The biggest looming post-NBA combine decisions and the case for why more high-majors should schedule upper-tier mid-majors

Summary

Eye On College Basketball — Episode Summary

Episode Title: The biggest looming post-NBA combine decisions and the case for why more high-majors should schedule upper-tier mid-majors
Date: May 15, 2026
Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander

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Main Theme & Purpose of the Episode

This episode focuses on two central topics:

1. The major decisions facing top underclassmen who are weighing NBA Draft entry versus returning to college after the NBA Combine, particularly focusing on Koa Pete and others whose draft performance and NIL valuations make their choices unprecedented.
2. The changing landscape of non-conference scheduling, highlighting the need for high-major programs to schedule more competitive games against top mid-major teams, inspired by High Point’s recent scheduling success after its NCAA tournament run.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Koa Pete Conundrum: NBA or Return?

What’s at Stake?

• Koa Pete (Arizona star, 2nd leading scorer on a Final Four team) had a mixed NBA Combine, especially struggling with shooting—his key area of weakness.
• He faces a rare choice: enter the NBA as a likely late-first-round pick or stay at Arizona for another season, possibly earning $5M+ in NIL money.
• The deadline for withdrawal from the NBA Draft is May 27th.

Combine Performance Analysis

• Parrish (04:07): "He is a 6-foot-7 non-shooter at this point in his career, which is problematic in today’s NBA."
• The combine, while influential for interviews and some measurements, is not viewed as a truly decisive evaluation tool for NBA teams.
• Norlander notes: Pete "will be drafted... He will go in the first round, and I don’t think he’s going back to college."
• Both hosts repeatedly stress that Pete’s combine only reaffirmed concerns about his shot, not his overall athleticism or defense.

Economic & Developmental Ramifications

• Parrish (06:18): “I think Koa Pete can make more money in college than he will in the NBA next year.”
• The transformation of NIL means high-level college players now have lucrative alternatives to marginal draft positioning.
• Norlander: “If he returned... you’ve gotta have Arizona in the conversation for preseason top five. But I just don’t think that’s going to happen.”

The Human Side of the Decision

• Pressure of “I just want to be a pro:” Some players, regardless of financial logic, are simply ready to move on from “school.”
• Parrish (12:39): “Being a college basketball player is now a job. It can be a profession, a lucrative one.”
• Despite this, both hosts marvel at why Pete seems unwilling—even when NBA teams suggest otherwise—to consider staying when it’s so lucrative and enjoyable collegiately.

Precedents and Rarity

• Norlander and Parrish debate how unprecedented Pete’s situation is—there have been a handful of similar cases (e.g., Liam McNeeley), but none with so much money at stake.
• Parrish: "This is a very unusual, possibly unprecedented situation." (19:44)

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2. Other Key Post-Combine Decisions (21:10–36:07)

Top Players On the Fence

• Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt): Undersized but high-impact—likely to return for a big NIL payday, but as of episode time still undecided. Notably poked fun at for a viral draft graphic with shoes photoshopped off (23:12).
• Malachi Moreno (Kentucky): Has garnered late buzz, but the sense is he’ll return; his importance to UK is critical given recent roster misses.
• Milan Momcilovich (Iowa State): Lethal shooter, his NIL value could reach $5–7M if he returns, with Kentucky, St. John's, and Louisville aggressively bidding.
• Tunde Yesifu (Baylor): Potential late first-round pick; more likely to stay in the draft than others.
• All of these decisions are entangled with NIL negotiations—Parrish likens it to big-league free agency and high-stakes “business negotiations.”

Coaches' Dilemmas

• Parrish and Norlander discuss how much leverage schools/coaches have versus players: do you push for a quick decision, risk losing out, or wait and pay more as the market heats up?
• For each player discussed, the consensus was: financial/logical angle strongly favors returning, but uncertainty is high, and the NIL era has radically shifted the landscape.

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3. Scheduling High-Majors vs. Upper-Tier Mid-Majors (40:19–58:50)

High Point’s Example: Viral Interview to Major Scheduling Wins

• High Point’s coach, Flynn Clayman, sparks scheduling change after his memorable on-court and press conference rants about mid-majors being locked out by high majors:
  • [41:10] Flynn Clayman (post-win): "It looks pretty obvious to me that high majors need to play mid-majors during the season because they say we ain't playing nobody—we played somebody."
• Result: Since the tournament, High Point booked games with LSU, Liberty, Washington State, St. Louis, George Mason, and a clash with Miami Ohio—an impressive non-league slate for a mid-major.
• Clayman’s loud advocacy proved not only cathartic but effective; Parrish and Norlander describe it as a compelling, positive turn for college basketball.

Why Scheduling Matters Now More Than Ever

• Expanded NCAA Tournament (now 76 teams): lowers the downside/risk for high majors in scheduling tough mid-majors.
• Norlander: “The excuses are out the window. There is no reason now... to avoid these games.”
• Both hosts urge high majors to reconsider “middle-class squeeze” scheduling—ditch at least one cupcake for a true, meaningful test versus a top mid-major.
• Historical reluctance: Hosts note some programs/coaches justify avoidance mathematically, but argue for broader good and fairness.
• Parrish (53:07): “Sometimes in this world, you should do things that benefit the greater good, even if it’s at the expense of yourself... I used to be that guy [at a mid-major]. I know what it would have meant.”

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4. Remembering Brandon Clarke (58:50–66:21)

• Brandon Clarke, a beloved 2019 Gonzaga All-American and NBA pro, tragically passed away at age 29, reportedly of a drug overdose after a period of struggle.
• Both hosts reflect on his transfer success (“before the Portal era”), his explosive year alongside Rui Hachimura, and his impact with the Memphis Grizzlies—including value both on and off the court.
• Parrish shares personal memories of Clarke’s impact on the Memphis community and his own family.
• Parrish (63:02): “It just never occurred to me that I would have to have that conversation with them... he’s in my little guy’s room on the wall.”
• Both close with condolences to the Gonzaga family and emphasize Clarke’s legacy as a player and person.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• Gary Parrish (04:07):

  "He is a 6-foot-7 non-shooter at this point in his career, which is problematic in today’s NBA."

• Matt Norlander (06:18):

  “He is ready to take the jump right here and right now no matter where his stock sits and how much it may be floating over the next month.”

• Parrish (12:39):

  "Being a college basketball player is now a job. It can be a profession, a lucrative one."

• Flynn Clayman (High Point coach, 41:10, post-win):

  "It looks pretty obvious to me that high majors need to play mid-majors during the season because they say we ain't playing nobody—we played somebody."

• Matt Norlander (41:06):

  “Well, as it turned out, they were there just to win one game... but it was an awesome story nonetheless and I love that post game interview.”

• Parrish (53:07):

  "Sometimes in this world, you should do things that benefit the greater good, even if it’s at the expense of yourself."

• Matt Norlander (58:50):

  "There are coaches that still do this [schedule tough mid-majors]... It would be awesome if 50 of 80 power conference teams had a game against a team projected to be top two in its mid-major league."

• Parrish (63:02):

  "...It just never occurred to me that I would have to have that conversation with them... he’s in my little guy’s room on the wall."

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Important Timestamps & Segment Guide

• 02:37 — Start of NBA combine/cut-down decisions: Koa Pete’s future
• 06:18 — Draft withdrawal deadlines and economics of the decision
• 21:10 — Other big “stay-or-go” underclassmen: Tanner, Moreno, Momcilovich, Yesifu
• 40:19 — “High Point Effect” and the mid-major scheduling dilemma
• 41:10 — Flynn Clayman’s viral quotes after NCAA win
• 58:50 — Remembering Brandon Clarke: his impact and tragedy
• 66:21 — Closing remarks and episode wrap

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Episode Flow & Tone

The tone blends sharp analytic insight, humor, and genuine empathy. The hosts' banter (ex: shoe-photoshopping jokes, over-tipping anecdotes) humanizes the high-stakes, rapidly changing business of college basketball. There’s a strong sense of nostalgia, advocacy for what’s right in the sport, and respect for its players and coaches.

