June 17, 2006

On Saturday, June 17, Villanova head coach Jay Wright and Kyle Lowry participated in a conference call with the media regarding Lowry's decision to remain in the 2006 National Basketball Association Draft. Below are excerpts of that interview:

Q: Kyle, when you were in Orlando, you talked about going through the process and how you were by yourself and how lonely that was. Now you have kind of gone into an adventure where, at 20 years old, you are forced into this grown-up world. How ready has this whole process made you for what you are going to deal with?

LOWRY: I think the process has helped me a lot. Being away at IMG (Academy), working out, being down there basically by myself, having to be dependent upon myself, getting to workouts, getting something to eat, (helped). Being in college for two years you have to be on time for classes, be on time for practice. I think the process has prepared me very well for the next level.

Q: Jay, I'm sure you're thrilled for Kyl,e but you have to now think about life without Kyle. What's the biggest thing you are going to have to replace without him next year?

WRIGHT: That's a good question. There are so many things Kyle brings to the table: his toughness, his pure talent level, (his) leadership on the floor. But if I had to pick any of them, he probably has most influenced our team with the will to win, night in and night out. I think that was contagious on our team. When we went into every game there was no doubt that he was going to do whatever it took to win in any game. We've got to get that from some other people. I think we have it, but I think Kyle was kind of a leader in that regard.

Q: Kyle, I know you were working out in Orlando - did you have much contact with Jameer (Nelson)? And what are you being told by NBA scouts in terms of where you might be selected?

LOWRY: I talked to Jameer when I was down there. I am in constant contact with him. I work with him all the time just to get an understanding of the process. He's given me great advice because he's been through this and he's been in the NBA for two years.

The scouts so far are just saying that I could go from 15 to the second round. That's a risk you have to take when you make this jump.

Q: The idea of being a second round pick is not a risk to you?

LOWRY: There's always a risk. Everything is a risk in life. If I went back to college there was risk there. Going to the NBA is a risk. You enter your name into the NBA draft lottery. The second round, if that happens, I'm mentally prepared for it.

Q: Kyle, you talked about risk if you had stayed at Villanova. Watching the kinds of injuries your team has suffered through the last couple of years, is that something that entered your mind?

LOWRY: You know injuries can happen at any time. I tore my ACL, Curtis (Sumpter) has torn his ACL. (But) it's not something you can control. It happens all the time. It was a worry a little bit, but I would have been taken care of if I had gotten injured. I would have been on time to get my degree, no matter what. It was part of it, but it wasn't too big a part of it.

Q: Kyle, are you surprised that this opportunity has presented itself after two years?

LOWRY: Definitely. I didn't go to college talking about `I want to be a pro after two years, I want to leave school after two years.' I went to college and just wanted to be the best player I can be to help my team win. I just wanted to be the best teammate and player I could for however long I was in college. We never talked about going to the NBA early or winning a national championship. We never talked about the future. We only talked about the present.

Me keeping a low head and not putting pressure on myself to try to get to the NBA in two years helped. Coach and my team, we just stayed level-headed. We knew we had certain goals to achieve and we knew we just had to stay focused and not look forward to (becoming) NBA prospects or getting to the NBA after two years or one year.

Q: Kyle, when exactly did you decide this? Was it early on in the process or did it come in the last few days?

LOWRY: When I first made the decision we all sat down and talked about it- coach, my family, me. We talked about not going in to test the waters. We went in trying to stay in the NBA draft. As this process went on, I got better at things I needed to work on. Throughout my workouts I've been getting better. I wasn't just testing the waters - I was going to go. The opportunity presented itself to go (and) that's what we set our goal for.

Q: Now that this process has reached an end, what was the most difficult thing about leaving school?

LOWRY: The difficult thing was leaving my teammates behind. I have great teammates and I have great people at Villanova. It was just a great place to be. I think that if any college player can go somewhere, I think Villanova should be the place.

Coach has been a great father figure to me. It's kind of hard to lose that at such a young age, at 20. Usually college players at least get to 22 and have two extra years. But I'm losing a type of father figure at the age of 20. He'll still be there for me but it's not like I can go there every day into his office and go talk to him. Maybe once in a while I'll give him a phone call. But it's kind of tough leaving the school behind, period.

