NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: First Round - Oakland vs Kentucky
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
PPG Paints Arena
Q. Tre and Adou, this is obviously a homecoming game for you. How excited are you to be back home and, two, how many friends and family are coming to watch you play?
TRE MITCHELL: You know, it means the world to be back home in my final year of college basketball and on this team, and kind of being able to have people around me kind of see this moment come full circle for me to play at Kentucky, and I honestly couldn't give you a number of how many people that have hit me and said that they're going to be there tomorrow.
ADOU THIERO: I'm super excited to play at home. I got people texting me who haven't seen me play since I was a little kid telling me that they're coming to the game. Just like what Tre said, just super to be happy to be home and be able to play here.
Q. Adou, I remember talking to you. Just only three or four years ago you were 6'2", you only had a couple of Mid Major offers. A lot of growth has taken place for you both physically and as a basketball player, playing a new position, playing at a very high level. Can you just talk about your growth both physically and as a player?
ADOU THIERO: I said it was very difficult and just getting to the school, trying to find my place, also dealing with growing and everything. But it helped me become how I am right now and play the way I'm able to play right now and I'm just very blessed to be in this position.
Q. For all three of you guys, the defense has been kind of the story of this season and whether or not it's been showing up. Just having this week off, how much of that has been a focus for this team, and going into the tournament, how confident are you in your defense, with whether it's Oakland or any team down the road? How confident are you across the board?
ANTONIO REEVES: Very confident in our defense. Been working on it for a couple days now just in practice, just focusing on things like getting over ball screens, getting more physical down low. We emphasize that each and every day.
Q. Tre, you've been at UMass, Texas, West Virginia and now here at Kentucky and you're wrapping it all up. This is your last season. What are your expectations for your last time playing in this tournament, your last chance to play in this tournament?
TRE MITCHELL: I just expect a lot of effort. I can't say that I expect anything but the best from our guys. And some of our dudes in the locker room it's their last go-around, too. And I know nobody wants to go out sad. So there's 40 minutes of basketball to be played and we plan on playing all 40, every single second of it, everything we got.
Q. Adou, your father played for Coach Cal at Memphis and now you're playing for him. From what you've heard from your dad and what you've observed, how has he changed over the years?
ADOU THIERO: My pops, he would tell me stories and everything. But he was more rough back in the day. Had them running a lot more and everything. But he still has us do all that, but I feel like he's taking it a little bit lighter on us. See, I'm okay with that because the stories my dad was telling me, they was, oh, they was going through it.
Q. Tre, to piggyback on the last questions you were asked, about your journey how special is it at the very tail end of your journey you get to play where it all started?
TRE MITCHELL: It's an unbelievable blessing from above. I've had an interesting path, to say the least. I've had my ups and downs, and I've been through adversity and just about everything's been thrown at me. And although it's not necessarily a desired path, but it is the path I believe I was meant to be on. And at the end of the day just for it to kind of just come full circle like this is just -- it's just proof in itself that this is the path that I was supposed to be on.
Q. Your stepdad told me that the Italian side of your family might be able to fill this building by itself. How many family members from that side or just in general do you think will be here this weekend?
TRE MITCHELL: Sheesh, family alone, I'd probably say if they are breathing and they are in Pennsylvania that they're going to be here, you know. Even some family coming from the south. The Italian side is very large, and I'm sure I'll be able to hear their voices over anybody that's in there, but on top of that I think, like, any person that I've had some type of relationship or come into contact with throughout my time in Pittsburgh, through AAU, high school, whatever it may be, they've all told me that they're going to be here.
Q. Just for any of you guys, just wanted to know, first of all, what you know about Oakland as a team, as a university, and also, we've talked to them a little bit about being the underdog. What's it like to come in and not want to be the victim to a Cinderella story?
ADOU THIERO: You know, our focus has been more on us and trying to fix our things rather than worrying about them the most. But, yeah, we still watch film on them and everything. They're a great team. They got shooters. They have inside players, but we just know we're going to come in there and fight.
ANTONIO REEVES: To piggyback off what he said, just basically worry about us at the end of the day, try to figure out the game plan, what we have to do out there, defensive wise, offensive wise and just giving it a full 40 minutes and just don't worry about what they have going on, just play our game.
TRE MITCHELL: Yeah, I would agree with both of their statements and that, you know, nobody wants to be part of a Cinderella story. And I think that our guys understand that. And that this team is in the tournament for a reason. They're not to be looked over, and they're capable of coming out and playing a really good game. So we have to be ready for the moment, and I think we will be.
Q. Tre and Adou, the guy sitting between you had one of the most fantastic seasons in the history of Kentucky basketball. Can you explain to me why you don't think he gets as much recognition as he deserves?
TRE MITCHELL: I mean, yeah, that's easy. He's humble. He's a humble beast. He's not a guy that's going to come out here and brag or seek attention. But on top of that it could be just because we have had some young guys with really big names, and some people are focused on that. But at the end of the day when you look at it, this kid gives us production night in and night out. He gives us leadership, and, you know, he does it with the same look on his face the whole time. You never know what's going through his mind, but you know what you're going to get from him. So it's just like he deserves all the recognition that there is. I mean, we're in, if not the best basketball program to exist in college basketball. He's performing. His name should be up there with some of the best of them.
ADOU THIERO: You know, his consistency, even if other teams are trying to take away his scoring ability, he's able to do the little things, whether it's get a rebound, go back up for a put back, play defense, all that. Like he's able to do everything. And then we just have multiple parts on this team. So I feel like, because we have Reed, Rob, D.J., Justin, all the other freshmen, like all the freshmen -- I'd say all our freshmen are good players. So they're getting more to shine and kind of overlooking Antonio, but at the end of the day, you look at the stats. Stats don't lie.
