Oct. 15, 2009

Notre Dame Basketball Media Day
October 15, 2009
Purcell Pavilion – Notre Dame, Ind.

Men’s Basketball Players

Luke Harangody Senior Forward
On why he came back to Notre Dame and the things he wants to achieve this year…
“The most important thing for me was my teammates. I came back to spend another year with them and I will never be around another group of individuals like this ever again. My main component is to go into this year determined.”

On if he thinks the team is underestimated at all this year……
“Yeah, I think we definitely are. We could be picked anywhere between nine to thirteen (in the BIG EAST) but that’s okay with us. I think back to my freshman year when we were picked 11th and finished fourth in the league.”

On what he learned and how he grew up over the couple of weeks he was away at NBA tryouts…
“I think just working on my game and being around not a lot of Notre Dame people helped my leadership skills where I have to come back here and now my voice is very important to the team.”

On if any of the competition he faced while he was away was eye opening at all…
“I usually guard the center on the other team, so it’s uncharacteristic for me to guard a guy like that (Damion Jones from Texas), but I had no problem with it.”

On who he thinks from Notre Dame’s team this year will surprise people…
“I think some people have seen Ben (Hansbrough) play before but I think Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott are going to surprise a lot of people, they’re going to step into big roles this year.”

On the NBA experience he had this summer and if it affected his preparation for this season at all…
“As far as my game goes, I am going to stick to what has gotten me here. I talked to Coach Brey about this, and what I did last summer, you know there are some things I probably won’t do on the court here, but I am going to do whatever I’ve been successful with in the past.”

On losing Scott Martin…
“It’s a big deal for us. You know, Scott is a great player and you can’t sugarcoat that. When he went down, we all felt terrible for the kid and all he has gone through but he’s important for us but I think the fact that Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott are going to step into that role now I am not worried about it all.”

On what he said to Scott Martin after Scott’s injury…
“I tried to talk to him everyday and I think he is getting better every week. I’ve never been through an injury like that so I don’t know how he’s feeling exactly, especially after sitting out last year, so I can’t imagine what he is going through right now.”

On what he expects to see from Ben Hansbrough…
“I think you’re going to see a bulldog mentality from him. I mean, he and Tory (Jackson) in the backcourt are going to be very impressive and I think that’s the message we need. Ben’s (Hansbrough) a feisty player, he’ll get on you and he’ll get on opponents, he’s not afraid of anybody and he’ll go hard all the time. He does like to run his mouth a little bit but that’s what we need sometimes.”

On what he thinks of the new arena and what it will mean for homecourt advantage…
“It’s nice given the way our season went last year. I mean, now we can walk in there and forget about it. It’s going to be great to get to practice in there early tomorrow so I am excited about that. I think it will be better for homecourt advantage. The student section has been moved and there are fewer seats so it’s more enclosed so I think it’s going to get really loud in there.”

On the development Tory Jackson’s made over the past four years and him being a voice on the team…
“Ever since Tory stepped into the point guard role freshman year he’s been a voice. Coach told him he had to do it and his teammates knew he had to be a voice, so when you’re not hearing Tory’s voice, things aren’t going well. He needs to understand that and I think he does.”

On moving around on the court more this year on offense…
“This summer I got more comfortable on the perimeter, so moving around out there is going to be fine. It sounds good to me that I will be able to move out from under the basket a little bit this year. Coach Brey was actually impressed with how well I saw the court during practice. I think you will see me a little more out on the perimeter, handling the ball a little bit more, and I think Coach feels more comfortable with me out there. I’ll do whatever’s asked of me.”

On being a senior leader on the team this year and the team’s goals…
“The biggest thing for me was to come back to lead this team to an NCAA tournament. You know, me and Tory, we’re not going out empty handed. From coming off last year there’s always room for improvement this year.”

Tory Jackson Senior Guard

On Scott Martin being out for the year with a torn ACL…
“A lot of teams would go into panic mode losing a player like that, but I take it as an opportunity for other guys to step up, like we did with the situation of losing Kyle (McAlarney) right in the middle of the Big East season my freshman season. It’s an even better opportunity for those freshmen to step up and younger guys like Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott to prove themselves and to make an impact and show the rest of the team that that loss is not going to hurt us.”

Looking back is that something that you would’ve needed for someone to tell you three years ago to not panic?
“I wish someone had told me that so that I would not have had to be so nervous. I thought about it so much, right before the game when I heard. Coach did a good job of talking to me, but I figure that another player’s advice would’ve helped. It worked out well for me, though.”

