Press Conference Transcript March 28, 2018

Interim President Dr. Greg Postel “Good afternoon; wow, what a crowd. Thank you so much for joining us here this afternoon. We can’t tell you how thrilled we are to have such an amazing crowd for us to tell a truly wonderful story for the next chapter of the . What an outstanding two-week period this has been for UofL and for Cardinal athletics. Let’s think back over just a few successes from the past two weeks. Our men’s swimming and diving team finished ninth in the NCAA Championship, which is their best finish of all-time. During that championship, Marcelo Acosta earned All-America honors, so special accommodation to him. Our women’s swimming and diving team finished fifth in the country. I will note that Mallory Comerford swam the second fastest 200 freestyle in history, as she won her second NCAA championship, so truly an amazing achievement for her. But there’s more, our women’s team has now earned a coveted spot in the Final Four this week in Columbus, . And just two days ago, with many of you present, I had the distinct honor to introduce our new athletics director, Vincent Tyra, who will lead our program into the future. Vince took the reins of one of America’s best athletic programs. One that is committed to top performance both on and off the court. Through his work as interim athletic director, he has shown that he will continue to push for that level of excellence. Today’s announcement only confirms this commitment we as Cardinals have, as we welcome individuals the caliber of Vince Tyra and to our program. We are sending a clear message to our fans in Louisville and across the country that we are determined to maintain and enhance our stature among the nation’s elite programs. It’s no secret to anyone that coach Chris Mack has been considered one of the finest coaches in the America. It’s also not surprising that it was no small task to pry him away from his alma mater, a school that he loves and a community that had embraced him. It was going to take a special situation, a special place to get him to believe, and despite our recent issues in the Louisville community, the University of Louisville is in fact a very special place. Before I turn our program over to Vince, I want to personally welcome coach Chris Mack and his family to the University of Louisville. And to Christi Mack, a graduate of Holy Cross High School, I want to add welcome home. We are so pleased to have both of you and your lovely children join our Cardinal family, and there’s one we don’t want to lose. As I said, getting coach Mack to leave his previous position was no small task. It took a great effort, a little luck, and the right person to make this happen. Vince Tyra is the right person. Vince promised that he was going to find an elite coach to lead the Cardinals into the future and I think today we can all agree that he fulfilled that promise. With that, our athletic director, Vince Tyra.”

Louisville Athletic Director Vince Tyra “This is what makes it fun. Chris brings his family here today and it makes it enjoyable. Obviously, I've gotten the chance to meet the family and the kids, but making them a part of this is special for him and certainly special for us as we get to know him. Welcome to the future of Louisville Cardinal Basketball right here; this is our family. Today is certainly a new day for us and a brighter day and we're excited to have Chris and his family join us and I'm certainly excited to introduce him. I don't have to introduce Christi to the city, but I really don't feel that I have to introduce Chris to our program and he certainly knows that. I think that us having the kids here, Hailee, Lainee, and wherever Brayden is now, he’s probably searching something out, we welcome you and we're certainly glad to have you here and you're going to get a warm reception while you are here everyday for the rest of your career while you are here and when you retire here. I'm also equally excited about all that their family brings to our basketball program, the athletic department, and our community. When I think about this, the university, the community, this is what we want; this is what we explained to our board of trustees, this is a family that fits. Chris is a coach that fits what we want and there’s a number of reasons why and I’ll get to those but we’re terribly excited to have him here. Chris knows basketball and has excelled in his career both as a player and as a coach. He’s worked his way through this from coaching high school girls basketball to where he is today to be introduced as head coach of an elite basketball program here at the University of Louisville. His nine years as head coach at Xavier produced terrific success. His 215 wins are the 11th most in the NCAA of any coach in their first nine seasons of coaching. He joins the ranks with the likes of Roy Williams, , , , and one of our own . His most recent team achieved a record of 29-6, won the , and was awarded the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. We now have the No. 1 seed [coach] in both women and men’s basketball at the University of Louisville. Chris has been honored with the 2018 Big East Coach of The Year, the NABC District 5 Coach of the Year and became the all-time wins leader in Musketeer history. This year’s team finished No. 3 in the AP Polls, so we got to see quite a bit of him on ESPN and other channels throughout the year. But also in 2016, Chris won the Award for the US Basketball Association as National Coach of the Year, when his team received the No. 2 seed for the NCAA tourney and was ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll. Chris has guided Xavier to NCAA Sweet 16 or better in four of his nine years as head coach. I think he fits at a number of things that we looked at in terms of the criteria when we were in search of somebody the key criteria not only to honor our past but embraces our future. He hit on many of these points, if not all of them. We had criteria to meet on and off the court, the person has to want to be here and here only. This person has to love everything that the city of Louisville and that the University of Louisville represents and has to offer. This person has to become a key part of our community going forward. This person has to represent the highest of integrity in athletics and in life. This person has to be competitive and a proven winner; you get where I’m going with this. This person has to attract talent to not only fill the scholarships but to fill the staff position. This person has to respect our legacy of winning basketball and those that played a role in our success and thank you, many of you are here today, and I know that Chris appreciates that. We have like feelings about the legacy of this program. This person has to be comfortable with high expectations to include replacing two lost banners with new ones. We both agree on this. This person has to have all of these qualities and that person is sitting on the stage today. I'm going to give him a treat that matches my history with his, which is what we do in this town [hands Mack a Louisville Slugger baseball bat]. Cards fans, please join me in welcoming our next men’s head basketball coach at the University of Louisville, Mr. Chris Mack.”

Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack “I want to thank Dr. Postel and Vince (Tyra), for allowing me to be your head coach. This is an awesome and exciting day for me and my family, and it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. I’m not going to make a lot of promises today. The one thing I’ll promise is that you’re going to get my best -- my very best. I’m standing here before you, representing a school that’s had two permanent head basketball coaches since 1961. I don’t take that lightly. We have two Hall of Fame coaches, multiple Final Fours, multiple national championships, multiple All-Americans, some are here today and I appreciate that. For coach (Denny) Crum to be here - I’ve got to share a funny story about coach Crum. I don’t know how funny you’ll think this is after I tell the story. My first year in , as the director of basketball operations, was at Xavier. My very first road trip was the Great Alaska Shootout in 1999. We played Louisville in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout. During that time, they still do it today - you guys did it - they use experimental rules. I’m the director of basketball operations, and one of the experimental rules, they wanted to see if it worked or not, was when you reached the seventh foul and your team was the one that got fouled, you could elect to take the basketball out on the side versus having to shoot the free throws. With about 30 seconds left, and I’ll apologize, I know you know your history a heck of a lot better than I do, but with about 30 seconds to go in the game, Xavier gets fouled and we’re up two points. I looked at coach (Skip) Prosser, God rest his soul, ‘Coach, we should take the ball out of bounds.’ So we took the ball out of bounds. Coach Crum sort of looked down at our bench, ball got inbounded and Louisville fouled again. Twenty-four seconds left on the game clock, ‘Coach Prosser, we should inbound the ball and not shoot the free throws.’ We did that seven-straight times. The game ended with us never shooting free throws, Coach Crum going to the post-game press conference and saying, ‘If that experimental rule ever comes into play,’ and you can probably guess the rest. Coach, I apologize for us beating you that day.”

“Obviously, Coach (Rick) Pitino, Hall of Fame coach as well, he’s been awesome to me. He’s certainly implemented a style all unique. He’s one of the best to ever coach, both the college and the pro game, and I have big shoes to fill. As I said before, I’m going to do my best. I want to thank the community of Xavier for believing in me in 2009, specifically Father Graham, our president. Mike Bobinski, who’s now Purdue’s athletic director, who had the guts to hire me. And then Greg Christopher, the AD that I just left, who kept me around. I told my players, it’s not easy. Twenty-four hours ago, I was in the locker room with a lot of tears, both from the players that I coached and the guy standing before you. To leave a situation that I gave my heart, two ACLs, a patella tendon, a lot of memories, to come to Louisville, obviously this place has to be special to me, and it is. I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize David Padgett. I talked to David earlier this morning, and I can’t imagine the yeoman task that he had to face just days before the season started. To keep this group together, and maybe they didn’t experience the results necessarily that they wanted to or expected to at the beginning of the year, but he did it with class, he did it with integrity, and he did it with putting players first.”

