Wednesday’s shoot-around quotes

Justin Hutson, Fresno State – “It’s great exposure on ESPN for our program to play in this field in Southern California. It’s really nice. The challenge in these kinds of tournaments is being able to prepare quickly. I’ve been in the Wooden Legacy twice already (as an assistant coach at previous schools). We are very excited to represent our university and community.”

Dan Majerle, Grand Canyon – “We want to play really good competition at neutral sites. We want to continue to push our game to the next level. I’m excited about it. It’s a good test against some really high-quality opponents. It’s just the growth of the program to now expect to compete and win. We’ve come a long ways in six years.”

Eran Ganot, Hawai’i – “This is the second of three tournaments for us and it presents such a challenge in terms of competition and quick turnarounds that can help us moving forward. It’s an honor for us to be here on a national stage and for our guys to learn about and show our appreciation for a giant of college basketball in John Wooden. We also greatly value our strong relationship with ESPN as they always run a first-class event.”

Ashley Howard, La Salle – “This is a great opportunity for us to come out here, play against high level competition and get better. We have a lot of new guys playing together for the first time, and this trip will help us become more cohesive as a unit on the basketball court and to bond together away from it.”

Jim Larrañaga, Miami – “We are excited for the opportunity to play several high-level teams this week. We know it will be a challenging field with a lot of very talented teams, and our guys are looking forward to it.”

Chris Collins, Northwestern – “I think we’re very excited. In the past, we’ve always been in those four-team deals. To go out and get three games in four days and I think the field is very competitive. It’s a great opportunity to go out there and find out who we are while still having a chance to play for a championship.”

Kevin Willard, Seton Hall – “I’m looking forward to getting out there and kind of getting these guys away from everything and giving them a little change of scenery, a change of pace, change of practice, and most importantly, get games under our belt. The more games we get under our belt, the better this group is going to get.”

Larry Krystkowiak, Utah – “This is a great event with a great field of teams. We get to play three games in four days and that will go a long way in getting to know our team. This whole thing is about experiences. It’s great opportunity for us to represent the University of Utah and we are excited to get things going.”