Wake Forest Athletics
Quotes From Demon Deacons
3/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2002
CRAIG DAWSON
On making the NCAA Tournament
"I'm very excited to play in an NBA arena and in an NCA atmosphere. Everybody is excited. Every game could be my last and we've got four other guys in that situation. You'll see a big improvement.
"Being healthy and being able to play [in the NCAA Tournament] is a great feling. I get to have an impact on the game and hopefully more than just one game.
"We don't want to be just one of 64 or 65 teams. We want to do some damage."
On the absence of Steve LePore
"It gives guys more minutes to step up and make things happen. Steve likes to get in and do the dirty work that people don't see. We're all gonna have to step up where he left off."
ANTWAN SCOTT
On Pepperdine
"I don't know much about them, but I know the coaches will have us well-prepared by Thursday. I do know they are a very talented team and we'll have to play a great game to win.
"[Last year's loss to Butler] was bad. We talk about it a lot and we don't want to repeat it.
"We're upset we didn't win the ACC tournament, but we're excited to be in the NCAA Tournament. We feel good, but there's room for improvement."
SKIP PROSSER
On going to the NCAA Tournament
"We're excited to be going. It's a special thing, the NCAA Tournament. I've been fortunate enough as a coach to go a lot, and I think you can become somewhat jaded, but it really is a wonderful thing and we're looking forward to it."
On scouting Pepperdine
"We'll look at a lot of tape, but I think the biggest thing is how Wake plays more than how Pepperdine plays. Still, as coaches we want to give our kids the best chance to win and we need to take on the responsibility of scouting them."
On heading into the tournament
"I think we have some momentum. I wasn't here 12 months ago, but I think last year there wasn't much positive momentum heading into the tournament, after the ACC Tournament loss to Maryland. But we were pleased to beat NC State in the last regular season game, pleased to beat Georgia Tech, not pleased to lose to Duke, but I've told our kids over and over, Duke, Maryland, Kansas, Cincinnati, those are the best teams in the country and against those teams there have been some great Wake Forest stretches. It's just a matter of playing like that for 40 minutes."
On losing Steve Lepore
"He was Craig's main sub for most of the year. He'd been playing better and shooting better, so it's tough to lose him. Steve looks for rebounds and always plays hard. It's a tragedy that he won't be able to play in the NCAA Tournament. It's tough for Wake, but I feel worse for Steve."
On Josh Howard's injury
"I don't think he was 100% yesterday and he wasn't able to play a lot down the stretch and I think that hurt us. But we have a great medical staff that will try to patch him up and I'm sure he's excited about playing in the NCAA Tournament."
