"One, I think it showed that the game was really important, but secondly, how that was handled was maybe the best thing that happened today. It was so darn good. This has been the classiest league in the country since its inception."

"It's always an honor to be ranked high, but whatever is said about you, you take it and then take a realistic look at yourself and who you are. I would look at us and say we've got a chance (to win it all)."

"For me, this is the ultimate honor in coaching,"

"This is going to be a matter of collective responsibility,"

"We got in foul trouble and we had to massage those last four minutes of the first half. A lot of times, I'd let them go back in, but with (how) the pace of the game was going today, we couldn't chance starting the second half with either one of those guys in foul trouble."

"He's their shot blocker. He can erase mistakes."

"He can erase mistakes. Offensively, he's a definite low-post threat. And because of their 3-point shooting, he's usually isolated there one-on-one. And with his length and width, he has a chance to score really well. ... [He's] a low-post presence both offensively and defensively. Every team would love to have that, and they do."

"My parents didn't really understand too much about sport. At that time, we were in a Polish community in the inner city of Chicago, and I was the youngest of a bunch of cousins. Polish families are real big, with cousins and aunts and uncles."

"Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I've always looked up to."

"I've never seen this here at Duke, where with 13 guys you get [one player] with 40 points. He's off the charts with his focus and commitment. Nobody has had more or done it better here."

"I thought at that time that 1992 would be my ultimate Olympic experience and it was a pretty darn good one, ... I'd like for this to be the ultimate Olympic experience."

"There aren't many kids like him. He's one of the best players in the country. He has high, high energy and he's at that position that we've used so well for 20 years - the mismatch at the four."

"When my two freshmen are playing like that, it brings everybody together. They were playing with such enthusiasm. They have such good game personalities, that when they allow themselves to show it, we're just better."

"[But the Hall of Fame coach refused Friday to comment any further.] That has not been finalized yet, obviously because we haven't had a press conference or whatever, ... I've been in serious discussions, but it's not ready for an official announcement."

"It is a chance to represent the United States at this elite level of basketball. I am honored to be chosen and look forward to the opportunity to develop this team that will represent our great country in its own sport, both on and off the court."

"We weren't going to win the basketball game, the game was basically over, so why put those kids in harm's way? It's an unfortunate situation. I'll let the powers that be handle it in front of everybody."

"It's neat to coach a kid like that. Everyone knows he's going to take the three, and everyone knows he's going to make it."

"The life expectancy of a team is about eight months. Then the next year, it's a whole new team."

"The other thing I knew I had was a high level of competitiveness."

"The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed."

"The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits."

"To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless."

"When I had troubles, I'd go out - with basketball, you can do it by yourself, too. So you'd go out and shoot, and you'd fantasize."

"When I was growing up, there weren't any Little Leagues in the city. Parents worked all the time. They didn't have time to take their kids out to play baseball and football."

"With me and basketball, it became part of me."

"The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions."

"Basketball was not my main sport in grade school, or even the first year of high school."

"I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport."

"If you win a National Championship, or you win two, people think you have not only seen the Holy Grail, but you've embraced it. Basically, I do what a lot of people do, but I've been able to win."

"Imagination has a great deal to do with winning."

"In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure."

"My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach."

"Once you win a National Championship, how do you do that again? How do you get the passion to do that again? We won it again right away, the next year. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I didn't give myself an opportunity to enjoy the first one."

"Parents can really help, but they can also really hinder the development of their youngsters."

"Playing sport was somewhat frivolous, but I liked it. I rebelled a little bit, and wouldn't go to music lessons and things like that, but I would go and play ball. My parents learned to love it because they saw how much I got out of it."

"That's another thing, we made up games. We didn't have equipment. When it snowed, we would play slow motion tackle football. We would play hockey, but we wouldn't skate. We just made things up. I loved doing that."

"That's what I do now: I lead and I teach. If we win basketball games from doing that, then that's great, but I lead and teach. Those are the two things I concentrate on."

"I had a really bad temper, when I was growing up. Sport helped me channel that temper into more positive acts."

"I hated to lose."

"I have a rule on my team: when we talk to one another, we look each other right in the eye, because I think it's tough to lie to somebody. You give respect to somebody."

"I probably shouldn't say this, but I was not much of a book person. I loved to learn, but I learn by doing. I learn from my experiences."

"I think some parents now look at a youngster failing as the final thing. It's a process, and failure is part of the process. I would like it if the teacher and the parents would connect more. I think that used to be, but we're losing a little bit of that right now."

"I think you're not a human being unless you have doubts and fears."

"I wasn't a great player in college, but I was a very good high school player. It really shaped a lot of what I do as a basketball coach now."

"I'm fortunate now that I coach at Duke University and we've won a lot. I have some kids who haven't failed that much. But when they get to college, they're going to fail some time. That's a thing that I can help them the most with."

"I'm still not a great reader, but my wife is and my daughters are, and I envy them. I think I got into a bad habit of trying to do something all the time, instead of trying to sit down and take my time a little bit."

"I've been so fortunate in my life that my family has never been jealous of my success. They have shown true love and commitment to me by being supportive. They shared in it."

"This is the first team we played all year that could really block shots like that. Their ability to block shots made us change some shots inside. And I don't know if we ever adjusted to that."

"It was a great individual accomplishment."

"A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand. If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That's how I want you to play."