Head Coach Grant McCasland spoke briefly to the media this morning before heading to San Francisco.
How's it feel to advance to the Sweet 16 for your second year?
"No, obviously we're thrilled to keep playing. I think the biggest thing for us is we got such a great group that loves being together. And anytime you genuinely enjoy your time together, keeping playing basketball is a blessing. And I know our guys are looking forward to it."
What's the energy and the mindset been with the team since y'all have gotten back and now turning around real quick getting back on road?
"Yeah, well, you know, we haven't actually been completely healthy, and we're getting guys where they're everybody's practicing, so I think there's just a lot of excitement that, you know, if you asked me, we'd be playing in the second weekend and have pretty much everybody getting back to healthy, it's a minor miracle. So for us to be moving in that direction, I just think there's a lot of energy, and everyone's excited that we get the opportunity to play and sweet, succeed."
I know, obviously all of them are tough, but how much more does it ramp up when you go from that first weekend to getting on that plane and knowing what you guys got ahead of you?
"Well, I don't care what tournament you're playing in, if you're playing in college athletics, and you're down to 16 teams, you're going to play the best teams in the country. And nobody's playing better than Arkansas right now, and you can tell they've got energy. They've got a great life to them coaches. Coach Cal is doing an awesome job giving them, you know, I think the belief and confidence that they're going to win and we would expect nothing but their best."
How's it feel to advance to the Sweet 16 for your second year?
"No, obviously we're thrilled to keep playing. I think the biggest thing for us is we got such a great group that loves being together. And anytime you genuinely enjoy your time together, keeping playing basketball is a blessing. And I know our guys are looking forward to it."
What's the energy and the mindset been with the team since y'all have gotten back and now turning around real quick getting back on road?
"Yeah, well, you know, we haven't actually been completely healthy, and we're getting guys where they're everybody's practicing, so I think there's just a lot of excitement that, you know, if you asked me, we'd be playing in the second weekend and have pretty much everybody getting back to healthy, it's a minor miracle. So for us to be moving in that direction, I just think there's a lot of energy, and everyone's excited that we get the opportunity to play and sweet, succeed."
I know, obviously all of them are tough, but how much more does it ramp up when you go from that first weekend to getting on that plane and knowing what you guys got ahead of you?
"Well, I don't care what tournament you're playing in, if you're playing in college athletics, and you're down to 16 teams, you're going to play the best teams in the country. And nobody's playing better than Arkansas right now, and you can tell they've got energy. They've got a great life to them coaches. Coach Cal is doing an awesome job giving them, you know, I think the belief and confidence that they're going to win and we would expect nothing but their best."
