GREENSBORO, N.C. — There was an awkward silence. A pause between questions for Kennesaw State men’s basketball players Chris Youngblood and Terrell Burden at an NCAA Tournament press conference Thursday.

That’s when a non-member of the media requested the microphone. He had something to ask.

“This question is for both of you guys. Amir Abdur-Rahim, head coach Kennesaw State. What can you tell the people who don’t know much about Kennesaw State just what makes us special as a program and what makes our university special?”

The players didn’t miss a beat.

Burden: “Kennesaw, I want to say it’s a special place. Being that I’m from Georgia, I’m from the Cobb (County) area. I feel like Kennesaw has always been overlooked from people in the Atlanta area. When you think of Atlanta, you don’t typically think of Kennesaw, but I feel like Kennesaw is a special area and special teams have come through here.

“I feel like our culture in terms of student-athletes and students in general, it’s unheard of. You would only have to go to Kennesaw to understand, so I advise everybody to go ahead and go out there to Kennesaw.”

Youngblood: “I think when you watch us play, you’re going to see there’s a chip on our shoulder at all times. Because the question before, we’re technically an underdog on paper, but we don’t see ourselves as an underdog. It’s all the stuff we’ve been through the past couple years man. It’s time.

Kennesaw State plays Xavier on Friday in a first-round matchup.

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