for it'll have some players we just hav heard hey debie they give you more stats okay today's Le for e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e those working in the media work room we've uh just um heard that Duke has left its locker room and the Blue Devils will be here in just a bit if you're covering Duke they are on the way uh the uh south regional all tournament team you may have heard this but if not uh Kyle Philip palski from duke and Jared McCain from duke Tyler Kik from Marquette DJ Burns Jr f
rom NC State DJ horn from NC State and the most outstanding player is DJ burn Jr hey [Music] coach okay we are now joined by the Duke Blue Devils coach John Shire and his student athletes Jared McCain and Jeremy roach um let's take one question for coach and then go to questions for our student athletes who wants to be first I think we have one on the left side on the inside aisle coach Skyler Dixon with the AP John if you could just start kind of an assessment of today what you thought maybe we
nt wrong in the second half to allow NC State to take control yeah well um first of all look this is uh this is really tough this is not easy and and uh congratulations teny State you know they they earned the the win and uh you know I thought in the first half we played great defense you know they only scored 21 points but uh we never had a rhythm on offense and um never and so in the second half they started to score more and uh our offense just we uh it's probably the most disjointed game tha
t we've had all year you know it's it really was I mean you I know that's the biggest differential we've been in every single game this year and uh that one at the end was you know we're just trying to make it a couple possession game so it's really tough um you got to give them credit for some of the shots they made and all that uh but I could not be more proud of this group and this team you know we did this year differently we we didn't have a transfer you know we had uh Four Freshmen we had
three uh five sophomores uh you know this group every time we play Bad lost they always responded and came back and you know part of the burden of wearing the Jersey is the criticism that comes with that and part of the amazing part about wearing this jersey is um where all the people that stick with you through those moments you know I'll never forget the people that messaged me messaged these guys our team in that moment after losing to Carolina NC State backto back games because those are the
ones you know that are really with you that kept believing kept supporting I'm I'm I know these guys are hurting and disappointed that we can't couldn't get it that we couldn't go to the final four and go to Phoenix for us most importantly but but also for those people and so it's it's disappointing it's uh it's it's uh I feel for these guys but I'm thankful for them for everything they've done for our program and for Duke they've been awesome to coach so I'll let you guys ask these guys questi
ons okay thank you coach let's go to uh Jared and Jeremy at the moment if you're listening on zoom and want to ask a question please use the uh raise hand feature and we'll try to get you on toward the end uh guys your first question will come on the aisle toward the front um run and jindel du Chronicle coach mentioned you know the offense and the disc um discombobulated nature there what do you think went wrong offensively and did state do anything in particular that made it tough for you guys
to execute and run your sets uh I mean just give credit to State um they're on a hell of a run right now but uh I think just them switching and stuff like that um us not moving it side to side getting to Second side and stuff uh it was kind of sticking um I mean that's what happens when people switch um but I mean just give credit to them uh we weren't us today um yeah I mean when they when they were switching and stuff like that uh kind of took us out of our flow of our offense and our routine
and stuff like that so um just give credit to them there uh yeah it was it was a switch in um we just got stagnant after a while after we switched in they were just um we didn't have nothing to attack we just that was that was it toward the back in the middle Sydney Staples d210 Sports um Jeremy what has this specific Duke team meant to you over your career as a Blue Devil um they me everything to me um I love these boys um love the coaching staff especially sh out shs and he's he's in he's had
confidence in me since since day one he that he took the job and I can't I can't I can't thank him enough um but just this group was special um as young as young as we are uh just the ups and downs of the season um they just kept fighting just fighting for my my senior year they made my senior year special um and like coach said a lot of people would have folded after the after the UNC and and the NC State lost but we kept fighting we kept going we kept this this group is so resilient so I mean
I can't thank them enough and these will be my brothers for the rest of my life okay here on the left again Jeremy a little bit more on Coach Shire there everybody knows what he signed up for when he took the job how do you think he's navigated that over these two years and and what's kind of your big picture view of where the program is I mean the program is I mean right where where it left off I mean we've been top ATT in the country for both both years I mean we've been got to Elite eight thi
