ST. LAWRENCE - OPENING PRESS CONFERENCE OF COACH DUKE NILNIL
Coach Duke: Good afternoon. It is with great anticipation and excitement that I begin my tenure here at St. Lawrence. I must admit, it took me a bit to find campus as the signs around town are a bit outdated and I was looking for St. Lawrence, Liberty Conference but all the signs were for St. Lawrence, Upstate. Well, anyway, I managed to find the campus and find the team.
After taking a few minutes with the assistant coaches, I immediately questioned whether I should have found the team at all. Man, what a collection of misfits. I can definitively say, there was a reason the Saints were 1-15 in conference last year (hmm, the St. Lawrence Saints, a school so nice they named it twice).
The current roster has some decent low post players who should be able to contribute this year. For better or worse, however, they are all seniors.
The goal for the team this year is to re-install a winning attitude. The coaches and I want to the team play hard and with heart every game. The Saints have a nice history of success, but have fallen off a bit in recent years. It's high time that the Saints to reclaim their glory.
We expect the first few years to be difficult in the win-loss department. That said, we can promise that you will see a team that plays basketball hard and the right way and will be enjoyable to watch, win or lose. #Weallwegot (in the words of Glen "Big Baby" Davis)
As a parting word on the team, I recommend you get your season tickets now and don't let go because in a few short seasons, we will be the hottest ticket in town.
Dean Wormer: Thanks coach. We here at St. Lawrence are excited to start a new era under Coach Duke. We hope it will be a long and successful tenure. Although Duke is new to the Wooden world, he has a proven track record of success at the D3 level at various times in Crum, Knight, and Phelan, winning 2 NT titles along the way. His most recent efforts have been in turning around CNU in USA South in Phelan.