How do you picture your big-picture development from a freshmen until now and then also the UCLA game last season, your struggles, and you turned it around at that point. First of all, though, big picture, what’s been your development to make that happen?
“First my maturity. I came here out of high school, and I wasn’t mature. The high school game is so different from the college game-it’s tougher, it’s quicker, it makes you think. I wasn’t able to handle that my first game coming in, but I had the guys here to guide me too. The players on the team continued to help me and things went well. I kept talking to Coach (Brey), kept talking to (assistant coach) Martin Ingelsby and learned how to become a better point guard and not just a scoring guard. The UCLA game made everything a reality check not to let my guard down.”

Now Coach (Brey) talks about you being more of a voice within the team. How have you evolved into that? How natural is it, and how much did you need to work on it?
“It’s natural to be a leader at the point-guard position, to be able to voice my opinion, to get guys in the right position, but everything developed over time.”

“We’ve really needed it so it has worked out. It wasn’t just me, but also (Luke) Harangody, Jonathan Peoples and Tim Andree, the other senior, who you haven’t heard a lot from, but he did the most for us talking to Tom Knight and pushing him. My whole team has come together, and it has carried over to the freshmen.”

Now Coach Brey has said that the game tempo is going to have to change a little where you score earlier and get back. Does that fit you?
“That’s me. The last couple of years it was creating shots for other guys, which is good, but I know when it comes to creating for myself to get a shot open, I always want to do well and develop my game.I was patient, I waited, and now I have my opportunity.”

Jonathan Peoples Senior Guard
On playing in the new Purcell Pavilion…
“It’s a new beginning. I know it’s my last year, but I’m looking forward to the new beginning. I’m just really excited to play. I can’t wait to tip off.”

On the team’s goal of making it to the NCAA Tournament…
“It’s a realistic goal. I’m really excited to play this year, and I think we already have that edge to get there.”

On his outlook of the team…
“We’ve come together quite well. I want to say that there are no flaws on the team. Everybody understands their role. We just have to put it all together.”

On his role as captain…
“Being a leader out on the court. I’m going to try to teach them about the character of the team by just being me.”

On being in better physical condition…
“Just coming into the offseason, I knew I had to lose the extra pounds to be quicker. That was my goal in order to achieve more minutes. I achieved my goals and now I’m really excited to play.”

On this year’s seniors…
“I think we’re ready. The seniors have been around each other for four years. We’re ready. This is our last year and we want to end it with a bang.”

Ben Hansbrough Senior Guard

Do you feel any more added pressure now that Scott (Martin) is not around?
“I think that we have a couple good guys that can come in and take the opportunity to step up.”

What made Notre Dame feel right for you?
“The guys. The guys on the team. I left Mississippi State and came here and had an idea of the kind of team I wanted to play for. As soon as I got to Notre Dame I knew. They’ve led the country in assists the past three years , that tells you there are a lot of unselfish players on this team.”

Who were some of the first players you hung out with?
“Zach Hillesland, Kyle McAlarney, Luke Harangody-those guys.”

Your shooting percentage actually goes up when its come to shooting tough shots, is that accurate?
“I mean, I feel like once it gets tight, you need to step up and make them count. That’s always kind of how my mentality has been.”

What is it like being a Hansbrough?
“Ah, it’s fun. I’m proud of my brother and what he has done. It’s kind of weird actually picturing him as a professional basketball player now, but it’s good and we’re very close.”

What about how when you walk into a gym and everyone knows something about you?
“It’s good. But I can say that I get a lot of bad comments. Like sometimes when I go on the road people will say something like, “you’re the worst little brother ever” but that just motivates me, so I like when people say that stuff.”

You played against each other growing up?
“Yeah we played a lot. In high school he was two years old and one grade above me.”

Who wins for one-on-one?
“I’d beat him one-on-one, because he’s a guard, and I’m bigger.”

Carleton Scott Junior Forward
On rebounding…
“I’ve got to pick it up anyway I can. We need that big rebounding presence. When we lost Rob [Kurz] that was a big hit. We need someone to fill in.”

On being able to knock down shots…
“Coach says if you got the shot you got to take it. You got to be ready for it.”

On players coming in off the bench…
“I think they’re going to surprise them a lot. Everybody’s been waiting for their minute to get on the court. Coach is giving them their chance now.”

On the benefits of sitting on the bench…
“I think it helps a lot. You get to see the pace of the game and practice everyday. Just watching the game you learn a lot about it and see how things go out there on the court so you can prepare for when it’s your time.”

