn t happened to us since we have been here. We still have 18 Pac-10 games to play and a lot of nonconference games to play. I like our team, but I don t know if we are ready to win a Pac-10 right now. We have a lot of work to do. On the play of sophomore guard Abdul Gaddy Abdul has really worked on his shooting. He has worked on his weight a lot. He is quicker, faster and more experienced than he was last year. People may think, so what, he was 17 until January of last year. So what, he is out there playing and he should be able to get things done. But the reality is that he was only 17 years old. He learned a lot, he was only 17 and we will see a much improved Abdul Gaddy this year. On where the scoring will come from Obviously, Isaiah, in his first two years he has scored more points than any other player in the program in their first two seasons. So he obviously is capable of scoring. Matthew Bryan-Amaning scored in double figures in the last two years. I think we have other players that are capable of stepping up. Quincy Pondexter stepped up last year after Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon had departed. So we are hopeful someone else will be able to help Isaiah and Matthew with the scoring and I am pretty confident people will. On three players that emerged at the end of last year I think that there were three players that made a big impact at the end of the season. One was the emergence of Justin Holliday. He gave us a great spark with defense and he had a lot of the intangibles. Matthew Bryan- Amaning became much more of a defensive presence. And then Isaiah, I think he really matured as a player. He took on the challenge to take on another team s really good scorer and I think that just carried over to the rest of our team. Because we experienced success that way, I don t think we will try to do it any other way.

6 Junior guard Isaiah Thomas on what he did in the summer I worked out with the likes of Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy and I want to follow them to where they are. I spent a lot of the summer working with Jason Terry on my jump shot. And working on becoming quicker, faster, a better defender and my decision making. I learned how and when to take the mid-range shot and when to take it to the hoop. on playing as a team We just have to put our egos aside and not worry about who is scoring the most points and just win ball games. We have to do whatever it will take to win ballgames and we did that at the end of last year. Once we get the hang of that, we will be really good. on working out with Jason Terry Actually his father coached me when I was in fourth grade. We have built a great relationship and he helped me a lot with my shot. We were in the gym at 6 am and we worked on making my jump shot consistent. Washington State Head Coach Ken Bone We are anxious to get back out there, see what we can do and change our place in the standings this year. We feel that we have a chance to be pretty competitive in the Pac-10, and we re looking forward to that. On Klay Thompson Klay is getting a lot better understanding that the focus is on him, so he s doing a great job setting up other guys. We feel we can compete this year and hopefully finish games at a better level. On the newcomers We have three freshmen and a junior college transfer. Dre Winston is a quick guard out of Seattle, and he ll probably end up backing up Reggie Moore. He has a pretty good feel for the game. He is a great athlete and quick defender. Patrick Simon, who is from Ephrata, Washington, committed to the program four years ago. He s finally a Coug. He has good instincts and can really shoot the ball. He s an outstanding shooter with a quick release. We also have Dexter Kernich-Drew out of Australia. He is very skilled and extremely athletic. Faisal Aden is an excellent shooter, and he finds ways to score off the bounce. He s going to be able to give us some good depth, which we really lacked last year. On the Pac-10 this year It really helped that Washington and Cal represented our conference well in the NCAA Tournament last year. Washington is bringing some really good guys back, and they ve recruited some good players. With the exposure Washington received last year, and players in the conference like Klay Thompson, the conference will not be down for long, and we will compete nationally this year. Washington State junior guard Klay Thompson On what the he concentrated on in the offseason This summer I focused on getting quicker and stronger because that will help me be more efficient with my scoring and setting my teammates up and just improving my overall athleticism. It will help me take my game to a new level instead of being one-dimensional. On his international experience I got a gold medal which was the best part. What I took away from that is that I can compete against anybody because I played against some of the best players in the world my age. It gave me a new boost of confidence knowing I could compete with some of the best kids in college basketball and some of the best kids around the world. With the improvements I made this summer, I ll be that much more efficient. I have a lot of help this year with Reggie Moore and DeAngelo Casto. We got some great newcomers. I m looking forward to playing with Faisal Aden because he s a great scorer.

