Complete Transcript Of Ed Conroy's Introductory Press Conference
Apr 7, 2010 | Men's Basketball
"Thank you, I am obviously very, very excited and feel very privileged to be here in front of you. I first want to thank Scott and Rick for giving me this great opportunity to work at such a great place like Tulane and meet a group of young men like this. We have high character guys that we can attract here to be a part of this university, this community and this wonderful city, so I thank you and I am really excited.
"I look at these guys and I know they are a team. I told them, `I know what they're going through.' I've been there myself, as a student-athlete. I've come into several different programs and, probably the toughest thing I have ever had to do in coaching I did last night. My alma mater, a special group of young men, I had to say goodbye for now to those guys and, though our relationship will continue, I had to leave them. That is also what excites me about coming here today, because I get to work with, develop and have an opportunity to be around this high character of young people and building another program. Putting the pieces together, putting a team together, that is what really excites me and the competitive part of me wants to do it at an even higher level.
"When I met with Rick and Scott, they pointed out the vision and direction that the program was going to go over the next couple of years, which is what really excited me about this particular opportunity. It was kind of amazing, later on that night, when Rick had to drive me back to the hotel and he gave me this clear direction of where he wanted to go with the program, then, after living here for ten years, he couldn't come close to finding the hotel.
"I do believe that, without a shadow of the doubt, everything is either in place or on the way in the very near future for us to be successful and to have the type of program that all of you want and that everyone in the Tulane community deserves.
"I am reminded of a quote now from John F. Kennedy: `There are no great men, just great opportunities.' I feel like I am sitting on a great opportunity and everybody that decides to sign up and buy into this vision and what is going to happen here over the next few years is going to part of this great opportunity as well. We do expect results, but it is a process. We are going to build something that is meant to last and you do that with hard work, integrity, working hard at the fundamentals every day and building attitudes that enable us to carry on. I can't promise you when the wins and losses will come, but I will tell you that if we focus on the everyday things that we can control we will make this something that everyone can be proud of.
"Rick touched on it earlier, I can't do this by myself. I love putting teams together and I love leading people, but I cannot do this myself. We need everybody to come together, all of these people out here, all of the administration and everyone in the community. We need you at the games, bringing a few of friends with you, and just as it starts in the recruiting, it starts close to home. It's going to start right here on this campus and we will do this from the inside out.
"I will leave you with one last quote before we take questions. My great grandfather - our family grew up on the south side of Chicago - was best friends with a guy named Daniel Burnham. He is credited with being the first city planner, the architect that started it all, and he said, `Make no (little) plans. They have no magic to sir men's blood'. I will say this, let's think big, let's work every day to make it happen and let's enjoy the heck out of the process."
On how he plans to recruit the local area
"Recruiting starts from the inside out. Really, that goes even closer than just in the area. It goes to these guys (motioning to his players). They will be our best ambassadors and they will be our best recruiters. As I look to put together a staff that really complements each other, we will certainly look to blend a focus on this area. This is a great basketball area with a lot of talented prospects and guys who can help us be successful. We will certainly look to build a staff that can recruit this area. Obviously I'm not from here, but we will work tirelessly to develop those ties with area high school coaches just like I have at every stop in my career and then we'll move from there. At The Citadel, we recruited on somewhat of a national basis and all over the country. I feel that we do have ties that we can branch out to and the strength will come from right here at home."
On what attracted him to the job
"What attracted me away was Tulane. I've been a visitor to New Orleans before and I know how valuable this city can be. I've had many friends live here and passed through. That's the exciting part. To me as a coach, and my wife will tell you this, I won't be leaving campus too much. I'll be at work. So for me, it was being a part of a place like Tulane which just stands for so much, has a tremendous reputation and can do so much for young people. I get to coach the high-character people that are attracted to a place like this. That's really what was so attractive about this job."
On his style of play
"I just met with the team and they asked the same question. One constant will be on the defensive end. We will get back, we will guard you and it's going to be tough to score on us. We are going to make it difficult. On the offensive side, a lot of that has to do with how we can evaluate these guys and what particular skills they bring to the table. There are constants to that. The constants of ball-movement and player movement, a lot of motion base to what we'll do. We'll push the ball up the floor and look to take advantage of all different mismatches that will be there through the fundamental work that we'll do. That's where I go back and talk about the evaluation. We'll see what they're strengths are and we'll play to those on the offensive end. On the defensive end, we're going to make it difficult to score on us.
On if he thinks the new practice facility will make a difference in recruiting
"Huge, and I say that because the first key to building a program that is going to last is you have to develop that environment for success. To do that, you have to have a culture and guys buying into development, working on their games, being there all the time during a skill-building process. We'll have a facility where they can do that 24/7 and that's invaluable. That's really the heart and soul of what we do, take those young people and develop them. We'll have a venue to do that that is second to none and we're going to do an even better job."