“To our current players, I told these guys about a half hour ago, and I think a couple of them will start shaking their heads. I recruited about half of them, and if they wouldn’t come to me at Xavier, I told them, ‘You’re stuck with me, I’m going to come to you.’ There will be no, ‘Those are Pitino’s guys versus Mack’s guys.’ I chose this group; you guys are my guys. I’m going to work hard every single day to make you better, to make us better, to make Louisville basketball better. Earlier on, I talked to them about meeting a high standard. I see my job as the head coach of keeping that standard high, and not lowering the standard when it’s not met. It’s not going to be easy. I want our team and our players to be tough together and unbreakable.”

“To the former players here at Louisville, this is your program. You built it. I know what that’s like. I did the same thing, although my brick would probably be a lot smaller up the road at Xavier. I want each of you all to know, there are no different eras. This Louisville basketball and you were a big part, the part, of making it what it is today. From afar, I’ve admired so many of you over the years. I hate recognizing individuals because I’m going to leave some out, but I will recognize one guy that I know is not here because I would probably see him above the crowd. Man, what really started to turn me on when I was a kid about Louisville basketball was Never Nervous Pervis. Dr. Dunkenstein, I better stop because there’s a lot of guys in this room. I want you guys all to know that you’re always welcome. You don’t need an invitation because that’s what this is, to stop in at practice, to come to a game. At some point, when my wife picks out our house, you’ll all be welcome over there as well. To the Louisville fans, Card Nation and all the people in this community that supported this program for so many years, I know these past few months have been unbelievably difficult. They say the darkest clouds elicit the brightest lightning bolts. That lightning bolt is coming. It’s not me, it’s those guys. It’s time to turn the page and start building something special once again. I urge you, fill the Yum!, give these guys a chance, let’s get this place rocking. I want you to take pride in your city, in your team, and again, my promise won't come in wins and it won’t come in banners, it’ll come in the sense that I will work my ass off every single day to make you proud of Louisville basketball.”

“These people I brought with me, coaching at times can make you an absentee husband, and an absentee dad at times. You see me, I’ll try to blend, I don’t try to balance, I try to blend my family life with my professional life. First to Christi; did you guys know she’s from Louisville? My rock, my best friend. She bleeds Cardinal red. I want you to know that’s not the reason I took the job. Thanks, babe.”

“To my girls, Lainee, my oldest, you want to stand up real quick? I call her Lainee-bug, you can sit down now Lainee. I want you guys to know she’s going to cry every game we lose. And when you're getting into your teen years with your daughter, you don’t want them crying, so trust me, let’s not lose. She's invested. When we walked off the floor at Xavier the other day against a very good Florida State team, maybe the toughest loss I’ve ever had with a team that I was so invested in, and she couldn't stop crying, well after our guys stopped crying in the locker room and that’s how our family rolls. Hailee, want to stand up? This is my crazy, competitive, heart of gold middle child. Hailee you can sit back down. She’ll be the one that’s dancing at games and loving Louisville basketball like we all do. Brayden around? I told our guys, with Brayden, get ready. I don’t think Louisville is ready for Brayden Mack. If the band director is here, Brayden will be super excited because every game I watch on my computer when I’m watching film at night, he comes over, he starts staring at my computer screen, he says, 'Daddy, where are the instruments?' So Brayden, I think they have a band here at Louisville.”

