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NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

March 29, 2018

San Antonio, Texas

Associated Press Player of the Year

THE MODERATOR: We're joined once again by the Associated Press Sports Products Director Barry Bedlan, here with another Associated Press national trophy. This one is for the AP's Player of the Year. Please welcome, from Villanova, Jalen Brunson, along with his head coach Jay Wright.

BARRY BEDLAN: It's my pleasure today to present the Associated Press Men's College Basketball Player of the Year. For 57 years, the recipient of this award has been selected by the same panel of college basketball journalists that decides the weekly AP Top 25.

Past recipients include Michael Jordan, Larry Bird Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal, to name a few.

This year's recipient is a junior guard, who was a first team AP All-American, as well as the Big East Player of the Year. He averaged 19.2 points and 4.6 assists per game this season leading Villanova to yet another No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the team's third in the past four years.

When it comes to his studies, I hear he's also on pace to graduate this summer, a year or two ahead of most college students.

To say he's an overachiever is an understatement. Shortly after Villanova won its national championship two years ago, I had the pleasure of walking with Coach Wright and this player as they left the locker room for their team bus. And what they talked about wasn't just what happened, one of the greatest endings to an NCAA championship game, instead they were already focused on the future and what they needed to do to improve for future wins.

Well, Villanova's opponents have been feeling it, with this outstanding player leading the way. You'll notice I have some gray in my beard. I have a confession to make: I'm a graduate of Creighton University, and I have been on the receiving end of this player's performance, and I can blame Jalen for at least six of these gray hairs.

It's my honor to announce this year's AP Men's College Basketball Player of the Year, Jalen Brunson.

(Applause)

JALEN BRUNSON: First, I want to say thank you to the Associated Press. This award is very humbling. First and foremost, I want to thank my parents just for raising me the way they did. They did such a great job of making sure I was a leader on and off the court, making sure I did everything I needed to do in the classroom, as a person and as a player last.

I'm just thankful for what they did for me, what they sacrificed, what my little sister sacrificed. I just can't thank them enough.

And I just want to thank Father Peter, athletic director Mark Jackson, for always being there with the support and really just showing their support and always doing what they had to do to make sure we were fit to be where we are.

And I just want to thank my teammates. They mean the world to me. They're the reason why I've been so confident in my play, and they just do a great job of making sure that I'm getting better every day and holding each other accountable.

This is really a team award when it comes to me winning this. It's because of my teammates. They really pushed me to be the best I could be. I just want to thank all my coaches, coaching staff, Coach Wright, his family, with his support.

And Coach has done a lot for me just giving me an opportunity to be a part of this prestigious program. And I just can't thank him enough for coming all the way out to Chicago to recruit me. I know it was a little bit of a hassle for you.

But also I just want to thank all my past coaches as well. My middle school coaches, my high school coaches, AAU. Coach Wright.

It's just all my coaches I've had a great relationship with. And just it's never been easy. But I just know that me and Coach, we have a great relationship.

It's just something I'm going to cherish because it's the most important thing. This is why I wanted to come to Villanova, to have a 40-year commitment, not just a four-year commitment. I'm really thankful I have him by my side and my teammates as well.

I'm just so thankful that they've been able to push me as hard as I can and thankful I've had the teammates I've had, because without them, without our team's success, this award wouldn't be possible. So I'm really thankful for all that.

COACH WRIGHT: Well, listening to Barry go through the previous award winners, I knew you had to be a really good player to win this award; but when you hear Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, and I believe Jalen belongs in that category.

He's been the consummate Villanova student-athlete. He came with a plan to graduate in three years. He came with a plan to win a national championship. He came with a plan to be a leader. It wasn't my plan. It was his. And he's fulfilled all of those goals.

I've never seen a player attain this much individual attention and awards and be so selfless and so committed to a team and a university.

It's really what college basketball is all about. And you picked a great guy, Barry, and we are grateful to the Associated Press. And this trophy will go with Jalen and we're going to try to find a replica, because this is going to stand proudly at Villanova University also. Villanova is proud of Jalen and how he's conducted himself throughout his career.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Jalen, we know you guys watch a lot of basketball on TV, probably a lot of SportsCenter, whatever sports news show is on. What are your thoughts when you would hear about Player of the Year, a lot of talk about Trae Young, and then the talk kind of subsides a little bit, the talk of Jalen Brunson was coming up and up. And Coach even said he didn't think you even heard any of it. But what were your thoughts as you watched TV and heard your name mentioned over the last month or so?
JALEN BRUNSON: To be honest, with the technology we have today and social media we have, I hear all of it. I see all of it. I just try not to focus on that. I just know that if, whatever I can do to help make this team successful, I know individually all the things I want are going to come out of it. And I just try so hard to focus on my teammates and what's best for the team.