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For New Listeners

This summary covers all essential analysis, compelling moments, and core arguments. You’ll grasp the drama and complexity facing the sport’s biggest college stars, the under-discussed implications of NIL, why coaches schedule (or dodge) key games, and the ways college basketball’s culture is evolving—both on and off the court.

Transcript

[Gary Parrish]

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[Gary Parrish]

Hey there. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Per usual, Matt Norlander is here with me. If you watch on YouTube honor Brandon Davies. The only way that's appropriate smash the like button. If you haven't yet subscribe to the Ion College Basketball Podcast. Please do that wherever you listen to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it as you likely know, the NBA combine is unfolding in Chicago. Lots of measurements, drills, quotes, most of college basketball's best players from this past season. They are there. And some players who could be college basketball's best players next season also are in attendance. Which brings me to KOA Pete. Great college player, flawed NBA prospect Simply put, the second leading score from Arizona's Final Four team entered the week with some real questions about how his non shooting game would translate to the NBA. And he did very little this week to alleviate the those concerns. Especially early in the week when he did not shoot the ball well and thus hammered home. I think the point that he is a 6 foot 7 non shooter at this point in his career, which is problematic in today's NBA. Norlander, good to see you on a Friday. Let me ask you this first. Is co opeat suddenly the biggest swing decision left in college basketball? Whether he intended to be or not,

[Matt Norlander]

he is not because I don't think he is going to return to Arizona. Even if he gets feedback here that he will not be a top 15 pick. Maybe we'll flirt with not going top 20. I don't think he's returning to school, so his and a lot of this pertains to the combine talk to people at the NBA level. From everyday scouts to people you know in the top two spots of a given front office, there are still varying opinions on how much the combine actually matters. Some people think it only matters for the purposes of actually getting in front of the players to interview them. And even then, those interview settings are often like speed dating. Some don't even think they have that much value in a single afternoon session. What you do shooting one on none, albeit with, you know, powerful eyes watching you. When you do that, it's I beholder stuff. The combine stuff at the NBA level doesn't seem to matter nearly as much as it does at the NFL level. And you can make the argument that neither of them should really carry all that much value. But it is a reason for prospects to descend upon one place and then scouts and general managers and, and you know, EVPs of these, of these franchises to, to get eyes on it. And the takeaway here is that co op did not help his stock as a result of this. I still put 99 of what he did during the season as to what should actually matter and be a value when he gets drafted. He will be drafted. He will go in the first round and, and I don't think he's going to return to college but if he did, he'd be a second team preseason all American. If he did, Arizona would be ready, willing and able to pay him, you know, 5 million plus if they needed to. But I still don't think that I mentioned this. I think GP last week, every single indication I've got has been he is not going back. Is the door, is the door slammed? No. But there's been no indication from Cohape his camp toward Arizona that he is open to returning to college. He seems set on being drafted even if that means he gets picked on draft is June 23rd. That means that he gets selected 18th overall this year and hypothetically if he came back, can make 5 million or more and be picked number nine next year. He is ready to take the jump right here and right now no matter where his stock sits and how much it may be floating over the next month.

[Gary Parrish]

The deadline to withdraw for college players from the NBA draft and return to division women's basketball, that's May 27th. So it's one week from next Wednesday. We still have time and I hear you on the combine, some people could take it or leave can often be overstated its importance. But I, I do think there's a, a difference between like Milan mom Chilovic and we'll get to him, you know, shooting it poorly at the combine because then you could just go back to the tape and say all right, who cares? It's a Tuesday afternoon, he didn't shoot it well. What's the big deal? We have plenty of evidence that this guy is a high level shooter. The problem with Cole Pete not shooting it well at the combine is that underlines the main concern with him as an NBA prospect. Like coming into this week he's a 6 foot 7 forward who does not shoot it. And coming out of this week he's a 6 foot 7 forward who does not shoot it. And so you know, if there's certain other things that I wouldn't be concerned about that I saw at the combine but if I went to Chicago hoping that this prospect would show me, maybe the reason he didn't shoot it much at Arizona is because of style of play or any number of things. The truth is he showed up at the combine and the shot looked different. It looked slow. It did not go in, and it's a problem. And as I've stated many times, he can do whatever he wants. You know, a year from today, co opiete's gonna have more money than 99.9 of Americans.1 way or another, he's gonna be fine. This is not like, don't mess your life up. He's picking between two awesome things. Do you want to be one of the best college basketball players in the world or an NBA? NBA player like that? That's his life. A year from today, it's a pretty good life. That said, I personally have no understanding of why in this era of sports would young men like coapeat be eager to leave a place that wants you to go to a place that they'll take you? But they're, they're like the quotes coming out of Chicago are, hey, young man, we think you can play in our league someday and we look forward to having you. And if you stay in this draft, we'll take you now at some point. But we all think you should go back to school. You're not ready for this. I just have. I don't understand why in this era of the sport when there is literally $5 million out there for him to make in college, I, I find it difficult to understand why you would just be so dismissive of, of circling back and, and doing what I think most people would tell you, including NBA front office members, is the smart thing for you to do right now. But again, it's his decision.

[Matt Norlander]

It's his decision. I mean, think about the family he comes from. You know, a family full of athletes he's always been for his entire life. And not just basketball, but in a variety of sports, like the best athlete on the, on the field of competition. This has been true probably since co opit was like six, seven years old. And so why wouldn't you have the confidence to believe that, yeah, he can step in? Because I understand the discussion about the combine and how he didn't shoot well. The numbers look bad. That's. What if he had shot well? Like, are we suddenly going to believe? Like, oh, it translates to me. Like, to me it would have mattered.

[Gary Parrish]

It would have mattered 100. It would have mattered.

[Matt Norlander]

Just like if somebody not to every front office it wouldn't have mattered because there you can. You're a laundry list of prospects over the years that either did terribly or amazingly well in some fast or multiple facets at the combine. And it didn't matter to where they got drafted and what their NBA career looked like.

[Gary Parrish]

You can overlook things and chalk it up to a bad day, but when you watch co opied shoot it poorly, that's not chalking anything up to a bad day. That's chalking it up to. That's who he is, that's what he is. I was hoping maybe he would show me something different here at the combine. That's why I flew to Chicago. But all I'm looking at is a great athlete who cannot shoot a basketball and. And now it looks uncomfortable and slow. That that's. That maybe that's not the thing that takes him from going 15th to 45th, but that. That is not a good day for him and I believe it matters.

[Matt Norlander]

Here were his shooting splits last season from beyond the arc. He took 20 threes in 36 games. He went seven of 20. That's 35%. Obviously was not asked to shoot from deep all that often and wasn't terrible, wasn't great. 35% is pedestrian at the college level with the college line from 2 point range 54% 193 for 3 from inside the arc obviously a decent portion, more than a decent plenty portion of that came within eight feet of the rim and then from the foul line 62.3% 101 for 162 got to the line plenty in an Arizona scheme. Obviously that, that pushed the pace, that put an emphasis on getting transition twos crashing the boards, being physical and everything that comes with Tommy Lloyd's style there. So you know, we did a mock draft last week and I did put. I had the last pick, I had the 14th pick and I sent Pete 14th. That's, that's me believing that Pete's ability is. I think Koa Pete will wind up being one of the 14 best players from this draft class when we check in five, six, seven years from now. So I did that as much as anything else. Doesn't seem likely he's going to be taken with a top 14 pick. But I will remind folks on this episode what I reminded on that mock draft episode. Every front office is different and no one truly know there. There will probably have teams that will have Coapeat 25, 26 on their board and there very well could be some teams that are picking 11th, 12th or 13th that would nonetheless have coapeat that high on their boards. Really, really promising player because of his physicality, defensive prowess. Would I love to have him back in college basketball? Hell yes, I would. I mean, if he returned and went back to Arizona, then you've got to have Arizona in. In my estimation in the conversation for preseason top five team in the country. But you know, Pete was as talked about. I think it's just about anyone at the combine this week that wasn't a projected top five pick and all that, but I just don't think that's gonna happen. I think he's gonna keep his name in and I think he'll be selected anywhere between 16 and 22 on draft.

