The other side of victory: How March’s national title hopefuls said goodbye

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Tournament is not just about a champion with a new trophy; it’s about endings. They sometimes come with reflection, frequently with gratitude, almost always with pain.

So, as a farewell to March Madness 2026, here is not the joy of the Michigan Wolverines, but the anguish of the losers. The words they left behind as they departed.

Lehigh player Nasir Whitlock: “I told the guys, ‘God don’t make mistakes’ after the game. Even though we wanted to win this game, we wanted to go on a run; it just wasn’t in God’s will for us tonight, so we have to accept that.”

Louisville coach Pat Kelsey: “Unless you stand on that podium and the confetti is coming down, you don’t meet the standard. There’s three national championships at Louisville, I’m well aware. My dad is a 56-year car executive, and they call car executives’ wives widows because that’s some of the longest retail hours, the automotive business. Basketball is right there. And (wife) Lisa Lou deserves some time tonight. So if it’s okay with you, I’ll get started on figuring out a way to get on that podium in about six or seven hours.”

Ohio State coach Jake Diebler: “Growth is one of the foundational pillars of our program. I can leave that locker room today saying each and every single young man in our program grew as a man and as a player. That’s important to me.”

Siena player Brendan Coyle: “Obviously, we poured our heart out, but close doesn’t count for much. We talk all season about no moral victories, and we came into the game wanting to win.”

Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington: “We started this thing in June, and every single day — we didn’t want it to end. I know they didn’t want it to end. That’s the way they played today. They competed. They played the right way. You got to dare to be great.”

Texas coach Sean Miller, after two of his Longhorns visibly played through leg or ankle injuries in the loss to Purdue:  “In both of their cases, they played for the University of Texas. That’s really what makes me the most proud; that when you can get these guys to play for the team, for the program, something bigger than themselves, that’s something obviously they take with them forever.”

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson: “I’ve never not been just in complete awe of the finality of a season.

“I don’t have to be their life, but they are my life.”

Kelvin Sampson talks on the importance of not taking a break to make sure his players are taken care of for the next step in their lives. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cCib5VsT5f

— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) March 27, 2026

“At some point here in the next day or two, I’m going to have to have individual meetings with the players, find out what their plans are, who is coming back, who is not. That’s what you have to do now. Then you have to start building a roster. Then you’re consumed with portal, NIL. I always get a kick out of people that say, well, now you can take some time off. I will eventually. Not right now.”

Missouri coach Dennis Gates: “Our locker room hurts right now. I hurt right now. It’s not easy. I’m sure there will be certain headlines. There will be certain tweets and certain voices out there saying that we failed. My guys haven’t failed anything. I’ll stand on the train tracks for them every day, any day of the week, anytime. My guys did not fail. If you want to say something about failing, say Dennis Gates failed.”

Kentucky coach Mark Pope: “It’s the greatest place in the world to play basketball. It comes with all of the stuff. It comes with all the pressure and the scrutiny. These guys won games in the NCAA Tournament back-to-back years, and at any other school, that would be good, and at Kentucky, the uniqueness of Kentucky, that’s not the answer.”

Tennessee State player Aaron Nkrumah: “It ain’t really hit me until we came out on the court. You got the band. The lights are so bright, like I almost got hit in the head with a ball because I didn’t see, the light was just too bright. That’s the environment we all dreamed of playing in. It was surreal. Obviously, we fell short, but it’s a blessing. You’re never going to forget this. I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life, going to tell my kids about it. Going to go home, call my parents, tell them how it was out there.”

Kansas coach Bill Self: “The tournament, one of the things that makes it so great is that it can be great, but it can also be cruel.”

UCLA coach Mick Cronin: “Right now is not the time to coach. Right now is the time to try to be a father figure for those guys. It’s tough on them.”

Gonzaga coach Mark Few: “I need, we all need time. The suddenness of this tournament, no matter how many years you’ve done it, is just shocking to have to walk in the locker room and address these guys that really, truly, honestly, care about each other and love each other and would do anything to get one more possession together. To stand up there and address them and try to have it make sense is hard. So I always try to tell them it will make more sense as time passes. Kind of just like everything in life.”