And Trae Young, just a comment on that: He's a great player. Obviously their team lost (indiscernible) at the end of the year, but that doesn't take away what he did all year. He still led the country in scoring and still led in assists as well. He's put himself in a position to be very successful for his future.

So he's a great player. But I just try not to focus on anything individual. Obviously there are goals of mine that I have written on my wall and everything like that, but I also have team goals. That's what's most important, to make sure this team can be the best team they can be by the end of the year.

Q. Jalen, I was talking to Coach Wright about an hour ago and he brought up the fact that this has been the easiest for you this season in terms of your role leading this team and said that it goes back to being the hardest coming in as a freshman and accepting kind of your role on the team. Can you reflect on that pathway and how you learn under Arch and have now evolved into the best player in the country?
JALEN BRUNSON: It's definitely been difficult coming off of my senior high school winning all the individual stuff, winning a state championship, then going to the USA Basketball, winning a FIBA championship and coming in, thinking I've done all this and I can do more. Like I can have the weight on my shoulders, I can do it, I can do it.

I knew it was going to be a process. I knew I had a lot of upperclassmen around me who had the ability to lead this team, who had the ability to make this team special. And at first it was very hard to take that in and try and be the player I knew I could be. But I knew I had to find a way to make sure everyone is going to be on the same page, everyone is locked into one thing and that's what's best for the team.

So I just tried to fit in. It's definitely hard. It's definitely something that most players who had the same accolades as me wouldn't want to do. They want the ball in their hands. They want to run the show. And of course I do. But I know I want what's best for the team.

I know the things I want individually can come from team success. So that's what I focused on.

Q. Jalen, you've gone against some pretty good point guards in the NCAA Tournament. You're going to face another one I guess on Saturday. Do you get stoked when you're competing against guys like Collin and Carter and Evans and Devonte' Graham, and I want you to break down Devonte's game?
JALEN BRUNSON: I definitely get excited every game we play, doesn't matter who we play. Doesn't matter where we play. I'm excited to play the game of basketball. I think it's not a given. You've got to be very humble, very hungry to play this game.

Even though, I mean, the outside thinks about this one-on-one matchup with me and Devonte', I just focus on Villanova and Kansas. He's a great player. Obviously times we'll be guarding each other throughout the game, but I'm going to worry about us sticking together, doing what we do.

He's a great player. He's had a great career at Kansas. He's done so much for that program. I just remember my freshman year he was a guy who I thought possibly could enter the draft, he was that good. Like when we played him in my Elite Eight my freshman year.

He's a great kid. He's so well-rounded as a player. He gives his teammates shots. He can make plays for himself. He's obviously a leader and he's well-deserving of all his accolades as well. You've got to respect that.

Q. Jalen, Jay was kind of in awe of the list of players, names of who won this award, what's your thoughts on that, being on the same list as Shaquille O'Neal, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan?
JALEN BRUNSON: It's really humbling and it's something that you can't really put into words. To know the great players that have won this award and just be named in the same breath, it's really honoring, and it's something I'm going to cherish forever.

But as of right now, it's the last thing on my mind. I'm really focused on this great Kansas team, they're well-coached, and that's really all I care about right now.

Q. From the outsiders looking in on the Villanova program, we say you guys are a machine; you've just become an absolute powerhouse. From someone who has been a part of it and plays for the guy to your left, how would you sum up what this run's been like?
JALEN BRUNSON: It's been fun. I think the outside gets the perception that we're just so machined and we're so robotic and we don't have any emotion. This is fun. This is really fun to be a part of. I love playing with my teammates. I love being a part of this program.

There's so many great names you can go back on to say these are the guys that played here, these are the guys that started this, kept this tradition going.

I'm just so thankful to have the teammates I have and coaches I have to be able to have the confidence in me and us to be able to go out there every day and work as hard as we can to be the best team we can be. We try not to take anything for granted. Just try to continue to work hard and focus on how we can get better every day.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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