[Gary Parrish]

I, you know, Josh asked in text like, is there a any sort of I'm just ready to get out of school thing going on here? And sometimes, yeah, I don't know that as it pertains specifically to copied. But. But I can tell you that is a real thing with some other people. It's just like, man, I don't care what I could have in college and I don't care what my NBA future looks like. I'm just ready to be a professional basketball player and I ain't never open in a textbook again. Right? Like I. That's a real thing with some people. I just think it should be way less of a thing now because like with Coapede, I. I hear you when you say he's never not been the best athlete and he's all. I saw a quote from him. He was like, I've always impacted winning. I have no reason to think I won't be able to impact winning again. And I like, I hear all that. And if he were my son, I would want him to think that way as well, to have that confidence. And I wouldn't do anything to try to rip that away from him. But I would also say, but son, like, we have a long history of. Of looking at basketball players and how their careers unfold. And I can give you a long list of basketball players who were great at every level forever and top shelf this and that impacted winning. But buddy, when you get to that league, it is. You are dealing with different people and different sizes and different skill sets and you can, you can impact winning as much as you want in high school international, you know, U18 stuff in the Big 12. But this is a whole different level of something. And there are literal national players of the year in college basketball who cannot play in the NBA. Like, this isn't like, man, you can. You can hit a fastball, you can hit a fastball. If you can see a breaking ball, you can see a breaking ball. If you can run a 4, 3, 40 and catch you, It's. This is like the national player of the year in college basketball sometimes does not work in the NBA. And so I would appreciate the confidence. But also, you know, just because it's always worked out for you doesn't mean that it 100% will right now. And we're telling you why it might not. So to Josh's point, maybe this is a case of just like, I just don't want to go back to school, period. Okay, that's fine. I respect the decision. But my counter argument to that now would be that these are jobs. Being a college basketball player is now a job. It can be a profession, temporary one, but a real profession, a lucrative one. And so if my son were a borderline prospect like this and was in a position where I think you can reasonably say right now, next year, Koa Pete can make more money in college than he will in the NBA. I think that's a reasonable thing, given where he is.

[Matt Norlander]

He would. I don't. I don't think that's debatable.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, he would make more money in college. Okay, so once we're in a place where you can make more money in college doing a job, if my son then tells me, but, Dad, I just don't want to be in college anymore. I hate going to. You ever been doing a 9M class? Dad, I don't want to go to a 9am 9am class Monday. However they do school now, I don't even know. I would say, listen, son, I hear you.

[Matt Norlander]

9:00am classes.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I have no idea.

[Matt Norlander]

You're out of your element there, Donnie, just yet.

[Gary Parrish]

I know this sounds like you're talking about printing out the bracket. I'm talking about going to 9am classes. Neither one of these things exist anymore.

[Matt Norlander]

Literally millions of brackets still get printed every year. But continue.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, I would say, hey, listen, I hear you, son, but this is your job, and they're going to pay you a lot of money to do this job. And, you know, with my job, there are some things I don't like doing sometimes, you know, and I do it because it's just sometimes in jobs you got to do things you don't like to do to get the paycheck. And so, yeah, you might have to take an English class, but it's worth $5 million. All right? And then beyond that, all the stuff we always say about this other thing, you could be one of the 10 best players in college basketball at one of the 10 best teams in college basketball next season or good luck. This is just so clear in my head. It makes it very difficult for me to understand how, how he could help either co opied or people like co op could be so just definitive in their thinking right now. But again, it's his decision. In a year from now he'll, he'll probably be making more money than both of us combined.

[Matt Norlander]

Way worse prospects projected way further down in the draft even in the Nil era than co opied that has stayed in the draft. And there's also something to be said for you know what, he does bring a lot of tools that can be used and sometimes it's where you go, how you can be used, the skill sets. He's not going to be nor will he be asked to be the leading scorer, the second leading scorer, probably not the third leading scorer on a given team. But I just look at Jalen Duran who is not having a good playoffs. But in many ways I think Jalen Duran's profile coming out of college is similar to Pete's and he has, he's going to play himself into what he'll make at least what 40 million, 35 plus million in his next deal even if he doesn't get the max because of how bad he has played in the playoffs. But he is a bona fide sure thing, starting level big in the NBA despite not having especially coming out of college. I don't even think Jerry Lynn Dern hit a three pointer coming out of college and look what he did. So you know, there are just examples of guys, certain roles and just because you're not going to go 8th, 12th or 14th and you can't reliably shoot a shot from 20, 20ft, 22ft, 24ft from the, from beyond the arc doesn't mean there isn't a role for you and that you can't be an impactful player right away. And that might also be part of

[Gary Parrish]

his thinking, of course, but that sounds like such apples and oranges to me. Like Jalen Duran did not have the option to return to college for $5 million.

[Matt Norlander]

He did not. That was a thing to apply it specifically to what he might be viewing for his opportunity going to the NBA and how a team might see value in him there.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, I'm not arguing that a team might see value in him at some point and put him on a roster. I'm just saying that team will probably sit him at the end of their bench, bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G League. And he'll be making less money next, specifically next year than he would be making in college. To me, that's where the whole Jalen Duran thing just falls apart. I'm not saying co op doesn't have a place in the NBA someday, even perhaps tomorrow. I'm just saying when your options are the options he has in front of him. It is just hard for me to make sense of choosing the NBA option when. When the clearly defined college option, more lucrative option is right there in front of you for, you know, and I hear you when you say there have been worse prospects than co opete in terms of where they're projected to go stay in the draft, pass the deadline, obviously. True. Let me ask you this though. Has there ever been one worse than co op who was passing on, let's just for the sake of the conversation, call it $5 million to play college basketball. Has there ever been one of those?

[Matt Norlander]

Well, I mean, because that's where it changes everything.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't care what somebody did seven years ago or even three years ago

[Matt Norlander]

relative to their market.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm just talking about right now. You, you are picked to be. Let's just call it 20. You're the 25th pick in the draft.

[Matt Norlander]

Asa Newell last year went 23rd. He wouldn't have made five. But like Asa Newell, if he had come back, could have made three.

[Gary Parrish]

We don't have to belabor the point. The point is like this is a very unusual, possibly unprecedented situation.

[Matt Norlander]

Liam McNeely just a year ago went 29.

[Gary Parrish]

Was he gonna get five?

[Matt Norlander]

Was it? But relative to. But okay, how about frame it this way instead, if KOA Pete came back to Arizona, he would be one of the 10 highest paid players in college basketball. Had Liam McNeely returned, I think there is a very healthy chance that he would have been one of the 10 highest paid players in college basketball. A year ago he opted not to. Hiscock actually dropped way beyond what anyone would thought. He went 29th to the Suns. So there have been even just recently. There have been a couple of specific instances there.

[Gary Parrish]

But again, nobody like co opied. No, not this amount of money.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, yeah. Which is a function of every year escalating costs and as much as anything else. But yes. No one with this amount of money. No. But I'll tell you what, there's another player out there who is a stay or go decision that I think will make minimum 5 million. And honestly, like truthfully, I think he's going to make more if slash when he decides to return to college. Who is that player? You're going to have to find out after a word from our partners and after this break. There's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature, discover nearby trails and explore the outdoors with all trails. Download the free app today and find your outside.

[Gary Parrish]

All right. Norlander Coaped is not the only underclassman who went to the draft who still has college. I mean, went to the combine who still has college eligibility.

[Matt Norlander]

And is might be true as well. I mean, honestly, anything's possible in 2026, anything's possible.

