THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Manhattan student-athletes Donovan Kates, RaShawn Stores,. Emmy Andujar and Ashton Pankey
NCAA 2015 Basketball Championship First Four - Dayton, Ohio Monday, March 16
Manhattan THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Manhattan student-athletes Donovan Kates, RaShawn Stores, Emmy Andujar and Ashton Pankey. Questions for the student-athletes. Q. What is it like being back here now, second year in a row? DONOVAN KATES: Well, being back here for the second year in a row is exciting, just like it was the first year. We want to come here, play hard, show our style, compete, just do the things Manhattan does. RASHAWN STORES: Basically what Donovan said. It feels good to be back to back, especially the way we started out, a lot of people doubted us. It's great to be back. We want to show the world our style and hopefully win some games. EMMY ANDUJAR: It feels great to be back. I feel we're a fun team to watch, the way we play and get after it. I feel like we're going to go out there and perform very well. ASHTON PANKEY: We're extremely grateful to be here. Obviously we struggled at the beginning of the year. It feels great to be here the second year in a row. I don't think too many teams have an opportunity to do that. So we want to go out here play as hard as we can for 40 minutes and at the end of the day have some fun. Q. You guys had no time to absorb it yesterday. You guys flashed on the screen right away? What was your initial thought when you saw 16 and you guys were coming to Dayton? ASHTON PANKEY: I don't know too much about what goes into if we had the play-in and whatnot, I guess we had a couple of bad losses and stuff. But they called us early. At the end of the day we've got to be ready to play, no matter who we play. We have Hampton first, that's what we're worried about. We'll go out there, have fun, play hard and hopefully the outcome is a win. Q. Hampton's coach said that one thing that really concerned him was the fact that you guys had been in the tournament before, been here on this very floor. How much of an advantage do you think that is that you guys have been through this fire already? ASHTON PANKEY: I think the experience is definitely
our advantage. Us right here, we've been here before. The biggest thing for us is getting the young guys, having them getting them in the right mindset. We're all on the same page. The younger guys have fun, and just have the experience, we're going to be in the right spot. Q. For all you guys, how do you describe the last 24 hours and the initial reaction, a minute in and then trying to turn it around and prepare for an opponent, play-in game and flying and everything? ASHTON PANKEY: The last 24 hours has been pretty crazy. Just everything. Whether it be the fans, the media, just being with family, it's been pretty hectic. It was a quick turnaround. We found out we play Hampton, and we had to study film. We had practice last night. Very early flight this morning. So it's a pretty rough turnaround. But at the end of the day we're grateful to be here. It's only 68 teams. The rest of the teams, they wish they could be in this position. So we're going to go out there, play as hard as we can and just have fun. EMMY ANDUJAR: It was crazy. Our name was popped up first. As soon as that happened, we got together and like AP said, we had practice that night. We watched film, went over Hampton stuff, and then we got on a flight the next morning. RASHAWN STORES: It was pretty shocking. As soon as the Selection Show came on, your name pop up. We wished to be a higher seed like anybody else, but like last year it took us a while to get picked. And this year it happened fast. So we just gotta be prepared for Hampton and no one really know. DONOVAN KATES: Overall, I feel extremely blessed with however it happened. And we're just here saying we want to take Hampton seriously, prepare for them, play hard when we get out there and hopefully show the Dayton, Ohio crowd our style. Q. What stands out to you guys about Hampton in the short time you guys have had watching film and preparing for them? DONOVAN KATES: They're extremely, extremely dangerous. They're very athletic. They shoot it from four spots. They play ultra confident. So we're just going to try to come out and play hard defensively and
page 1 of 5
contain them. RASHAWN STORES: Hampton is big. They have fast guards. Can shoot the ball well, 1 through 4 and the shot selection is crazy. But we've just got to be ready for it. EMMY ANDUJAR: Like they said, they shoot it 1 through 4. They also get after it and they're very good at what they do and that's showing either a contested shot or deep range shots. ASHTON PANKEY: A team like Hampton is extremely hard to prepare for, simply because they take tough shots. You gotta be ready for whatever shot they take. It could be a long three, a tough mid-range jump, fadeaway, they also rebound hard, offensive glass. That's things we can't teach. You can't really prepare for that. All we can do is just tighten up, try to rebound with them. Like I said, it's really hard to prepare for them. So we're just going to go out there, play as hard as we can. Q. RaShawn, you're really focused on Hampton. You know that without beating them nothing else happens. But does the thought ever pop in your mind, does it creep in. You know who is next, I don't have to say, you know. Do you have to push that aside. Is it tough to push that aside? RASHAWN STORES: The media has it out there, 34-0. But after we got picked Coach told us just focus on Hampton. That's all we can do take it as any game at a time like any other tournament style. We just preparing for Hampton and God willing if we win, whatever happens, happens. We just gotta prepare for Hampton right now. That's our goal. One mission at a time. Q. You guys mentioned it was kind of tough 24 hours. Been kind of a tough year, a lot of unexpected things happening. Has it been satisfying being here after all the stuff that happened last year? ASHTON PANKEY: Especially this year because we've been through so much. The things that the media doesn't see. The internal struggles, things we go through as a team. The bond that we have gets us through those things. We're resilient. Our coach is resilient and he presses that on us. We all have that mindset. We have that brotherhood. It's exciting to be here this year because we've all been through so much and just to reap the benefits at the end, everybody doubted us. Everybody had counted us out. At the end of the day we're back-to-back champions. So that feels amazing. Q. What was that like that when coach got his stuff
