St. John's University Athletics
2012 St. John's Basketball Media Day: Joe Tartamella Quotes
10/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 23, 2012
Head coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement:
"Let me begin by thanking all of you for being here. Our coaches and players are very excited to start the season. Practices are going well and we're excited to finally face some outside competition soon. We're looking forward to showing you what we've been working on for the past few weeks at our exhibition game against Farmingdale State on Nov. 3. Our players are excited about having preseason rankings, but the biggest thing they want to be able to do is bring an NCAA tournament game back here to St. John's."
On the current group of seniors:
"Obviously, we have a special group that came to campus three years ago. They were a highly ranked class coming in with a lot of expectations and they've come through on all of them. This group of seniors has a special place in my heart and our program's heart for taking us to new levels. They have the goal this year to finish off their legacy and want to leave this place knowing they've gone to four-straight NCAA tournaments and left it a better place than when they came in. At the same time, let's not forget those who came before them, who bought into what we were doing the past eight or nine years."
On the transition from associate coach to head coach:
"Any assistant coach that becomes a head coach goes through a period of transition; however, having already been here allowed me to be more comfortable. I had an understanding of the landscape and the culture here, so it's been a seamless transition. For me, the transition has been everything that I've expected; being here at St. John's for nine years helped me along through a lot of it, along with the support of my players and the administration."
On the challenges of maintaining the level of the program:
"The expectations for our program have never changed over the years. This group of players gives me an opportunity to really feel comfortable about what we are trying to accomplish. If you're an assistant who doesn't know the players it's a lot harder, but having recruited and coached all these players - there is a level of trust that allows us to remain on the same page. The challenge is keeping them on the same page, while also letting them know that I am different from the previous coach. At the same time, our expectations are still where they've always been."
On his style of play and coaching:
"Our style of play will never change. We've been successful for a reason and that's because we have players who can play an up-tempo game on both sides of the court. We want to make sure we're playing an exciting style for our players and fans as well as something that is conducive to what we see every day in the BIG EAST conference. There may be some different tweaks in there but as far as our style of play goes - it won't change."
On the regional and national exposure for the program:
"It's a great opportunity. We've built this program from the ground up and we've got a great opportunity to see it all come to fruition. We've got a program that has been in the top-25 and has been able to stay there for the past few years. Teams can get there if they have a great group of players, but the hard part is being able to stay there. If you look at this year, we've got seven televised games along with our new platform of STJ-TV in partnership with ESPN3. You couldn't ask for a better platform to be seen on across the country. We've got people now who can watch us all over via the web, our broadcast and national television. It speaks volumes for the respect that our program has garnered over the last couple of years and we couldn't be more excited to have our players, program and university showcased."
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