Bryan Colangelo Basketball Quotations

I think it's an opportunity, first and foremost, to bring this basketball team up to par with everything that this organization stands for.

I think it's safe to say everyone in the basketball operations, including the entire coaching staff, feels like we've dramatically improved our team, ... I know a lot of people don't think that's the case right now, but we're taking a step forward and we're going to keep building this thing.

Tucson and the U of A and (men's basketball head) coach (Lute) Olson and the basketball program really stepped up and gave us everything we needed, ... (Olson) just was involved in the process of discussions about facilities and what it would take. Obviously, there were some financial terms to the deal, and they were receptive to us coming down. It just turned out to be a great scenario.

Raja represents everything you look to add to your team to help you win basketball games. Raja is another piece that will radically improve our efforts on the defensive end, but you can't overlook his offensive skills.

I have no predisposed position on who he is as a coach, what type of basketball he should play. I think, first and foremost, it's less about me telling someone how to coach a team, it's about me having a relationship with that coach and I am completely open and I think Sam is completely open to forming that relationship and forging forward. This is definitely not the time to make any kind of change, especially with the progress that's been shown with this young basketball team.

He's under contract and he'll be the coach of this team next year. We've got a basketball team to worry about and Sam is part of that process to make this team better. When it's appropriate, we'll address Sam's contract situation.

He's a nice young player with a lot of upside. He's versatile. He shoots the 3 well. He's big, long, athletic and he defends well. He's really a solid basketball player who fits well into what we're trying to do.