s year um but like people don't know how hard this job is that uh people don't know how hard this job is that I mean you taking over after the goat like like that's not that's not easy work so I mean just give credit to him he's always instilling confidence in us every day um whether we're messing up or not like he's he just always has that strong face and then like a lot of people would have fold in his situation and like all the all the criticism that that that people say I mean it's unaccepta
ble like there's no reason there's no reason for that um like if if somebody wanted to do like try try doing this job and let see how easy it is and stuff so um I mean just give credit to coach sh I mean I'm going love him I love him I think we now will'll move to the far back on the right Matt Giles Blue Devil country um Jared you've had a memorable impact here on this program in a very short time can you just talk a little bit about what Duke has meant to you and what this team has meant to yo
u coming here all the way across the country yeah I mean um it's meant uh everything to me uh to come here for for Coach to believe in me um for my teammates to believe in me um especially in the beginning of the year when I felt like you know I couldn't get things going as a freshman um they instill confidence in me uh especially him right here any other questions for uh our student athletes I don't see any hands and one on Zoom okay guys we'll let you return to the locker room I know there's g
oing to be some uh media there to see you thanks for being with us in north Texas this week and congratulations on a really terrific season we enjoyed having you questions for Coach shy now I think we have one by the curtain if we can get the microphone over there Conor O'Neal with Devil's Illustrated John when they got rolling in the second half I I know asking you to second guess it 20 minutes after the fact is a tough deal but what could have gone differently to get them out of an offensive R
hythm well I have to go back and watch the film for sure um but I thought it was our offense that hurt our defense you know I mean we just it gives a team especially these guys it gives them life when you miss an open three you get the rebound and then you throw it to them for a fast break or you you know give them run outs and uh the whole game changes so for me it's it really our defense was a product of our offense and um that was a start and uh you know look with with Burns and Horn they're
obviously they they've done this a lot to other people but you can't let both of them get going and you know Burns we could live with to a certain extent although I still think some of those it's again he got laate and all that but again he hurt us no question um but we couldn't let horn get going also and I think there are some breakdowns there that I'll have to go back and watch and see but that was uh you can't both get going other questions for Coach okay here on the inside aisle left side J
ohn you know what the standard is here and you know twice you've tried to get to the final four haven't gotten there yet what's your view of of where things are and uh and and how this job has stacked up for you and what have these two years been like yeah to be honest with you I'm not thinking about my job in these two years I'm thinking about the fact that this group just came back after having a tough ACC tournament loss and have played their hearts out in three tournament games and they're w
inning at halftime and they're heartbroken after the game because it didn't go the way they wanted to I'm thinking about these guys you know where where's our program at I think our program could be in a stronger place just we're just 20 minutes away from going to a final four this in our second year and uh you know I don't shy away from our expectations or what we want to do but for me that's not the way I'm thinking at all I'm just hurting for these guys right now that's tough loss I've always
used the motivation in my time at Duke from the things that happened some of the most heartbreaking moments in my career have happened at Duke we didn't go to a sweet 16 until my junior year we didn't go to a final four National Championship until my senior year you have to continue like culture is the hardest thing to have and to build and you're doing it now with we did this with a fresh group we had Jeremy roach and Jaylen Blakes I'm so proud of these guys like what Jared McCain has done as
a freshman in the NCAA tournament is special and we'll have to regroup and figure out who you have coming back and coming in and all that stuff but for me I could be more confident in where this thing is heading and what we're doing so but that's not where my mind is at in the least bit okay we we will stay on coaches left on the aisle coach you guys you know dealt with a lot of adversity especially with injuries throughout the season could you just talk about how your team has you know stepped
up and responded whenever their number has been called throughout the year especially with a lot of those those injuries well well to be honest with you I don't think that's talked about right I mean it's for us it's you need to be a little fortunate with some things and look that's part of the game you know like that's that's the way it is you have to have that's why you have a team that's why you need other guys to step up uh happened in Houston last game that's how it goes we've played the wh