[Gary Parrish]

He's not the only one that's got a big decision to make. There are other players. Tunda, Yesifu, Milan Momcilovich, Malachi, Marino. Of those three. Hold on.

[Matt Norlander]

Can I add a fourth?

[Gary Parrish]

Of course.

[Matt Norlander]

I think there's an even bigger one and that's Tyler Tanner of Vanderbilt.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. So like, I just assume he's back in school. Like, what are you even doing? You're my height. You're my height, bro. You want to be one of the best players in college basketball or try to go be awesome in that league as a teenager? My. My height.

[Matt Norlander]

As we. As we do this show. He has not decided and I think he is. I think he is the biggest now swing, stay or go decision. I thought a book who is going to stay in of Stanford. I thought he was going to come back. He's staying in after being top five nationally, I think in scoring. That's a dagger for Stanford. You want to talk about a program whose entire outlook drastically changes as a result of a stereo decision? Abuko Corey Stanford, he's gone. So with him off the board, I think Tanner at Vandy is right there behind him. I hear you. Like he should be coming back. Did you see Josh? I don't know if you can pull this in time. Did you see the draft express graphic from earlier this week or last week? I gotta ask Gavoni, what's going on here? He did. He had some sort of tweet and graphic about Tanner's. I think it was his measurements.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay.

[Matt Norlander]

And when they posted it, the graphic of Tanner was him in socks, but it was quite clearly taken from a picture of him like reacting in the middle of a game. So someone photoshopped out the shoes and just had him inside. You didn't see this?

[Gary Parrish]

I did not see this.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm. I'm vexed. I. I don't know why it happened. But now I want. Just give me one a year. Gavoni out on doing great stuff with Draft Express. Give me. Just drop one unsuspectingly. Never, never even mention it in the tweet. I think Josh found it. Look at this. I just don't eat the exact same picture. This is phenomenal work by Josh in real time. Look at the picture on the right. That's where we take it from. He's wearing, like, hot pink shoes. This might have even been. That looks like it's a home game there. Or maybe it was in the tournament. I don't know. But. But the shoes were removed. The quote is, I'll do whatever it takes to stay in the draft. Tyler Tanner, and he wasn't wearing shoes. And I just.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't get this.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't get it.

[Gary Parrish]

Nice socks, though.

[Matt Norlander]

I just like what goes in. Like, he's wearing a Nike uniform with the Nike logo on it. He's wearing Nike shoes. I don't like, we couldn't have this. It's phenomenal. I can't explain it, but,

[Gary Parrish]

Pablo, congrats on your Pulitzer. If you're listening, we. We got you a new assignment. Can you figure out. Can you find out? Hey, Pablo, since you're so smart, can you find out why Tyler Tanner shoes had to be removed from this Draft Express graphic? Get on it. Get your little folders out and get on it.

[Matt Norlander]

I feel like I honestly, you or I could probably figure this out with one text message, but I don't want to. But this is just the weirdest crowd. They took his shoes off. It's like he's popping out of bed. I'll do whatever it takes to stay in the draft. So.

[Gary Parrish]

So this is one where I just go. I go, well, yeah, of course. But, like, he. Whether it's him. And we'll get to the rest of these guys because he's not the only one. I think doing this right now, you already know you're going back to school, but it's all, you know, leverage stuff, and you want to get every penny you can get, and so you take it to the deadline and you really squeeze them. And so I wonder, like, if you're Mark Byington or Mark Pope, because you both have players like this.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And you do you put pressure.

[Matt Norlander]

Do you.

[Gary Parrish]

Do you just sit back and let them just really? Because at some point, it's like, it doesn't matter. Like if it's five, like if you're Mark Pope, it's like, I gotta have this guy. So whatever he's asking for, we gotta do it. Or if it's Mark by then, it's like, I can have maybe the SEC player of the year. I. Let's just do whatever we gotta do. Whatever the price.

[Matt Norlander]

He.

[Gary Parrish]

He names a number, we do the number. Is it. Is it possible or is it just too risky to put the. To put the pressure back on them? Say, hey, listen, you've gone through the combine. We've got to move on. We got to know what we're doing. So Our offer is 3.5 million. I'm just making up numbers. Our offer is $3.5 million. We need to know by the end of the week. We are not. I know that officially the deadline is May 27. We're not waiting till May 27. So your agent can keep coming back to us and asking for more. And asking for more. The numbers 3.5. Take it right now or we're moving on.

[Matt Norlander]

This is the world that some of these coaches find themselves in, and the situations where you got a great player and they're right, they're in that space. They could go. They could come back. I think Tanner will come back. I think he should come back. If he does come back and he is even better, then he's going to be one of the best. Three best point guards in college basketball next season and could be the SEC player of the year, as you mentioned before, that will be on the table there. But that how much do you push versus how much do you support? So sometimes these coaches do know in some. In some instances, and I, based on when I last checked in specifically on Tanner and Moreno, it's not known. They haven't quietly or privately said, I'm coming back, no matter. But sometimes coaches know my guy's going through the process, and barring something miraculous like, we know he's coming back, we're going to go let him do this for four or five weeks. It's a great thing for when he does it again a year from now and is hopefully better positioned. But in these two specific instances, it doesn't sound like that's what it is. They're gonna. They're really kind of dangling on a string. So on that note, you and I both agree, Tyler Tanner, we think he will slash, should come back. He is tiny. He's a good ball player. He's probably not going to grow all that much in a year's time. Stock is understandably high, but it could be even better. And in a weaker draft, maybe you can turn yourself into a surefire no Doubt about it. First round pick a year from now. Okay, so let's put Tanner to the side. But he's in this group of relatively small group that we're going to talk about here. Let's talk about Malachi Moreno and we got, we'll get to mom Chilovich who's also kind of connected to this in a Kentucky angle a little bit. And then Yesifu as well. If now apparently like Marino's actually gotten some real boost again for whatever that is or is not worth at the combine. How much of this is actually real versus Buzz versus not Malachi Marino. If he were to stay in the draft and I do think there's a scenario in which like yeah, could he get drafted back half of the twenties? I mean it's not unthinkable. I could see that happening potentially then, I mean, Mark Pope situation is disastrous in terms of you have a proven commodity on your campus in your uniform. Saw what he could do quite clearly is setting up for a big jump in year two and suddenly you lost him. I don't think we're going to get there. But man, oh man, for anyone listening, let me bring up his stat line here. That's not a Kentucky fan and can't recite Malachi.

[Gary Parrish]

I got you 7.8 points, 6 point rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 blocks in 22.6 minutes per game. He did start 30 games. That was I think mostly the byproduct of Jaden Quaintance being sidelined all season. But he was a top 30 prospect in the class of 2025. I, based on my projections right now, he would be a second round pick. I do not rule out the possibility of him, you know, sneaking into the 20s. But, but him pulling out of the 5 on 5 at the combine is actually hilarious because like he's the type of guy who should be playing in that better prospects than him played 5 on 5 at the combine. But the implication at least is that if you can say I'm pulling out of five on five because I've, I've, you know, I'm hearing, I'm hearing I'm in a good spot. You know, I'm hearing some good things, man. People, I don't even think I need to play 5 on 5. I feel pretty comfortable where I'm at right now. It just sends the message back to Kentucky whether it's real or not. Hey man, I'm comfortable. What's your next offer? You got a new one? Come back with the new one. I like the Last offer. What's the next one? What's the next one? What's the next one? Ultimately, I think Malachi Marino and Tyler Tanner are going to play against each other next season in the sec, but they are going to go through the process, and I don't even blame them. Like, they are handling this well. I'm just more interested in what would you do if you're on the other side of this? Because this is like big business negotiation all the time. Like, can you put. Can you apply pressure to somebody to make a decision, but if they make the wrong. If they make the decision you don't want them to make, you are screwing yourself. But you might be screwing yourself by waiting. So can you apply pressure and get a better deal than you otherwise would get at the risk of it blowing. Blowing up in your face? That's. That's tough. I. So if you're Mark Pope, like, this is the situation you're in. Malachi's got people keep coming back to you, and this is a negotiation ongoing. And you. You don't think he wants to stay in that draft because you don't think he's really going in the first round, and you don't think he even thinks he's really going in the first round, but you don't know that. But you think it. And you want, on one hand say, hey, we already got a big pile of money on the table, and this is probably more than you're worth if we're being honest and you're gonna keep coming back to us for more. Like, the problem is, if you actually get tough with him and draw a line and he says, all right, if that's the way you want to be, I'll just stay in the draft. You are maybe ending your coaching career at your alma mater. Like, as crazy as it sounds, this could be the key to you getting a year four or never getting a year four. And so that makes it a really delicate situation where, if I'm being honest, I think if I'm Kentucky, I just gotta sit back and wait, be as kind and as patient and make sure when it's time, we're gonna put so much money on the table, he can't say no to us because they. They need him now more than they needed him on the day the season ended. They need him now because they've missed on so much other stuff.

