This time the Wildcats are back without any star power, but that’s not keeping them from making music, as long-time coach Bob McKillop likes to say. They do have first-team, all-conference players in Jake Cohen and De’Mon Brooks and they are back in the Dance after beating Western Carolina in double-overtime to earn the bid.

Bob McKillop joined WSCR in Chicago with Boers and Bernstein to discuss this team compared to the one with Steph Curry, what Curry meant for his program, the luxury of knowing his players will be around for four years, if he’d take a one-and-done guy, his message to his players going into the NCAA tournament and if being the Southern Conference Coach of the Year ever gets old.

How would you describe this year’s team and compare it to others you’ve had that have had more big-name players?:

“You know, I use this analogy all the time, it’s like going to the Met to watch Pavarotti — our 2008 team, Pavarotti being Stephen Curry. Now it’s like going to Broadway and watching Jersey Boys. You don’t care who’s playing Frankie Valli, you just want to hear the music. We’re sort of a Jersey Boys kind of team, where it doesn’t matter who’s in the lead role. There’s so many guys who could play it and you’re still going to get good music.”

What did Steph Curry mean for your program?:

“He was a stamp of national excellence for us, to do what he did during his time for us. Now he’s a constant presence because he’s always in the national papers because of his success with Golden State and the attention the NBA gets. It’s something that’s not faded with his departure from Davidson, but continued.”

On the luxury of knowing his players are going to be around for four years:

“The reason the landscape of college athletics is so level right now is because programs at the mid-major level are keeping guys around for four years. That maturity, that experience, you put a team out on the court that has 21-, 22-, 23-year-old men on the court and they’re going against these hot-shot 18-year-olds. Invariably, there’s going to be the mental maturity that three, four, five years extra provides. That’s why Virginia Commonwealth, that’s why Butler, that’s why George Mason, that’s why we’ve done the things we’ve done the last six years. It’s a great luxury to have that, knowing that guys are going to be around and that when you put in a system, it’s going to be passed from class to class.”

If there’s a guy that you know is one-and-done, but says he wants to do it at Davidson, you’d still take him, right?:

“Um, I hope I have that opportunity to have that question answered. … I hope there’s sometime some player tells me that.”

At what point do you give the message to your players that it’s time to get serious and also maybe make sure they don’t buy into any Cinderella hype?:

“That seriousness started about three hours ago when we had practice and I put the fear of God in them. I tell them my own experiences as a player. I tell them my experiences as a coach. There’s so many memories that I have, so many tidbits that I can reflect back on when you’ve done this as long as I’ve had. You constantly use them as learning tools, as teaching tools. … In ’72 I signed as a free agent with the 76ers. I was just so happy to put on the 76er practice gear that I didn’t care if I was cut. … I did not invest myself as much as I invested to get to that step. I told our guys, ‘I don’t want you being content with yesterday’s glory. You have to realize this is a journey and you have the challenge of the next step in front of  and don’t be content with just getting a Southern Conference championship.”

Do you ever get tired of being the Southern Conference Coach of the Year?:

“It’s a thrill every time because I share that. I share that with a wife who puts up with the nonsense of me being a coach and a staff who works beyond the 24 hours of the day. And players who were with me 20, 25 years ago. … That’s the kind of thing that keeps me young and inspired and encouraged by this profession, that you have an impact on people’s lives and you’re a part of people’s lives.”

Listen to Bob McKillop on WSCR in Chicago here

Flash forward to 2010 and Stephen Curry is doing similar things with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA.  Curry is pushing Tyreke Evans hard for the Rookie of the Year award and making a number of General Manager’s regret letting him slide all the way to number seven in the NBA Draft.

Stephen Curry joined KNBR in San Francisco with Fitz and Brooks to talk about how he is adjusting to life in the NBA, how he has able to stay relatively healthy when a lot of people questioned it (editor’s note:  this interview took place Weds afternoon and he missed his first game of the season Weds night unexpectedly) , and what it’s like to play with Monta Ellis.

On whether or not he still feels confident taking the last shot after missing the other night against Los Angeles:

“I’m still gonna have confidence whenever that opportunity presents itself again to take a big shot.  The play was drawn up for me, Corey (Maggette) made a great pass and it just didn’t fall.  Next time it happens, I feel like it’s just another shot, I’m gonna take it, knock it down, and go about my business.”

On how he has been able to stay healthy:

“I don’t know what it is.  Just got a lot of energy and thank God that I don’t have any injuries that have lasted very long.  Just sticking to my routine that I started earlier in the year to get myself ready for every game.  Hopefully it’ll help me get a long career and get through this year.”