7 On his brother, Mychel, who plays at Pepperdine My brothers and I always used to compete because we were so close in age. We grew up playing every sport together. Whenever we have time, we still play one-on-one and hoop as many times as we can. It s great to see him play at Pepperdine, and I think he s going to have a big year this year. Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman We are an undermanned squad. We have 10 young men on scholarship. It will be a transition year for us. We have a long road ahead of us, and we have a lot of work to do. On the positive side, the guys have worked awfully hard and they ve done everything we ve asked of them. I m confident they ll compete and give us a great effort. On Jeremy Jacob s injury Jeremy Jacob got his knee scoped yesterday, and will be out three to six weeks fighting that injury. It s a wear and tear injury. It s something that s been giving him a problem. We had to go in and clean it up. There was no major damage and everything went smoothly. I anticipate he ll be back as quickly as possible. On coming into the Pac-10 and Oregon I know most of the coaches. Ken Bone was the only coach that I did not know coming into the league. They re a great group of coaches and professionals. The recruiting period this summer was hectic. We have a lot of scholarships to fill. We re excited about it. We have some guys we can build around. It will be a long road building things back. We re excited about our new facility. We re getting ready to move into that in January. Our football team s success and the Duck being everywhere you turn has really elevated the visibility of our school and our basketball program. On the new arena, Matthew Knight Arena I think the atmosphere is going to be outstanding. When they designed the building, they tried to recreate the atmosphere at MacArthur Court and try to keep the tradition alive. Everybody s close to the court. One sideline will be all students. All the seats are very close. I think our fans will really be excited about the facility. On coming to Oregon after a long stint at Creighton I had been at Creighton for 16 years, and it was a great experience. I had reached the point in my career where I was going to make a move or I was going to finish up at Creighton. I just felt like the University of Oregon was a wonderful opportunity with the new facility and the ability to play in the Pac-10. I really thought Oregon had a lot of upside and the opportunity to be something special. I really love Creighton. It was home, so it was a tough decision. I think the University of Oregon and the Pac-10 is a great opportunity and I think we can make it work. USC Head Coach Kevin O Neill I m really excited about our group. We re between old and young. We tried to piece this thing back together. We really lost 10 starters in a year and a half. We lost three guys to the pros and then we lost a whole recruiting class. We lost our two starters from last year. The group we have on the court has been fabulous in terms of effort. I think they re going to have great group chemistry. We re going to have some ups and downs early. We are going to play hard. We are going to defend and we re going to rebound. We re excited about the guys we have. It s been enjoyable experience so far. I m going to enjoy these guys no matter what because they ve been great. On Nikola Vucevic I ve seen a big-time jump in him conditioning-wise and strength-wise. His game is just overall better. He s still a young guy, but he s going to be a guy you can get the ball to in the most. He s going to have to become a better free throw shooter. He s is going to have to play more minutes. I think he s primed to have a great junior year.

