Quotes by Jay Bilas

“The talent level isnt down, its just younger. The whole league got young right away.”

“It doesnt seem different to me; theyre two national teams. Xavier should be ranked and Cincinnati has been ranked. If the selection committee met today, both would be NCAA tournament teams.”

“Hes just got to learn how to dominate a game, and thats going to take time. In the normal course of things, he would have been a role player [as a freshman]. And now if the guy has a bad game, everybody wonders whats the matter with him.”

“Theres been a sea of change in college basketball. And its just starting to catch up to everybody.”

“Its amazing how much better the offense looks when you make shots. But they still have to make harder cuts. If they do, the offense will look even better.”

“No. 1, there are not as many quality big guys now. What passes for a center now could be 6-8, where 20 years ago a 6-8 guy would have a lot of trouble. And, secondly, the three-point line is so close that teams have spread the floor. If you have one big guy, you can let him go one on one and spread the floor around him.”

“If youre going to make a move in the league, this is the year because the league is down. Some of the traditional powers are not as good as theyve been and some of those teams are vulnerable.”

“Theyve set a standard here. Theyve had enough guys come through that the older guys are able to pass down to the younger guys: This is how we do it. This is the approach we take. That means something. That expectation level is a very powerful thing. He has said that youth might be a factor, but that it wont be an excuse. He has those guys believing that theyre going to overcome the issues they have and still win. When they step onto the court, its not a question of are we going to win? Its a question of how were going to win. Thats what tradition is. Theyre establishing that here.”

“If you see something like that happening, I think its safe to say this is a basketball school.”

“They were taking and absorbing the best shot from every opponent. Everyone played at a fever pitch. It was one heavyweight fight after another.”