Loyola Chicago advanced in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament with a win over Saint Louis Friday. That came in large part due to the play of senior guard Des Watson, who scored 25 points.
In his postgame media session, Ramblers’ head coach Drew Valentine had a message for those voters who did not vote for Watson as an Atlantic 10 All-Conference player.
“I don’t know if people watch Loyola basketball or watch the players in this league,” Valentine said. “But there is no f-ing way that Des Watson is not one of the 10 to 15 best players in this league. It’s ridiculous that he didn’t make it.
“It’s ridiculous, I guess we could have a discussion about Miles [Rubin] not winning Defensive Player of the Year, whatever, but Des not being one of the best 10 to 15 players in the league is just ridiculous. And whoever did not vote him needs to get their voting taken away, because it’s total BS. And I’m glad he showed that he’s an elite player today.”
One could argue the voters who snubbed Watson had a point. He averaged 13 points per game this season and shot 38.6% from the field. But Valentine had his player’s back.
We’ve all seen coaches rip the media for snubbing or criticizing their players. Few have done it as calmly as Valentine did there. He didn’t rant and rave, but he made his point and threw in a couple of G-rated hints at swear words for emphasis.