March 23, 2006

WICHITA STATE HEAD COACH MARK TURGEON

MARK TURGEON: We're just happy to be here. It's been a great ride. Selection Sunday our name pops up and we're excited and six days later we're in the Sweet 16 and things change quick.

So it's been a lot of fun. We had a jam-packed airport when we got home Saturday night, and it's just been a nice ride up to this point. But we're looking forward to playing George Mason again, a team that's playing unbelievably well. To beat Michigan State, who I thought played really well in that game, and then to beat North Carolina to come home and play, creates excitement around here and should be a fun night for people in n D.C. and we are looking forward to the challenge of playing George Mason.

Q. For those of us who haven't had a chance to see Paul Miller play a lot, can you just kind of in your own mind, what makes him so effective, what made him the Conference Player of the Year and how much better is he now than when he first got here?
What made him Conference Player of the Year is that we won the Championship and he was a go-to guy for us in many of the games.

Our offense goes through Paul. The thing that makes Paul what he is is he's a very intelligent basketball player. He's very skilled, has great hands, and can do a turnaround jumper from six feet to 18 feet on the block. He's got a great turn and face game, also. And with that said, he's a good passer and he demands double-teams.

Now, how far has he come since he's been at Wichita State? It's unbelievable how far the kid has come. His first month of practice, he spent more time on the floor than he did standing straight up because he kept tripping over his feet. If someone would have told me at that time he would have been MVP of the Missouri Valley, I never would have guessed it.

He's just one of those kids that just got better every day, every year, and he was our most improved player last year as a junior. So he just keeps getting better and better and I'm really proud of him.

Q. You said last week in Greensboro for a program like yours to get to the Sweet 16, it's like getting to the Final Four. Has that been the case in terms of media exposure and how you've been able to balance that with the fact that you've got to get a team ready to play?
Well, the reason I said that is because when you look at the way college basketball is set up for the big leagues and the television coverage, when you go out and you try to recruit, you don't get involved with any of these kids, there was not one player on Seton Hall that we could probably get involved with in recruiting and same with Tennessee.

That's what I meant by. Our exposure this week has been tremendous, it's been great for the City of Wichita and great for Wichita State University. Now with that said, it's been an easy week for us, for the players. We had spring break, so it was really quiet around campus and the guys got to sleep in, we had practice and I'm sure when they went out in public they were bombarded a little bit, but I really shielded them from the media. They had Media Day on Tuesday and then today. Everything else I handled or my assistants handled.

We're the same level-headed team that went into the tournament last weekend. I really feel good about our guys. We know that this will be a little bit different environment than it was last weekend but we're level-headed. It hasn't been that tough for us this week.

Q. Along the lines of mid-majors making the Sweet 16, usually they are in a situation like Bradley is where they are the decided underdog and everything needs to go right for them to actually move on. How different is the dynamic of this game where it's a toss-up game and you need one thing to go right and you could be in the Elite 8?
It's great one of us is going to be in the Elite 8. It's great for Colonial and great for the Valley that we're in this situation.

I think a lot of things have to go right for us. I think they are that good. We have to play extremely well to beat them tomorrow night.

But you're right. You think George Mason, Wichita State, this should be an evenly-matched game. The first game is evenly-matched. But they are so talented, they have so many guys that can score and they are one of the best defensive teams that we've played all year. We're going to have to play extremely well and some things are going to go right. It's just great when you walk out there, you know, one of us in two hours after the tip is going to be in the Elite 8, which is a great feeling. But it should be an evenly-matched game, I agree, but I think we're going to have to play well, especially in the environment I'm hearing that we're going to have to play in.

Q. Just wondered, do you think that the run that you're on now will have any significant long-term effects in terms of being able to recruit different players, a level up from normal, or do you think this is going to matter in the next year and the following year will determine that?
Well, this is an answer I give to that question. I was on the West Coast. I was an assistant at the University of Oregon. One of my best friends went to the Elite 8 and it didn't change their recruiting but they followed it up with two Sweet 16s. They were the media darlings and they were the only mid major at the time that was doing it. It took those three years to change their recruiting.

