In their own words: seniors reflect on their USI basketball careers and Elite Eight tournament run

Following Thursday night's heartbreaking 81-71 loss to Point Loma Nazarene University in the NCAA DII semifinals, USI Men's Basketball head coach Rodney Watson and seniors Alex Stein, Nate Hansen and Jacob Norman took questions from members of the media. 

On the impact of seniors Alex Stein, Nate Hansen and Jacob Norman

Coach Watson: "I'm so proud of this group, proud of these three seniors here. More than just this game, they have really stamped their fingerprints solid into the culture. So, for us, it's important that our underclassmen understand what it takes to get to this level, then to maybe push forward, and these guys have done this. There was a lot of sorrow in our locker room."

Coach Watson: "They've created a work ethic, a humility factor… these guys are humble. You've got a guy sitting in the middle [Hansen] that said to me to start the season, 'I think I'm better for this team coming off the bench.' Who does that? Humble guys do that that want to win, that put themselves behind the program. They're going to be impossible to replace, but we're going to be looking for them, for those types of guys. I don't think you can really go recruit that culture, I think it has to continue to grow, but they've planted an important seed, they've laid a foundation, analogies that are so critical to be successful from this point going forward."

On the experience of playing together in high school and college

Jacob Norman: "It's really hard to describe. Two of your best friends in the entire world, you grow up together, you play high school ball together and you experience things that very few people get to experience with the run that we had our senior year [of high school] and just the friendship we had. And then getting to have four more years at an incredible university and experience success-it's indescribable. It's hard to put into words, it's really special, and I think that's why it hurts really bad right now."

Nate Hansen: "Only being here two years [after transferring from Vincennes University] felt like forever for me being with these guys again. They give it their all every night… We just tried to be the best leaders we could be for these young guys, and I think the program really has a high, they're going to have high expectations next year, and that's with a good reason."

Alex Stein: "Getting to play with these couple guys for so long has been really special. I've said it before, but it's just such a unique opportunity. You don't see three guys who played together in high school play together in college-it's just not something that happens very often-so it's really unique. It was such a great opportunity for us, and it was so fun, especially going on this run, just leading these guys, I've never had this much fun in my life."

On Alex Stein becoming USI Men's Basketball's all-time leading scorer with 2,219 career points

Alex Stein: "I haven't thought much about it yet. I think down the road, I think it'll definitely be something I look back on and think is really cool. But man, I wanted to win so bad, and I know these other guys did, too… I feel like we made a great culture here, a culture of working hard and playing our heart out every single night, and I'm proud of us for doing that."

On the atmosphere at the Ford Center and fan support for the quarter and semifinals games

Alex Stein: "It was awesome. It was rockin' in here both nights. That just gives us so much energy. I hope that sets a tone for the upcoming years for USI, just continuous support from students and other fans as well. It makes the game so much more fun for everyone."

Nate Hansen: "Whenever you look up and you see thousands of people cheering for you, you have to give it your all, I mean there's no other choice. And that's what I think we did tonight and the past couple games. Unfortunately, we didn't come out with the win, but you see the game. We played about as hard as we could play. The city of Evansville has just been amazing to me throughout my college basketball career and high school career, and I just want to thank everyone. It's just been awesome."

Jacob Norman: "It was obviously amazing. There was one point in the game where I looked up against that sea of students, and it was just surreal. They were incredibly loud, they were standing the whole game, and I think it was a really, really sweet opportunity for the three of us and the rest of our team. I hope that moving forward it kind of sets a standard for USI basketball with the new arena moving forward, and that everybody will be excited and they'll really pack the new arena and we'll have good crowds and it'll be a culture moving forward."

On USI's Elite Eight experience  

Nate Hansen: "If you look at the path we had to take to where we got, it's probably one of the harder routes anyone took this year. We played three or four top-ranked teams in the country, and some of those teams were the best defensive teams in the country. We just gave it our all. Tonight we were down 10, we knew we could fight. The courage we have to come back from anything-we showed that against Bellarmine, we showed that against Lewis. And I hope that we can set that standard for teams moving forward that you don't have to give up if you're down 10 or even in life. If you're down, everything can get better."  

On the message to USI's returning players

Alex Stein: "Just bring it every day. Bring energy. Work hard every single day, and just have that mindset every single day, we're going to work harder than every other team in the country. That's what USI's going to be about. And I think just in our time here, I think guys have seen how hard we've worked, how much time we put in because we want to win-and I know all those other guys in the locker room want to do the same thing. So, I think instilling that drive and work ethic in those guys, they're going to have success in the future."