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Dayton looked like a lock to make the NCAA tournament on Valentine’s Day with a record of 21-3.  However, after losing 3 of their next 4 and then losing to St. Joe’s in the A-10 tourney semifinals on Saturday, they ended up avoiding heartbreak with an at-large bid and a #7-seed.  The Flyers lost to Oklahoma last March but hope to advance even farther this week . Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Charles Cooke about his senior leader and everyone’s favorite team from West Long Branch, NJ. 

In the 2013 NCAA tourney as a player at James Madison you scored 15 PTS in a win over LIU-Brooklyn and then scored 18 PTS in a loss to Indiana: what did that experience teach you about what it takes to win in March? It takes a clear mind and some confidence. You need focus/concentration, belief in your teammates and your coach’s game plan, and then go out and give it everything you got.

Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Dayton? I knew that I had more in me that needed to be pulled out, and Dayton was the top option to help me improve both personally as well as athletically. It has paid off so I feel that I made the right decision.

You play for Coach Archie Miller: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is very persistent and is all about hard work: he has a laser-focus but is also great at seeing the big picture. What really helped me is his determination/will/attitude. I am more of a finesse player but he has helped develop my mental toughness every single day, both on and off the court.

You beat several good teams in non-conference play this season including Iowa/Monmouth/Vandy: which of these teams impressed you the most? To be honest, I would say Monmouth. They are undersized but got up and down the floor and made shots. They used their quickness to beat a lot of teams this year, which surprised me.

Dyshawn Pierre was suspended for the fall semester: how important has his return been to your team’s success over the past few months? It has been huge for him to stretch the floor and be a threat on both ends of the court. He is really versatile and can defend anyone from a 2 to a 5.

Dyshawn is the only senior among your top-11 scorers: do you think that your team is ready to win right now or do you think that you are a year away from being a serious contender? You never worry about next year: we have an opportunity right now and we want to make sure he goes out with a bang by making it really far. We have high hopes but will take it game-by-game.

Your team is among the best in the nation at defensive rebounding: how are you able to dominate the boards despite none of your top-5 scorers being taller than 6’6”? Whenever a shot goes up we just box our man out and try to get the rebound. Most of our losses this year have come when we were out-rebounded so everyone including our guards tries to be scrappy and hit the boards.

The A-10 was 1 of only 2 non-power conferences (along with the AAC) to have at least 3 teams make the NCAA tourney: what advice do you have for Cincy (who plays St. Joe’s on Friday) and Oregon State (who plays VCU on Friday)? St. Joe’s and VCU have a lot of offensive power. VCU will fight to the end and has a lot of talent on their bench. It is important to be playing very well at the end of the season, which is what St. Joe’s is doing right now.

You ended up with a #7-seed and will be playing in St. Louis on Friday: do you think that you deserved a better seed, and do you expect that a lot of your fans will be able to make the 5-hour drive to watch you in person? We have no problems with our seeding. I think St. Louis is a great area so I think we will have a lot of Flyer energy in the building.

You will be facing Syracuse: how do you plan to attack their famous 2-3 zone defense, and what will it be like to play against your former high school teammate Malachi Richardson? We need to move the ball a lot against the zone, make some shots, and try to get some points in the paint. I never thought that I would play Malachi and I just laugh about it now: it is a really cool thing to go against him for the 1st time in college.

Aaron Brown is so good that he is about to play in the tourney for the 2nd time…on his 2nd team!  On Sunday he scored 13 PTS to help the Hawks beat VCU in the A-10 tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament.  His 1st college start came in the 2012 NCAA tourney with Virginia, and 4 years later his final college start will come against Cincinnati on Friday.  Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Aaron about transferring to St. Joe’s and defending the 3-PT line.

In the 2012 NCAA tourney as a player at West Virginia you scored 2 PTS in a loss to Gonzaga: what are your memories of your 1st taste of the tourney? I was a freshman so I did not really understand what a privilege it was to play in the tourney. It was my 1st career start and even though we lost it was a great experience.

You spent your 1st 2 years of college in Morgantown: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose St. Joe’s? I decided to transfer because it was the best situation for me after a lot of things had happened. Once I decided to leave I knew that I would come to St. Joe’s because they were my #2 choice when I was in high school.

Do you still follow the Mountaineers, and if so, how far do you think they will go this year? I do catch a game here and there. Coach Bob Huggins is a very good guy and will always say hi whenever I drop by the West Virginia gym: there is no bad blood.

You play for Coach Phil Martelli: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is just a good dude who is always there to help by putting us in the right situation to be our best. I knew that from the 1st time he started recruiting me.

You beat several tourney teams this season including Buffalo/Temple/Dayton (twice)/VCU: which of these teams impressed you the most? They were all very good teams, which is why they all made the tourney. I cannot put 1 ahead of another because we had tough times with all of them.

