Indiana University Athletics
May 13 Press Conference Transcript
5/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 10, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana men's basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson held a press conference on May 10 to introduce his staff to the media and talk about his upcoming trip to Kuwait, May 23-29. The following is a transcript from the press conference as well as quotes from assistant coaches Rob Senderoff and Ray McCallum.
Head Coach Kelvin Sampson
Opening Statement:
KS: "For guys that are basketball coaches in the United States at these universities, to be able to go to Kuwait, be around those soldiers and hear about their jobs and what they do, it certainly puts a lot of things you do in perspective. There were eight coaches that coached eight teams, and we had a tournament on the base at Camp Arif John. There are a lot of moments that you remember. My first defining moment was when they played the national anthem before the opening game. I was with a group of coaches on the other side of the gym. I think Bobby Cremins and Mark Gottfried were coaching the first game. They had as many soldiers as they could come in for the first game. There may have been 1,500 or 2,000. There were only four or five permanent structures on the base. One of them was the gym."
"Playing the national anthem before the game, and you look around and every soldier has a nine-millimeter or an M16 slung across their soldier. Being in Kuwait and being with our soldiers and the national anthem was playing, that kind of hit me. It made me realize where we were and the magnitude of what we were doing. The other moment was the first time I went into the dining facility. They had a picture of the Pentagon from 9/11, a very graphic picture and maybe one that wasn't shown publicly. The picture covered an entire wall and under it there were five simple words: Don't Forget Why We Are Here. There were reminders everywhere. For our soldiers in Iraq and the Middle East, it is very real to them. As citizens of the United States, sometimes we don't grasp the enormity of an event unless there is a catastrophe or focus on something unless something bad happens. After 9/11, we became a very patriotic country."
"I am honored that they asked me to go to Kuwait, and I am honored that they asked me to go back. The ones that get the most out of it are the coaches, because you don't realize how significant you really are until you go to a place like this. What they are doing is significant. As Americans, we have the right to agree or disagree with the war, but I think it is our responsibility to support our soldiers. Whether you agree or disagree with the war, it is our responsibility to support the men and women of the military while they are over there fighting for our rights."
"I do take this serious. You may think we are just going over there to coach in a basketball tournament, but while we were at Camp Arif John last year, there were 9,000 troops on that base. It is a transition base. Right before I left to go, I was at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. I went over to hear Mike Krzyzewski give a presentation to that university. Mike's son-in-law was at Fort Sill, and he went over to talk to 1,700 troops that were being deployed to Iraq. His son in law as one of them, and his daughter was working at Cameron University in Lawton. When troops are deployed to Iraq, they don't go from the United States to our military installations or bases in Iraq. They go to Camp Arif John, which is a transition base. When they send them back from Iraq, they don't send them to an airport in America. They send them to Camp Arif John. We were with soldiers that were either going to Iraq to fight or do whatever their job is and guys that were coming back. It was very real."
On how he go involved with the project:
KS: "I think the project itself was started with Gary Williams and the company that produces his TV show. The company had a military day. Of course, Maryland is in the shadow of Washington, D.C. and the Department of Defense. They were going to honor troops coming home from the war at their home basketball games. They were looking around to see how many they could get and they could only get a handful. Whoever was with the production company that produced his TV show had a friend in the Department of Defense in D.C. They thought wouldn't it be neat if we could somehow, instead of bring those guys here to us, that we could go there. I think they earmarked eight or nine coaches that they wanted to go over, and I was just one of the coaches. When they called and asked me if I wanted to go, it took me about five seconds to say yes. I think it was the next day that Tom Izzo called. Tom asked me if I got asked to do this and I said yes. Once you get over there, it is a little bit scary. You are in Kuwait City. Where we stayed last year was right on the Persian Gulf. I was very educational, and I learned a lot. But the thing that you learn from a human standpoint is how insignificant you are when you go to a place like that."
On the talent level of the players:
KS: "Tom Izzo's team had a couple of really good players. When Alabama and Oklahoma played on New Year's Eve, we had five or six (soldiers) from my team in Kuwait come to that game. The different military installations that serve as support for the Army are all based around Kuwait City. The team I coached was called Ali as Salim, which is an Air Force branch. Everybody had their own team, but Camp Arif John was the base that the tournament was held. The guys I coached rolled out something you would see in the backyard. It was an aluminum cover just something hard to be able to bounce the basketball on. They put up temporary baskets and that is how they practiced for the tournament. The guys that played for Camp Arif John were the Army guys and they had a normal team. They actually had a coach, and they were pretty good. They had a 6-8 guy that could play. The best player in the tournament was a 6-1 guard. Two things that jumped out at me were how young the soldiers were and how many women there are in the military and the significant roles that women play in the military. Things that you would think were traditional men roles, women do them. I asked the Colonel about certain things, and he said the best snipers in the military are women."
On the troops:
KS: "We were there for five days. The tournament was over four days. We got to practice one day for two hours with them. Some of them came in from outside camps because it was kind of like an "R&R" period for them. The soldiers were allowed to come to the games. The average daily temperature while we were there was somewhere between 130 and 140. It is the middle of the desert. The other thing that jumped out to me was that I didn't hear anyone complaining. They all believed in what they were doing. They encouraged us not to sit with each other when we would have lunch and dinner with the soldiers. They encouraged us to pick out different groups to sit with everyday. You could tell the difference. One day I sat with two guys from Kansas. They never say the city they are coming from like Raul or Baghdad, they just say up north. These two kids came from up north driving 18-wheelers where they were resupplying troops, but that is all they would tell you. When we see them, you can tell that they are relieved to be there and to see us. What really jumped out at me was that no one complained, everyone understood their job and the food was really good. I could not believe who good the selection, variety and kind of food they served."
Assistant Coach Ray McCallum
On the reception his has received since joining the IU staff:
RM: "We hear and feel the excitement everywhere we go, and we carry those same feelings about being a Hoosier. If you look at my itinerary, I have been in and out of Indianapolis a lot just finishing up spring recruiting. I have been around the country and trying to get Indiana where it needs to be in future recruiting."
On what he saw in individual workouts:
RM: "One thing that really stood out is that we have a group of guys that can make shots. At Oklahoma, we had a good year. We finished third in the Big 12, but we had one shooter, one ball-hander and a couple of good postmen. You look here and potentially, we have a lot of guys that can make shots. That is definitely exciting for us."
Assistant Coach Rob Senderoff
On his transition:
RS: "So far the transition has been great. Everybody here has treated me really well. Coach Sampson has been great to learn from and work for. The other assistants have been great. The attitude is to work together as a team and try to get this thing accomplished."
On the reception his has received since joining the IU staff:
RS: "The general feeling is that there is a lot of support for Coach Sampson, which I think is important. And there is an excitement to get things back to where IU should be, which is a national program and one of the top programs in the country."
