Head Coach Dennis Gates
Opening Statement
“I'm very thankful to walk the same sidelines as the coaches that have come before me. I actually sent a text message to each and every last one. From Norm (Stewart), to Quin (Snyder), to Frank (Haith), as well as Kim Anderson, Mike Anderson and Cuonzo (Martin). I'm very thankful for the opportunity that President Choi has given me, but also our athletic director, Desiree Reed-Francois, and her entire leadership team. Our young men came out a little bit nervous, but they got through the jitters. I did a good job of making sure I pulled guys out before they got a rhythm, so that I can see as a head coach if they can fight and get back to a rhythm. I think WashU’s program is well established in their division and they do a great job, including Coach (Pat) Juckem. Obviously our hearts go out to them and understanding what they have gone through as a program. Losing Justin Hardy had to be difficult, we know that, but I'm very thankful that they were resilient and able to play one of their first games since losing him. We tried to play as well as we could and all together and I thought we accomplished that goal.”
On getting nerves out of the way tonight versus in the season opener on Monday
“We're excited about the season opener, but I'll say this: winning is a precious thing. Coach Nutt said in the locker room winning is precious, and this is a win. In my first outing as a head coach, I lost the game. We lost against a Division II team when I was at Cleveland State. So, winning is precious. We always appreciate the opportunities to go out there and compete at the best of our abilities, and learn from wins. But we also learn in situations in the game, and that's what we got to continue to concentrate on.
On assembling the roster
“As a guy that has recruited, built programs and reconstructed programs, you have to look for personalities and those personalities have to match together. The eight core values that I have in our program is something that is a tool for me to sort of evaluate people, not just players. Friendship, love, accountability, trust, discipline, unselfishness, enthusiasm and toughness is the lens in which I see and evaluate. I wanted to see if they had those characteristics, first and foremost. What type of people they were, and what programs they come from. I think it’s important to recruit programs, not just in high school and junior college, but now the portal. You have to be able to assess the programs and teaching, but also the responsibilities guys have had in the locker room and between the lines. I'm excited about each and every last one of our guys. They have, in a healthy way, competed against each other, which is a sign that I look for, but also how they treat people. How they treat people when they don't have the spotlight on. How they treat strangers, and how they're able to galvanize a community. That's going to ultimately be what we have to do here, and we'll do it step by step. I wanted guys that weren’t afraid of the challenge that we have in getting our program back to its rightful place, and these guys have demonstrated that throughout their lives.”
Senior forward Kobe Brown
On the pregame atmosphere and nervousness
“Definitely have a lot of guys, especially like Aidan (Shaw). He’s in the locker room and we’re getting ready to go out before the clock even started ticking, and he’s got his jersey on and everything. I was like, ‘Go out there and just workout and warm up first and you get two and a half hours of the game clock to put it on.’ Just this guy’s nervous and just anxious to get out there.”
On adding muscle in the off-season
“Definitely it feels like it’s letting me move a lot quicker, a lot faster. I’m getting more rebounds. I’m able to move guys literally like to get to the boards and just get the advantage on my opponent.
Graduate guard D’Moi Hodge
On early-game nerves
“I wasn't nervous. I was thinking more anxious to be able to play against a different team. So I wouldn’t say I was nervous but I would say we’re always excited to play against somebody other than ourselves.”
