St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Xavier
Red Storm Head Coach Mike Anderson, junior forward Julian Champagnie and graduate student guard Tareq Coburn spoke with the media following an 81-66 victory over Xavier
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement…
“That was a good way to send our seniors out, on a winning note against a really good Xavier team. The first half was a defensive and offensive struggle. In the second half, it picked up for both teams. I thought we had a lot more energy in the tank at the end and finished it off. We made free throws. Going in, I talked about the rebounding war. That’s always going to be big with Xavier. That’s what they live for, shoot it, go get it and get to the free throw line. We were able to win that [battle] and get to the free throw line, and we made our free throws. [It was] a good team effort. The seniors, I thought, set the stage, and the rest of the team followed through.”
On Tareq Coburn balancing school and basketball…
“It’s amazing. I’m in awe of him. Before the game, I always try to refresh our guys and talk to them about the guys that are here and why they came here. Here’s Tareq, a guy that was right here on our campus. He was getting ready to be in the physician assistant program. It says a lot about him that he wanted to be a part of this [basketball program too]. For our guys to send him out the right way, [it’s] special. It’s just one of those messages that you can be anything you want to be. He’s very unique. I’m glad to see him finish off the [home portion of the] regular season that way, and now, we just have to continue.”
On Posh Alexander’s performance…
“I thought he set the stage with his defensive intensity, the energy. You look at his stat line, and he almost had a triple-double. He sets the stage for this basketball team. He revs the engine. Tonight, I thought for those guys [Posh and Julian Champagnie], it was their time. They did a good job of putting us in position to finish off the game.”
On the defensive improvement…
“We locked in and we got Joel [Soriano] back. … Joel has been playing really well. He is a presence on the backline, whether he changes shots or blocks shots. It’s contagious. Now you see Julian coming in from the weak side and blocking shots. You’re seeing Aaron [Wheeler] coming over from the help side. When you have a guy that gives you a presence, that makes a big difference. I thought, collectively, we were all on the same page. We were talking on defense, getting loose balls and rebounding the basketball. That’s the kind of effort it’s going to take.”
Junior forward Julian Champagnie…
On closing out strong at home…
“I feel great about it. It was about getting a “W” today, that was my goal. It was about being there for my teammates and not forcing things. Just going out there and having fun.”
On Tareq Coburn’s 20-point night…
“It’s something about senior night. I wanted him to have a big game. He deserves it. If it wasn’t going to happen for himself, I was going to force it to happen for him.”
Graduate student Tareq Coburn…
On his senior night…
“Had to start off right. Last game at home. I’m never going to play a college game [at home] again, had to make this one count. I trusted my teammates and coach [Mike Anderson] had the utmost confidence in me. I just played.”
On what this season has been like juggling basketball and the physician’s assistant master’s program…
“It’s just a lot, dealing with adversity and staying resilient. … Being up early, 5 [a.m.] in the morning working out, going to practice. [Then] class from 10:40-5 [p.m.] and then study till 1 in the morning and just keep doing it. … I’m thankful and humbled to be the first person [in St. John’s men’s basketball history] to ever do this.”
On scoring a season-high 20 points…
“It’s just coming out every game and playing hard regardless of who we play. We just have to take it one game at a time.”
Opening Statement…
“That was a good way to send our seniors out, on a winning note against a really good Xavier team. The first half was a defensive and offensive struggle. In the second half, it picked up for both teams. I thought we had a lot more energy in the tank at the end and finished it off. We made free throws. Going in, I talked about the rebounding war. That’s always going to be big with Xavier. That’s what they live for, shoot it, go get it and get to the free throw line. We were able to win that [battle] and get to the free throw line, and we made our free throws. [It was] a good team effort. The seniors, I thought, set the stage, and the rest of the team followed through.”
On Tareq Coburn balancing school and basketball…
“It’s amazing. I’m in awe of him. Before the game, I always try to refresh our guys and talk to them about the guys that are here and why they came here. Here’s Tareq, a guy that was right here on our campus. He was getting ready to be in the physician assistant program. It says a lot about him that he wanted to be a part of this [basketball program too]. For our guys to send him out the right way, [it’s] special. It’s just one of those messages that you can be anything you want to be. He’s very unique. I’m glad to see him finish off the [home portion of the] regular season that way, and now, we just have to continue.”
On Posh Alexander’s performance…
“I thought he set the stage with his defensive intensity, the energy. You look at his stat line, and he almost had a triple-double. He sets the stage for this basketball team. He revs the engine. Tonight, I thought for those guys [Posh and Julian Champagnie], it was their time. They did a good job of putting us in position to finish off the game.”
On the defensive improvement…
“We locked in and we got Joel [Soriano] back. … Joel has been playing really well. He is a presence on the backline, whether he changes shots or blocks shots. It’s contagious. Now you see Julian coming in from the weak side and blocking shots. You’re seeing Aaron [Wheeler] coming over from the help side. When you have a guy that gives you a presence, that makes a big difference. I thought, collectively, we were all on the same page. We were talking on defense, getting loose balls and rebounding the basketball. That’s the kind of effort it’s going to take.”
Junior forward Julian Champagnie…
On closing out strong at home…
“I feel great about it. It was about getting a “W” today, that was my goal. It was about being there for my teammates and not forcing things. Just going out there and having fun.”
On Tareq Coburn’s 20-point night…
“It’s something about senior night. I wanted him to have a big game. He deserves it. If it wasn’t going to happen for himself, I was going to force it to happen for him.”
Graduate student Tareq Coburn…
On his senior night…
“Had to start off right. Last game at home. I’m never going to play a college game [at home] again, had to make this one count. I trusted my teammates and coach [Mike Anderson] had the utmost confidence in me. I just played.”
On what this season has been like juggling basketball and the physician’s assistant master’s program…
“It’s just a lot, dealing with adversity and staying resilient. … Being up early, 5 [a.m.] in the morning working out, going to practice. [Then] class from 10:40-5 [p.m.] and then study till 1 in the morning and just keep doing it. … I’m thankful and humbled to be the first person [in St. John’s men’s basketball history] to ever do this.”
On scoring a season-high 20 points…
“It’s just coming out every game and playing hard regardless of who we play. We just have to take it one game at a time.”