I hope it changes ours. I hope that we get some stud that wants to come play for us because we were in the Sweet 16 or beyond. But we are not anticipating that. We are going to continue to work hard. We know that we get a lot of players from Texas. We know we're not going to go down to Texas and beat a Big 12 school because we were in the Sweet 16 one time. But you never know, there might be that one kid that wants to be a part of something special like this.

I think it takes more than one year for that to happen, so we've got to be pretty consistently good for it to happen.

Q. A lot of times we get preoccupied with seeds, 11, 7, all of this, do you talk to the kids about, hey, do you belong in a bracket or a regional with a UCONN or not?
We can't even talk about UCONN. I'm sure they are talking about UCONN in Washington but we are not.

The reason we are here today is because this team is taking it one game at a time. Unfortunately for us, we've already played George Mason and they beat us, so our mindset is, okay, you'd better play well, they beat us at home, you just don't come into Wichita and win very easily. We were 14-2 at home. So we don't even think about those guys now. If we were fortunate enough to win on Friday, and the game ends, we'll start worrying about our next game. But then we'll have to -- whoever it is, say, okay, you're good enough to play against this team, you've proven it. It's not even on our mind right now.

Q. I'm sure that with what your team has accomplished this really ought to be a joyous moment for everyone. I'm wondering with the kind of freakish luck of ending up with a home crowd opponent, facing almost like a road game, has that taken any of the thrill out of it for you or changed the emotion dynamic at all?
No, it hasn't changed a thing. And we are on -- we're having a great time. I told our kids just to enjoy today. We went through George Mason this morning and I said we're going to enjoy the rest of the day and we won't think about George Mason again until tomorrow. I know we'll have to answer questions about them.

We've played in toughen environments all year. We know we're going to have about 1,200 Shocker fans here tomorrow and they are going to make as much noise as they can. It's not like there's not going to be anybody here rooting for us. That's fine. It's what we were dealt. They had to come to our place for bracket busters and they beat us and now we have to come here and play them. That's life.

Our kids aren't concerned about that. They know it's going to be tough. But we played a great game, we had the largest crowd in Nebraska history playing a college game there, we ended up losing at the buzzer but we were right there at the end. We've been a good road team all year.

Q. It seems like you come out through this team, your personality and what you want comes out as much as any team you've had, do you feel that and how rewarding is that as a coach to be able to accomplish that?
Well, I think I've been pretty lucky this year. When the year started I said that I didn't think we were very good and we've just gotten better. If you know me, I'm pretty unselfish. I wasn't a great basketball player, so I had to be around good players to play. And that's the way I want my teams to play. I feel like we've played at a high level before, my teams, and I'm not sure if we've played as much together on both ends as this team is playing.

It's rewarding because this is the way I was taught to teach the game of basketball and the way I believe the game should be played, and for our teams to be doing it and then doing it at such a national level, I guess, where people are seeing it, it's really rewarding because we're not the greatest team, we're not the most athletic team, we're not very deep, but we just play together and we figure it out. So it's been fun. It's been a lot of fun.

Q. Paul, his injury his freshman year where he broke his foot again, at the time how much did that affect you personally and just talk about the happy ending that that's had?
Well, obviously I wasn't used to losing. I've been around good teams my whole life and our first year, we weren't any good. Paul broke his foot and I was like, here we go again, we're going to have another tough season. My wife had to hide all the sharp objects in the house and keep me away from them. I was just like -- I really thought Wichita State was doomed. It's like, okay, you can't win at Wichita State. It's like Paul breaks his foot -- and to see him sitting out and what he gained and everybody else grew up and grew up as a program that year, and then we realize after his freshman year how much that red-shirt year helped him, it's been great.

I think a lot of our personality, you say mine, comes out which is it does but a lot of it is Paul's personality, too. He's calm, he's poised, he's confident, he's happy. So I think that comes out and it's just been great. It's been great for Paul because he was sad last year when Jamar and Randy and Rob were leaving. He was like, I've got to move on, we're not supposed to be as good next year and it's my senior year, and for this to happen is -- good things are happening for good people, which I like.

Q. I think I read a quote somewhere where you said that you go to Nike camps and feel like whatever the cliche; stepsister or whatever it is; is that true and can you talk about that?
I was excited. You go into these camps and they have got the Top-100 players, especially there's not a lot of them growing up in Kansas, you are not going to have much of a chance when you have Wichita State written on your shirt. That's what I was getting at.