Isaiah Miles was named the A-10 Most Improved Player/conference tourney MVP, led the team in many statistical categories (PPG/RPG/BPG), and also led the entire conference with 88.3 FT%: what makes him such a great player? His work ethic is great: he spent so much time over the summer and now it is paying off. He waited for his time and has learned a lot.

On Sunday you had 13 PTS in a win over VCU to clinch the A-10 tourney title en route to being named to the all-tourney team: how hard is it to win 3 games in 3 days, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? It is very tough to win 3 straight games: you have to focus on scouting reports and get some rest in a short period of time so that you can take care of your body. I went to class the day after we won and got a standing ovation: everyone is excited that we are bringing the attention to our school.

Your team is top-20 in the nation in 3P% allowed: what makes you guys so good at defending long-range shots? You just have to know the scouting report in terms of who to close out on, who has the hot hand, etc.

The A-10 was 1 of only 2 non-power conferences (along with the AAC) to have at least 3 teams make the NCAA tourney: what advice do you have for Syracuse (who plays Dayton on Friday) and Oregon State (who plays VCU on Friday)? I would say to not underestimate any A-10 teams because we all made the tourney for a reason. Do not take them lightly just because they are not a Power-5 school!

You ended up with a #8-seed and will be playing in Spokane on Friday against Cincinnati (who was swept by Temple this year): do you think that you deserved a better seed, and can you even remember playing against the Bearcats in the Big East 4 years ago? It did not matter what seed we got: we will be ready to go. We played them at home during my freshman year.  It was a completely different team but they were physical and played man-to-man defense.

Most players would be content with 1 conference POY award or 1 conference tourney MVP award: if anyone needs to borrow 1, Thomas Walkup has 2 of the former and an incredible 3 of the latter!  On Saturday he scored 19 PTS to help the Lumberjacks chop down Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in the Southland tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. He led the conference in FG% this year and even had a Leap Day triple-double.  Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Thomas about a single-digit loss to Utah in last year’s NCAA tourney and how his team forces more turnovers than almost anyone in the nation.

You play for Coach Brad Underwood, the 3-time reigning conference COY: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? It is hard to pick just 1 quality, but his attention to detail is great and he brings it every day at practice. I have taken that to heart and will use that the rest of my life.

Last March you scored 12 PTS in a 7-PT loss to Utah: what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this time around? We learned that we cannot play timid. If we had played in the 1st half the way we did in the 2nd half I think that we would have won the game, so we will come out more aggressive this time.

You began your season with a pair of tough road games against Baylor/Northern Iowa: which of these teams impressed you the most? Baylor was much better than Northern Iowa. They have athleticism, size, and happened to play 1 of their best games of the year against us: they just shot it well all night long.

On February 29th you had a triple-double (12 PTS/15 REB/10 AST) in only 28 minutes during a win over Incarnate Word: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? It is definitely in the top-5. It was not all up to me: I just kept dishing the ball to my teammates for layups. It was neat to look at the scoresheet after the game and see double-digits in all 3 columns!

On Saturday you had 19 PTS/4 STL in a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to clinch the Southland tourney title en route to being named conference tourney MVP for the 3rd straight year: how are you able to consistently play your best when it matters the most? Preparation. We lift weights during the summer and throughout the season so my body stays fresh while our opponents might be a little worn out.

You are the 2-time reigning conference POY and led the conference in FG% this year: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors, and what is your secret for being a great shooter? I will look back at my individual accomplishments in 10-15 years but I know that I am winning these awards due to the success of our team, which is the most important thing. The key to shooting well is just staying in the gym…but I would not call myself a great shooter.

You have increased many of your stats during each of your 4 years on campus (PPG/RPG/APG/SPG): how have you improved as a player from the fall of 2012 until now? My numbers were not very good as a freshman, and the following summer our new coaching staff dragged us into the gym to preach individual improvement. All of us still get into the gym to put up some shots because our coaches showed us what it takes to be good.

Each of your top-3 scorers (including yourself) are seniors: how crucial has your veteran leadership been to your team’s success this year? It has been a huge part of our success. The best part is that all the seniors have been to the NCAA tourney and won the Southland tourney so I think it is a combination of leadership/experience. Having 5 seniors in the rotation with everyone playing their roles has helped a lot.

Your team has forced 596 TO this year, which is #2 in the nation: what kind of defensive tactics has your team used to rack up so many turnovers? We stay in the passing lanes, pressure the ball, and are extremely aggressive on defense. Some teams use defense as a chance to take break during the game but that is where we thrive and wear people out.

You ended up with a #14-seed and will be playing in Brooklyn on Friday against West Virginia (who swept Baylor in the regular season): do you think that you deserved a better seed, and how do you plan to deal with the Mountaineers’ famous full-court press? There are a lot of good teams out there. Of course it would be nice to be a #12-seed but I am happy with our seed/draw. We have a lot of different guys who can handle the ball and pass it and we have a high basketball IQ so we will try to beat their press and attack down the floor.