Transcript: What British players said before the Elite Eight

THE MODERATOR: Head Coach John Calipari is sitting to my right. PJ Washington, Reid Travis, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson and Ashton Hagans represent the athletes of the student body. We will not have an opening comment for the moment. We will go directly to the questions because these 20 minutes are really for the students. Q. John, I'm curious to know that a lot of them were recruited by Auburn. They knew Chuma Okeke and what happened to him yesterday was difficult.

JOHN CALIPARI: Raise your hand. Who speaks?

Q. If you had a message to tell the guys who might know him or even the team when something like this happens.

JOHN CALIPARI: We were all like – you shake your head as a player, you know, it's there. Do you know what I'm saying? Each of us was – makes you physically sick. You know, it's a sport that happens sometimes, and you do not want that to happen. And what's crazy is that you know, not only does their team play as well as any other team in the country, but it beats 25-year-old players. Not only is it like that, he was playing as if he was their best player, what he was probably like. So, I feel bad for him. Bad for his family and his teammates.

Q. Keldon or PJ, first of all, how does your foot feel today? And does your presence here indicate that you will start tomorrow?

PJ WASHINGTON: I do not know if I'm going to start. I feel really good. I had a treatment and a good night's sleep. I feel much better.

JOHN CALIPARI: I asked him at half-time, would you like to start? He replied, "No, that's fine. Let me leave the bench. "I said okay … you know, what's great, this group of players who are here, even Mr. Hagans on the other end, you know, these are gymnastic rats." I know that PJ and I were talking about it What made you do it They love to play I love the competition I like you know – and you look at everything time in the gym, Tyler and Keldon, and they're sports rats, they love it, they love the game, they love to play, they're fun to train, and I told them that they added years to my life as a coach of this team.Maybe not Keldon, but the rest of them – I'm just teasing, Keldon.

Q. Reid, you're sitting on the podium and this literally and figuratively represents the biggest scene in college basketball. What does it mean to be able to go home to Minneapolis and play a Final Four in your home town? It's really like living the dream for you. Can you express your emotions, your thoughts, the blessings you feel in being in this position?

REID TRAVIS: Yes, as you said, be at a game in the finals and at home. I'm really excited for that, but no more than any other game. I'm just trying to take the preparation in the same way, tackling it like any other game I have the impression that, if you think about it too much and try to get home and put all that on it, it 's too cumbersome. So for me, it's just trying to approach it the same way, enjoy it with my teammates, go out and work as hard as you can in the game.

Q. Tyler, I have a question for you. Of course, you played a few games without a PC, which is one of your best players. Now, Auburn is a little bit confronted with the same thing with one of his best players at Okeke. How did you gather around that, and do you expect Auburn to do the same thing in their situation?

TYLER HERRO: Yeah. I think that they will always be ready. As the coach said, they play as hard as any team in the country. I think they'll still go out, play their game. I think they'll be ready to go. Q. PJ, if a person's story is better than Reid's, it could possibly be yours, to be able to come back for a second year, and then defeat the injured foot you have and play now for the Final Four. What do you think of that and what would you like to tell people now that you are on the scene?

PJ WASHINGTON: We all worked hard, as a team, to finally pay off. We still have a game to prove how good we are. So, I mean, we're just trying to get out tomorrow and look like tough guys and how we played the rest of the season. If we did that, everything would be fine. Our goal is to win everything. It's always in the back of our minds. Q. Since the last time you played against Auburn, you had a huge win, how much confidence it gave you to get into the game, knowing that it's more of a known entity and you could defeat this opponent by a significant margin before?

JOHN CALIPARI: Let me say something because I watched this tape. They did not watch the band. I watched it twice, actually. We did more than 3 most of the season. PJ did five himself. Are you ready for this? Ashton was four. Listen to what I just said now. And all of a sudden, you know, we have a lot of 3s that we do not do normally, which was the difference in the game. And they missed a lot of shots. When I watched the game, it was tight for a while, and suddenly, PJ got out of the corner, PJ went upstairs, PJ left, and suddenly we climbed until 12 years old. shots. Reid did not play this game. The rim was protected by Nick and EJ. They wanted a little EJ. Nick came in, they blocked the shots, we made them difficult, and that's what happened. They won 11 consecutive games. The game does not affect this game, it really does not.