Now you feel like you belong, you're in the Sweet 16 and you feel like you belong. We were at the Nike camp over the summer recruiting and we were not in this environment. Doesn't mean we're not going to get a player, a Top-100 player, and that's tough. That's the question David asked me about is recruiting going to change; probably not. We might get a little bit better player or be viewed a little bit different. I tell you what's going to be nice is our league is going to get better because of this. We got better because of Southern and Creighton making the tournament, and now it's going to be about Bradley and Wichita State and four teams getting in. It's going to get better but how much better we'll see.

Q. It seems like your team and theirs have a lot of similarities with the defense and balanced scoring; do you see them as a mirror image of your team?
Yeah, I think they are just a little more athletic. They are a little bit better on the low -- we have Paul down there that's really good scorer, but they have the two that can do it. We both play seven guys, basically, we'll play more.

But yeah, we are a lot alike. They have been much more efficient on offense than we have. They have consistently on the perimeter, they are a little bit better shooters and the two low post scorers, Will Thomas' field goal percentage is 58 percent. Jai is over 50. So they have just been a little bit more efficient on offense, just a little bit better on defense and I guess their abilities for the most part, yeah, they can have different guys that can score every night and we can have different guys. At our place it was Skinn that beat us and Lewis, it could be Thomas and Butler tomorrow. You never know what is going to play well for them so we are quite a bit similar.

Q. You talked about the difficulty in recruiting when you had Wichita State written on your shirt, you were able to convince a couple of guys to transfer from some pretty outstanding programs, can you talk about getting guys like Kyle and Bradley into your program?
They are both guys that we recruited out of high school and didn't have a chance to get. Kyle was very highly rated, came down to Illinois and Notre Dame for him and he ended up at Illinois of course. Just his experience of playing in the tournament as a freshman, playing at a high level at Illinois has been great. Bradley of course played in the Final Four for Market, can't put a price on that. It has been helpful. We have another guy sitting out this year from Colorado State who was a big time player we recruited out of high school from Texas that's sitting out and is going to help us next year. Once again I mentioned his name before, Mark, we're trying to follow the blueprint as much as we can. They took some transfers, they have a few better players in the State of Washington that they get, Morrison is one of them.

But they also went and played ESPN games like Michigan State, which we did this year. There's a couple coaches in my league that were not too happy about it, but it helped us. I don't know if we'll do it again, but we'll see. We just want exposure, and the more exposure you can get for your program, the better your recruiting might be.

WICHITA STATE PAUL MILLER
WICHITA STATE SEAN OGIRRI
WICHITA STATE PJ COUISNARD
WICHITA STATE KYLE WILSON

Q. Paul what do you recall about your first game, and what do you have to do tomorrow to have a better outcome?
PAUL MILLER: Well, first game definitely was a good game and it was a great atmosphere. We had a lot of people in the stands that night. And I thought George Mason really played well offensively and was really on from outside and also were pretty effective inside. We're going to have to have a balanced effort on defense and try to take away their effectiveness both inside and outside.

Q. Paul, the idea that a mid major team makes the Sweet 16, a lot of times it's considered almost like winning the National Championship. This is an unusual case where neither one of you are looking at the top seed in the Sweet 16 game. How much does that change maybe the motivation, change the dynamic of the game that you're playing a team kind of like yourselves and you could be in the Elite 8 if you win this game?
PAUL MILLER: I think it changes it if you look at the seeds, but I don't think it changes it because if you look at how well George Mason has been playing and to think how well we've been playing, you can kind of throw those seeds out the window and just take it for what it is and watch the game.

Q. Paul, for the benefit of the people who did not see the first game, you had four fouls. Was foul trouble a big issue or did you pick them up fairly late or was it fairly inconsequential?
PAUL MILLER: I think it was fairly inconsequential. If the game would have went to overtime, I think that would have been something we would have had to worry about but going down the stretch it really was not a factor.

Q. The George Mason guys were just in there and they said one of their coaches after they beat Wichita state that they just beat a Sweet 16 game. What was your impression after the George Mason game?
PJ COUISNARD: I feel they was a good basketball team and caught us on a good night. They play well together and they have got a big man down low. If you haven't seen them or you've just seen them for the first time, you'll be like, wow, they really could play.