resolved and he came back that first time you guys got back together, what was that like, what was the mood? ASHTON PANKEY: It was pretty tough at first because we was unsure of our futures, that maybe some guys wanted to transfer. Other guys, they wasn't sure what was going on. So when we find out Coach Mas was coming back we was all extremely happy to have him. That's our coach, we're going to ride with him to the end. He's always been there for us, whatever we need, he's always been there. To have him back was a great feeling because we just won a championship. We didn't really get to enjoy it the way we wanted to. Once we found out, we came back, immediately we got back to work, put our backpacks on and that was it. Q. Was he contrite? Was he apologetic or did he come in and crack a joke to lighten the mood? RASHAWN STORES: Typical coach, he comes in, crack a joke right away. Tells us what happened. And we welcomed him back with open arms. He's our coach. Before this year we've been to two MAAC title games and who wouldn't want somebody back who got you the two MAAC title games, now three, and back-toback champs. So we opened arms and we love him. He taught us everything we know. He created the culture and we just go out there and do his style of play. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll start with an opening statement. COACH MASIELLO: Just a great time of year to be playing basketball, regardless of seeding, cities, selection committees. I'm ecstatic to be participating in the NCAA Tournament with a great group of young men who have gotten us to this point. We will face a very difficult opening-round matchup on a short turnaround, that we have to get ready for. And hopefully we can be successful in doing that. Q. How quick do you go from absorbing that to, okay we've got to play Hampton? COACH MASIELLO: 6:01 they announced it. We watched the rest of the show. Matt Grady went and started working on film at 6:02. Started preparing for Hampton. Noah started working on travel right away for us, our athletic director. So the turnaround was very quick. I think the thing that was kind of unique for us was coming into the weekend, I was preparing our bodies for a Thursday game, Friday game. I didn't really expect this. The good thing is we tweaked some things, we got some work in last night as a team. We got some work in this morning. We got some work in film-wise and we got some work in this afternoon. I think we've made up for the time on the quick turnaround. The good thing is Hampton's dealing with
page 2 of 5
the same thing. So it's a quick turnaround for both of us -- on two teams I don't think really know each other very well. That's what's really interesting about this. I think we had one common opponent this year in Morgan State. So we're going to see how quickly the turnaround and preparation if we can make an advantage for us, that's what we'll try to do. Q. Has this been an exhausting 24 hours and how have your players responded? COACH MASIELLO: Exhausting. It's the greatest time of our lives. No time to be tired. No, we'll be tired in June. This has been -- I'm on cloud -- there's a cloud nine, I'm on 27. My players are floating. This is what we've worked all year for. When you're tired is that January, when you lost two in a row on a Saturday, 2:00, when your gym's empty. That's when you're tired. You're not tired here. There's no such thing. Anyone who even uses the word fatigue, exhausted, tired, you're in the wrong business. This is about passion right now. This is about, it's amazing this time of year the ankle injuries, the sprains are never sprains. The aches aren't there. This is what we all live for. This is what we want -- players, coaches, managers, everyone. I think everyone's at their best right now or at least should be trying to be. So in a real world, are people -- is it tough, the turnaround, the travel, the practice, the media? Maybe, but what else would we be rather doing? Sitting at home watching it, hearing about it. Not me. Not us. Absolutely not. I don't want to be 70 looking in. I'll take 68 with pride and go from there. Q. Just in the short time what stands out to you about Hampton in the time you've had to watch it? COACH MASIELLO: I think they have a really aggressive mentality. I think they'll attack everything. I think anything you throw at them they're not going to be passive. So if you're not ready or you kind of think -they're going to attack you and you have to be ready for that. And if you're not ready they will exploit you. So we're going to get after them and we're going to force rotations. They're going to attack that, and if we don't react and if we don't scramble with great urgency, they'll have success against us. So we have to be just as ready for their reaction to us. So we'll initiate. They'll react. And then we have to react to that again. And I think that's going to be a big key, because very few teams do that. Most teams they'll see our actions and then they'll be deliberate. This team will react and take you on which I have a lot of respect for. Not a lot of teams play that way. That's why they're so dangerous. Q. One of the parlor games, I guess, of college basketball this year is everybody talking about the undefeated team whether they can run the table. I