“My mom and dad, who are here as well, Tom and Bonnie. Forever grateful for their love and support. Just like a lot of you who played youth sports, my dad was my coach, gave me a lot of life lessons that had nothing to do with X’s and O’s. One of the lessons I’ll never forget: I was a soccer player, wasn't a very good one, but I was a soccer player. And we had played a particular team and tied, and the other team’s terrible. I apologize, Groesbeck, they were terrible. We tie the game and as the final seconds are being counted down in my head because you had the guys recite, ‘Two minutes, one minute.’ I knew the game was going to end in a tie and just as it ended in a tie, I picked up the ball, teams were going to shake hands, and I punted it as hard as I could up in the air and before the ball landed. My dad grab the back of my arm and very forcefully said, ‘Get in the car, bub.’ He taught me a lot about sportsmanship, playing to win, shaking the other guys hand after the game when you don’t. Thank you.”

“And then my wife’s parents, Danny and Debbie, who have been unbelievable supporters of mine and done everything that they can to be at every one of our games and made their commute a little bit easier, rather than coming to the Cintas. And just for the record, they don’t have season tickets to Louisville basketball.”

“I want you to know a little bit of who I am, and why I’m here, but I also want to make it very clear, and I told our players, it’s not about me. It won’t be about me, it’s about them. When I went with to Wake Forest, we had , we were the No. 1 team in the country and after my third year of an assistant coach at Wake Forest, I left the ACC and I went back to Xavier and I took a pay cut. I went from Wake Forest, as a third assistant, to Xavier as an assistant and I took a pay cut. And there were a lot of people, a lot of colleagues of mine that said, ‘Man, he’s crazy, why would you leave what was arguably the No. 1 preseason team in the country to go back to Xavier?’ But I did it for different reasons and I did it because I followed my heart. When I went back to Xavier five years later, I was named the head coach at my alma mater. It’s been an awesome ride for nine years. Lots of head coaching jobs over those nine years have presented themselves. And if I had listed those out, some were very, very public at times and there were a lot of people who said, ‘Why wouldn't he go there? He’s crazy.’ So when people say, ‘Why Louisville? He’s crazy.’ I’m never afraid of a challenge. I’m never afraid of a challenge. I’ve faced so much adversity during my playing years. I shared a little bit with these guys. I started both years at the University of Evansville. I left, I transferred, I sat out that tough year that Steven Enoch sat out last year where you practice with the team, you don’t get to wear a uniform, you have to sit out. And then my first exhibition game, the first year I am eligible at Xavier, I blow out my left knee eight seconds into the first exhibition game. So I sat out the entire year, two years in a row. So I’m getting excited for my fifth and final year, rehabbing like a son of a gun. And in the Summer League after I got released, I tore my other ACL. And that personal experience was maybe the toughest I ever had to go through both as a player and as a person. And I didn't know it then, but I know it now, I’m not afraid of adversity. It’s going to hit; it’s how you handle it. I learned during that time, thankfully, because Coach Prosser gave me a book after my second ACL, that tough times don’t last, tough people do. And I want to carry that with me for the rest of my life. I told these guys here, this is my final stop. You'll never see Coach Mack coach at another university, or NBA team, high school team. I mean for a second there, with the Board not getting everything in check, I thought I was going to have to be Mike Szabo’s assistant at Trinity. As I stand before you as your head coach, I can’t wait to get started with these guys. It’s going to be a players-first program, and with that I’ll take any questions that you have.”

(How difficult and when did you know that you were going to do this?) “I think anytime you make a life decision, it’s difficult. I will tell you my decision-making always comes from my heart. Everybody makes those decisions in life, either small ones or big ones, and what works for different people doesn’t always work for others. If I go shopping for a car, I only go to one lot. I’m looking at the car. That’s what I’m getting and I don’t care what happened in the past. I just know. It’s not worth my time going to another lot and compare prices and so with this was a very, very tough decision, but inside I knew it was the right decision and I made it.”

