What Robert Morris coach Andrew Toole after NCAA Tournament loss to Alabama

No. 2-seed Alabama defeated No. 15-seed Robert Morris, 90-81, in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday in Cleveland, Ohio. After the Colonials’ 2024-25 season ended at Rocket Arena, Robert Morris head coach Andrew Toole spoke to reporters.

Below is everything Toole said immediately following the 9-point loss to Alabama.

ANDREW TOOLE: Just incredibly proud of these guys and the way they fought today, as well as the entire season. Credit Alabama for some of the plays that they were able to make down the stretch of the game.

But I think a lot of people got to understand what I’ve been saying all year long is the spirit and the competitiveness that these guys play with is contagious, and I think you felt that in the arena tonight. I think you saw that from the way the fans responded to them, and it’s a credit to the way they approach the game, the way they perform. I’m just so proud to be associated with these guys.

Q. Coach, you’ve been with this program for a while. How special is this group to you?

ANDREW TOOLE: I told them in the locker room, they’re — I’m sure I’ll get some text messages about this, but the best RMU team ever put together, what they accomplished, tying the program record for wins, winning the Horizon League regular season championship, winning the post-season tournament, coming in here as a 15 seed and going toe-to-toe with Alabama, I think they’re the greatest team in RMU history.

I’m proud of these guys, and obviously, we did not have a successful season last year, and so a lot of them took a chance on this program based on some of our best success, and then they brought it back to life.

I told them I’m forever indebted to them for the way that they performed and the way that they worked all year long to get us to this point, and I’ll never forget that.

Q. Two questions for you: What does Robert Morris mean to you? And also, give me one word to describe the Horizon League.

ANDREW TOOLE: What does Robert Morris mean to me? They gave me a chance to be the head coach of the university at 29 years old, which most places, that doesn’t happen. It’s a unique place filled with special people. So the 15 years that I’ve been there as a head coach, 18 years overall, feel like they’ve gone by in a blink. Through good and bad, we’ve always been supported. As you saw today, the way that people came out to support this team and this program.

I’ll forever be thankful for that. To me, the Horizon League is underrated. That’s what I would describe it as. I think people don’t understand how good a league it is, how good the coaches are, how good the players are, night in, night out, what you have to do in order to be able to win games in that league. For us to go 15-5 in the regular season and win the postseason tournament, I think is a credit to these guys because I don’t think people understand how good Horizon League basketball is.

Q. What impact did you feel like Nelson had when he came on late in the second half there?

ANDREW TOOLE: Well, the fact that he had to come on I think is a credit to these guys. We tried to put him in some actions to try to test him a little bit, but obviously, he made some plays late. His size is just hard to deal with. He’s able to kind of just take up so much space out there that even when you try to get him in some screening actions or whatever, he’s able to make effective plays.

But I think that was a tip of the cap moment to our team, that they felt like they had to bring him into the game.

Q. I know you talked about getting the chance to see Amarion play in his hometown, but to see him perform the way he did today and impact the game the way he did, what was that like for you in real time?

ANDREW TOOLE: I’m not surprised one bit. I’ve seen it all year long. I’ve watched it in practice. I’ve watched him in summer workouts and fall workouts. The guy is an ultimate competitor. These three guys up here are warriors. They absolutely play with their hearts out of their chests, and he seemed to be everywhere when we needed a play. We were down 10. He went on his little personal run there and got us back into that game, and I don’t think anybody that was associated with Robert Morris basketball is surprised by it one bit, because he did it tonight.

But someone has done it all year long. Kam has had those moments. Alvaro has had those moments. DJ has had those moments. Ryan Prather, Josh Omojafo. Everybody has stepped up and made big plays, big shots for this team all year long. So tonight was Amarion’s chance and he took full advantage of it, and we expected those kind of performances from these guys because that’s who they are.

Q. Coach, you guys took a lead at the 7:10 mark in the second half. Talk about what happened in the last seven minutes that let Alabama pull away?

ANDREW TOOLE: Ryan had that three in that corner, man, and I thought that was going to go down. It didn’t go down. They were able to get to the free-throw line a little bit there down that stretch and build that lead some.

I thought we had some good opportunities to score during that stretch and weren’t able to take advantage. I thought we had a couple costly turnovers during that stretch, as well, that really fueled their ability to get out, put some pressure on us defensively.

But I think they were able to kind of use some size and strength to be able to put themselves — put us at disadvantage and then resulted with them getting to the free-throw line.

Q. It started with the Towson comeback, you guys were 17 points, and throughout the season, you came down from 13-plus to Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Horizon League, and then twice today, coming back from 10 points down. What about this team gave them the ability to come back with resiliency time and time again? And can you talk about the run that allowed them to take the lead? In most situations, teams would just eventually get blown out after that.

ANDREW TOOLE: Just the competitors these guys are, and we’ve seen it all year long. A lot of times, they’re the guys that are doing the communications and some of those teammates. So we called that time-out, I think it was 12:39 to go in the game, we’re down 10, and these guys are coming in like, this isn’t how it’s going down. That’s how they’ve always approached it. These guys play fearlessly. I knew they were going to go out and raise their level. Anytime they’ve challenged each other as teammates, guys have always responded by raising their level, and today was just another example of that.

So in all these environments that we’ve been in all year long, when we’ve been down and guys were referencing it in the time-out, saying we’ve been here before, make a play, make a play, get a stop, find a shot, all the things they’ve talked about all year long. So that’s been the mindset that they’ve walked in the door with, and that they exhibited when they touched the court.

Q. You called this team, you think they’re the greatest group in RMU history. What do you want them to remember about this season going forward?

ANDREW TOOLE: I’d like them to remember that they truly became a team. I think that a lot of guys came from different backgrounds, a lot of new players on the roster. They became a team.

Like, I love teams. I’ve been on a team since I’ve been four years old, and I just love when people are willing to sacrifice in order for the greater good.

They did that, and that’s more rare than it should be, I think, in this day and age. And there’s so many that are looking, trying to figure out what they can get out of every situation that they’re involved in instead of what they can give, and these guys gave every day. Through good and bad, through me annoying them, they gave. They gave.

They got on each other. They held each other accountable. They challenged each other. That’s what teams are supposed to be about.

That’s what I hope they take away from it because they all have the ability to impact whatever environment they are in, in a positive way, and they certainly did that for me and they certainly did that for this university and they did that for each other, and I think that’s pretty unique.

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