realize they're out there. Know one's implying that you or Hampton is looking past tomorrow night. Hampton's coach even said I've got to admit sure we talk about this, we think about it. All coaches everywhere it seems like, anybody who is a college basketball fan talks about Kentucky, have you given it a thought even in January what would we do against these guys, have you thought about it? COACH MASIELLO: No, I don't. And maybe because I went there. I don't know. It's different for me. Q. As a coach -- [indiscernible] COACH MASIELLO: I don't, it's weird. Similar to Louisville last year. It's the furthest thing from my mind. Maybe because I lived it. Maybe because I was -- it's a tough thing to put into words. But I honestly haven't. Hypothetically, if we were playing another 1, if there was another 1 waiting for Hampton or for us, maybe I would have. But because it's them, it's the last thing I'll think about. And if we're ever fortunate enough to advance and we could be that lucky, that's when I'll think about them. Because if I start thinking in hypotheticals I'll get us in trouble. The what-ifs are where you lose your now. We are right now obsessed with Hampton. If Hampton was our girlfriend, there would be a restraining order on us, that's where we're at. We're eat, sleeping, breathing Hampton. That's all we know. At dinner it's Hampton, at breakfast it's Hampton. When we go to bed it's Hampton. That's where we are. Q. The committee says they don't schedule or seed based on stories. But given last year Louisville this year playing a potential Kentucky, Louisville, do you question that? COACH MASIELLO: Do I question it? Yeah, I'll tell them that's an absolute falsehood. And that's okay. Listen, it's obvious what they do. They want stories. And they want that. I don't know if we can get past Hampton. But if we do I'm sure the media is going to have a blast with it. I don't like it. It's not what I'm about. It's not what I want to see. But I think it hurts our kids. I want this to be about my kids. I want my kids to enjoy playing the tournament. The story should be about RaShawn Stores, Emmy, Donovan Kates, Ashton and Pankey, Shane Richards. That's what this should be about. This should not be about Steve Masiello going to Kentucky or any of my personal -- this should be about my players and Manhattan College. That's what I want this about, if we're fortunate enough to advance. The unfortunate thing is they love story lines, and they've done it for years. They've always done it. And that's what they do. Unfortunately, I have zero say. I wish I did. But I'm not in a position to change that. So I'm part of it and I have to -- my opinion again doesn't matter. I just have to move along and try to stick to the meat and potatoes, so to speak,
page 3 of 5
of what we're here for. Q. Given all your experience, your coaching staff experience, it's easier for you to focus on Hampton and realize nothing happens beyond that. Do you have to do anything to caution the guys from -- the second your name flashed yesterday they saw Kentucky next to it? COACH MASIELLO: I've spoken to them about not watching SportsCenter. Staying off social media as best you can regarding sports. Don't talk to as many people, don't read the paper. Because the hypothetical is what will get you in trouble. It's subliminal messaging that's going to happen. You lose your edge if you let that happen because subliminally you hear about this matchup and you forget about today's matchup. You lose your edge, you lose your chip, you lose your advantage going into this game. It's important we're going to talk about it a lot and it's similar -- the best way I could equate it -- and it's obviously a much bigger stage -- but it's like when you're playing the eighth place team in your conference on a Friday and you're playing the first place team on a Sunday. Well, you can't look to Sunday, because if you lose Friday, Sunday is meaningless. It's a very -- you have to take care of today. You have to take care of your precious present. If you don't, and I know what everybody else wants, but they're not us. And I understand that. That's everyone's job, and that's what business is about. All we can worry about is Hampton. Listen, I'll be the first -- if we're fortunate enough to advance, great. But I can't even -- we're not even thinking about any of that stuff. Q. Do you think your guys experience from last year helps as opposed to -COACH MASIELLO: I saw my guys get on the plane today. And last year it was like they were taking pictures of everything and they were like these little kids idolizing this private plane. Today they got on like they're the Beatles, like we flew private all year. So I think they have a certain calm to them where they feel they've been here before. But the thing they have to understand is just because you've been here doesn't mean you're better. Just because you become a sophomore doesn't mean -- there's a reason it's called a sophomore slump. There's a reason why a lot of year two coaches struggle. A year older doesn't make you a year better. You have to learn from what you did that first year, and that's really important to me that these guys understand the mistakes. We did a lot of good things I thought last year when we were here. But we also did a lot of bad things. We have to take the good and cut down on the bad. If we can do that, then being here back to back helps. If we don't if we walk around like everything's fine and we've been here, then you're in trouble.
