June 22, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head men’s basketball coach Darrin Horn and rising seniors Dominique Archie and Devan Downey met with members of the media on Thursday in a roundtable discussion at Colonial Life Arena.

Horn addressed the media on several items, including scheduling, Archie and Downey withdrawing their respective names from the NBA Draft and preseason top 25 polls. Below is an excerpt from coach Horn’s session with the media.

On the return of Devan Downey and Dominique Archie…
We’re fortunate that they’re coming back. In addition to getting good players back that are producers, I think the more important thing is that you get fifth-year seniors back. I said that from day one when this process first started… they’re talent that have been through it and know what it’s all about. To me that’s the biggest plus of getting them back.

On how the SEC will be next year with so many players returning…
“…Does it help to have a bunch of guys that are really good players to come back? Sure it does. It makes your team better. With that happening all over the league, with the exception of one or two cases, I think absolutely. Our teams and our league is better. I said it last year, and every other coach in the league said it last year, but I would be hard-pressed to find a tougher league top to bottom and maybe a tougher division in the country, at least arguably, than ours. At the end of the day you have to go out and prove that.

Archie and Downey addressed members of the media on the experience involved with entering their respective names in the NBA Draft pool earlier this spring. Both announced earlier this month that they had withdrawn their names from the draft and will return to South Carolina for their senior season. Below are a few comments from both players.

Devan Downey
On what he learned through the draft process…
I found out that there’s always something to work on. Things you think you do well, different teams tell you that you can probably do better. The main thing I came out with is that there’s always something to work on. You should be working on your craft every day.

On making the decision to come back to school…
It was a hard decision. Anytime you’re talking about your future, it’s definitely a hard decision, but I made the best decision for me.

Dominique Archie
What he felt he got out of the evaluation process…
I got a lot of good information, not all of it positive, but overall it was a good process for me. Everything I learned helped me to get ready for this season. As far as my decision to leave or not, I had already made that decision before I started. I just wanted to go in, and try to get my stock up a little bit.

On his expectations for the upcoming season…
The sky is the limit right now. We have to work hard this offseason, and know that no one is going to give anything to us. We are getting our new players in this summer, and we are going to try to work hard together. The expectations for this season were made at the end of last season. All the new guys coming in are additions for us.