(When you look at the program, what are some general thoughts you see and some of the challenges in terms of future?) It’s not my job to be the guy that looks backward. I wasn’t here when a lot of the things transpired and written about and I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t believe if this place could shine once again. A lot of people have taken the to time to write all the different stories and I’m not naive enough to think that won’t continue, but my job isn’t to look back, it’s to look forward and I am excited about that. If I thought it was too overwhelming to do so, then I wouldn’t have come.”

(Has coach Pitino reached out to you at all and did that elevate some concerns?) “I reached out to coach. I talked to him twice. He has was been awesome. He had nothing, but great things to say about the city of Louisville, Louisville basketball, the players he recruited here and his support of me.”

(Question inaudible: On the KFC Yum! ) “You can probably tell me a lot more about the building. I was here for the Eric Church concert. Pretty good time. I’ll tell a story here. So my brother-in-law, Danny, I’m always getting him tickets to Xavier games, and every time he comes to a Xavier game, he is in the front row. He’s got like three or four places away. Sometimes we get a suite. Whatever Danny needs, he gets. So he hits me and says he wants to return the favor. He said, ‘I’m buying some Eric Church tickets.’ I said that would be awesome. I got here and we were in section 497. I couldn’t tell if it was country music or rap music, but this building is special; the team in it is more special. My hope is next December, next November, this place is rocking.”

(What can the Cardinal fan base expect to see from a Chris Mack coached team?) “Well, I think if you asked people around the country that watch college basketball, I’d like to think they think teams are tough both physically and mentally, and as I said before I want our team to be tough together and unbreakable. Over time, they will learn our system. They will learn our terminology. They will learn our personalities. By the way, we coaches will do the exact same for our players, but I think to sort of put it in a nutshell, I would say tough together and unbreakable is how I want my team to be.”

(During your time at Xavier it seemed like you reached out to the fanbase and want to kind of be visible with you and your family?) “I’m just going to be me. I don’t know of any other way. I know the spotlight is brighter. I know the attention comes from more people. I want the attention to be on our players. I’m not going to lose who I am because I have to genuine in order to lead these guys and so somebody said the other day to me, ‘You are going to place with a lot of names, a lot of connotation.’ I just looked at him and said this, ‘I’m going to be me. I’m not going to post on Twitter more than I did before. I’m not going to become more elusive. After games, I’m going to go out to eat. I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m going to do it.’ That’s the only way I know how. I’m going to be me.”

(About the FBI situation. Were you told in the interview process? Does that detour you at all?) “I was told enough, but I also say that everyone in here and anyone in the entire country doesn’t have their hands around what is going to happen. A lot of people, a lot of programs have been touched and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. If it were a situation that scared me off, then I would have said something to Vince (Tyra). He was very open and forthright in his dealings with the NCAA and what happened with the FBI and again we will deal with it. Anything that comes our way and we will not be afraid of it.”

(There hasn’t been much time at this point yet, but how much do you know about the team that you have inherited?) “Well, I have known a lot. I have tried to over last three or four days to watch as much film as I can. A company called Synergy, you can watch anything you want and I recruited these guys a lot out of high school. Certainty how you played in high school. It’s a tougher job, a tougher responsibility at the college level, but I know a lot. I am certainly not planning to know everything. I don’t know all of the answers, but that’s what building a relationship is about. My job is to push these guys and find out what their dreams and goal are and try to get them to that. I want them to know what my dreams and goals are, which is why I came to the University of Louisville.”

(Coach Mack, I was actually on the court in ’99 and missed a steal when you called that play so I appreciate the coaching staff. How close are you to having a whole staff right now?) “I think there is a little bit of things that have to be played out a little bit back at Xavier. You know I brought with me today, Luke Murray, Mike Pegues, and I full intend to bring on full time assistances here. They are in the back of the room. Those guys have been with me every step of the way. has been my associate head coach at Xavier for the last nine seasons. He’s a candidate as my replacement at Xavier and I think he would do an incredible job at Xavier. So, whether Travis ends up being the head coach at Xavier, that will obviously has some ramifications from my side. Certainty support staff I’m going to talk here to represent Louisville the right way a couple of years or however long side of these guys that have been here years and years, but I am going to do them right as well as Vince. But with all that I have to be comfortable just like any CEO would and that’s what you are as a head basketball coach in 2018. You have to be very comfortable with the people represent me. That work with me, that work with our players and you all as the University of Louisville.”