Q. (Off microphone). COACH MASIELLO: I thought really what was bad was in the sense of where we have to understand, we are competing for a national title. Make no mistake about that. There's 68 teams competing for a national title in this tournament. And once the ball goes up, seeds are out the windows, records are out the windows, rosters are out the window. It's about ten guys on a basketball court. I don't want our guys to get caught up in anything else but that. We want to win a national title, and that's got to be your mindset. Nothing else. And I want to make sure that resonates with our guys constantly. I think at times last year we lost that a little bit. I don't think we understood that in our preparation. The bad thing about this year we haven't had as much preparation. So I can't tell yet. But I thought last year in our preparation there was a little bit of that, oh, golly gee, it's great to be here. No, we're here now. We'll celebrate in May. But this is business. And that's -- I want to make sure that's there. Q. Not only are you here, but the NCAA had you 67th of 68 teams on the selection sheet. Do you use that as motivation or is that just wasted energy at that point? COACH MASIELLO: You know, it's not wasted energy. I think whether you're 67, 68, 65, it's just someone's opinion of you. If someone comes up to me, shares an opinion with me that I don't agree with, I'm going to process it and I have to decide if it means something. Well, the committee's opinion should mean something to the Manhattan program. And I want it to. I want how they view us to matter. I'm not happy with how they view us. That doesn't mean I'm angry about it. There's a big difference. It doesn't mean I dislike them. But I want feedback why, so then we can change that and move forward. What I told my guys is the only way you can change their opinion is by what you do on the basketball court. If you come out and you perform like the 67th team, they're right. If you come out, perform like the 45th team, you've done -- that's your best argument. There's no other argument to do. You can't go back and forth. They're going to win. And I don't say that in a negative way about them. I just say -their opinion matters to us. We want to please them. We want to impress them, and we didn't do that. So how can we do that now, we have to be efficient with our process. Q. The kid that came to you from down the road in Cincinnati, Jermaine Lawrence, what's his status right now? COACH MASIELLO: Right now he's out for a violation of team rules. Q. What was his transition like when he came to
page 4 of 5
your program? Did he just kind of hit the ground running or was there an adjustment period? COACH MASIELLO: I think for any transfer, when you go from a BCS level to a so-called mid-major, I think there's always a little bit of a slow start, especially when you don't sit out. And I've seen it with a variety of guys, because I think expectations get twisted a little. And what people's view of success is might not be what my view of success is. I'll give you an example. Someone said to me a player he had his best game in a Manhattan uniform. According to who? Just because you get 16 doesn't mean it's a good game for me. So everyone's opinion is different. I think the transition, the time to really learn our system at any level or at any program, it takes time to learn your teammates, learn your role. So he came in. He did I thought a very good job of adjusting, staying humble and doing things that he needed to do to help the team win. And I thought he helped us along the way. But I think sometimes unfair expectations get put on young men. Q. Is he here with you? COACH MASIELLO: Oh, yeah. Q. You referenced it briefly, before your personal situation. I don't know if you are surprised that that question hasn't come up yet. What was that like when everything was cleared up and the first time you met with the team again? COACH MASIELLO: It was special. I'm really thankful to Manhattan, Noah LeFevre, Rick Satterlee, and President O'Donnell. I thought they made a human decision. It's not in the rule books, not in the manual books. I thought they handled my situation, evaluated it, made a decision. I thought I was very close to have it taken away from me. For me to be able to come back to the thing I love, the thing I value so much in my life, and be able to work with my guys again, was everything to me. And really it's not about the wins and losses. It wasn't for me. It was about being back with my guys, that bond, that relationship. Even during when we were 2 and 8, I was as in love with my job as I've ever been in my life. And I know that might sound -- but I think that's one of the reasons we're sitting here today. And I think what everyone has to understand, it took a total community effort, otherwise we couldn't be here, from the administration, to the college, to the student body, to the Sixth Borough to our studentathletes, for that situation to work, everybody had to be together, everybody, and that's what took place and it was a really special thing for all of us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
page 5 of 5
