Last year in Tuscaloosa was a heated game, and we lost 83-82. It was a really tough game that came down to a call at the end. It was an unfair call, you could say, but whatever you want to call it, it did not go our way in the end, and we lost.
Everyone on our team was devastated. We played our hearts out and felt that a call should have been made. We were just mad, and some people did some things they don’t normally do. As an example, Coach Kellen let his emotions get the best of him, but I can tell you he is not like that. Sometimes for an athlete, for a coach, in the moment, it happens. Everybody’s human.
The next day, Coach Kellen apologized to their AD and to their coach, and he apologized to us. We all put it behind us and moved forward. What else can you do? We understood what happened.
Coach Kellen is the best dude, and he’s the reason I’m here. I couldn’t let them label him on some stuff like that. I was not going to let that be something they see from us. I was thinking to myself, ‘they’re going to see this, they’re going to rewatch it, who did it, who’s doing this. They’re going to put a bad title on Houston.’ I couldn’t go for that, so I just tried to pick up as much of the trash as I could.
We talk about culture a lot. I did not want that to be something people thought about us and our culture. It was just a bad moment after a gut-wrenching game. All I did was stand up for the culture.
Both teams gave everything last year, and I know this year’s game will be the same.
Can’t wait.
