Tom Yeager

Particularly for Georgia State, every time theyre playing an away game theyre getting on an airplane, so obviously were trying to minimize those trips.

We're very thrilled that we got the recognition that I felt has been due for a long time. It's always been the goal. The first thing we need to do is do it again and start stringing years like we've had this year together. Then the next step is to take it further.

Years ago, I thought when we were able to hire a head coach from another Division I institution, it was a statement that we were moving up the pecking order. I guess the next step is when you are able to retain your best coaches.

The opportunity is there. It's a matter of being able to close the gap and win some games. You've got to win the right games.

In Division I, you can probably count on one hand the number of people who even come close to that kind of longevity. Of course, Jim became an athletic director when he was 8 years old.

It's incredibly difficult to reach this level even for those programs that seem to have all the things going for them, so when you really have an underdog like a George Mason make it ... it's all the more unbelievable and special.

I dont think it takes away from the luster of the conference. Its great when you have a ranked team because those are the scores that are constantly reported in the national media and on TV score scrolls. It helps get face time on TV, but its not necessarily bad. Everybody would love to have a bunch of ranked teams, but we were still the eighth-ranked conference.

These kids had to listen to people say they didn't belong. That's garbage.

These aren't hollow, computer-generated numbers. They're there. They're real, I think. This could be a defining year with the conference, if things play out. You need to get over the hump, and once you do, you have a better chance to continue to build on it.

I told him the only people whose opinion mattered were the 10 people on the selection committee.

You can't buy chemistry. You can't draw it up or chart it.

It's a group of kids that came together ... and showed people that there is more basketball than hangs out in the big, power conferences. The idea of having a team in the Final Four is kind of beyond dreaming.

Delaware was selected among several institutions that were interested. There is tremendous interest in women's basketball in Delaware and we know that the university will do an outstanding job of hosting our premier women's championship.

One year, that really isn't a complete analysis. You've got to do it every year. I think for both the Valley and us some of the other guys that haven't advanced ... I think the basketball community realizes there's great parity out there.

A lot of lower-seeded teams have senior leadership, and they can be really tough in the pressure situations you get in the NCAA Tournament. At the end of the day, experience can carry you over the sheer athletic ability of younger players.

I think maybe they'll accept mid-major teams who have done everything they can do, to the best of their ability. You'd like to think these teams will get an extra look, that they won't just be summarily dismissed in favor of high-profile programs.