Take on Wisconsin and junior forward Alanado Tucker:
Majerus:
'I think it's a very good program because it has consistency. You have some very good players. My pick for preseason player of the Big Ten might be the Tucker kid. I think he's not the best pro prospect in the Big Ten, but he may very well be the best collegiate player to impact a team in the Big Ten.'
On the Big Ten Conference:
M- 'In the Big Ten, there's the top five teams that are very, very talented. And then there's the bottom five that are depleted somewhat of talent and have coaching changes. Now you have that situation, where it's not really as balanced top to bottom or as difficult as say, the ACC is.'
On sophomore Brain Butch:
M- 'No one knows what he [Butch] is going to be and that's why it's so difficult. I don't play those kind of games. I know it's fun for the fans, but I like to really evaluate based, not on preferences, but on facts and there are not facts this time of year.'
On loss of Mike Wilkinson:
M- 'Wilkinson was a war horse. He was a winner. It was like he was greater than the sum of his own parts, because he played with such great heart. He had veteran experience. Don't forget he was a five-year player.'
On team chemistry and freshman Joe Krabenhoft:
M- 'Now redshirting those guys will really serve them well. They got so many redshirts and older players, plus a nice blend of younger players. [Krabenhoft] is a star. He's athletic, he's got bounce. He's got dunk, he's got quickness. He's outstanding.'
Badger offense with Tucker:
M- 'As a coach, you have a way you want to coach. Phil Jackson is not all of thee sudden going to abandon the triangle and go to the 1-3-1. You have to coach the way you're comfortable. I would put Tucker in different situations than Bo would, but I think he's going to be a good player no matter what situation you put him in. He's a great rebounder, he's a hell of a defender, he's a great competitor, he's got a post-up game. He's just one of those guys that's just undersized.'
On Badger fans:
M- 'I'm a fan of the Badgers. I really pull for them. I felt bad for them in football [this past weekend]. But I am happy. If it had to be someone, I'm glad it was Paterno.'
On Dick Bennett and Bo Ryan:
M- 'You got to give a lot of credit here to Bennett first. The resurrection began with Bennett. Don't forget Bennett is the guy who recruited Wilkinson and redshirted him, which was a statement thing to do, and I'm not taking anything away from Bo. When Bo stepped in, he stepped into a great situation and Bo continued and built upon that. It was kind of like when Herb Kohl took over his dad's store. He got a good foundation and he built on that. And Bo's done a good job with that. Bo's an excellent defensive coach and a good teacher and those guys play consistently hard. That's what I like about them and they are unselfish.'
On playing lower seeds:
M- 'They got a break on that, but you know something? They capitalized on that. You got to look at it two ways. Number one is they were fortuitous and number two is they made their own good fortune by continuing to win when that presented itself.'
On last year's tournament game against North Carolina:
M- 'I think its kind of fun. UNC took everybody's best shot down that stretch there. But they did play an excellent game against them. And again, I was a big fan of Wilkinson. I tried to recruit him, had him visit Utah and I think he is what he is ... told me to call him back.'
Reflecting on Big Ten in past:
M- 'I really respect what Wisconsin has done. They play excellent defense. The bottom four, five of the Big Ten have been extraordinarily weak'the weakest in the last quarter century. It's been that way for five or six years now. There have been so many coaching changes. For years, when I used to play those Big Ten teams, Kaedy was at Purdue, Knight was at Indiana, there was great stability, there was very seldom a change. Penn State wasn't in the mix. It was extraordinary difficult to win.'
