John Tharp Quotations

Since Sunday was a day off for us, it's OK for our guys to take this moment and enjoy it. It's pretty neat for our players, since they've worked hard to get here.

To do what we've done, what people don't realize is 13 of our 22 games were on the road. We were in this building only nine times during the regular season. We did it being on the road a lot of times. This place can hold (enough fans) and do what it's supposed to do.

Well, you look at our record. A lot of guys have contributed to that, obviously. But those two guys have played such a role in what we've done and what we've accomplished.

Our kids are very unselfish and very basketball intelligent. The only way we can win is to play that way.

Those guys have made us focus every day. It's not as if I have to motivate them or remind them. They understand what we're trying to do. If anybody steps out of line or doesn't work as hard as we think they ought to be, the seniors set them straight.

We can't play individual ball against them, because their top five individuals are better than our top five individuals. We just kept on clawing.

You don't think about it as a coach at the start of the season to win every single game and receive all this attention.

It's a dream to have a last game like that, to send our seniors out undefeated in front of a crowd like that. It just took us 20 minutes to get going and get aggressive, but we did.

It's been fun because this is new for us and our program. It's been interesting. The kids have handled it very well. They are very level-headed kids. They understand how one game changes things quickly.

It's very humbling. It's a dream world. It doesn't matter how old you are -- a little kid to now -- you always dream about an undefeated season.

It takes a lot to have that happen, but they have the right makeup, right character and mental toughness. They've stepped up down the stretch in most games, so we're encouraged, but that's a fine line. There's so many great teams out there.

I'm obviously pretty biased, but our kids have done everything they were supposed to do and they deserve to be here. This is what Division III is supposed to be about. It's not supposed to be about huge arenas.

Illinois Wesleyan is extremely physical and they have seven guys who have played together for three years. They came out extremely impressive against Whitewater (an 85-71 win Saturday).

I just laughed when I heard it. To have Lawrence mentioned with Duke, Pittsburgh, and Florida just doesn't make sense.

He's such a competitive kid. He's a complete warrior. Every single day in practice he competes at a high level and makes his teammates around him better. He doesn't let us take shortcuts.

Home court would be huge. It's where we're at our best.