Q. Keldon, you've beaten Auburn twice this season. Is it difficult to beat a team three times in a season and why?

MODERATOR: We'll ask Keldon to answer that question, then Ashton, back to the head coach.

ASHTON HAGANS: We've played them twice before. They will give us everything they want. We just have to go, play together and stay in a team.

KELDON JOHNSON: I mean, just to pick up what he said. I just have to get focused and ready to play. We can not think of the last two times we played them. They are hot right now and they are playing really well. So, I just have to get focused and ready to go.

JOHN CALIPARI: You know, it's funny, fate intervened for this team where we thought it was bad. Reid came down – he and I went to church together because we were worried, believe me. That did not happen that way, but it gave Nick and EJ a chance to play. Then they tell me that he hurt his foot during the game in Tennessee. I said, "When?" "Last piece." What? He does not play for a moment. What? Now, suddenly, we have to play Keldon at 4 years old. We have to put Jamal Baker and give him minutes. Suddenly, it is played. In our conference tournament, we had our chance to beat Tennessee. And if we beat Tennessee, we would have played at Auburn. I'm not sure if anyone has ever beaten a team four times. When you ask me for about three hours, I'm glad it's not four. So we play them a third time. It's going to be a really tough match. They play their rights right now. They shoot bullets, they play loose and aggressive. We know. These other two games do not affect this game.

THE MODERATOR: We are halfway through the session.

Q. This is for Reid. I asked you this because you are the old man up there. When you saw Tyler come in, I know you're both here the first year for both of you. When you say he's coming in, what have you seen in him? Did you think it would have as much impact as this season, and if so, what made you think that?

REID TRAVIS: The biggest thing I saw at home early was simply his confidence. And I think a lot of guys you can see have confidence but do not necessarily put work into it. But for Tyler, this is not the case. See at the gym every night, every morning, setting up reps and shootings. So, you know it's going to shine in these moments. Especially when he has the opportunity to do it, it's usually because you see him every night and every morning bringing in representatives. So I would say it's the greatest thing to see his progress throughout the season and how consistent he has been with his work behind closed doors where people do not necessarily see him. So when he goes on the biggest stage, he is calm, collector and always confident to take these pictures.

Q. John, considering the role of Auburn – Auburn Basketball for decades and decades, what kind of Bruce work did he do and what did he specifically do? to reach this level?

JOHN CALIPARI: Well, he had a program where people are absolutely enthusiastic. And Sonny Smith back in the day drove him around. He had this guy – what's he calling? – Charles, what is his last name? This big guy with big head. What is his name? Oh, Charles Barkley. I pee on a statue, just for you to know. But, you know, when you take the power, you have to change the culture, and he did it. And, you know, they had some difficulties in the middle of our league. They lost several parts and that tells you something. I always say that when things are going well, it's not coaching. When things go wrong and everyone runs, let me see you now coach. Let me see you do it when you're against, when people doubt, when they – the outside clutter begins to be overwhelmed, how do you train now? You know, so that he can do what he's done in this area and now they're 11 in a row, I'm telling you, there's no team in the country that plays better than them now. We have total respect and very good players who compete and play very hard.

Q. John, what do you remember about Reid's hiring when you heard that he was going to be a graduate student, and what is the last time you coached a 30-year-old young man like Reid? ?

JOHN CALIPARI: When I was with the Nets, some players were older than me when I was coaching. No, he and I talked about politics. So what do you think of Amy? I was his neighbor. She can be a good president. We would talk about the justice of the Supreme Court. Tell me what you think. But Kenny came to me and I think it was his brother who said, "Hey, he's thinking of doing that." And I remember when he played basketball AAU. And when Johnny asked him to go to Stanford, I said what a pleasure for Johnny. Johnny and I have been friends for a long time, one of the most talented of our profession, so happy for this year. So, it has gone well, can we help it as it helps us? Not here to have a guy, you know, play ten minutes a game or have a guy who says just in case someone gets hurt. This is not what it is about.