High Point coach Flynn Clayman: “Ever since I set foot on High Point University’s campus, my life changed. I think these guys would say the same. We’re sitting here before you today, and we made history . . . yeah, what a ride.”

St. John’s’ Dillon Mitchell on what advice he would give to younger players: “Man, just enjoy the moments. It comes fast. It goes fast. It’s tough.”

Nebraska’s Rienk Mast: “We’ve put in so much work in the off-season, the whole year, and to know that we’ve made a little part of Nebraska history is very rewarding. Hopefully, that feeling comes at some point. Definitely don’t feel that right now, though.”

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, after the third Elite Eight loss in three years: “We want more. There’s no doubt we want more. We want to break through this thing. But you’ve got to get here first. Just so proud of the effort these guys gave it this year.”

Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey on the end of a long career: “I’ll probably be hurting for the next week just thinking about each day. I know I’m going to think about it. It’s hard. It’s everything I’ve put into it. I’m just grateful. This jersey means everything to me, what’s on the front of it.”

Duke coach Jon Scheyer, after Braylon Mullins’ last-second shot for Connecticut: “There’s not a person in this room, including me, that doesn’t replay everything that you could do and how you can help. That’s part of being in this seat. That’s part of being in this spot. End of the day, we’ve got to finish it off. We’ll reflect, we’ll learn, do all that.”

OH MY GOODNESS 😱

UCONN LEADSSSS UNBELIEVABLE #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IPX2JWiw0b

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on his quest to return to the Final Four: “We all talk about retirement. Why? What the hell am I going to do? The minute I don’t feel good, the minute I don’t feel like I’m giving my AD or president or school every ounce of energy I have every day, or that energy drops, you don’t have to worry about it. I don’t steal money. I won’t steal anybody’s time. But it’s sure as hell not going to be now. I’ve got some things to accomplish. I said a couple years ago that I’ll find a way to get back there.  We’ve knocked on the door twice. We haven’t gotten back. We’ll get back.”

St. John’s Rick Pitino: “This team was one of the most unique teams I’ve had in 52 years. Never one argument amongst the players. Not one potential fight or somebody getting upset at somebody. I’ve never seen that in my 52 years. They were just the greatest kids in the world. They wanted to win so badly, they were willing to do anything to try and win. I’ll never have a team like this again with that type of attitude. My heart breaks for them right now.”

Purdue coach Matt Painter about his three senior stars who stayed four years: “You can have it all. When you have the character that these guys have and the skill that these guys have, you can have it all. You can get a great education. You can treat people right. You can have a great basketball career. You can become a pro. I think these guys are great role models for young people out there to understand the big picture of things. There is balance. You don’t have to look at one thing. You don’t have to look at money or education, or basketball. You got to look at the whole picture. And why not have it all? Because these guys have.”

Illinois coach Brad Underwood: “If you want to put a contest together about good human beings, we’ll win. There’s no question what this group will be in life. As a coach, that’s why I got in this. Am I competitive? Does today stink? It hurts. My gut hurts so bad right now that I feel for all of them. But I’m also excited about the joy that we brought a lot of people in this run. We’ve got Illinois back to a level that they’re in Final Fours again, and my God, as long as I’m the ball coach, I’d better not take 21 damned years to get back there.”

Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd: “The first thing that popped into my head was like, one Final Four? Why don’t we go five times in 10 years? I mean, that’s where my mind’s at. I’m going to do it day by day, but that’s my big dream. Who knows? Maybe you guys will use that against me, saying that some day, but I’m going to dream big, and I’m going to work my ass off to try to make it happen.”

And finally, Connecticut’s Alex Karaban: “It hurts right now. It hurts a lot right now. I’m just reminding myself right now that when I came into UConn, how much I’ve grown, and I’m ultimately leaving UConn in a better place right now from where I started. I gave it everything I got. I gave it my heart. I gave everything. All I thought about was UConn basketball every single day.”

Dan Hurley stood up to give each player a hug after the presser 🥹

Always has love for his guys 🫶#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/9qua4YLqYR

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 7, 2026

He and his teammates were the last of the broken-hearted to leave the stage. The 2026 NCAA Tournament was over.