ole postseason without Caleb Foster who's been a key guy for us you know last year in the tournament was without Mark and so you know obviously that's uh hurt our continuity no question but that's no excuses like that's part of it and you know we have to continue to you know have a team where if somebody goes down we can step up which these guys did you know I thought our back court was terrific the whole year even stepping up without Caleb Jaylen Blakes the minutes that he gave us um but contin
uity is important and we'll have to figure out how to do that better next year closing questions now for Coach shy extreme ride by the curtain Adam Row The Devil's Den um coach I know you said it's tough for you to kind of take a step back and look big picture after a game like this but you guys were the only team that didn't have a transfer in and out um this last year in the age of the transfer portal um we love result like this or how things went this season will that will that impact the way
you look to build the roster going forward um instead of going heavy on the recruiting Trail maybe look for some guys to the portal again I'm not there you know right now but I I'll tell you it's I'm proud of how we've done it in a unique way and just because you do something this way this year I mean look that's not going to happen for next year there's just no way like it's there's too much it's been such a blessing coaching basketball games and every day you see hundreds of kids go in the tr
ansfer portal and that's just the world we live in we're excuse me we're going to continue to adapt and adjust with all that but you're always looking for balance and when you have our team this year when you have a filipowski when you have a Mitchell a proctor those guys come back well you always want to build from within if you can and so getting those guys returning where you have a relationship you've been through some battles together there's always value in that but uh you know again I'm n
ot going to give you any big answers on what we're going to do this offseason or next year we're just we have to digest this loss first which will take some time like this is we we've experienced this postseason some of the the beauty of the tournament and this is the Heartbreak of it and that's uh we have to figure out why all right coach thank you so much congratulations on a terrific season thanks for being with us you got enough box scores out yeah oh hey this one he just wants to to flip it
over yeah should have brought right thanks guys apprciate [Music] it um NC States on its way they have arrived okay okay yes NC state has arrived backstage and we'll be up on the day in just a bit um a couple of reminders for you as we wait for the Wolfpack to join us recording press conferences on cell phones or cameras are is prohibited please access the NCAA digital media hub to obtain video content okay and also don't forget the locker rooms are open congratulations okay we are ready to beg
in our news conference with the uh south regional Champions the wolf pack of NC state coach Kevin Keats and Coach brought three student athletes DJ horn Michael oconnell and DJ Burns Jr we will go for an opening question for coach and then move our questions to the three guys who wants to ask coach the first question here on coach's right toward the front Chris Vine the the athletic for Coach what does it mean to do something that hasn't been done since uh Jim valano well first of all I want to
say this man God is good um the these young men um in the locker room from day one have kind of believed in everything that I've preached to them and everything that they talked about you know at the beginning of the year we talked we talked about what are your goals goal and I think to a man everyone said we want to win the ACC check uh what's your other goal is obviously you know go on and compete for a national championship and we're still alive for that opportunity uh means a lot you know I
I think you know our school deserves it um you know our players have really worked hard um the fans deserve it uh we've done a really good job um you know when I say we I mean I always say we I'm saying these young men in the locker room through all of the adversity we have went through ups and downs of winning games losing games um they never lost their faith and stay together and it it means a lot it really does and by the way um congratulations to our um women's team too for making the final
four that's really special thank you coach let's go to questions for uh DJ DJ and Michael first one for the guys on the inside aisle on your right bread free ler Saturday Road this is for Michael in particular but the other two players I'd like you to CH chime in on this as well um after the technical foul it really kind of felt like the momentum had shifted and then middle Brooks got the steal Michael you hit the three and then there was the foul how big of a uh of a response was that and how d
id you guys manage to keep your composure while all that was going on yeah I think the biggest thing was just sticking together obviously things aren't going to always go well or things are going to go wrong but for us to stick together through the tough times and even the great times it's going to be huge um obviously Ben made a great play We it would have shifted momentum pretty quickly which is definitely helped with for us to you know keep the lead and you know just keep us going DJ Burns I'