Q: How much of this decision was financial? How much did that end of it play into it for you?

LOWRY: Not much. I mean it's a great thing. The money is great. But this has always been my lifelong dream. Growing up and all my life I have been dreaming about playing in the NBA. I played two years of college basketball and I just thought it was time to take my game to the next level, which is the NBA. It's the level that everyone wants to be at. I had the opportunity, so I took it.

Q: Kyle, if you take a look at the point guards in this draft, how do you think you compare? You played against Marcus Williams and, oddly enough, Randy Foye, is considered a point guard. How do you think Randy will fare? Do you think he can play point guard at the next level?

LOWRY: Personally, I think I can play against these guys. I'm a competitor and every point guard in the 2006 draft is a competitor. I think I'm one of the toughest competitors there are. So I'm going to go out there and give it my all, no matter who it is.

I think Randy is a point guard. When I would get in foul trouble or needed a rest, Randy would go to the point guard position. Overseas last summer he was playing point guard for Coach Wright. I think he showed he can play point guard. He's a great talent and he's a different individual. He has the body of a 2, the game of 2, but he has the mindset of a point guard.

Q: You mentioned you are surprised that this opportunity presented itself now. Was your family surprised and what has been their reaction?

LOWRY: My family's reaction and advice has been `we're behind you 100 percent.' Nobody in my family ever talked about `Kyle needs to be out of college at a certain time.' It was all just, `Kyle, keep going, you look real good out there. We support you no matter what you do.' It was great. If your family is pushing you too much that you have to go to the NBA early, it's bad for you. But my family has always been supportive of me.

Q: Jay, did you ever think you would be in this position a year ago or even at the beginning of this season? This decision of Kyle going to the NBA seemed to really snowball towards the end of the year.

WRIGHT: It did surprise me. Just as Kyle said - and I thought he was very eloquent - he never planned on this and he never talked about it. He always talked about being the best point guard he could be, the best player he could be, getting his degree. We talked about the NBA as a dream but not as a specific goal in the short term.

I really thought he handled this perfectly. He was intent on staying and being a leader on our team next year. We put his name in for the underclassmen evaluation that the NBA has. You do that for all your young guys - I did it for Randy last year, Allan (Ray). He got such a positive response that we all thought that this is something we should start looking at and seriously thinking about. I think it just came down to, for Kyle, his family, coach (Dave) Distel, and me that this is something we should seriously look at. And then it still came down to Kyle's decision. It wasn't until late in the process that he decided to do that. I thought it was well thought out and a good decision. I support it.

Q: What does it mean for the program to have three kids who are in position to be drafted, possibly with a couple in the first round?

WRIGHT: You know what, I never know. There can be so many results. It could mean we miss a lot of good players and are too young. It could mean recruits are excited because you have three great guards who are going to be in the NBA. You never know. I always leave that up to you guys, the press and the public, to make those decisions. I'm personally proud of every one of them, the kind of young men they are, and the way they represent their families and especially the way they represent our program. That's the way I look at it - having these three guys out there representing our program is something I'm very proud of.

Q: Jay, in the span of a couple of months you went from four guards to one guard. So does the complexion of your team change now?

WRIGHT: It does. We have talked about this before, but it wasn't just four guards so much as it was four great basketball players that were leaders and guys with high integrity and competitiveness. It was four unique individuals. Not only are we going to change from being guard-oriented but we are going to have to develop those characteristics in these young guys and I think that's going to be as difficult as replacing four guards.

Q: Kyle, this may seem like a silly question with all the thought you have put into this, but are you at all scared?

LOWRY: Yeah, definitely sacred. There's (that), but it's more nervousness. Wherever I go, I'll be happy just to hear my name called. That's a great feeling. I think it's more nervousness. You've got to wait until June 28th. You've got to do your individual workouts for the teams and then, on that day, you've got to hope that your performance was impressive enough to have that team draft you.

Q: Allan was joking he plans to sit in his backyard and wait to hear his family scream on draft night. Are you going to do something along the same lines? Are you going to be able to watch?

LOWRY: I'm definitely going to watch. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. You just want to be able to hear your name being called.