[Matt Norlander]

So let's talk about the other guys that are connected to this, because I. Let's just. We're under work under the presumption that Marino will come back. But if he didn't, I think Kentucky has remained in the orbits of Tunde Yesifu and Milan Momchilovich. Now I'm just going to put my own percentages on this and this is, you know, it's all speculative, whatever. Like Tanner I would put at 80% back. Moreno 75.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

Mom Chilovich 75 and yesifu like 55. 60. But those got to be backup. Break the glass in case of emergency for Kentucky if they don't get Marino back. Yes, if who I could see being a first round pick. You know he just, he just played in obscurity. I mean there might be, you know, devout college basketball fans listening to this podcast in mid May and if I trivia time you wherever you are, however you are listening to this show and I say where did Tunde Yesifu play last season? Can you, can you answer it?

[Gary Parrish]

Do you can't I can.

[Matt Norlander]

I know you can. I'm asking the people to play along at home. He was a Baylor Bear. So Baylor was just not a good team. Baylor, despite going he's on the road

[Gary Parrish]

to joy last year and has now decided to exit the road 17 and

[Matt Norlander]

17 last year as was Cameron Carr

[Gary Parrish]

who the road to mediocrity last year

[Matt Norlander]

about a guy who really did well for himself this week. Cameron Carr was a big time winner at the combine again, whatever that means. But Cameron Carr is going to be a top 20 pick. There's now no doubt about it coming out of this week at the combine. Baylor could have two first round picks on his roster after only going 17 and 17. We've seen much worse I. E. Rutgers much worse just a year ago. If yes, if it comes back, who knows on the portal stuff, maybe some Kentucky, maybe some UCLA there, maybe some St. John's seems kind of all over the place. He seems the least likely to return of the players we have talked about. While at the same time I don't think there's a single player we have talked about or we'll talk about on this episode that I think is more likely than not as of two titles today to stay in the draft. Co opied accepted and he was in a different block altogether there. Momcilovich. Now that's an interesting one. So I think mom she loves will probably come back. I think he is going to have a very tough decision. But between Kentucky, St. John's and Louisville, which I mean if Louisville gets Milan Momcilovich, it's definitely spending more money than Kentucky spent on last year's roster just undeniably I checked in with a couple different people on this like and I guess no shame in it, I guess or at least we'll have promised to pay just as much if not more as Kentucky last season because Milan Momchilovich is going to he is going to drive at least 5 million, if not 6, potentially $7 million to return to college basketball. And you may ask yourself, how did I get here? How does my Milan Momcilovich make $7 million? Put on your David Byrne voice. Well, for Iowa State a season ago, playing alongside some really good players, Momcilovich shot 48.6% from 3 point range on 280 attempts for a team that was a good offensive team, but not, you know, absolutely, you know, wired to be that kind of team that just routinely is going to drop 90 plus a night, really. Six, six, seven and a half step out, stretched forward, good frame, good body, can get it up. Shot, shot 88% from the line just he is near automatic offense and has really just blossomed well as a player. And so I think he'll come back and if he does, there is going to be a fascinating two or three school race. From what I understand it is Kentucky still in there and then Louisville and St. John's might feel a little bit stronger about their positions as of today, but he hasn't made a decision. Maybe he stays in the draft and parlays that into being the 28th pick. Maybe he gets that done. But to our co opique discussion earlier, GP Momcilovich's projected range is lower than Pete's. He's older than Pete and I think he could make just as much if not more coming back to school next season. So we wait and see on that. This story doesn't appear to be anything with any resolution over the next 10 days.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, Montilid bitch's situation is a little different than Tyler Tanner's and Malachi Marino's because those guys are like either stay in the draft or go back to where you were. And Momcilovich seems to be stay in the draft or find a new home at which point the bidding wars start going. And for him I would, I would withdraw from the draft at the last minute and then let it play out. Just, just let it, give it because this can work a lot like NBA situations sometimes work. In other words, just a quick I think this will make the point. The Grizzlies tried to move John Morant at the trade deadline. They could not get anything of value for him. People were wanting them to attach assets to him. They said, no, we'll do this in the off season. So now they will try to do it in the off season. And some fans would ask things like, well, if you couldn't do it now, why will you be able to do it then when he's older? And blah, blah, blah. The answer is because franchises will get desperate. Franchises that weren't desperate at the trade deadline will be desperate in. In. In the off season. Why? Because at the trade deadline, you got franchises tanking to try to get a top four pick in the draft. Well, there are franchises that lost their pick. There are franchises that didn't get into the top four. There are franchises that finished below their slotted spot. Somebody's going to. Somebody right now has plans to get Giannis, and that's not going to happen. And so then it's like, well, now what do we do? We thought we were going to get a top four pick. Can't get that done. We thought we could get. We were in the Giannis thing. Didn't get that done. Now what do we do? Well, I guess. I guess we can call Memphis and roll the dice on John Moran. We wanted to do this other thing and this other thing, but now we're desperate and, you know, he can dunk sometimes, so let's try that. And so that's how you get a deal done. The Grizzlies get a better deal done, theoretically, for John Morant this offseason than you could have done a threat. Same thing for Momcilovich. The longer you wait, up until a point, there are schools out there who thought they were getting a player back, but he stayed in the draft. There are schools out there that thought they were getting somebody out of the transfer portal, but he went to Louisville instead. They got this money they planned to spend, and now they're desperate. They. They will dump it on you. Whatever Milan, Momcilage, whatever somebody could have told you he was worth, theoretically worth to a college basketball team for one season, whatever number they'd have put on it on the day of the national championship game.

[Matt Norlander]

Right.

[Gary Parrish]

The day that he signs, it'll be a much bigger number because it's just to make it as simple as you can. It's just a supply demand thing. And the demand will be high and the supply will be low, and he'll be the best thing out there.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, that's going to be quite interesting. Where all the money's coming from? No idea, but obviously. And definitely not. Definitely, definitely not that. So everyone that we talked about in this B block we all think we'll come back, but it's entirely possible we got one or two decisions say no, you know what, I'm gonna stay in. We'll deal with the fallout of those decisions. If they go that way, when they do later on this month or if, or when the commitments happen, if they happen, you know, as, as late as

[Gary Parrish]

early June, I think most of them will come back. I could see all of them coming back. I believe they all should come back. And I don't say that as, as the college basketball analyst. Like I'm gonna be fine next season. Whether co opeats playing college basketball or not. It will actually not impact my life in any way whatsoever. But I think when you really put it down and start doing pros and cons for every player we have discussed to this point, it just makes more sense to come back to school financially and for a variety of other reasons. But again, they're all grown men, they could do whatever they want. Let's move on. You have a story published right now. It's on the College basketball page, CBSSports.com about how High Point has parlayed its tournament success and a viral post game interview into some actual scheduling wins. I'll get you to tell that story next. First though, let's get another word from our partners. All right Norlander, tell us how Flynn Clayman turned a viral post game interview into a non league game with lsu. Plus some other interesting stuff.

