Penn, Redd and Johnson Named to NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 1999
Knoxville, Tenn. –
South Region All-Tournament Team
Scoonie Penn, Ohio State** Michael Redd, Ohio State Ken Johnson, Ohio State Lavor Postell, St. John’s Erick Barkley, St. John’s **Most Outstanding Player
Ohio State Quotes
Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien
“It’s really hard to put into words the feelings that is shared by all of us right now. It’s hard to image how we put ourselves into this position. The thing I am very thankful for is to get to Ohio State and more importantly the opportunity to coach this group of guys. This is as good a group I’ve ever been affiliated with. They have been respectful, they have been conscientious to every single thing we have asked of them all year long and I feel very thankful and fortunate that I’ve coached these kids.”
“Our hat goes out to St. John’s. They refused to go away nicely and made a furious comeback and if it wasn’t for the one or two plays we had to make at the end, who knows what would have happened. I think we played very well for 38 minutes and we were happy we were able to hold on. It’s a great win for us and this is as good as it gets for a while and we have to be very thankful.”
Ohio State’s Scoonie Penn
On St. John’s turnover on their last possession: “I’m not sure what happened. I thought I got a hand on the ball. It landed into Michael’s (Redd’s) hands. We went down court and wasted the time down.”
On all of his accomplishments this season and Big 10 MVP, NCAA South Regional MVP: “It has been a tremendous season. Personally, if you would take both of those away, I wouldn’t care, as long as we won both of these games. If it wasn’t for my teammates, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this.”
Ohio State’s Michael Redd
On St. John’s turnover on their last possession: “I thought he (Penn) hit it. My first thought was to grab it and run down the court and waste the time. That’s what I did.”
On missed free throw with 34.9 seconds left: “I was feeling terrible. But I didn’t show it. I played through it and told myself that I’d make the next one.”
Ohio State notes: Ohio State has a record of 9-2 in the regional finals. Ohio State’s last time in the Final Four: 1968.
St. John’s Quotes
Head Coach Mike Jarvis
“Any loss is tough. When you get this far, it’s tougher. I congratulate Ohio State and wish them well in the Final Four. Their guards were as good, if not better, than advertised. Great players make great plays. It was probably Redd who stole the ball. If it was, he stole the ball from another great player.”
“I told our players to remember the journey we took. I want them to reflect on what we accomplished and how well they played. These guys have learned a lot about themselves and about teamwork. St. John’s didn’t lose. I told our players to know that there are a lot of fans in New York whom they never met who probably shed a tear for a team that played hard and never quit. I can hardly wait until next year.”
Guard Bootsy Thornton
On the game: “It wasn’t a matter of team speed tonight. We just didn’t execute. We had to scratch and fight the whole time and it wasn’t meant for us tonight.”
On the final play: “It went as designed. The ball just went off of his (Erick Barkely) leg. It was just a mistake.
Forward Lavor Postell
On the impact of OSU center Ken Johnson: “I’ve got to give him credit. I didn’t know he was that good. He scored, pulled down rebounds and blocked a lot of shots. He played a great game under there.”
On your 24 points: “People were way off me until I started hitting and then I was able to scoot by for some layups. I knew I had to make some shots to put us back in the ballgame, but in the end it just slipped away.”
On speed of OSU guards: “They weren’t the fastest, UConn may have been, but they were good and with that kind of production, it is tough to beat them.”
On the game: “We like to try and be on top early and let teams chase us. Tonight, we fell behind and spent a lot of energy chasing them down. We almost did it but thery were the better team and they deserved to win.”
