McNeal, James wrap-up
Mar. 25, 2009
Coach Buzz Williams wasn't the only one to put his final stamp on the season on Tuesday -- Jerel McNeal and Dominic James gave their thoughts on the year, their careers and also the program going forward.
Here are the transcripts:
Jerel McNeal
Is it strange to finally be done playing at MU?
"I guess you could say that. It’s pretty eerie, actually. It’s just been a long road, a long time coming, and that’s one of the things that’s always in the back of your mind, that you never really think about until it gets here. I guess that moment has come for us, now."
What have you been doing since Sunday?
"Really, more than anything I’ve just been thinking about the game. We’re just a couple days out of it. Just thinking about the game and all the things that transpired during that time, just trying to give myself a little bit of closure with everything and trying to get ready to just move forward to whatever the next thing is for us."
Do you have any regrets about how things went down at the end of the game?
"I don’t think it’s regrets. Anytime you’re in such a close game, you think about every single play – all the plays that you made, that you didn’t make, plays your teammates made or could have made. Whatever it may be. You think about all those things because anytime you’ve got a game like that, that’s so close, a play here or there can turn a game around, and we could have come out of that game and we could still be playing heading into this weekend."
How tough was it to lose such a hard-fought game?
"It’s tough. It’s real tough. It’s a bad feeling, especially because we played hard enough and I think well enough to win that game, to still be playing and going to the Sweet 16 right now. But it’s hard to cope with, especially for us older guys – we don’t get a chance to say, ‘OK, I’m going to hit the gym extra-hard this summer and be back next year and win that game.’ This is the last time for us. I felt like we did an unbelievable job leaving it all out there. But like I said, it’s tough. It’s a game we all wanted to win for this university and each other."
What do you project this team becoming in the future?
"That’s a good question. It’s hard to imagine this team without us guys actually being on it, so it’s something I’ve actually got to think about. But as far as everybody that’s coming back, as far as their ability and things like that, I think we have plenty of guys that are capable of being competitive and winning games in this conference. But at the same time one thing that I’m for sure about is not necessarily everybody’s abilities, but I know that all those guys will compete, and they’ll play as hard as any team in the conference and the country. And I know Coach Buzz will do a great job of making sure of that as well. At this level of basketball, talent isn’t always the most important thing. A lot of times it’s about your heart, your character, how hard you play, and I know this team coming in next year and in the years to come will be one of the hardest-playing teams not only in the conference but the country as well."
How much growth potential do you see in Buzz?
"I think with Coach, he has an unbelievable amount ahead of him that’s really good. He’s got a lot of good things to come in his career. For him to step in as the head coach at a major university like this, on a really well-established team like he did last year, we had unbelievable confidence in him. Now more than anything else I’m excited to see what he’s going to do after a couple years when he recruits his own guys and he toughens those guys up for four years, and what type of recruiting classes and things like that he can bring here. But the most important thing about Coach is that he’ll get every single person on this roster to play hard. We’re a hard-playing team, and that’s the type of culture that we’ve created here over the past four years. We play as hard as anybody in the conference, in the country, and I think when you do that at this level, that’s one of the main, key ingredients to having success."
What do you see coming next for you, as far as the next level of basketball?
"It’s a situation where I’m confident in my abilities, in everything I can do on the court and the type of person I am off the court. I definitely feel I can play at that level, and I will play at that level. But as far as setting things up right now, I’m just trying to force myself to take a little bit of time off, just recuperate and get my body back to 100 percent and starting to feel really good. Then after that I’ll get back into the gym again and start getting ready for that next level and doing the things I need to do to be successful at the next level."
What do you take away from your four years at MU?
"I think just the maturity. I’m pretty sure that everybody who comes into college as a freshman and leaves as a senior over four years of playing basketball at a high-major university will say the same thing, probably. It’s probably a cliché answer, but that’s one of the biggest things. You come here and it’s almost a situation where you come in as a young man and you leave as a man. I think I’ve done that over my four years, and how much I’ve matured. I can see that in myself, and it’s a situation where I know others around me see that as well. So I think that’d be the main thing."
Have you talked to Lazar about that turnover late in the game?
"As far as the play goes…we wouldn’t be in the NCAA tournament if it wasn’t for Lazar. You can say that for any of the other guys on this team – if we didn’t have Dominic for the whole year, you don’t have Wes, you don’t have Dwight, we’re in the same situation. One play never wins or loses a game for you – that’s point-blank, period. As a player he made a mistake and I’m pretty sure he got a little bit ahead of himself and he kind of stepped on the line. I haven’t seen the play myself. That’s a situation where we would have been in a much worse situation without Lazar here the entire year and going into next year I think he’s going to have to be one of the focal points and leaders of this team, definitely. If he can get this team where it needs to be, especially from a defensive perspective, I think that’s going to be the biggest thing, and if he’s not able to do that I think it’s going to be a tough time for them."
Can you reflect on your career, and how you went down as one of the all-time greats at MU?
"That’s one of the toughest things to do, just to reflect on my own career just because I’ve been so wrapped up in all of it over the last four years and now, two days after you lose your final game it’s hard to just sit back and really reflect. But more than anything I’ll just remember the times we had as a team, the ups and downs, everything we went through as a team. The ups and the downs, and I think that’s what draws you so close to some of the guys on your team – the different trials and tribulations you go through over the course of four years. But from a personal standpoint, I can’t think about it yet. I think it’ll be hard for me to look back on myself as being a former Marquette player until I leave. It’s been an unbelievable ride for me, and I enjoyed every step of the way. I’m unbelievably thankful for the situation I’ve been put in, and have been over the last couple of years. But just as far as reflecting, you’ll have to give me a couple more months or maybe a year to do that, because I can’t talk about it yet."