[Matt Norlander]

Well let's, let's flashback because Flint Clayman, coach at High Point. High point was a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament and it played a thriller of a game in the big Dance this year. And immediately after High Point pulled off the win which included Chase Johnston, three point specialist, unexpectedly finding himself in a transition opportunity and going up for a layup. This dude never takes twos and ironically enough it was his breakaway two that got the High Point win right after that Clayman said this on national TV and then actually Josh, let's play both. We'll do the Clayman hit immediately following the win which is instant classic. And then what he said in the post game press conference about 20, 25 minutes after that big moment. That also ties into the story that I wrote earlier this week.

[Gary Parrish]

NCAA tournament game coach Clayman it looks

[Flynn Clayman]

pretty obvious to me that high majors need to play mid majors during the season cuz they said we ain't playing nobody, we played somebody.

[Gary Parrish]

Now how'd you do it?

[Flynn Clayman]

Feels unreal cuz I know how good of a team we had, but nobody would play us. Just like they wouldn't play Miami Ohio, but they got to play us in this tournament.

[Gary Parrish]

Coach, you were down by 10 early on. What changed?

[Flynn Clayman]

We just settled in. We settled in. We got a hell of a team. We settled in and it's pretty obvious to me that something needs to be done about this non conference scheduling. High Point in Miami, Ohio are 2 and oh in quad one games. We couldn't get games. They couldn't get games. Akron couldn't get games. UNCW couldn't get games. Belmont couldn't get games. We won 22 of our last 23 games and we didn't move up one spot in the metrics. Not one. We won 22 of our 23. We've won 25 games by double digits. That team right there is a fantastic team that beat five top 10 teams. If we can get games like this on neutral courts and some home games, I think we'd know who's really the best teams. I'm proud of these dudes. And we're not just here to win one game. We're here to get to the Sweet 16.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, as it turned out, they were there just to win one game. That it makes the Sweet 16. But it was an awesome story nonetheless and I love that post game interview with Flynn Klayman and Jared Greenberg after the win over Wisconsin. So flash forward to this week. I checked in with Flynn about a week and a half ago and I just asked, hey listen, have you had any luck and success? And he's like, we're actually getting close. Let's talk in a couple days. But I've got a couple already signed. He had had Washington State sign, Liberty signed and then everything else was getting close. He's like. But I was like, cool, I'll write a story. Because you know what, this is a good story if you've actually been able to affect some change. And lo and behold, Will Wade is going to host High Point. So he has at least one high major on the schedule. It's not just that and it's detailed at the site, but specifically High Point is going to play. It's going to open the season against Liberty in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Then it will host Washington State now in the PAC 12. Washington State going to High Point. I believe in high points. A super rich school. I believe. Flynn told me that High Point is buying Washington State for that game. By the way, they're going to play at St. Louis on Nov. 15. That is a start of a home and home and Josh Shirts who's also, he's coaching a mid major program. But everything about St. Louis, particularly this season and next season they are running a power conference operation there but nonetheless good on Shirts. So home and home they'll play at St. Louis. High Point will host George Mason on December 2nd. That is also the start of a home and home. George Mason's done all right for itself so far. And then we'll play at LSU on December 18th. And oh by the way, the date is not determined but both coaches, they said I could put it in and it could be publicly known. The undefeated Miami Redhawks in the regular season from a season ago are going to play High Point. So the two, you know, non Gonzaga division, you know, single bid league, most prominent mid majors from a season ago, they're going to play next season. This is wonderful, wonderful news and a really, just a really good positive thing for college basketball. I don't know if High Point, I don't know. Flynn Clayman can get a second high major to say yes. He actually said there was real legitimate dialogue with three or four power conference programs, but the LSU found him first. LSU said let's do it. On December 18th, Clayman told me that his president and his AD both cleared. I didn't ask specifically what game it was. It's probably a game that's either off the schedule entirely or it's another low major that they're just going to move around. They had to bump the game in order to make the LSU thing work. And why wouldn't you? Obviously, so they made it happen. And I don't even know if that came with the, with the financial penalty to pay off that school or not. But the point is they got the game and a moment that was viral in the midst of the NCAA tournament. That's my biggest takeaway from, from everything. And please do read the story. Hopefully we can link it in. The description afterward is when High Point beats Wisconsin on, on that, what, Thursday, Friday of the tournament and everyone's going nuts. This is awesome. Look at, you know, why didn't they get more high majors? It's easy in the moment for everyone to get rallied around that because it's so much about what the tournament is. This is the time of year when it matters. This ex. This window into May and basically through the end of June is when these coaches and their dobos and their support staff and the people that do the scheduling. This is when you need to be about it. This is when you need to have that energy and that willingness to say you know what? For the, for this, this high major or excuse me, this mid major that's projected to be top two in its conference. Yeah, we will go and we will play them because we now have a 76 team NCAA tournament GP. The excuses are out the window. You, there is no reason. Now what means the most and I wrote this in the story is the top 25 team playing it. Sure. That means the most. Obviously it's, it's, it's, it's the mainstream appeal. Everyone understands that. But there is room, there is space and there should be a desire to have your power conference teams scheduling against the likes of High Point alike against the likes of uncw which will probably be good again against the likes of Belmont, Casey Alexander. He's at Kansas State not just because he wanted to take a bigger job, but he was so fed up with being told no time and time and time and time and time and time again. So those kind of schools and as Clayman detailed in the story, we, we got to a level where high majors see us as a viable top 75 net team. So that game will probably be quad two level if they play us and et cetera. He's like the worst place you can be is be projected to win your league in a one bid league and you're in that 80 to 110, 80 to 115 range in the nets in Ken Palm because you're good enough to scare the power conference opponents. But there's a chance that your resume itself might be a little more of a drag than you want to be. So you don't want to find your yourself in no man's land and they got out of it. My point now is 76 team tournament. I don't want to hear any of the excuses. There is no no man's land anymore when that many teams are getting into the field. This is an awesome success story. We've played this song, beat this drum, dance to this tune for a generation. Now hopefully we can move into a. Hopefully High Point can be not just the exception but now the example. And we'll have more instances of high majors willing to schedule specifically those mid majors that aren't expected to be a top 50 team or a top 60 team. They're in that realm where they're going to be a projected 13 seed, 14 seed, maybe 15 seed. And hopefully a story like this encourages coaches all the more. Good on Flynn Clayman for doing this and turning a moment that he told me he was like I was out of my mind. He's like, I couldn't believe we did it. He actually said, I had a. After they lost out of the tournament, he said like two or three days later, he's like. I was actually like, did I just. Like, did I need to do that? Like, what are people think of me? No one knew who I was, and now I'm this guy that was just, you know, yelling into the mic, but he was like, I. He's like, you got to understand where I came from, the fact that we did and we beat this team that beat all these top 10 teams. He was like, I lost my mind. I was like, dude, this is the exact thing that made this possible. So it's a really cool moment. I don't know how well High Point will or won't do against that schedule next season, but the fact that they have that schedule, that we're going to have High Point in Miami play next season, that we're going to have High Point, go and play against LSU, that we're going to have high point play at St. Louis, the St. Louis team that could be top 25 when they play them. It's an awesome development for college basketball. I hope it's contagious, and I hope we have a few more instances of this to talk about as we get deeper in this off season and ahead of 26, 27.

[Gary Parrish]

Flynn did lose his mind. Evidence being, if you go back and watch it, he doesn't even answer the second question correct.

[Matt Norlander]

He doesn't even hear it. The word, the questions, the words don't even register.

[Gary Parrish]

He could have been like, what do you have for dinner? And it'd be like, it feels great. Where. Hey, hey, where'd you go to high school? It feels great.

[Matt Norlander]

It was just.