d say um a tough situations you rise to the level of your training and um our coaches well prepared us uh yeah I just pigy back off these guys um I just kind of rely on my work um trust the game plan and um you know fall back on my teammates too to help lift me up okay let's move on the right toward the front Kaboom with CBS Sports it's for DJ uh I noticed you were the first person uh from NC State's team to lead the team out of the locker room and you were literally skipping uh before the game
even started and late in the game you skipped out uh to the bench as you checked out where does DJ Burns's Joy come from uh just I don't know I guess it's how I was raised you know I was raised in happy environment and I try to take that with me everywhere I go let's move to the left now Andre Johnson making headline news DJ Burns this question is for you uh when you picked up that that second foul in the first half what what went through your mind because obviously it was early in the game and
I knew that uh everybody pretty much knew that you was getting ready to come out to to take a seat but what went through your mind it seemed like that that did something for your game at that point because he was in a complete Zone afterward well honestly I'm just I wouldn't really say I wasn't I wasn't too worried about it but um going in the halftime I just knew that um the main thing I was thinking honestly was that you know I missed a few shots towards the end so they weren't going to double
team me in the second half so I just decided that when I came back in to take advantage next question by the extreme right by the curtain Jaylen gilki WFMY News 2 in Greensboro uh just real quick fellas how cool is it to be in the final four but then also have the women's team in the final four first program to do that since 2014 Yukon they both went on to win the national championship don't want to get ahead of ourselves but was watching aah and the girls earlier today really a motivator for y
ou guys to get out there and just say we going we going to do this as a athletic and basketball program who was that for again okay let's go with DJ horn first I would just say yeah it's definitely big for our program uh seeing the girls you know have success definitely motivates us um but uh I would just say we kind of worried about our team right now and uh just trying to make the best of what we got going right now and taking it each game at a time okay let's go to zoom for our next question
okay we have a question from Dan Dan if you would unmute yourself state your name and affiliation and then proceed proceed with your question Dan Tor Tor wakeup call dt.com this is for all the student athletes just what you can say about the fact that basketball is a Brotherhood and what it's been like to be on this run with each other and to believe in each other from the inside out no matter what the outside said start with DJ Burns and then work our way back down the table I say um basketball
is a sport that just you know naturally bangs people together you know um all of my lifelong friends I'd say about 95% of them are basketball players and you know um man I still communicate with people I played Au with in eighth grade man so um basketball is just something that just always brings people together that's why we love it yeah I think building off that I think it's pretty cool that none of us played together last year and you know since the beginning of the Season we've been able to
build this chemistry and build this Bond and friendship especially off the court um and like pretty much what he said it just it just brings you together you all have a common goal and that's winning and you just want to figure out a way to do it together and I think as you trying to go through that process you just grow closer together oh yeah I definitely agree with them too um I just think that you know that's the beauty of basketball you know you can build these connections build these memo
ries and uh I just say personally I'm just glad to be doing this for my last last little basket college basketball okay let's move to the left middle of the room Sydney Staples d210 Sports um if you guys all of you players if all of you could talk to your 10-year-old self what would you tell them DJ you want DJ Burns to answer that all of them started all right well we'll go back to DJ bur DJ Burns what would you say to your 10y old St I'm I want to know that myself uh at this point I would tell
him um don't change anything man um just continue to be yourself it's going to work out generic answer CH Michael yeah I mean I was actually going to say it too just stick with the process obviously when I was younger you know there's times you didn't want to go work out or you know play sports you just want to hang out with your friends or whatever but you know my parents kept on me and make sure I was working out and just obviously I'm glad I did that it definitely helped me get here and to w
here I am to at this moment so um yeah just just stick with it and just try to enjoy enjoy it along the way I mean that's really the biggest thing and DJ and I would just tell my my 10-year-old self to just stay down and uh just understand that you know everybody has their moment and um you know it comes at different times um in different shapes and form Fashions let's move back to the right Chris Vini the athletic for all three of you guys uh what does coach Keats mean to you and and how did he
