College Quotebook – November 25th – December 2nd
by Nicholas Lozito
“Can I Get A Sub…Anybody?”
“I’m playing with a 5-10 shooting guard and my backup point guard is a midget. Halfway through the game, I went to press row and started asking guys if they had eligibility left.”
– Florida A&M University head coach Mike Gillespie after his undersized Rattlers lost to Florida, 102-78. Gillespie, who has no player over 6-foot-9, was missing starting forward O.J. Sumpter with a knee injury.
“O.J. would not have made a difference. He can rebound, but he’s not Moses Malone,” Gillespie said.
– On the other bench, Florida head coach Billy Donovan was getting on his guards during Terrence Woods’ 31-point explosion for the Rattlers.
“The second half, coach got on me. He talked to the whole team, but he basically came up to me and said my name and pointed me out.”
– Florida point guard Anthony Roberson
“We’ve got good enough defenders that guys shouldn’t get 31 points against us,” Donovan said.
No. 2 Florida 78, No. 5 Arizona 77
“I’ve often said I would rather lose a game like this than beat some team by 40. We can take a lot out of this game. We have a lot to learn.”
– Arizona head coach Lute Olsen after his Wildcats (then ranked No. 3) were upset by Florida (then ranked No. 9)
“It was just paying attention to what the coach told me that if I was open go to the basket and I did. Christian (Drejer) made a great pass and I just laid it up.”
– Florida senior center Bonell Colas after making the game-winning basket against Arizona
No. 11 Saint Joseph’s 84, San Francisco 52
“We really put our foot on their throat and kept it there. We were just having fun out there.”
– St. Joe’s guard Jameer Nelson, who scored 18
“He’s the best in America. He’s just special. We’ll never see another one like him.”
– St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli on Hoopville’s first-team Preseason All-American Jameer Nelson
No Need To Explain Yourself
“Everybody plays games like this and I’m not going to apologize for the score.”
– Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson, who played every player except his son, Kellen, who is redshirting the season.
“It’s hard to back off when every kid is a really good player,” Sampson added.
– According to the Associated Press, Pine Bluff players and coaches left the locker room without commenting
No. 5 Missouri 90, Oakland (Michigan) 85
“Motown has been very good to us with Rickey (Paulding) and A.J. (Arthur Johnson), and that’s why we gave up a home game to play here. But with four minutes left, it wasn’t seeming like such a good idea.”
– Missouri coach Quin Snyder on his program’s choice to play at Oakland, located 30 miles north of downtown Detroit
Knight Gives Praise To Yellow Jackets
“Who makes the ranking? Usually people that have no idea what basketball is all about.”
– Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight explains why Georgia Tech wasn’t ranked coming into the Preseason NIT. The Yellow Jackets beat Knight’s Red Raiders 85-65 to capture the tournament title. Georgia Tech, now ranked No. 15 by Hoopville, knocked off No. 1-ranked Connecticut in the semifinals.
“They know how fragile this can be… If we slack off, we become very average and maybe even bad.”
– Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt hopes his team keeps up their level of intensity
“We misused our talent and we didn’t have our kids as ready as we should have.”
– Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun reflects on his team’s loss to Georgia Tech
Take One For The Team
“We’re going to have to give up individual adulation to gain it for the team. Everybody is going to have to look at themselves and say, ‘I can’t do certain things I want to.'”
– Sacramento State guard Joel Jones after a 76-65 win over NAIA opponent Dominican
Big Brother Program
“Us seniors have got to show our young guys what our culture is about. They’re definitely talented. They need better leadership from the older guys.”
– Cal senior guard A.J. Diggs looks to work with the Bears talented recruiting class, which features three starters. The Bears are 1-2, with all three games having been decided by two points or less.
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