(What do you hope to accomplish here?) “Oh wow. That’s a big question. A lot. You know the first thing we can do is work to accomplish a good relationship as we can with-out players. We are going to set up individual meetings starting next week and be on the phone with a lot of those guys as will my staff. Talk to their parents and make sure the roster will be about of vision for the program and it may not match up. I told those guys not to lower our standards and if they want to be a part of it. I certainly want them to be a part of it. Why they chose Louisville is probably the exact same reason why I chose Louisville --- outside of Coach Pitino. Along with that obviously hiring a staff, coaching staff those will be my main focus. Not only over the next couple of weeks, but over the next few months.”

(Coach, you seemed to genuinely enjoy the rivalry process there in and Xavier, what comes to mind when you think of stepping into the Kentucky rivalry, and of course, the rivalries in the ACC?) “Yeah, I can’t wait. There’s something about those types of games that gets your juices flowing. I know many people in this city can’t appreciate the Cincinnati-Xavier rivalry. I see some of my local media from Cincinnati. The schools are separated by two and a half, three mile, and have had a history of some incredible games and some incredible battles. I love being a part of that, both as a player and as a coach. I’m not naïve enough to think that the UK-Louisville game isn’t one of the best in the country. All eyes, usually around Christmastime—I’m usually sitting in my in-laws’ house over in Shepherdsville, watching the game because it’s during our Christmas break. I’m excited, but our season won’t be one game, but you can sure as bet we’ll be ready to go next year at the Yum!”

(Coach, you were talking about your early weeks on the job. How is being here change your recruiting approach, in terms of type of players that you go after, and how much broader is it now?) “We went after a number of the guys that ended up here, so I don’t know how much of a profile we’ll change in terms of type of player, type of student-athlete that we want here at Louisville. Just think we’ll be able to get a few more of them than maybe we had in past years. I want guys that are very versatile, want players who are competitive, tough, and embody some of the characteristics I talked about before that I want our team to resemble. But, I’m not naïve. It will take a special person, a special family, to believe in this place just like I did. I think there will be a lot of families of student-athletes, prospective student-athletes out there.”

(Coach, what is your vision for our student section moving forward? Do you have any plans to work with students here to further build a culture?) “Absolutely. I’d be foolish, Jason, to sort of give you a plan in my first hour on the job. It’s their team. They go to the University of Louisville. They’re going to remember those four years, some of them five, for a few of them, six. They’re going to remember that through time— coming over to the Yum!, rooting for their Cardinals. So, I want it to be memorable. I want them to make that 10-minute journey. I want them to pack the Yum! I want them to feel a special sense of pride about their university and that’s what we’re going to work every single day to do. Whether I have to storm dorms or have pep rallies, I’m not scared to do that stuff.”

(How long have you thought about being the Louisville basketball coach? And in the past, when did it click for you to take the job?) “When I was asked. I’ve always had a fondness for Louisville basketball. I don’t think that’s a secret. At the same time, my heart’s been at Xavier ever since I was a player. So, I wasn’t auditioning, reaching out for other jobs—I never would do that. When the opportunity came, I felt like it wasn’t one I could pass up.”

