“That’s what the leader of your program should look like at the end of the game, playing himself through exhaustion,” said Hurley. “That obviously gives us tremendous hope, because he’s the leader of this program, the face of what we’re trying to build here moving forward. He’s got that ‘it’ factor. We’ve just got to keep him healthy.”
Gilbert then went out and did his best Kemba/Shabazz impression.
“To develop a program as good as Wichita State’s has been, and Cincinnati and Villanova and Michigan State, (we’ve got to) recruit, develop, nurture 13 guys that have that type of heart,” Hurley continued. “I think we’ve got some guys in the program (like that). If we can get everyone in the program to follow his lead, in terms of how he goes about his business in the program, we’ll be in great shape in short order. These games, very quickly, next year will have a much different feel if we can get 12 guys like him.”