[Gary Parrish]

It did not matter what the question was. So he clearly lost his mind. He was just. I mean, as you would. As you would.

[Matt Norlander]

Come on.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, what a moment. Why would you lose. If you don't lose your mind right there? I think something's wrong with you, right? You work like crazy to even put yourself at that level. You work like crazy to even get on that stage. And then it. And then it. Boom.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

Why wouldn't you lose your mind? I love this. And listen, I like you have heard so many coaches for so many years say things like, yeah, you know, we got to do what's best for the sport. You know, you got to take care of the sport. And then when it's time to actually do things that would, quote, take care of the sport, they don't do it so thank God for Will Wade, steward of college basketball.

[Matt Norlander]

How about that? Why wouldn't I? I got a quote from that. He's like why? It's pretty simple. It's going to be a good game. Squat 2 will wait to his credit, love him, hate him, whatever. He has never, he has never been shy about this and he is one of the rare head coaches. He is as hands on as a head coach when it comes to actually contacting, communication and scheduling as much as anyone at the power conference level. I' I'm honestly I'm not shocked whatsoever that he was the coach that stepped up and said yes, we'll play you.

[Gary Parrish]

It is nice to see Will Wade whether this is good for his program or not. Will Wade knows what's good for college athletics and it's good to see Will Wade taking the sport in this direction. Hopefully, hopefully some others will follow his lead. I would push back just a little on there's no excuses anymore because I have talked to coaches who have said this to me in some form. Hey GP I hear you. Go play High Point. The problem is I sell 13000 season tickets. I can't just take my team to High Point.

[Matt Norlander]

No bring them in.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, but, but yeah, no, no but even that it's like I, I, I'm not using my games on that. It is not. You want me to go there, I'm not going there. I, I can get paid to go somewhere else or create a bigger game. I, I might not conf. I can find a an inferior team that's a bigger game for my home schedule. And so that would be the reason I don't. It's not because I'm scared of them. It's because it is actually not in my best interest to put my program in that situation. And that's the. You could call it an excuse. I would label it an explanation. I hear everything you're saying but it is not in my best interest to do what it is you're telling me to do for a lot of different reasons. And so, so let me just.

[Matt Norlander]

In the best interest of college basketball to your first point. That's all.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. Yeah. I so I've had, I've even had some coaches tell me once they move to the power conference level they say when I was the mid major coach I screamed about this. But now I, I won't do it. I won't do what I used to scream about because when it when I was the mid major coach I needed the high majors to play me. Now I'M the high major coach and I understand why they wouldn't. And so here's where. If I were speaking to coaches about this, and I guess sometimes I do, but like in a group setting, I would say the reason you do it, because I know you can come up with reasons where it doesn't make financial sense for you, doesn't make scheduling sense for you, maybe doesn't make basketball sense for you. I got all that. But we all agree, like when we're all just sitting around talking, we all agree we want to see these games. We want to have good mid majors against good high majors on neutral courts in true home road environments to if for no other reason, not because we're gonna skip Michigan against Duke to watch High Point against lsu.

[Matt Norlander]

Right.

[Gary Parrish]

It just, you have a better sense for how good High Point is if we watched them play lsu and then you can gauge what LSU is against the sec and then you could start to, well, you know, they, it's just, it just, it helps with the data. It's just better. And so when we're all sitting around talking, we all agree it's just better. It's better in an attempt to build a bracket, it's better in an attempt to see the bracket. It's just better in every way. We all agree. So then why do you do it if you're a high major and it doesn't make sense for your specific program? Because sometimes in this world you should do things that benefit the greater good, even, even if it's at the expense

[Matt Norlander]

of yourself and college athletics.

[Gary Parrish]

I realize this is not a good time in this world to be making this point. Or maybe it's the best time for

[Matt Norlander]

the wrong time to do the right thing.

[Gary Parrish]

Maybe it's the perfect time to be making this point. I, I like not to get all serious, but I think we, we, we live in a place right now where we ain't thinking about the greater good so much. And so if I were a high major coach, even if I were a high major coach who, when I sat down with my director of basketball operations and they explained to me, coach, I know you want to play High Point and Miami Ohio, but we have this offer from this school, in this school we have this neutral court offer. That's the dollar sign we've got. Coach, I hear you, but it is just not in our best interest. If you were to make this a multiple choice test and say what is in the best interest of our program. Rank them in order. The high point game ranks fourth. These three other things should be ahead of it. Even if my dobo sits down and says me that tells me that, I say, yeah, but I used to be one of those guys. And I also know what it's. That it's better for the sport. And so I'm willing to leave a little bit money on the table, leave a little bit of schedule and flexibility on the table, just because I don't want to be somebody who says this is what we ought to do and then not actually. I am one of the few people working at the power conference level who has the power to do what it is everybody says we should do. So I'm going to do it. And if we leave somebody on the table, then whatever, you know, and if we take a loss, man, but, but I used to be that guy. I used to be the high point coach and I, I know what it would have meant for to me at that point if somebody like me now would have given me this game. So I'm going to be that for somebody else. Honestly, like, not to make this weird or anything, I over tip pizza delivery. You want to know why? Because I used to be that guy. I know what it felt like to be 19 years old knocking on somebody's door and they give you a tip that seemed a little more than you were expecting and you're like, oh, you know, I know what that felt like when you ain't you got $4 in your pocket. And so I over tip pizza delivery guys not because I think I need to, but because I know what I remember. I remember what it was like to do exactly what you're doing. And I remember what it felt like when somebody did this to me. So here you go. And that's, that would be my mindset here. If I were a high major coach, I'd say these, these people at this level need me and I can, I can give them something. And if it cost me something, it's not much. And I think I gain something up here that I feel good about. That's the way I would justify it. If I couldn't justify it on paper, I would justify it with that.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, as a former waiter, I'm right there with you. Every time I go, you know, I waited tables throughout college and even after it. So I'm with you on that last thing on this. Then we can close up shop with our final topic. There are coaches that still do this, like Tom Izzo, schedules Greg Campion, Oakland every year. It's an awesome thing. Roy Williams used to go and literally play homecoming games for Some of his recruits going back to parts of the country that would have been major schools and play road games. So there are, there are still coaches that do this. I just, it would be awesome if we check the schedule and noticed that there's essentially 80 power conference teams. Like 50 of them had a game against a team that was projected to be top two in its mid major league. And it was just kind of dotted because what's happened here and I think coaches are actually a little. They think, they think they're on the curve and they're actually behind the curve because of wins above bubble because strength of record which doesn't take efficiency into account and is becoming more important in that committee room. What coaches are doing now is they're saying okay, we want to schedule. It used to be 6, now it's. Some coaches are going to go 7, some coaches might even go 8. Non conference. How high? Major notable games. Because remember we're going to 31. From 31 to 32 regular season games and they say okay, so that's going to be our batch there and then everything else we're going to play it's going to be teams projected to be 250 or worse at Kenpom. So we're going to load up a quad force and then we're going to load up with all the relevant games and non conference play and we're going to squish out the middle class. Sound familiar? So in an effort to offset that school should be saying, you know what, at five games by games against just afterthought fodder, let's just pluck one of those out, toss that to the side. Instead we'll play this team that, that you know, preseason. Ken Palm says it's going to be the 98th best team of the 103rd best team. You do that, you spread it around, you make the non conference just that much better, just a little bit more and you can benefit the likes of the top end teams at the Mac. You just go literally go down the list of every single, every single conference out there that's a single bidley that's going to have teams like this, that, that quite literally every single year we go to pcm we go on the recruiting trail. Parish. Every single year I see any number of these 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of these coaches that I know supposedly are going to have good teams. How's the schedule coming? Oh, I still got five. I, I got five dates I gotta finish. Dude, we're. It's July 17th. Travis Steele a year ago did not finish his schedule until October because Miami was known they brought so many people back they were gonna be this it was thought they would be the second best team in the Mac to Akron. Well it turned out they were the best team in the conference so that's why they got squeezed out. So why I wrote the story. Hopefully it will be contagious and we see other coaches see that and say you know what, I'll give this team a chance, that team a chance, that team a chance. We'll see. I'll also note in the midst of all this, you know they haven't finalized a deal but like Dennis Gates is going to play a multi year series against St. Louis which for a long I don't think those schools have played in at GP. I don't think they've played in at least two decades if not 25 years. They're gonna make that happen. That's awesome of Dennis Gates to do. I love, I love seeing that because guess what? We're not seeing not seeing even Kansas and Bill stuff. He's not scheduling Wichita State in my own state and I understand why he wouldn't do it. But like UConn's not scheduling Yale. James Jones has a pro like James Jones has the most consistent Ivy League program of the past 10 plus years. Those coaches aren't going to do that. They're not going to lean into that. I'd love to see it. Hopefully we get a little bit more here with coaches willing to play those teams that are projected to be top two in their respective mid major leagues.

