Creighton’s Mitch Ballock on stopping a game at halftime & missing March Madness
The Bluejays guard spoke with Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek and former UCLA & St. John’s coach Steve Lavin about his team's Big East quarterfinal ending at halftime due to coronavirus concerns, missing out on the NCAA tournament and looking ahead to his senior season.
Video Transcript
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KRYSTEN PEEK: I'm Krysten Peek here with former UCLA and St. John's head coach, Steve Lavin. And we're joined by Creighton guard, Mitch Ballock. Mitch, thank you so much for joining us.
Now, can you take us back to about a week ago when you laced up to go play St. John's, you play a half a basketball. And then they come in and they say, the game's cancelled. The tournament's canceled. How was that communicated to you guys?
MITCH BALLOCK: Yeah, we went through warm-ups, and we went through our routines just like any other-- just like you're getting ready for any other game. Ball went up. We were playing the game just like any other one.
We went into halftime. We were talking about adjustments we need to make for the second half and what we need to do here, what we need to do here.
And Coach Mack walks into the locker room. And he just said, hey, the game's canceled. So everything just kind of happened so quickly. And it was like a domino effect once the first thing happened.
KRYSTEN PEEK: Like, what was your reaction when you heard that the tournament has been canceled and then March Madness itself? You guys have worked the entire season. This is one of the best Creighton teams I've seen in recent memory. What was your reaction when you found out there wasn't going to be March Madness?
MITCH BALLOCK: Yeah, at first-- when they said the tournament was canceled, we were like, dang. Honestly, this sucks. And we were-- I remember just going down to my laces like, hey, let's take our shoes off, figure it out.
And then a couple hours later, we figured out the NCAA tournament was canceled. I just immediately thought about the seniors. And they're not going to have an opportunity to finish their careers, obviously, on the big stage.
You want to go out. And you want to have a memorable March. And you want to hang banners. And you want to make memories that are going to last a lifetime.
But for the seniors not being able to do that, I really felt for them. And I really thought about them first. And then it just sank in that we were not going to play games.
STEVE LAVIN: Mitch, building on Krysten's question, just because naturally it's something we're interested in-- what was the vibe, the pulse, so to speak, of the team? And this weekend, were there opportunities for you to spend some time together with teammates? Or was everyone kind of social distancing as a result of the coronavirus?
MITCH BALLOCK: We didn't spend much time together. Honestly, the last time we were all together was in the Knicks locker room in Madison Square Garden, which is pretty cool to say. Maybe when I'm 40, it'll be cool.
But we all went and dispersed, hung with our families. And then, I actually ended up flying back with one of my teammates to Topeka, just to make it a little easier to get home. And then they took the plane back. And I haven't been together with those guys since the locker room.
STEVE LAVIN: Yeah, shifting to the remarkable season the Bluejays had. But this season, if you can kind of encapsulate what it represented, what the high points were, take us through that.
MITCH BALLOCK: I'd say this season in total was just an unbelievable experience. We really grew as a core. And we really did an unbelievable job of just incorporating everybody into our system that we knew and just kind of showing them, this the way that we play. So on the horizon, looking forward to next year.
Obviously, we have a lot of guys coming back. We're going to lose a couple, because they graduate, which is which is unfortunate for them.
But we have a couple of new guys that are going to help. And those pieces that we're going to add next year are going to be crucial to our success next season. And obviously, getting everybody healthy and back, it'll be an unbelievable season next year growing on the unbelievable season this past year.
KRYSTEN PEEK: Mitch, before we let you go, I have to ask you about your teammate, Ty-Shon Alexander. Do you think he's going to declare for the draft? Is he coming back? What's your read on him?
MITCH BALLOCK: Honestly, we haven't even talked about it. We haven't talked about him leaving. We haven't talked about him coming back. When the season ends like that, you don't really t-- we're still trying to get back to our everyday lives.
I know Ty-Shon. I know the competitor that he is. So if I was a betting man and I had to say what he was doing, I'd say he's coming back, just because he doesn't want to be left with that sour taste in his mouth.
I think he's coming back. And I think it'll be fun with the group that we have coming back, just to gel and hopefully make history in Creighton.
KRYSTEN PEEK: Well, Mitch, we appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining us on "Yahoo Sports."