College Quotebook – December 18th – January 5th
by Nicholas Lozito
A Knight’s Tale
— In an interview with ESPN last week, Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight went off about his relationship with former player and current Iowa coach Steve Alford.
ESPN reporter Fran Fraschilla to Alford, regarding perceived tension between the two coaches:
“How much was fact? How much was fiction?”
— Knight interrupts:
“Let me answer that. That is an absolute crock of (expletive). All you media people can go (expletive) yourself when it comes to something like that.”
A few weeks ago Knight scolded Southern Methodist fans for their use of foul language.
“This was just garbage, filthy garbage. If that’s what SMU produces, then they really ought to be proud of it.”
— Knight recently apologized for his use of language in the ESPN interview.
Pleasing Coach
“Coach was happy to come back home like anybody would be, so we wanted to come out today and play well to keep him in a good mood.”
— Texas Tech guard Donald Ross after the Red Raiders knocked off Ohio State, 80-72. Ohio State is coach Knight’s alma mater.
Tough Gig
“We’re very good at being very bad. That’s called a positive spin.”
— First-year Washington State head coach Dick Bennett on his inherited program.
“I hate it that we have to go through this, that you have to get your head handed to you every so often.”
— Bennett’s Cougars have lost three of their last four games, including a 38-point loss to No. 16 Gonzaga.
It’s A Family Affair
“He asked me if I was tired. I said, ‘Not really,’ but, man, I was tired.”
— In the second overtime of Georgia’s win over No. 2 ranked Georgia Tech, Washington Wizard forward and former Georgia star Jarvis Hayes, sitting courtside, chatted from the sidelines with his twin brother, Georgia forward Jonas Hayes. Jonas scored four of his career high 25 in the second overtime, en route to a 83-80 win.
Run Out Of The Gym
“We didn’t want them to be able to run one, single play. We wanted to make it chaotic, a complete disruption.”
— Florida coach Billy Donovan on his team’s game plan heading into the Florida State game. The No. 14 Gators beat the No. 24 Seminoles 87-73.
“You could see a good team just quit. With fifteen minutes left, Pickett and some of those guys turned to me and said, `How are you guys still running up and down the court?”
— Florida center David Lee comments on Florida State forward Tim Pickett and his teammates’ second half demeanor.
Sore Losers
“I’ve been learning all sorts of new words from that student section down there for years, and I thought, ‘You probably should learn to keep your mouth closed when you’re down 30-something,”
— Arizona coach Lute Olson comments on the Arizona State student section’s conduct during the Wildcats’ 93-74 win over the Sun Devils. The win was Olson’s 700th.
Boo Who?
“I feel like we should boo ourselves.”
— Missouri coach Quin Snyder after his No. 23 Tigers lost to at home to Belmont, 71-67.
Cardinal Craving
“When Francisco was out, I was wondering how this team would respond. They responded like hungry tigers that hadn’t eaten for two weeks.”
— Louisville coach Rick Pitino on how his No. 12 Cardinals responded against Toledo without leading scorer Francisco Garcia. Louisville won the game 92-56.
Humbling The Big Man
“I tell him not to buy into all the hype and not to accept all the praise, because that way you don’t have to accept the criticism after a bad game. And every player in America is going to have a bad game once in a while.”
— Arizona State coach Rob Evans on mentoring sophomore forward Ike Diogu.
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