[Gary Parrish]

All right. If you haven't read the story yet on High Point scheduling and all of this stuff we've been talking about, you can find it. It's available right now, cbs sports.com you can also get it off of Norlander's Twitter feed. Before we get out of here, some sad news connected to one of the sports biggest programs. Brandon Clark, an All American on the 2019 Gonzaga team that went 33 and 4, beat Zion Williamson and Duke in the Maui Invitational and advanced all the way to the Final Four, died this week in California. He was only 29 years old. NBC 4 in Los Angeles reported that it is being investigated as a possible drug overdose and the tragedy does come a month after he was arrested on drug charges in Arkansas. He spent seven seasons with the Grizzlies. He made a real impact in my hometown Norlando. We don't have to spend too much time here. But I guess this is as I was trying to determine like do we address this or not? Brandon Clark is one of the best players from one of the best programs in the sport of college basketball in the sport that we cover of the past decade. And he died at a young age this week. I know Mark Few and others in Spokane are hurting. Just I guess I'll leave it pretty open ended. Just your thoughts on Brandon Clark the person, the player as one of the best transfers of the past decade.

[Matt Norlander]

That is also true. He before the Portal era. I kind of consider the Portal era, you know, having effectively, you know, initiated 2020, 2021. He transferred before and there are obviously transfers out there, but in terms of actual like poor era, mass transferring, all that that started this decade, definitely one of the better transfers of this generation. Jarring news. This is a rare. Like you've got an active NBA player dying like that. That does not happen often. I it kind of speaks to like the passage of time and, and going through life. I either read it or heard it seven seasons. I was like, he's been in the league seven years, man. He was in the NBA. It's already been seven years since he left Gonzaga. He was a joy to watch play. Just he transferred from San Jose State to Gonzaga and just a great example of how sometimes there really are guys at that lower level that are just waiting to bust out and be legit dudes. He GP even missed along our text thread All American. I was like, I don't think he was an All American. No. Sporting News and AP had him as a third team All American his final season. He wasn't a consensus, but he did make two third teams on national outlets there. And, and that Gonzaga team, I think you said Final Four, they got beat by Texas Tech, that beer team that made the Final Four in the elite. And that game was, I think out west. But Clark, Clark played with Rui Hachimura. I know you saw him in person because you went to Maui that year and you saw that, that epic game against Duke. Really just really fun college player. He was fifth in the Ken Palm player of the year standings that season. To my shock, by the way, the order of that was Jared Culver. Again, this is Ken Palm's rating efficiency and stuff. So Jared Culver was 1, Ethan Hap at Wisconsin was 2. Carson Edwards was 3 at Purdue, Cassius Winston was 4. At Michigan State, Brandon Clark was 5, then RJ Barrett and then Zion 6, 7. They were even lower than I would have thought that would have been the case. Yeah, tremendously tragic. Like just such a sad story. I. I loved watching him play at Gonzaga and then I remember us talking about him leading up to, and even on draft night. I was in on him as the pick both to your franchise in particular and how he played. I just, I bought in and you know, yeah, he stuck with the franchise for seven years. Obviously a very, very tragic and sad ending. But, but I'm glad we took a little bit of time to remember him because yeah, one of the truly, like I don't know where he'd rank but among the best transfer success stories in Division 1 men's college basketball over the past 10 plus years.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, these days it's pretty normal that we, we expect people to transfer up to prominent programs and make huge impacts. It happens every single year. But at a time when Brandon did wasn't as common because the rules were different and frankly nobody knew how good he was. I remember talking to Mark Few the year after and it was like when you recruit, I remember this specific conversation, he was like, when you recruit Brandon Clark out of San Jose State, you don't think that's a one year thing? You know, like we didn't think we were going to have to replace him after one year. And so it's just we're playing catch up here and he was, he was terrific and was terrific with the Grizzlies up until injuries started to rob him of his athleticism and all the explosiveness that made him a real rotation player for a franchise that was winning playoff series in the Western Conference. Like in year three, he was like maybe the MVP of a first round series between the Grizzlies and Anthony Edwards timberwolves. He averaged 16 and a half points, 9.9 rebounds in 30 minutes in that series and, and changed it. He signed a four year, fifty million dollar contract. He had one year left on it. And so it's just, yeah, it's just been, it's been a tough week around, around, you know, around here because there were people like the social media team, their offices are in there with our offices, that FedEx forum at grime City Media and they travel with the team like they're on planes with these guys and hotels with these guys and like this was their friend. And it's been tough because he, like you just really, I mean it's sort of cliche at this point because I've heard a million other people say it but like you just didn't hear people say bad words about Brandon Clark. He might have had his struggles in certain aspects of his life, but genuinely like a nice man, like you need Somebody to go talk to third graders. Brandon Clark was your guy who would not only be willing to do it, but he would be awesome at it and take time for everybody. Honestly, like, I'd never done this before. I had to have a conversation with my sons, my little guys, about one of their favorite basketball players. I just never. It just never occurred to me that I would have to have that conversation with them. I mean, he's. I'm not exaggerating. He's. He's in my little guy's room on the wall. It's Brandon Clark, like that, you know, has been there for four years now, five years now. And so that was a weird conversation. So just, Just sick for his friends and his family, the people who were really close to him. I, you know, was going back and forth with Mark Few earlier in the week, and he was just like, just this sweetest, sweetest guy. And you just, you know, life gets hard for people sometimes, and, you know, it can take you to some, you know, not. Not so great places sometimes. And I don't know, it's just. It's. It's really sad stuff. So a very important basketball player who made an impact in college and made it at one of the biggest programs in the country. And so, yeah, just. Just that stuff. And so our thoughts are, are with that Gonzaga program and the coaching staff and, you know, everybody who spent time with Brandon, because best I can tell, everybody who spent time with him, you know, appreciated it.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, that is a show. Glad we could give. Give some light on. On his name and on his memory. We will be back. Plan is for Monday.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

And after some vacillation. Mailbag. Folks, Mailbag Monday is coming, so be on the lookout. We have plenty of questions and correspondence already. You're feel free to send anything if you want, but I think we're pretty sold up. And don't worry, we'll have more offseason mailbacks coming, but that's the next one, barring any massive developments over the weekend, which we are not expecting.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, let's get out of here. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina, Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Huck Larnell Hormuz. If you haven't subscribed to the Iron College Basketball podcast, please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. There are more of us than there are of them. That needs to be reflected in the comments, so please do that. And like Norland just said, we will talk to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend. We'll see you soon. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcast the first time I remember my dad killing somebody, I was probably four years old. A new Paramount plus original documentary. He was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There's no question in my mind that Don was a killer. One family.

[Flynn Clayman]

He was the personification of evil divided by the truth.

[Matt Norlander]

I came to defend my family. I'm not lying. There's bodies up there. You can scour every inch of those grounds.

[Gary Parrish]

There is nothing there. Let's dig it. My killer father, the Green Hollow Murders. Streaming now on Paramount.