Dominic James
Did you come through the Missouri game no worse for wear?
"Obviously there’s a little bit of pain, but once you get out there, especially with it being my first game back, the pain was temporary. I just got out there and was with my teammates again and just kind of forgot about the foot and just started playing again."
Can you put a percentage on how far back you felt you were at that point?
(laughs) "It wasn’t a great percentage. But just like I said, I wasn’t really even thinking about how healthy I was or anything like that. Maybe that was a little bit selfish of me, just trying to get back out there, but my teammates, and medical staff, the training staff was very supportive of my decision to come back and play, and that’s the only thing I needed, was their consent. After that it was just going out there and trying to help my team and contribute in any way that I could."
Was there a chance of you injuring yourself even worse by playing?
"We discussed it. Obviously it was an educated decision. I discussed it with our team physican, Dr. Gertel, who performed the surgery, and he said that…I’ve got a screw in my foot right now and he said that screw had never broken before. He said the percentages of that were pretty low of happening. But it was their responsibility to let me know if something dramatic could happen, and I’m blessed for it to not have happened."
How much did it mean to be able to play one last time?
"That’s kind of hard to explain, to put into words. To get that taken away from me and then to get it back, I’m very thankful and blessed to be put back in that situation to go back out there and play again. But after they told me I just went and talked to my family and getting back with my teammates over time, and just letting them know that I was back and would be on the sideline and in the game."
Do you feel like you went out the right way?
"I feel like it was the right way, going out with my teammates like that. It was really unfortunate that we lost, but just getting back in there and going out the right way, that’s what really mattered most to me. It’d have been very tough, just me being on the sideline watching my team lose, and that being the end of it. But just being able to end it on the right note just meant the world to me. It’s hard to even put into words."
How much work went into you coming back so quickly?
"It was a 24-hour process. Obviously I give a lot of credit to our training staff. But every night when I went home I was just working on my foot, whether it was getting a massage or getting ice, a whole lot of rehab. But it was just non-stop. Just a few weeks ago they were saying that my season was over with, and just to show you how God works, it’s His timeline. If you just go about it the right way, you can put yourself in positions you might not be in."
Did you wear a special shoe or anything?
"No, it was just like any other game – just a little bit of tape, and that was it."
Have you thought about where you stand after your four years at MU?
"I’m just like Jerel in that aspect; I really haven’t thought about it. I had a little bit of time to dwell on it when the injury occurred, but now I’m right back in the position where if I was playing all year. I played my last game, obviously I feel like my career is going further. But right now I’m still enjoying my time with my teammates. We haven’t started the reminiscing process yet, but our student-athlete career isn’t over with. I’m still spending a lot of time every day with those guys."
Do you feel like you’re leaving this program better than when you came into it?
"Everybody’s expectations had been off the charts. We started off with no expectations to the highest level, and obviously those four guys have been here since those expectations were unknown. But I think we’re leaving the program in good hands with Lazar Hayward, Maurice Acker, David Cubillan and going down the list. But Coach Williams is an unbelievable recruiter. I’ve seen the recruits they’ve got coming in, and they should have no problem fitting in. They definitely the profile of the Marquette student-athlete, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where this program goes from here. I know it’ll definitely be successful. That’s what this program is all about."
What do you want NBA GMs and scouts to know about you going into the summer?
"I’m a player that’ll do whatever it takes to help his team. I didn’t score a basket in my last game, and my team was still in position to win the game. It’s been like that all year. I may have sacrificed some of my scoring, but overall I became a better player. I became the best player I’ve been in my life, and that’s just being an overall floor general, just really understanding what that means. That’s what I really grasped from this year – you may sacrifice a little bit individually, but the team goes way further than that. That’s the best lesson that I learned, and that’s going to contribute to me in the future."
Have you talked to Lazar about that turnover at the end of the Missouri game?
"Lazar’s a grown man. We all make mistakes, and his maturation process has been unbelievable since I’ve met him. He puts a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and when you’re a really good player that’s what you’ve got to do. That’s a mistake that any of us could have made; he knows that we have his back. There’s not many words that you can really tell him, just that he’s got to move on. It hurts, but he’s going to be a lot stronger from that instance."
What are you going to miss most about MU?
"Just putting on that uniform. I remember the first time I put it on, and I remember the last time I took it off. There’s nothing like that. Just walking through the tunnel with the guys, getting ready for the game, doing media with y’all, just the whole experience has been unbelievable. Just being around the guys every day. But that’s the great thing about basketball – the relationships are going to be life-long. But as far as being together, that’s something that’s just very special."
You guys have come a long way in the last year, with all the change. Can you sum up what the ride has been like?
"I’m at a loss for words. It’s hard to sum it up. But I felt like this team proved to a lot about what we’re all about, what this university stands for, and we opened a lot of people’s eyes. A lot of people weren’t on the ship at first, then a lot of people jumped on. But we’re very thankful for the people that were there from the start, and were there for us in the end. That’s what it’s all about – we continue to represent the Marquette name."
How much pride do you feel in helping bring MU back to the national scene?
"That’s why we came here. None of us were really nationally recognized, but we definitely wound up putting the Marquette name on our backs and brought it to the forefront. It was a lot of hard work, but the name means a lot to us, and we’re going to continue to represent it to the best of our ability. I think we really set the tone for the future – set a lot of high standards and I feel like the guys coming in are going to push it even further."
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