I feel they are a great team. I feel it would be a great match up.

Q. Can you talk there's been talk this year about the Missouri Valley, can you discuss the league and style of play, what the teams are like?
SEAN OGIRRI: In the Missouri Valley we thrive on our defense, we basically try to play hard defense so we have a lot of great players offensively on each team but we just thrive on our defense and try to get up in their body. Missouri Valley has four teams in the tournament and it's great for Missouri Valley and we're in the Sweet 16, so I guess it speaks highly of the Missouri Valley.

Q. Give us a sense of what it's been like on campus this week. The George Mason folks say it's been crazy at their place. What's it been like at your place?
PAUL MILLER: This is our spring break, so we really haven't had any time on campus. But around the city at Wichita, it's been crazy as well. I don't think anybody on the team can go anywhere within the city and not be recognized and not have people wishing us well in this tournament and just telling us how proud they are of us.

Q. Another question about the valley, some of the teams, especially in the conference tournament in St. Louis look tired, like they had been through a war. How much did the regular season take out of you guys?
KYLE WILSON: You know, it was tough. The Valley is so strong from top to bottom. There's every game, you have to be on your game or else you'll get beat. So you have to have the same focus from the beginning of the Valley stretch to the very end.

You know, I think that does take a toll on you by the end of the Conference, and maybe that's why we were not playing our best basketball in the Conference tournament. It was good to have a couple of days off to get refocused and get ready for the NCAA Tournament.

Q. Kyle, when you transferred to Wichita State from Illinois, going from a major program to a mid major, did you have any reasonable expectation that you might get to a Sweet 16 or did you think it was kind of a crapshoot that you might not see the heights you might have seen there?
KYLE WILSON: Well, it was an unknown for me. I had some good conversations with Coach Turgeon and he assured me that the program was going in the right direction and that I would be a key part in helping the program keep moving in the right direction.

But at the same time, I didn't know. You know, right now, sitting here in the Sweet 16 is kind of makes me feel really good about this decision. I always felt very comfortable with Wichita and being part of the program but it's even more of a plus now that we're here.

Q. I just wondered if this game feels any different, it's not like a little guy versus big guy game, you're not a big underdog and people are not looking at you to upset anybody. I just wonder if preparing for the game if it feels the same as the first games did.
PJ COUISNARD: Our games going into the tournament you basically feel the same, it's either win or lose. Keep playing or you go home.

This game is just another big game and it's the next game. So I think we are as a team looking forward to playing this game.

Q. For any of you guys, just wondering how does a coach successfully recruit a student athlete these days when he talks about defense first, when you have so many guys who want to score and put up big numbers, how do you guys how does he successfully get you to come somewhere when he says, hey, our main thing is defense?
PAUL MILLER: I don't know if coach says our main thing is defense. It's definitely what we hang our hat on.

You know, when you're recruiting I think a player that is looking at a school like Wichita State or George Mason, you're going to tell them about the opportunities they are going to have to be in an NCAA Tournament and what a great Conference that Missouri Valley is or the CAA.

I don't think that any coach is going to necessarily say that they are all about defense because there is the offensive side of things. You know, I think Coach Turgeon really has our players believing in him that they are going to become a part of a family, a part of a group that, you know, nothing is bigger than the university and nothing is bigger than the team.

Q. Kind of along those lines, what attracted you to Wichita in the first place and what other schools were you looking at or were in contact with you? Why did you end up there?
PAUL MILLER: I was looking at Oklahoma and Texas Tech along with Wichita State. I ended up choosing Wichita State for the reason that I believed in Coach Turgeon, I wanted to be a part of the rebuilding process of the program and I knew that with Coach Turgeon and the other players that he was involved with in recruiting at the time and players that had committed to our school that we were going to be able to have a successful program and bring back winning to Wichita State.

Q. You guys were kind of hard to cover this year, just because you don't have a one clear star that you can focus in on, you have a whole bunch of guys who are low, double figure scoring. Can you talk a little bit about your team philosophy and sharing the ball, sharing the scoring and all?
SEAN OGIRRI: I feel that if we just play great team basketball, Coach in practice just wants us to share the ball. We're just trying to get whoever is feeling it and if not we just go inside, go inside out and get the best shot for the team.