Dusty May press conference after win vs. UConn

Just, it's a surreal moment. It doesn't feel real. I mean, it still doesn't feel real because you know, you watch this as a kid and you know, I go to bed early, so staying up for one shining moment, it's been a tough task for me over the years. To see that and think back of all the years that you just want to be a part of something greater than yourselves, than yourself, and for this to come to fruition, it just, you know, it doesn't seem real.

Well, first of all, I want to, I want to thank Ward and Santa, um, for giving me this opportunity. Um, it was a low point of, of my head coaching career. There's, there's a few low points, um, and one of them was after we, we got, um, beat by Northwestern in NCAA tournament, and especially the way we did it. And he— we're on the tarmac going home and we're delayed and we don't know when we're gonna get home.

And my agent called and said, "Howard Manuel wants to meet with you at 8 AM tomorrow morning." And I felt like I did now, just exhausted. The season ends. And your body just wants to shut down, but it can't.

And I said, "I can't do it. I'm exhausted. We're gonna get home at 3 AM." And he calls back and he says, "How about noon?"

And I said, "No, I'm exhausted. Like, I've gotta process all this." And 2 minutes later, the phone rings and says, how about 5 or 6? So I said, 6 works.

And I drove down to Fort Lauderdale, had a great meeting with Howard. I believed in his vision, believed in his support. And, uh, it seems like a million moons ago, but very grateful for the opportunity that he gave me.

That's probably the best part. As a father, you want these guys to have the best experience of their life. This isn't just about winning this. It's— to be honest, I'm probably— I feel better about their experience and how much joy they got from playing this game.

I've said it repeatedly, they're playing a child's game. I'm coaching a child's game. And for the love to be taken away for whatever reason, it doesn't seem real or right. And so for those guys to share to share that joy of playing a game and being on a team is pretty rewarding.

Coach, what was the defensive plan tonight? Well, it was obviously you've got to take away the 3-point shot. We had to do a good job on Reed one-on-one because he's such a pivotal part of their offense and he's an elite screener. So not much changed from what we normally do.

When you're this late in the season, you've got to lean on your training and your habits and your connectivity. And our guys did that. They continue to cover for each other even when we make mistakes.