On the transition to college basketball…
“The transition is hard for anyone who comes in from high school. The players, coaches, and staff talk to you everyday just to make sure your head is on straight.”

On trying to prove too much…
“I’ll stay within myself. I trust my teammates and my teammates trust me. We’re family. We work so no one tries to do too much and take over.”

Tyrone Nash Junior Guard
On his motivation for this year…
“I want to try to do whatever I can to help this team excel and get back to the tournament.”

On what the team focused on this summer…
“We emphasized free throw shooting, shooting from different spots on the floor, posting up, trying to be versatile, and do a lot of things on the court to help the team win.”

On getting the ball down low…
“The coaches told me to get in the post and take it down low. If I have a big guy on me, I need to face him up and use my quickness. I need to work on both aspects of the game, offense and defense, and rebounding. Whatever it takes to get into the game.”

On keeping fouls under control…
“I’ll be smart about it this year. I’ll still play hard. I won’t let in any easy baskets.”

On dealing with the lower expectations of the team compared to last season…
“I think as a team we play better not worrying about rankings or expectations. I feel we play better when we just go out and play basketball. We let things happen as a team. We work hard. Who knows what’s going to happen especially with this team. We plan to just concentrate on getting to the NCAA Tournament. That’s our goal this season.”

On hitting the ground running this year…
“It’s a great feeling. I just want to go out and earn my minutes. I want to do more than I did last year and just excel on the court.”

On getting his confidence back…
“This summer I really worked on getting my confidence back this year. Coach told me I needed to be ready this year. I talked to family and coaches back home who helped me get my confidence back, and once I had that I was ready to go. It was tough not being able to play last year and only given a few minutes. I didn’t lose all my confidence, but getting my confidence back has been key.”

Tim Abromaitis Junior Forward

How do you feel about not getting any time last year?
“It was a little disappointing, because I wanted to get out there last year, but right now I’m glad I did it (sat out). Last year I didn’t think I was going to be a major part of the rotation so getting that extra year to develop is something that I’m gracious to have the opportunity to have.”

Every player has something that he can rely on going into a game. What’s yours?
“A variety of things, but I know that I will always hustle and put forth my best effort.”

Is there one particular thing that you need to improve upon for the BIG EAST?
“I guess it will be easier to know when those games come, but I think I’ve worked on every aspect of the game and have gotten stronger and quicker. As a freshmen maybe defense was somewhat of a liability, but I’ve worked hard on that, and I think that it will be a strength and not a weakness now.”

Scott Martin Junior Guard
On if there are there any positives regarding his injury…
“Definitely a positive is that it happened when it happened. I mean, if it’s going to happen this is probably a good time for it to happen in terms of time period. I am going to miss the whole season no matter and then I will have all of those extra months afterwards. I can just use that time to strengthen and get everything back to where I was, and hopefully be better than where I was.”

On if he thinks it will take some time to scrape off the rust…
“I’m sure it will but I’ll make sure I get that time in and make sure I am back to where I was.”

On what he can contribute now and if he thinks he can help other teammates out as a type of coach…
“I’ll definitely try to be a voice and tell them what I am seeing, try to be another set of eyes I guess. Obviously I don’t know as much as the coaching staff or anything like that but I have a little experience and I kind of know what to look for sometimes and I’ll try to help the freshmen out. You know, try to give little pieces of things I am seeing here and there and do whatever I can to help.”

On any sense of disappointment about him not being able to play with Luke (Harangody)…
“Yeah, that’s definitely tough. I mean, I was really looking forward to it and it definitely crushed me a little bit as we were looking forward to playing together. We’re pretty good friends, you know we struck up a good friendship and it’s definitely disappointing.”

Jack Cooley Freshman Forward
On Luke Harangody as a mentor…
“Everyday at practice he’ll help us out. If we make a mistake, he’ll take us aside. He’ll give us a good word. He gives a lot of praise. It’s just very nice. Guarding him on defense makes everyone better. It’s a little demoralizing. You can try your hardest, but he’s still going to score. You just have to work at it.”

On learning about the tough play of the BIG EAST…
“We rarely call fouls in scrimmages. Everyone just runs each other over. It’s extremely tough [in the BIG EAST] he says. He especially won’t call any fouls because he knows how tough it is out there.”

On his physical play…
“Some of the guys complain about the screens I set. They’re legal. I just set really good ones. Coach tells me to do it.”