(Chris, in years past, have you ever been contacted about this job before? Where did that fondness for this program come from?) “No, because the job wasn’t open. I think Coach Crum retired right around the beginning of the 2000s, and I wouldn’t have been coaching then, so no. I said it—watching those teams. I had the opportunity as a player, senior in college, to lose a heartbreaker at Freedom Hall. Should’ve got two, Coach. We had Brian Grant, Aaron Williams. The support, the arena, obviously it’s a different arena now. The names of the past: Milt Wagner, DeJuan Wheat. I can go on and on, Clifford Rozier. It’s one of the best—Charlie Tyra. (laughter) Black and white TV at that time, Vince. I just have always had a fondness for Louisville basketball. I appreciate good basketball, it’s not I don’t have a fondness for other programs. Then obviously, when Christi and I got married, our wedding was here, our reception was over in New Albany, I got to know the place even more. I’ve always felt really comfortable, and when I was asked to be the head coach at Louisville, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

(Chris, you have recruited the state of Kentucky, specifically this area fairly well at Xavier. Talk about trying to not let kids get out of the state and the approach to that. Second question, have you and the girls done any new rap moves?) “Easy, Jody. 502 Crew—we always want to start within our own city. We always want to be able to recruit high school players in the area that bleed Cardinal red. From that point on, we try to recruit in our bread basket, which is a five-hour drive. The NCAA rules, the way they are, when a high school prospect is a freshman or sophomore, you can’t pay for his flight. The ability to get to California and see a kid and come back—there’s a lot of schools between California and here. So we want to be as good as we can in our bread basket, establish relationships early with the student-athlete and their folks, their people—get them to a game at the Yum! Then, as time goes on, you want to be able to reel them in and make them a part of this thing. But, we’re always going to start with our home base first, the city of Louisville; obviously, , Cincinnati are some major cities within an hour and a half. Then, we’ll just keep branching out. I recognize that Louisville has an awesome national brand. Maybe it needs to be polished right about now, and we’re not afraid to do that. But we’re going to hit some areas that we have when I was the head coach at Xavier, with my staff that has their footprint in areas.”

(You made reference to dark clouds hovering over this program. The same could probably be said for the sport itself, college basketball. What kind of reforms do you want to see come out of Condoleezza Rice’s commission and what level of corruption do you see in the sport?) “That’s a question I can answer for a long, long time. I don’t know if I’m smart enough to articulate all the things, and also, have the ability to follow through with the things that need to be changed. I talked to my parents weeks ago about how Europe does it. Club teams—they don’t necessarily tie into education with athletics, but we’re way beyond that point. So I don’t have a great answer for you. I do think there has to be some type of representative, representation for athletes earlier on because sometimes, as players get to our level, they’ve been dealing with agents or talking to agents since they were 12 or 13 years old. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I think that would be a start.”

(How vital was it for you to have a full-time AD, whether it was Vince or somebody else?) “It’s huge. Nobody wants to go to a place that’s on shaky foundation. Spending the time that I did with Vince on Saturday, which, by the way, was a long time. He said three or four hours, then, it turned into eight or nine. It was worth it. You promised to make Hailee’s volleyball match. I got to the last one. I feel like this place is special and you need that stability, and I have it with Vince. He’s awfully smart. He hasn’t necessarily worked in athletics, but also I think smart people understand where they have to grow as well. Our vision was the same. He bleeds Cardinal Red, I know that. He has a love for this place, the community and the university, and that’s what you want. You want synergy with the guy you’re going to be going to battle with every single day. I have that with Vince.”

(Chris, correct me if I’m wrong, you played for , you coached with, Skip Prosser, Sean Miller. Who’s the guy, if you’re making a decision, you think what would he do here?) “All of them. I think you’re the experiences of everyone you played for, that you coached with. I think a lot of time, head coaches, they tend to talk to other head coaches around the country. ‘Hey, what would you do in this situation?’ I lean on my staff because no one truly understands the dynamic of the team that you’re dealing with more than the assistant coaches and the staff you have in place. I could ask if a fellow head coach, ‘Hey, what would be best for Jordan Nwora?’ He doesn’t know, he’s never coached him; he doesn’t know what his deficiencies are, what his strengths are, what his personality is. So I want to make sure the people I lean on every single day are the people that I coach with. That doesn’t mean I have influences, but when it comes to advice and talking things over, I try to lean on my own.”