Player Quotes and Notes. – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 22, 1999
Neshaun Coleman
%^$”Our win and being in the Final Four really started to set in when I came back and saw all the fans waiting for us. There were thousands of people cheering us on and supporting us, and that really felt good. Then watching the Michigan State game made me happy that they got into the Final Four. When I finally saw our name on the bracket scheduled to play UConn, it gives me chills every time I see it.” %^$
%^$Who would have ever thought that we would be in this position to actually play for the national championship?
%^$”Jason and I appreciate it a lot more, considering where we’ve come from. Don’t get me wrong, everyone has been really deserving, but it means a little more to us because of the war we’ve fought in the trenches. Having to go through the seasons we had, and coming from a high school with a winning program, this is just the icing on the cake for us.” %^$
%^$”Who would have thought it would end for me like this? Being in this position, to get all this attention and have everybody love us right now is all I wanted for the four years that I’ve been here.” %^$
%^$Michael Redd
%^$Discuss your relationship with Scoonie?
%^$”He has been great since coming here. He helped me out a lot last year with my confidence, telling me not to get down that it will turn around someday. He has taken the pressure off of me this year, I don’t always have to take the big shot.”%^$
%^$How has the team gotten to this point?
%^$”Scoonie and I have both been fortunate to play well. However, the difference has come from players like Ken Johnson and Jason Singleton who have both play awesome during the tournament.”%^$
%^$How are you going to match-up against Richard Hamilton?
%^$”He is a great player but I am not going to change my style because he is an All-American type player. I just plan to wear him down on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. I can’t let myself get caught up in the hype of our situation.”%^$
%^$How do you keep your focus?
%^$”That is not a problem for this team. We just want to keep playing and practicing. We don’t want our next game to be in November.”%^$
%^$What have the last 48 hours been like for you?
%^$”I not staying on campus, I have been at home. I have gotten a lot of phone calls from friends and family. This is something I haven’t even comprehended. I probably won’t understand how big this is until the season is over and I’ve rested. Right now I am trying to stay focused on UConn.”%^$
%^$Scoonie Penn
%^$”Things aren’t going to change now that we’re in the Final Four. Our minds are on playing UConn on Saturday.” %^$
%^$”UConn is one of the best teams in the country every year, so it is going to be a very tough game.” %^$
%^$”When you get to the NCAA Tournament, the guards control the game. It just so happens that all the teams have good point guards.” %^$
%^$”I didn’t have any plans on going to Florida for fun but I’m happy to be going for business. I wouldn’t give this up for anything. I would rather do this than go home.”%^$
%^$”What’s going through our heads now is that we beat St. John’s, we finally won, but now it’s right back to business. When the season’s over we’ll have more than enough time to think back on this whole ride and enjoy it. Right now, though, it’s business until we’re done.”%^$
%^$”There’s no question that we’re the team people expected to be there. That’s why we’re a number four seed and not a number one seed. We’re all in the same situation. We’ve all won four games to get to this point and now anything can happen.”%^$
%^$”The media attention has been good. It’s been long overdue for the basketball program. We’re all happy to bringing that attention to this program because it is overdue.”%^$
%^$”Winning the St. John’s game was definitely the best moment in my life to date and it’s something I’ll never forget.” %^$
%^$George Reese
%^$”I was at South Florida and saw a sign at Tropicana Field about the Final Four in 1999 and I thought that I could probably get there my senior year. Now it just so happens I’m going now.” %^$
%^$”Michael [Redd] and Scoonie [Penn] are hitting the big shots, and as far as I’m concerned, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Sometimes they’re going to miss, but I have confidence in Scoonie and Mike.” %^$
%^$”I’m comfortable with my role right now, but I would like to play the three. I knew that Ken [Johnson], Jason [Singleton] and I were the biggest people so I would have to play the block. Who knows what will happen next year.”%^$
%^$”Coach O’Brien is a player’s coach. He’s not a typical coach where you don’t have a relationship with him off the court. A lot of coaches out there could care less about what you do when you’re not on the court as long as you stay out of trouble and don’t hurt the program, but Coach O’Brien’s not like that.” %^$
%^$”It’s good when you have a coach like we do that’s close with the players because that, in turn, makes the players more close knit and when we’re on the floor we’re more close knit.” %^$
%^$”He’s real. You saw him. After the game he was dancing with us. It doesn’t get much more real than that.” %^$
%^$Brian Brown
%^$”I try to go out there and play hard defense on the opposing team’s main scorer. I try to shut him down or keep him below his average. Coach tells me to go in and play hard and if I get the opportunity to score, do it. I’ve been doing that and we’ve been fortunate to come out with a lot of wins.” %^$
%^$”I didn’t think I played too well offensively against St. John’s, but defensively I played very well. I made some careless turnovers at the end of the game, but we managed to pull it out. It wasn’t one of my better games, but everybody has their ups and downs and that was one of my downs.”%^$
%^$”I was thinking about the Final Four, but I wanted to get the St. John’s game over with. They made a great effort coming back at the end of the game. We just wanted to win the game and not let it slip out of our hands.” %^$
%^$Ken Johnson
%^$”I’ve been playing piano since I was eleven. We always had a piano in our house, so I picked it up. I still play. I’ve never had lessons and I just play by ear, so I play a little bit of everything. It relaxes me, eases my mind.” %^$
%^$”Right now we’re concentrating on staying positive, remaining focused and going out there and doing our thing.” %^$
%^$”There have been moments when I have woken up from sleeping and just yelled out “Yes, we’re going” and go back to sleep. This is a terrific time for everyone. We have to go out there and keep trying to get every win.” %^$
%^$”It makes me proud to go out there and see all of these fans. It’s overwhelming.” %^$
%^$”This team is like a family. We always have a good time. When it’s time to play, though, everyone is focused and serious. It’s more than a team here. We’re all brothers and we stick together.” %^$
%^$”We were thinking about shaving our heads since we made the Final Four, but there are a couple of guys on the team who didn’t feel like doing it.” %^$
%^$”I stay positive and give credit to God. I stay calm and hope. I have faith in myself and my teammates. That’s how I’ll get through this week.” %^$
%^$”I couldn’t even picture us being here last year. Not at all. Last year we were 8-22. 27-8 this season has surpassed all of my hopes and dreams. God has truly blessed me. It’s a total turnaround for us, and I’m overwhelmed.” %^$
%^$”The fans can just keep on coming out, showing love to us and supporting us. The fans here have been truly awesome and we’re just blessed.” %^$
%^$John Sanderson
%^$”Getting bumped from the starting line-up really wasn’t a big surprise. I wasn’t playing very well. About two weeks before, I wasn’t shooting the ball well and being very aggressive. Anything that Coach O’Brien does that is best for the team I’m definitely all for that. I’ve always been a team player. I want to do whatever it takes to win. I’m extremely grateful to be a part of this. I’ve always loved Ohio State and am real happy that we’re going to the Final Four.”