On transitioning his game to point guard in the NBA:

“If you watched highlights of my college career, my first two years, my freshman and sophomore years, all I did was come off screens and pretty much shoot.  I played the point guard for about three minutes per game.  Then last year, my junior year, that was something that I knew I had to work on if I was gonna make the transition to the NBA.  I played full time point guard, had to do a lot of scoring, but at certain points, you’re gonna see double teams and more aggressive defenses and you gotta be able to distribute the ball where is supposed to go to make the easy shot.  All of last year and the first half of this year, I really developed my point guard skills and hopefully will continue get better.”

On playing alongside Monta Ellis:

“It’s a lot of fun.  One for me, I get the best seat in the house to watch him do what he does night in and night out.  He gets to the basket whenever he wants to, he’s playing great defense, taking that challenge on, and I’m having a lot of fun playing with him.  I think we both take a little pressure off each other.  You can’t really take anything away from both of us because his speed and athleticism and my shooting and passing ability, I think it’s a pretty good tandem to have.  Hopefully we stay together, get some guys healthy, go from there, and see what happens.”

On dealing with the pressure of living up to his father’s reputation:

“In high school, I felt that pressure every day especially playing in a city where he was a legend in.  Everybody knew his face; he came to all my games.  Opposing school’s and there little fan sections would heckle me all game about me being a daddy’s boy and daddy can’t help you on the court and stuff like that.  Once I dealt with the pressures in high school, I felt like I was ready to go.  Going to college, it turned into how was I going to be successful going to such a small school and playing against the big guys.  It wasn’t really much my dad it was a whole ‘nother challenge to live up to.  My teammates in college and Coach McKillop at Davidson, they helped me get to where I am now.  Now it’s just about having fun, continue what I’m doing that got me here, and not really worrying about any pressure to live up to my dad or anything like that.”

Listen to Stephen Curry on KNBR here

During his junior year, Curry honed his game by garnering all sorts of attention from opposing teams. He wasn’t able to lead his school on another magical run through March Madness this past season, but he more than proved his game was NBA ready by dealing with a myriad different defensive looks. Curry opted to forego his senior year and enter the Draft. The event is held in Madison Square Garden in New York City, so when the hometown Knicks, who were picking at #8 one spot behind the Warriors, missed out on a chance to draft Curry, the partisan crowd collectively groaned in disappointment, knowing they missed out on a perfect fit for coach D’Antoni’s offensive oriented system.

Curry joined KNBR in San Francisco last Friday to talk about his college career, the experience of being at Madison Square Garden for the event, playing for Coach Don Nelson in the Bay Area, and on how he’s handling the swirling trade rumors that involve him heading to Pheonix.

On the feeling he had when he finally had his name called as the 7th overall pick of the Draft:

“The feeling that I got when I had my name called, you know walking up on stage and meeting the commissioner then hearing all the Knicks fans boo…but I’m just really excited about this opportunity and I’m excited about getting signed.”

On the rumors that Curry had no interest in being drafted by Golden State:

“Well, worst case scenario, that’s totally false…I did go in to the draft with New York on my radar, but if you look at Golden State, they have a very similar system. Coach Nelson is a legendary coach that’s on the brink of becoming the NBA’s all time winningest coach. So this is a great organization and a great situation to be in. There’s lots of talent on the roster now and everything in the past is pretty much history. I’m just excited about what’s going to happen in the next few months.”

On his excitement about playing for Coach Don Nelson in his free-wheeling run-and-gun system:

“It is, it is. What more can you ask for as a rookie but to come in and play in this kind of system, this kind of coach. The learning curve to do what I have to do to be successful in the NBA, I think I have everything lined up to do that.  So I’m willing to learn, to make mistakes and learn from them, but Coach Nelson is going to get the best out of me.”

On if he thought he would be a lottery pick in the NBA when he signed with the unheralded Davidson College Wildcats, not an exactly a hotbed of NBA talent:

“Not at all. The first time I thought it was possible was in the Regional after my sophomore year. A reporter asked me after we lost our last game if I was going to go to the NBA. I kind of looked at him sideways. After that I thought it was a real possibility if I worked hard enough to get it. But it’s just amazing that it happened.”

On how he surprised people with his strength, which both improved significantly in the past year and took people aback based on his fairly unimpressive looking frame:

“Yeah, they thought I was 6’1″ and couldn’t kill an ant. So it’s kind of funny a year ago we go to Chicago to do the tests and it kind of opened my eyes. And the next thing you know you go from being a mid-first rounder to being the seventh pick of the draft so it’s kind of cool how these things work and I’m just blessed to be in the situation I’m in.”

Listen here to Curry on KNBR in San Francisco

Stephen Curry  joined The Dan Patrick Show on Friday and updated DP on his NBA draft status.

“I’m 53% staying, 47% going right now.” 

On why that number changed from the 50/50 he mentioned a few weeks back:

“Just getting closer to the meeting with my parents.  I had my first meeting with coach yesterday and he was pumped.  Apparently they’re trying to get the Southern Conference tournament moved to my hometown in Charlotte next year.  That was a nice little kicker.”

Listen to Stephen Curry on The Dan Patrick Show