Indiana Statesman

March 2nd, 2007

Highlights of post-Creighton game press conference

The following are highlights of the press conference after the Sycamores’ loss to Creighton. This was head coach Royce Waltman’s last game.
Royce Waltman (on the game): “I don’t know if there’s a lot to say about it, they were just too good for us tonight. In particular, their switching defense frustrated us and we did get a couple of looks we couldn’t make. (Creighton was) just a little too tough on the defensive end.”
Gabe Moore (on whether Royce’s leaving was a distraction): “Coming to this tournament, coach talked to us and told us to leave that (talk) back in Terre Haute. We came down here to win this tournament and we couldn’t worry about what happened to coach after the season. If he was going to leave, we were going to try to send him out on a good note. I wanted to do that about as much as anybody in the locker room.”
Trent Wurtz (on his career at ISU): “(I will remember) the relationships, my coaches, my teammates. We’re gonna stay in touch. When you see, down the road, the things that life takes you on, the journeys, it’s all about who you meet along the way that shapes your experiences and influences you and makes you a better person.”
Waltman (on leaving ISU): “The administration handled this with the deaf touch of a 20-mule team. They said it at a board of trustees meeting, which is obviously going to leak out, but yet said they didn’t want it announced until after the tournament. They just left us with every man, woman and child in Terre Haute knowing I’m fired, but it’s not official. So, I found out a week ago, but it still hasn’t been made official by whoever’s going to make that statement. (The players knew) when it got so common. That’s not something I want to saddle the players with and having it as a distraction. I’ve been around long enough to know that it isn’t necessarily going to break their hearts even if I am fired. But, it just got to be such common knowledge I had to talk to them about it and tell them it had nothing to do with how I felt about coming down to this tournament. I thought we came down here in good spirits and played well last night, but just couldn’t solve the riddle of Creighton tonight.”
“I felt a good deal of sadness and melancholy. For 42 years, the last thing I though about before going to bed was my team and the first thing I thought about in the morning is my team, and it will be hard not being that way. I just hate not to have a team because it’s been a thing that I’ve enjoyed most doing.”
“I can’t get a head coaching job because if you get fired for cheating, you can get hired right back again, but if you get fired for losing, it’s like you got leprosy. So, young coaches need to bear that in mind. Cheating and not graduating players will not get you in trouble but that damn losing will. So, I’d like to stay in basketball, but I’m realistic. I don’t want to go back to Bedford High School and coach the team, that’s about the only job I could get.For the right guy, I’d be an assistant, I’d be a scout. I’m not ready to retire.”

This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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