	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 19, 2019

Rob Krimmel

Bloomington, Indiana

COACH ROB KRIMMEL: Congratulate Archie and his staff on a well-played game. Certainly a coach and a former player who has a lot of talent on his roster and was a very good player in his own right.

So to be able to stand on the sideline next to Coach Miller and his staff, certainly an honor and a privilege for our guys.

And to the great people here in Indiana, our stay has been fantastic. What an opportunity for our guys to come in and compete against one of the most storied programs in college basketball history in one much most stories arenas. It's a pretty special experience for our guys and the coaches.

It's something that we see on TV, and to be able to come in here and compete against these guys and a great university is something I know our guy also remember; and to the people at the NIT for making this experience for our guys awesome.

Something our university hasn't done in 60 years, and certainly the history of Saint Francis Basketball dates back to when the NIT was the premiere tournament and something I know our guys have embraced and the many alums that are out there that have followed this team during the season, certainly thank you to them and to all the people back at Saint Francis. It's been a fun ride with these guys for 33 games, they gave Saint Francis university and the coaching staff everything they had. Proud of the way they came out and competed the first 20 minutes, and you know, certainly there for the first part of the second half before Indiana was able to run away with it.

But you know, for our guys, for the seniors, the five guys that put on the uniform for the last time, proud of the way they represented the university and certainly an experience we'll never forget.

Q. You came in here and had the lead at the half. What does that specific thing mean to this team and to Saint Francis?
COACH ROB KRIMMEL: I told the guys in the locker room, probably four or five years ago, in games like this, we would have kept it close for, you know, maybe the first media. Maybe the second media.

But of the five games that we played this year in the power five conferences, and if you include Buffalo in that mix; in every one of those five games, our guys were in it for more than just the first media time-out.

As a coach, you want to come in and win one of these games. It's certainly something that you have on the bucket list, but where the program has come from, to just being close maybe in the first media to in each one of these five games, being around a lot longer, it's a credit to the guys on the staff and that locker room that were not really fazed by the atmosphere or by the opponent. They came out competed 94 by 50, and certainly gave us everything that they had.

Q. You've built a program now that's been successful for four or five years in a row, not just one team. What does that mean to Saint Francis to have a lot of these guys back, maybe being picked to win? What does it mean to be part of a strong program, as opposed to having one good team every now and then?
COACH ROB KRIMMEL: That's important. We talked about that way back in day one that we wanted to build a program that was going to be around, and not get to the top and then have to rebuild every supple of years. We've been fortunate to have some really good players in the program that have embraced not just what we've asked of them as a basketball player but as students and as people at Saint Francis. You know, the goal of the program is to continue to get a little bit better every day.

We ask our guys to do that one game at a time and in practice to practice, but from season to season. We want to make sure we see progress in a positive direction. Sometimes they are not always measurable and sometimes it doesn't always happen on the court, but it's certainly an exciting group that's coming back, and the bar has been set high by that senior class. Anxious to see how this group responds and the challenges that they will face, certainly the seniors have set that bar high and set a great example for those young kids to follow.

Q. The challenges of a big talented guy like a Juwan Morgan, is that the biggest issue you face when you come up against a power five school like you did tonight?
COACH ROB KRIMMEL: Yes. Because a lot of times, they have more than one. You know, and certainly his career, I mean, he's an experienced guy, too, that knows how to play angles. You could tell he's well-coached. You know, knows how to play to his strengths.

But I think it's a good thing, though, for our post players to see. It's something that they can learn from someone like that. As tough as it is in the moment, those are things as coaches, we can go back and say, hey, see how he did it. But a lot of times when you get to this level you and play those games, yes, that's the biggest challenge.

Q. After earning CIT bids in each of the last two seasons and getting an NIT bid this year, how valuable is that experience for your program, particularly this year, NIT?
COACH ROB KRIMMEL: It's important. Certainly every kid, when they watch college basketball this time of year, they want to play in March Madness. March Madness has a lot of different versions: The CIT and the NIT and the NCAA. You know, to be able to play in postseason basketball is exciting because you're one of the few teams that are left playing college basketball in the middle of March. The great thing for us is we're practicing and it's still light out. Those are great things, and for those of you that don't know Loretto, Pennsylvania, there's not much snow on the ground this time of year and so the weather is starting to turn and for our guys that's exciting.

To be able to play in postseason, I don't know, three of the last four, whatever the numbers are, that's a credit to those guys. In order to do that, you have to have a winning record, and we played some tough non-conference opponents.

For our guys to stick with it through some tough nonconference schedules and put ourselves in a position to be in postseason a credit to them.

Q. You mentioned how special it is to play at a place like Assembly Hall. What were some of the reactions from the guys on the team when they walked in here for the first time?
COACH ROB KRIMMEL: It's need to see those reactions. As a parent, I look, I have two kids at home and I have 18 on the roster, so I have 20 kids, right.

So when you see your kids do anything, and you see the joy, it's pretty cool. You know, kids like to go on a water slide, or they go to the amusement park. When they come into a place like this, we always try to get here early so that they can do all the banner looking and kind of film all the stuff that's going around, because it's something they will never forget.

They will never forget coming in and playing on the same court that some of the greatest basketball players ever to play the game played on.

They will be able to two back and ten years from now, 15 years from now, they will remember that they competed. But the memory that is they have from this year and being able to play at the Dean Dome and Pauley Pavilion, and last year Cameron and being able to play in those environments, it's a special experience. That's what college basketball is all about. We grow up seeing those kids, those programs and the TV and to be able to come and experience it firsthand, it's awesome. It's great. Especially when the people are so welcoming. They allow us to do some of those neat things to soak in the environment.

Q. What can you say about Jamaal's play in the first half and the whole game?
COACH ROB KRIMMEL: Typical Jamaal. I don't know that I've coached a more competitive kid. And to see where he's come from, where he came in as a freshman and where he is now as a player and as a person, when you hear the saying, good things happen to good people, he's right in that -- right there by that definition in the dictionary. To see him have that kind of performance on this kind of stage, does not surprise me. He's not afraid. He's the ultimate competitor, and he's a big part of why the program is where it is right now because of his willingness to stick with us, to challenge guys to be better.

As I said before, the best thing that this team did all year is that they were close. It's the closest team -- and it's Jamaal King that's responsible for that.

Those things as a coach, you want to be a part of every year, but knowing that Jamaal was a big part of getting us here, and then the success that he had tonight and then the Championship game, it's a credit to the work that he's put in and who he is as a person.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297