have you guys prepared for this I'll tell this one um I would say um man he um kind of you know changed the trajectory of what I had going on you know um I was up at win and you know didn't really know how this was going to play out when I put my name in that portal and um honestly I didn't even at first think I was coming here so for this is just an absolute blessing and I think that that man needs a lot more respect still yeah I mean I can for sure build off that he's he's had confidence in m
e since day one since you know he contacted me when I in the the portal and just to play for a coach like this who just you know has faith in you and you know push you to be your best every day you know when you're making mistakes he holds you accountable and then you're doing well you know comment you and keep pushing and do better so I mean it it means the world to be playing for him and you know just it makes the game so much easier when you're out there um you know I agree with everything th
ey said and uh on my little piece I would just say uh you know coach gave me an opportunity to come back home and and play basketball and uh the confidence that he instills in me every day uh allows me to go out there and do what I do and um just to know that you know all the the ups and downs we had in our season and when it it could have been easy to quit I feel like he was the main one that kind of kept us all together and kept you know the outlook on our whole season uh very positive and uh
gave us a lot of confidence going into that ACC Tournament final questions for our student athletes here on the left up front uh don dude Chronicle Michael this one's for you I'm sure that Virginia shot that buzzer beater feels like a lifetime ago but that's one of the biggest moments of this run and without that you guys may never be here can you talk about some of the individual moments that have made this really amazing run possible who was that for again I missed that Michael Michael okay Mi
chael yeah I think I think just throughout this journey you know everyone's made huge plays whether it's just in the moment it might not seem pretty big whether it's just a deflection or steel but it changes you know the trajectory of our run or the game um one one play I always look back to is his block last game off the backboard I thought that was huge and he comes down and has an n13 so [Laughter] with Coach Keats and I think our first question is going to come over on the left Isle coach Dr
ew Jackson making headline news is this by far your best coaching job you know it I've had some really good teams and you know for us I would say something about all of my teams are really special these guys are so special I think what is it nine now nine elimination games or you go home um they're tremendous you ought you ought to see us every day uh they make it easy for me to wake up every morning and come to practice and work hard with them because of who they are as personalities I would sa
y this I've learned more basketball from these guys and I learned in my entire career U because they know how to work they're great people they work hard and so you know it's hard to say if it's my best you know you'd have to ask somebody else but I I'm sure having a lot of fun with this group okay now on the other aisle Kevin I'm sure that tomorrow morning you're going to start scouting Purdue and get ready but in the moment now uh have you had a chance to pinch yourself and just kind of realiz
e what has happened over these last three weeks I haven't I mean it's I'm sitting here and I'm I'm blessed to be here and and and I'll tell you what we did we we've broken the postseason up into different segments so when we left to go to DC we said we wanted to win DC we won DC then we we went to pit we said we want to win pit and now obviously in Texas we won Texas and it is um you know it gets to a point you know when you're winning games and like the way we are where you expect to win and I
think our guys now are expecting to win and it's uh you know it's beautiful to watch like I you know our defense has been tremendous down the stretch it's been so great you know and at the beginning of the at the halftime we talked about it it was 26 to I mean 27 to 21 the difference in the game neither team was scoring they had taken um nine three I mean nine free throws we had taken three we made two they made nine and we I talked about hey if you can come out and duplicate your defense in the
second half we will find a way to score and we were great in the second half too so I mean it's a miracle run uh but we're not surprised like we don't we don't go in we didn't come into this tournament said hey let's just try to be here we came here to win it and we did so now we got to move on to our next stage okay let's go to zoom okay we have another question from Dan Dan please unmute yourself and go ahead with your question wakeup call dt.com of course Dan tortor again coach just what the
biggest blessing has been throughout this season with this team specifically as you reflect on this whole run that you've had and the journey you've had just the blessing that you've had with these student athletes I think the biggest blessing is they they've stayed true to who they are and you know obviously you know when you go through a season there going to be a lot of ups and downs um number one you got to win every type of game to advance um but there going to be some emotions like we we