8 On learning there would be no further NCAA sanctions I remember having to tell these guys on a Sunday morning that we wouldn t be able to play in the postseason. It was traumatic for me to have to tell them. It was difficult for me to deal with. It s nice to know we don t have those feelings this year. I applaud the ways the guys did last year and hopefully that sets the tone for how we re going to play this year. On junior guard Jio Fontan He has great leadership abilities. He s an excellent player. His experience will be great when he comes back. He s going to be a major part of our team. I think the expectations are very high on him. He s the kind of guy who thrives on that, so he s looking forward to it. And, his first game is going to be at Kansas on national TV. I m sure that will be an adjustment for him, but I have confidence in him. We couldn t be happier for the day we get him back. On redshirt senior forward Alex Stepheson Our whole team is in outstanding shape. We hired a strength coach in the offseason. He has done a great job with our guys. Alex is in the best shape of his life. His work ethic has become beyond reproach. He s primed to have a great year. USC Junior Forward Nikola Vucevic This summer I was back home and played with the national team. I played with guys that played pro overseas. It was a good experience for me. They had been playing in the pros for many years. It was a good experience for me to get better. One of my goals was to get in better shape over the summer. I got in a lot better shape, and with the help of the new strength coach, I ll be able to play more minutes. On learning there would be no more NCAA sanctions It was great news. I was really happy we wouldn t have more sanctions. It will be a fun season when you know you can go and compete with the best. Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller I don t know if any coach feels better about the player sitting next to him than I do about Derrick Williams. I really believe he s poised to take that next step and be one of the best players, not only in the Pac-10, but playing the game. I m excited that he represents who we are and what we do. As a team,w e have a quest to be better at everything that we do. I thought the hardest part about being at Arizona last year was coming off four coaches in four years and welcoming young players. It was very difficult to establish a system and be good at anything. I thought we had some great moments in spite of that, but as we ve approached this year, it s Derrick s class that is tasked with bringing Arizona back to what everyone s watched for years. On being picked second in the Pac-10 Preseason predictions are just that. To me, the Pac-10 with Washington s great success over a decade and looking at so many returning players, you can see why they re picked first. You can see four or five that will compete for second. We can t controlling anything outside our program. Our goal will remain the same to be better at everything than we did a year ago. Hopefully we can go to the postseason. On sophomore forward Derrick Williams Watching his development and improvement is a reminder to me to stay with young people. Derrick is going to continue to develop and pick up right where he left off. On sophomore guard Lamont Jones He was voted our most improved player a year ago because he stayed with it, to his credit. Some of our team key moments in February or March had Lamont in the forefront of them. He s grown up a lot. He s made tremendous progress. Physically, he s better than he was a year ago. I have no doubt he ll continue to develop and be a solid player for us this year. On his incoming class

9 We have two freshmen. Daniel Bejarano is a very good shooter. Jordin Mayes comes from Westchester High School. With the pedigree that Jordin comes to Arizona with, he s made a transition from high school to college in a good way. He shoots the ball well. He has a bright future as he gets older and stronger. Junior transfer forward Jesse Perry gives us depth up front. He comes to us older. Jesse balances us out a little bit. Arizona Sophomore Forward Derrick Williams Discussing his freshman season I try to be any type of player. I just tried to do the little things last year. After the Wisconsin game, Coach had more confidence in me to be a leader on the team. On sophomore guard Lamont Jones We re trying to lead by example every year and push everyone through the workouts. Lamont s done a good job with his body. His leadership is a big key to the team and our success this year. On the Pac-10 race this year I think it s going to be wide open. I think Washington deserves to be picked first. They have key players coming back. We don t look at the rankings. I don t look at those. We are just trying to get everyone on the same page. That s what we liked last year. Everyone s on the same page. We are at a higher starting point this year. Arizona State Head Coach Herb Sendek On the Pac-10 preseason poll We don t really pay much attention to a preseason poll. Our focus has to be on getting better and improving each and every day. On the new size in the middle and the impact on the team We ve been fortunate the last two years to have a really good post player - first Jeff Pendergraph and then Eric Boateng. This year we re going to play a relatively inexperienced front court. On the seven new players Right now we are still very much a work in progress and we haven t established all our roles yet. We haven t been able to have perfect continuity in practice yet. We re going to have to rely on our new players. New guys will have to be integrated. We have great leadership with our seniors. Ty has been a great leader since he was a freshman. He hasn t waited to be a leader. On dependency on the three-point shot We really like the three-point shot, but that s largely determined by our opponents and how they choose to defend us. We have to be good at taking what s there. If defensive schemes give us other things, we have to respond accordingly. We take as many three-point shots as anybody in the conference. We have outstanding shooters like Ty. Whenever he shoots, I think it s going in. On the freshmen guards, Corey Hawkins and Keala King Keala is a versatile player. He s as close to be ambidextrous as anyone I ve coached. Cory is an outstanding young shooter. We re happy to have both guys on our team. Arizona State Senior Guard Ty Abbott On the freshmen guards They re really hard workers. They ve accepted the leadership. Keala tries to match the intensity of the guys who have been there. He wants to get better and help the team win.