What I am proud of, I will tell the story. He was 260 years old – something. I said, "You have to lose 20 pounds, you can not – we can not get – you're going to have to move better, you have to go faster, you're going to have to." – Then he went down to 242. He between and we are talking. I said, "Maybe five more pounds, what is your body fat?" He said 4 percent. I went, "4 percent? You should give up a kidney, do you make fun of me?" (Laughs). The pleasure for me was that it's as good at the gym as these guys. He also takes care of his body, in the training room, stretching, coming in the morning and evening. You know, and yesterday? He had 11 rebounds and they were hard to fight. He took only two strokes and never said a word. He was happy as hell. Happy as hell. That's what it means to play here. Now, I hope that he will have 20 tomorrow. But if he gets 20 rebounds, I'll be just as happy. And you know what, he will do it too. They trapped him on every occasion. He just played the game as he came. Each of these children, I tell them all the time how much I respect them and what they have to deal with, the clutter, what's at stake, how they have to handle that. Like PJ playing, I told him, "I respect you, man." I love this coach. I love the competition. So for Reid and how it ended up playing, it's not over yet. It's not done. He absolutely helped our team, and I think he's helped himself that he's improved. He is absolutely committed. You know, any team that writes it will call me to tell me that I can not believe it, I can not believe it. It's the biggest thing. We had guys in the league like that. They will call and say that it is incredible. Shai Alexander, as they should be rookie of the year. Should be rookie of the year. Leading them, starting and Clippers and they call and – Sam Cassell called me yesterday about it. This kid is amazing. It will be the same with him.

THE MODERATOR: We have four minutes of the session before returning the student athletes. We have a question at the back.

Q. Reid, you obviously played Auburn a few times. You know almost everything about them. They know almost everything about you. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

TRAVIS REID: You can take it anyway. For us, as you said, when you played as much as we did with Auburn, you really have to fight and how thoroughly we play. This has been the message all season. You can film as much and X and O as we want, but if the effort is not there, the fight is not there, all of it does not matter. It will be the same tomorrow. Bring combat and energy, and that should help us win the game. Q. That's for all young people under the age of 30 who are there. What about having an older player like Reid in the team, what did it do for you just to have that leadership, I guess, and what did you do? did you learn from him?

THE MODERATOR: Tyler, please.

TYLER HERRO: It's great to have a veteran like Reid in the team, someone we can admire. Obviously, he went through a lot of things. So whenever we need advice or something, we can consult it. But as his coach said, he does it all in the gym. Something like that, we can just follow him. So, I obviously mean very well to have someone like that. Q. A few weeks ago, a very interesting feature article was published on Tyler in The Bleacher Report. Tyler, I asked you if you had read it last week, you said no. I wonder if anyone has read this article, including you, John?

JOHN CALIPARI: What did I tell you when you spoke?

TYLER HERRO: Do not read it.

JOHN CALIPARI: Do not read it. It's poison. The season is over, read it then, do not read it now. Has any of you read it? Keldon, you read it, is not it?

Q. Tyler, you're on the big stage now. What do you mean to all your enemies? It must be –

JOHN CALIPARI: Why do you say that? Who hates you?

TYLER HERRO: No one hates me.

JOHN CALIPARI: There you go. That's what I'm talking about.

Q. Reid, since Kentucky is a place known for his personal relationships, you have your own way of doing this this year when you came in as a graduate. So, what about Kentucky that drew you to the program and why did you choose this school as a destination?

TRAVIS REID: You hit him on the head with that. To be able to prepare a player in a year to what he wants to do, get a group of players never play together in a year, you have to speed up the process to gain a high level of good form for playing beyond the university, I felt that it was a great opportunity for me. Obviously, I am a different type, since I have already spent four years at the university and I come here for my fifth year. I thought it was the best place for me regarding coaches and players who were already established here. So it's a great place, and I feel like I've done everything I needed.

THE MODERATOR: Last question for this session.

Q. For Tyler. I know you are not all supposed to read the clutter, but your phone had to explode last night, while all the old players were tweeting about you. How was it after you finally got the phone after hitting the big shot?

TYLER HERRO: I did not read anything, really. I do not know.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We will now apologize to the student athletes for attending their breakout sessions. We will sit here with Coach Calipari for another 20 minutes. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow. 1h20 peak with Auburn, CBS, Central Time. Come on, please.

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