started off 5 and one in our conference we lost our last four games um they're going to always be some adversity and I I you know what these guys have strung together games they've never wavered in their belief U they've stuck together um we go by our art um I talk about that all the time art TT accountability Relentless toughness and together and when things go bad we we lean on that and I mean I can't say enough about them um you you ought to see them you know the these guys are really they're
really locked in they're really um a close nnit Bunch uh the memories that they're creating are memories that's going to last a lifetime and and that's what makes it really special those are the blessings that I see okay in front of the TV Camera you me you you're close enough to the TV Camera oh I didn't know either I was like who was he yeah okay but I'll take it anyway Hey Kevin I have a couple questions I'm Adam tyer from ESPN you said a minute ago uh I you can tell your guys are now expect
ing to win H how can you tell that what tells you that and again I'll have a followup as well yeah the focus I mean you know I just you know we're it's weird because having a day in between is almost seems like it's um something wrong because we're so into what we we did in the ACC tournament you know winning five games in five days but they're locked in they understand it's like I think a couple people ask me that were you know around the team that hadn't been around the team is are you guys al
ways at loose and we are um you know these guys I've learned more new rap songs than I ever thought I could imagine but as I said the last time is you know we we mix it up now we play a lot of gospel music too which um they scream just as loud when they do that part of which I'm glad that they know those songs but it's um it's a loose Bunch um they they believe in one another they trust in one another we had some adversity in this game and it was at times you thought Duke had the momentum and we
could have you know folded a little bit but we absolutely didn't um DJ and DJ I think had 35 36 points together in the second half and you guys shot what 70 some percent in the second half anything at halftime tell you you could have that kind of offensive turnaround particularly with those two guys yeah we just we we missed a lot of chippies in the first half I mean we left a lot of things on the rim um I I I counted myself about five um you know Miss layups and my assistant coaches were losin
g I was like relax uh we're going to be fine it's not like that they're setting the world on fire offensively either and so we as I talked about we talked about defending we talked about you know staying you know to the you know to The Scouting Report and the ball will go in in the second half you know one of the things DJ DJ Burns didn't play a lot because he got got his second foul and so we knew we had a uh Advantage you know throwing the ball inside to him they decided which some teams do no
t to to double team him and obviously he shot 13 for 19 and had 29 Points almost out of time for Coach we'll take one last question on coach's right up front K with CBS Sports Uh Kevin what did you see in DJ burns when you recruited him from when they're obviously beyond the box score and how has he impacted this team because obviously 9 points tonight he's been productive but I think his impact goes maybe beyond the box score well that's that's the that's one of the better questions I've had ac
tion long time because typically I play with two forwards you know uh a b and a mo together but when DJ hit the transfer portal I was like man I'm a I got changed I mean this I mean he changed me like i' I've never thrown the ball inside as much as I have in the last couple of years um great touch um you know great footwork last year one of his issues he could pass the ball but he didn't have a great to a great assist to turnover ratio and now he's doing that um it's changed the way I look at yo
u know post guys now like it's probably only three of those in the country and I know we're going to play a really good one you know next week at some point um but I'm looking for some more guys that I can you know throw the ball inside and I now found out that I could have a mixup throwing the ball to a post guy and having guard play and so I mean tremendous person personality you know I i' I've recruited him since he was basically when he went to Tennessee out of high school and obviously when
he went into the portal we looked at everybody in the portal and we needed some size and um he fits the bill and I'm glad he's here I'm glad he's on my team I don't know how you guard him you know I'm so I'm I'm excited and I hope nobody figures that out you know okay Coach thank you so much way to congratulations it's good to be with you this week coach good luck for transcripts will be provided by uh ASAP Sports and will be posted shortly of today's news conferences and also Hammond Communica
tions will be posting a recording of this press conference in the NCAA digital media hub okay thank you for being with us we'll see you next time e e for
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