I am extremely impressed with the leadership and mission of the University of Hartford under President (Walt) Harrison. I'm joining the university at a time of tremendous growth and see it as an opportunity to build a successful basketball team with a winning tradition of which our students, alumni and community can be proud.

I'm afraid to even call him and tell him what happened.

The emotion of this week has been overwhelming. It's like losing someone in your family.

The foundation for winning is already in place. The quality of play in the America East Conference is high, we have great on-campus facilities, and there is a strong direction within the athletics department.

I tried to start the game off with pressure and force them into reactions. Tried to avoid being flat given the circumstances. It might have worked for a while, but we didn't play good basketball. And they exposed our inability to execute offensively. No different than a lot of games this season.

No we're not going to practice at 5:30 a.m.. We're going to be disciplined but I've had enough of that. I've got to get some sleep.

I'm joining the university at a time of tremendous growth and see it as an opportunity to build a successful basketball team with a winning tradition of which our students, alumni and community can be proud.

I don't know how I could ever thank Coach Chaney enough. I know him as well as anyone in the world. I couldn't have had a better mentor. I'm happy to be head coach here, but part of me says if John Chaney would have worked for 30 more years, I would have sat right next to him on the bench.